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THE BOOK

PROPHET JEREMIAH

AND THAT OF

THE LAMENTATIONS,
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL HEBRE-ftr.
WITH A
COMMENTARY,
CRITICAL, PHILOLOGICAL, AND EXEGETICAL.
BT
E. HENDERSON, D.D,

%n)aiabitx:
WARREN P, DRAPER,
BOSTON: W. H, HALLIDAY AND COMPANY,
NOS. 58 & 60 COKNHILL.
PHILADELPHIA: SMITH, ENGLISH, AND CO.
1868.

ft 51 h

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

SECTION I.
OF THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JEREMIAH.
We possess more copious historical notices of Jeremiah than of any
of the other Hebrew prophets. This is principally to be ascribed to
the circumstances of the times in which he flourished, and the large
share which he had in the transactions of his day, Lacidental refer
ences are made to him, 2 Chron, xxxv, 25 ; xxxvi. 12, 21 ; but it is
principally from what we find in his own book, mixed up with the
delivery of his predictions, that we learn the particulars of his history.
According to the statement made chap. i. 1, he was of sacerdotal
origin ; but the opinion that his father Hilkiah was the high priest of
that name who discovered the book of the law can only have origi
nated in the identity of name ; for if that exalted olficial had been his
father, he could not have faUed to be designated by the appellative
Vi'njr) "fi'sn , the high priest, or at least ')fi3(3 , the priest, by way of emi
nence : whereas, he is merely spoken of as belonging to the priests
who resided at Anathoth.^ There is no evidence to show that our
prophet had ever officiated in the priestly office at the temple : it may
rather be inferred that his extreme youth incapacitated him from
engaging in its fionctions.
The period at which Jeremiah was invested with the prophetical
office was singularly corrupt. Idolatry, which, with all its abomina
tions, had been re-established under Manasseh, and had only suffered
a partial and temporary interruption on the repentance of that mon
arch, re-appeared in the reign of Amon, his successor : the groves
' The notion that Jeremiah was the son of the high priest was flrst broached by-
Clement of Alexandria, and besides having been maintained by Jerome, Kimchi,
Abarbanel, Munster and Clarins, has been more recently advocated by Eichhom,
von Bohlen, and Umbreit; but, on the other hand, it is decidedly rejected by Scholz,
Havemick, Knobel, and Hltzig.

4 INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.
and images not having been destroyed, the people speedily returned to
their former practices. But on the accession of Josiah to the throne,
that pious young prince undertook the complete abolition of all the
objects and rit6s of idolatrous worship. It was in the year b.c, 629,
the thirteenth of the reign of the new monarch, that Jeremiah was
called to the discharge of the prophetical functions, and, combining his
efforts with those of Hilkiah the high priest, the prophetess Huldah, and
the prophet Zephaniah, very -efficiently contributed to help forward
the royal work of reformation. Almost immediately on his being
called to office he received a charge to go and proclaim a message in
the metropolis, from which it may be concluded that he resided at
Anathoth at the time the commission was given to him. It would
appear from chap. xi. 6, that, besides prophesying at Jerusalem, he
undertook an official tour through the land, for the purpose of announc
ing to the inhabitants of the cities of Judah the contents of the book
of the law which had been found in the temple. On his return by
way of Anathoth, his townsmen, offended at thg boldness with which
he reproved their wicked practices, formed a conspiracy to take away
his Ufe, which proved the first of a series of persecutions that embit
tered almost the whole of his remaining days.
His not unfavorable reference to Shallum or Jehoahaz, chap. xxii.
10—12, would seem to intimate that Jeremiah had experienced no
impediment to his labors during the brief reign of that monarch ; but
no sooner did Jehoiakim come to the throne than the priests and
false prophets, backed by the populace, whose vices our prophet had
unsparingly reproved, brought him before the civil authorities for pun
ishment. Owing, however, to a conviction of his innocence in the minds
of some of the princes, and especially to the influence of Ahikam, he
was set at liberty. His imprisonment by Pashhur appears to have
been of short duration, but it made a deep impression on the suscep
tible mind of the prophet (chap. xx.).
In the fourth year of Jehoiakim he received a command from the
Lord to commit to writing all the predictions which he had delivered
orally from the commencement of his ministry. Tliis having been done,
at his dictation, by Baruch, his amanuensis, the latter read the document
to the assembled people on the day of the public fast ; and after having
been examined before the princes, aud having informed them how he
came to write it, he and Jeremiah were instructed to hide themselves,
lest they should be exposed to the royal displeasure. Meanwhile, the
kiug having become acquainted with the matter, the roll on which the
prophecies were inscribed was read to him, when, on hearing only a

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. 5
few columns, he became so enraged that he cut it with a knife and
threw it into the fire ; at the same time commandinff the writers to
be apprehended. By a special providence, however, they made their
escape, which if they had not done, there cannot be a doubt but that
the enraged monarch would have caused them to be executed, as he
had the propet Urijah (chap, xxxvi. 1-26 ; xxvi. 20-23).
We have no further account of our prophet during the remainder
of the reign of Jehoiakim, except that, in consequence of a new com
mand, he caused Baruch to re-write, on another roll, all that the king
had burned ; and to this document many similar prophecies were
added (chap, xxxvi. 27-32).
It was the fate of Jeremiah after the death of Josiah, to live in the
reigns of a succession of kings whose conduct and policy were directly
the reverse of that prescribed by the theocracy ; and, urged by divine
authority strenuously to oppose their wicked projects, he found him
self almost incessantly in collision with them and their counsellors,
and exposed to their displeasure. By Zedekiah, who appears to have
shown him personal respect, and to have consulted him with reference
to the national affairs, he would in all probability have been better
treated, had it not been for the influence which the courtiers had over
that monarch, in consequence of which our prophet was committed to
prison, where he remained till Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar,
This monarch ordered him to be liberated, and gave him his option
whether to go with him to Babylon or to remain in his native country.
Preferring the latter, he strongly protested against the emigration to
Egypt of those of his countrymen who had been left in the land, and
who were afraid of the vengeance of the king of Babylon on account
of the murder of Gedaliah, whom that monarch had appointed governor.
Determined to carry their purpose into effect, they compelled Jeremiah
and Baruch to accompany them.
We now find the prophet delivering predictions at Tahpanhes, a
strong boundary city on the Tanitic or Pelusian branch of the Nile ;
but with as little success, as it respects any real reformation, as that
which had attended his labors previous to the captivity. How long he
lived in Egypt we know not, but according to tradition he died in that
country, and was buried at Tahpanhes. After the exile the Jews
attached the highest importance to his memory, and such was their
veneration for him, that they cherished the belief he would rise again
from the dead, and make his appearance as a forerunner of the Mes
siah. See Matt. xvi. 14.
What rendered the half century during which Jeremiah flourished
1*

6 INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.
a period of peculiarly eventful and disastrous character, was the prev
alence of internal disorders, resulting from the obstinate refusal of the
princes to listen to the admonitions of Jehovah, and the alienation of
their confidence from him to their Egyptian ally. The Chaldeans,
having succeeded to the rule in Asia, threatened Egypt with invasion ;
in consequence of which the Jews who were situated between the two
powers were exposed alternately to the inroads of the one or the other
of their hostile armies. The first calamity which befell them was the
defeat and death of Josiah, when giving battle to Pharaoh Necho ;
and when they afterwards sided with the Egyptians against the Chal
deans they became involved in all the miseries of a war with that
power. Though solemnly warned by the prophet of the destructive
consequences that would result from their alliance with Egypt, and
repeatedly advised to submit to the Chaldean conqueror, they persisted
in rejecting the divine messages to that effect, and brought upon them
selves the calamities attendant upon the capture of their city, and their
subjugation by a barbarian foe.
How these circumstances affected the mind of the prophet is ob-vious
from the whole strain of his predictions. He appears to have been
naturally of a mild and timid disposition, easily susceptible of sorrow
and melancholy, but intrepid and unintimidated in the public discharge
of the duties of his office, denouncing in unsparing language the wicked
conduct of persons of all ranks, from the meanest of the subjects up
to the monarch on his throne. This combination of charaoteristic
features Havernick justly considers as furnishing a strong proof of the
divine origin of his mission, — the spirit of prophecy acting power
fully upon his mind, controlling his natural temper, and qualifying him
for his hazardous undertaking, without doing violence to his pecuhar
individuality.^ The length of time during which he prophesied in Judea was
exactly forty years and a half, as appears from the foUowing estimate :
Years. Months.
Under Josiah,  18 0
Under Jehoahaz,  0 3
Under Jehoiakim,  11 0
Under Jechoniah,  0 3
Under Zedekiah,  11 0
40 6

Einleitung, ii. theii. 2 abtheil. p. 198.

DSTRODDCTORY DISSERTATION. 7
SECTION II.
OF THE STYLE OF THE PROPHET.
The pecuUar circumstances of his times could not fail to impress a
singularly marked plaintiveness of tone on most of his predictions.
From the depths of sympathy with his suffering countrymen, and of
poignant grief on account of the atrocious wickedness that brought
upon them the calamities which they suffered, he pours out his feelings
in the most affecting manner, and scarcely knows when to arrest his
utterances, heaping phrase upon phrase, and sentence upon sentence,
expanding his imagery over whatever has the slightest connection with
the subject, as those naturally do who give vent to powerful emotions
of sorrow. His style is characterized by a degree of negligence beyond
that of any of the other prophets ; but that this is to be ascribed, not to
want of cultivation, but to the state of mind just referred to, is evident
from the fact that there are portions of the book which little, if at all,
fall short of the compositions of Isaiah. We meet with many attrac
tive alternations and admixtures of prosaic and poetic phraseology.
The principal peculiarity of his style was not unobserved by Jerome,
who remarks respecting it : " Aliis prophetis videtur esse rusticior, sed
sensibus par est, quippe qui eodem Spiritu prophetaverit." But that
his greater rusticity is, as that Father asserts, to be ascribed to his being
a native of Anathoth, few wUl be disposed to admit.
Notwithstanding the general diffuseness and prolixity which mark
the historical and strictly prosaic portions of his book, such parts as are
more or less rhythmical in their composition frequently exhibit a con
ciseness and energy, and, especially those directed against foreign
nations, an animation and vehemence, eloquence and sublimity, which
claim for him a high place among the writers of his nation. That such
instances of the more elevated style are not attributable, as Eichhom
maintains, to his quoting from other prophets, appears from th.e circum
stance, that the same elevation is discovered in passages the originality
of which has never been doubted.
The fact that Jeremiah quotes from the Hebrew Scriptures extant
in his day is beyond dispute ; but it is worthy of notice that he never
does this without alteration, adapting the language to his own style,
sometimes adding and sometimes abridging, but always rendering it
apparent that, however borrowed the matter, his object in reproduc
ing it was to give greater effect to his prophetical representations.

8 INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.
The sudden alternations observable throughout his prophecies are
to be accounted for by the variety of lights in which it was necessary
for him ' to present his subjects, and the different states of mind in
which he was while giving utterance to them.
Besides a number of words peculiar to himself, there are certain
terms and phrases wliich appear to have been, as it were, stereotyped
in his thoughts, the repetition of which is frequently to be met with.
He is also singular in his fondness of tripUcity, sometimes repeating
the same word or phrase three times, and sometimes employing three
different words or phrases, but always for the sake of giving greater
intensity to his utterances. His style exhibits several instances which
indicate a later period in the history of the Hebrew language. Sev
eral Aramaisms also occur, which some, without sufficient grounds,
have ascribed to his intercourse with the Chaldeans. , More has been
made of the forms Tiis , TiniS , and the like, instead of Tix , rjnx , etc.,
than the case warrants ; for the same forms are found, though more
rarely, in the Books of Joshua and Kings.

SECTION III.
OF THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE PROPHECIES.
The slightest glance at the economy of the book must convince the
reader that it could not have come from the prophet in the condition
in which we now find it. Even supposing that he did not pay any
particular attention to chronological arrangement, but that his object
was simply to furnish a collection of his different prophecies, and
some of the principal historical events both of a public character and
relating to his own personal circumstances, yet we can scarcely con
ceive it possible that there could originally have been such instances
of the va-Tipov Trporepov as we now meet with in his composition.
According to the history of the Jewish monarchs, furnished by the
Books of Kings and Chronicles, the following is the order of time in
which the five last kings reigned : Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jecho
niah, and Zedekiah. Under all these monarchs Jeremiah flourished ;
but, as the second and fourth reigned only three months each, no date
is taken from the period of their occupancy of the throne. The only
reigns which are thus recognized are those of Josiah, Jehoiakim, and
Zedekiah. Instead, however, of the prophetic discourses being
arranged in this order, we find, contrary to expectation, those which

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. 9
were delivered in the reign of Josiah, and which are contained collec
tively in chaps, i.-xx., immediately followed by a portion belonging to
the time of Zedekiah, chap. xsi. Again, instead of continuing what
relates to Jehoiakim, and his brothers Jehoahaz and Jechoniah, in
chaps, xxii, and xxiii., by inserting the section contained in chap, xxv,
-which is specially referred to the fourth of Jehoiakim, we find in chap.
xxiv. 8-10 a prediction belonging to the time of Zedekiah. We have
likewise chaps, xxvii. xxviii. xxix. xxxiii. and xxxiv. referred to the
reign of Zedekiah, whereas chaps, xxxv. and xxxvi. relate to transac
tions which occurred in that of Jehoiakim. There is also the introduc
tion of a passage, chap, xlv., dated from the fourth of Jehoiakim, after
the predictions relating to the Jews who had fled to Egypt subsequent
to the destruction of Jerusalem.
With these exceptions, however, there is a general consecutiveness
in the arrangement of the contents of the book. The main part, con
sisting of chaps, i.-xlv., is occupied with home affairs, — that portion
which takes a brief glance at the fate of foreign nations, chap. xxv.
12-28, being introduced merely in consequence of what had just been
mentioned respecting their treatment of the Jews. The remaining
part, chaps, xlvi.— li., is occupied with special predictions relative to
the punishment of those foreign nations which had been hostile to the
Jewish state, especially Babylon, the most formidable and destructive
of all. Chap. Ui. was written as an appendix by a later hand, to com
plete what had been narrated respecting the fate of the city, and of
the Jewish exiles.

SECTION IV.
OF THE VERSION OF THE SEVENTY.
There cannot be a doubt that the version of the LXX. at a very
early period differed from the Masoretic Text, not only in considera
ble additions and omissions, but in the position and order of several
of the prophecies. This fact is distinctly avowed by Origen and
Jerome as existing in their day. The former affirms that there is
much in the Hebrew Job that is wanting in the LXX. ; sometimes
three or four, and sometimes as many as fourteen lines. " But why,"
he proceeds, " should I accurately specify everything that I have
collected with much pains, to discover the discrepancy which exists
between the Hebrew and Greek copies ? Much of this description.

10

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

and in the Book of Jeremiah also many transpositions of single proph
ecies, have come under my observation." ^
To the same effect Jerome, speaking of the labor which he had in
recovering the text from the confused and corrupt state into which,
in his opinion, it had been reduced by copyists, says : " Hieremiae
ordinem librariorum errore confusum, multaque quae desunt ex hebraeis
fontibus digerere, ordinare, deducere, et complere (censui), ut novum
ex veteri verumque pro corrupto atque falsato prophetam teneas." —
Prsefat. ad Hieremiam.
The different arrangement in the order of the chapters, as exhibited
in the Hebrew Bible and the copies of the LXX. will be seen on
comparing the following columns, which begin where the discrepancy
first takes place :

Heb. Text.

Septuagint.

Heb. Text.

Septuagint.

Heb.

Text.

Septuagint.

xxv. 15-38

xxxii.

xxxv.

xlii

xl-vi.

xxvi.

xxvi.

xxxiii.

xxxvi.

xliii.

xlvii

xxix. 1-7.
xxvii. 1-18
xxxiv.
xxxvii
xliv.
xlvii
.1-45
xxxi.
xivii. 19-22
'Wanting.
xxxvii
xlv.
46, etc.
"Wanting.
xxviii.
xxxv.
xxxix.
1-3,
15-18 xM.
xlix.
1-5
xxx. 1-5.
xxix.
xxx-vi.
xxxix.
4-14
"Wanting.
7-22
xxix. 7-22.
XXX.
xxxvii.
xl.
xlvii.
23-27
xxx. 11-16
xxxi.
xxxviii.
xU.
xlviil.
28-34
5-11
xxxii.
xxxix.
xlii.
xlix.
35-39
xxv. 15-21
xxxiii. 1-14
xl.
xliii.
1.
1.
xxvii.
xxxiii. 14-25
Wanting.
xliv.
li. 1-31.
li.
xxviii.
xxxiv.
xU.
xlv.
li. 31-35.
On comparing the above Table it will be seen, that not only is there
a transposition of the chapters, especially as it respects the prophecies
against the foreign nations, — these having been removed by the LXX.
from their position at the end of the book, and placed after chap.
xxv. 13, — but that there is likewise a change in the order in which
these prophecies are arranged. This the following Table wUl show : —
Heb. Text. Septuagint.
Egypt. Elam.
Philistines. Egypt.
Moab. Babj'lon.
To account for the discrepancies both in the arrangement of the
different parts of the Hebrew Text, and those existing between this
text and that of the LXX., numerous hypotheses have been formed.
Heb. Text.
Septuagint.
Heb. Text.
Septuagint
Ammon.
Philistines.
Kedar.
Kedar.
Edom.
Edom.
Elam.
Damascus.
Damascus.
Ammon.
Babylon.
Moab.
' Epist. ad Afrioanum : Tlii\iv re a5 TrXEio-Tci te Saa Sih /ieVou S\ov toS 'lijS trap'
'E^paiois fifv KciTai, wap' ri/juv Si ovxl- Kal iroWdKis liiv eitij riaffapa ^ rpla icrff 8te
5e ttol SeKariaaapa — KaX ri fi^ Sel icaraKeysLv a jueri iroWov Ka/iarov ave\e^<lfj.f6a,
vnhp rod /i^ \avdiiveiv ^/xas t^v Stacpophti r^v iraph *louSaiots Ka\ Tjfuii avriypdtpcav
TToWh 5e rotavra Kal iv rif 'Upi/xla Ka7svoii<rap.(v, 4ii ^ kbi ttoW^v jUCTo8E(rtc Kal
ivpaWayiiv ttjs Ae'Iews tSiv irpo(\>i)Tivonivav eSpofiev.
INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. H
Of these the most celebrated is that of Eichhorn,-' who supposes that
Jeremiah originally wrote his oracles on separate skins or rolls, the
coUection of which was circulated in Egypt, and from this the version
of the LXX. was made ; and that he prepared another and later edition,
which came into circulation in Babylon and Palestine, and formed the
basis of the Masoretic Text. He assumes that these skins or sheets
came by some accident to be displaced, and that this occasioned the
disarrangement now found in the book. While this hypothesis ac
counts in a plausible manner for many variations from the Hebrew
Text, it does not reUeve the difficulty arising from the fact of the
additions which are found in the LXX. Not satisfied with this
hypothesis, one of a more artificial character was advanced by Bert-
holdt,^ who maintains that the book originated in three compilations,
with the addition of two loose sheets. These he exhibits quite in
diplomatic style, under the titles of Codices a. b. c. d. e. f., with other
minor divisions. The principle of reconciliation adopted by Movers,
one of the more recent German critics,' is to this effect, that there was
originally a coUection in six books — the coUector taking as his basis
the second copy of Baruch, and adding other matter to it without any
exact regard to the order of insertion. Certain portions he arbitrarily
ascribes to an anonymous collector, who has for some time passed
among the Germans under the title of Pseudo-Isaiah. He veers
between the two texts, now charging the Hebrew, and now the LXX.,
with interpolations, omissions, and additions, yet preferring on the
whole the latter before the former. Though Hitzig and De Wette
give in to his general principle, yet they object strongly to many of
his positions, and consider that he has in many instances done injustice
to the Hebrew Text. Those who would go thoroughly into the
subject wiU do weU to peruse this work of Movers, together with
that on Jeremiah by the Spohns, father and son."*
Without unduly disparaging the Text of the LXX., it may safely
be affirmed that it requires only a slight comparison of the Hebrew
and Greek Texts -with each other to perceive that the translators by
no means laid it down as a principle, to which it was incumbent upon
them to adhere throughout, to give an exact and rigid representation
of the original. Not to insist upon other passages, it seems impossible
1 Einleitung in das A. T. Band. iv. §§ 539-542.
s Historisch-Kritische Einleitung, p. 1457, and following.
' De utriusque Recensionis Vaticiniorum Jcremise, Hamburgi, 1837, 4to.
i Jeremias Yates e versione Judseorum Alexandrinorum. Vol. i. Lipsise, 1794.
Vol. ii. Lipsiaj, 1824.

12 INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.
othei-wise to account for their insertion of the prophecies against the
foreign nations after chap. xxv. 13. Finding in ver, 13 a reference
to these prophecies as inserted in the Book of Jeremiah, they took the
liberty of transposing them from the place which they held at the end
of that book, and placed them immediately after the reference. They,
at the same time, took the further liberty of placing the prophecy
against Elam first, and of arranging the order of the others differently.
The former was done, apparently, as De Wette supposes, because it
possessed the greater interest at the time the version was made. It is
manifest that at the time chap, xxv, 13 was penned the chapters in
question must have been written. But if the predictions against
foreign nations had followed immediately after this thirteenth verse,
as they now do in the version of the LXX., there could have been no
propriety in making the observation. The very wording of the refer
ence shows that they existed in some other part of the book, arid not
in the immediate context. To whatever respect the Text of the LXX,
may be entitled from the use that has been made of it both in the
Jewish and Christian church, and especiaUy from the circumstance,
that our Lord and his apostles make their principal citations from the
Old Testament in the words of it, it never can, as a version, be aUowed
to override the Hebrew original. To inspiration, in the strict ac
ceptation of that term, it cannot lay claim, though, practically and
popularly considered, its contents must be regarded as possessing
divine authority.
In the translation I have adopted the division of chapters found in
the Hebrew Bible, conceiving it to be more convenient for the sake
of reference than the new arrangement preferred by Blayney from
chap, XX, to chap. xlvi. The following is the order adopted by that
author :

XX.

xxxvi.

xxvii.

xxxiii.

xii.

xxii.

xlv.

xx-viii.

xxxviii.

xlii.

xxiii.

xxiv.

xxi.

xxxix. 15-18.

xliii.

xxv.

xxix.

xxxiv.

xxxix. 1-14.

xliv.

xxvi.

xxx.

-iDfxvii.

xl.

xlvi. etc.

xxxv.

xxxi.'

xxxii.

JEHEMIAH.

CHAPTER I.
The book commences with a proem or general title, 1-3; then follows the call of Jeremiah
to the prophetical office, 4-10. The prophet next gives an account of two visions which
he had — the one of an almond tree, indicative ofthe early approach ofthe divine judg
ments, and the other of a boiling pot, symbolical of their severity, and of the quarter
whence they were to come, 11-16. The rest of the chapter is occupied with assurances
of divine aid and protection in the discharge of his difficult and dangerous undertaking.
1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were
2 in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of Jeho
vah was communicated in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon,
3 king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It was also
communicated in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king
of Judah, tiU the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son

1-3. Whether these verses were writ
ten by Jeremiah himself, or whether they
are from the pen of Baruch, cannot be
determined, though Michaelis is of opin
ion that they may have been prefixed by
the propliet when he collected his proph
ecies, and gave them to his countrymen
to take with them into Babylon, "nax
the LXX. render Ss, in the singular, and
refer it either to Jeremiah or to Hilkiah.
The Vulg., more properly, qui fuerunt,
taking the priests to be the subject of
reference. There is no ground for sup
posing that there ever existed in the He
brew text any term corresponding to
Ka-TcpKft, which is found in the former of
these versions. Eor particulars relative
to the personal history of the prophet,
and that of the kings whose names are
here specified, see Preface, rrinjy , -An
athoth, a town in the tribe of Benjamin,
2

which Josephus states to be twenty sta
dia distant from Jerusalem, and which
Jerome describes as three Roman miles
north of that city. Dr. Robinson con
siders the present AnAta to occupy the
site of this ancient town, portions of the
wall of which, as also the foundations of
some of the houses, still remain. Tra
dition is in favor of another site on the
road to Ramleh, at the same distance
from the capital ; but the direction of
the towns specified, Isa. x. 28-32, seems
to determine the point in favor of Dr.
Robinson's opinion. Anathoth was one
of the four cities of the tribe of Benjamin
which were allotted to the Kohathitcs,
who formed one of the three great divi
sions of the Levitical tribe. Josh. xxi.
18. It was to this his native city, that
Solomon ordered Abiathar to repair,
when he deposed him from the high

14

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. I. 3-5

of Josiah, king of Judah, till the exUing of Jerusalem in the
fifth month.
4 The word of Jehovah was communicated to me, saying :
5 Before I formed thee in the beUy I knew thee ;
And before thou earnest forth from the womb I separated thee ;

priesthood, 1 Kings ii. 26 ; a sentence
which might be regarded as casting a
stigina upon the whole sacerdotal family
resident there, and to which there may
be an indirect reference in the words :
" the priests who were in Anathoth."
See 1 Kings ii. 26, 27. That neither
Jehoahaz nor Jehoachin is included in
the number of kings here mentioned is
doubtless owing to the circumstance that
they each occupied the tlirone only three
months ; but that these three verses were
intended to be a general title to the whole
book appears evident, not only from the
analogy of other prophetical books, but
from the specification of both the first
and last of the kings in whose reigns the
prophecies were communicated.
4. 1 iu ifi^l must be considered as
purely initiati-ve. Instead of liix , to me,
one of De Rossi's MSS. has originally
read li^x, to him, to which Trpbs aimJc,
the reading of the Codex Vaticanns,
lends its authority ; but that of the Co
dex Alexandrinus, and the Aldine and
Complutcnsian editions, and the Hexa^
plar Syriac and Arabic versions, gives
its support to the Hebrew text. There
is every reason to believe that the inscrip
tion of the book was made by Jeremiah
himself. 5- ?1113N ought to have been pointed
Ti'iaas , which obviates the necessity
of' removing the i as recommended by
the Chcthib. 1:13 and i^i both signify
to fashion, or form. Comp. the Arab.
.y,0 in the singularly parallel lan
guage ofthe Koran, Sur. iii. 4,
He that formed you in the ivomb.
^"liSN and NSn , though future in form,
are preterite in signification, following

DIB . Jehovah here asserts his eternal
cKoice of the prophet, and his predesti
nation of him to the prophetical ofSce.
5)11 , to know, is to be taken in the sense
of having a regard for, approving as an
object of choice. Compare the use of
yivtiffKto in -Trpoyivdia-Kti}, in the same ac
ceptation, Rom. viii. 29. lalp does not
primarily signify to be pure or holy, but
to be separated from a common to some
special purpose. The idea of purity,
whether physical, ceremonial, or moral,
was originated by that of such separation.
When, therefore, Jehovah declares that
he had sanctified the prophet before his
birth, the meaning is not that he had
cleansed him from the pollution of orig
inal sin, or that he had regenerated him
by his Spirit, as some have imagined,
but that he had separated him in his
eternal counsel to the work in which he
was to be engaged. Puit ergo non effec-
tu sanctificatus Jeremias in utero, sed in
Dei predestinatione, et arcano consUio :
quia scilicet tunc Deus ipsum elegit Pro
phetam. — Calvin. With a -view to a
similar predestination, the apostle Paul
uses language very nearly parallel : '0
Qehs 6 aipoplaas fie 4k KotXias HTjrpSs p.ov,
Gal. i. 15 : where separation is to be
referred to the divine destination of the
apostle, and not to his actual birth. We
are here forcibly reminded of the fact
that " known unto God are all his works
from the beginning of the world," and
that he "worketh all things after the
counsel of his o-wn -will." Acts xv. 18 ;
Eph. i. 11. The instruments whom he
employs for effecting his pui-poses are
not brought into existence merely as
links in the chain of causes and effects,
but with a special view to the work which
each has to perform. The prophetical

Chap. I. 6-10.]

JEREMIAH.

15

6 I ordained thee a prophet to the nations. But I said : Ah Lord
Jehovah ! behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child.
7 Then Jehovah said to me : Say not, I am a child ;
For to aU to whom I shall send thee thou shalt go.
And aU that I shall charge thee thou shalt speak.
8 Be not afraid of their faces ;
For I am with thee to deUver thee, saith Jehovah,
9 Then Jehovah stretched out his hand and touched my mouth ; and
Jehovah said to me : Behold, I have put my words into thy
mouth,
10 See, I have this day appointed thee over the nations,
And over the kingdoms,
To pluck up and to break down.
And to destroy and to pull down,
To build and to plant.

ofSce of Jeremiah was to include -within
the range of its bearing not the Hebrews
only, but also the nations that were hos
tile to them. See chap. xxv. 12-38;
xxvii. xlvi.-li.
6-8. Jeremiah may at this time have
been about twenty years of age ; and he
had never occupied any public station,
or performed any public duty. He had
had no opportunity of putting his talent
as a public speaker to the test, and con
sidered himself totally disqualified by
his youth and inexperience for embark
ing in so unexpected and formidable an
enterprise as that here assigned him.
The divine commission expressly given
to him, and the explicit assurance which
he received of the presence and protec
tion of Jehovah, were calculated at once
to remove his fears, and arm him -with
resolution for his work. Tss , ver. 7, has
the signification of Vx , to, as it has both
in more ancient and in later Hebrew.
9. The prophet having aUeged his in
capacity as an eloquent speaker, he is
apprised, by an appropriate symbolical
act, that everything of the kind should
he removed, and that God would vouch
safe to him all needful assistance in de
livering his messages. The touching of
the lips of Isaiah with a live coal, chap.

vi. 7, and the giving of a book to Ezekiel
to eat, chap. ii. 8, 9, 10, were similarly
symbolical of prophetic qualification, and
implied the gift of inspiration. Comp.
also Dan. x. 16. In all these instances
the actions occurred in supernatural vis
ion. 10. lipBrt properly signifies to ap
point to the oversight of anything, im
plying the discharge of the duties of
such oversight: hence the verb is fol
lowed by the preposition bj) , over. The
prophet was to have his eye upon the
the conduct of the nations, and to utter
predictions of prosperity or adversity
according as it was good or bad. His
commission is here represented as con
sisting in his doing that which he was
to declare shonld be done. This mode
of speech is adopted in order more strik
ingly to express the certainty of the
events. The metaphors, which are mixed,
are borrowed from architecture and bot
any ; the nations, with their governments,
being set forth now as buildings and
now as trees. Similar language is em
ployed chap, xviii. 7 ; xxxi. 28. As the
predictions of Jeremiah were to be pri
marily and chiefly comminatory,. the de
struction of the nations is placed first in
order, and is expressed by a greater

16

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. I. 11-14

11 Moreover the word of Jehovah was communicated to me, saying :
What seest thou, Jeremiah ? And I said : I see a shoot of an
12 almond tree. Then Jehovah said to me : Thou hast rightly
seen : for I will be early awake with respect to my word, to per
form it.
13 And the word of Jehovah was communicated to me a second time,
saying : What seest thou ? And I said, I see a pot boiling, and
14 its face is from the north. And Jehovah said to me :
From the north shall the calamity be disclosed against aU the inhab
itants of the land.

variety of terms. n53 and sq3 here
mean to rebuild and to plant again, being
expressive of the restoration of nations,
on their repentance and reformation.
The Targnm improperly restricts what
is here said to the nation of the Jews.
Jucundum paranomeon est Hebraeis in
lEinjb et y^3^ . — Zwingle.
11, 12. The form of the language here
and in verse 13 is similar to that found
in Amos vii. 8 ; viii. 2. IgliJ > '''^ almond
tree, from ip'ij , io be sleepless, awake, vig
ilant, and so-called because it wakes ear
lier from the sleep of winter than other
trees, flowering in January, and produc
ing its fruit in March. Thus Pliny,
Hist. Nat. Ix-vi. cap. 25 : Floret prima
amygdala mense Januario, Martio vero
poma maturat. It was an appropriate
symbol by which to represent the early
and sedulous execution of a purpose.
The h'pV , staff, was a shoot or branch
which had been broken off the almond
tree, the blossoms of which were still
fresh upon it. The explanation is con
tained in verse 12, in which the Lord
announces his determination to execute
with all promptitude his threatened judg
ments against the Jews.
13. Another symbol of similar import,
indicating that the judgments were ready
to burst forth, and pointing out the quar
ter from which they were to come. A
boiling pot is a common image ivith the
Orientals by which to express a severe
and destructive war. See Roscnmiiller
in loc; and comp. Ezck. xxiv. 3-14.

niSJ , blown, properly expresses the re
sult of the action by which the full blaze
of the fire under the pot was produced ;
but the boiling of the pot is understood
by implication. The passive participle
has not unfrequently. an active signifi
cation, especially in intransitive verbs
which cannot take a passive meaning.
Winer and De Wette, misled by a wrong
construction of theparagogic n in nsiSS,
render, ijQa , towards, altogether con
trary to the force of the preposition.
The fi expresses in this case, as fre
quently, not motion to a place, but rest
in it. Comp. riDiSS mbbra, "the
kingdoms of the north," ver. 15; and
with the prepositive a, nbaS^ , "from
Babylon," chap, xxvii. 16. The pot
lying somewhat on the one side towards
the south, indicated that its contents
would proceed in that direction. By its
location in the north, the abode of the
Babylonians is pointed out, whence they
were to come, and invade the land of the
Hebrews. Though more to the east than
to the north of Judea, the Hebrews al
ways represent the Babylonians as living
in, , or coming from, the north ; partly
because they usually appropriated the
term East to Arabia Deserta, stretching
from Piilostine to the Euphrates, and
partly because tliat people, not being-
able to cross the desert, had to take a
northern route when they came against
the Hebrews, and always entered their
country by the northern frontier.
14-16. An explanation of the symbol.

Chap. I. 14-17.]

JEREMIAH.

17

15 For, behold, I wiU call for all the families of the kingdoms of the
north,
Saith Jehovah ;
And they shall come.
And shall set each his throne
At the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem,
And against all her waUs round about.
And against all the cities of Judah.
1 6 And I will pronounce my judgments against them.
On account of aU their wickedness,
Because they have forsaken me.
And have burnt incense to other gods.
And worshipped the works of their own hands.
17 Thou, therefore, gird up thy loins.
And stand and speak to them aU that I shaU charge thee :

containing a direct threatening of the
invasion of Judea by the Babylonians.
That it is to them reference is made, and
not to the Scythian invasion, as Eich
hom conjectured, all are now agreed.
The LXX. have not translated mnSiaa,
families, supposing it to be included' in
the following word, nisbaa , kingdoms ;
but it is used with special propriety, not
only as tending to aggravate the calam
ity, but as expressive of the numerous
tribes or smaller nations of which the
kingdoms forming the Babylonian em
pire were composed. The two words
are in construction, and are not to be
regarded as an asyndeton. By the erec
tion of their thrones, or seats, at the gates
of Jerusalem, and the other cities of
Judea round whose walls their armies
would be encamped, the administration
of justice by the conquerors is predicted.
Quod Hebraeonim tribunalia pro portis
essent manifestum est. — Zwingle. Such
administrations would be according to
their pagan notions of right and wrong,
and not in accordance with the law of
God delivered by Moses. BBpa "13^
properly means to pronounce a judgment
or judicial sentence upon any one. See
chap, xxxix. 5 ; Iii. 9. Jehovah threat-
2*

ened the Jews with punishment on ac
count of their rebellious conduct: he
now declares he would carry his threat-
enings into effect by means of their ene
mies, who would sit in judgment and
inflict upon them the calamities which,
they had merited. The sentences deliv
ered by the foreign princes would be in
effect the judgments of God. He would
employ them as his instruments in car
rying them into execution, dnis , which
is properly the accusative, is used, here
and elsewhere in Jeremiah, instead ofthe
regular prepositive form, DHN; . Eighty-
eight MSS., however, and several early
editions, read Qpijt without the Vau.,
which would leave it optional to point
the word either nnS or nplX . Upwards
ot a hundred MSS. read, or have read,
rfiJJi'a , work, instead of liasa , works,
and the same reading is found in some
of the oldest printed editions, as it also
is in both the Syr. versions, and in the
Vnlg. Both forms occur elsewhere in
reference to idols. The LXX. have -rols
epyots. 17. The phrase " to gird up the loins "
is employed to denote resolute prepara
tion for the performance of any work.
The metaphor is taken from the custom

18

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. I. 17-19.

Be not dismayed at their faces.
Lest I confound thee before them.
18 For I, behold, I make thee this day a fortified city, and a pillar
of iron.
And a waU of brass against all the land ;
Against the kings of Judah, and against her princes.
Against her priests, and against the people of the land.
19 They may fight against thee,
But they shall not prevail against thee ;
For I am with thee, saith Jehovah,
To deliver thee.

of the Orientals, who wear long robes,
to bind them up with a girdle when
about to undertake any laborious em
ployment, or to set out on a journey,
that they may not be entangled or incom
moded by them. Comp. 2 Ifings iv. 29 ;
Job xxxviii. 3 ; Luke xii. 35 ; Eph. vi.
14. nnn , which is here used, first in
Niphal and then in Hiphil, so as to forin
a paronomasia, properly signifies to break,
break down, and, applied to the mind, to
be afraid, dismayed, confounded. If the
prophet did not exercise proper confi
dence in God, but gave way to the fear
of man, the divine support and protec
tion should be withdrawn from him, and
his enemies should be permitted to tri
umph over him.
18, 19. Reverting to the charge which
he had given to the prophet in ver. 17,
Jehovah now encourages him by assur
ances of invincible strength — the result
of the divine presence which should be
vouchsafed to him. The metaphors em
ployed in ver. 18 are very forcible, and
convey the idea of impregnability. As
no hostile weapons could affect such
objects as those here specified, equally

futile should every attack prove that
might be directed against Jeremiah. Nor
did the promise fail. We find him down
to the latest accounts which we have of
him in Egypt, notwithstanding all his
persecutions, boldly testifying against
the -ivickedness of his people. Instead
of the plural ninn , walls, the singular
nan , ¦wall, is found in twelve of De
Rossi's MSS. ; it has been originally in
seven more, and is now in two by cor
rection. It is like-wise in five ancient
editions, and occurs in the defective form
without the Vau in a great number of
MSS. and editions. The LXX., Targ.,
Syr., and Vulg. all read in the singular.
This form further commends itself as
genuine on the ground of its being the
less usual, but at the same time the
more appropriate in application to a
singular subject. I have accordingly
adopted it in the translation. as
V"lNn , I have rendered verbally the people
of the land, but the phrase has in this
place nearly the force of " the common
people," understanding thereby the mass
of. the population not included in the
three former designations.

Chap. n. 1, 2.]

JEREMIAH.

19

CHAPTER II.

Tlie prophet is charged to commence his ministry by reminding the Jews of the metrop
olis, as representing the nation, of the consecration and devotedness with which it had
served Jehovah in the early period of its history, and the protection which in conse
quence they enjoyed, 1-3; and a forcible appeal is made whetlier any reason for dissat>
isfaction with his service had been found in him, and whether, on the contrary, he had
not loaded them with benefits, 4^7 ; their ungrateful returns are then described, and
their punishment denounced, 8, 9 ; their conduct was unexampled among the heathen,
and was calculated to fill the universe with absolute consternation, 10-13 ; the calamities
that should be inflicted upon them by the Babylonians and Egyptians are next detailed,
14r-19 ; aud thence to the end of the chapter we have a lengthened description of the
incurably idolatrous disposition of the Jews, couched in highly figurative language,
and intermingled -with touching expostulations.
1 The word of Jehovah was further communicated to me, saying :
2 Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying :
Thus saith Jehovah :

1 . "^ATnle the commission contained in
the preceding chapter was general, and
had a bearing on the whole of the proph
et's future life, that here given was
special, and the execution of it formed
the first step of his prophetic career.
The year in which he delivered the mes
sage is not here specified ; but there can
be little doubt from what is stated, chap.
i. 2, that it was the thirteenth year of
Josiah, whom he must greatly have sup
ported in the attempted reformation
which that pious young monarch had
commenced the pre-vious year, and which
he carried more fully out in the eigh
teenth year of his reign.
2. 'nibn may either be considered as
the infinitive absolute, employed instead
of the imperative, for the purpose of
rendering the command more emphatic ;
or it may be regarded as an abbreviated
form of the infinitive followed by the
finite verb, •rj^'n T|ibn . Comp. for such
usage, list , Exod. xx. 8 ; "liaU , Dent.
V. 12 ; and for the full form see -ibt
13tn , Dent. vii. 18 ; IJITaOn liac'.
Dent. vi. 17. Jerusalem, as frequently, is
used by metonymy for the inhabitants of
the metropolis, to whom, as the most guil

ty portion of the nation, and tne source
whence idolatry spread throughout the
land, the prophet is charged to deliver
his message. Interpreters are greatly
divided in regard to the construction of
the meaning of this verse. According
to the force of the words, it may either
describe the conduct of Jehovah towards
the Jewish people, in conferring distin
guished favors upon them at the com
mencement of their national histoiy, or
it may set forth the zeal and piety which
they had e-vinced at that early period,
and which so strikingly contrasted -with
their idolatrous practices in the time of
the prophet. The former view is that
adopted by Miinster, Clarins, Vatablus,
Strigelius, Grotius, Dathe, Blayney, Kos-
enmiiller, Maurer, and Scholz ; the lat
ter, which is exhibited in the Targum,
and is approved by Kimchi, Michaelis,
Dahler, Hitzig, Umbreit, and Ewald, is
that, however, which better agrees with
the context ; for, after adducing the
early attachment of the people of Israel
to Jehovah as the only God, and their
separation from all other nations to his
service, in consequence of which they
enjoyed his protection, God asks, in the

20

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. II. 2, 3

I remember in regard to thee.
The kindness of thy youth.
The love of thine espousals.
Thy following of me in the desert.
In a land unsown.
Israel was holiness to Jehovah,
The first-fruits of his produce.
AU who devoured him contracted guilt,
CaK,mity came upon them,
Saith Jehovah.

4th verse, why it was that their ances
tors had abandoned hira and his service ?
Now this question would have no point
except on the supposition of previous
allegiance. Avowals and proofs of such
allegiance are frequently to be met with
in their earliest history. At $inai they
declared : " All that the Lord hath spo
ken we will do," Exod. xix. 8 ; Deut. v.
27, — a declaration which they subse
quently repeated, Exod. xxiv. 3. Wit
ness also the willingness -with which
they consecrated their offerings as mate
rials for the tabernacle, etc., Exod. xxxv.
20-29, which was so great that it was
found necessary to restrain them from
bringing more, Exod. xxxvi. 6, 7. To
which add the solemn protestation which
they made to Joshua, chap. xxiv. 16-22.
It is true, their conduct was frequently
provokingly rebellious, and of this they
were ever and anon reminded ; but ex
cept iu the case of the molten image and
that of Baal-peor, which were merely
single and temporary acts, they were not
guilty of open or national idolatry, but
worshipped Jehovah alone, to the exclu
sion of all idols, during the earliest
period of their national history. And it
is this, and not their moral conduct gen
erally, with which that of their descend
ants in the time of Jeremiah so awfully
contrasted, which forms the theme of
the present discourse. It might seem,
indeed, at first sight, that this view of
the subject is flatly contradicted by Deut.
xxxii. 16, 17; but it', as is generally

supposed, the Song of Moses is to bcs
regarded as descriptive of the future
character of the Israelites, the passage
-will not apply to the early history of
that people ; or, if it does describe the
past, the reference may be specifically to
the worship of Baal-peor, Numb. xxv.
Nor can the apparently strong passage,
Ezek. XX. 5-8, be fairly adduced in oppo
sition to the -view here advocated, since
the reference there is expressly limited
to the conduct of the Israelites in Egypt,
and cannot be extended so as to include
a description of their character at Sinai,
and immediately aftei-wards in the wil
derness. The D'^lll'J , youthful age of the He
brew nation is more specially defined by
nib>li3 , the corresponding term in the
second member of the parallelism. By
this is meant not the bridal-state, as given
by Gesenius, but the period elapsing from
the betrothal to the nuptials. The root
is hh'S , to finish, make ready, prepare, and,
as some think, to crown, whence it has
been inferred that Hebrew brides wore
crowns before their marriage. Applied
figuratively to the Hebrews, as a people,
the term describes the time of their his
tory from the exodus till the mai-riage
contract was formally executed at Sinai.
When God took them by the hand to
lead them out of Egypt, he betrothed
them to himself; and when he gave
them the covenant from the mount, he
took them fully into the conjugal rela
tion. The period immediately succeed-

Chap. II. 3-6.]

JEREMIAH.

21

4 Hear ye the word of Jehovah, 0 house of Jacob,
And aU ye families of the house of Israel,
5 What injustice did your fathers find in me,
That they removed far from me.
And foUowed vanity and became vain ?
6 They said not : Where is Jehovah ?
Wlio brought us up from the land of Egypt,
Who led us through the desert,
Through a land of sterility and pits.

ing this transaction is next noticed,
during which Jehovah led them through
the uncultivated desert, and there was
no strange god -with him, Deut. xxxii.
12. "rk is here neither the Dativus corn-
modi nor incommodi, but simply the prep
osition of reference, the only effect of
which is to give greater emphasis to the
style. The phrase i"int< "rhn , to walk
after, ox follow, is of frequent occurrence
in this book, -with the meaning, to ad
dict oneself to the service of any object
of worship. Comp. ver. 5.
3. At the time referred to in this and
the preceding verse, the Hebrews were
consecrated to the sole service of Jeho
vah. They externally corresponded to
the motto on the breastplate of the high-
priest, m'nib \ijlp , Holiness to Jeho
vah — the very words here put into the
mouth of Jeremiah. Comp. Deut. vii.
6 ; xiv. 2,21. The same idea is con
veyed in the following clause of the
verse, in a metaphor borrowed from the
practice enjoined upon the Hebrews of
devoting the first-fruits of the land to
the house of the Lord, Exod. xxiii. 19 ;
Numb, xviii. 12, 13. They were the
first of the nations that worshipped the
true God. nsian properly means in
come, from the verb sia , to come, come
into, and is usually applied to the prod
uce of the field. Instead of the afiix rt ,
very many MSS. read i ; but the former,
though the less frequent, occurs sufii-
ciently often to warrant our considering
it to be genuine, nnxian ," her or its
produce," found in two MSS., is of no

authority. Carrying forward the idea
of the first-fruits, aud superadding that
of their being eaten, Jehovah declares,
that all who ate or devoured (bas , to
eat), i.e. injured, or attempted to destroy
his people, only thereby brought destruc
tion upon themselves. We see this veri
fied in the overthrow or extirpation of
the Amalekites, Amorites, and other na
tions hostile to Israel.
4. The designations here employed
are not intended to apply to the two
tribes and to the ten distinctively, but
form a parallelism, expressive of univer
sality. 5. The appeal here made, though im
mediately addressed to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, was made to all Hebrews,
whether resident in Palestine or cap
tives in foreign lands. No appeal could
have been more cogent. It was impos
sible to accuse Jehovah of injustice in
any part of his conduct towards them.
This Moses emphatically taught them
in his song, Deut. xxxii. 4. Yet tho
fathers had most unreasonably and un
gratefully exchanged his service for that
of idols — n^ban , vain, empty, and impo
tent objects, the worship of which im
printed their character on the worship
pers. Comp. Psalm cxv. 8.
6. A most graphic description of the
vast desert of Arabia Petraea, lying
between the Red Sea and Palestine,
through which the Israelites wandered
tor the space of forty years. Dr. Robin
son, describing a portion of it, says ; " A
more frightful desert it had hardly been

22

JEREMIAH

[Chap. II. 6-8

Through a land of drought and death-shade.
Through a land which no man traversed,
And where no man dwelt.
7 I brought you also into a garden-land,
To eat of its fruit, and its goodly produce ;
But ye came in, and defiled my land.
And rendered my inheritance abominable.
8 The priests said not : Where is Jehovah ?
And those who handle the law knew me not ;
The shepherds also rebeUed agamst me.
And the prophets prophesied by Baal,
And followed objects which cannot profit.

our lot to behold. The mountains be
yond presented a most uninviting and
hideous aspect; precipices and naked
conical peaks of chalky and gravelly
formation rising one above another,
without a sign of life or vegetation."
Vol. ii. p. 502. The whole country,
indeed, is made up of arid and barren
plains, intersected by rocky mountains,
amid the precipices of which are depths
and caverns of the most horrid gloom.
Though here and there an oa,sis appears,
yet the general character of the desert is
that of sterility, desolation, and dreari
ness. 7. Not only did God watch over and
protect the Iraelites from the numerous
and fearful dangers to which they were
exposed in the wilderness, but he intro
duced them into a country presenting
a complete contrast to it — a paradise
abounding with all kinds of delightful
and enriching produce. Yet, when put
in possession of it, instead of enjoying it
in the fear and service of their divine
Benefactor, they desecrated it, by adopt
ing the abominable idolatries of the
neighboring nations, and devoting its
produce to the maintenance of idolatrous
worship. See Judges ii. 10-17, To
bring the charge more directly home to
the then living generation, there is a
change of person from the third to the
second,

8. The three leading classes whose
influence was most powerful are here
specially selected for reprobation. The
priests who were consecrated to the im
mediate service of Jehovah in the temple
were regardless of his presence ; they
did not even wish to realize the idea of
him. The expounders of the law, who
appear to have belonged to the order of
priests (see Micah iii. 11 ; Mal. ii. 7),
were ignorant of its contents. The civil
rulers took an active part in violating
the fundamental law of the theocracy.
And the prophets, instead of reclaiming
both high and low from theii- apostasy,
encouraged it by oracular announce
ments professing to have been obtained
from Baal, the great idol-god of the
Phoenicians and other surrounding na
tions. Kings and other higher rulers
are fi-equently called shepherds in Scrip
ture, because it is their office to guide,
nourish, and protect those over whom
they are placed. \usn signifies to handle,
treat, be occupied with anything, and is
here used, in the participial form, to de
scribe those whoso profession consisted
in teaching the contents of divine revela
tion generally, not in what -n'e should
call practising the law, in the confined
legal acceptation ofthe term. Michaelis,
led away by the signification of the Ger
man verb, handeln, to handle, arbitrarily
forces a satire into the passage, suppos-

Chap. n. 9-13.]

JEREMIAH.

23

9 Wherefore I wUl further contend with you,
Saith Jehovah,
And -with your chUdren's chUdren wUl I contend.
10 For cross over to the coasts of Chittim, and see ;
And send to Kedar, and consider weU,
And see whether there be anything Uke this,
11 Hath a nation changed gods, though they are not God?
But my people hath changed its glory
For an object wliich cannot profit,
12 Be astonished, 0 ye heavens, at this,
Tea, be ye horrified.
Be ye utterly amazed,
Saith Jehovah,
13 For my people have committed two evUs :
Me they have forsaken^ the Fountain of li-ving water,
To hew out for themselves cisterns.
Broken cisterns, which contain no water.

ing the persons spoken of to be repre
sented as having the book of the law
always in their hands, but never opening
it, or paying any attention to its dictates.
9. So inveterate had idolatrous habits
become, that there was no prospect of the
cessation of divine judgments until they
should have been entirely rooted out by
their infliction.
10; 11. The idolatrous Israelites are
directed to repair to the pagan nations
both in the West and the East, in order
to find, if they could, a single instance
in which any of them had thro-wn away
the objects of their worship, however
incapable they had proved of affording
them any advantage, and adopted the
equally impotent idols of some other na
tion in their place. No such instance
was to be found. How unexampled,
therefore, and how contrary to the uni
versal feeling of mankind, the conduct
of the Hebrews in exchanging the glori
ous object of their worship, the only
living and true God, from whom they
had received such distinguished benefits,
for gods of wood and stone ! Diin3 ,
a gentiUc noun, denoting originally the

inhabitants of Cyprus, a colony of Phoe
nicians, who founded on that island the
city of Citium, the modern Chitti. As,
like the other Phoenicians, they carried
on commerce ou the Mediterranean, the
term came to be extended to all the
islands and maritime coasts of that sea,
especially those of Greece, "ns , strict
ly the Kedarenes, descendants of Ishmael ;
but the name came to be extended to
the Bedoweens generally, who occupied
the regions to the east of Palestine.
The Bast and West are thus beautifully
placed in juxta-position.
12, 13. In D'^aUJ !iaiU is an evident
paranomasia. A noble instance of bold
and impassioned prosopopoeia. The
conduct of the Israelites was so atrocious,
that it was calculated to fill the very
heavens that -witnessed it with amaze
ment and horror. There is great force
in placing the pronoun ipiix , me, before
the verb in this instance ; the effect of
which is to give a marked degree of
prominence to the glorious Source of
being and blessedness, who had been
abandoned for the mere nonentities of
heathen veneration. The Hebrews were

24

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. II. 13-15

14 Was Israel a slave ? Was he home-born?
Why is he become a spoil ?
15 The young lions roar at him,
They give forth their yell ;
They make his land desolate.
His cities are burnt up.
Without inhabitant.

accustomed to give the name Qifln d";!?,
living water, to that which welled out from
a fountain, and flowed along as if pos
sessing the property of life, in opposition
to that which formed a dead and stag
nant pool. With the full and ovei-flow-
ing fountain Jehovah here contrasts cis
terns which had become dilapidated, rent,
and cracked, and instead of giving forth,
could not even retain the water that
might be poured into them. A striking
emblem of the utter worthlessness of the
objects of idolatrous worship, and, as it
respects man's highest wants, everything
of an earthly nature. Receptacles for
holding rain-water are very common
in the East, especially in cities and
along the roads. Of fountains and
streams there is a great lack ; and as the
summer months frequently pass without
rain, it becomes a matter of importance
to preserve it in cisterns or tanks. In
stances of disagreement in gender, such
as Qi^a'ijs nSxJa , in which the construc
tion is iiot formal but logical, i.e. ad
sensum, are too common, and too famil
iar to every Hebrew scholar, to warrant
the emendation of Blayney, who for
Di"i31233 proposes to read ni"ia\lJ3 .
14-16. Hitzig improperly takes 133
to refer to the service of God, and not to
a state of slavery. The parallel "ii^i
ni3 , iiom in the house, determines the
latter to be the true meaning, this phrase
never being used of anything else ; so
that the position taken by Blayney, who
interprets it of a son of the family, cannot
be sustained. The natural answer to
the question here put is. No ; Israel was
Jehovah's son, even his first-born (Exod.
iv. 22). It has been questioned whether

these verses describe past historical
events, or whether they are prophetic of
the future. Eichhorn and Dahler, tak
ing the name Israel iu its restricted
meaning in application to the ten tribes,
suppose the reference to be to their hav
ing been removed by the Assyrians, and
reduced to a state of servitude ; a fate
which the Jews might like-wise expect
if they put their confidence in the Egyp
tians. But for this opinion there does
not appear to be sufficient ground. The
Jews, who are addressed, ver. 16, are
identified with Israel in the preceding
verses, as the continuation of the address
in ver. 1 7 shows. Though jyr'n , ver. 14,
imparts its influence to the following
futures, so as to give' them a past bear
ing, yet they all mark the prophetic
future, which assumes the form of the
past, in order to express the certainty of
the events. The English present has
something of the same force. The lan
guage is anticipative of what would soon
take place in the history of the Jews.
The young lions denote the Babylonian
princes, who were to invade and lay des
olate the land. For the roaring of the
lion, see on Amos iii. 4. Instead of
nnS3 , it, i.e. the land, is burned, the
Keri has iipsj ^ they, i.e. the cities. This
reading is supported by the text of many
MSS. and of two ancient editions. The
LXX. have read !|Sn3 , Karea-Kdcttritrav,
and have been followed by the Targ. and
the Syr. Noph and TaJipanhes were two
ancient cities of Egypt ; the former,
called by the Greeks Memphis, was the
celebrated capital of the lower division
of the country, and was situated on the
western bank of the Nile, at a short

Chap. II. 16-19.]

JEREMIAH.

25

1 6 Even the sons of Noph and Tahpanhes
Feed down the crown of thy head,
17 Hast thou not done this to thyself.
Forsaking Jehovah thy God,
At the time when he led thee in the way ?
18 And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt,
To drink the water of Shihor ?
And what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria,
To drink the water of the river ?
19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee.
And thy apostate deeds shall chastise thee :

distance from the pyramids of Gizeh,
and from Cairo, the modern capital, on
the opposite bank. See my Comment.
on Isaiah xix. 13. GSann , or, accord
ing to the Keri and the textual reading
of many of the best MSS. and that of
the earliest editions, bnisrin , and sup
posed by some to be abbreviated by Isa
iah xxx. 4, into &3n , was no doubt the
strongly fortified city of Daphne, situated
ou the Tanitic branch of the Nile, near
Pelusium, on the frontier of Egypt tow
ards Palestine. LXX. Titpvi). Being
one of the important cities of Egypt with
which the Jews came in contact, it and
the capital came to be used by them as
standing for the country, or the govern
ment itself. The event here predicted
was doubtless the invasion of Judea by
Pharaoh-Necho on his return from the
Euphrates, on which occasion he deposed
Jehoahaz, and condemned the land to a
heavy tribute of silver and gold, which
he carried with him into Egypt. 2 Kings
xxiii. 33-35. The previous melancholy
death of Josiah may be included. The
construction in l'p"lp 'nWT' is the same
as in ©k'I ?;S11IJ'; arid api" iiSSTOPi , Gen.
iii. 15. The hair of the head being held
in high estimation among the Hebrews,
baldness was regarded as ignominious
and humbling. To this condition the
Jewish kingdom was reduced by the
Egyptian monarch, in whose aid against
the Babylonians they were ever prone
to trust. This last circumstance accounts
3

for the emphatic use of ns , even, at the
commencement of the verse, ti WT' 'h^
LXX. have mistaken for 'nWTi. The
Syr. adopts the root J)S1.
17. Most of the moderns take HNT to
be the nominative to the verb, and in
apposition -with 'natJ' , and render : " Is
it not this that hati procured it to thee
— thy forsaking," etc. ; but the common
rendering seems more appropriate, as it
includes both the agent and the act,
charging directly upon the former the
guilt contracted by the latter. By the
way is meant the right way, the way of
the Lord ; and the leading of the Jews
therein denotes the whole of the moral
training which they enjoyed under the
Mosaic dispensation. In spite of every
motive to the contrary, they forsook
Jehovah as the object of their fear and
confidence. 18, 19. In the former of these verses
there is a distinct recognition of the
strong propensity of the Jews to put
their confidence in the Assyrians and
Egyptians alternately, according as the
arms of either could be rendered avail
able on their behalf. Their drinking of
the water of their rivers is expressive of
their obtaining from them the means of
re-invigoration when oppressed by their
enemies. By the rpfl , loay of those
two nations, some thint their idolatrous
religion is meant ; but there is no his
torical proof that the Jews ever repaired
to Egypt or Assyria for the purpose of

26

JEREMIAH

[Chap. IL 19, 20.

Know, therefore, and see that thy forsaking Jehovah thy God
Is an evU, and a bitter thing ;
And that the fear of me is not in thee,
Saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts.
20 Surely of old thou hast broken thy yoke,
Thou hast burst thy bonds,
And hast said : I will not obey.

adopting the idols of these countries.
The hypothesis is founded upon the ad
mitted fact that the word sometimes
signifies religion, and has been thought
to derive support from its having been
employed in this acceptation in the pre
ceding verse. The circumstance, how
ever, just adverted to forms an insuper
able objection to its adoption. nns ,
now, at the beginning of the verse, is to
be taken, not in its temporal, but in its
ratiocinative acceptation. Gesenius,
Winer, and Roscnmiiller, foUo-wing the
rendering of the LXX., Ti aoi Koi ry iS^,
render "iini 'H^'na , " What is there
common tb't'hee and the way," etc., and
suppose the phrase to correspond to
'r^^ liiTia , " What is there to me and
to thee 1 " i.e. what is there in common
to US'? what have we to do with each
other % but there is no instance in which
this idiomatic form occurs without the
copula, and there is no necessity for sup
posing an ellipsis to exist in the present
case. By "finxq , Shihor, i.e. the Black
Eiver, is meant the Nile, which is so
called on account of its muddy and tur
bid appearance, and especially of the
black deposit or soil which it leaves after
the inundations. For the same reason
it obtained the corresponding name of
Ne\as from the Greeks. Comp. Isa. xxiii.
3. The LXX. have Tiiiiv, Gihon, the
name of one of the rivers of Paradise,
which the ancients very preposterously
believed to bo the Nile, and which Gese
nius and some others view in the same
light, "ilij , the River Kar i^oxhn, means,
both with and without the article, the
Euphrates, and is here used metaphori
cally to denote the Babylonian power,

just as Shihor, or the Nile, is to denote
that of Egypt. ISi , ver. 19, is not to
be taken in the milder signification of
instruct, as Michaelis proposes, but in
the severer one of punish, castigate.
n^Din, which primarily signifies to con
vince, prove, and the like, has also here
the severer signification oi punish, correct
by aiflictive discipline, niailtc , apos
tasies, or apostate deeds, in the plural, to
express the number and variety of defec
tions from Jehovah -with which the Jews
were chargeable. The very confederacies
into which the Jews entered with liea-
then powers, proved the occasion of their
overthrow. They were, therefore, by
their renunciation of confidence in Jeho
vah, and their transfer of it to those
powers, themselves the authors of the
calamities which befell them. i in ^i"i!|
is illative, and is to be rendered therefore.
'^J)'^ and ix"! are coupled together, just
as S)^ and 'na are, for the sake of emphar
sis. The preposition ix in the phrase,
"i^^. ¦'n^nS , is expressive, not of mo
tion to a place, but of rest in it, as Deut.
xvi. 6 ; 1 Kings viii. 30. The affix in
T'nnQ is that of object, and not of
possession. 20. Instead of reading ip^aa and
^npn? as the first person, tlie words
should be pointed, >>t:i-i3tij and ipipnj ,
a form of the second' persou feminine
which is very common in Jeremiah. See
ver. 33 ; chap. iii. 4, 5 ; iv. 19 ; xiii. 21 ;
xxii. 23; xxxi. 21 ; xlvi. 11. Comp.
Ezek. xvi. 13, 19. This feminine afform-
ative is a fragment of the less frequent
form of the second personal pronoun of
the feminine gender ipix , tlie more
ancient pronunciation oi' wldch must

Chap. n. 20-22.]

JEREMIAH.

27

Surely upon every high hiU,
And under every green tree.
Thou hast stretched thyself, O harlot.
21 I indeed, planted thee a noble vine,
WhoUy a genuine seed :
How then art thou changed with respect to me
Into the degenerate shoots of a strange vine ?
22 Though thou wash thyself with nitre.
And take thee much potash,
Yet thine iniquity is ingrained before me,
Saith the Lord Jehovah.

have been ips , as the Syriac still has
it. It is found here in the text of one
or two MSS., and has the support of the
LXX., Arab., Hexaplar, Syr., and Vulg.;
and in the latter verb, of Aquila and
Theodotion. It is also approved by
Aurivillius, Michaelis, Blayney, Rosen-
miiUer, Scholz, Maurer, and Hitzig.
The context requires the verbs to be
thus read, it being less suitable to intro
duce here the deliverance of the Jews
from oppression by their enemies, than
to insist upon their long-continued habit
of breaking through the restraints of the
divine law. " Thy yoke," and " thy
bands," mean the yoke and bands laid
upon thee. Comp. chap. v. 5. Eor
liaSS N'i , J^ '"^11 '^t serve, a great num
ber of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS.,
and more than thirteen editions, exhibit
"liaSK N'b , I ^^^ "ot transgress, which
is the reading of the Keri ; but this lec
tion is approved by none of the moderns,
Zunz and Ewald alone excepted. The
LXX. has oil SovKevffa aoi. njiS is the
feminine participle of n»2£ , to turn, in
cline, hend, stretch out, oneself; and is
here employed metaphorically, to express
the act of prostration to idols. Thus
Roscnmiiller : Prophetae mens est, Ju-
daeos, in falsorum numinum honorem
passim se inclinantes, aeque foedo et iu-
fami flagitio se inquinare, ac meretricem,
sine ullo pudore se inclinantem ad cor
pus vulgo publicandum. Quae compa-
ratio eo luculentior est, quod soleant

Sacri Scriptores idololatriae turpitudinem
per scortationis figuram exprimere. The
Jews had become lost to all sense of
shame, and indulged in idol-worship
wherever it was practised.
21 . See my »ote on Isaiah v. 3, and
comp. Psalms Ixxx. 9, where the same
metdphor is similarly employed. The
absence of the article before an adjective,
as in ni"i33 , is not without other exam
ples. See chap. xxii. 26 ; Gen. xxix.
2 ; Ezek. xxxix. 27.
22. The inveterate proneness of the
Jews to idolatry is here forcibly ex
pressed. There may be a reference in
what is said about washing to the refor
mation begun by Josiah, which was
compulsory, and not voluntary on their
part. Their outward profession was
specious, but it was altogether hollow
and insincere. "inS, nitre, is not the
substance now krio-wn by this name,
which is the saltpetre of commerce, but
the natron of Egypt and other parts of
the East, — a mineral alkali which is
found deposited at the bottom of lakes
in a thick incrustation after the summer
heat has evaporated the water. It was
used for washing linen, and other house
hold purposes. n''"ia , potash, the 03,^-
bonate of which is obtained in an impure
state from the burning of different plants,
especially the kali, found in Egypt and
Arabia. See on Isa. i. 25. It was like
wise used, mixed with oil, for washing.
To DHSS all the ancient versions attach

28

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. II. 22-24.

23 How canst thou say : I am not poUuted ;
I have not followed the Baals ?
Look at thy way in the valley ;
Know what thou hast done :
A light young she-camel rambling in her courses ;
24 A wild ass accustomed to the desert.
In her strong desire she snufieth up the wind ;
As for her heat, who can repel it ?
None of aU that seek her shaU be wearied ;
In her month they wUl find her.

the idea of spotted ; but this idea ill ac
cords with the special iniquities here
referred to, as such may be predicated
of all iniquity. Neither is the significa
tion hidden, derived from the Arabic
abscondit, any more appropriate

F'

in connexion with the face of Jehovah,
sin being uniformly represented in Scrip
ture as open to his view. I, therefore,
agree with Dr. Meier, who in his Lexi
con of Hebrew Roots, p. 347, adopts
the signification which Kimchi expresses
by tDffl"iD , out in, engraven, etc. I have
rendered the verb by ingrained, which
denotes what cannot be washed or re
moved out of anything, and seems best
to suit the connexion. bnS and ariB
are cognates.
23. Kijn, the valley kot' i^oxh", is
the Valley of Hinnom, which runs along
the south side of mount Zion, and was
infamous for the celebration of the hor
rid rites of Moloch in the times of the
idolatrous kings of Judah. 2 Kings
xxiii. 10; Jer. vii. 31. These rites were
abolished by Josiah, who rendered the
place abominable by ordering the bones
of the dead to be cast into it, from which
time it became a receptacle for the filth
of the city, and was kno-wn by the name
of Tophet, which signifies loathing or
abomination, a name, however, given to
it in the time of Isaiah. See on chap.
xxx. 33. The LXX. have iroKvarSpiov,
i.fe. tho place of the multitude of dead
bodies, with manifest reference to chap.

vii. 32. Moloch was one of the Baals
to the worship of which the Jews were
addicted. Their unsteady, wanton, and
roving conduct — now engaging in the
service of Jehovah, and now in that of
Moloch and other heathen deities — could
only be fitly represented by the light-
footed, young female camel, running in
all directions in quest of a male. The
participle chosen to express this rambling
about is very emphatic — the verb Trvo
signifying to interweave, and in applica
tion to a course, to make it take every
direction, so as to resemble a thicket,
the branches of which cross each other
at all points.
24. n'nS, or xnB as it is spelt in a
great nuiriber of M'SS. and several edi
tions, the onager, or -wild ass of the mule
kind, remarkable for its velocity, and
StiH found iu a -wild state in the deserts
of central Asia. The vehemence with
which the female of this species of ani
mals courses the desert in pursuit of »
male, snuffing the wind in order to ascer
tain where one may be found, is further
selected to set forth the uncontrollable
impulse to idolatry which dwelt in the
hearts of the Jews. For 1\2JS5 , seventy-
eight MSS., originally eleveii more, and
some of the earlier editions, read niUSJ .
njsn , heat, fervent inclination, sexual
- *
impulse, fi-om the Arab. yj| fervet,
suinmo ardoreferbuit aqua. By the. month
of the wild ass is meant the pai'ticular
season when the impulse for copulation

Chap. II. 25-28.]

JEREMIAH.

29

25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod,
And thy throat from thirst :
But thou sayest : It is hopeless ;
No ; I have loved strangers,
And after them I wUl go,
26 As a thief is put to shame when found,
So the house of Israel are put to shame ;
They, their kings, their princes.
Their priests, and their prophets,
27 Who say to a block. Thou art my father.
And to a stone. Thou hast borne me ;
For they have turned to me the back, and not the face ;
Yet in the time of their calamity they wiU say :
Arise, and deUver us,
28 But where are thy gods which thou hast made for thyself?
Let them arise, if they can deUver thee in the time of
calandty ;
For according to the number of thy cities
Are thy gods, O Judah.

thy

was strongest. Instead of then keeping
to the desert, she would be found fre
quenting those places in which the tame
asses were in pasture ; so that there would
be no difficulty in finding her.
25. Eichhorn, Roscnmiiller, and some
others consider the reference here to be
to idolatrous acts viewed as those of a
lewd person, who not only exposes her
self, but cries out for paramours, Hit
zig thinks that the walking barefoot has
respect to religious penance, to which
1 Jews submitted in the service of idols,
and that the thirst was occasioned by
the loud and continued invocations which
they presented to them. The more
probable meaning is, that they are ex
horted no longer to undertake ftnitless
journeys to places of idolatrous worship,
in performing which they wore out their
shoes, injured their feet, and exposed
themselves to extreme thirst. 'rU'i'ii is
properly corrected in the Keri into 'JHl'ia
The latter half of the verse expresses the
desperate resolution of the hardened and
3*

incorrigible to persevere in their -wicked
courses. 26-28. That " the house of Israel " is
not here to be understood of the ten
tribes, but of all the Plebrews at the
time remaining in the Holy Land, is
sufficiently determined by the adoption
of the designation Judah in ver. 28.
The declaration made in ver. 26, is an
ticipative of the state to which the apos
tate Jews should be reduced at the cap
tivity. They might then apply to their
idols for deliverance, but, numerous as
they were, not one of them would be
able to afford any help. Besides certain
deities which they worshipped in com
mon, each city had its own tutelary god
from which protection was expected.
Though !i5nlbi , the reading ofthe Keri,
has the suffrage of upwards of sixty
MSS., several printed editions, and the
Targum, yet the textual ijn'i^'^. is sup
ported by the LXX., Arab.,' Syr , and
Vulg. There are also MSS. in which
the Keri is altogether omitted.

30

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. U. 29-32.

29 To what purpose wiU ye contend with me ?
Ye have, aU of you, rebeUed against me,
Saith Jehovah.
30 In vain I have smitten your chUdren,
They have not taken reproof ;
Your own sword hath devoured your prophets,
Like a destroying Uon.
31 O ye the generation !
Regard the word of Jehovah.
Have I been a desert to Israel ?
Or a land of darkness ?
' Why do my people say : We ramble at large ;
We will come to thee no more ?
32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments ?
A bride her girdles ?

29, 30. It was in the highest degree
presumptuous to bring any charge
against Jehovah for leaving them at the
mercy of their enemies ; they had trans
ferred their allegiance from him to other
gods, and had no claim on his protec
tion. They had only themselves to
blame for what befell them. They had
been partially visited -with afllictive cir
cumstances with a -view to the correction
of the evils to which they were addicted,
but these had produced no real reforma
tion. By D'^32 , children, ver. 30, we are
to understand the people of the Jews
themselves, comprehending the parents
as well as their offspring. The univer
sality of the language in ver. 29 shows
this. Instead of listening to the warn
ings of the prophets whom Jehovah had
sent to them, they put them to death.
Comp. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 16 ; Matt, xxiii.
30, 31.
31. Though li^in and nFlS are sep
arated by the Rebiah, they are intimately
connected. The exclamation is highly
impassioned. Its apostate character was
so flagrant and unparalleled, that the
generation required only to be men
tioned' in order to call its features prom
inently into view. The questions here
put are to be met 'with the most pointed

negative. So far was Jehovah from
proving a niggardly and austere sover
eign to the Jews, that he had evinced
himself to be their most liberal benefac
tor. Nothing but wantonness could
have induced them to renounce their
subjection to him. n'^iexa , from Vgs ,
^^ r:~:-'
Arab. J3| , to set, as the sun, and so to
become or be dark. A variety in point
of orthography is found in the MSS.,
but evidently either from negligence or
conjecture. The noun is compounded
of basa, darkness, and ni (for (Tji) the
abbreviation of niili , Jehovah ; i.e. dark
ness of Jehovah, such as he only could
produce. It is more expressive than
niois , death-shade, and is the strongest
term' by which darkness is expressed in
Hebrew. Comp. as to form, n^insnilT ,
Song -viii. 6. For "isn , to ramble aiout,
in an unbridled manner, see my Com
ment, on Hos. xii. 1. The Jews had
thrown off the reins, and rambled at
large in pursuit of idolatrous gratifica
tion. Their determination to persevere
in such a course is strongly expressed
by the declaration that they would no
more return to the service of Jehovah.
32. Image upon image is selected in
order to prove to the Jews the inconsist-

Chap. II. 32-37.]

JEREMIAH.

31-

Yet my people have forgotten me
Days without number.
33 WTiy trimmest thou thy way to seek love ?
Surely thou hast taught even the wicked females thy ways.
34 Even in thy skirts hath been found
The blood of poor, innocent souls ;
Not by deep search have I found them,
But upon aU these.
35 Yet thou sayest : Because I am innocent.
Surely his anger wUl turn back from me ;
Behold, I wUl enter into judgment with thee,
Because thou sayest : I have not sinned.
36 Wliy gaddest thou about so much to change thy way ?
Thou shalt also be ashamed of Egypt,
As thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
37 Thence also thou shalt go forth
With thy hands on thy head ;
For Jehovah hath despised the objects of thy confidence,
And thou shalt have no success through them.

ency of their conduct. The Oriental
females wear a great profusion of orna
ments, such as rings, nose and ear jew
els, bracelets, etc., many of them of great
value and beauty. In these, and in
their girdles, which are often beautifully
embroidered, they greatly pride them
selves. The dresses and ornaments of
brides are particularly gay and impos
ing. 33. 'n"i^ , ¦way, here signifies mode of
procedure, course of life. The Jews em
ployed every possible means to render
their idolatrous practices attractive and
gratifying. They were more practised
in the arts of seduction than abandoned
females. The redundant i in ipi'iBb is
a fragment of the less frequent form of
the feminine pronoun ipix . It occurs
especially in Jeremiah arid Ezekiel, but
Is uniformly removed in the Keri.
34. Of Manasseh it is recorded, that
" he shed innocent blood very much, till
he had filled Jerusalem from one end to
another." 2 Kings xxi. 16. Such atroc
ities had not been perpetrated in sub

terraneous caverns, as too horrible to
bear the light of day, but openly in the
valley of Hinnom, within the sacred
precincts of the temple, and in other
places about Jerusalem. These are
graphically pointed to for the sake of
effect. 35. Nothing but the hardening influ
ence of depravity can induce men who
are sunk in the very depth of crime to
make an avowal of innocence. Yet, how
frequently is this exhibited in the history
of our race !
36. litpi for ibjNn- See Gesen. Heb.
Gram. ^ ' 67, 2. JEstranged from Jeho
vah as the true object of confidence, the
Jews turned now to one quarter and
now to another for help — modo Assyr-
ios, modo Aegyptios. — C. B. Michaelis.
To whichsoever of these two great pow
ers they might apply, nothing but disap
pointment was the result. See 2 Chron.
xxviii. 16-21 ; Jer. xxxvii. 7, 8.
37. nt, this refers to the king of
Egypt, to whom the Jews applied for
help against the Babylonians ; but, as

32

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. HI. 1, 2.

the name of the country is put in the the head is a very natural attitude of
preceding verse for the ruling power, a mourning. Comp. 2 Sam. xiii. 19. The
local signification must be given to it in preposition in en^ marks the dative of
the translation. Putting the hands on instrumentality, as Psalm xii. 5.

CHAPTER m.
The first five verses of this chapter contain a brief discourse, separately communicated to
the prophet, in which Jehovah, contrary to all expectation, promises to give the Jews
a gracious reception, if they would only return to him in sincerity. With the sixth
verse a new portion of the book begins, which is continued to the end of the sixth chap
ter. It begins by charging the Jews -with having rendered themselves more guilty
than the ten tribes whose kingdom had been entirely destroyed as a punishment for
their idolatry, 6-11. An invitation is then given to these tribes to turn to God by true
repentance, together with a promise of the renewal of covenant engagements, and the
restoration of pious and skilful rulers, 12-15. Next follows a prediction of gospel times,
when the Hebrews generally should be restored, and the Gentiles called into the
church, 16-19. And the chapter concludes with mingled expressions of repentance on
the part ofthe people, and of gracious assurances on that of Jehovah, 20-25.
1 Further, if a man send away Ms wife,
And she go from him, and become another man's,
Will he return to her again ?
Should not that land be greatly polluted ?
But thou hast committed lewdness with many paramours.
Yet return to me, saith Jehovah,
2 Rais^ thine eyes to the high places.
And look where thou hast not been lain with ;

1. Though ^asb, saying, is wanting
in one MS. and has nothing correspond
ing to it in the LXX., Arab., and Syr.
versions, there can be no doubt of its
being genuine. The only satisfactory
way of accounting for its occupying its
isolated and anomalous position is to
suppose, that the words hin''"131 inil
nbs have been ondtted by some' early
copyist, and that the omission has been
perpetuated in transcription. Ewald
conjectures that both these words and
the date have been removed to ver. 6, in
which case the discourse contained in this
and the following chapters must have
commenced here. Without actually sup
plying this omission, I have employed

the term further, which implies it. The
argument here is founded on the fact,
that when a Hebrew had divorced his
-wife, and she had been married to anoth
er, it was not lawful for him to take
her back. (Deut. xxiv. 1-4). The Jews
had worshipped not one idol only, but
many, and richly deserved to be forever
repudiated ; yet God in mercy invites
them to return to him. aiia is the in
finite absolute, and as such may be used
as an imperative of both genders.
2. A graphic description of what had
been alleged at the close of the previous
verse. Not satisfied with sacrificing to
idols on the high places, which were
generally selected for such worship, the

Chap. III. 2-6.]

JEREMIAH.

Beside the roads thou hast sat for them,
Like an Arab in the desert ;
And hast poUuted the land
With thy lewdness and with thy wickedness.
8 Therefore the showers have been withheld,
And there hath been no latter rain ;
Thou hast the brow of a harlot.
Thou hast refused to be ashamed.
4 Wilt thou not henceforth cry to me. My Father,
Thou wast the guide of my youth ?
5 WiU he keep his anger for ever ?
WiU he always mark for punishment ?
Behold, thou hast spoken it ;
Yet thou hast done wicked deeds as thou couldest.
6 Jehovah said also to me in the days of Josiah the king : Hast thou
seen what apostate Israel did ? She went upon every high moun
tain, and under every green tree, and there she acted lewdly.

Jews were so hardened, that, like a
strumpet. Gen. xxxviii. 14, 21 ; Prov.
-vii. 12, and like a robber Arab, they
sedulously watched for every opportunity
of gratifying their wicked propensity. A
few MSS. and the Soncin. edition ex
hibit n3323 , which the Keri, as usual,
proposes to"' be read instead of n^SlT ,
which the Masorites regarded as obscene.
The Arabs of the desert to the east and
south of Palestine were notorious for
their habit of robbing travellers, as they
still are at the present day. See Died.
Sic. lib. ii. cap. 48 ; Plin. Hist. Nat. lib.
vi. cap. 28 ; Harmer's Observ. vol. i. p.
150, 8vo. 1808.
3. The former and latter rains are
essential to the prosperity of the crops in
Palestine. These had been withheld in
judgment, but without effect on the Jews,
-n'ho recklessly pursued their wicked
courses. 4, 5. C. B. Michaelis thinks there is
a reference here to the reformation begun
the year before, which was the twelfth
of Josiah; but the language is rather
tenderly cxpostulatory than descriptive
of fact. '^Vi.f father, and 'Cf^it: f friend.

or guide, are here used with exquisite-
effect. The latter, construed with ft'^'li'I,.
youth, is equivalent to husband. See
Prov. ii. 17. They were the two most
endearing appellations that could have
been employed, and are proposed for
adoption by the Jews, in order to affect
their minds, and induce repentance. By
a striking change of person the Jews are
introduced, ver. 5, not as repenting and
forsaking their idolatry and other sins,
but as simply deprecating the contin
uance of divine judgments. They were
still determined to addict themselves to
false worship. 1b3 and "laia are used
eUiptically. ^x is understood in both
instances. 6. Here commences a new discourse,
wliich is continued to the end of the
sixth chapter. It is divisible into two
parts : the first consisting of ver. 6-chap.
iv. 2 ; the second of iv. 3-vi. The speci
fication of the date, though assigning
the reign of Josiah, is still indefinite.
Maurer refers the prophecy to his seven
teenth year, shortly after the foundation
of the Babylonian empire by Nabopolas-
sar. It certainly must have been deliv-

34

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. III. 6-10.

10

And I said, after she had done aU these things : Return unto me ;
but she did not return; and her faithless sister Judah saw it.
And I saw that, though it was entirely because apostate Israel
had committed adultery I had sent her away and given her a
bill of divorce, yet faithless Judah was not afraid, but went and
acted lewdly also. And it came to pass, that through the vUe-
ness of her harlotry she defiled the land, and committed adultery
with the stones and the blocks. And yet, notwithstanding all this,
her faithless sister Judah hath not turned to me with aU her heart,
but with falsity, saith Jehovah.

ered before the second and thorough
reformation effected by that prince in the
eighteenth year of his reign. Tlie Jews
are here called to reflect on the conduct
of Israel, or the ten tribes, and the pun
ishment with which, in consequence of
it, they had been visited. They had
eagerly frequented the high places and
the groves, and taken part in all the
abominations which were there perpe
trated. n3Ba , defection, apostasy, the
•abstract put' for the concrete n331ia .
The word is placed before the proper
¦name, with which it is in apposition, in
¦order the more forcibly to give promi
nence to the evil. Comp. ver. 12, 14,
.22. The Yod in i2in is not the mark
of the 2d per. fem., biit merely the substi
tution of the 1 for the corresponding
feeble n , as in inan , chap, x-viii. 23.
7-10. As the two kingdoms were sis
ters politically, so they had been in
crime. That of Judah, instead of avoid
ing the sin which had brought destruc
tion upon Israel, or profiting by the
judgments which God had inflicted upon
her, indulged in the same wickedness,
and so incurred the same guilt. The
metaphor of a divorce being here em
ployed to illustrate the rejection of the
kingdom of the ten tribes, seems to refer
back to ver. 1, — a circumstance which
gives some support to the hypothesis of
Ewald noticed in the note on ver. 1 . A
bill of divorce is called in Hebrew ^Jjo
nin''^3 , a m-iting, or document of c'ui-
^'"9 off, Deut. xxiv. 1, 3 ; Isa. 1. 1 ; and

here in the plural, Dinini"l3 "lB& ,
a ivriting of cuttings off, because she' to
whom such a document was given by
her husband was cut off from all connec
tion with him. The marriage relation
was entirely and for ever dissolved.
nijia instead of ni53 for the sake of
more forcible expression, ijsa , ver. 9,
is a noun derived from the infinitive of
bip , to be light, despised, treated as vile,
with the prepositive Mem ; and not, as
Schnurrer, Rosenmiiller, De Wette, and
Maurer suppose, the abbreviated form
of bip, voice; or, as J. D. Michaelis
and Hitzig think it should be pointed,
bpa , a staff ox stick, a construction which
is quite intolerable here. The conjecture
of Ewald, that bp is equivalent to 'jibp ,
infamy, disgrace, is well founded. I have
adopted the term vileness, as best suited
to the context. The noun is formed
from bbp , as D'n , IS , c'n are from the
roots nan, ik, nan. The LXX.
have els oilmen. Jerome : facilitas.
•jasn and ysn are collective nouns,
derioting here idols made of stone and
wood. That the subject of reference,
ver. 9, is Israel, and not Judah, is clearly
determined by the contrast in the follow
ing verse, nuil'bba, ver. 10, Hitzig
interprets of the sins' of Judah, and not
of the rejection and punishment of Is
rael ; but the formula, which occurs
frequently in Isaiah, is always used of
judgments. AVhatcver professions of
amendment the Jews made were hypo
critical and insincere.

Chap. III. 11-14.]

JEREMIAH.

35

11 And Jehovah said to me : Apostate Israel hath shewn herself to be
12 righteous in comparison of faithless Judah, Go and proclaim
these words towards the north, and say :
Return, O apostate Israel, saith Jehovah,
I wUl not continue to frown upon you ;
For I am mercifiU, saith Jehovah,
I wUl not keep my anger forever.
13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity.
That thou hast rebelled against Jehovah thy God,
And hast scattered thy ways to the strangers
Under every green tree ;
And to my voice ye have not hearkened,
Saith Jehovah.
14 Return, O apostate children, saith Jehovah ;

1 1 • p'lS , to be right, just ; in Piel,
p^S, as in Hiphil, to make, declare, or
show any one to be rigJdeous. The con
duct of the inhabitants of the land in the
time of the prophet was so much more
aggravated than that of the ten tribes,
by reason of the exemplary punishment
of the latter, of which they had been
-witnesses, the manifold instruction with
which they had been favored, and espec
ially the pious example and zealous
exertions of Josiah, that it quite eclipsed
the guilt contracted by their northern
brethren. Israel appeared innocent iu
comparison of Judah. Comp. for this
mode of speech, Ezek. xvi. 51, 52.
12. In order to excite the Jews to
speedy repentance by a godly jealousy,
the prophet is charged to address him
self in the language of kindly invitation
and encouragement on the part of Jeho
vah to the ten tribes then in captivity in
Babylon and Media. Comp. Rom. xi.
14. The use of TT'bn , Go, does not nec
essarily imply that Jeremiah was to take
a journey into those distant parts, but is
used idiomatically, and is almost pleo
nastic. He was to turn and proclaim
his message towards the localities in
which those tribes were in a state of
captivity. In napo naw is amarked
paronomasia. The construction of nsTO

is ad sensum, cS , people, being under
stood. QijQ b"isn , to cause the counte
nance to fall, either in sorrow or in anger.
The latter is here meant : to be angry
with any one, to frown upon him, to
cause him to experience the effects of
such anger, to punish him. As punish
ment had overtaken the ten tribes, and
they were still subject to it, the phrase
is to be regarded as having the full force
of the future, and is to be so rendered as
to imply that they should not experience
it in perpetuity. The merciful and for
giving character of Jehovah is the grand
incentive to -repentance. For ijjS see
on ver. 5.
13. The conviction and confession of
sin are indispensable to its forgiveness.
The Israelites had not been contented
with indulging in idolatry at one partic
ular spot, such as Bethel, but they had
followed their idolatrous courses in every
direction, worshipping the gods of the
different nations by which they were
surrounded. 14. In n''33'il!5 !1311!5 is another touch
ing paronomasia. The phra-ie 3 by3
wliich occurs only here and chap. xxxi.
32, has occasioned no small difference
of opinion among interpreters. The
LXX., Vulg., Munster, Vatablus, Cal
vin, SchmidiuB, Scholz, Maurer, Hitzig,

36

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. HI. 14.

Though I have rejected you,
Yet I will take you.
One of a city, and two of a famUy,
^nd wiU bring you to Zion ;

Ewald, and Hengstenberg, express the
idea of master, lord, or husband — a sig
nification which the verb, without the
preposition, certainly has everywhere
in the Hebrew Bible. By some, the
continuance or renewal of the conjugal
relation is supposed lo be intended ; by
others, domination in the way of severe
treatment ; by others, protection, posses
sion, and the like. Hengstenberg has
taken great pains to establish the idea
of marriage; but, in my opinion, he com
pletely fails in invalidating the position
maintained by Abulwalid, Joseph Kim
chi, Rabbi Tanchum, Pococke, Schul-
tens, Venema, Schnurrer, Dathe, Rosen
miiller, De Wette, Winer, Gaab, and
Gesenius, viz. that the Heb. a bjia has
the same signification with the corres
ponding Arabic, i_j Jou "^ente tur-
batus et attonitus fuit, nesciens quidfaceret;
timuitjfastidivit, rejecit, respuit, aspernatur.
Not only is this signification of loathing,
rejecting, etc., sustained by the Jewish
authorities just quoted, who were well
acquainted with tlie Arabic language,
but it is ably defended by the profound
Oriental scholars, Pococke and Schul-
tens. The former, at the close of a long
and very learned note, in which he rea
sons out the point, adds : His ergo
rationibus moti, cum et loci circumstan-
tia, et versionum antiquarum praecipuae,
et Rabbinorum doctissimi, ct linguae
Arabicae usus perpetuus calculum adji-
ciant, nulli dubitamus pronuntiare, ean-
dem olim hoc loco [Jer. xxxi. 32] , quae
et hodie receptam fuisso lectioneiu ; ut
olim LXX. Senibus et Syro, verba
Prophetae reddere \Quapropter eos fasti-
divi, nolui, despexi, iififhriaa, etc.] niliil
cos facturos quod h vocis inbsa , Baalti,
significatione alienum sit, imo forsitan

quod ei, cum praepositione 3 , Be, con-
structae, non optim^ omnium atque uni-
ch quadret (Notes to Porta Mosis, p.
9). Schultens in his Commentary on
Prov. xxx. 23, among other significa
tions, adduces the following from the
Kamoos : Denique niaS3 b3>3 in L
signat, perplexus fuit, et impatientia
laboravit, et taedio fastidioque affectus
fuit in negotio suo, nescius quid facien
dum foret. What is taught both here
and chap. xxxi. 32 is, that God had re
jected the Israelites or treated them as
the objects of his displeasure on account
of their apostasy from him, delivering
them over into the hand of their enemies,
and depriving them of all the privileges
of the covenant people. There is thus
an agreement in sense with 7)/itA.eo-o, by
which the LXX. (followed by the Syr.)
render 3 bs2 in the latter passage, and
which the Apostle Paul has adopted in
his quotation, Heb. viii. 9. There is
consequently no necessity for having
recourse either to bfia or to bj'j as the
reading of the text, which some have
proposed by way of conjecture. The
objection of Hengstenberg, that render
ing 13 by although is altogether arbitrary,
cannot be sustained, as must be evident
to any one who will consult Noldius on
the particle. No. 15. See especially Gen.
viii. 21 ; Deut. xxix. 18 ; Josh. xvii. 18 ;
Jer. iv.30. The copulative before ipnpbl
does not connect that verb with nt:ibs3 ,
and thus borrow from it the power of
the preterite, but with !|3TO , and eouse-
quontly, as dependent on the contingency
therein implied, is future in signification.
The meaning of what is specified in
regard to number is somewhat doubtful.
It m.ay either be, that however few the
converts might be, Jehovah -n'ould not
despise them, but would restore them to

Chap. IU. 15-17.]

JEREMIAH.

3T

15 And I wiU give you snepherds after my own heart,
-And they shall feed you with knowledge and skill.
1 6 And it shall come to pass.
When ye are increased, and fruitful in the land,
In those days, saith Jehovah,
That men shaU no more say.
The ark of the covenant of Jehovah ;
Neither shall it be thought of ;
Neither shall it be remembered ;
Neither shall it be missed ;
Neither shall it be made any more.
17 At that time Jerusalem shall be caUed
The throne of Jehovah ;
And aU the nations shaU be gathered to it,
To the name of Jehovali, to Jerusalem :

their own land; or that, should there
only be one found in a foreign city, or
two in any one of the nations whither
they had been scattered, they should not
be forgotten, but should be brought back
along with their brethren who formed
more numerous bodies during the exile.
The latter construction seems the prefer
able. Comp. Deut. xxx. 1-5. nnSlIJa
does not here sigaifj family in the more
restricted acceptation of the term, but iu
that of tribe, clan, or people. Hengsten
berg strangely interprets the cities of
those belonging to the land of Canaan,
and not of those in foreign countries.
15. By shepherds or pastors in the
Old Testament are not meant religious
teachers, but civil rulers, as kings,
princes, etc. See on chap. ii. 8. Such
rulers as those here described were Ze-
rubbabel, Nehemiah, Judas Maccabeus,
etc., who were raised up to manage and
protect the affairs of the restored state.
nsTi and biBian are both used adver
bially. 16, 17. These verses contain a dis
tinct announcement, that when the He
brews should be restored, they would no
longer possess what was accounted the
most sacred object of the temple furni
ture — the ark in which were deposited
4

the two tables of the covenant, and over
which were the cherubim, overshadow
ing it as the throne of Jehovah. It dis
appeared when the temple was plundered
by the Babylonians, and all the Jewish
authorities are agreed that it was never
restored or replaced in the second tem
ple. The varied and repetitious forms
in which its absence is here described,
taken in connection with the promise
tliat Jerusalem itself should be the
throne of Jehovah, and the resort of
all the nations, show that its removal
was to be regarded as a boon rather than
a privation. How this could be, it may
at first sight seem diflicult to conceive.
All difficulty, however, will vanish if,
with Calvin, we regard the ark as the
object, the possession of which formed
a. principal ground of glorying on the
part of the Jews over their brethren of
the ten tribes, whom they had long been
accustomed to consider as having no
part with them in the enjoyment of the
Divine presence. This view is confirmed
by what follows, ver. 18. In the re
moval of the ark and its non-restoration
there was a striking intimation of the
cessation of symbolical and ceremonial
institutions, which was so soon to fol
low the restoration of the Hebrews to

38

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. IU. 17-19.

And they shall no more walk
After the obstinacy of their wicked heart.
18 In those days
The house of Judah shaU go with the house of Israel,
And they shall come unitedly from the north country,
To the country which I gave as an inheritance
To your fathers.
19 But I said:
How shall I put thee among the children ?
And give thee the pleasant land.
The most beautiful inheritance of nations ?
Then I said :
Thou shalt caU me, My Father,
And shalt not turn away from me.

their own land : an event with which
was to be connected the admission of
the Gentiles to a joint participation in
the privileges of the church of God.
Of this, ver. 1 7 contains an express pre
diction. So rich and complete were to
be the blessing to be enjoyed under the
new dispensation that the ark, with all
the appendages of the temple-worship,
would not be missed. IBB signifies not
only to visit, seek, search, look after, but
also to miss, find wanting, 1 Sam. xx. 6 ;
xxv. 15; Isa. xxxiv. 16; Jer. xxiii. 4.
There was no longer to be any special
holiness attaching to the temple : the
whole city was to become the throne of
Jehovah. As it had been the centre of
the Hebrew theocracy, so it was now to
be the point of attraction to the whole
earth. Comp. Isa. ii. 2-4; Zoch. ii. 10,
11 ; xiv. 16-21. There the foundation
of the Christian church was laid ; and
it continued to be the place of principal
consideration till the final dispersion of
the Jews. The same language is used
of the wickedness of the idolatrous Gen
tiles as that employed to describe the
propensity of the Jews to the same evil,
chap. vii. 24; ix. 14; xi. 8 ; xxiii. 17;
and in other places. ni"|i^ui or nil"l^UJ
is derived from Tm;, to be firm, hard)
hence the idea of obstinacy. The plural

3b ni"i"Hp , is of frequent recuiTence in
our propliet. See vii. 24 ; ix. 14 ; xi.
8; xiii. 10; xviii. 12; xxiii. 17. Comp.
also Deut. xxix. 18; Psalm Ixxxi. 13.
18. Nothing can be more express than
this prediction of the return of the ten
tribes, along with the rest of the nation,
at the termination of the captivity in
Babylon. Comp. Hos. ii. 2; Isa. xi.
12, 13. bs> , not to, as rendered by some,
but with, in the sense of accompanying.
Comp. Exod. xxxv. 22 ; Job xxx-viii.
32 ; Amos iii. 15.
19. Canaan was still the glorious pat
rimony given by covenant to Abraham
and his posterity. To this the Hebrews
were to be restored ; but the question
arose : How -was this to be done 1 How
were those who had forsaken God for the
worship of idols to be received back
into his family, fill an honorable rank
among his children, and enjoy the for
feited inheritance ? The answer is
given : they would acknowledge his pa
ternal claims, render liim the homage
due to Ills name, and no more return to
idolatry. D';ia niK3S ""SS nbn? , lit-
the inheritance of the splendor of splendors
of the nations, i.e. the most splendid of
all countries. Though riNSS is else
where the construct of ni6<3^', hosts, yet
such acceptation of the word ill suits

Chap. IU. 20-23.]

JEREMIAH.

39

20 Yet as a wife faithlessly departeth from her husband,
So have ye acted faithlessly towards me,
O house of Israel, saith Jehovah.
21 A voice was heard upon the high places,
The weeping and supplications of the chUdren of Israel,
Because they had perverted their way,
They had forgotten Jehovah their God.
22 Return, 0 apostate children ;
I wUl heal your apostasies :
Behold, we come unto thee.
For thou, O Jehovah, art our God.
23 Surely in vain is the deUverance of Israel
Expected from the hiUs,
And the multitude of mountains ;
Surely it is with Jehovah our God.

the present connection ; and, besides, a
superlative is required for the purpose
of exalting the idea of the excellence of
Canaan, which had just been spoken of
as the pleasant land. For the applica
tion of 132 to that country, see Ezek.
XX. 6, 15; 'Dan. xi. 16, 41, 45. The
Keri ''K'jpn and ''31irn are found in
the text of upwards of thirty MSS., and
in some of the cai-ly editions, aud would
seem to deserve the preference, on the
ground of i3i{ in the singular occurring
immediately before. The LXX., Arab.,
and Syi-., however, have read sixlptn,
the present textual reading.
20. There is an ellipsis of liaXB be
fore f^^^S ' as frequently in a protasis.
Though the Israelites were to be received
back into favor, they were not to forget
the unfaithful part which they had acted.
By s-| ^friend, here, the idea of husband
is conveyed.
21 . Now follows, in beautiful harmony
with the foregoing, the penitential con
fessions and supplications of the exiled
Israelites. Instead of any more fre
quenting the high places for the pur
pose of offering sacrifice to idols, they
repair to them in order publicly to ac
knowledge the iniquity with which they
had been chargeable in forsaking the

service of the true God.
22. Jehovah is here introduced, with
admirable effect, as encouraging the
exiles to return by the assurance that he
would forgive their apostasy ; and they
eagerly respond (from the middle of this
verse to the end of the chapter) in tones
of the deepest abasement, confessing
their folly and guilt in having preferred
false deities to their own covenant God.
K&1 , to heal, has, in several instances,
the signification to pardon, ox forgive.
Comp. 2 Chron. xxx. 18, 20; Isa. liii.
5 ; Hos. xiv. 4. For the textual reading,
nB"iS , upwards of sixty MSS. read
NBISt , but the diSerence is of no conse
quence, the n not unfrequently taking
the place of s in the orthography of this
verb. 23. In !|5nx there is an elision of the
second x of the root. On the authority
of thirty-six MSS. and others in the
margin, two eaily editions, the LXX.,
Arab., Hexaplar, Syr., the Peshito, Aq.,
Symm., and Vulg., lian should be
pointed lian in the construct. The
preposition ia is understood as repeated
before it. The altai-s which were erected
on high places to heathen gods abounded
to such a degree that they were seen in
every direction; but numerous as they

40 JEREMIAH. [Chap. IV. 1.
24 The object of shame hath consumed from our youth the gain of
our fathers.
Their sheep, their oxen, their sons, and their daughters.
, 25 We lie down in our shame.
Our disgrace covereth us ;
For we have sinned against Jehovah our God,
We and our fathers.
From our youth even to this day,
And have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God.
were, the Israelites here acknowledge sumed not only their cattle, but even
the utter vanity of looking to those del- their children, whom they had. offered in
ties for deliverance. Jehovah alone sacrifice to them.
could afford them deliverance. 25. So deep was their sense of shame
24. rnij3n , the shame, i.e. collectively, that they were quite overwhelmed by it.
the objects which put their worshippers The metaphor is taken from mourners,
to shame — the abominable idols. Comp. who, in token of excessive gTief, lie
chap. xi. 13 ; Hos. ix. 10. In their down in the dust, and cover themselves
fruitless service the Israelites had con- with it.

CHAPTER IV.
The two first verses of this chapter properly belong to the preceding, and conclude the
discourse there addressed to the ten tribes. Conversion to Jehovah is reasserted to be
the condition on which a restoration could be realized; aud, along- with their conver
sion, would follow that of the pagan nations.
The prophet now turns back to those to whom he had originally been sent, and earnestly
calls them to repentance, if they would escape the awful judgments of God, 3, 4. He
then predicts the Babylonian invasion, with its appalling consequences, 5-9; interjects
an expostulatory address of his own to Jehovah, 10; further expatiates on the di-eadful
character of the calamity , 11-18 ; describes the painful feelings of the people at the
prospect, 19-21 ; and, after adverting to their guilty folly, 22, proceeds, in language of
great sublimity, to depict the devastations effected by the enemy, 23-26. Though the
Jews were not to be utterly extirpated, yet the havoc should extend all over the
country, and fall with special severity on the capital, 26-31.
1 If thou wouldst return, O Israel,
Return to me, saith Jehovah ;
For if thou wUt remove tliine abominations from before me,
Thou shalt not be a fugitive ;
1. Dathe, Rosenmiiller, De Wette, my judgment unnaturally. The intro-
and Maurer connect ibx with the first, duction of nini-DK3 so completely sep-
tmd not with the second awn , but in arates what goes before from what fol-

Chap. IV. 2-4.J

JEREMIAH.

41

And if thou swear, " Jehovah Uveth,"
In truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
Then shaU the nations account themselves blessed in him,
And in him shaU they glory.
For thus saith Jehovah
To the men of Judah, and to Jerusalem :
Break up for yourselves the faUow ground,
And sow not among the thorns.
Be ye circumcised for Jehovah,
And remove the foreskins of your heart.
Ye men of Judah, aud inhabitants of Jerusalem ;
Lest my fury come forth Uke fire,
And burn, and there be none to quench it,
On account of the wickedness of your doings.

lows, as to render the construction which
they adopt inadmissible. The meaning
of the verse is plain : if the Israelites
would return to their own land, they
must first return, by repentance and the
abandonment of their idols, to the pure
worship of the God of their fathers.
They should then be set free from their
unsettled state of exUe in the east, itij ,
to move, be moved, wander. Their condi
tion resembled that of Cain, who became
-15 , a fugitive on the earth, Gen. iv. 12,
14. 2. The force of DK is manifestly car
ried forward to the beginning of this
verse. To swear by Jehovah, means to
bind onefclf by a solemn profession to
adhere to his worship and service.
Comp. Deut. -vi. 13 ; x. 20 ; Isa. xix. 18 ;
Amos viii. 14. 3 prefixed to the tliree
following nouns is strictly the Beth of
accompaniment, indicating that the pro
fession should not be alone, or merely
that of the lips, but should be accompa
nied with uprightness of heart, and the
strictest rectitude of conduct. The Vau
in !;anarm introduces the apodosis.
The conversion of the pagan nations is
here predicted as following that of Israel.
That what has been effected by Christi
anity is here principally intended, I can
not doubt. A commencement of the
4*

completion took place in the numerous
proselytes that were made to Judaism
before the time of our Lord; but its
grand accompUshment has taken, and
still is taldng, place in the change effected
by the gospel among the nations of the
earth. 3. The prophet addresses himself again
to the Jews to whom he had been sent,
and calls upon them, in an agricultural
metaphor, to renounce their idolatrous
practices, and thus be prepared to seiwe
the Lord in sincerity and truth. Except
they did so, it could no more be expected
that their conduct should be acceptable
to him, than a good harvest could be
expected from a field that had not been
cleared of thorns and noxious weeds.
Matt. xiii. 7 ; Hos. x. 12.
4. By a significant metaphor, taken
from a weU-known rite among the Jews,
the prophet calls upon them to remove
all their impure dispositions, and con
secrate themselves wholly to Jehovah.
That circumcision had this spiritual im
port, see besides the present passage,
Deut. X. 16 ; xxx. 6; Rom. ii. 29 ; Col.
ii. 11. The combination D3"ibbsa ST ,
the wickedness of your doings, is of extreme
ly frequent recurrence in Jeremiah.
5. The inhabitants of Judea are ap
prised of the impending invasion, and

42

JEREMIAH. [Chap. IV. 5-9.

5 Declare it in Judah,
And cause it to be heard in Jerusalem ;
Say ye : Blow the trumpet in the land,
Cry aloud, and say ;
Assemble yourselves, and let us enter the fortified cities.
6 Raise the signal in Zion ;
Flee for refuge.
Stand not stUl ;
For I am bringing calamity from the north,
And great destruction.
7 The Uon cometh up from his thicket,
And the destroyer of the nations hath broken up-;
He is come forth from his place,
To make thy land desolate ;
Thy cities shall be laid waste.
There shaU be no inhabitant.
8 For this gird yourselves with sackcloth,
Smite on your breast, and howl ;
For the hot anger of Jehovah
Turneth not back from us.
9 And it shaU come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah,
That the heart of the king shaU faU,
summoned to take prompt and appro- surrounding country. If it could be
priate measures for safety. The opinion proved that, on occasion of an invasion,
for jvhich Hitzig so keenly contends, a flag was displayed, nsi'^S , To Zio?.-,
that the invasion here predicted was might be considered as the inscription
made by the Scythians, and not by the npon it ; but the n is more probably
Chaldeans, does not appear to be suffi- merely that of locality, indicating rest
ciently supported. The Vau before in a place. *
!|X'pn bas doubtless crept in from some 7. The Babylonian foe, announced in
traiiscribers having bon-owed it from tlie previous verse as about to be intro-
the termination of the preceding word, duced as the instrument of Jehovah for
!l*iasi . It is omitted in fifty-five MSS., the punishment of the Jews, is here rep-
and in several editions, the LXX., Syr., resented as already on his way to exe-
and Targ. ^ba , to fill, is sometimes cute the di-vine judgment. By the met-
used adverbially in connection -with other aphor of a lion, he is set forth as having
verbs, to express the completeness with gone up from his lair — 1339, his thicket,
which anything is done. Here 1!<1|5 i.e. the intertwined branches of the trees
Hxba c)-3//u%, i.e. aloud; Vulg./orti'ter; oftheforest. Root ^130 , Arab. »iJLui ,
LXX. fieyo. fg entwine, to interweave. By this his
6. Of the fortified cities of Judah, strongly fortified palace at Babylon is
Jerusalem, was the strongest. There a meant
signal was to be erected as a central g^ g' jjot^jng .^^s left for the Jews
rallying-point to the inhabitants of the but to bewaU their desperate condition.

Chap. IV. 9-11.]

JEREMIAH.

43

And the heart of the princes ;
The priests shall be astonished.
And the prophets shall be amazed.
10 Then I said :
Ah, Lord Jehovah,
Surely thou hast greatly deceived this people,
And Jerusalem, saying.
Ye shaU have peace,
WTiereas the sword reacheth to the Ufe.
11 At that time it shall be said
To this people, and to Jerusalem :
A dry wind of the high places in the desert.
Towards the daughter of my people.
Not to fan, nor to cleanse ;

Their leading men, from the king down
ward, were all nonplussed. They could
devise no means of relief.
10. Deeply affected by this state of
tilings, the prophet cannot restrain his
feelings, but gives them utterance in
what, at first sight, appears to be a blas
phemous charge against Jehovah. It is,
however, only one of those strong modes
of expression by which the Orientals are
accustomed to ascribe to the Deity an
agency by which the certainty of any
event was secured, without his exerting
any positive or direct influence on those
concerned in it. He so aixanges matters
in his infinitely -wise providence, that
free agents shall be placed in circum
stances in which, as the result of their
own voluntary act, they shall effect that
which he had determined should take
place, however wicked or atrocious it
may be. Thus it was in regard to Pha
raoh : God is expresely said to have
hardened his heart. Exod. iv. 21 ; vii.
3, 13; ix. 12. He is Ukewise expressly
said to have delivered our Saviour up to
death, Rom. viii. 32, and to send strong
delusions to the dupes of the anti-
christian apostasy ; yet it is as expressly
declared that Pharaoh hardened his own
heart, Exod. viii. 15, 32 ; ix. 34; that
the Jews took and crucified and slew

Christ -with wicked hands, Acts ii. 23 ;
and that those who were to be deluded
were such as indulged feelings hostile to
the truth, and so were self-prepared to
become the dupes of error. In the lan
guage of Scripture the immediate cause
is frequently omitted, and events are,
without any scruple, attributed to the
Great First Cause, who worketh all
things after the counsel of his o-wn will.
Eph. i. 11. In the present instance,
Jeremiah ascribes to Jehovah what was
the result of the agency of the prophets
who prophesied falsely in his name, say
ing. Peace, peace, when there was no
peace decreed by him; yet they acted
with all the freedom of moral agents,
as did also the Jews who aUowed them
selves to be deceived by them. " This
people — and Jerusalem," i.e. the inhab
itants of the land generally, and those
of the metropolis in particular.
11, 12. The ns nil , dry wind, is the
same as the d'llp niT , east wind, or si
moom, so frequently mentioned in the He
brew Scriptures, wliich modern travellers
describe as terrific in its phenomena, and
most destructive as to its effects. It
generally blows from the southeast,
across the dry, sandy deserts to the east
of Palestine. The ranges of bare hills
by which they are occasionally inter-

44

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. IV. 12-17.

12 A wind fuller than such shall come for me ;
Now wUl I also pronounce my judgments against them.
13 Behold, he shall ascend as the clouds.
And his chariots as the tempest ;
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Wo to us, for we are destroyed !
14 Cleanse thy heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem,
In order that thou mayest be delivered ;
How long wUt thou harbor vain projects within thee ?
15 For a voice announceth from Dan,
And pubUsheth trouble from Mount Ephraim.
16 Communicate it to the nations,
Behold ! publish respecting Jerusalem,
Besiegers are coming from a distant country.
And they shall give forth their voice against the cities of Judah.
17 As the keepers of a field,
They shall be against her round about ;
For she hath rebelled against me,
Saith Jehovah.

sected are here called Di&U! , naked emi
nences, on -which no trees were found.
Such a wind is very different from those
ordinary winds which might be employed
for fanning the grain, or clearing the
floor after the process of fanning had
ceased, fibx , these, seems most natu
rally to refer to such winds as had just
been mentioned, which were useful and
not destructive, "ib , for me, as my instru
ment for the execution of my purpose.
Under this metaphor of the simoom, the
Babylonian army is intended, which
was to sweep with resistless force across
the land of Judea. Comp. Isa. xxvii. 8.
The pronominal reference in Dnix , with
them, is the people of the Jews, ver. 11.
Comp. i. 16.
13. Still continuing the metaphor, the
prophet compares the terrible appeai-ance
of the hostile army to the clouds of sand
and dust which accompany the simoom,
and, after performing rapid gyrations,
ascend and cover the whole heavens ;
and to the hurricane, which carries all
before it. AVith greater rapidity also

than the flight of the eagle, should the
cavalry advance. Comp. Hab. i. 8.
¦WcU might the inhabitants exclaim,
that they were undone.
14. There was only one means of
deliverance left for the Jews — a timely
and sincere repentance. The vain proj
ects appear to mean the scheming by
which the Jews still attempted to enlist
the Egyptians on their side, -^bn is in
Hiphil. Thus Vatablus, C. B.ilichae-
lis, Schnurrer, Winer, Gesenius, and
De Wette.
15. A messenger ai'rives from the
northern frontier of the Holy Land, an
nouncing the approach of the enemy.
16, 17. The foreign nations in the
vicinity are summoned to appear as -wit
nesses of the punishment which Jehovah
was about to inflict upon his rcbeUious
people. The voice referred to, is the
w.ar-shout raised by armies when about
to give battle. The metaphor, ver. 17,
is taken from those who watch fields lor
Uio purpose of frightening away the
wild beasts.

Chap. IV. 18-21.]

JEREMIAH.

45

18 Thy way aud thy doings
Have procured these things to thee ;
This is thy wickedness ;
Surely it is bitter,
Surely it reacheth to thy heart.
19 My bowels, my bowels !
I am pained at the walls of my heart ;
My heart moaneth ; I cannot be sUent ;
For thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet.
The shout of the battle.
20 Breach upon breach is announced.
Surely the whole land is destroyed ;
My tents are suddenly destroyed.
My tent-curtains in a moment.
21 How long shaU I see the signal,
And hear the sound of the trumpet ?

18. A direct appUcation of the subject
to the Jews, tracing the calamity, awful
as it was, to its sole cause — the wicked
conduct of the nation. This, like a
deadly wound, festered its very core.
For '^3^^ , three MSS. and all the an
cient versions read TpB"!^ .
19-21. Most interpreters consider these
words to be the language of the prophet ;
but they may more appropriately be
regarded as those of the Jewish state
personified, which is introduced as expe
riencing the most acute anguish on re
ceiving the painful intelligence of the
near approach of the enemy. Not only
does the mention of tents and tent-cur
tains suggest the idea of more than one
person, but the comparison of the lan
guage here employed with that found in
the strictly parallel passage chap. x. 19,
20, where unquestionably the Jewish
state is personified, leads to tho same
conclusion. The repetition lya ""Sa,
my bowels, my bowels! is very pathetic,
and speaks to the feelings of all who
have ever experienced the acute pain
to which reference is made, nb'nix is
barbarously anomalous. If spelt accord
ing as it is pointed, the verb must be
referred to the root bn"' , '" expect, wait,

etc., than which nothing would be more
unsuitable in this connection. The
MSS. and editions exhibit considerable
variety of reading, some having nbins ,
some nbins, and upwards of' forty
MSS. nbinx. Both the Keri and the
Chethib exhibit a like variety. The
choice of readings lies between nbinx
and nb^ns ; the former the Kal, and
the latter the Hiphil of bin , to writhe with
pain. If the latter be preferred, it must
be taken intran sitively : / writhe, or am in
pain. 3^fi niT'p, the walls of the heart,
has been taken by our translators as a
Hebrew idiom, which they have accord
ingly changed into the very heart. In
-works on medical science, however, the
phrase is of common occurrence. Thus,
in Smith's Philosophy of Health: "From
the tendinous matter just indicated most
of the fibres that constitute the muscular
walls of the heart take their origin."
From the sound of the war-trumpet, the
prophet proceeds to the battle-shout,
then to the breaches made by the ene
my, next to the universal havoc made
throughout the country, and the grada
tion terminates -with the destruction of
the shepherds' tents, for which an exemp
tion might have been expected. Judah,

45 JEREMIAH. [Chap. IV. 22-28.
22 Surely my people are fooUsh ;
They know me not ;
They are sottish chUdren,
They are undiscerning ;
They are wise to do evU,
But to do good they know not.
23 I saw the land.
And behold it was waste and empty ;
And the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I saw the mountains,
And behold they trembled,
And all the hiUs shook vehemently.
25 I saw, and behold there was no man,
And all the birds of the air had fled.
26 I saw, and behold the fruitful land had been turned into the
desert ;
And all its cities were broken down
Before Jehovah, before the fury of his anger.
27 For thus saith Jehovah :
The whole land shall become desolate ;
Yet I will not effect an utter destruction.
28 On this account the land shaU mourn.
And the heavens above shall be black ;
in her perplexity, asks : How long this .,.-'', S-"^
state of things was to continue ? For JjUjJ , commovit rem. JLaJLs , "«'*«*
"inSaUJ a number of MSS. and editions , • ,,, .
:-,--' . venanentior. All is represented as one
read nsaia. , . c ^¦. ;i j j i
„„ j,-,- -• ^.^. , • i, • complete scene of soutude and desola-
22. Ihe repetitious clauses in this . '^ • ,. , , ^ ,
J . , ^ . ^ „ tion, no vestige of the human or of the
verse are designed to give greater force .,,".., _.
^ ^, ^. ° J • -i feathered creation IS to be seen. City and
to the sentiment conveyed in it. rr., c c ^A
„„„„>.,.,• J il. ,, ij held are alike laid waste. The fourfold
23-26. Nothing can exceed the bold . . . ,_,.... , _._.
,.,.,. T, . e .T. i- 1 repetition of ^n^«^ and itsm, I saw,
and striking character of the poetical , , , ,, , , " ,' .
images here employed to set forth the «f^*^*f«. greatly enhances the interest
completeness of the desolation with °f ^e picture. For bal3n comp. chap.
which Palestine was to be visited. The "' ^- Though we should expect that,
use of in'31 in'n carries the mind at S-^^nmiatically, there would be no article
once back to Gen. i. 2, in which the ^"^""^ ¦'?7'?' yet it is here prefixed in
same words are employed to depict the °'''^'''' """"'^ stiikingly to exhibit the con-
primeval chaos. Comp. Isa. xxxiv. 11. ""^'' ''''* ^T^^^ '^' ^^'"''' '•®' **
ilbpbnnn , hithkalkdlu, is beautifully ex- ^reat desert.
pressi'vo of the violent agitations of the ^^' ^" *^ ™''1=* °^ ^"i'^* God still
mountains during an earthquake. Comp. remembers mercy. Comp. v. 10.
«w ¦, j^ 28. niSfbs , on this account, refers to
the Ethiopic f\ ^tATA * Arabic the former half of the preceding verse.

Chap. IV. 29-31.] JEREMIAH. 47
Because I have spoken it, I have purposed it,
And will not repent, nor draw back from it.
29 At the noise of the horsemen and the archers
Every city shall flee ;
They shall go into the thickets,
And cUmb the rocks :
Every city shaU be abandoned.
And not a man shall dwell in them.
30 And thou, O destroyed one, what wilt thou do ?
Though thou clothest thyself with scarlet.
Though thou adornest thyself with ornaments of gold,
Though thou rendest thine eyes with paint,
In vain shalt thou beautify thyself ;
Thy lovers shaU despise thee.
They shall seek thy life.
31 Surely I have heard a cry like that of a woman in travail,
The utterance of anguish like that of her who bears for the first
time ;
The cry of the daughter of Zion :
She panteth, she spreadeth forth her hands :
Alas ! now for me !
For my soul fainteth because of murderers.
The whole of nature is clad in gloom at should here have iniaj in the masculine
the awful catastrophe. instead of nil^lU , to agree with ins ,
29-31 . The city here meant is thought and the uniformity with respect to the
by some to be Jerusalem, to which the feminine which follows, may be ac-
inhabitants of the country had been sum- counted for on the principle that DS ,
moned to flee for safety, but now that she people, denoting the inhabitants, is under-
was herself threatened by the invading stood. 'n!lQ3 D^J"'? S^p , to rend the
foe, they are represented as leaving her a^es with paint, referring to the custom
again in their perplexity, and betaking of eastern females, who, in order to
themselves to the recesses of the forests make their eyes look large, which is
and mountains. "i^l'n'bB may, even deemed essential to their beauty, employ
with the article, be taken distributively, stibium or antimony, which they lay
as -will be seen on consulting Exod. i. inside the eyeUds -with a pencil. By
22. The use of yns , in them, requires laying on too much they injure them,
this construction. Having described the and make them look as if rent. Jerusa-
sad plight to which the cities of Judah lem is ironically represented as doing
would be reduced, the prophet turns ab- this in her eagerness to render herself
ruptly to Jerusalem, ver. 30, npon which beautiful, in order to attract the favor of
he concentrates the whole force of his the Egyptians, and so secure their aid
discourse, preparatory to his description against the Babylonians. The earliest
of her awful wickedness at the beginning instance which we have of this custom
of the following chapter. That we is that of Jezebel, 2 Kings xi. 30. In

48

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. V. 1, 2.

the anguish occasioned by the attack of in suppressing the name of the person
the enemy, her inhabitants cry out like in trouble until that trouble had been
a female parturient for the first time, and fully described.
in hard labor. There is peculiar beauty

CHAPTER V.

Depravity had become so universal in Jerusalem, that no class was free from its infection.
Notwithstanding all the means employed for their reformation, the inhabitants were
only the more hardened ; and whatever profession of religion they made was altogether
hypocritical, 1-5. Such wickedness loudly called for the infliction of condign punish
ment, 6-9. The prophet summons the Babylonians to proceed to inflict this punishment
which the Jews would not admit to be imminent, 10-13. An announcement is then
made of its certainty, and a description given of the enemy, and the devastation which
he should effect, 14-18. This is followed by an exhibition of the character ofthe people
under various aspects of aggravated guilt, mingled with pointed appeals in reference to
the calamity that was coming upon them, 19-31.
1 Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
And look now about, and ascertain, and search in her open places,
Whether ye can find a man.
Whether there be any one doing right or seeking truth,
And I will pardon her.
2 And though they may say, " Jehovah Uveth ! "
They, nevertheless, swear falsely.

1. It being beyond dispute that there
did live at the time of the prophet good
men at Jerusalem, such as Josiah, Ba
ruch, and Zephaniah, the universality
of the language here employed has been
endeavored to be accounted for, either
by supposing magistrates to be meant,
or that it is to be confined to those who
v/ere to be found in the localities speci
fied — the pious having been obliged to
live in retirement. But neither of these
hypotheses meets the case. It seems
more natural to conclude that nothing
else is intended than to set forth the
general corruption of manners that pre
vailed. This corruption was so exten
sive that the few exceptions which might
exist were not to be taken into the ac
count. Strictly speaking, the language

is hyperboUcal; just as in Psalm xiv.
we find a description of general coiTup-
tion expressed in the most unlimited
terms, while at the same time a genera
tion of the righteous — the people of
God — is recognized, ver. 4, 5. If we
may suppose a reference to GSen. xviii.
32, the conclusion is, that matters were
worse in Jerusalem than in Sodom, in
which, how gross soever was tlie immo
rality, there is no proof that idolatry was
practised. 2. Swearing is to be understood here,
not in the sense of taking a judicial
oath, but in that of professing the true
worship of Jehovah. See on chapter
iv. 2. Whatever profession of the true
religion was made on occasion of Jo-
siah's removal of the objects of idol-

Chap. V. 3-6.] JEREMIAH. 49
3 O Jehovah ! are not thine eyes toward the truth ?
Thou hast smitten them, but they have not been in pain ;
Thou hast consumed them.
But they have refused to be corrected ;
They have made their faces harder than a rock ;
They have refused to return.
4 Then I said :
Surely these are the poor ;
They are foolish.
For they know not the way of Jehovah,
The judgment of their God.
5 I will betake me to the great.
And will speak to them ;
For they must know the way of Jehovah,
The judgment of their God :
But these have altogether broken the yoke,
They have burst asunder the bonds.
6 "Wherefore a lion from the forest shall slay them.
An evening wolf shaU destroy them ;
A leopard shaU lie in wait about their cities ;
Every one who goeth out of them shaU be torn in pieces :
Because their rebelUons are numerous.
Their apostasies are increased.
atrous adoration, it was purely hypocrit- higher ranks of society, who. had en-
ical. joyed superior advantages. But there
3. What treatment had the Jews to he found nothing but the most lawless
expect from Jehovah, as nj^iax bx , the profligacy. For DPIN , see on chap.
God of truth, Deut. xxxii. 4, whose eyes i. 16.
are always intent upon uprightness, and 6. Three of the fiercest of the wild
who requires it iu all his worshippers '? animals are selected as metaphors under
To him, in this character, the prophet which to represent the formidable char-
appeals, and proceeds to assert that all acter of the Babylonians — the lion as
the chastisements with which he had the strongest, the wolf as the most rav-
-visited them, with a view to reform enous, and the leopard as the s-wiftest
them, had only left them more unfeeling of such animals. niS^Si 3Xt is ren-
and obstinate than before. dered by some, a wolf of the deserts;
4, 5. In order to give stiU greater by others, a wolf of the evenings. To
prominence to the universality of the the latter interpretation it has been
evil, the prophet here supposes the case, objected, that though 3'^S '^3Nt, wolves
that it could only exist among the mass of the evening, occurs in application to
of the uninstructed vulgar, and then the same subject, Hab. i. 8, and likc-ivise
goes on to express his hope that he in application to rapacious judges, Zeph.
would find things in a very different ui. 3, yet the word for evening is in the
state among those constituting the singular, and not in the plural as here ;
5

50

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. V. 7-9.

7 How can I pardon thee for this?
Thy children have forsaken me.
And have sworn by objects that are not God ;
Though I supplied them abundantly,
Yet they committed adultery,
And gathered themselves in the harlot's house.
8 Fed staUions, rising early,
They neighed, each after the wife of his neighbor.
9 Should I not punish for these things ? saith Jehovah ;
And should not my soul avenge itself on such a nation as this ?

but there is little or no force in the ob
jection. What has been thought to give
support to the former construction of
the phrase is the local reference in "ijisa ,
from the forest, immediately preceding.
On the whole I am inclined to adopt the
temporal signification of the term, which
is that exhibited by the Vulg., Targ.,
.Syr., Vatablus, Grotius, Dathe, and
Maurer. 7-9. Jehovah now appeals to the Jews,
-whether it was possible for him, consist
ently with his holy and righteous char
acter, to forbear inflicting punishment,
on account of such awfully wicked con
duct as that in which they indulged.
For .nibbJ< read, with the Keri, nbos .
Instead of the textual reading SSt'KI
oris , I made them swear, i.e. I caused
them to make a solemn profession of
allegiance to me, thirty-three of De Ros
si's MSS. and fourteen printed editions,
-of both of which are some of the best
— the L5X., Arab., Syr., Targ., and
Vulg. read nnix SSi^NI , while many
MSS. and the Soncin. and Brixian edi
tions read in full, DniS S-iMSI ,
though I fed them to the fall, i.e. I supplied
them abundantly with all needful good.
The latter reading is approved by Ras-
chi, Kimchi, Michaelis, Dathe, Dahler,
Rosenmiiller, Ewald, and Umbreit ; but
Scholz, Maurer, and Hitzig prefer the
former, and consider the reference to be
to the pledge which the nation took at
Sinai. The frequency -with which the
ungrateful conduct of the Jews is con

trasted in our prophet with the bounti-
fulness of their covenant God favors the
amended reading. So far were they
from manifesting a desire to offer him
the returns of devoted obedience, that
they assembled in crowds in idolatrous
temples, encouraging one another in the
service of false gods. 'While "the har
lot's house " is to be taken metaphori-
caUy as denoting an idolatrous temple,
it must not be forgotten that prostitu
tion formed part of the worship.
8. The avididy with which they pur
sued the worship of false gods is here
represented under a most expressive
metaphor. D"'?!'"? or cy'^^ the Keri
prescribes should be read D''?!'!^ , ac
cording to Schultens, ponrfen'6ra, i.e. tes-
tibus instructi, from "jli , to be heavy; but
this root is altogether suppositious ; and
the textual reading — the Hophal parti
ciple of -M J to nourish, feed, etc. — affords
a sense quite as appropriate. D'^B'iJa
Michaelis points Qisaa , and renders
trahentes genitalia, in wliich he follows
Jerome, who gives eKKovres as the ren
dering of the Greek versions. Simonis
proposed that nsuj, Eth. rt(t>p { erra-
vit, should be regarded as the root, of
which ni3U3a would be the Hiphil parti
ciple. This derivation, though approved
by Rosenmiiller, De Wette, Maurer,
and Umbreit, is rejected by Gesenius,
who abides by the old interpretation of
the Hebrew school : mane surgens, summo
studio aliquid fecit, and takes the word to

Chap. V. 9-14.]

JEREMIAH.

51

10 Scale her waUs, and destroy.
But effect not an utter destruction ;
Remove her tendrils,
For they are not Jehovah's.
11 Surely they have acted very faithlessly towards me,
Both the house of Israel and the house of Judah, saith Jehovah.
12 They have denied Jehovah ;
They have said : " He is not ;
Therefore calamity shall not overtake us.
Neither shaU we behold the sword or famine."
13 And " the prophets are become wind.
And there is no word in them :
Thus shall it be done to themselves."
14 Wlierefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of Hosts :
Because ye speak this word.
Behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire,
And this people wood, and it shall devour them.

be put in the singular for the plural
tjia^BlUa . Hitzig calls this an impos
sible syiicope. EwaJd proposes the Arab.
lajuyiij desiderio flagrans, and points
CSda , which he would make equiva
lent to QipBa , and compares the He
brew nplliin , desire, longing. I see no
necessity for departing from Hebrew
usage, according to which this participial
form is used adverbially to express the
doing of anything early. The anomaly
may be regarded as an instance of neg
lected number.
10. By the abrupt introduction of an
apostrophe, the Babylonians are ordered
to take Jerusalem, but at the same time
to temper the judgment with mercy.
Comp. iv. 27. Though the Jewish peo
ple were not to be utterly destroyed, yet
the notables were to be removed to Baby
lon, The metaphor is that of a vine
yard, surrounded by walls, and well
stocked with vines. ni"HIJ , A'O'n Tna ,
which is equivalent to "iTO , a wall, an
interpretation which quite satisfies the
claims of the context, and is that given
in all the ancient versions, so that there
is no necessity to introduce, with Hitzig,

the palm tree, or, with Ewald, the bhsscms
of the vine. While the tendrils were to
be removed, the stems were to remain.
Comp. Isa. vi. 13.
12. Transferring their worship to idols
the Hebrews had practically denied the
existence of the true God. They went,
at all events, to the length of disavowing
their belief in his holy character as the
punisher of sin, and flattered themselves
with the idea that they should be exempt
from calamity.
13. The continuation of the unbeliev
ing language of the Jews. The n in
13'in , Maurer and Hitzig take to be
employed instead of the relative "ibk ,
and render, he who speaketh ; but it seems
better to consider "la^ as equivalent to
-13^ , and to be used, as in Hos. i. 2, of a
divine communication. The impious
Jews maintained that the prophets had
received no such message to deliver as
that which involved their punishment,
but that all their threatenings were the
mere invention of their own brain. They
further asserted that, as announcers of
falsehood, they deserved to have their
predictions accomplished in themselves.
14. To express the penetrating energy

52

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. V. 14-18.

15 Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar,
O house of Israel, saith Jehovah ;
A nation that is mighty,
A nation that is ancient,
A nation whose language thou shalt not understand,
Neither shalt thou distinguish what it shaU speak.
16 Their quiver is like an open sepulchre ;
All of them are heroes.
17 They shaU eat up thy harvest and thy bread,
Which thy sons and thy daughters should eat ;
They shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds ;
They shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees ;
They shaU impoverish thy fortified cities.
Wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.
18 Yet, even in those days, saith Jehovah,
I wUl not make an end of you.
19 And it shall come to pass when ye shall say :
"Why doeth Jehovah our God aU these things to us ?

of the divine word, our prophet compares
it to fire, chap, xxiii. 29 ; but here the
metaphor is employed to denote the
severe denunciations of judgment which
the prophet was commissioned to deliver,
the execution of which would resemble
the devouring action of that element.
15, 16. By the house of Israel in this
verse are not meant the ten tribes then
in exile, but the Jews of the Da-vidic
kingdom. The description of the Baby
lonians is terse and forcible. The four
fold occurrence of nij nation, greatly
adds to its force. '|nit< properly signi
fies perennial, constant, and is used of
streams which never dry up. The term
is also used to describe whatever is firm
or strong, and is here obviously em
ployed in this acceptation. The antiq
uity ascribed to the invaders has special
respect to the Chaldeans, a nation orig
inally inhabiting the Carduchian moun
tains and the northern parts of Mesopo
tamia, but who had immigrated into the
Babylonian territory, where they had a
settlement allotted them : and being,
like all mountaineers, distinguished for

their bravery, doubtless composed the
most formidable part of the invading
army. See my comment on Isa. xxiii. 13.
From its being alfirmed that the Jews
would not understand the language of
this people, it follows that after they
left their original abodes they must have
retained their native tongue, which was,
in all probability, the mother of the
present Kurdish, a language totally dif
ferent from any of Semitic origin, but
showing much affinity -with the ancient
Persic. The comparison of their quiv
ers to an open grave was designed to
convey the notion of the deadly effect of
the arrows which they contained.
17. Before flbssi supply IfflS . The
verb being thrice used iu the' singular,
shows that as here employed in the plu
ral it is to be referred not to the Chal
deans, but to the sons and daughters of
the Jews.
18. The concluding -n-ords of this
verse are not to be understood of God's
not completing his judgments by the
first invasion of the land, as Grotius
interprets, but of his merciful determi-

Chap. V. 19-24.]

JEREMIAH.

53

Then thou shalt say to them :
As ye have forsaken me,
And served strange gods in your own laud.
So shaU ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob,
And pubUsh it in Judah, saying :
21 Hear now this, O people fooUsh and without understanding,
Wlio have eyes, but see not ;
Who have ears, but hear not ;
22 WUl ye not fear me ? saith Jehovah ;
WUl ye not tremble at my presence ?
WTio have placed the sand for a boundary to the sea.
By a perpetual law, that it may not pass it ;
Yea, though the waves toss themselves, they cannot prevail ;
Though they roar, yet they cannot pass it.
23 But this people hath a revolting and rebelUous heart ;
They have revolted, and are gone
24 Neither say they in their heart :
Let us now fear Jehovah our God,
Who giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season,
Wlio secureth to us the appointed weeks of harvest.

nation not to exterminate the Jews as a
people. Comp. chap. iv. 27 ; v. 10.
19. By a, just retribution, the Jews,
who had given themselves up to the
worship of foreign idols iu their own
country, should now be reduced to slav
ery by foreign masters in a strange land.
21. Comp. for this description of the
moral obtuseness of the Jews in the time
of the prophet, Deut. xxix. 4. They
had the power of perception, but they
would not use it. Nevertheless they
were held responsible, and are caUed to
the exercise of it.
22. A sublime exhibition of the divine
character, as the omnipotent Author of
nature, who, by the laws which he hath
ordained, renders the feeble beach, con
sisting only of incoherent particles of
sand, a sufficient barrier to arrest at once
the mountainous billows of the ocean.
Such a being was indeed to be feared ;
and if the Jews had not become utterly
insensate, they never could have ex-
5»

changed his service for that of inanimate
and powerless idols.
23, 24. For l^liO and 1^& , comp.
Di-lliD "i^D , vi. 28, and '^^0 n^'nb ,
Hos. iv. 16. The Jews were blind to the
character of Jehovah, not only as the
Author of nature, but also as the God of
providence, to whose bountifulness they
were indebted for the fruitful seasons
which they had enjoyed. It argues the
greatest insensibility of heart to be un
moved alike by the power and the good
ness of God. f\-\ii , the former rain, falls
from the middle of October till the begin
ning of December, and, reviving the
parched and thirsty soil, prepares it for
the seed : Vipb'O , the latter (or spring)
rain, which falls in Palestine before the
harvest, in the months of March and
April, and is essential to the maturity
of the crops. The harvest weeks were
the seven weeks which intervened be
tween the Passover and Pentecost, dat
ing fi-om the 16th day of Nisan. Deut

54

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. V. 25-31.

25 Your iniquities have turned away these things.
And your sins have withholden good from you.
26 For wicked men are found among my people.
They each Ue m wait, Uke the crouching of fowlers,
They set a trap, they catch men.
27 As a cage full of birds,
So are their houses fuU of deceit ;
Therefore they are become great and rich.
28 They are fat, they shine,
They even surpass in matters of wickedness ;
They judge not the cause.
The cause of the orphan, yet they prosper ;
They defend not the right of the needy.
Should I not punish for these things ? saith Jehovah ;
Should not my soul avenge itself on such a nation as this ?
An astounding and horrible thing is done in the land :
31 The prophets prophesy falsely.
And the priests rule under their guidance.
And my people love to have it so ;
But what will ye do in the end thereof?

29

30

x-vi. 9. To render nSSia , oaths, as
Ewald and Umbreit do in this place, is
unwarranted by Hebrew usage.
25. There had been an interruption
of fruitful seasons, which the prophet
ascribes to the national guilt of the
Jews. 26-28. However wickedly they might
act, the Jews were still the people of
God, in so far as his propriety in them
was concerned. It was impossible that
he should renounce his claims on their
obedience. In metaphors taken from
bird-catchers, the prophet describes the
cunning of the more abandoned part of
the nation, and the great wealth which
they had unjustly acquired. "nTO is here
used of the great caution and circum
spection with which fowlers proceed
when setting their snares, in order to
secure their prey, tjl?? is the infinitive
of '^31U , to stoop, bend oneself down.
n^niUH properly means destroyer or de-
structian ; here the means or instrument
of destruction — the snare or trap.

3lb3 , o basket, or cage, so caUed because
of its wicker-work. See on Amos -viii. 1 .
By the houses being ftdl of deceit, is
meant, by a metonymy of the cause for
the effect, that they had heaped up treas
ures acquired by fraud. Notwithstand
ing their superlative wickedness, and
their total neglect of the destitute, roll
ing as they did in wealth, they were,
in the providence of God, permitted to
prosper, that their fall might be the
more conspicuous. Comp. Psalm Ixxiii.
18-20; xcU. 7.
29. A repetition of the pointed inter
rogations put in ver. 9.
31. Instead of exerting their influence
in order to curb the people iu their wick
ed courses, the prophets delivered false
messages by which they were flattered,
and rendered secure; and the priests
were encouraged by these lying teachers,
because by their means their influence
over the deluded multitude was main
tained. The prophets were the guides
or directors of the priests. The cred-

Chap. VI. 1.]

JEREMIAH.

vilous confidence of the ignorant has in
all ages been at the command of an in
terested priesthood. on'^Ti'bs, literally
at their liand, i.e. by their guidance.
Comp. 1 Chron. xxv. 3 ; Ezra iii. 10.
It appears clear from various parts of
the Old Testament that a great number

of persons pretending to prophesy arose
among the Hebrews, by whom the exer
tions of the true prophets were greatly
counteracted, and the ruin of the nation
accelerated, n at the termination of
Rn^inst is used as a neuter, and refers
to the state of things just described.

CHAPTER VI.
Further representations of the Babylonian invasion, and the siege of Jerusalem, 1-6; the
procuring cause of the calamity and another admonitory warning follow, 6-9; the
prophet next expatiates on the awful corruption of the Jewish state, and the guilt
which had been contracted by rejecting the messages of Jehovah, and listening to the
flattering predictions of the false prophets, 10-15 ; then gives special point to the obsti
nacy of the people, and summons the nations to witness the punishment inflicted on
them, 16-19 ; their hypocritical oiferings are then denounced, 20 ; the tremendous char
acter of the Babylonians is again exhibited, 21-26; and the chapter closes with a de
scription of the irreclalmableness of the Jews, notwithstanding all the means that had
been tried with them, 27-30.
1 Flee for refuge, 0 ye sons of Benjamin,
Out of the midst of Jerusalem ;
Blow ye the trumpet in Tekoa ;
Raise the signal at Beth-haccarem :
For calamity impendeth from the north,
And great destruction.

I . Jerusalem was situated in the tribe
of Benjamin, which was here separated
from that of Judah by the valley of
Hinnom. Though the city was inhab
ited partly by those belonging to the
latter tribe, and partly by Benjaminites,
yet these are speciaUy addressed, owing,
as Rasehi suggested, and as many of the
modems approve, to their being more
especiaUy the prophet's own countrymen.
From the natural strength of its posi
tion, and the resources of defence which
it contained, it was natural that the in
habitants of the surrounding country
should betake themselves to the capital
for safety. Those who had so done are
now exhorted to make their escape from
it ere it was invested by the enemy, by

whom it would be taken and destroyed.
As the hostile army approached from the
north, the only direction in -which they
could flee was towards the south, in
which the two towns lay which are here
specified. The former, Tekoa, the birth
place of the prophet Amos, lay on an
elevated hiU, about twelve mUes due
south from Jerusalem. Its ruins, cover
ing four or five acres, are described by
Dr. Robinson, vol. ii. p. 182. Accord
ing to Jerome, Beth-haccarem was situa
ted between Tekoa and the capital.
Ewald, inconsistently with his own
practice, changes the proper Hebrew
names of these two towns into terms
expressive of their etymological signifi
cations. For Tekoa he gives Stossheim,

56

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. VI. 1-6.

2 I wiU destroy the daughter of Zion,
The beautiful and delicate one.
3 The sliepherds and their flocks shall come to her,
They shall pitch their tents around her ;
They shall feed, each in his place.
4 Prepare war against her ;
Arise, and let us go up at noon.
Alas for us ! for the day declines,
For the shadows of evening are lengthened.
5 Arise, and let us go up by night.
And let us destroy her palaces.
6 For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts :
Cut down trees,
And throw up a mound against Jerusalem :
This is the city to be altogether punished ;
Oppression is in the midst of her.

and for Beth-haccarem, Weinbergsliause.
He was doubtless induced to adopt the
former rendering in order to give in
German the force of the paronomasia :
"iSiUJ Wpn 5>ipn3 , in Stossheim stosst
in die Posaune. littba (properly an ele
vation, from Ki!33 to raise, equivalent to
D5 , a signal), is very probably employed
here to denote a signal made by kindling
a fire on the tops of mountains, or other
elevations, in order to warn the inhabi
tants of a country of the approach of an
enemy. In the Talmud the term is used
of the fires which the Jews kindled as
signals at the time of the new moon.
2. Though nafl signifies in Kal to be
like, yet it never has in that conjugation,
but only in Piel, the signification of
likening or comparing. It must, there
fore, be taken in the acceptation of de
stroying, reducing anything to silence
by making an end of it. n^SSam nisn
are iu the vocative, and "ii'5S"r3 , which
is in apposition with them, is used in
stead of the pronoun 'nnis.
3. The shepherds and their flocks are
used metaphorically for the Babylonian
princes and their armies. Comp. chap.
xlix. 20 ; 1. 45. ni hand, is employed.

as here, to ienote place. Numb. U. 17;
Deut. xxiii. 13.
4, 5. For the phrase nanba Wp , to
sanctify war, see on Isa. xiii. 3. The hos
tile army are here in troduced as encourag
ing one another to the attack on Jerusa
lem. So eager are they, that they even
propose that it should be made at noon,
notwithstanding the heat of the sun.
The onset being made, they mourn the
approaching shades of night, which
threaten to suspend their hostile opera
tions, but StUl resolve to renew the at
tack at night. The complaint uttered is
not that of the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
but of the invaders, regretting that the
daylight was too short for their destruc
tive warfare.
6. nsS , her tree or trees, which some
of De Rossi's MSS. read, and which is
countenanced by the LXX., Arab., and
both the Syr. versions, affords no proper
sense. The trees were to be employed
in constructing mounds and other works
requisite for the siege. Agger autem ex
terra lignisque attoUitur contra murum.
Veget. de Re Militar. iv. 15. nsS is used
collectively for Q^^^S . "^SW , to pour
out a mound, has reference to the empty-

Chap. VI. 6-10.]

JEREMIAH.

5T

7 As a weU causeth its water to flow,
So she causeth her wickedness to flow ;
Violence and spoil are heard in her,
Pains and wounds axe continually before me.
8 Be instructed, O Jerusalem,
Lest my soul should be torn away from thee ;
Lest I make thee desolate, »
A land not inhabited.
9 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts :
They shaU thoroughly glean, as a vine, the remnant of Israel :
Turn thy hand again, like a grape-gatherer, into the baskets.
10 To whom shall I speak.
And give warning, that they may hear ?
Behold, their ear is uncircumcised.
So that they cannot hearken :
Behold, the word of Jehovah is to* them a reproach ;
They take no deUght in it.

ing of the baskets of earth which was
brought to make the mound. Jerusalem
is SeiKviKus pointed out as the city to be
captured, in punishment of her crimes,
the awful extent of which is set forth in
this and the foUowing verse, l^sn
FliiB IpSn are to be joined in construc
tion, and not separated as they are by
the Zakeph-katou. bis , which is mas
culine, thus becomes the nominative to
npsn. 7. 113 , or, as it is given in the Keri,
T^S , is the same as "1X3 , a well dug in
the ground, from whicA water springs,
as distinguished from lij) , a natural
spring or fountain. Comp. the Arab.
. yJLi 5 puteus, lipn , UteraUy, to cause to
dig, from "ii|p , to dig, but used here met-
onymically for the effect of digging —
the causing of the water to flow. His
torical proofs of the dreadful state of
things described by the prophet are
found, 2 Kings xxi. 16, 24. That the
speaker at the close of the verse is Jeho
vah is evident from what immediately
foUows, ver. 8.
8. Spi is a strong term, denoting the

effort required in separating one thing
from another. It is expressive in this
place of the unwillingness of Jehovah
to inflict punishment upon Jerusalem.
He was attached to it, as the place which
he had chosen to put his name there, and
nothing but the extreme wickedness of
its inhabitants could have moved him to
withdraw his affection from it. We have
here another of those tender exhorta
tions which are so frequently mingled
with threatenings of punishment.
9. The Jews are represented under the
metaphor of a vine, and their enemies as
the vintagers. As the latter cease not
to return with their baskets while any
grapes remain to be reaped, so the Baby
lonians were repeatedly to come and
carry away the inhabitants into captivity.
See 2 Kings xxiv. 14; xxv. 11 ; Jer.
Iii. 28-30. nibcbte , wicker baskets, the
same as D^bb , from bbo , to move to
and fro, like twigs or branches, hence
the twigs of which baskets are made.
10. The prophet represents the hearts
of the people as closed with a foreskin ;
an image which must possess much
force of meaning to a Jew, and is not

58 JEREMIAH. [Chap. Vno-15,
11 Therefore I am full of the fury of Jehovah,
I am weary of containing it ;
I wUl pour it upon the children without,
And upon the assembly of the youths together ;
Surely both the husband and the wife shaU be taken,
The aged with him that is fuU of days.
12 And their houses shall be transferred to others,
Their fields and wives together ;
For I wUl stretch out my hand
Upon the inhabitants of the land,
Saith Jehovah.
13 For from the least of them to the greatest of them
They are all greedy of gain ;
And from the prophet to the priest
They aU act falsely.
14 For they heal the breach ofthe daughter of my people sUghtly,
Saying, Peace, peace ;
When there is no peace.
15 They ought to have been ashamed, because they have committed
an abomination ;
But they are not in the least ashamed.
Neither do they feel abashed :
Therefore they shaU fall among them that faU ;
In the time when I punish them they shaU stumble,
Saith Jehovah.
unfrequent in Scripture, Lev. xxvi. 41 ; piscence or evU lust in general, as Blay-
Ezek. xliv. 7 ; Acts vii. 51. The prophet ney proposes, "is — ya has the force of
found no entrance for the divine mes- including ; both, or the one as weU as
sage : it was not only neglected, but the other.
treated -with contempt by all. 14. ns, daughter, is omitted in thirty-
11. Such, however, was the strong eight MSS. and twenty-four printed
impulse to denounce the judgments of editions. The combination ¦^as r3,
God of which Jeremiah was conscious, the daughter of my people, however, mean-
that he found it impossible any longer ing the people themselves, is not foreign
to restrain his feelings, and therefore to Jeremiah. See chap. -viii. 21, 22.
calls upon himself, in a state of impas- nbpi"bs,s/?'(7A%, intheslightestmanner.
sioned emotion, to pour them forth upon Comp. ^plU bs falsely, "in!) bs largely.
all, without distinction of age or sex. "^Sp? is an abstract noun derived from
12. Comp. Deut. xxviii. 30. the feminine participle in Niphal of bbp ,
13. SS3 SSi3 is a phrase of too fre- to be light. For the flattering messages
quent occiirrence in reference to the ac- of the false prophets, as here expressed,
quisition of exorbitant or unjust gtiin comp. Ezek. xiii. 10.
to admit of its being applied to concu- 15. sjoiain , the Hiphil used intransi-

Chap. VI. 15-20.] ' JEREMIAH. 59
1 G Thus saith Jehovah :
Stand ye in the ways and look,
And ask for the old paths ;
WTiere is the good way, and walk ye in it,
And ye shall find rest to your souls.
But they said, " We will not walk in it."
17 I appointed also watchmen over you, saying :
Hearken to the sound of the trumpet ;
But they said, " We will not hearken.''
18 Therefore, hear, O ye nations.
And know, 0 assembled people.
What is among them.
19 Hear, O earth !
Behold, I will bring calamity upon this people,
The fruit of their own inventions ;
Because they have not attended to my words.
And my law they have rejected.
20 To what purpose is this to me, that frankincense should come from
Sheba,
And sweet cane from a distant country ?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable.
Neither are your sacrifices pleasing to me.
tively, -with the signification of ffiia , to together, to shrink for fear ; to draw back
he ashamed. Verbs in Hebrew express into a state of rest, to restrain : in Hiphil,
sometimes, not the action, but the duty to compose, make tranquil.
or obUgation to perform it. Comp. ^tZJX 17. By the DISS, watchmen, prophets
li!)Si"xb , which ought not lo be done. Gen. are meant, on whom it devolved to an-
XX. 9. !naiIJ^,s/iOMWfecp, Mal. ii. 7. So nounce to the people the impending
here, though the verb be in the preterite, calamities which they were inspired to
it has the same force. Da is intensive. predict. Ezek. iii. 17 ; Hab. ii. 1.
16. The people are directed to act the 18. T^^^s ^ congregation, or assembled.
part of traveUers, who, when perplexed people, cannot weU in this connection be
as to which way they shall choose, stop interpreted of the Jews, but must be
and dUigently inquire in what direction regarded as parallel with Dnij,'i ^ the
they ought to proceed. The good and nations immediately preceding. The
ancient paths were easily to be found, Babylonian army seems to be intended.
if they had only had a heart to walk in 19. fy^. , is here to be taken in its
them ; but this they obstinately refused utmost latitude of meaning — all the
to do. til!!! being of common gender, inhabitants of the globe. i prefixed in
admits of both nt , and .Tja being con- ^iDXa*! is redundant.
nected with it. sijia as ,-iyj-;a, Isa. 26! Comp. Isa. xliii. 24; Ix. 6. No
xxviii. 12, signifies ri'st, tranquillity, and external services can be acceptable to
not restoration, as Blayney proposes. God while the heart is not influenced
J."^ properly signifies to contract, to bring by supreme regard to him.

gQ JEREMIAH. [Chap. VI. 21-25.
21 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah :
Behold, I wiU set stumbUng-blocks before this people ;
And the fathers and the sons shaU faU over them together,
Both the neighbor and his friend, and shall perish.
22 Thus saith Jehovah :
Behold, a people shaU come from the north country,
A great nation shaU be roused from the recesses of the earth ;
23 They handle the bow and the lance ;
They are cruel, and show no pity ;
Their voice roareth like the sea ;
And they ride upon horses,
FiUly arranged as men for the battle —
Against thee, O daughter of Zion !
24 We have heard the report of them :
Our hands are relaxed ;
Anguish hath seized us.
Pain as that of a woman in travail.
25 Go not out into the field,
Neither walk in the road ;
For the enemy hath a sword ;
There is fear on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth,
And roll thyself in the ashes ;
21 . The Babylonians, described in the with a dreadful hurrah, and -with leveUed
foUo-wing verses, were the stumbling- lances. lanttB , ^ike a man, or men, i.e.
blocks or instruments that were to effect altogether such as men are accustomed
the fall or ruin of the Jews. This ruin to be, fully, most perfectly prepared and
was to be indiscriminate. For f|13|Xi ready. 3 has here an intensive force,
the Keri has ^-13X1 , which is found in which I have expressed by the adverb
the text of a great many MSS. and in fully before the participle. The descrip-
three ancient editions. tion closes with great power by the addi-
22. I'lS-inBT' , the remotest regions tion of li*iS"r3 Tpbs , against thee, 0
o/'iAeeartA, i.e. as known to the ancients, daughter of Zion! after it might have
Comp. Isa. xiv. 13. With the northern been supposed to have been completed.
parts they were in general but little 24, 25. The Jews, alarmed at their
acquainted. danger, give expression to the poignancy
23. The Chaldean soldiery appear in of their sorrow, and caution one another
some respects to have resembled the not to expose themselves to the enemy
Cossacks of modern times, especially in by going without the walls of the city.
the use of the lance on horseback. They A considerable number of MSS., the
fight principally in small bodies, with Com|ilut. Polyglott, and all the ancient
which they attac.k the enemy on all sides, versions, support the Keri in reading
but principally on the flanks, and in the sisbp and iissn instead of "labpl and
rear, rushing upon them at full speed, nxsn . " " '

Chap. VI. 26-28.]

JEREMIAH.

61

Make thee a mourning as for an only child,
A most bitter lamentation ;
For suddenly tlie destroyer shall come upon us.
27 I have appointed thee an assayer among my people,
An explorer, that thou mayest know and try their way.
28 They are all desperate revolters.
They are conversant with detraction ;
They are copper and iron,
They are aU corrupters.
29 The bellows snort.
The lead is consumed by the fire ;

26. Jehovah is the speaker in this and
the following verse. ''lUsSnn Kimchi
explains by ''babsnn , roll thyself. The
LXX. and Vulg. render sprinkle, sup
posing the reference to be to the custom
of persons sprinkling dust over their
heads as a token of excessive grief. The
former signification is best sustained.
Comp. Ezek. xxvii. 30 ; Micah i. 10.
n^'l'nan ISpa , a lamentation of bitter
nesses, for most bitter lamentation, ex
pressed by beating the breast, as 1&&
properly signifies. The destroyer was
Nebnehandezzar. 27. In this verse and the three follow
ing, the language of metallurgy is em
ployed metaphorically, to express the
destination of the prophet, and the char
acter of the moral materials on which
he was called to operate. The proper
and the metaphorical, however, are inter
mingled, in order to obviate any misun
derstanding on the part of the hearers.
"ins , a, trier, fi-om ina , to prove, or try
metals, as ai'pi , a fowler, from iap"i ;
pWS , on oppressor, from pizjj) . Thus
the LXX. SoKifiacrT-fiy. Syr. j;0 «*"!
Maurer and Hitzig consider "I33a to be
compounded of the noun isa , gold, and
the preposition, only the Dagesh Com
pensative should be inserted in the Beth.
Scholz, Gesenius, and others, take the
word in the same acceptation as in chap.
i. 18, where Jeremiah is said to be con
stituted a fortified city. Neither inter-
6

pretation is satisfactory. The former,
without gold, comes in awkwardly after
" my people ; " and the latter, a fortified
city, little accords with " a trier of met
als." I am, therefore, of opinion, that
the term takes here the signification of
the Arab. wOJ, videns fuit, rem quae-
' s
sivit ac scrutaius fuit; hence ^^^ ;

wOl.

\s ^ ^

bene videns, perspicax ; «_OjU0 , probatio ;
and have rendered it explore)  the con
crete for the abstract. Michaelis gives
this sense by changing the punctuation
into that of the Piel participle "i>13a ,
looking carefully, or one who thus look's.
Ewald construes in the same way, only
he adopts the signification of cutting,
which ho applies to the separation of the
good from the bad portions of metal.
•jinS and 1S3a are thus parallel, and
nearly identical in signification.
28. d''1"TiD "ilD is quite equivalent to
a superlative. The roots, indeed, are
not the same, but they are so completely
cognate, both in sound aud in sense, as
to admit of such construction. Maurer
renders contumacissimi ; Ewald : die
schlechtesten der Schleehten. For the par
onomasia comp. chap. v. 23 ; Hos. iv. 16.
The images of copper and iron may be
employed to describe the ignoble and
base character of the Jews, comp. Isa.
Ix. 17, or to set forth their obduracy,
Isa. xlviii. 4.

62 JEREMIAH. [Chap. vn. 1.
In vain the refiner refineth,
For the wicked are not separated.
30 Rejected silver they shall be called,
For Jehovah hath rejected them.
29. nBO , bellows, from nSJ , to blow, before quicksilver was known, lead was
"ins niay either be the root of the verb, employed for the purpose of separating
to snort, and designed in this place to silver from the baser metal with which
express the sound produced by the con- it was mixed. The meaning of the
tinned blowing of the bellows ; or it may verse is, that, though the utmost pains
be the Niphal of "iin , to burn. The had been taken with the Jews, and every
former best suits the connection. Thus means assiduously employed which was
Michaelis, Rosenmiiller, Dahler, De calculated to purify them from idolatry,
Wette, Scholz, and Umbreit. Instead of all had proved fruitless. They would
DCTZJSB , which affords no proper sense, not be reclaimed. They could not be
the Keri divides and reads Qn IBNa , separated from the worshippers of idols.
consumed hy fhe fire, on being mascu- 30. As silver, which is so completely
line and rflSJ) feminine, presents no mixed with alloy as to be utterly worth-
obstacle to this construction, since the less, so the Jewish people had by their
gender of the noun is equivalent to the rejection of the worship and service of
neuter, and is formal, not real. For the the true God rendered themselves the
form ftl'IS , see on ver. 27. Anciently, objects of rejection on his part.

CHAPTER VII.

This chapter and the two following form a new portion of the book, and appear to have
been composed on occasion of some public festival in the reign of Jehoiakim. That the
multitudes who came up from the country might have the benefit of his instructions,
the prophet is commanded to take his station at the gate of the temple, and direct their
attention to the nature of true religion. Instead of suffering themselves to be deceived
by a false coiifideuce in the temple, they were thoroughly to reform their conduct, 2-7.
They had been taught by the false prophets that, if they only attended to the ceremonial
worship, it was not necessary for them to be strict in their morals, 8-10; but they had
only to contemplate the fate of those who had lived at Shiloh, iu order to have a speci
men of what they themselves had to expect, 11-15. Their inveterate propensity to
idolatry rendered all means to reclaim them nugatory, 16-19. They are, therefore,
threatened with a tremendous judgment, 20, which their sacrifices — substituted for
obedience — would not avert, 21-28. After further describing their idolatrous character
and practices, 29-31, the prophet again threatens them with the infliction of condign
punishment, 32-34.
1 The word which was communicated to Jeremiah from Jehovah,
1. Notwithstanding the great reforma- who did evil in the sight of the Lord,
tion effected by Josiah, the people of the and thus the national guilt was awfully
Jews soon relapsed into idolatry. In increased. Though they again adopted
this they v^^ere encouraged by Jehoiakim, the worship of idols, yet it was in con-

Chap. VII. 1-6.]

JEEEMIAH.

63

2 saying : Stand m the gate of the house of Jehovah, and proclaim
there this word, and say :
Hear the word of Jehovah, all ye of Judah,
That enter these gates to worship Jehovah.
3 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel :
Reform your ways and your doings.
And I wiU stiU cause you to dwell in this place.
4 Put not your trust in words of falsehood, saying.
The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah,
The temple of Jehovah are these.
5 But if ye will thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds,
If ye wiU thoroughly execute justice between a man and his
neighbor,
6 If ye will not oppress the stranger, the orphan, and the widow,
And will not shed innocent blood in this place.
And will not follow other gods to your hurt ;

junction with that of Jehovah ; and they
appear to have come from different parts
of Judea to worship at the temple on
the occasion when this prophetic dis
course was deUvered.
2. It is not certain in which gate
Jeremiah is here commanded to take his
station. Some think it was the princi
pal gate on the east side of the temple,
which led into the large outer court ;
others, the gate of the court of Israel,
within that of the women. As the for
mer is always mentioned under the name
of D^IX , or porch, it was more Ukely the
latter. This receives confirmation from
the other gates being mentioned imme
diately after as those at which the Jews
entered ; namely, that leading into the
outer court, or court of the Gentiles,
and that leading into the court of the
women, from which a third gate, as
above stated, led into the court of Israel.
Those whom the prophet addressed had
come in through the two first, and were
just about to enter the court where sac
rifice was offered and worship performed.
3. As the Jews already dwelt at Jeru
salem, "flij , the Piel, or intensive form
of the verb, must here have a continua-
tive force, or it must have a permissive

signification. There is no example of
the simple signification to dwell attaching
to this conjugation, so that the ren
dering of the Vulgate, which Blayney
adopts, / will dwell with you, is not sus
tained ; comp. ver. 12.
4. Men in all ages have evinced a
proneness to attvibute to external and
ceremonial circumstances a virtue which
does not inhere in them, imagining that
the simple observance of them wiU
supersede the necessity of the strict
pursuit of hoUness. The Jews supposed
that because the temple was dedicated to
the worship of Jehovah, he, as their
tutelar God, would effectually protect it,
and all who came to worship in it. The
triple repetition of jTijii bsin expresses
the intense feeling of false confidence
which the Jews cherished. Comp. for
similar triple superlatives, Isa. vi. 3 ;
Jer. xxii. 29. "lari i/iese, refers to the
sacred buildings of the temple.
6. The incidental use of bx , as inter
changing with kV, does not imply that
the construction which was introduced
by DX is thereby interrupted. The con
nection requires it to be carried foiTvard
to the apodosis, which is introduced by
1 at the beginning of ver. 7. There are

64

JEREMIAH

[Chap. VH. 6-11.

7 Then I will cause you still to dwell hi this place,
In the land which I gave to your fathers
For ever and ever.
8 Behold, ye put your trust in words of falsehood,
Which are to no profit.
9 WiU ye steal, murder, and commit adultery,
And swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal,
And follow other gods which ye know not ;
10 And yet come, and stand before me in this house,
Which is called by my name.
And say : " We are delivered " ;
That ye may commit all these abominations ?
11 Is then tliis house which is called by my name
A den of robbers in your eyes ?
Yea, behold, I have seen it, saith Jehovah.
12 But go now to my place which was in Shiloh,
Where I caused my name to dwell at first.
And see what I did to it.
On account of the wickedness of my people Israel.

other instances in which the two nega
tives have the same signification, though
generaUy they correspond in usage to
the Greek fi^ and ou.
7. oVii'-IS'l D^is-la^ , from eternity
to eternity, is the strongest formula by
which perpetuity of duration is expressed
in Hebrew. Comp. chap. xxv. 5 ; Neh.
ix. 5 ; Psaira xc. 2. The words are to
be connected with ipi33ia , I will still
cause you to dwell.
8- "lUJSt is understood before iftbab ,
and b marks the end or issue.
9. The infinitives here are all histori
cal, and are put in the absolute state for
the sake of emphasis.
10. Nothing could be more incongru
ous than to indulge in all manner of
wickedness, and yet appear in the tem
ple as true worshippers of Jehovah,
except the absurd reason assigned for
such indulgence. The Jews fully counted
upon the divine protection in the com
mission of the crimes here specified, on
the mere ground of their external pre
sentation of themselves before God at

the place which he had chosen. SijisS
is the prophetic future, designed to ex
press the certainty of the conviction that
no punishment should overtake them.
The words niiUS "(S'ab , in order to com
mit, are not those of the people, but of
the prophet. All that they say is : We
are delivered, safe, secure ; we have noth
ing to fear. "We have offered our sacri
fices, and thereby insured the favor of
Jehovah, which he ivill not fail to mani
fest towards us, in defending us against
aU who would injure us.
11. Do yon consider this sacred edi
fice, which hath been devoted to my
worship, a fit place for such characters
as you to appear in'? You merely
regard it as au asylum in which you
may find immunity from the punish
ment which your wickedness has de
served. The metaphor is taken from
the practice of robbers, who, in order to
escape from the consequences of their
deeds of violence, betake themselves to
inaccessible caves among the cliffs of
mountains.

Chap. VH. 12-18.]

JEREMIAH.

13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith Jehovah,
-And I spake to you,
Rising up early and speaking.
But ye would not hearken ;
And I called to you,
But ye made no reply :
14 Therefore I wUl do to the house which is called by my name,
In which ye put your trust.
And to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers,
As I have done to ShUoh.
15 And I will cast you away from my presence,
As I cast away aU your brethren.
The whole posterity of Ephraim.
1 6 Therefore pray not thou for this people ;
Neither raise on their behalf a cry or a prayer ;
Neither make intercession to me ;
For I wUl not hear thee.
17 Dost thou not see what they do in the cities of Judah,
And in the streets of Jerusalem ?
18 The chUdren gather wood.
And the fathers kindle the fire.

12-15. Sliiloh was situated in the
tribe of Ephraim, to the north of Bethel,
and was celebrated for having been the
place where the tabernacle and the ark
remained from the days of Joshua down
to the death of EU. Josh, xviii. 1 ; 1
Sam. iv. 3. That it had suffered severely
when the inhabitants of the northern
kingdom were removed by the Assyrians,
notwithstanding all the sacredness which
might have continued to attach to it, is
impUed in what is declared, verses 14,
1.5. However reduced, it continued to
be inhabited in the time of Jeremiah,
chap. xii. 5. Dr. Robinson found its
ruins, under the name of Seilun, on his
way from Jerusalem to Shechem. In
the destruction of that place, and the
punishment inflicted upon the surround
ing country, the Jews had an impressive
example of the manner in which they,
and the temple in which they trusted,
should be treated, if they did not repent.
6*

The I at the beginning of verse 14
marks' the apodosis, and is to be ren
dered inferentially.
16, 17. In these verses the prophet is
addressed in language which conveys an
awful idea of the depravity of the Jew
ish people. As they would not by repent
ance avert the punishment to be inflicted
by the Babylonians, the prophet was not
to attempt to do it by his prayers.
18. Idolatry was not practised by in
dividuals in private merely, hut also
publicly, and was maintained hy the
joint efforts of whole famUies. Even
the tender hands of childhood were not
spared their contributions. They and
their fathers made the necessary prepara
tions for the fire, and the mothers baked
the cakes which were to be presented to
the object of idolatrous worship. "What
this object was, interpreters are not
agreed. Some, following the reading
n3Stba,.and taking it in the sense of

66

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. VII. 18.

And the women knead the dough.
To make cakes to the queen of heaven,
And to pour out libations to other gods,
In order to provoke me to anger.

¦workmanship, explain it of the heavenly
' bodies, and consider the worship of the
planets generally to be intended. To
these, especiaUy the sun and moon, the
ancients attributed a powerful influence
on human affairs, and were specially
addicted to their worship. nssbo ,
which is supported by the sufirage of
thirty-nine MSS., originaUy seven, and
perhaps five more, and by correction
two, is found in the printed text of the
Soncin. and Complut. editions. The
LXX. render ^ arparid, with which
agree the Syr. and the Targ. There
seems, however, no valid ground for
departing from the received text, the
reading of which is n'^Ollin I^sio , *''«
queen of heaven, especially as the 'LXX.
render it by tj ^aaiKitrffa twv ovpavOiv,
chap. xUv. 17-19, 25, the only other
passages in which the term occurs. The
Vulg. has throughout regina coeli. That
by this title the moon is meant, there
can be no doubt ; and it is the opinion
now almost universaUy entertained.
The idea that the sun is intended, only
with a feminine termination, is entirely
exploded. The worship of that lumi
nary obtained very extensively among
heathen nations. By Horace she was
celebrated as queen of the stars :
Siderum regina bicornis, audi,
Luna, pueUas. — Carm. Seoul. 35.
The Phoenicians originaUy worshipped
her under the name of n^hdj) Ashto-
reth, and from her appearance after the
change, under that of d^Jlp ITl'purs
the two-horned Ashtoreth, though there is
some reasop to conclude that, at length,
they transferred the worship to the
planet Venus. She was rci;,ardedas the
wife of i?? , Baal, "^a , Molech, or "^B ,
Melech, the king of heaven. On ancient
medals we find the crescent sometimes

placed on the shoulder of a priest, and
sometimes above, in the firmament.
These two deities, being the one male
and the other female, were symbolical
of the generative powers of nature ; and
in the ideas thus naturaUy suggested,
originated the licentious character of
the worship of Astarte, especially among
the Phoenicians, who had females in her
temples that prostituted themselves in
honor of her. The festival of the new
moon was specially destructive of female
virtue. It is doubtless to this Ubidinous
superstition Ephraim Syrus refers, when
describing it as stiU existing in his time
in Mesopotamia. He says, "The wife
of a Chaldean may put him to shame,
because she must accommodate herself
to her star. He must also exhort his
daughter to become a disciple of the
moon, and learn prostitution." And
again : " 'Who introduced the worship
of the irrational goddess, on whose fes
tivals the women practise prostitution ¦? "
Gesen., Isaiah, vol. iii. p. 341. The
Babylonians worshipped the moon under
the name of K nib ia, corrupted by He-
rodlan into Mylitta, i.e. genetrix. The
antiquity of such worship we learn fi-om
the protestation of Job, chap xxxi. 26,
27 ; and a memorial of it we have in
most modern languages, as Lundi, Mon
day, Montag, Mondag, etc. It doesnot
appear that the Jews oflfered sacrifices to
the moon, though the Egyptians did,
Herodot., book ii. 47. The only aUusion
to which reference is here made is the
presentation of cakes, DiJIS ; so called
from 1^3 J to prepare, make ready, which
suggests the idea of something peculiar
in tho composition of them. LXX.
Kavavas. They most probably consisted
of fine flour, mixed with honey, rasins,
etc., and were round and flat, to resemble

Chap. "VH. 18-23.]

JEREMIAH.

67

19 Is it me they provoke to anger ? saith Jehovah ;
Is it not themselves, to the confusion of their own faces ?
20 Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah :
Behold, mine anger and my firry shall be poured out upon this
place.
Upon man and upon beast,
IJpon the trees of the field.
And upon the fruit of the ground ;
And it shaU burn, and shaU not be quenched.
21 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel,
Add your burnt-offerings to your sacrifices, and eat fiesh.
22 For I spake not to your fathers, nor charged them.
In the day when I brought them out from the land of Egypt,
Respecting either burnt-offering or sacrifice.
23 But this thing I charged them, saying :
Obey my voice.
And I wiU be your God,
And ye shall be my people ;

the disc of the moon. The "other
gods " specified do not mean, other than
the moon, but other than Jehovah.
19- "ins and DPS are in forcible con
trast. 20. Compare v. 17.
21. Because the Jews joined the wor
ship of other gods to that of Jehovah,
he here declares that he would not accept
the sacrifices which they offered to him.
The nibs, (S\oKauTiifioTa, or burnt offer
ings, were entirely consumed by fire on
the altar ; the other sacrifices were for
the most part eaten by those who offered
them and by their friends. They are
told that they might eat the one kind as
weU as the other ; God would have no
regard to any of them. Comp. Amos
V. 22.
22, 23. A vast number of MSS., three
of the early editions, and all the versions
read, with the Keri, ixisin instead of
N"iSin- The apparent contradiction
between the statement here made, and
tho fact that the Mosaic institutes abound
in sacrificial enactments, may he removed
in two ways. First, that moral obliga

tion was repeatedly inculcated upon the
Hebrews before the institution of the
sacrificial code; and that almost in
the identical language employed in
the prophet. " If thou wilt diligently
hearken to the voice of the Lord thy
God, and wilt do that which is right in
his sight, and wilt give ear to his com
mandments," etc., Exod. XV. 26. " Now,
therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed,
and keep my covenant, then shall ye be
a pecuUar treasure unto me above all
people," etc., xix. 5. Then follows the
proclamation of the moral code, amidst
all the solemnities of Sinai ; which code,
to mark its superior claims, was written
on two tables of stone, and alone depos
ited in the ark of the covenant. Comp.
Deut. V. vi. It was not till afterwards,
that the special regulations were given,
relative to the different kinds of sacrifice,
which properly constituted the Levitical
law. Secondly, it is not unusual for the
Hebrews to express iu absolute terms
what is to be understood relatively and
comparatively. Thus, to hate, sometimes
means to love less. Gen. xxix. 30, 31 ;

68

JEREMIAH. [Chap. VII. 23-29.

And walk ye in aU the way respecting which I shall charge you,
That it may be weU with you.
24 But they hearkened not, nor incUned their ear.
But walked in the counsels, in the obstinacy of their wicked heart.
And went backward, and not forward.
25 From the day that your fathers went out from the land of Egypt,
Unto this day,
I have sent to you all my servants the prophets.
Daily rising early and sending them ;
26 But they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear.
But hardened their neck ;
They acted worse than their fathers.
27 Though thou speak aU these words to them,
Yet they wiU not hearken to thee ;
Though thou call to them.
They will make thee no reply.
28 Say, therefore, to them :
This is the nation that will not hearken
To the voice of Jehovah their God ;
Neither will they receive instruction :
The truth hath perished ;
It is cut off from their mouth.
29 Shear off thy hair, and cast it away.
And raise a lamentation on the high places ;
For Jehovah hath rejected and cast off
The generation with which he is wroth.
Mal. i. 2, 3. Comp. Luke xiv. 26, with lenoe, he could not but treat with mer-
Matt. X. 37 ; and, as more parallel with ited reprobation.
the present instance, Hos. vi. 6. "I 24-28. All the instruction with which
will have mercy, and not sacrifice." the Hebrews had been furnished, from
Comp. 1 Sam. xv. 22. " Hath the Lord the earliest periods of their national his-
as great delight in burnt offerings and tory, had proved ineffectual in restrain-
sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the ing them from idolatry. Nor would the
Lord t Behold, to otey is better than solemn warnings uttered by the prophet
sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of be more availing. They had become
rams." According to this idiom, the utter strangers to true religion. D'i"' ,
meaning will be : That ritual observances day, ver. 25, is used adverbiaUy for oil
were regarded by God as matters of sec- bi'i , daily.
ondary importance, which, when substi- 29. Jesusalem is here addressed under
tuted for the moral duties required by the image of a female, who, in the depth
the law, and especially the first and great of her grief for the loss of her cliildren,
commandment, supreme love to himself deprives her head of its chief ornament,
as the source and pattern of all excel- and betakes herself to the hills to bewail

Chap. "Vn. 29-34.] JEREMIAH. 69
30 For the chUdren of Judah have practised wickedness in my sight,
saith Jehovah ;
They have placed their abominable objects
In the house which is called by my name,
To poUute it.
31 They have also built the high places of Tophet,
Which is in the vaUey of the son of Hinnom,
To burn their sons and their daughters in the fire ;
Which I charged not, neither did it come into my mind.
32 Therefore, behold the days are coming, saith Jehovah,
When it shall no more be caUed Tophet
Or the vaUey of the son of Hinnom,
But the valley of slaughter ;
For they shah bury in Tophet
TUl there be no more room.
33 And the carcases of this people shaU be food
For the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth ;
And none shaU scare them away.
34 And I wiU cause to cease from the cities of Judah,
And from the streets of Jerusalem,
The sound of gladness, and the sound of joy;
The sound of the bridegroom, and the sound of the bride ;
For the land shaU be desolate.
her bereavement. For such indulgence is employed, by which more is implied
in grief, comp. Isa. xv. 2 ; Ezek. vu. 16 than is expressed.
-18 ; Judges xi. 37, 38. 32-34. As a just retribution of their
30, 31. To such an awful extent of wickedness in devoting the bodies of their
wickedness did the profane Manasseh children to Moloch in the vaUey of To-
proceed, that he erected idolatrous altars phet, it is predicted that it should be-
within the sacred precincts of the temple, come a place in which, as weU as in
2 Kings xxi. 4-7 ; xxiii. 4 ; Jer. xxxii. Jerusalem, such multitudes of the Jews
34. Comp. Ezek. viii. Eor Tophet, should be slain by the enemy that it
see on chap. ii. 23, and Isa. xxx. 33. would not afford sufficient room for their
The nShfl niaa " high places of To- interment. Their dead bodies should
phet," were the places for the worship lie scattered on the ground, to be de-
of Moloch, erected, no doubt, on the voured by animals of prey. In ver. 34
heights along the south side of the val- reference is made to the joyous proces-
ley, and facing Mount Zion. So far sions in which the bride and bridegroom
were the Hebrews fi-om receiving any are led through the streets, accompanied
countenance from Jehovah in the per- by singers and musicians, which arc com-
formance of their cruel rites, that, on mon in the East, and, among the Jews, in
the contrary, he had severely interdicted some parts of Europe. See my Biblical
them, Deut. xii. 31 . The figure meiosis Researches and Travels in Russia, p. 217.

70 JEREMIAH. [Chap. vm. 1, 2.

CHAPTER VIII.

The same subject is continued in the beginning of this chapter as that with which the pre
ceding one concluded, only the prophet heightens the aggravations of the impending
calamity, 1-3. The cause of the judicial visitation is again inquired into, and shown to
he the obstinate and unnatural disposition of the Jews, 4-7. The prophets and priests
are next inculpated as helping forward the evil, 8-12. The alarm of the people follows
on an additional threatening, 13-15. In the north of Palestine is seen the invading
army, which no artifices could arrest, and the operations of which would be horrific,
16-18. The picture is then transferred to the exile, in which the captives are represented
as bewailing their forlorn condition, in response to which the prophet gives varied
expression to the depth and pressure of his sympathetic grief, 19-22 ; ix. 1.
1 At that time, saith Jehovah,
They shaU bring the bones of the kings of Judah,
And the bones of his princes.
The hones of the priests.
And the bones of the prophets.
And the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Out of their graves ;
2 And they shall spread them out
To the sun and to the moon,
And to aU the host of heaven.
Which they loved, and which they served,
"Wliich they foUowed, and which they consulted,
And which they worshipped ;
They shaU not be gathered, neither shaU they be buried ;
They shaU be as dung on the surface of the ground.
3 And death shall be chosen rather than hfe
By aU the residue that are left of this wicked race,
1. The Keri !|K'>sii , without the con- It was quite customary to bury -the
junctive Vau, is found in the text of crown (sometimes very costly), the scep-
many MSS., and in some of the earlier tre, and other insignia of royalty along
editions. In their eagerness to obtain with kings when interred.
whatever they could grasp in the way 2. In their reckless search, the barba-
of plunder, the Babylonians would vio- rians would never think of replacing the
late the sanctuaries of the dead, espec- bones which they had disturbed, but
ially those of the principal inhabitants would leave them exposed to open gaze.
of Jerusalem, in whose graves ornaments The objects of idolatrous worship are
and other treasures were deposited. Ac- here introduced, with admirable effect,
cording to Josephus (Antiq. vii. ch. 15. as unconcerned spectators of the indig-
§ 3), Hyrcanus, tho high priest, took out nity offered to their former worshippers.
of one of the rooms in the sepulchre of The strong devotion of the Jews to their
David no less a sum than three thousand service is depicted, by accumulating
talents, and Herod a great deal more, description upon description.

Chap. VHI. 3-8.] JEREMIAH. 71
In aU the remaining places whither I shall have driven them,
Saith Jehovah of Hosts.
4 Thou shalt further say to them,
Thus saith Jehovah :
Shall they faU, and shall they not rise again ?
ShaU they turn away, and shaU they not return ?
5 Wliy doth this people of Jerusalem apostatise with a perpetual
apostasy ?
They hold fast deceit.
They refuse to return.
6 I hearkened and heard ;
They spake not aright ;
No one repented of his wickedness,
Saying, What have I done ?
They have aU turned to their courses,
As a horse rusheth into the battle.
7 The very stork in the heavens knoweth her seasons,
The turtle-dove also, and the swallow, and the crane
Observe the time of their arrival ;
But my people know not the judgment of Jehovah.
8 How can ye say. We are wise.
And the law of Jehovah is with us ?
Behold, surely in vain hath he made it ;
The pen of the copyists is vain.
3. The condition of survivors would prompts them, with the most unfaUing
he more pitiable than that of the dead, regularity, to return from their winter
The words n'^'lNfflSn nilXiail are in abodes on the advance of spring, and to
apposition, not in construction. repair thither again iu the end of au-
4, 5. Is the case of the Jews, then, tumn. Contrasted with this, the con-
absolutely desperate? The only reply duct of God's people iu persisting in
to the question is furnished by the obsti- their refusal to return to him, could not
nate obUquity of their conduct. Though but appear most unnatural. The plural
warned and punished, they still refuse fi'^'ISla , her seasons, is more appropriate
to render undivided homage to Jehovah, than'jiisia , her season, both the autiun-
6. There is no reason why the plural nal and spring migrations being re-
dni'Sia their courses, should be changed garded. For the names of the two last-
into Dns"ia , their course, as proposed in mentioned birds, see on Isa. xxxviii. 14.
the Ken. ' The wicked habits of the 8. Possessing, as they did, the divine
Jews were numerous and diversified, law, the Jews had the means of becom-
The point of comparison to the war- ing the wisest nation on the face of the
horse, is the mad rapidity with which he earth ; hut, neglecting to improve these
furiously rushes into the midst of the means, and acting in direct opposition
battle. to the law, they evinced the greatest
7. The instinct of migratory birds foUy. As to them, the law was as if it

Y2 JEREMIAH. [Chap. vm. 8-14.
9 The wise men are ashamed.
They are confounded and taken ;
Behold, they have despised the word of Jehovah ;
What, then, can be the wisdom they possess ?
10 Therefore I wiU give their wives to others,
Their fields to those who shaU possess them ;
For from the least to the greatest
They are aU greedy of gain ;
From the prophet to the priest
They aU act falsely.
11 For they heal the breach of the daughter of my people sUghtly,
Saying, Peace, peace.
When there is no peace.
12 Are they ashamed when they have committed abomination ?
They are not even in the least ashamed.
Neither do they feel abashed ;
Therefore they shaU fall among them that faU ;
In the time of their punishment they shaU stumble,
Saith Jehovah.
13 I wiU utterly destroy them, saith Jehovah ;
There shall be no grapes on the vine.
Nor figs on the fig tree,
The very leaf shaU wither ;
For I wUl appoint them those who shaU overrun them.
14 Why do we sit stUl ?
Assemble yourselves, and let us enter the fortified cities,
And let us be silent there ;
had never been given. Copies, however many parts of the book of Jeremiah
multipUed, were of no utiUty. I can- leaves no reason to doubt that the repe-
not accede to the suggestion made by tition here of chap. vi. 12-15 is genuine.
Scholz, that there is here a reference Theodotion and the Hexaplar Syriac
to any corruption of the text, by an supply the omission of the LXX.
omission of those passages which de- 13. The vintage and hai'vest are fre-
nonnced idolatry. quently employed figuratively as images
9. Rejecting the only true source of of complete destruction ; but here the
wisdom, how could the professedly terms ai-e to be taken in their literal
learned among them make any pro- application. In O'l'l-S"'' Dflb IMXl there
tensions to that invaluable treasure ? is an ellipsis of "iCJtt before the last
na'nasn , lit- the wisdom of what ? word. For Qii^asi iipwards of twenty
10-12. 'See on chap. vi. 12-15. The MSS. read Dliaji, but less suitably to
LXX. omit these three verses with the the connection. '
exception of the first two lines of the 14. The Jews in the country are
tenth. The repetitious character of here introduced, exciting one another to

Chap. VIII. 14-18.]

JEREMIAH.

73

For Jehovah our God hath reduced us to sUence,
And given us water of poison to drink ;
Because we have sinned against Jehovah.
15 We expected peace, but no good came ;
A time of healing, but behold, terror.
16 From Dan the snorting of his horses is heard ;
At the sound of the neighing of his strong ones
The whole land trembleth ;
For they are come, and they consume
The land and all that is in it.
The city and those who inhabit it.
17 For behold, I wiU send among you serpents, basiUsks,
Which are not to be charmed.
And they shall bite you mortally,
Saith Jehovah.
18 My exhilaration within me is sorrow
My heart within me is faint.

repair to the fortified cities for defence
against the invading foe. fia^J instead
of fia^3 , 'with fl paragogic from wol .
125lXT''a lit. UMter of the poisonous plant.
What this plant was, is disputed. In
my translation of Hosea x. 4, I have
adopted the poppy, proposed by Gesen
ius, as likely to be what is intended by
lUN"!; but I now deem it preferable to
adopt a less definite rendering.
15. The infinitive absolute n>lp is used
eUiptically for .TJiiip nip . The hopes
excited hy the false prophets had com
pletely failed. Instead of a healthy and
prosperous state of public affairs, noth
ing was experienced but the horrors of
war. 16. The tribe of Dan was contermin
ous to the territory of Phoenicia, which
latter having been passed by Nebuchad
nezzar, he entered the land of Israel.
The report of its invasion by the hostile
cavalry, must have spread consternation
among all the inhabitants. That D^T^as ,
which is elsewhere translated bulls, is
here and chapters xlvii. 3, 1. 11, to be
rendered steeds or staUions, is evident
from stamping or neighing being connected
7

with the term. It is the plural of "iiax,
a mighty or strong one. This application
of the term is pecuUar to Jeremiah.
Adjectives thus used alone, without the
substantive, Gesenius calls epitheta or-
nantia (Heb. Gram. 5 104, 2 a).
17. Here Jehovah is introduced as
personaUy addressing the Jews. By
serpents and basilisks dangerous ene
mies are meant, whose destructive power
no means could countervail. These
animals have been, and still are, rendered
harmless by the arts of serpent-charm
ers, who abound in the East, and not
only entice them by certain musical
sounds to follow them, but by a partic
ular pressure on the neck render them
incapable of darting at any object. For
"^SSSS , basilisk, see on Isa. xi. 8.
18. "With respect to iniJ^baa there is
great diversity in the orthography, but
no valid objection can be taken to
niS'^baa , a derivative from jba , Arab.,
^.jLj , nituit, fulsit sol oriens ; and iu
the fifth conjugation, hilarisfuit ; hence
the signification of the noun, hilarity,
exhilaration. Aquila, in the Hexaplar

74

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. 'VIII. 18-23.

19 Behold, the sound of the cry of the daughter of my people
From a distant land :
Is Jehovah not in Zion ?
Is her King not in her ?
Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images ?
With strange vanities ?
20 The harvest is passed, and the summer is ended.
Yet we are not deUvered.
21 For the breach of the daughter of my people I am broken down ;
I mourn ; astonishment hath seized me.
22 Is there no balsam in Gilead ?
Is there no physician there ?
"Why then is not health restored to the daughter of my people ?

. Syriac, laetitia. The division of the word
into the two in'^5 "ibaa is altogether to
be rejected, as either affording no sense
at all, or one quite unsuitable to the
context. The language of this verse
and of those which immediately follow,
excepting the twentieth, is that of the
prophet, and is expressive of the poig
nant grief which he felt in the prospect
of the destruction of his country.
19. The prophet in anticipation hears
the sad complaints of his countrymen
exiled in Babylon. They now thought
of their God and King. They thought
likewise of Zion as his holy habitation ;
and were proceeding to inquire how it
was that he had not interposed to save
his temple and people from the desolat
ing attack of barbarians, when they were
interrupted, not by the information that
it had been owing to no want of power
or fideUty on his part, but by a pointed
interrogation which involved the deepest
criminaUty on theirs. Their idolatry
was the cause of their exile.
20. These words of the exiles have
the air of a proverb. The meaning is
obvious : one favorable season after
another, which promised them deliver
ance, had passed away without bringing
any melioration of their circumstances.
21, 22. Most deeply affected by the
deplorable condition of his exiled coun

trymen, the prophet inquires whether no
appropriate means could be found for
effecting their restoration. Whether by
i"lS we are to understand the opobalsa-
mum or myrobalanus, so celebrated by
Pliny, Strabo, and other ancient writers ;
or whether, with Bochart and others, we
are to regard it as the resin drawn from
the terebinth, cannot be determined. So
much is certain, that it was celebrated
for its efficacy in healing wounds, and
that it abounded in Gilead, or the region
to the east of the Jordan, Gen. xxxvii.
25; xUii. 11; Jer. xlvi.- 11 ; U. 8. It
would appear from ver. 22 that, owing
to the numbers that resorted to Gilead
for the purpose of obtaining this heaUng
medicine, physicians had established
themselves in that country, by whom it
was not only collected, but also appUed.
nsnix , the word here rendered health,
properly signifies length, from the cir
cumstance of long Unen bandages being
employed in binding up wounds. Con
nected, as here, with the verb ribv , togo,
come, or he up, or over, it may have spe
cial reference to the healing of the
wounds, by the skin again coming upon
them. Arab. JiXjjl , sanaft'o.
23. From the circumstance that this
and the following verse both begin with
')Pl';-ia , " O that," they ai-e in most

Chap. IX. 1.]

JEREMIAH.

75

23 O that my head were water.
And mine eyes a fountain of tears !
Then would I weep by day and by night
For the slain of the daughter of my people.

versions made to commence the ninth
chapter ; but as the former is merely a
continued representation of the calamity
described in the preceding verses, where
as the latter is the introduction to a,
somewhat lengthened description of the
atrocities which formed the procuring

cause of that calamity, it is more appro
priate to divide the chapters as the He
brew text does, by allotting twenty-three
verses to the eighth chapter. The lan
guage of the prophet in ver. 23 is the
most touchingly pathetic of any in the
book.

CHAPTER IX.

Oppressed by a sense of the utter flagitiousness of those by whom he was surrounded, the
prophet wishes that it were in his power to withdraw altogether from their society, 1-4.
FuUy admitting the danger of his position, the Lord assures him that their wickedness
rendered them unwilling to know him, on which account he would subject them to
painful trials, 5-8 ; the denunciation of which is interrupted by a momentary expression
of grief on the part of Jeremiah, 9 ; and is resumed, 10. The calamity and its cause
again alternate, 11-15. Mourning women are then summoned to pour forth their dirge,
expressive of the slaughter of the inhabitants, 16-21 ; the Jews are exhorted to renounce
every ground of false confidence, and practically to recognize the true character of Him
who alone could deliver them, 22, 23 ; and the chapter closes with a threatening of ven
geance on their enemies.
1 0 THAT I had in the desert
A lodging-place of traveUers !
That I might abandon my people.
And go away from them;
For they are all adulterers.
An assembly of faithless men.

1. D'^n'nit "pba, a caravansary, or
lodge for caravan's or travelling compa
nies in deserts and regions remote from
towns. This lodge generally consists of
a large square building, enclosing a court
open above, round the sides of which are
small arches, and within each of these is
a dark cell or dormitory, without furni
ture or accommodation of any kind. For
the most part the caravansaries are very

fUthy, and abound in vermin. Yet such
a place the prophet would have preferred
to a residence among the abandoned in
habitants of Jerusalem, amid all the con
veniences and comforts of that city.
Comp. Psalm Iv. 7, 8. The LXX. ren
der tTTa^fihv iaxo.'rov, the most remote sta
tion, which conveys only part of the idea,
that of discomfort being necessarily in
volved in the Hebrew. The crimes

76 JEREMIAH. [Chap. IX. 1-9.
2 They bend their tongue, like their bow, with deceit,
And are not vaUant for truth in the land ;
For they proceed from wickedness to wickedness,
And they have not known me,
Saith Jehovah.
3 Beware each one of his companion.
Neither confide ye in any brother ;
For every brother wUl act a deceitful part,
And every companion wiU go about with slander.
4 They wiU deceive each his companion,
And wiU not speak the truth ;
They have taught their tongue to speak falsehood ;
They take pains to act perversely.
5 Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit ;
Through deceit they refuse to know me,
Saith Jehovah.
6 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah of Hosts :
Behold, I wiU melt them and try them ;
For how can I otherwise act
On account of the daughter of my people ?
7 Their tongue is a murderous arrow,
It speaketh deceit ;
With his mouth each speaketh peace to his companion,
But inwardly he layeth his ambush.
8 Should I not punish them for these things ? saith Jehovah ;
Should not my soul avenge itself on such a nation as t.bjs ?
9 For the mountains I wiU set up a weeping and a wailing.
And for the pastures of the desert a lamentation ;
Because they are consumed, so that no man crosseth them ;
specified in this verse are those of idol- 7. Bf;inr i.e. tSHl^ , or, as the Keri
atry and infideUty to Jehovah as the exhibits the word, imB, takes here the
only true God. active signification of am'uj . See on
2. The tongue is here aptly compared chap, vi. 27. There is no necessity, with
to the bow, and deceit to the arrow shot Ewald and some others, to compare the
from it. Comp. Psalm Ixiv. 3, 4. Arab. j<.^Ui and the Chald. triB , and
4. bnn , to dende, mock, deceive, cog- render sharp. Killing, deadly, "or mur-
nate with bn-i and bbn , some of the derous, is the proper signification of the
forms of which it borrows in Piel, Hiphil, Hebrew, and quite suits the connection.
and Hophal. See Meier's Lexicon of por the last clause of the verse comp.
Hebrew Roots, p. 412. Hos. vn. 6, and my note there.
5. Jehovah addresses the prophet iu 9. a frightful, but true picture of a
this verse. country which has been laid waste by a

Chap. IX. 9-16.] JEREMIAH. 77
The sound of the cattle is not heard ;
Both the birds of the heavens and the beasts are fled,
They are gone.
10 I will make Jerusalem heaps, a den of jackals ;
And I wUl make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.
11 "WTio is the wise man, that he may understand this ?
He to whom the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken, that he may
declare it ?
On what account the land perisheth ;
It is consumed Uke the desert, so that no one crosseth it
12 And Jehovah said :
Because they have forsaken my law,
"Wliich I set before them ;
And have not hearkened to my voice.
Nor walked in it ;
13 But have foUowed the obstinacy of their own heart.
And the Baals, which their fathers taught them ;
14 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel :
Behold, I will feed them — namely, this people — with wormwood.
And give them water of poison to drink.
15 1 wUl scatter them among the nations,
"Wliich neither they nor their fathers have known ;
And I wUl send the sword after them
TUl I have consumed them.
16 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts :
Consider ye, and caU for the female waUers,
That they may come ;
And send ye for the skilful women.
That they may come.
hostile army. In inji 133 is a paro- preceding verb. For ijjxva, poison,
noraasia. see on chap. viii. 14.
11. This is not an inquiry for a wise 16. It was customary in the East, as
or prudent man generally ; bnt, as the it still is in the present day, for persons,
parallelism shows, for one who has had especially females, to make themselves
wisdom given him by prophetic inspira- expert in waiUng, by committing mourn-
tion. Comp. 2 Pet. iii. 15. 'WTierever ful ditties to memory, and acquiring the
any prophet was found, he was to point use of certain dolorous and piercing
out the true cause of universal desolation, shrieks, and to hire themselves on occa^
11-15. oatS'bs, ''^er. 12, and -pb, sion of deaths or funerals, when they
ver. 14, are related to each other as prot- heightened the lamentation by indulging
asis and apodosis. n^tn DSn'nst , is in excessive wailings, accompanying
exegetical of the pronominal suffix to the them with corresponding signs of immod-
7*

78 , JEREMIAH. [Chap. IX. 16-22.
17 Yea, let them hasten, and raise a waiUng for us,
That our eyes may run down with tears.
And our eyelids gush with water.
18 Surely the sound of waUing is heard from Zion :
How are we destroyed !
We are greatly ashamed ;
Because we have left the land.
Because they have thrown down our habitations.
19 O ye women, only hear the word of Jehovah,
And let your ear receive the word of his mouth ;
And teach your daughters waiUng,
And each her companion lamentation.
20 For death hath entered our windows.
It is come into our palaces ;
Cutting off the children without,
The youths in the open places.
21 Speak, thus saith Jehovah :
The carcases of men shall fall.
Like dung on the surface of the field ;
And like the handful after the reaper,
"Which no one gathereth up.
erate grief, such as dishevelled hair, entations. MichaeUs and Scholz are of
smiting the breast, beating their faces, opinion that the mothers were to teach
throwing dust on the head, etc. Comp. the science of lamentation to their
2 Chron. xxxv. 25 ; Eccles. xii. 5 ; Amos daughters, to be practised by them as a
V. 16 ; Matt. ix. 23 ; Mark v. 38. The mode of obtaining their liveUhood.
custom obtained also among the Greeks 20, 21 . There is no good ground for
and Romans, aud is stUl practised in the hypothesis, that by nia , death, we
semi-barbarous nations. See Blayney are here to understand the plague. It
on the present passage ; and my Com- is true this calamity is so designated,
ment. on Amos, utsup. chap. xv. 2; xliii. 11, where it occurs
17. niirni with a defective x for along with famine and sword ; but there
nSsiiiFl'i . We have a similar instance, is nothing in the present connection to
Ruth i. '14. Many MSS. have the full warrant the appUcation of the term to
orthography. any other instrumentality than that of
18. The nominative to siaib'fln, is the hostile soldiery; who, not content
" the enemies " understood. ' with cutting down all whom they fonnd
19. 13 seems here to be evidently em- in the streets, made a forcible entrance
ployed to excite attention to what follows, by the windows of the houses, and put
and cannot be better rendered into Eng- to death all the inmates, having no re
Ush than by only. The number of the gard to those of tender age.
dead would be so great, that it would be 22, 23. Neither political wisdom, mil-
next to impossible to obtain a sufficiency itary power, nor accumulated wealth,
of persons to engage in the funereal lam- would avail anytliing as a defence or a

Chap. IX. 22-25.]

JEREMIAH.

79

22 Thus saith Jehovah :
Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom.
Neither let the strong man glory in his strength,
Let not the rich man glory in his riches ;
23 But let him that glorieth glory in this,
That he understandeth and knoweth me.
That I am Jehovah,
"WUo exercise mercy, justice, and righteousness in the earth ;
For in these things I delight,
Saith Jehovah.
24 Behold the days are coming, saith Jehovah,
When I wiU punish all the circumcised with the uncircumcised :
25 Egypt, and Judah, and Edom,
And the children of Ammon, and Moab,
And all those with narrowed beards,
"Who inhabit the desert ;

means of rescue to the refractory Jews.
The confidence placed in them would
assuredly fail. Nothing but a sound,
practical knowledge of the true God, as
the righteous and benevolent governor
of the world, could afford any source of
comfort in the prospect of the impending
calamities. It behoved the Jews, there
fore, as it behoves all who are living in
a state of rebeUion against him, to ac
quaint themselves with him, and be at
peace (Job xxii. 21).
24, 25. The Jews appear, even at this
period, to have boasted of the external
rite of circumcision. To convince them
that it would procure for them no ex
emption, the prophet is instructed to
class them along with the surrounding
nations, all of whom were to be chastised
by Nebuchadnezzar. Jehovah, who
could be satisfied with nothing less than
the sincere religion of the heart, would
make no difference between them. Egypt
is mentioned first, because it was the
power in which the Jews were so prone
to confide, and against which the expe
dition of the king of Babylon was spec
ially directed. Interpreters have been
not a little puzzled to determine the ex
act points of contrast and agreement in

these verses, and to reconcile the opinions
respecting the extent to which circum
cision anciently obtained. Although it
is evident from many passages of Scrip
ture, that the rite whs by no means uni
versal among the inhabitants of Western
Asia, yet that it was practised by the
Egyptians, Colchians, Ethiopians, Phoe
nicians, Syrians, Troglodytes, etc., is
clear from the testimonies of ancient
writers, as Herodotus, lib. ii. 36, 104 ;
Diod. Sic. lib. i. cap. 26, 55 ; lib. iii. cap.
32 ; Strabo, lib. xvii. Compare Philo,
De Circumcisione ; Joseph. Antiq. lib.
viii. cap. 10, § 2 ; Contra Apion, lib. i.
cap. 22; J. D. MichaeUs, Commentaries
ou the Laws of Moses, Article 185 ; Kit-
to in voc. It has not only been observed
by the Mohammedans as the descendants
of Ishmael, but by inhabitants of Africa
who never appear to have had any inter
course either with Jews or Mohamme
dans. 'WTiether the meaning of the
prophet is, that the nations which he
specifies were the subjects of the out
ward rite, but destitute of true religion ;
or whether it is that the circumcised and
the uncircumcised were to be treated
alike by Jehovah, without any distinc
tion as to external customs, has been

80

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. IX. 25.

For aU the nations are uncircumcised,
And all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.

matter of dispute. The decision of the
question depends mainly on the con
struction put upon the words nb^j)3 'b'.'O ,
the acceptation in which the adjective
Qi^-lS , ver. 25, is taken, and the spirit
of the whole passage. That i^a , the
Pahul participle of ^iia , to cut off, cir
cumcise, signifies one who is circumcised,
is allowed by all. It is equally granted,
that nils* signifies uncircumcision, or the
condition of a person who is uncircum
cised. The two terms are regarded as
having their equivalents in the irepiro/*^
and aKpo^varia of the N. T. Accord
ingly nbisa bsia has been rendered the
circumcised with the uncircumcised. But
as nils is nndeniably an abstract noun,
signifying uncircumcision, and not i"ij)
in the concrete, there is a want of proper
concord between the two terms, which
compels us to consider the preposition
a as indicative not of accompaniment,
in which acceptation it is seldom used,
but of condition or state. The literal
rendering, therefore, is : " every one cir
cumcised in uncircumcision,^' i.e. every one
bearing the mark of the external rite,
but still destitute of true religion. The
nations specified are represented as cir
cumcised in one sense, and not in another.
The Jews themselves formed no excep
tion. As to the heathen nations, D'lisn
they were all D"iblS in a metaphorical
sense, i.e. they were such as the Jews
had been taught to regard as impure,
and consequently, notwithstanding their
having had the outward rite performed
upon them, were stiU disqualified from
reception into the Jewish commonwealth,
since they did not worship the true God,

but practised abominable idolatries.
And as to the Jews, how much soever
they might glory over them, and feel
confident that, having the name and
temple of Jehovah among them, and
StiU worshipping him, notwithstanding
their idolatrous propensities, they should
escape punishment, yet in heart they were
no better than they, and had nothing to
expect but the same treatment. Cir
cumcision and uncircumcision of heart,
put for moral purity and moral impurity,
are modes of speech not uncommon in
Scripture. See Deut. x. 16; xxx. 6;
Jer. iv. 4; Rom. ii. 28, 29 ; Col. u. 11.
nXB ¦'SISP , cut as to the corners of the
heard. ,1j<B standing for "jpjn nsS ,
as in Lev. xix. 27 ; xxi. 5 ; where tie
practice of cutting or shaving the beard
at the extremities towards the ears is
prohibited. Finding it impossible to
give a Uteral translation, so as to convey
a just idea to the reader, I have rendered
the original phrase by two equivalent
terms which fully express the sense. It
appears from the present passage, and
chap. xlix. 32, that the Arabian tribes to
the southeast of Palestine observed this
custom, so that it had become one of
their characteristics. Thus Herodotus
(Ub. iii. cap. 8,) speaking of them, says,
Turn -rpixwv TJji/ Kovp^v Kilpeadal <|>c«ri,
Ka^dnep avrhv rhy Ai6vvaov KcKapdai.
Keipovrat Sh TrepiTpoxaXa, vepi^vpovjnes
roils Kpordtpovs. The interpretation of
Jarchi and Blayney, which refers the
phrase to the insulated geographical
position of certain Arabian tribes, is less
entitled to regard.

Chap. X. 2-S.] JEREMIAH. gl

CHAPTER X.

This chapter forms a separate portion of the book, consisting of two parts, the first of
which, ver. 1-16, is addressed to the Hebrews, viewed proleptically as in captivity ; aud
the second, 17-25, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The authenticity of the former is
denied by Movers, De Wette, and Hitzig, who ascribe it to a writer whom they suppose
to have flourished in Babylon during the exile, to whom they also ascribe the composi
tion of the last twenty-six chapters of Isaiah. The grounds on which their hypothesis
is founded, are the position of the speaker among his exiled countrymen ; the satire with
which idolatry is treated, and which so greatly tallies with that employed by Isaiah ;
and the coincidence of the style and usus loquendi. That the writer addresses his peo
ple in exile, is undeniable, but that he actually lived among them at the time, is more
than can be proved. It is more probable that he merely places himself among them for
the sake of argument, in accordance with similar relations frequently assumed for the
same purpose by the prophets. The coincidence between the manner in which he exposes
the folly of idolatry, and that of Isaiah, may be sufficiently accounted for on the princi
ple that he was familiar with the predictions of that writer, — a principle which equally
obviates the objection taken from the alleged agreement in linguistical peculiarities.
There can be no doubt that chapter xlviii. is mainly borrowed from Isaiah (chapters xv.
and xvi.}, so that the acquaintance of Jeremiah with the book of that prophet cannot
be questioned. But it must be evident to any Hebrew scholar who will be at the pains
to compare the passages adduced by Movers (p. 44), that, after all, the alleged coincidence
between them is exceedingly slight, and in many cases purely fanciful.
The Hebrews are warned against Chaldean astrology, 1, 2, and the idolatry connected with-
it, 3-15; to enforce which, sublime representations ofthe existence and attributes of
the true God are intermingled by way of contrast, ver. 6, 7, 10-13, 16. They are then
addressed in reference to the impending calamity, 17, 18; a fresh description of which,
with its cause, is added, 19-^ ; and the chapter concludes with a deprecation of the
divine judgments, and a prayer that they might be inflicted upon the enemy.
1 Hear ye the word whicli Jehovah speaketh to you,
0 house of Israel.
2 Thus saith Jehovah :
Learn not the way of the nations,
Neither be ye terrified at the signs of heaven ;
Though the nations are terrified at them.
3 For the customs of the nations are vanity,
For they are a tree cut out of the forest.
The work of the hands of the artificer, with an ax.
2. The Hebrews, living, as they are preting the phenomena of eclipses and
supposed to do, in the midst of idolaters, comets as indicative of approaching ca-
were more or less exposed to their seduc- lamities. These they specially employed
tive influence. The Chaldeans studied for the purpose of working on the super-
astrology at a. very early period, and stitious fears of mankind. It is against
predicted, from the appearance and po- such fears the Israelites are put upon
sition ofthe planets and other stars, the their guard.
will ofthe gods and the destinies of men; 3-5. A striking exposure of the stu-
thus determining the influence of certain pidity of idolaters in supposing that a
days as lucky or unlucky; and inter- piece of a tree cut down, shaped, and

82

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. X. 3-8.

4 They adorn it with silver and with gold ;
They fasten it with nails and with hammers,
That it may not totter.
5 They are like an artificial palm tree,
They cannot speak ;
They must be carried along,
For they cannot walk :
Be not afraid of them.
For they can do no harm,
Neither can they do any good.
6 Nothing whatever is like to thee, O Jehovah !
Thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
7 Wlio would not render thee fear, O King of the nations !
For thee it becometh ;
For among all the wise men of the nations.
And in all their kingdoms.
There is nothing whatever like to thee.
8 But they are at once brutish and foolish ;
The tree itself is a reproof of vanities.

ibeautified by their own hands, and ut^
fterly incapable of speech or locomotion,
should be possessed of qualities super
natural and divine. There is a peculiar
propriety in comparing a wooden idol
to the palm tree, on account of its colum
nar and immovable appearance, 'nan
appears to have had the signification of
raising, setting up, making erect; hence
"laFl , the palm, on account of its erect
aspect, and, as here, -iah , the palm-like
pillar used in architecture. To distin
guish the latter from the real palm tree,
it is described as iT^p? , of turned wark,
what is made round by the labor of the
artificer. KIIZJI"^, by transposition for
6, 7. The prophet interrupts his de
scription of the folly of idolatry by a
beautiful apostrophe addressed to Jeho
vah, whom he boldly contrasts, both by
way of assertion and challenge, with the
gods of the heathen, iixa , verbally,
a part or particle of nothing, or no nothing,
denying iu the strongest possible manner

the existence of what is predicated. The
same compound occurs in the repetition,
ver. 7, where it is asserted that no object
of worship devised and fashioned by the
skill of man was for a moment to he
brought into comparison with Jehovah.
The comparison there made is not be
tween the wise men and God, but between
the product of their skill, i.e. idols, and
the Most High. The nominative to the
verb jips"! is the feminine noun mcp ,
fear or reverence, understood from the
verb t("i"' in the preceding hemistich.
fix"' signifies to be beautiful, decorous,
proper, fit, or becoming, to be suitable to
the nature or character of any object.
To Jehovah alone it is fit and proper
that religious reverence should be paid.
Anything of the kind rendered to an
other is an infringement on his high and
exclusive prerogative, besides being in
itself in the highest degree unseemly and
absurd. 8. So utterly absurd is the worship
of idols, that the slightest degree of re-

Chap. X. 8-11.]

JEREMIAH.

83

9 Silver beaten out into plates is brought from Tarshish,
And gold from Uphaz ;
The work of the artificer.
And of the hands of the smelter ;
Their raiment is blue and purple,
They are all the work of skilful men.
10 But Jehovah is truly God ;
He is the living God,
And the King eternal :
At his indignation the earth trembleth.
And the nations cannot endure his wrath.
11 [Thus shall ye say to them :
The gods which have not made the heavens and the earth
Shall perish from the earth.
And from under these heavens.]

flection on the nature of the objects wor
shipped was calculated to convict the
devotees of folly.
9. Everything connected with idols is
the result of human effort. For 12Jil2J~in ,
Tarshish, see my Comment, on Isaiah
xxui. 10. Spain, in which that mart
was situated, abounded in ancient times
in silver and gold. Heereu says, that
" it was once the richest country in the
world for silver ; and that gold and the
baser metals were found there in great
abundance.* The silver mountains were
in those parts which the Phoenicians
comprised under the name of Tartessus
or Tarshish" (Ideen, p. 64). Comp.
Diod. Sic. Ub. v. ; Strabo, Ub. iii. ; PUn.
Hist. Nat. Ub. iii. cap. ui. Nothing
definite can be determined with respest
to IBISt , Uphaz. Bochart very preca
riously referred it to Ceylon. It has
been thought by some, that tSfisa is only
an incorrect orthography for is^a , the
Hophal participle of itS , to purify, so
that 1S!isa am is the same as ynt
tSia , pure gold, 1 Kings x. 18. Since
this, however, does not give so good a
sense in the parallelism, since the LXX.
in the margin of the Hexaplar Syr., the
Syr. Targ., and Theod. aU render Ophir,
and since the name of a place would seem

to be required, I concur in the opinion
that the word has been originally written
"laiS , and that some copyist has changed
the 1 into t by mistake. It occurs hut
once besides, and likewise in connection
with gold, tS!|X anS gold of Uphaz,
Dan. X. 5. Ewald Soes not scruple to
adopt Ofir into his translation. n^SFl
and laaiX are both names of purple
colors obtained from species of shell-fish
found on the shores of the Mediterranean.
The only difference between them is that
the former possessed more of a mixture
of blue.
10- nas , truth, as characteristic of
Jehovah, finely contrasts with ian , van
ity, emptiness, by which the false deities
are described, ver. 3, as, indeed, do his
other attributes of life and eternity, with
their inanimate and temporary existence.
11. This verse presenting itself ab
ruptly in the Chaldee language, has
given rise to considerable speculation.
It has usually been supposed, on the
authority of the Targum, that the rear
son why it is in that language, and not
in Hebrew, is because it contains the
identical words in which the exUes were
to couch their reply to the Babylonians
when soUcited by them to the commis
sion of idolatry. This opinion has been

84

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. X. 11-15.

12 He created the earth by his power ;
He established the world by his wisdom ;
And by his understanding he stretched forth the heavens.
13 When he uttereth his voice
There is a multitude of waters in the heavens,
And he causeth vapors to ascend from the extremity of the earth :
He produceth the lightnings with rain.
And bringeth out the wind from his stores.
14 Every man is brutish without knowledge,
Every smelter is ashamed of the image ;
For that which he has molten is falsehood,
And there is no breath in them.
15 They are vanity, a work of mockeries ;
\.t the time of their punishment they shall perish.

eagerly embraced by those who suppose
the writer to have lived during the cap
tivity. What militates against this
hypothesis is the anomalous fact, that
not only are the words put into the
mouths of the Israelites in Chaldee, but
also the introductory terms : njIB
Dirtb linaNfl , thus shall ye say to them,
are in the same language, instead of the
Hebrew, onls !|"ia»n ilB . Taking fur
ther into account that the entire verse
completely interrupts the argument, I
have no hesitation in acceeding to the
opinion of Houbigant, Venema, Blay
ney, Dathe, Doderlein, Rosenmiiller,
Dahler, Maurer, and Ewald, who con
sider it to be an interpolation of some
copyist, or that it was originally a mar
ginal gloss, which has been inadvertently
introduced into the text. This interpo
lation, however, must have taken place
at a very early period, since it is found
in all the ancient versions. Np'lN , the
earth, a harder form of the Chaldee NS1S
which occurs immediately afterwards in
the verse, n^x is the Hebrew dem
onstrative plural, instead of the Chaldee
12, 13. These verses connect intimate
ly with verse 10, being a continuation
of the sublime description of the true
God, which had there been commenced.

IFin ^"ipi, lit- o,t the voice of his giving
forth, i.e. when he giveth forth his voice,
in other words, when he thundereth.
See Psalm xxix. The more regular
Hebrew would be ibip nplb . There is
here an illusion to the very heavy rain
which frequently accompanies thunder
storms. 14. A resumption of the exposure of
idolatry. Some would render "iS^S
ny'5'9 D'1S<"?3 , Every man is rendered
brutish hy the result of his skill, viz. the
idol which he has made, taking HS^a
and 'OSa to be parallel ; but la follow
ing la^art cannot be taken causatively.
15. D^snSPl , mockeries, an onomato-
poetic, derived from the Pilel ?I!15'"W > to
stammer, stutter, and then io mock, as a
stutterer at first sight seems to do the
person to whom he addresses himself.
Comp. the Arab, y "»'<" , gravitas, Hn-
guae, balbuties, sonus ridentis, from
«JL*j" , repetitus et indistinctus fiiit
sermo. The word is aptly chosen to
express the character of idol worship.
The punishment of the Babylonian
idols was their destruction by Cyrus, on
his conquest of that empire. A similar
fate they have everywhere met with
when their worshippers have obtained a
better knowledge. Comp. Isa. ii. 18.

Chap. X. 16-19.]

JEREMIAH.

85

16 The portion of Jacob is not such as these,.
For he is tlie former of the imiverse.
And Israel is the rod of his inheritance :
Jehovah of Hosts is his name.
17 Gather up thy packages from the ground,
0 inhabitress of the siege.
18 For thus saith Jehovah :
Behold, I will at this time sling out the inhabitants of the land ;
And I will bring distress upon them, that they may feel it.
19 Alas for me, on account of my breach ;
My stroke is grievous ;
But I said :
Surely this is a calamity, and I must bear it.

16. In Scripture language God is said
to be p^n J the portion of his people,
because fie is the source of aU-suflScient
good to them ; not, as Gesenius inter
prets, because they were allotted to be
his worshippers. The idea is borrowed
from pin , to divide, then to divide for
an inheritance. Comp. Numb, xviii. 20 ;
Psalm xvi. 5 ; cxUi. 6. ininj t:2Ui , lit.
the rod of his inheritance, but which can
only mean the people over which he had
estabUshed his rule, the rod or sceptro
being nsed by metonymy for the govern
ment of which it was the badge or sign.
Gesenius considers a31!J here to signify
a ¦measuring rod, and to be used meto-
nymically for the portion measured off,
the Hebrews being the people which he
had selected and marked off for himself
in contradistinction from all the nations
of the earth. The phrase only occurs
besides Psalm. Ixxiv. 2 ; Jer. li. 19. ^3 ,
with the article b'sn, must be taken
substantively, and rendered the universe,
which, although the term sounds some
what grandfloquent, is necessary to con
vey the force of the original.
17, 18. The prophet now resumes his
address to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and calls upon them to prepare for their
migration as captives to Babylon.
Wliatever movable property they had
they were to collect. The various arti-
8

cles are supposed to be lying about in
confusion on the ground during the
anticipated siege. As tbe city was to
be taken, the Jows had to lay their ac
count with their being carried away into
exile. n3)33 , sarcina, a bundle, luggage,
etc., especially what is packed up or
bound together to be carried by soldiers
or beasts of burden ; from 533 , to col
lect, bind together in bundles. Arab.
1t}S ^ contractus fuit, contraxit in unam.
LXX. iirdiTTatris. The occurrence of a
paragogic i as in iftaffll^ is not anom
alous, so that the Keri n3BT' is merely
a correction for the purpose of giving
the regular participial form. See Hos.
X. 11, and my note there. "I'san, the
siege, for "lisBil •\^si,the besieged city. The
metaphor of the sling is employed to
express the violence and suddenness of
the removal of the Jews to Babylon.
jtsa properly signifies to find, but also
to find hy experience. This it is impos
sible to express more tersely than by
adopting the verb to feel.
19, 20. In plaintive strains, the prophet
puts into the mouth of the Jews, taken
coUectively, utterances of the most poig
nant grief at the prospective desolation
of their city and land. The declaration,
that they must bear their calamity, is
not one of humble submission to or ac-

86

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. X. 20-25.

20 My tent is destroyed,
And all my tent-pins are plucked up
My children are gone away from me, and are not ;
And there is none to spread my tent any more,
Or to set up my tent-curtains.
21 Because the shepherds had become brutish,
And did not seek Jehovah,
Therefore they did not prosper.
And their whole flock was dispersed.
22 The sound of a rumor, behold, it cometh ;
Even a great tumult from the land of the north ;
The cities of Judah shall be made desolate,
A den of jackals.
23 I know, O Jehovah, that the way of man is not his own ;
It is not in man that walketh to direct his going.
24 Correct me, O Jehovah, only with measure ;
Not in thine anger, lest thou reduce me to nothing.
25 Pour out thy fury upon the nations that know thee not.
And upon the families that call not on thy name ;

quiescence in the divine judgment, but
one of suUeu and obdurate impenitence.
Jerusalem is contemplated as destroyed,
and her inhabitants are regarded as led
away captive. None were left to restore
her. The beautifully metaphorical lan
guage is borrowed from nomadic life.
21, 22. The civil rulers are charged
with bringing the threatened calamity
upon the people, by the idolatrous prac
tices in which they had indulged. The
Babylonians, by whom the calamity was
to be infiicted, already approach : it is
just at hand !
23-25. Jeremiah here gives vent to
his own conviction, in reference to what
he beheld in prophetic vision. He ac
knowledges the directing and controlling
influence of divine providence in the
affairs of men, in its special bearing upon
the march of the Babylonian monarch.
According to the plan of that sovereign,
the object of the expedition, was to
chastise the Egyptians, who had ven
tured to approach his empire with the
most hostile intentions ; but the design

of Jehovah was, that he might punish
the Jews for their dereUction of him and
his service. We have a striking paraUel
in the case of the Assyrian invader, Isa.
X. 5-7. nini is certainly iu the voca
tive ease, and not in the accusative abso
lute, as Durell and Blayney take it, and
render : " I know Jehovah, that his way
is not like that of men." The pronom
inal affix in ''3"!'!I , his ¦way, must be
referred to " man " and not to " Jeho
vah." Identifying himself with his peo
ple, the prophet deprecates entire destruc
tion, and prays that while the divine
indignation might be inflicted with mod
eration on them, the fuU measure of it
might be visited upon their enemies.
With a few slight variations, ver. 25 is
found in Psalm Ixxix. 6, 7, which Psalm
is to be referred to the time of the cap
tivity, except we regard it as prophet^al
of the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebu
chadnezzar, which is less probable. In
this and similar imprecatives, which
abound in the Psalms, the form is cho
sen in preference to the future, for the

Chap. XI. 2-4.]

JEREMIAH.

87

For they have devoured Jacob,
They have devoured him, and consumed him,
And have made his habitation desolate.

sake of more vivid impression, so that,
to say the least, there is as much of pre
diction as of imprecation, in the passages
in which it occurs. In the present in
stance, the prophet takes it for granted,
that God must of necessity punish his
enemies, who gratified the wicked pro
pensities of their nature, while they
destroyed his temple and people; and
therefore prays that he would not utterly

cut off the latter, but that his indigna
tion might take its course upon the for
mer. Both were fulfiUed : the Jews as
a people were restored ; the Babylonians
disappeared entirely from the poUtical
horizon. There is a paronomasia iu
'I'^f?'!] '''^p?i!^?j which words are un
doubtedly genuine, though wanting in
one of Kennicott's MSS. and in Psalm
Ixxix. 7.

CHAPTER XI.
This and the following chapter form one whole, but at what precise time the discourse con
tained in them was delivered cannot be determined. From its general tenor, however,
it is evident it must have been subsequent to the reformation effected hy Josiah, when
the Jewish people had relapsed into their former idolatrous practices. It commences
with a brief epitome of the ancient covenant which had been found in the temple iu the
reign of that pious king, 1-6 ; then follows an exposure of the continuous rebeUion of
the Hebrew people, 6-10 ; a denunciation of wrath is pronounced against them, 11-13;
and, to indicate the certainty of its execution, the prophet is forbidden to intercede for
them, 14. The inconsistency of their conduct as the professing people of God is de
nounced, and its punishment threatened, 15-17. The remaining verses, 18-23, contain a
prediction ofthe calamities that should come on the inhabitants of Anathoth for their
conspiracy against Jeremiah,
1 The word which was communicated to Jeremiah from Jehovah,
saying :
2 Hear ye the words of this covenant,
And speak ye to the men of Judah,
And to the inhabitants of Jerusalem ;
3 And say thou to them. Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel :
Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant,

2. The use of the plurals waUJ and
nB"ia'n shows that others besides the
prophet were commissioned to promulge
the divine will to the people of Judah.
What they were speciaUy to communi
cate, was the contents of that portion of
the book of the law, which had been

found in the temple, containing the de
nunciations against rebellious Israel,
Deut. xxvii., xxviii. In all probability
the priests are addressed, on whom it
devolved to read the book of the law to
the people.
4. Di^a , in the day, is, as frequently.

gg JEREMIAH. [Chap. XL 4-8.
4 Which I gave in charge to your fathers,
In the day that I brought them out from the land of Egypt,
From the furnace of iron, saying :
Obey my voice, and do them.
According to all that I charge you ;
So ye shall be my people.
And I will be your God ;
5 That I may confirm the oath which I sware to your fathers.
To give them a land flowing with milk and honey.
As it is this day.
Then I answered and said :
Amen, O Jehovah.
6 Then Jehovah said to me :
Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah,
And in the streets of Jerusalem, saying :
Hear ye the words of this covenant.
And do them.
7 For I solemnly protested to your fathers.
In the day when I brought them up from the land of Egypt,
Even to this day,
Rising- early, and protesting, saying,
Obey my voice.
8 But they obeyed not.
Neither inclined their ear,
But walked.
Each in the obstinacy of his own wicked heart ;
Therefore I brought upon them
All the threatenings of this covenant,
used indefinitely for when. The Sinaic 6. It appears from what is here stated,
covenant was made some time after the that Jeremiah must have undertaken a
exodus, but the two events are repre- prophetic tour thi'oughout Judah, for
sented as so important, and so connected, the purpose of communicating to the
that they might be viewed as running inhabitants of the land the awful import
into one. The plural nnix , them, has of the denunciations contained iu the
for its antecedent the words of the cove- book of the law, which had been discov-
nant, ver. 3. Comp. ver. 6. ered in the temple.
5. The concluding words of this verse 7,8. The most earnest and assiduous
contain the response of the prophet to instructions which had been imparted to
his commission, couched in phraseology the Hebrew nation had all been contra-
borrowed from Deut. xxvii. 26. It was vened by their desperate and obstinate
evidently designed to mark his concur- wickedness. For psni-ip see on chap.
rence in the justice of the curses there iii. 17. In nitob in'^IS there is an cUip-
denounced. sis of Dnis .

Chap. XL 9-14.] JEREMIAH. 89
Which I gave them in charge to perform ;
But they performed it not.
9 Then Jehovah said to me :
A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah,
And among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
10 They have returned to the iniquities of their forefathers,
Who refused to hear my words,
And have followed other gods to serve them :
The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the
covenant
Wliich I made with their fathers.
11 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah :
Behold, I will bring upon them a calamity
Wliich they shall not be able to elude ;
And though they may cry to me,
Tet I will not hearken to them.
12 Then may the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem go.
And cry to their gods.
To which they burn incense.
But they shall afford them no deliverance in the time of their
calamity.
13 For according to the number of thy cities
Were thy gods, O Judah ;
And according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem
Ye set up altars to the shameful object, —
Altars at which to burn incense to Baal.
14 Therefore thou shalt not pray for this people,
Nor cause to rise on their behalf a cry or a supplication ;
For I will not hear in the time when they cry to me
On account of their calamity.
9. The conspiracy to which reference the following, are a repetition of Ian-
is here made, appears to have been a guage which the prophet had already
compact entered into by those who were employed, chap. ii. 28.
hostile to the reformation which Josiah 14. The interdict laid upon Jeremiah
had introduced, whereby they bound not to intercede for his guilty people,
themselves to introduce again all the implies that in the benevolence of his
idolatrous practices which had been abol- heart he was disposed to make such
ished. intercession, and that the irreversibility
12. The conversive Vau in sisirtl , of the divine purpose rendered it super-
connecting this preterite with the pre- fluous. '2'7?t ^?-?> instead of 1?a
ceding future, gives it a future or poten- DSii"n , is found in upwards of twenty-five
tial signification. The concluding words MSS. some of which are of great an-
of the verse, and those which commence tiquity and accuracy, in the Complut.
8*

90

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XI. 14-16.

15 What hath my beloved to do in my house,
Committing, as she doth, the manifold enormity ?
And the holy flesh hath passed away from thee ;
When thou actest wickedly, then thou exultest.
16 Jehovah called thy name
A green olive tree, of beautifuUy formed fruit ;
At the sound of a great tumult, he hath kindled a fire upon it,
And its branches are broken.
17 For Jehovah of Hosts, that planted thee.
Hath denotmced calamity upon thee.

Pol., and in the LXX., Arab., Syr., and
Targ. ; yet it is most probably a correc
tion from ver. 12.
15. The Jews had been a people dear
to Jehovah above aU others, and of this
affection he reminds them, to convince
them that the judgments with which he
threatened them were not to be, ascribed
to any feeling of arbitrary vindictive
ness in him, but to their own base and
wicked ingratitude. Comp. chap. xii. 7.
Addicted as they now were to idolatry,
they could, with no consistency, frequent
his temple. Comp. vii. 10. fin^ia is
the emphatic form of flSja ; and D'^a'^tn
foUowing, though of a different number
and gender, is to be taken as expletive
of it, in order to exhibit in the strongest
jiossible manner the enormity of the evil.
ftia"!!! HPHtBil is verbally the enormity,
the manifold, i.e. that which consists in
manifold or multiplied acts. As t^Tfan
is feminine only in form, but in reality
neuter, it admits of being construed with
an adjective in the masculine. That the
LXX. have read 0^"!'73n for Qia'!!! is
clear, from their rendering p.'ti euxai ; but
it would be preposterous to adopt such
reading simply on this ground. Besides,
its adoption would disturb the whole
passage, except we were to change l^as^
iDns'i 13 tl':^|a into tl'^^^a IT'as;
Tlf??^ 1 for wliich we have no warrant
whatever, and which would leave no
ground for it'bsn IX following. By the
" holy flesh " are doubtless meant the
sacrifices, Haggai ii. 12 ; but polluted as

the Jews had rendered themselves by
idolatry, it was no longer holy or accepts
able to God. Both they and it were
rejected by Jehovah. The difficulty in
"'sri"^, arises out of the circumstance
that we should have expected after 13
a finite verb ; but it may be removed by
supplying liusn , When thou committest
thy wickedness, then thou exultest. Instead
of being humbled when they had been
guilty of idolatrous acts, the Jews were
elated with unholy joy. There is no
necessity for departing from the usual
meaning of tis , to leap, exult, and, with
Maurer, attaching to it that of the Arab.
wLfr 5 inquietus et impatiens fuit, and in
terpreting it of the disturbance or inqui
etude resulting from fhe infliction of a
calamity. 16. The double construct phrase ns'i
"(I!th"i"iS can only properly be rendered
by treating nsi abverbially, and in'd as
a participle. By God's calling the He
brew people by the name here exhibited
is meant that he had made them what
the name irapUed. n^iian or Hsall,
which occurs only here and Ezek. i. 24,
is derived from bafl , a root preserved in
the Arab. jLtJC , continue pluit coelum :
comp. ^ I '^ , impetum fecit ; and is sy
nonymous with "liafl commotion, sound,
tumult. Comp. 1 Ivings xviii. 41. The
LXX. deriving tho word from iiqa , ren
der iiblatl hip by <pt»viiv irepirojiris ouTijs.
The tumult was that of the invading

Chap. XI. 16-20.]

JEREMIAH.

91

On account of the wickedness of the house of Israel,
And of the house of Judah,
Which they committed against themselves to provoke me to anger,
Burning incense to Baal.
18 Jehovah hath made me acquainted with it, and I know it ;
Then thou showedst me their doings.
19 But I was as a tamed lamb led to the slaughter.
And knew not that they devised machinations against me, saying :
Let us destroy the tree with its fruit.
Let us cut him off from the land of the living.
That his name may no more be mentioned.
20 But, O Jehovah of Hosts, who judgest righteously.
Who triest the reins and the heart,
I shall see thy vengeance on them ;
For to thee have I disclosed my cause.

army, ^y^ is from SSI, the same as
ys"i , to break, the 3 being changed into
S , after the manner of the Aramaic.
17. dni is here the dative incommodi,
indicating that what the people had
done had been to their own injury.
18, 19. The 1 in rriiTil is redundant.
Jeremiah here digresses' from his main
subject, in order to take special notice
of the attempt which had been plotted
npon his Ufe by his own townsmen. It
would appear that he had not entertained
the slighest suspicion of their intention,
and that he must have remained igno
rant of it, if it had not been immediately
revealed to him by the omniscient
Searcher of hearts. Had he been made
acquainted with it, as Hitzig thinks, by
ein glSckliches UngefO.hr, some fortunate
accident, he would not have employed a
repetitious form in ascribing it to Jeho
vah, as he does in this verse. They
were so exasperated by his predictions
agaiust the nation, that they were deter
mined to put an effectual stop to them
by killing him. E)!|iiS 12)33 means a
lamb that has been tamed sd as to be fa
miUar and play with children. One such
is commonly to be found in the house of
the Arab. By the tree and its food are
meant the prophet and his prophecies.

The LXX. render lii0ii\ap.eii ^iKoji cis
rbv &pTov avTov, let us throw wood into his
bread, hy which it is thought they meant
that the enemies of the prophet intended
to poison him by putting poisonous^
wood into his food. Thus manifestly
the Targ. R''i3'"a3 NPia-l SBO lalj ,
let us cast deadly poison into his food.
nni ,food, is here used in the accepta
tion of the Arab. Jo | , fruit, i.e. such
fruit as serves for food, and refers to
what the tree furnishes for the nourish
ment of mankind, — not its own nutri
ment, as Blayney strangely interprets.
The language of the persecutors is
partly identical with that employed by
Isaiah in describing the sufferings of the
Messiah, chap. liii.
20. It is a great relief to the pious
mind, when burdened with a sense of
helplessness or danger, to pour out its
feelings in prayer to God. The con
sciousness of integrity, however, is essen
tial to such relief. A persuasion that
he would act with strict justice in pun
ishing the enemies of his servant, filled
the prophet with a holy satisfaction of
soul. He does not even call them his
enemies, but regards them as those of
the Master whom he served. Hitzig re-

92 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XIL 1.
21 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah of Hosts respecting the men of
Anathoth, who seek thy life, saying :
Prophesy not in the name of Jehovah,
That thou die not by our hand ;
22 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah of Hosts :
Behold, I will punish them ;
The youths shall die by the sword,
Their sons and their daughters shall die of famine,
23 And there shall not be a remnant of them ;
For I will bring calamity on the men of Anathoth,
The year of their punishment.
marks, that the fact that the enemies of been satisfied if Jeremiah had desisted
the divine word would be punished en- from giving utterance to his disastrous
tered so essentially into ihe sphere of predictions ; but finding him resolute in
prophetical conviction, that Jeremiah the faithful discharge of his office, they
does not exchange the wish of his heart resolved to kill him.
for an utterance of divine inspiration. 22, 23. 'pi ^ ver. 22, is a. resumption
Comp. Psalm xxxvii. 34 ; liv. 9 ; cxii. 8 ; of the same particle, ver. 21. The retri-
cxviii. 7. bution of their intended murder of the
21 . We learn from this verse that prophet was to be in kind. Their exter-
the inhabitants of Anathoth would have mination would be complete.

CHAPTER XII.

The subject with which the preceding chapter concludes is here continued. Staggered at
the prosperity of the wicked, with whose obstinacy he had to contend, the prophet
expostulates with Jehovah, 1-4 ; in reply to which expostulation he is told, that he will
have still more severe trials to endure, and some of them from his own relatives, 5, 6.
Jehovah declares, however, that the heaviest judgments would be inflicted on his faith
less people, 7-13. The remaining verses, 14r-17, contain a prophecy against the nations
contiguous to Judea that should co-operate with the Chaldeans in attacking the Jews,
with a promise of restoration in case of repentance.
1 Thou art righteous, O Jehovah, yet let me plead with thee ;
Let me only speak with thee on matters of judgment :
Why doth the way of the wicked prosper ?
Why do the notoriously faithless live at ease ?
. However difficult Jeremiah found respectful boldness he proceeds to state
it to reconcile the apparent discrepancies the principal cause of his perplexity —
of the divine government, he still held the wordly prosperity of the ungodly.
fast his conviction of the rectitude of the Comp. Psalm xxxvii. Ixxiii. The fn-
charactor of Jehovah. With a holy and tures in this verse are used optatively.

Chap. XH. 1-5.]

JEREMIAH.

93

2 Thou hast planted them, they have also taken root,
They have grown and produced fruit ;
Thou art near in their mouth.
But far fi-om their reins.
3 But thou, O Jehovah, knowest me.
Thou seest me, and triest my heart with thee ;
Pull them out as sheep for the slaughter.
Separate them for the day of slaughter.
4 How long shall the land mourn.
And the grass of the whole country wither.
On account of the wickedness of those who inhabit it ?
The beasts are consumed and the birds.
Because they said,
None shall see our end.
5 If when thou runnest with footmen they weary thee.
How wilt thou contend with horsemen ?
And if in the land of peace thou art secure.
How wilt thou do in the pride of Jordan ?

isa 115a , the participle, with a noun
derived Yrom the same root for the sake
of emphasis.
2. nil is expressive ofmotion or prog
ress in any way. Here it is metaphor
ically used of the growth of a tree. The
prophet exposes the hypocrisy of those
who professed to serve Jehovah, and yet
were attached to idolatry.
3. The conscious sincerity of Jeremiah
formed a perfect contrast to the hypoc
risy of his countrymen, ppj , to tear,
or pull away by violence, expresses the
force that would be employed to detach
the Jews from their abodes. Bip is
used in its primary acceptation of separa
ting, setting apart, devoting.
4. By a common personification the
ground is represented as affected by the
wickedness of those who dwell upon it.
There is here, perhaps, a slight anticipa
tion of the description of the drought of
which the prophet treats, chap. xiv.
firSD , in the singular, presents no diffi
culty, as, according to rule, plurals which
designate beasts or things, admit of be
ing construed with the feminine singular.

nsi'i Ki I take to be impersonal : No
one shall see our end ; i.e. it shall not be
realized ; we shall not be destroyed. The
worldly Jews flattered themselves that
they might securely pursue their ungodly
course, disbelieving all the predictions
of calamity uttered by the prophet.
The LXX., reading -irniniN instead of
''^D''"!'!!'? > render : oiik ^tperai & 0ebr
65oi/s 7}fj.ccy.
5, 6. Jehovah here replies to the ap
peals of Jeremiah, by an argument a
minori ad majus. The language is pro
verbial, and easy of comprehension. The
only phrase which requires explanation
is Tn"!51 "p^? I the pride of Jordan. By
some it is interpreted of the swelling of
that river in April and May, when it
overflows its lower banks, and fills to a
considerable extent the valley called the
Ghor ; by others, of the trees, shrubs,
and rank vegetation which abound on its
banks, especially between the Sea of Ti
berias and the Lake Merom, and aftbrd
a shelter for wild boars, lions, bears, and
tigers. Comp. chap. xlix. 19; 1. 44;
Zech. xi. 3. The latter is the preferable

94

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XII. 6-9.

6 For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father,
Even they are unfaithful to thee,
Even they cry loudly after thee ;
Believe them not, though they speak fair things to thee.
7 I have forsaken my house,
I have abandoned mine inheritance,
I have delivered the beloved of my soul
Into the hand of her enemies.
8 Mine inheritance is become to me
As a lion in the forest ;
It uttereth its voice against me,
Therefore I hate it.
9 Is mine inheritance to me a speckled bird of prey ?
Are birds of prey round about her ?

interpretation, on the ground of the
greater consistency of the contrast be
tween the security enjoyed in the open
champaign country, and the danger to
which persons are exposed who venture
into the haunts of wild beasts. The em
phasis attaching to the particle Qa , even,
and the repeated riBrt bi , even they,
show that the parabolical language em
ployed in verse 5 is appUed in verse 6 to
the circumstances in which the prophet
was placed among the inhabitants of
Jerusalem generally, and his own rela
tives in particular. Hitherto he had met
with no personal injury on the part of
the former, how grating soever his pre
dictions must have been to them ; but
now, at Anathoth, which ought to have
been the residence of holy priests of Je
hovah, he was to be exposed to such per
secution as priests in every age have been
forward to originate and sustain ; the
result of which would be open persecution
on the part both of the rulers and the
people. See chapters xx. xxvi. His
own relatives, however they might hide
their real character under specious pre
tensions of friendship, were ready, like
the wild beasts in the covert afforded by
the luxuriant vegetation on the Jordan,
to rush upon him, and excite, by their
loud condemnation of him, the inhabi

tants of the metropolis to put him to
death. A man's worst files are some
times those of his own family. Matt. x.
36 ; Mark xiu. 12. ninnB in ver. 5,
Gesenius makes to beloiig to the conju
gation Tiphil, which is only an analo
gous form of Hiphil ; but Lee and Ewald
deny that there is any such species of
conjugation, and by altering the punctu
ation to flinriFI , make it the regular
form of Hithpael. Thus the word is
pointed in the second Konigsberg MS.,
and originally in one of De Rossi's.
Comp. tiinna, chap. xxii. 15. Root
!-iin , to burn, he hot ; Hithpael, to sham
oneself hot, be eager ; with pj< , to contend
with, sia , fully, i.e. with full voice,
loudly. 7. Notwithstanding the propriety
which Jehovah had in the temple, the
land, and the people of the Jews, he
would abandon them aU on account of
the idolatry mth which they were infect
ed. The preterites throughout this por
tion, comprising verses 7-13, are aU
prophetic futures, so that its composi
tion is not to be referred, with Dahler,
Hitzig, and others, to the time of Jehoiar
kim. For lUJBJ n>lTTi , comp. chap.
xi. 15.
8. bipa )ri is equivalent to hip )n.
9. Most of the moderns auree with

Chap. XII. 9-U.]

JEREMIAH.

95

Come, gather all the beasts of the field,
Bring them to the prey.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard,
They have trampled down my portion.
They have converted my delightful portion
Into a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it desolate ;
Desolate, it mourneth to me ;
The whole land is desolated.
Yet no man layeth it to heart.

Bochart in rendering tahj by wild beast,
a signification which nowhere else at
taches to the word, though it occurs
elsewhere eight times in Scripture, and
always in the acceptation of bird of pro/.
Such a departure from fixed philological
principles never could have taken place,
if Sias, which has been supposed to
signify the hyena, had not occurred in
immediate connection with the term.
That the Arab. JSA^ signifies the hye
na is undeniable, and the LXX., identi
fying the Hebrew word with it, render
vaiva ; bnt such a construction as the wild
beast hyena, however well it may sound
in English, is altogether alien to the
Hebrew ; and this the LXX. must have
felt, for they attribute to B''S quite a
different signification ; M}; airiiKaiov vat-
vr)s ri K\iipovotiia fiov ifiot ; though they
otherwise translate it by ireTeo/ic and
&pveov. That the words are to be read
interrogatively, both the LXX. and the
punctists agree; the Patach under n
forming no exception to the rule which
requires Kametz with the Article before
the guttural s. If we were to regard
Sias ii^S as an instance of asyndeton,
and adopt the above Arabic derivation,
the words might be rendered : Is mine
inheritance become a bird of prey, or a
hyena to me 1 And this would seem to
derive support from illi^iU H^n , the
toild beast, occurring in the following sen
tence ; but I prefer considering ?ias
as an adjective qualifying H";S , with the

acceptation speckled, as denoting the
variegated colors of certain species of
birds of prey, such as the eagle, the fal
con, etc. Thus the Syr., Vulg., our
common version, Luther's, the Dutch,
and others. Thus also recently Ewald :
ein hunter Geier. The derivation from
Sas , to tinge, dye, color, is quite natural.
With respect to the interrogations, they
are both to be answered in the affirma
tive. The Jews had become Uke the
heathen nations, differing from them
only in combining a vain observance of
Mosaic rites with those which they had
adopted from paganism, and thus pre
senting a motley appearance. And the
nations around were ready, like birds of
prey, to pounce upon them, and destroy
them as a nation. With these, other
rapacious enemies are summoned to
unite in rushing to the prey. Comp.
Isa. xviii. 6 ; Ivi. 9.
10-13. The Dial DisS, many shep
herds, were the Babylonians, whose ar
mies would spread over the land, and
reduce it to a state of utter ruin. This
is most forcibly expressed, partly by a
variety, and partly by a repfetition of
terms. The devastation was to be uni
versal. The past tense, as the prophetic
future, is used throughout. For ippin,
my portion, ver. 10, fifteen MSS., origi
nally five more, and two by correction,
read "'H?'!!? > mine inheritance ; but the
former reading is required to bear out
the following "'Hlan rpin, my delight
ful portion. S , the feminine suffix in

96 JEREMIAH. [Chap. xn. 12-17.
12 On all the high places in the desert
The destroyers are come ;
For the sword of Jehovah devoureth.
From the one end of the land to the other ;
No flesh hath peace.
13 They have sown wheat,
But they shall reap thorns ;
They have put themselves to pain,
But they shall have no profit ;
They shall be ashamed of your produce.
Because of the fierce anger of Jehovah.
14 Thus saith Jehovah,
Against all my wicked neighbors,
Wlio touch the inheritance
Which I have caused my people Israel to inherit ;
Behold, I will pluck them out from their land.
And pluck out the house of Judah from among them.
15 And it shall come to pass
After I have plucked them out,
I will again show them pity, and bring them back,
Each to his inheritance, and each to his land.
16 And it shall come to pass.
If they will dilligently learn the ways of my people,
To swear by my name : Jehovah liveth !
HaB , ver. 11, refers to npin , ver. 10 ; is merely a brief anticipation of the pre-
and the verb, which is of the singular dictions contained in chapters xlvu.,
number, is to be taken as a collective, xlviii., xlix. On the restoration of those
and may, therefore, be translated in the nations, which is declared to be condi-
plur.ii In csipKiain, ver. 13, there tional on their embracing the true reU-
is a change of person from the third to gion, they were to exchange places with
the second, which may have arisen from the Jews. The latter were now " in the
some copyist having written D3i— for midst of them," and were to be removed
C|-;"i— , or the mind of the propfiet may from that position before their subjuga-
haVe had a special direction given to it, tion by Nebuchadnezzar ; but on their
at the close ofthe prediction. The LXX. restoration, they were to be established
have U|u£i'. "in the midst" of the Jews, which
14-17. Here commences a separate shows that the prophecy is to be inter-
prophecy respecting those nations in the preted of the proselytes from among
vicinity of tfie Jews, which rejoiced in them that would join the church of
and helped forward their calamities. God after the restoration from Babylon.
These were the Syrians, the Ammon- nsa signifies, in Niphal, to obtain a fixed
ites, the Moabites, the Idumeans, the abode, and by implication, to beprosper-
Phillstines, etc. What is here delivered ous, happy. Without anticipating re-

Chap. xm. 1.]

JEREMIAH,

97

As they taught my people to swear by Baal,
Then they shall be built amongst my people.
17 But if they will not hear,
Then I will pluck out that nation ;
I will pluck it out and destroy it,
Saith Jehovah.

marks which wiU be found in the Com
mentary on the chapters above referred
to, it may be noticed with respect to the
accomplishment of the prophecy, that it
is generally beUeved it took place during
tho thirteen years that the Babylonians
were occupied with the siege of Tyre.
Josephus states expressly, that after the
subjugation of Coelosyria, the Eastern

monarch made war against the Ammon
ites and Moabites, and when he had
brought all those nations under subjection,
he fell upon Egypt, etc. (Antiq. lib. x.
cap. 9, § 7). The embracing of the true
religion is represented as consisting in
an avowal, with all the solemnity of an
oath, that Jehovali alone was God.
Comp. Isa. xix. 18 ; Ixv. 16 ; Jer. iv. 2.

CHAPTER XIII.

Under the symbol of a girdle, which Jeremiah was first to wear, and then to deposit in^the'
fissure of a rock, and after a long period to recover, are represented the close alliance
into which the Hebrew nation had been brought with Jehovah, and the design of that
alliance, and the pollution which they had contracted by idolatry, 1-7. Then follows an
explanation of the symbol, 8-11. I^ext comes another symbol of bottles of wine, 12,
which is likewise explained, 13, 14. A previous warning is given to the people generally,
15-17 ; the royal personages are foretold the humiliation which awaits them, 18 ; the
capture of the land by the Chaldeans is depicted, and its cause assigned, 19-22 ; and the
prophecy closes with a description of the incorrigible character of the Jews, their ahom-
inahle idolatries, and a denunciation of their punishment, 23-27.

1 Thus saith Jehovah to me : Go and procure for thyself a linen
girdle, and put it on thy loins, but thou shalt not put it in water.

1 . The first seven verses of tliis chap
ter contain an apt example of symboUcal
prophecy. But that it was purely alle
gorical, i.e. that nothing of what is de
scribed actuaUy occurred in the outward
history of Jeremiah, cannot be admitted.
The whole is couched in the style of his
torical facts. Comp. Isa. vu. 3 ; viii. 1 ;
Jer. xviii. 1-4 ; xix. ; Ezek. iv. v. xii.
xxiv. 1, 2. The only difficulty which
the case before us presents, is the distance
of more than two hundred miles, to
which, it is supposed, the prophet had to
9

go at two different times, which would
necessarily occasion a long interruption
of his official duty at Jerusalem. Con
sidering, however, the particular juncture
at wliich he was first called to proceed
on his journey, viz. when a plot had
been formed against his life ; and the
publicity which would be given to the
symbolical character of the transactions,
it has been thought that there is a suffi
cient degree of importance attaching to
these circumstances to justify his long
absence from his post. But see on ver. 4.

98

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XHI. 2-6.

2 So I procured the girdle according to the word of Jehovah ; and
I put it on my loins.
3 And the word of Jehovah was Communicated to me a second time,
4 saying : Take the girdle which thou hast procured, which ia on
thy loins, and rise, go to Phrath, and hide it there in a cleft of
5 the rock. And I went and hid it in Phrath, as Jehovah had
6 charged me. And it came to pass at the end of many days, that

O'^nfflS "liTS , o girdle of flax, or cotton
the material so called from puJQ or laias
Arab. iM*i, to card, or shake up cotton.
The command not to put this girdle into
water is construed by Maurer and Hit
zig to mean, that Jeremiah was to wear
it constantly, though full of the effects
of perspiration, and never to wash it :
thereby indicating that the Jewish people,
whom Jehovah had bound to himself as
a valuable girdle, were, as a nation now
poUuted by idolatrous abominations, to
be removed to Babylon, ver. 10.
3, 4. After wearing the new girdle for
u time iu the sight of the people, the
prophet received a fresh order to go to
TilQ , Phrath, and hide it there in the
hole of a rock. On the authority of the
LXX., Vulg., and other ancient versions,
it has been taken for granted, that by
Tiia here the river Euphrates is to be
understood. That the name is elsewhere
employed to designate that river is be
yond dispute. Not reckoning the pres
ent verse, it occurs fifteen times with
this appUcation ; but except in three
instances, Gen. ii. 14, 2 Chron. xxxv. 20,
Jer. li. 63, it never stands alone, but
always has iri3 , river, attached to it.
Indeed, the same must have taken place,
Gen. ii. 14, if that word had not been
used immediately before pig , so that
this passage ought not to be taken into
the account. With respect to Jer. li. 63,
also, there was no necessity for employ
ing the qualifying noun, as Seraiah is
supposed to be at Babylon at the time
to which reference is there made ; con
sequently iu the closest contact with the
Euphrates. It seems not a Uttle strange,

therefore, that the name should appear
not fewer than four times in the present
verse without the use of the quaUiying
term, if that river had reaUy been intend
ed. This circumstance appears to have
struck the LXX., whose text, ver. 7,
exhibits rhu ^.tuppdrrjii iroTap.6y. Ewald,
who rejects the Euphrates, renders the
word by Flussufer (bank of the river), and
thinks that it may be used of fresh or
sweet water rivers generally, or that it
may express the same as the Arab. JL«0^
a rent in the land formed by water. I
prefer the solution proposed by Bochart,
and adopted by Venema, Dathe, and
Hitzig, that piQ is here only an abbre
viation of Tns\li Ephrath, which appears
to have been the original name of Beth
lehem and its vicinity, and most com
monly appears with the addition of the
paragogic H , — HPISX Ephralha. The
aphaeresis of the prosthetic N in Hebrew
is not without examples, as. SilJ for
Si'TK ; ^JPi: for ISHSS ; in for I'nx ,
etc. The whole extent of the prophet's
journey, therefore, was only about six
miles southward of Jerusalem. There,
at Bethlehem, he was to hide the girdle
in a fissure of si&n , therock, someweU-
known rock in the vicinity of that town.
Why he was specially sent to that place
it is impossible to say, except that it may
have been that the use of the term piQ ,
Phrath might lead the Jews, when the
symbolical actions came to be under
stood by them, to think of the Euphrates,
to which they were to be carried captive,
as designated by the same name.
6, 7. The length of time implied in
Dial D'^a'' , many days, was required to

Chap. XTTT. 7-12.] JEREMIAH. 99
Jehovah said to me : Eise, go to Phrath, and take thence the
7 girdle ,which I charged thee to hide there. And I went to Phrath,
and dug, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it ;
and behold the girdle was spoiled ; it was good for nothing.
8 Then the word of Jehovah was communicated to me, saying :
9 Thus saith Jehovah :
In this manner I wiU spoil the pride of Judah,
And the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 This wicked people, who refuse to hear my words,
Who walk in the obstinacy of their heart.
And follow other gods.
To serve them and to worship them.
They shall even be as this girdle.
Which is good for nothing.
11 For as the girdle cleaves to the loins of a man.
So did I cause to cleave to me
The whole house of Israel, and the whole house of Judah,
Saith Jehovah,
To be to me for a people,
And for a name, and for praise, and for beauty ;
But they would not hear.
12 Speak further to them this word.
Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel ;
Every bottle shall be filled with wine ;
And they shall say to thee.
Do we not certainly know that every bottle shaU be filled with
wine ?
afford room for the girdle to become of Jehovah, which was about to be in-
spoiled and unfit for use. To that con- flicted upon the apostate Jews. Jehovah
dition the Jews had been reduced by the is often said metaphorically f» make the
corrupting idolatries of the heathen. They nations intoxicated with wine, when, by
had disqualified themselves for acting as his judgments, he stupefies them, de-
witnesses for Jehovah as the only true prives them of all power of resistance or
God, and, like a castaway girdle, they defence, and involves them in remediless
were to be humbled and rejected. destruction. See my Comment, on Isa.
10, 11. In these verses the symbol is li. 17, and the passages there quoted.
explained by its express application to The Jews either did not, or pretended
the whole Hebrew people. not, to know, to what the prophet re-
12. Simple as the apparently prover- ferred, and responded by adverting to
bial statement is, that every bottle should the fact with which every one was ac
he full of wine, it becomes invested with quainted, that, after the vintage, the
tremendous import when, in the follow- wine was preserved in leathern bottles.
ing verse, it is interpreted of the" wrath These bottles are frequently of a large

-100 JEREMIAH. [Chap. Xin. 13-17.
13 Then thou shalt say to them,
Thus saith Jehovah :
Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land,
Even the kings who sit for David on his throne.
And the priests and the prophets.
And all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
14 I will dash them one against another.
The fathers and the children together,
Saith Jehovah ;
I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy,
So as not to destroy them.
15 Hear ye, and give ear ; be not proud ;
For Jehovah hath spoken.
16 Give glory to Jehovah your God,
Before he cause darkness.
And before your feet stumble upon the gloomy mountains ;
And ye look for light,
Bnt he turneth it into death-shade.
He maketh it thick darkness.
17 But if ye will not hear.
My soul shall weep in secret places for your pride ;
And mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears ;
For the flock of Jehovah is taken away captive.
size. On entering the city of Tiflis in persed indiscriminately, and withoutpity.
1821, the author found the market-place The ? in 111^' » is used in the accepta-
fuU of such bottles, consisting of the tion loco, in the room of, for. Comp.
skins of oxen, calves, etc., distended chap. xxii. 4. The form expresses the
with wine ; the parts at which the head succession of the Davidic family.
and legs had been cut off having been 15-17. An affecting appeal to the peo-
closely sewed up, so as not to allow the pie to avert, by repentance and confes-
liquor to ooze out. It is from this ens- sion of sin, the a\\'ftil judgments which
tom that our English word hogshead is were impending. The phrase 1133 IHJ
derived ; that term being evidently a fTi'T^? to give glory to Jehovah, when used
corrupt pronunciation of ox-hide. in reference to such as had incurred
13,14. Though liiaia, drunkenness, guilt, means to acknowledge the justife
the object of xiaa , is removed from it of God in the infliction of deserved pun-
by the intervention of not fewer than ishment (Josh. vii. 19). They were on
nineteen words — an example to which the point of being involved in most dis-
I know no paraUel in the Hebrew Bible tressing circumstances, in which no hope
— still it derives much force from its posi- could procure them relief lix is here
tion at the close of the sentence. The and Job xxxvi. 32, construed as a femi-
Jews, without regard to rank, office, or nine. The metaphor is taken from the
position, were all to be involved in one dangers to which traveUers are exposed,
common ruin. They were to be dis- who, in a dark and stormy night, cross

Chap. XIII. 18-20.]

JEREMIAH.

101

18 Say to the king and to the lady.
Sit down low ;
For from your heads shall come down
Your beauteous crown.
19 The cities ofthe south are shut up,
And no one openeth them ;
Judah is all taken away captive ;
She is taken away completely.
20 Lift up your eyes and look,
They are coming from the north ;
Where is the flock that was given to thee.
Thy beautiful flock?

mountain regions, where they are liable
at almost every step to stumble against
some projecting angle of a rock, and so
be precipitated into the abyss below.
riiffi"] , which the Keri changes into rT'13'l ,
should be pointed rTilU^ . HIS , pride,
contracted for "Iv^*,-' (Job xxxiii. 17.)
The 17th verse contains touching ex
pressions of tender, though hopeless
grief, on the part of the prophet. Por
the flock of Jehovah, see Ps. Ixxx. 1 ;
c. 3 ; Isa. xl. 11 ; Ezek. xxxiv. 6, 8,
10-19, 31.
18. The king here speciaUy referred
to was Jehoiachin, and the Pl^as , lady,
or mistress, was Nehushta, his mother,
who, with his wives, officers, aud mighty
men, was carried away with him captive
to Babylon (2 Kings xxiv. 8-15). For
the appropriation of this term to the
queen dowager, see 1 Kings xi. 19 ; xv.
13; 2 Kings x. 13; Jer. xxix. 2. Of
the two imperatives, lailj iliiQUri , the
former is to be taken adverbially. The
gender of HIBS not having been re
garded when the prophet wrote ill ,
the masculine, as the ground form of the
verb, is employed instead of the femi
nine. The a in DaiplUNIa should be
pointed a , and so taken as the preposi
tion, and not as formative. Comp.
1 Sam. xxvi. 12. The meaning of the
verse is not, that they were to humble
themselves, and so prevent the calamity
— that was now regarded as hopeless ; but

to occupy the lowly place to which their
altered circumstances would reduce them.
19. By " the cities of the South" are
not meant those of Egypt, as Grotius
interprets, though aiJ , the South, has
this signification, Isa.' xxx. 6, Dan. xi.
5, etc. ; but those in the south of Judah,
or the southern district of Palestine.
Even those cities which lay farthest from
the approaching enemy, are represented
as entirely deserted ; the inhabitants
having all been carried away into cap
tivity, and not so much as one left to
open the gates to the traveller. The
following clauses of the verse demand ,
this interpretation, though ijo , is else
where used in the passive, to describe
the state of a city surrounded by a besieg
ing enemy. See Josh. vi. 1. pisfi is
the rare form ofthe third person singular
feminine, but the regular form in the
Aramaic, Arabic, and Ethiopic. Comp.
"'': ^^)^, Deut. xxxu. 36. Diaiiu
is used adverbially, Uke CllU'^a.
20. Many MSS. and printed editions
support the Keri in reading the two
imperatives in the second plural; but
1S125 and ixi ^ in the singular feminine,
are required by the feminine suffixes in
^i and IplNSB , and by the continua
tion of the same gender in the two fol
lowing verses. In adopting DaiJ'^S ,
the masculine plural, instead of iijis ,
the feminine singular, the prophet drojjs
the figurative, and employs the Uteral ia

102

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XIII. 21-23.

21 What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee ?
For thou hast taught them to be chief princes over thee;
ShaU not pains seize thee as a woman in travail ?
22 And if thou shalt say in thine heart,
Why have these things happened to me ?
For the greatness of thine iniquity thy skirts are thrown up,
Thy heels are treated with violence.
23 Shall the Cushite change his skin ?
Or the leopard his spots ?
Then shall ye also be able to do good.
Who are accustomed to do evil.

reference to the inhabitants. For a sim
ilar change compare Dai ''laS , Micah
i. II. Jerusalem, or the daughter of
Zion, is addressed, and called first to
observe the army of Nebuchadnezzar
approaching from the north, and then to
inquire after her inhabitants and the
inhabitants of Judea, over which she had
ruled, but which were now no more to
be found. So sudden was to be the con- '
quest, and the removal of the people into
captivity. 21. The nominative to IPS'! isnilT^,
understood. '? IpB , to visit upon,
means to bring punishment upon, to
punish. The Jews were to be thus vis
ited by the Chaldeans, as instruments in
the hand of Jehovah. The Vau in PlKI
has the force of since ox for. The words
irsli oisiKtl':^? Qni< ''niai have
been variously rendered, principally ow
ing to the occurrence of uix'li at the
end of the sentence. Taken in immedi
ate connection with the preceding word,
the construction will be princes as to
headship; i.e. chief or ruling princes.
By DIJX them, the Chaldeans are intend
ed. The unhallowed alUances which
the Jews had contracted at different
times with the king of Babylon proved
a source of great annoyance to them,
and ultimately brought destruction upon
them. They had rendered themselve
more conspicuous by such alliances, and
thereby attracted the notice of that mon
arch, who, in order to rid himself of the

inconvenience of having them as a pow
erful state between Babylon and Egypt,
determined to annihilate them. ,"iii is
a rare form of the infinitive, for pii .
Compare filii Isa. xxxvii. 3. Some
improperly consider it to be a contracted
form of the participle niiT^ . It is used
substantively, as fiSI , Isa. xi. 9.
22. n^axn 131 connects intimately
with i1ai$n-,"ia at the commencement
of the preceding verse. 13 is here used
as a particle of time. The reason why
the heels are particularly mentioned,
seems to be that the sandal was fastened
hy a strap or thong which came round
above the heel to the instep. As the san
dal was not so easily removed as the
skirt was turned up, hence the appro
priate selection of the verb Ban , to
tear off, or do anything with violence.
Both parts of the description literally
apply to the treatment of those who were
removed into a state of expatriation by
a victorious army.
23. That by "'IBtt , Cushite, here, an
inhabitant of Ethiopia is meant, and
not one of Arabia, is evident from the
fact, that the Arabs are not so swarthy
in comparison with the inhabitants of
Palestine as to render a reference to
their color appropriate, whereas nothing
could have been more so than a reference
to the inhabitants of Abyssinia or the
African Cush. Inveterate habits are
justly regarded as a second nature ; but
being moral in their character, instead

Chap. XIH. 24-27.]

JEREMIAH.

103

24 Therefore I will scatter them as the stubble.
That passeth away before the wind of the desert.
25 This is thy lot, thy measured portion from me,
Saith Jehovah:
Because thou hast forgotten me.
And hast confided in vanity ;
26 I also will throw up thy skirts over thy face.
So that thy shame shall appear.
27 Thine adulteries, and thy neighings.
The enormity of thy lewdness,
On the MUs in the fields ;
I have seen thine abominations ;
Wo to thee, O Jerusalem !
Thou wilt not be cleansed.
After how long shall it yet be ?

of extenuating, they aggravate the guilt
of those who are the subjects of them.
Strong, therefore, as is the physical ref
erence here made, it can with no pro
priety be employed in support of the
physical impossibUity of moral refor
mation. 24. The 1 in BS'^SStl is illative. There
being no hope of improvement, nothing
remained for the Jews but punishment.
To give greater force to the threatening
there is a change of the second person
into the third, and also of the feminine
into the mascuUne — a figure not uncom
mon in the Hebrew prophets. The use
also, of the plural, instead of the singular,
which is employed in the preceding and
foUowing context, is not without efifect.
25. lila"P5a , Ut. the portion of thy
measurements or' measures ; i.e. which I
have measured out to thee. Hitzig ren
ders : thy garment, and refers in illustra
tion to Ruth iii. 1 5, where the verb Ha
is used for the measuring of the barley
into the mantle of Ruth ; but as the

noun is here paraUel with il'ia , the lot,
which was specially employed in deter
mining portions of land, it seems prefer
able to explain it of such measurements.
26, 27. In aUusion to an ancient mode
of punishing prostitutes, Jehovah de
clares he would expose the idolatrous
Jews to the contempt of other nations.
Their pnnishment should correspond to
their crime. As their wicked practices
had not only been carried on in private,
but in the most conspicuous locaUties,
so the divine judgments should be in-
fficted in the most open manner. The
strength of their propensity to indulge
in the worship of idols could only be
fitly described in language properly
applicable to the expression of libidinous
desire in horses. Comp. chap. v. 8. The
concluding words of the chapter : "ilps
IS "ipa , after how long yet, are elliptical,
and are to be suppUed from the preced
ing sentence, in which s<i is not to be
regarded as having the force of an inter
rogative, but is simply negative.

104 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XIV. 1-3.

CHAPTER XIV.

The occasion on which this portion of the book, consisting of the fourteenth and fifteenth
chapters, was delivered is stated to have been a severe drought with which the land of
Judah had been visited, 1. The effects of this drought are first depicted in the most
vivid colors, 2-6 ; the prophet then puts into the mouth of the people a confession of sins
and expostulatory supplications, 7-9 ; which are followed by declarations on the part of
Jehovah, that the judgment under which they were suffering was loudly called for by
the wickedness of their conduct, and that therefore no intercession of the prophet, nor
ceremonial observances engaged in by them, would avert their merited punishment, 10-
12. The doom ofthe false prophets is next predicted, 13-15, together with that of those
who listened to them, 16. On this the prophet is charged to bewail the sufferings of his
people, 17, 18; and they are again introduced expostulating with Jehovah, 19; confess-
ing their sins, 20; and supplicating forgiveness, with an acknowledgment of Jehovah as
the only source of hope, 21, 22.
1 That which was the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah concerning the
drought :
2 Judah mourneth,
And her gates lament ;
They bow mourning towards the earth :
The cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
3 Their nobles send their inferiors for water.
They come to the cisterns, but find no water,
They return with their vessels empty :
They are ashamed and confounded.
And cover their heads.
1. The construction 131 n^tl im xi. 17. Of the severity of the drought,
hi<. Ijii"; instead of il^tl IBS "IJ'T] "lai the foUowing verses contain a graphic
il* occurs here for the first time in the and pathetic description. It is strange
Hebrew Scriptures ; but that it is not to that so judicious an interpreter as Hav-
be considered as the result of carelessness ernick should dissent from the generally
in transcription, but is characteristic of received opinion, according to which a
the style of Jeremiah, appears from his real drought is here referred to.
again using it, xlvi. 1 ; xlvii. 1 ; xUx. 2. Gates, by synecdoche for the per-
34. The literal rendering is, " That sons assembUng in them, as they were
which was the word of Jehovah." HiSa the principal places of concourse con-
properly signifies restraint. It occurs nected with the cities. For an amplified
only xvii. 8, and is here nsed in the pin- specimen of the lugubrious language
ral m'iSan , the restraints, to indicate here employed, see Isa. xxiv. 4. S in
intensity or continuance. In Deut. xi. ^ v?^ ' denotes direction or position. It
17, the verb "ISS , to restrain, or shut up, gives a pregnancy to the preceding verb,
i.e. D'ia\an , the heavens, is used in refer- which must be translated accordingly.
ence to the same subject. That the sub- For ilHIS , a a-y of distress, comp. Isa.
Btantive "'tJ'J , rain, is to be understood, xxiv. 11.
the LXX. who render hypoxia, have 3. HiSS , or 1''SS , signifies to belittle,
rightly perceived. Comp. again Deut. or inferior, both in regard to age and

Chap. XIV. 4-7.]

JEREMIAH.

105

4 Because the ground is chapt.
There being no rain on the earth.
The husbandmen are ashamed
And cover their heads.
5 Yea, the hind also in the field
Bringeth forth her young, and leaveth it.
Because there is no grass.
6 And the wild asses stand on the high places ;
They snufF up the wind like jackals ;
Their eyes fail, because there is no herbage.
7 Though our iniquities testify against us,
0 Jehovah, act for thine own name's sake ;
For our apostasies are numerous ;
We have siimed against thee.
8 0 thou Hope of Israel !
His deliverer in the time of distress ;
Why art thou as a stranger in the land,
Or as a traveller who spreadeth his tent for the night ?

station. Our translators less aptly take
the word in the former acceptation, and
represent the chUdren of the nobles as
going to draw water, whereas all that is
meant is their domestics. O'^aa , cisterns,
were pits or cavities filled with rain
water ; they are often met with in east
ern countries, and are invaluable where
there are no springs or streams of water.
Their failure is regarded as the greatest
calamity. For si, fourteen MSS.,
originally three more, one by correction,
the Soncin. Bible and Prophets, the
LXX., Targ., and Syr., read K'^'].
Though the words DlUStl !|Sni are not
found in the LXX., it is not necessary,
with Movers and Hitzig, to suppose that
they have been introduced by some copy
ist from the end of the following verse.
Having once used them, the prophet
there appropriately employs them again.
Besides, there is nothing in the LXX.
to express the words laiani Wa ,
which do not occur in verse 4.
4. For ^SH read ^Sni as in ver. 3.
Thus twenty-one MSS., — five more
originally, two more by correction — the

Soncin. Bible and Prophets, Targ., and
Syriac. 5. The very brute creation were re
duced to the last extremity for want of
food. The hind, contrary to the feelings
of natural aff'ection, abandons her young,
and the wild asses betake themselves to
the heights in order to discover some
supply. The latter are very Sharp-sighted,
and travellers in the desert frequently
avail themselves of their appearance,
knowing that there must be herbage and
water in the vicinity. ailS , the infini
tive absolute, for the finite form of the
verb, for the sake of continuing the nar
ration more emphatically
7. nias used absolutely, signifies to do
or act in any way. Its specific accepta
tion in any given passage must be deter
mined by circumstances. Here the idea
is that of interposition by removing the
drought. God is often said to do any
thing for his name's sake, when thereby
his honor and glory would be preserved.
or promoted. His abandonment of his
people might be construed by their ene
mies into a proof of his inability to help

106 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XIV. 8-13.
9 Why art thou as one struck dumb.
Or as a hero unable to deliver ?
Yet thou art in the midst of us, 0 Jehovah,
And we are called by thy name ;
Abandon us not.
10 Thus saith Jehovah to this people :
They have loved so to wander,
They have not restrained their feet.
Therefore Jehovah accepteth them not ;
Now he will remember their iniquity.
He wUl punish their sin.
11 Then said Jehovah to me :
Pray not on behalf of this people for good ;
12 For though they may fast,
I wiU not hear their cry ;
And though they may offer holocausts and oblations,
I will not accept them ;
But I will consume them by the sword.
And by the famine, and by the pestilence.
13 And I said.
Ah, Lord Jehovah,
Behold, the prophets say to them,
Ye shall not see the sword.
And ye shall have no famine.
For I will give you stable peace in this place.
them. Comp. Josh. vii. 9 ; Ps. Ixxix. 9 ; far was Jehovah from being pleased with
Isa. xlviii. 9. the Jews, that he was highly displeased
8. As iiJl'Sf is obviously impUed in with them, as was proved by the drought
the verb i1B3 I have not scrupled to ex- with which they had been visited, but
press it in the translation. Mistaking which was only the commencement of
IlIN , written in full Hlix, for niTX his judgments. He would stLU further
the LXX. render ahr6x6a>v. punish them.
9. Oms, a a^af Kfy. Ai'ab. f^C, H' See chap. vu. 16.
' " I 12. It appears, from this verse, that
to eome suddenly upon any one, to con- the people had again engaged in the
found, stupefy, strike dumb. The LXX. external service of Jehovah, in the hope
give to the word the signification of that this would avert his anger ; but as
O'J'!? ) to be in a profound sleep or stu- they were not really weaned from idol-
por. There can be Uttle doubt that in atry, it is declared to be in vain.
rendering it by iirvav, they mistook tlie 13. The language which the prophet
one verb for the other. here employs is not a violation of the
10. 1? is here used as an adverb of prohibition, ver. 11 ; it only accounts
degree : so greatly, to such an extent, or for their rebeUions conduct by tracing
the like. In DS1 S'i is a meiosis. So it to the influence of false prophets, by

Chap. XIV. 14-18.] JEREMIAH. 107
14 Then Jehovah said to me :
The prophets prophesy falsehood in my name ;
I have not sent them.
Neither have I charged them.
Nor spoken to them ;
False vision, and divination, and nonentity.
And the deceit of their own heart,
They prophesy to you.
15 Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets
That prophesy in my name, though I have not sent them ;
That say. Neither sword nor famine
ShaU there be in this land ;
By sword and by famine shall those prophets be consumed.
16 And the people to whom they prophesy
Shall be cast out into the streets of Jerusalem,
By reason of the famine and of the sword,
And no one shall bury them.
Them, their wives, and their sons and their daughters ;
For I wiU pour out upon them their calamity.
17 Thou shalt also speak to them this word :
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, a very grievous stroke.
18 If I go forth into the field,
Behold, the slain with the sword ;
And if I enter the city,
Behold, those who pine with famine ;
Surely both prophet and priest shall migrate
To a land which they know not.
whom they had been seduced. QiilU ments with which the people were to be
nax lit. peace of truth, i.e. true, lasting, visited. By fISI uHckedness, the conse-
durable peace ; fox which we have BIPKJ quences of it are meant.
naK|; , peace and truth, Isa. xxxix. 8. 17, 18. The prophet is commissioned
The LXX. axiiiiuui Koi ilp{]VT]- The to give expression to the profound grief
prophets fallaciously mixed up what which he felt in anticipation of the cal-
they pretended to be the words of Jeho- amities that were coming upon his people,
vah with their own. whom he personifies as a virgin, because
14. For nsialpl il^X, the Keri has they had never been subdued by any for-
the usual orthography, H'^alPI i"'is . eigu prince. See my Note on Isa. xxiii.
16. The use of the verb tjSlT , (o /)our 12. The idea properly conveyed by
out, indicates the vehemence of the jn<dg- ix inS , is that of going into a country

108 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XIV. 1 9-22.
19 Hast thou utterly rejected Judah ?
Doth thy soul abominate Zion ?
Why hast thou smitten us, and there is no cure for us ?
We expected peace, but th'ere is no good ;
And a time of cure, but behold terror.
20 We acknowledge, O Jehovah, our wickedness.
And the iniquity of our fathers ;
For we have sinned against thee.
21 Reject not, for thy name's sake,
Disgrace not the throne of thy glory ;
Remember, break not thy covenant with us.
22 Can any among the vanities ofthe nations give rain?
Or can the heavens give showers ?
Art not thou he, O Jehovah our God ?
Therefore we will hope in thee ;
For thou doest all these things.
for purposes of traffic. Instead of enjoy- forbidden by Jehovah to do on their
ing security, luxury, and ease in their behalf.
native land, the Jews, led away into cap- 22. D^iSII "'iatl tlie vanities of the na-
tivity, would be exposed to all the perils tions, i.e. their fictitious deities. See
and hardships of those who travel abroad on chap. ii. 5. Ewald. Heiden-Nich-
in quest of gain. The deceivers and the tigkeiten. The heavens could not give
deceived should have the like fate. Mau- rain of themselves, considered as natn-
rer : in terram ipsis incognitam, i.e. iu ral elements, much less could they as
exilium. objects of worship. Jehovah, as the
19- '^.!!l5> see chap. viii. 15. From Great First Cause, was alone to here-
the commencement of this verse to the garded. He alone was entitled to the
end of the chapter, the people are intro- confidence of his people. D8?J occurs
duced as doing what the prophet was as a verb only in this place.

Ch-ip. XV. 1-5.] JEREMIAH. 109

CHAPTER XV.
Adverting to the prayer which had just been presented, God declares that not even the
supplications of the most eminent of his servants would avail to avert the punishment
of the Jews, 1. This punishment is then denounced in various forms, 2-9 ; which calls
forth a heavy complaint on the part of Jeremiah, 10. Jehovah, to comfort him, reminds
him of former interpositions on his behalf, 11 ; and predicts the inevitable removal of
the Jews into a state of exile, 12-14. The prophet then pleads the deplorable condition
to which the faithful discharge of his prophetical duties had reduced him, 15; the readi
ness with which he had received the divine messages, which he contrasts with the sad
consequences of the delivery of them to the people, 16-18. On this God encourages him
with the assurance, that, if he wiU only resume the public discharge of his functions, he
will afford him all necessary protection, 19-21.
1 Then said Jehovah to me :
Though Moses or Samuel stood before me.
My soul should not be toward this people :
Dismiss them from my presence, that they may go away.
2 And it shall be, if they say to thee.
Whither shall we go ?
That thou shalt say to them,
Thus saith Jehovah :
Those who are for death, let them be for death ;
Those who are for the sword, for the sword ;
Those who are for famine, for famine ;
And those who are for captivity, for captivity.
3 Yea, I will punish them by four kinds, saith Jehovah,
The sword to kill, and the dogs to tear.
The birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field
To devour and to destroy.
4 And I will give them up to agitation
In all the kingdoms of the earth.
On account of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah,
For that which he did in Jerusalem.
1. Moses and Samuel had effectively Comp. Deut. xxviii. 25 ; chap. xxiv. 9 ;
interceded on behalf of their people, xxix. 18; xxxiv. 17; 2 Chron. xxix. 8.
Exod. xxxu. 11-14 ; 1 Sam. vii. 5-14 ; The Jews were to have no rest, but were
but not even their intercession, could to be driven from place to place at the
they employ it, would be of any avail pleasureof their enemies. Ewald: Spid
now. The Jews had proved themselves des Windes. As the people persevered
to be incorrigible, and the divine pur- iu the idolatries which had been prac-
pose to punish them was unalterable, tised by Manasseh, they were to meet
After HSffl supply dPiX . with condign punishment.
4. ""tS't, or as Keri, HIST , agitation 5-9. The Preterite is used as the pro-

110

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XV. 5-8.

5 For who will take pity upon thee, 0 Jerusalem ?
And who will commiserate thee ?
Or who will turn aside to ask how thou doest ?
6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith Jehovah ;
Thou art gone away backward ;
Therefore I have stretched out my hand against thee.
And destroyed thee ;
I have been wearied with repenting.
7 Yea, I have winnowed them with a winnowing instrument
In the gates of the land ;
I have bereaved, I have destroyed my people,
Because they returned not from their ways.
8 Their widows are more in number to me than the sand of the sea,
I have brought to them — against the mother —
A young spoiler at noon-day :
I have suddenly caused to fall upon them
Anguish and terror.

phetic Future throughout this passage,
to express the certainty of the events.
T'J'JO '^'1??'? > the gates of ihe land, mean
the extreme points at which an entrance
or an exit was effected. Jehovah threat
ens to carry them thither, to be thence
scattered among the nations. Comp.
Nab. iii. 13.
8. "I in liJl'ia^S* which wants the "^
of the suffix form, has for its antecedent
OS in the preceding verse. The follow
ing words, lina DS"iS , have been very
differently construed. Nor is the diffi
culty which they present by any means
easy of solution, however simple the
words may be in themselves. LXX. M
IxTjTfpa veavioKom. Some compare the
phrase fi"'?a iS DX , the mother with her
children, but the position of the preposi
tion, before and not after OK , renders
such construction untenable. Others
take una DK to be in the construct
state : the mother of the young man, or re
garding the nouns as collectives : the
mothers of the young men ; but neither of
these affords a suitable sense. Jarchi,
Capellus, Castalio, De Dieu, Doderlein,
Eichhom, and Dahler, consider DK,

mother, to mean the metropolis, as 2 Sam.
XX. 19, and ilHN, 2 Sam. vin. 1. The
word is thus used on Phoenician coins.
Comp. the Arab. *.| , the Greek pul\ri)p ;
CaUim. Fragm. 112; and the Latin
mater, Flor. 3. 7. 18; Ammian, 17. 13;
Gesenius, in voc. The objection of
Schnurrer, that it wants the article, is
of little force, as the prophets sometimes
omit it for the sake of condensation. See
Isa. xxi. 12, and Nordheimer's Gram.
vol. ii. p. 13, note. This, on the whole,
as the text now stands, is the preferable
interpretation. If conjecture were allow
able, we might suppose that instead of
DK is Drti the words were originally
or!''5? I as Drti is feeble after the pre
ceding verb. Iina I take to be a par
ticipial adjective qualifying IIIU, and
placed before it for the sake of emphasis.
Comp. Isa. Uii. 11 ; Jer. iu. 7, 8, 10.
By the " young spoiler," is meant Neb
uchadnezzar n., who, when his father
was old and infirm, had part of the
Chaldean army committed to him, and
after defeating Pharaoh Necho at Car-
chemish, marched forward against Jeru-

Chap. XV. 8-11.]

JEREMIAH.

Ill

9 She that bare seven languisheth.
She breatheth out her soul ;
Her sun goeth down whUe it is yet day,
It is ashamed and confoimded ;
As for the remainder of them,
I wUl deliver them to the sword before their enemies,
Saith Jehovah.
10 Alas for me, 0 my mother !
That thou hast borne me to be a man of strife.
And a man of contention to the whole land ;
I have neither lent, nor have men lent to me,
Yet every one of them curseth me.
1 1 Jehovah saith :
Have I not set thee free for good ?
Have I not made the enemy take thy part,
In the time of calamity, and in the time of distress ?

salem and captured it. The attack being
made at noon indicates the unexpectedness
by which it was characterized, that being
the time of day when, owing to intense
heat, military operations are carried on
with less vigor. Compare DKPB , sud
denly, in the following hemistich. "'"'?,,
LXX., rpi/iov, consternation, terror, an
guish ; from 1"'5 , to be hot, indicating a
heated or excited state of mind.
9. Seven being the perfect number,
the idea here conveyed is that of fruit-
fulness. Jerusalem, the mother city,
referred to in the preceding verse, had
had many inhabitants whom the king of
Babylon carried away captive, 2 Kings
xxiv. liJaiO is of common gender, con
sequently either the Chethib SlKa , or
the Keri Ka, will agree with it. By
" sun " is meant the sunshine of pros
perity, of which the Jews were suddenly
and unexpectedly deprived. It is more
natural to refer the verbs flttiia and
fnlBn to the sun than to Jerusalem.
To express this sense I have used the
neuter gender as alone suitable to the
idiom of our language. The flilKB,
remainder, were those of the inhabitants
who suffered in the second attack on the
city under Jehoiachin (2 Kings xxiv).

10. The prophet patheticaUy com
plains of the ill treatment to which the
delivery of the divine message to his
countrymen had subjected him. He had
not mixed himself up with the business
of the world, yet he was treated as if he
had been a hard-hearted usurer, or as
such a usurer, had he been his debtor,
would have treated him. "'pSii') is writ
ten defectively for ''?''R'li'] • The irregu
lar form ''?''.i-'I;'? > which Hahn, on the
authority of the Masora, changes into
the third person plural ''?li?p, has
doubtless originated in transcription —
the former of two Nuns having been
taken for a Vau, so that originally the
word must have been written "'Sf??!?'? >
or, as three MSS. read, and four more
have read originally "'i^hpis, perhaps
doubling the Nun by a Dagesh Epen
thetic. The pronominal suffix in flsB ,
which, as more commonly written, would
be 153, is to be taken as a collective,
and rendered in the plural.
11. Of the various readings "imilD,
Tipiiffi , -jipiiK;u , iniixc , iniiKir ,
the second TJipjilia , claims the prefer
ence, and is to be taken in the sense of
loosening, setting free ; l^'^J > taking in
Piel the signification of the Chald. Kll^ .

112

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XV. 11-15.

12 Can one break iron, the iron ofthe north, and brass?
13 Thy force and thy treasures I will give for spoil, not for a price.
But for all thy sins, and that in all thy borders.
14 And I will cause thee to serve thine enemies
In a land which thou knowest not :
For a fire is kindled in mine anger,
It shall be made to burn against you.
15 O Jehovah, thou knowest my condition.
Remember me, and visit me.
And avenge me of my persecutors ;
In thy long-sufiering take me not away ;
Regard my sufiering of reproach for thy sake.

God promises the prophet a happy deUv
erance from the persecutions of his un
grateful countrymen. While they were
to be taken away captive to Babylon, he
was to be set at liberty, and treated with
kindness. For the literal fulfilment, see
chap.'xl. 4. Maurer and Ewald prefer
the root 11^ to strengthen, confirm, pre
serve. "'PiySStl , I will cause to be at
peace, from the root SJB , to fall upon, to
meet, both in a bad and a good sense, to
intei-cede for another, take his part, inter
est oneself on his behalf. The enemy is
naturally understood.
12-14. The discourse in these verses
is directed to the people, who are taught
the invincible power of their enemies,
and the cause of their masteiy over them.
The northern iron is here employed
metonymically for the Chaldeans, whose
residence was in the north. Iron is of
ten used as the symbol of hardness or
strength. The hardest preparation of it,
resembling our steel, was made by the
Chalybes, a people who Uved near the
Black Sea. It was doubtless this iron
which formed the basis of the metonymy
here employed. For Sl^il, four MSS.,
four others originaUy, and perhaps two
more, read 2'1|'ii, which is supported
by the renderings in tho LXX., the
Hexap. Syr., and Theod., but has no
claim on adoption, the variation having
manifestly been occasioned by the Resh
having been mistaken for a Daleth. The

verb I consider to be used impersonally,
and Tisaa itia to be in apposition with
'.ll? ) and added for the sake of eff'ect.
This construction is preferable to that
which would make the former ipa the
nominative to the verb — involving that
ordinary iron is not so hard as brass,
which is contrary to fact. How our
translators came to render TiWn by
steel, is unaccountable, since this term
might appropriately be applied to desig
nate T^SSa itia , the northern iron ;
whereas n!7n3 never has any other sig
nification than that of brass or copper.
The language " all thy sins " and " all
thy borders," ver. 13, at once evinces
that it is not the prophet, but the people
of the Jews, to whom it appUes. Instead
of the reading of the Textus Receptus
"^."^5?.'^') I which affords no suitable
sense, I have adopted ¦'n'!??.'^'! on the
authority of thirteen MSS. and twelve
more originaUy, supported by seven
MSS. of the Targum, by four of the
printed editions, and, so far as the 1 is
concerned, by the reading ?]'^Pl1.aSi1t ,
found in two MSS. in three more at first
h.and, and in the LXX. and Syr. The
same reading occurs in the paraUel pas
sage, chap. xvii. 4. If that in the com
mon text were genuine, it would require
'N , but could not take 3 after it.
15. The object of the long suffering
here specified was not the prophet, but
his enemies. He prays that while God

Chap. XV. 15-21.]

JEREMIAH.

113

16 Thy words were found, and I devoured them,
And thy word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart :
For I am called by thy name, 0 Jehovah, God of Hosts.
17 I have not sat in the secret council of mockers, and exulted;
Because of thy hand I have sat alone ;
Surely thou hast filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain perpetual.
And my wound incurable ?
It refiiseth to be healed ;
Thou art altogether become to me as a deceitful brook,
And as waters which fail.
19 Therefore thus saith Jehovah :
If thou wilt return, then I wiU bring thee back.
And thou shalt stand before me ;
And if thou wilt bring out the precious from the vUe,
Then thou shalt be as my mouth ;
Let them return to thee,
But thou shalt not return to them.
20 And I wiU make thee in reference to this people
A strong wall of brass ;

was exercising patience towards them,
he would not permit them to take away
his Ufe.
16. The inspired communications had
been received by Jeremiah with the
deepest interest, and he had cheerfully
discharged the duties of the office to
which he had been called as a prophet
of the true God. To eat words, or a hook,
Ezek. ii. 8 ; iii. 1 ; Rev. x. 9, 10, is not
peculiar to the Hebrew. Hence the
Greek tpay^iv ^i\imTa, the Latin dicta
devorare ; and in our own language, if
asked whether we have read such or such
a book, our reply is : Read it ? we quite
devoured it ! Instead of »|'''ja1 , thy
words, the Keri has 'J'^.al , thy ward,
agreeing with "^Hl? in the singular ; and
this reading is found in twenty MSS.,
originaUy in two more, in four of the
early ed., and in all the ancient versions.
17. The hilarity which the prophet
had experienced was not that of the
ungodly who, at their festive meetings,
treated divine things with scorn. With.
10*

these he had had no feUowship, but
because of the faithful communication
of his inspired messages, he had been
expelled from society, and made the
obj ect of their fiercest indignation. The
occurrence of " indignation " with the
" hand " of Jehovah in this verse, has
generally induced the supposition that
hy the latter the afflicting power of God
is intended ; but it seems more in accord
ance with the bearing of the connection
to regard iijll^' 1^ as designed to con
vey the idea of powerful divine impulse
or prophetical inspiration. Comp. Ezek.
i. 3; ill. 14',. and frequently. Thus Va
tablus,. Clarius.
18.. Jeremiah here complains of the
profound grief which he felt at being so
long cut off from the discharge of his
office, and of his being abandoned in his
solitary condition by Jehovah, whose
denunciations of punishment he had
been the instrument of communicating
to the Jews.
19-21. These verses contain the reply

114 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XVL 1-4.
Though they may fight with thee.
Yet they shaU not prevail against thee ;
For I am with thee, to preserve thee and to deUver thee,
Saith Jehovah.
21 And I wiU deUver thee out of the hand of the wicked.
And redeem thee out ofthe grasp of the terrible.
of God to the complaint of the prophet, he addressed, and faithfully standing his
He is assured, that if he wiU leave his ground, without in the least yielding
solitude, and resume the public announce- to their depraved and rebelUous wishes,
ment of the divine will, impartially dis- he might confidently rely on protection
criminating the character of those whom from on high.

CHAPTER XVI.

Most interpreters are of opinion, that the discourse which commences with this chapter is
continued to chapter xvii. 18.
That Jeremiah might serve as a symbol to the Jews of the pitiable condition to which they
were to be reduced, he is forbidden to enter into the relations of domestic life, or to con
dole with his bereaved countrymen, 2-7, as well as to participate in their festivities, 8, 9.
¦On their inquiring why the predicted calamities should come upon them, he is instructed
io specify the accumulated guilt of themselves and their ancestors in abandoning the
¦worship of the true God for that of idols, 10-12. The captivity is then distinctly fore
told, 13 ; while a description is given of their restoration at some future period, strongly
^implying the reality ofthe exile, 14, 15. The Chaldeans are next introduced, under the
metaphors of fishermen and hunters, by whom they were to be captured, 16. After once
more coupling together their sin and its punishment, the latter of which was to take
place before any restoration could be expected, 17, 18, the prophet, anticipating the
feelings ofthe Jews on their return to their own land, breaks out in praise of the char
acter of Jehovah, and predicts, at the same time, the conversion ofthe heathen, 19-21.
1 The word of Jehovali was also communicated to me, saying :
2 Thou shalt not take to thee a wife,
Neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place,
3 For thus saith Jehovah respecting the sons and respecting the
daughters,
That are born in this place ;
2. Rosenmiiller properly observes, that his countrymen. Compare Ezek. xxiv.
by " this place " wc are to understand, 15-27. ^ifc"^, like ^^^;, has a passive
neither Anathoth, the city ofthe prophet, signification. The Dagesh is euphonic.
nor Jerusalem, the meti-opolis, but the 3, 4. The enumeration of particulars
whole land of Judea. By remaining iu in these verses greatly enhances the effect.
the single state, Jeremiah was to bo a The scene depicted is of the most abhor-
symbol of the then future condition of rent character. ^r\'i'0'Q , the plural con-

Chap. XVI. 3-7.] JEREMIAH. 115
And respecting their mothers that bare them
And respecting their fathers that begat them in this land ;
4 They shall die of mortal diseases ;
They shall not be mourned for,
Neither shall they be buried ;
They shall become manure upon the surface of the ground ;
They shall be consumed with the sword and with the famine,
And their carcases shall become food
To the fowls of heaven and to the beasts of the earth.
5 Surely thus saith Jehovah :
Enter not the house of wailing.
Neither go to mourn for, nor to condole with them :
For I have taken away my peace from this people, saith Jehovah,
Both kindness and pity.'
6 Both great and smaU shall die in this land.
They shall not be buried, neither shall men mourn for them ;
They shall not cut themselves.
Neither shall they make themselves bald for them.
7 They shall not break bread for them in mourning.
To console them respecting the dead ;
Neither shall they give them the cup of consolation to drink.
For one's father or for one's mother.
8 Neither shalt thou enter the house of feasting, to sit with them ;
To eat and to drink.
9 For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel :
Behold I will cause to cease from this place.
In your sight, and in your days.
The sound of gladness and the sound of joy ;
Tho sound of the bridegroom and the sound of the bride.
struct of moTa , from 0^53 , as BlpO 5, though expressly prohibited by the
fi-om Gip . dixbnn ¦'niaa literally Mosaic law, Lev. xix. 28.
deaths of diseases ; i.e. diseases issuing in 7. 0^3 is used eUiptically for f^S
death, .such as were incurable and deadly. DH' , to break bread. Not adverting to
5,6. HT'^a occurs only here and Amos to this, the LXX., Vulg., Arab., and
vi. 7, and denotes either a shout of joy one MS., substitute Ons for the follow
er a shriek of sorrow, as the two pas- ing DhS , which the close connection of
sages respectively show. The Jews were this verse with the preceding requires
to be left destitute of all comfort and us to retain. The same reading is found
enjoyment. T^J, to cut or slash the in Eabboth. For 10"!^'^ many MSS.
flesh, indicative of extravagant grief, read liS^IS^ , which is merely a cognate
was customary among the Hebrews, and root, with the same signification, but
other ancient nations, Jer. xii. 5 ; xlvii. never used with Bnb .

IIQ JEREMIAH. [Chap. XVL 12-18.
10 And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt have declared to this
people all these words, and they shall say to thee : On what
account hath Jehovah denounced aU this great calamity
against us ? What is our iniquity ? And what is our sin
11 that we have committed against Jehovah our God? Then
thou shalt say to them :
Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith Jehovah ;
And have followed other gods,
And have served them, and worshipped them,
And have forsaken me, and have not kept my law.
12 And ye yourselves have acted more wickedly than your fathers ;
For behold, ye have foUowed, each the obstinacy of his wicked heart,
Not hearkening to me.
13 Therefore I will cast you out from this land.
To a land which ye have not known, neither ye nor your fathers ;
And there ye shall serve other gods, day and night,
And I will show you no favor.
14 Nevertheless, the days are coming, saith Jehovah,
When it shall no more be said : Jehovah liveth.
That brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt ;
15 But Jehovah liveth, that hath brought up the children of Israel
from the land of the North,
And from all the lands whither he had driven them ;
For I will bring them back to their own land,
Which I gave to their fathers.
16 Behold, I wUl send many fishers, saith Jehovah,
And they shall fish them ;
And after that I will send many hunters,
And they shall hunt them,
12, 13. For the phrase ia^ ni'i'llli, that they were to be removed to the
see on chap. in. 17. In the phrase " day countries here referred to, and this for
and night," RosenmiiUer finds an irony, their apostasy, as set forth ver. 13, and
i.e. there, among idolaters, you may repeated verses 17, 18. Thus, the Ian-
indulge your evil propensities to the guage of the prophet was calculated to
full ; you may practise your idolatries lead the ungodly to repentance and, at
without intermission, which I will no the same time, to sustain the hope of
longer permit you to do in the land those who were looking for the consola,-
whioh I claim as my own. tion of Israel.
14. While it is here expressly declai-ed 16-18. These verses properly connect
that Jehovah would be appealed to un- with ver. 13, and not with verses 14 and
der the character of the deUverer of the 15. They contain a prediction of the
Jews from another national slavery than repeated invasion of the land of Judea
that in Egypt, it is necessarily impUed by the Chaldeans, who should scour the

Chap. XVI. 16-21.] JEREMIAH. 117
From every mountain, and from every hiU,
And from the clefts of the rocks.
17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways ;
They are not concealed from my face ;
Neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.
18 Previously, however, I wiU doubly retribute their iniquity and
their sin ;
Because they have polluted my land with the carcases of their
abominations,
And they have fiUed mine inheritance with their detestable things.
19 0 Jehovah, my strength and my fortress,
And my refuge in the day of distress,
To thee the nations shall come from the ends of the earth,
And shall say :
Surely our fathers have inherited falsehood,
Objects of vanity, and there is none among them that profiteth.
20 Shall a man make to himself gods, and they are not God ?
21 Therefore I will this once cause them to know,
I will cause them to know my hand and my might,
And they shall know that my name is Jehovah.
whole territory, penetrating into the in the present case. fnJillJK'l is used
most inaccessible parts. The 3 in B'^ij)"?^ adverbially, and "l.?l??a , though in the
and B'^a'lb is the Aramaic Accusative, construct state, is to be viewed in the
Comp. 2 Chron xvu. 7. For D''?W the same Ught. f1^??, taken collectively,
Keri has Q''?^^ doubtless to bring the disignates the sacrifices which the Jews
form into accordance with D''1JS follow- offered to idols; these and the people
ing ; but the Chethiv occurs again, Ezek. who offered them were alike objects of
xlvii. 10. Maurer finds a certain ele- abomination in the sight of God.
gance in the position of the adjective 19,20. The language both of the recov-
before its substantive in Bi"l*S B'^a^ , ered Jews and the converted heathen in
but the discovery appears to me to be reference to Jehovah as the true God,
purely fanciful in the present instance, to whose worship they are regarded as
as B''3'^ occupies its usual place in the having returned, after having been con-
preceding part of the verse. The same vinced of the folly of idolatry. In many
objection militates against the opinion of of the prophecies the restoration of the
Hitzig, that the word is thus placed as an Jews from Babylon and the conversion
adjective of number. It otherwise not un- of pagan nations are connected. It is
frequently takes the precedence. (Neh. the former, and not the latter, to whom
ix. 28 ; Ps. Ixxxix. 51 ; Prov. xxxi. 29). the 20th verse appUes.
18. The prophet reverts to the prom- 21. The " hand " and " might " which
ise specified in verses 14, 15, and states, they were to know or feel, were the severe
that before it should be fulfiUed, God afSictions to be suffered during the cap-
would inflict full or ample punishment tivity, and which they required to expe-
on the Jewish people. Comp. Isa. xl. rience only once more in order to be
2, where B'^bsB corresponds to nSBa effectually weaned from idolatry.

118 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XVII. 1 , 2.

CHAPTER XVII.

The prophet, reverting to the inveterate propensity of the Jews to idolatrous indulgences,
1, 2, again predicts the approaching exile, 3, 4. He then reprobates their propensity to
rely upon the assistance of Egypt, 5, 6 ; contrasting with the miserable condition of
those whose hearts are thus alienated from Jehovah the happiness of those who sincerely
and simply confide in him for protection, 7, 8. To warn his countrymen against self-
deception, he sets forth the deceitfulness and desperate wickedness of the human heart,
and the certainty that God, who alone could fathom its depths, would deal with every
one according to his real character, 9, 10. The folly of confiding in unrighteous wealth
is next exposed, 11, and an announcement made of the destruction of all whose confi
dence is not placed in Jehovah, the only solid foundation of hope, 12, 13. Complaining
of the sorrows which the refractory conduct of his auditors had occasioned, he applies
to God for relief, 14, 15 ; appeals to him in reference to the fidelity with which, never
theless, he had fulfilled his prophetic duties, 16; and, while he avows his unshaken
trust in Jehovah, he prays for preservation in the midst of the calamities with which
he threatens the rebellious, 17, 18. The section, 19-27, relates to the profanation of the
sabbath, which appears to have abounded in the days ofthe prophet.
The first four verses of this chapter are wanting in the LXX., but were inserted by Origen
in his Hexapla, from the other Greek versions. They are found in Eusebii Demon.
Evan, and the Commentary of Theodoret. How they were omitted cannot be ascei^
tained. Jerome, without any ground, supposes, that it was done by the LXX., in order
to spare the Jews the heavy accusation which is here brought agaiust them. On the
same principle they might have omitted a large portion ofthe book.
1 The sin of Judah is written with an iron pen,
With a diamond point :
It is graven on the tablet of their heart.
And on the horns of their altars :
2 While their children remember their altars.
And their images of Astarte on the green trees.
Upon the high hills. "
1, 2. In these verses Schnurrer finds metal or stone, what was thus written
an instance of that species of Hebrew was considerered to be durable, since it
poetry which Lowth characterizes by the was not easily effaced. Comp. Job xix.
name of alternate parallelism, the thurd 24 ; and for the hardness of the diamond,
member corresponding to the first, and Pliny, Hist. Nat. 37, 15 : duritia inenar-
the fourth to the second. There is, how- rabilis est. Idolatry was so inherent in
ever, only a faint and imperfect trace of the hearts of the Jews that it might met-
it. The idea of Hitzig, that the writing aphorically be said to be engraven on
here spoken of refers to the divine regis- them with indeUble characters. To this
ter, in which the sin of Judah was in- corresponded the external proof in the
scribed for punishment, is at once refuted constancy with which their idolatrous
by the text itself, in which it is expressly altars were stained with the blood of the
declared to be the heart of the people, victims. This smearing with blood was
The iron stylus, or the stylus pointed in imitation of what was ordained in the
with a diamond, being used to inscribe Levitical law, Exod. xxix. 12 ; Lev. iv. 7.
anything on a hard substance, such as The children, instead of foi-saking the

CH.VP. xvn. 2, 3.]

JEREMIAH.

119

O my mountain, together with the country !
Thy substance, all thy treasures, I will give for a spoil ;
Thy high places for sin in all thy borders.
And thou through thyself shalt discontinue thine inheritance,
Which I have given to thee ;

wicked practices of their fathers, delight
ed in keeping them up. Their hearts
were set upon their idols. Instead of
B3"'ninata , your altars, we find the more
appropriate reading, Bin"ininata , their
altars, in one hundred and twenty-nine
MSS. It has been in twenty-eight more
at first hand, and is now in seventeen by
correction. It is also in three printed edi
tions, and is expressed in the Syr., Vulg.,
and Arab, versions. The 3 in ^373 is
nsed as a particle of time, and not for
the purpose of comparison. Some would
make the Jews the nominative to this
form of the verb, and explain it of their
remembering their children which they
had offered in sacrifice to idols, but this
seems a less eligible interpretation. For
Astarte, see my Commentary on Isa.
xvii. 8. Instead of 3? , upon, we should
have expected IJS"^ J'^ ^I^D.) " under
the green tree," as in the Targ., Syr.,
and Arab., or, taking }'S collectively,
trees; but the preposition may here be
used to express the idea that the images
of Astarte were placed upon the branches
of the trees in the groves, and thus were
conspicuous objects of worship. This is
more probable than that it should be
employed in two different senses in the
same parallelism. The readings 3?
yS"?3 and ?S1. , however respectably
supported, appear to be emendations of
copyists in imitation of these forms,
which frequently occur in the prophets.
3. By the " mountain " here addressed
we are obviously to understand Jerusa^
lem, on account of its elevated position,
and especiaUy that of Zion and Moriah,
which was reckoned to it, and on which
the temple was built. Being the place
which Jehovah had chosen as the resi
dence of his visible glory, he claims it as

his, just as he frequently calls it ''B"!|5 "l^! ,
" My holy mountain," Isa. xi. 9 ; Ivi. 7 ;
Ivii. 13. To this intei-pretation it has
been objected, that, as Jerusalem is sur
rounded by hills, some of which are
higher than its own position, it cannot
be said to be iTiJaa, in the field. _ This
objection, however, is founded on a mis
taken view both of the substantive and
the preposition. fl^'S properly signifies
open country, whether of larger or smaller
extent, and mountainous as well as
plain. Comp. Gen. xxxii. 4 ; Judges
ix. 32, 36 ; Jer. xviii. 14. Hence Ttva
">''Sf1 , the country round about a city
and belonging to it, and iTTiart ''^'S cities
ofthe country, or country-towns. It is not,
therefore, necessary to limit the applica
tion of the term here to the field or fields
in the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem.
It rather comprehends the whole country
of Judah, as opposed to the metropolis.
Besides, although ? more commonly
signifies in or by, yet it is also used in
the signification of with, together with,
along with. See Numb. xx. 20 ; Jer. xi.
19 ; aud is so to be rendered in the
present instance, "pl^aa , thy high places,
correspond to "'^.'^fl , my mountain ; and
T]iiiaa-b3, all thy borders, to n^iSn,
the country. Not only the mountains or
heights around Jerusalem, but also those
throughout the country were selected as
localities for the performance of idola
trous worship, in imitation of the hea
then, who beUeved that worship present
ed on such high places was peculiarly
acceptable to the host of heaven. Though
?]3>iaa in the singular has the support of
more than one hundred and fifty MSS.,
the use of 53 before the plural ?]''^ia5
shows that the latter must be the true
reading. i

120

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XVH. 4-8.

And I will cause thee to serve thine enemies,
In a land which thou hast not known ;
For the fire which ye have kindled in mine anger
Shall burn forever.
5 Thus saith Jehovah :
Cursed is the man who trusteth in man,
And maketh flesh his arm,
Ajid whose heart departeth from Jehovah.
6 He shall be like the juniper in the desert,
And shall not see when good cometh ;
And he shall dwell in the arid places in the wilderness,
A salt land, and uninhabited.
7 Blessed is the man who trusteth in Jehovah,
And whose confidence Jehovah is.
§ He shall be as a tree planted beside the water,
Which sendeth forth its roots beside the stream,
And seeth not when heat cometh ;

4. Not only the wealth of the country
but also the inhabitants were to be car
ried into exile. Comp. chap. xv. 14.
?]3'l , lit. and through thee, i.e. by means of
thine own wickedness. Thou hast thy
self alone to blame for thine expatriation.
Maurer : tua culpa. Aquila, Symma-
chus, and Theodotion, have read the
word as a verb, having koX Toir6»/«eVp
in their text. Michaelis omits it alto
gether. 5-8. Though containing a beautiful
contrasted description of the miserable
condition of the ungodly, and of the
happy state of the pious, universally
applicable in all ages of the world, there
cannot be a doubt that, when deUvered
by the prophet, these verses had a direct
reference to the circumstances of the
Jews, who, threatened by an invasion of
the Chaldeans, were tempted to look for
protection' to the king of Egypt, whose
vassals they were.
6. That "IS"]? , or as it is spelt "l?!i"iS ,
chap, xlviii. 6, means some kind of tree,
is almost universally allowed, and would
indeed seem to require this interpreta
tion from yS , which is contrasted with
it, ver. 8; LXX., aypwiivptKri ; Vulg.

murica; Targ. Kn^313?) trunk oia, tree;
Syr. \l '¦'^ ) root; Arab, li JbJt ,
the tamarisk ; Symm. IiJAov 6,Kapnoii. I
acquiesce in the opinion of Dr. Robin
son, that it is the same as the Arab.
, Arar, the juniper-tree, which is

7^7^

found iu the vicinity of the Arabah, or
the Great Valley, to the south of the
Dead Sea, and doubtless the same desert
which Jeremiah here calls fia'nsn . See
Biblical Researches, ii. 506. Thus De
Wette : Wadiolderhaum. The same form
ofthe word occurs Ps. cii. 18, where the
idea conveyed is that of naked, destitute.
The point of comparison in the two pas
sages of our prophet is the forlorn ap
pearance of a solitary juniper, deprived
of all nourishment iil the arid desert.
3\!3W is here, as frequendy, to be taken
passively : shall he inhabited. Comp.
verse 25.
8. Compare as a real parallel Ps. i. 3.
For X'1.': the Keri reads HSn'; in fiiU,
but we have other instances of the apoc
ope in verbs without the Vau prefixed.
Sec Job XX. 28 ; xxxiii. 21 ; Zech. ix. 5.
The LXX. have read if^J , and rendered

Chap. XVH. 8-U.J

JEREMIAH.

121

Whose leaf is green,
Which languisheth not in the year of drought ;
And ceaseth not to produce fruit.
9 The heart is more deceitful than anything :
Yea, it is desperate : who can know it ?
10 I, Jehovah, the Searcher of the heart,
And the Trier of the reins :
To give to every one according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his deeds.
11 As the partridge sitteth on eggs which it hath not laid,
So is he that acquireth riches, but not righteously :
In the midst of his days he shall leave them,
Ajid at his end shall be a fool.

ipoPitSiiaeTtti. Though not inapt in itself,
this rendering breaks in upon the beau
tiful contrast which this verse forms to
ver. 6. The pions man who makes God
his confidence is truly happy, whatever
may be the outward circumstances in
which he may be placed.
9, 10. The description here given of
the heart is not of that of any one man in
particular, asTVIichaeUs and Maurer sup
pose, considering Jehoiakim to have been
intended, nor that of any particular class
of men, but of the human heart univer
saUy in its natural and unregenerate
state. Still it was designed to be, in the
first instance, applied by the Jews to
themselves in the days of the prophet,
to convince them of their proneness to
transfer their confidence from Jehovah to
the creature. apS , deceitful, is derived
from 3|5S , to lie in wait for, and seize by
the hed, trip, act insidiously. The LXX.
render the word by PaOeta, as if they had
read paS , deep ; Vulg. pravum ; Syr.
V
^ ^'^ f hard, obstinate ; Targ. h'^ji ,
deceitful. IZJJIJ, the other term employed
to describe the natural depravity of
the heart, is derived from 1S3K, to be
dangerously sick, incurable, desperate, ma
lignant. Comp. 2 Sam. xii. 15 ; Job
xxxiv. 6; Isa. xvii. 11; Jer. xv. 18;
xvii. 16 ; Micah i. 9. The Vulg., with-
II

out regard to the proper signification,
inscrutahile, Targ. tl^pn , validwm, which
conveys an idea the very opposite of
that suggested by the Hebrew. The
LXX. have mistaken the word for SJISS ,
and render /ca! 6.vSpiinr6s eVri. Though
inscrutable by man, Jehovah asserts his
perfect acquaintance with it, and his
justice in deaUng with each according
to his deserts.
1 1 . Bochart contends that K^lp , does
not denote the partridge, but most of the
moderns follow the LXX. x6pSi|, Vnlg.
,,= "
perdix, Syr. M-ssf' j Targ. hX^'p , the
same, of which the ancients believed
that she stole the eggs of other birds,
and hatched them as her own. See
Epiphan. Physiol, cap. ix. ; Isid. Origg.
xii. 7. That IJ'J is a substantive can
not be maintained on the ground that
the second syllable has a Kametz, as
there are other instances of verbs with
two Kametzes, instead of Kametz and
Patach. See BSd , i Sam. vu 17 ; hn ,
Ezek. xviii. 12. We should naturaUy
have expected "^7??' hut names of fowls
are of common gender. The particles
of comparison are omitted, as is some
times the case in proverbs. See Prov.
xxv. 12 ; xxviii. 15. Being aphoristic
in its character, the statement here made
was obviously designed to apply to all

122

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XVH. 11-13.

12 A throne of glory, high from the beginning,
The place of our sanctuary,
13 The Hope of Israel is Jehovah :
All that forsake thee shall be ashamed.
And those who depart from me shall be written in the earth,
Because they have forsaken Jehovah,
The Fountain of living waters.
14 Heal me, O Jehovah, and I shall be healed;
Deliver me, and I shall be delivered ;
For thou art my praise.

whose conduct it depicts, and is not to
be limited to any particular person living
at the time of its delivery. The point
of comparison is the foUy of amassing
what cannot be retained. As the young
birds soon foUow the true mother, having
left the false one, whose folly is then
apparent, so riches which fiave been
unjustly acquired leave their possessors,
who are then exposed to the contempt
of such as had formerly admired their
splendor. 12,13. By an accumulati6n of striking
metaphors, Jehovah is represented as the
only proper and unfailing object of con
fidence, and source of enjoyment. Hens-
ler, indeed, is of opinion that the words
of the twelfth verse are those of the Jews
who, as in chap. vii. 4, boasted of their
temple, and imagined that while it stood,
no serious calamity could overtake them ;
but they are introduced too abruptly to
admit of this construction. Neither
could they have been applied to the tem
ple by the prophet ; for, so far is he from
teaching that confidence in it would be
a means of safety, that he uniformly
denounces such confidence, and repeat
edly predicts its destruction by the ene
my. The initial words of the thirteenth
verse being in apposition with those of
the twelfth, the whole is to be regarded
as descriptive of the Divine Being, who
alone was entitled to the confidence and
hope of his people. He is metonymically
called a " throne," because he is the
Universal Ruler, the throne being used

to denote him that sitteth upon it.
Comp. Col. i. 16. He is the " sanctu
ary " of his people, inasmuch as he is
their refuge. See Isa. viii. 14; Ezek.
xi. 16. It is surprising that the words
ix-lto'i . . . KB3 should not have all
been combined as the predicate of the
preposition by the modems, since this
construction is found in the Syriac.
^>-^li ^*l? Slj HTf; and also in

L&-\ , both adding as the

the Arab.

Jol

Ivm;)

subject, oaij tj V and i— JvJ*.
I'l^D'; is an adjective derived fixim the
future of 11D , as ^='^11 , Ps. xxxv. 1,
is from 3'^';. I'^'JIDI would be the
more grammatical form, but such change
of person frequently occurs. flX before
njfT^ is used in order more emphatically
to mark the definite subject of discourse.
What is "written in the earth" may
easily be effaced, and, as contrasted with
what is written in a book, or engraven
in the rock (Job xix. 23, 24), most ap
propriately describes the transient and
evanescent condition of those who alien
ate their trust from God to earthly
objects. Comp. John viu. 6, and, by
way of conti-ast, Luke x. 20.

CH.4.P. xvn. 14-19.] JEREMIAH. 123
15 Behold, they say to me.
Where is the word of Jehovah ?
Let it come now.
16 But I have not hastened from being a pastor after thee,
Neither have I desired the desperate day, thou knowest :
That which came out of my lips was before thy face.
17 Be not thou a terror to me ;
Thou axt my refuge in the day of calamity.
18 Let my persecutors be ashamed.
But let not me be ashamed ;
Let them be dismayed.
But let not me be dismayed :
Bring upon them the day of calamity,
And let their breach be a double breach.
19 Thus saith Jehovah to me : Go and stand in the gate of the
childi-en of the people, at which the kings of Judah enter and
20 at which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem. And
say thou to them : Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O kings of
Judah, and all Judah, and all ye inhabitants of Jerusalem that
21 enter through these gates. Thus saith Jehovah : Take heed
to yourselves, and carry no burden on the Sabbath-day, nor
22 bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem. Neitter shall ye
14-18, The prophet, giving up the guage of the prophet, however, is not
case of his people as hopeless, now ad- objurgatory, as we should have expected,
dresses himself to Jehovah on his own if the profanation in question had actu-
behalf, asserts his fideUty in discharging aUy existed. It is rather that of caution
his duties, from which he had never and wai-ning, with a promise of prosper-
drawn back before the most threatening ity in case of obedience, and a threat-
danger, and imprecates the infliction of ening of destruction to the city in case
the divine anger upon those who had of disobedience. It would seem, there-
treated bim and his messages -svith in- tore, rather to belong to the time of
dignity. For ^".:B foi , before thy face Josiah, and to have been deUvered in
ver. 16, comp. Prov. v. 21. AU the ut- connection with, or shortly after, his
terances of the prophet had been delivered reformation.
under a sense of the divine inspection. 19. CSIl 1J3 "isia the gate of the sons
19-27. Eichhom, RosenmiiUer, and of the people, v^bich is further described
Maurer, are of opinion that this portion as that " at which the kings of Judah
of the chapter belongs to the reign of entered," was, in all probability, the
Jehoiakim, who rapidly undid aU the Gate of David, corresponding to what is
good which had been effected by Josiah, now caUed the Jaffa Gate, and was
and among other evUs encouraged the called the People's Gate from the circum-
profanation of the Sabbath, with the stance of its being the principal thor-
due obsen-ance of which the prosperity oughfare for the tribes in the south, the
of the State was bound up. The lau- west, and the north-west.

124 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XVIIL 1-3.
carry out a burden from your houses on the Sabbath-day, nor
do any work, but ye shall sanctify the Sabbath-day, according
23 as I commanded your fathers : But they would not hear, nor
incline their ear ; but hardened their neck, that they might
24 not hear, and that they might not receive instruction. And it
shall come to pass, if ye will diligently hearken to me, saith
Jehovah, not bringing in any burden through the gates of this
city on the Sabbath-day, but sanctifying the Sabbath-day, by
25 doing no work on it : Then shall there enter through the gates
of this city, kings and princes, sitting upon the throne of
David, 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 forever. And they shall come from the
cities of Judah, and from the environs of Jerusalem, and from
the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the moun
tains, and from the south, bringing holocausts, and sacrifices,
and oblations, and frankincense ; together with those who
27 bring thank-ofierings into the house of Jehovah. But if ye
will not hearken to me, to sanctify the Sabbath-day, and to
carry no burden, but will enter in through the gates of Jeru
salem on the Sabbath-day, then I will kindle a fire in her
gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and shall
not be extinguished.

CHAPTER XVIII.

In this chapter God vindicates to himself the sovereign and absolute right to dispose ofthe
affairs of nations according as their conduct accords or disagrees with his holy will.
To bring this truth in a more tangible form before the minds ofthe Jews, the prophet
is instructed to observe the manner in which the potter moulded the clay, 1-4; the
emblem is then applied to the nations generally, and to that of the Jews in particular,
6-10. Upon this the people are called to repentance, 11 ; which call they obstinately
reject, 12; their folly in preferring idols to the true God is next set forth under appro
priate images, 13, 14 ; and the deplorable consequences of their foolish choice are vividly
depicted, 15-17. After noticing a conspiracy which they had been forming against him,
In consequence ofthe message he had delivered, 18-20, Jeremiah proceeds to appeal to
Jehovah on the subject, and imprecates the calamities which he was inspired to predict,
21-23.

1 The word which was communicated to Jeremiah, from Jehovah,
2 saying ; Arise, and go down to the house of the potter, and there
3 I will cause thee to hear my words. So I went down to the

Chap. XVIH. 3, 10.] JEREMIAH. 125
house of the potter, and behold he was performing a work on
4 the wheels. And the vessel which he was making of clay was
spoiled in the hand of the potter ; and he again made of it another
5 vessel, as it seemed proper to the potter to make it. Then the
word of Jehovah was communicated to me, saying :
6 Cannot I act towards you as this potter does,
0 house of Israel, saith Jehovah ?
Behold, as the clay in the hand of the potter,
So are ye in my hand, O house of Israel !
7 If once I speak respecting a nation, and respecting a kingdom.
To pluck up and to break down and to destroy :
8 And that nation turn from its wickedness,
Respecting which I spake.
Then I wiU repent of the calamity
Which I intended to inflict on it.
9 And, if again I speak respecting a nation, and respecting a kingdom,
To build and to plant,
10 And it do that which is wicked in my sight,
Not obeying my voice ;
Then I will repent of the good
With which I promised to benefit it.
11 And now, speak, I charge thee, to the men of Judah,
And to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying.
Thus saith Jehovah :

3. 1H?ril, more correctly according inally been in several more, and is now
to the Keri, Nin H|ni . D'^SaXrt, the. in five more by correction. It is like-
wheels, or, as it is iu the Dual, the two wise exhibited in seventeen printed edi-
wheels, by which is meant the horizontal tions, and alone makes sense. The mis-
lathe of the potter, consisting of two take has, as frequently, originated in
wheels or round plates, on the upper one the similarity of the letters 3 and 3 •
of which was placed the clay, which he By an inversion of the order of the words
moulded into vessels at his pleasure, in the middle of the verse, the pronoun
These wheels were either ofwood or stone is used before the noun to which it be-
and were in use at an early period among longs — a phenomenon not without ex-
the Egyptians, as appears from Wilkin- amples in Hebrew syntax, especially in
son'sAncientEgyptians, iii. 165. What poetry.
is the precise meaning of the word, as 5-10. However absolute the right of
occurring Exod. i. 16, has never been God to deal with mankind agreeably to
satisfactorily determined. It is not his own good pleasure, his conduct is
found anywhere else in the Hebrew always in strict accordance with tho
Bible. manner in which they behave themselves
4. "laha with 3 instead of 5, is found towards him. Neither his promises nor
in the text of fifty-eight MSS., has orig- his threatenings are unconditional.

126

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XVHI. 12-14.

Behold, I am meditating a calamity against you,
And forming a plan against you ;
Turn ye now, each from his evil way.
And reform your ways and your deeds.
12 But they said. It is hopeless ;
For we will follow our own imaginations.
And wUl act, each according to the obstinacy of his, wicked heart.
13 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah;
Inquire now, among the nations.
Who hath heard such things ?
The virgin of Israel hath acted most obstinately.
14 Shall the snow of Lebanon cease from the rock in the field ?
Shall the compressed, cold-flowing water be dried up ?

12. lasia, the Niphal participle of
^S^ , to despair. The meaning is : it is
of no use to expostulate with us ; our
case is desperate — there is no hope of
reformation ; we will continue to pursue
the course we have taken. The lan
guage of the Jews involves the last
stage of hardened wickedness.
13. No heathen nation was to be found
that had adopted foreign gods instead
of its own. Comp. chap. ii. 10, 11.
Such conduct on the part of the Jews
was the more atrocious, since they had
enjoyed the best means of knowing the
only true God, and had the strongest
inducements to persevere in his service.
14. Many parts of Lebanon are so
high, as to be covered with snow all the
year. This is specially the case with
that portion of AntiUbanus known by
the name of Hermon, and stretching
forward in the direction of the northeast
division of Palestine. From the melting
of the snow, numerous perennial rivers
are abundantly supplied, to which cir
cumstance the prophet evidently refers.
That ¦'•ito n^lS , the rock of the ' fidd, is
only a poetical expression for Lebanon
itself, appears from the connection ; and
it is not likely the latter term would
have been employed, but for its etymolog
ical import (Ti33P , tlie white mountain)
having been suggested by the use of

^S'? ) snow. The sentence might other
wise have run : " ShaU the snow leave
the rock of the field ? " The mountain
is here so called from its prominent ap
pearance as contrasted with the lower,
though in many parts hilly, open coun
try of Palestine, from the south of which
it is seen by the spectator rising into the
clouds. The second member of the par-
alleUsm, doubtless refers to the same
locality, and embraces the numerous
rivers and streams which flow without
intermission from Lebanon. B^Tt from
^^1 , to compress, straiten, is descriptive
of these streams, as contracted within nar
row channels while descending through
the gorges and defiles of the rocks The
use of the verb hn , Arab. J«j , descen-
dit loco, confirms this view. Comp. Song
iv. 15. llSSP'la DiStijI, streams descend
ing from Lebanon. 'iJrj properly signi
fies to tear up, or io tear down, io destroy ;
spoken, as here, of water, to dry up, fail.
Comp. Isa. xix. 5. The idea conveyed
by the passage is the constancy of the
course of nature, with which is finely
contrasted the inconstancy of the Jews,
who, instead of faithfully cleaving to
Jehovah as their covenant God, had for
gotten his claims, departed from his ser
vice, and abandoned themselves to the
worship of idols. Such is the simple

Chap. xvm. 14-20.] JEREMIAH. 127
15 Yet my people have forgotten me,
They burn incense to vanity :
And they cause them to stumble in their ways, —
The ancient paths ;
To walk in tracks, in a way not raised.
16 To make their land an object of astonishment,
An object of everlasting derision :
Every one that passeth by it
ShaU be astounded, and shall shake his head.
17 As with an east wind I will disperse them before the enemy,
I will shew them the back, and not the face,
In the day of their disaster.
18 Then they said.
Come, and let us form plots against Jeremiah,
For the law shall not fail from the priest.
Nor counsel from the wise.
Nor the word from the prophet :
Come, and let us smite him with the tongue,
Ajid let us give no heed to any of his words.
19 Give thou heed to me, 0 Jehovah,
And listen to the voice of mine adversaries.
20 Should evil be returned for good ?
Yet they have dug a pit for my life ;
Eemember my standing before thee
To intercede for them.
To turn back thy fury from them.
21 Therefore deliver up their children to famine.
And give them over to the power of the sword :
Let their wives be childless and widows,
And let their men be killed by death ;
Let their youths be slain by the sword in battle.
construction of what Rosenmiiller calls cient paths which were prescribed in the
a locus vexatissimus, and which certainly divine law. Comp. chap. vi. 16.
has greatly perplexed interpreters. 17. For f11"'3, thirty-two MSS. read
15. The nominative to DIS'IJS^I is 111"l?, and perhaps two more; nine
the false prophets and idolatrous priests, have read so originaUy ; and this read-
understood, obis ¦'513'i' is in apposi- ing is found in thirty-four printed edi
tion with 3n'^5")'l , and descriptive of tions. But all the ancient versions,
the true religion which the Jews had Kimchi and Norzius, have read the word
abandoned. By teaching them idolar with a Caph, in which there may be, as
trous practices, these teachers and priests frequently, an ellipsis of Beth.
caused them to apostatize from the an- 19,20. A beautiful contrast to ver, 18.

128 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XIX. 1, 2.
22 Let crying be heard from their houses,
When thou bringest a troop suddenly upon them ;
For they have digged a pit to take me,
And have hid snares for my feet.
23 But thou, 0 Jehovah, knowest
AU their counsel against me, to put me to death ;
Forgive not their iniquity.
Neither wipe out their sin from before thee ;
But let them be overthrown before thee ;
In the time of thine anger, deal with them.
21-23. Every effort made by the proph- impressive, he throws it into the form
et to reclaim his apostate countrymen, of imprecation. Upon the same princi-
and even his intercessions on their behalf, pie the imprecations in the Psalms of
having proved of no avaU, he is at last David are to be explained. For the Jod
constrained to denounce the divine judg- in '^HaR , ver. 23, see on chap. iu. 6.
ments. To render his language more The conjugation is HiphU, apocopated.

CHAPTER XIX.

The prophet is charged to procure a potter's bottle, and go out with certam elders, selected
partly from the estate of the people, and partly from that of the priests, to the Pottery
Gate leading into the Valley of Hinnom, and there, in their hearing as witnesses, to
deliver a divine message, condemnatory of the wickedness of the nation and predictive
of its approaching punishment, 1-9. He is further charged then to break the bottle
which he had taken, as a significant symbol of the destruction of the Jewish state, 10-13.
The chapter closes with a brief denunciation delivered, on his return into the city, to a
concourse of the people, assembled in the court of the temple.
1 Thus saith Jehovah : Go and procure a potter's earthen bottle, and
take some of the elder's of the people, and of the elders of the
2 priests ; And go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom, at the
entrance of the pottery gate, and proclaim there the words which
1. papa, a bottle, so caUed from the more; and is not found in the text of
gurgling noise which it makes on being two early printed editions; nor is it
emptied. It is clearly an onomatopoetic, expressed in the Vulg.
derived from the reduplicate form papa, 2. The "VaUey of the son of Hin-
. , .. •• • T> 1 ^^ . . nom"ran along the south side of Jem-
Arab. ( ojUU ' Root ppa , topour out, , , ^ ^ . J, ,, I, 
'"^ • ¦ I I- r I ' salem, and was notorious for the human
cause u, bubbling in emptying. Before victims there offered in sacrifice to Mo-
•'Jplra supply ftttpb^ , and take, of which loch. Where precisely the Pottery Gate
there is an ellipsis. LXX. xal it{«s. was situated, cannot be determined ; but
''Sp.lai wants the Vau in three MSS ; it evidently opened into the VaUey of
it has originally been omitted in two Hinnom. TheLXX,, Arab., Syr., Aq.,

Chap. XIX. 3-9.] JEREMIAH. 129
3 I shaU speak to thee. And say : Hear ye the word of Jehovah,
O ye kings of Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus
saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel : Behold, I will bring
a calamity on this place, the ears of whosoever heareth of it shall
4 tingle. Because they have forsaken me, and treated this as a
strange place, and have burned incense in it to other gods, which
they have not known, neither they, nor their fathers, nor the
kings of Judah ; and have fiUed this place with the blood of inno-
5 cents : and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons
in the fire as holocausts to Baal, which I commanded not, nor
6 spake of, neither did it enter my mind. Therefore behold the
days are coming, saith Jehovah, when this place shall no more
be caUed Tophet, or the Valley of the son of Hinnom, but the
7 vaUey of slaughter. For I will make void the counsel of Judah
and Jerusalem in this place, and will cause them to fall by
the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those that
seek their Ufe ; and I will give their carcases to be food for
8 the birds of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth. And
I wiU make this city an object of astonishment and derision ;
every one who passeth by it shall be astounded, and hiss because
9 of all her wounds. And I wiU cause them to eat the flesh of
their sons, and the flesh of their daughters ; yea, they shall eat
the flesh one of another, in the siege and in the distress with
which their enemies and those that seek their life shaU distress
Symm., and Theod., aU retain the orig- elsewhere caUed 13? '''K and "133 T!'^
Inal word, and probably regarded niDin gods of alienation, foreign, or strange gods.
Harsith, as a proper name. It seems The horrid practice of burning innocent
derivable from i^llH, a potsherd, earthen- children to Moloch is expressly specified
ware, pottery. The textual reading is here, and ver. 5.
nidn . Vau and Jod are frequently 5. In highly anthropopathic language
exchanged in Jeremiah. Our author- Jehovah declares that the burning of
ized version has " east gate," and in the human sacrifices in the VaUey of Hin-
margin " sun gate," supposing the name nom was such an atrocious evil, that he
to be derived from Cnn , the sun, and could not even, have conceived it pos-
the reference to be to the sun-rise ; but sible.
this is less probable, though we have 6. The name of nSB , TophM, was giv-
n^TSlb D'^Bn "i?0 , Neh. ui. 26. The en to this valley in consequence of its
Targ. KPl^p^p 2''nn , the dung gate. dieseeration during the reformation ef-
4. IIBS";^ as the Piel of 133 , signifies feeted by Josiah, 2 Kings xxiii. 10, and
to alienate, treat strangely, to regard as for- Jer. vii. 32.. See my Comment, on Isa.
eign, and expresses the alienation of a xxx.. 33.
portion of the precincts of the sacredi 9: An almost verbal quotation from
city to the worship of idols, which are Deut. xxviu. 53.

130 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XIX. 10-15.
10 them. Then thou shalt break the bottle in the sight of the men
11 who go with thee. And thou shalt say to them. Thus saith
Jehovah of Hosts : Thus wUl I break in pieces this people, and
this city, as one breaketh in pieces the potter's vessel, which
cannot be made whole again ; and men shall bury in Tophet till
12 there be no place to bury in. Thus wiU I do to this place, saith
Jehovah, and to its inhabitants, even making this city like Tophet.
13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of
Judah, which are poUuted, shall be as the place of Tophet, even
all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to aU
the host of heaven, and poured out libations to other gods.
14 Then Jeremiah came from Tophet, whither Jehovah had sent him
to prophesy ; and he stood in the court of the house of Jehovah,
15 and said to all the people, Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the
God of Israel : Behold, I will bring on this city, and on aU her
towns, all the calamity which I have denounced against her ;
for they have hardened their neck, that they may not hear my
words.
10, 11. Now appears the reason why Strabo: "HXiov TifioKriy iirl toC S^^iaros
Jeremiah was commanded to take the iSpvodfievoi Pap.hv airfvSovTfs ip outw Kaff
bottle with him. Comp. for a similar rnnepay Kal Ki^avorl^ovres. Geogr. lib.
symbolical action, Jer. xxviii. 10, 11. xvi. cap. 3. (j 26. Comp. chap, xxxii.
13. The royal palaces, as well as other 29 ; Zeph. i. 5, where see my Comment.
houses, had been poUuted by having had 15. The "cities" of Jerusalem were
idolatrous sacrifices offered on their roofs the surrounding towns and viUages in
to the planets. Such a practice obtained the vicinity, such as Bethany, etc. LXX.
among the Nabateans in the time of Tcbs Kd^as ohttjj.

CHAPTER XX.
After having been incarcerated by the principal officer of the temple for presuming to
deliver his predictions within its sacred precincts, Jeremiah was again set at liberty,
1-3 ; when he renewed his predictions respecting the capture of the city, giving them a
special direction to that officer, 3-6. He then complains ofthe contemptuous treatment
to which he was subjected from his countrymen, 7-10, expresses his confidence in the
divine protection, 11-13 ; but concludes with a melancholy lamentation over the fkct
that he should have been born to undergo so severe a trial, 14-18.
1 Now Pashhur, the son of Immer, the priest, who was also chief
overseer in the house of Jehovah, heard Jeremiah prophesy these
2 words. And Pashhur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him
in the stocks which were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which

Chap. XX. 1-7.]

JEREMIAH.

131

3 was by the house of Jehovah. And it came to pass on the fol
lowing day, that Pashhur brought out Jeremiah from the stocks ;
and Jeremiah said to him, Jehovah caUeth not thy name Pashhur,
4 but Magor-Missabib. For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will
make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends ; for they
shaU fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall
behold it ; and I wUl deUver all Judah into the hand of the king
of Babylon, and he shall carry them away captive to Babylon,
5 and shall slay them with the sword. Moreover, I will deliver
up all the wealth of this city, and all her gain, and all her valu
ables, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah ; I will deliver
them into the hand of their enemies, and they shaU plunder them,
~6 and take them, and convey them to Babylon. And as for thee,
O Pashhur, and all that dwell in thy house, ye shall go into cap
tivity, and come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and there
thou shalt be buried, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast
prophesied falsely.
7 Thou didst persuade me, O Jehovah, and I was persuaded :
Thou wast stronger than I, and didst prevail :

1 . According to rule, "i^S"!! , the priest,
belongs to "lltlBS , Pashhur, and not to
1BN, Immer.
2. For other instances of the unapoco-
pated form after the Vau Conversive,
such as f13!lj , see 1 Kings xiv. 9 ;
2 Kings V. 21 ; Job xlii. 16. The crael
disposition of Pashhur is evinced by his
having put the prophet into the ^38^53 ,
stocks, an instrument of torture, in which
the neck, hands, and feet of prisoners
were fastened, while the body was held
in a bent or crooked posture, so as to
cause great pain. Root 'T)?!!, to turn.
Symm. ^affaviffriipiov ^ o'Tpe^kar-fipioii.
It was othenvise called by the Greeks
•jrevr^iripiyyov ifiXov ; LXX. and Theod.
Kara^lidKT-i)v. Comp. chap. xxix. 26,
and 2 Chron. xvi. 10, where the prison
in which the torture was kept is caUed
rSBflHil n^3 , the house of the stocks.
The Gate of Benjamin was properly in
the north wall of the city, in the direc
tion of the territory of that tribe ; but
what is here so called appears to have
been a corresponding gate of the temple,

on account of which it received the name
of the upper gate. Comp. 2 Kings xv.
35. It is further described as being in,
or by the house of the Lord.
3. On being released Jeremiah boldly
announced to Pashhur the melancholy
fate which awaited him and the other
inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. It
being customary to change the names of
persons and places in reference to a
change of circumstances, that of linfflS ,
Pashhur, Prosperity around, was turned
into 3'i3&a -\iM , Magor-Missabib, Ter
ror on every side.
5. The primary signification of lOH
is power, strength, but it also takes the
acceptation, wealth, riches, ^pl i is a
collective noun, denoting precious or
valuable things, doubtless including here
the costly articles of the temple. Blay
ney improperly explains the terms lOH ,
S"'?'^ , and 'ip'] , of three distinct classes
of the inhabitants.
7. nnS is used in Piel both in a good
and a bad sense, to persuade, induce to action.
Here it is obviously employed in the for-

182

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XX. 7-11.

I have been an object of derision continually,
Every one mocked me.
8 For whenever I spake, I cried out ;
I cried : violence and destruction ;
And the word of Jehovah was made to me
The subject of reproach and scorn contiauaUy.
9 Then I said, I will not mention him.
Neither will I speak any more in his name ;
But there was in my heart as it were a burning fire,
Shut up in my bones ;
I labored to contain myself, but I could not.
10 For I heard the detraction of many, fear on every side ;
Denounce him (they said) and we wUl denounce him ;
All my friends watch for my fall ;
Perhaps (they said) he will be persuaded.
And then we shall prevail against him.
We shaU then take our revenge of him.
1 1 But Jehovah has been with me, as a formidable hero.
Therefore my persecutors have stumbled, and have not prevaUed ;

mer acceptation, though in the latter in
every other passage, except Prov. xxv.
15, where it is found in Pual. The
prophet alludes to his reluctance to ac
cept the prophetical office, which it
required powerful inducements from
Jehovah to overcome. Chap. i.
8, 9. From the very commencement
of his ministry Jeremiah had met with
opposition and persecution, and at times
he was tempted to give it up ; but he
was compelled by a powerful internal
impetus to persevere in the path of duty.
13X , being of common gender, admits
of construction with 12?, so that iia"!
is not necessarily the nominative, as
Rosenmiiller insists.
10. That W^ Va is to be taken as a
collective, and rendered in the plural,
Oiinili following clearly shows. l^iiSX
la'ia is literally, Uke ¦'aftta a\^ , Ps''
xii. 10, the man of my peace, and the mean
ing is : he who is on peaceable or friendly
terms with me. Comp. chap, xxxviii.
22. Of course, as the context shows, the
persons here spoken of were friendly with

Jeremiah only in appearance; such as
pretended to take his part, but were se
cretly his enemies. While others openly
opposed him, these attempted by insidi
ous methods to prevail upon him to be
unfaithful to his ofSce. Scheid, Schnur
rer, Eichhorn, and Gesenius consider
1S3S "lailJ to be equivalent to the Arab.
,_AA:&.t nL=>. or v_>a^Ij c-AatLo)
master, or protector ofthe side ; i.e. a faith
ful friend, whose aid and protection may
always be relied on ; and construe the
words in apposition with ''aPlU ttJiiJt-
The passage would then read : those
who were friendly with me, the keepers of
my side; but this construction encumbers
the sentence, and is not home out by
Hebrew usage. Comp. for the use of
laffi , signifying in a bad sense to watch
insidiously, Ps. Ixxi. 10, where "'laSJ
"''323 , the watchers of my soul, corresponds
to '^sbs ilaiU , the watchers of my side,
or, of my halting, my faU.
11. Many MSS. and editions read
"^PK without the Vau, and some MSS.

Chap. XX. 11-16.]

JEREMIAH.

133

They have been greatly ashamed, because they have not succeeded ;
The confusion shall be perpetual ; it shall not be forgotten.
12 O Jehovah of Hosts, the trier of the righteous,
The discerner of the reins and the heart.
Let me see my revenge of them ;
For to thee have I disclosed my cause.
Sing to Jehovah ! praise ye Jehovah !
For he hath deUvered the life of the poor out of the hand of the
wicked.
Cursed be the day on which I was born ;
Let not the day on which my mother bare me be blessed.
15 Cursed be the man who announced it to my father, saying,
A male child is born to thee,
Making him exceedingly glad.
16 Yea, let that man be as the cities
Which Jehovah overthrew, and did not repent ;
Let him hear an alarm in the morning,
And a shout at noontide.

13

14

have'^Rit. See on chap. i. 16. isiU
primarily signifies to look at anything,
then to look carefully, to attend to, and, as
a consequence, to succeed, or prosper in
an undertaking. The enemies of the
prophet, failing in their schemes to effect
his faU, had been covered with confusion.
12, 13. Expressions of grateful ac
knowledgment for the deUverance which
he had experienced.
14-18. These verses contrast so en
tirely with those immediately preceding,
that they are generally thought to have
been transposed, and that the thirteenth
verse properly closes the section. Gro
tius, Doederlein, and Dathe, indeed, are
of opinion, that the language is that
of Pashhur, against whom Jeremiah had
uttered a severe denunciation, verses 4,
6 ; but this hypothesis has little to favor
it, and has been universaUy rejected by
more recent commentators. Schnurrer,
Eichhom, and Dahler treat the verses
as a separate portion of the book, and
regard it as altogether disconnected with
the preceding context. Umbreit thinks
the verses are merely inserted here by
12

the prophet as a mirror in which we
behold the image of his deeply wounded
spirit, previous to his obtaining the de
Uverance from the Lord which he had
just celebrated. Ewald transposes them,
so as to make them fit in between the
6th and 7th verses, which certainly re
moves all difficulty. As, however, they
occupy their present position in all the
ancient versions, and in aU the MSS.
and editions of the Hebrew Text, I have
not felt at liberty to make any alteration.
The passage is so completely paraUel
with Job iii. 3, and following verses,
that many have supposed Jeremiah had
them before him when he wrote. That
the sentiments are identical cannot be
denied ; and it is not impossible that the
words of the suffering pi^riarch may
have suggested the expression of them.
At the same time, similar utterances of
strong feelings of grief, in which the day
of one's birth is execrated, are so com
mon in the East, that we may well allovr
the originality of the prophet's language.
See Rosenmiiller. While destitute of
the sublime imagery employed by Job,

134 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XXI. 1.
17 Because he slew me not in the womb ;
Then my mother should have been my grave,
And her womb pregnant for ever.
18 Why is this that I came forth from the womb
To behold trouble and sorrow.
And that my days should be spent in disgrace ?
this passage is not surpassed in pathos ; the time when I was in the womb, in-
there is aunityand condensation through- eluding that time as the period when the
out, which heighten its poetical beauty, act took place. I have adopted the
17. DHla, "_^-o»i the womb," not as preposition ire as that by which the sense
if the prophet wished he had been slain is best expressed in English. Thus the
as soon as born : this the foUowing line LXX. eV fu'liTp^. The nominative to
forbids ; but what he means is : from ''Snnia is IniiT; in the preceding verse.

CHAPTER XXI.

This chapter contains the reply of the prophet to a request sent him by King Zedekiah to
make intercession with Jehovah for the removal of the king of Babylon and his army
from Jerusalem, 1, 2. In the answer a direct negative is put upon the request, and the
information is given that no attempt on the part of the Jews to prevent the capture of
the city should prove successful, but that it should be delivered into the ruthless hands
of Nebuchadnezzar, 3-7. The people are then instructed to surrender to the enemy as
the only means of mitigating their calamity, 8-10 ; and, while the royal family are
exhorted to desist from the acts of injustice of which they were guilty, and diligently
to pursue a contrary line of conduct, 11, 12 ; the determined purpose of Jehovah to pun
ish the inhabitants of Jerusalem is distinctly announced, 13, 14.
Venema, Kosenmiiller, and Maurer are of opinion that this chapter properly comes in
between chapters xxxvii. and xxxviii.; and, indeed, a comparison of its contents with
what we read in the first and second verses of the latter chapter scarcely leaves any
room to doubt of the correctness of this hypothesis. "WTiat is here more fully related
is there simply referred to in the historical narrative. The occasion of the message sent
by Zedekiah to the prophet was the temporary raising of the siege of Jerusalem hy the
Chaldeans, in order to meet the Egyptian army which had come to its relief.
1 The word which was commumcated to Jeremiah from Jehovah,
when king Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur, the son of Malchiiah,
2 and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying : Consult
1 . That this Pashhur was a different appears to be, that the impression made
persoii from the Pashhur mentioned in upon the mind of the prophet by the con-
the preceding chapter, Is clear from the duct of the one Pashhur was so strong,
statements that the one was the son of that the very name recalled to his recol-
Immer, and the other that of Malchiiah. lection that of the other, which led him
The only reason that can be assigned for to give an account of his mission at this

the introduction of this chapter here place.

Chap. XXI. 2-7.]

JEREMIAH.

135

now Jehovah for us, for Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, is
at war with us ; perhaps Jehovah will deal with us according to
all his wonderful works, that he may go up from us.
3 Then Jeremiah said to them. Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah : Thus
4 saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the
weapons of war that are in your hands, with which ye fight against
the king of Babylon, and the Chaldeans, who besiege you with
out the walls, and I wiU assemble them in the midst of this city.
5 And I myself will fight against you, with an outstretched hand,
and with a mighty arm, and with anger and with fury, and with
6 great indignation. And I will smite the inhabitants of this city,
7 both man and beast ; they shall die of a great pestilence. And
afterward, saith Jehovah, I wiL. deliver Zedekiah, king of Judah,
and his ministers, and the people, even those who are left in this

2. "iSS'insiiaj. Here and in twenty-
six other places, the name of the Baby
lonian monarch is spelt with Resh in
stead of Nun, while the orthography
suppUed by the Nun is found only in
ten places of our prophet. There is in
this place a great variety in the MSS.,
besides other differences observable in
the spelling elsewhere, as "1X313133 and
^ISXT^SinS . The great similarity of
the letters 3 and 1 will easily account
for this. At the same time it must be
observed, that while the LXX. write
NaPovxoSovSiTop, and Berosus (apud Jo
seph, cent. Apion. i. 19.) l^afiovxoSovd-
aopos, Abydenus (apud Euseb. Praep.
Evang. ix. 41) speUs the name No/Sou-
Sp6(ropos, and Strabo, (xv. 1, § 6) Nau-
^ooKoSp6ffopos. Lorsbach supposes the
etymology of the name to be found in the
f (\^ (.AJ , Nebo deonim

Persic

'7^ u
princeps; Bohlen in «(if lc^>^ }-^^ >
Nebo deus ignis. The king of this name
here referred to, was Nebuchadnezzar II.,
son of Nebuchadnezzar I., Nabopolassar,
or Nabolassar, who, on his being unable
from old age to undergo any further
hardships, committed the command of
his army against Egypt to the crown-
prince, by whom the Egyptians were

defeated at Charchemish, and the Jewish
state destroyed, as predicted and nar
rated by the prophet Jeremiah. Zede
kiah indulged the hope that Jehovah
would interpose for the city in a mirac
ulous manner, as he had done in the
time of Hezekiah (see 2 Kings xix. 35,
36,) and was anxious to obtain an oracu
lar declaration to that effect. ISnis for
>I3P1J(; , which is found in many MSS. and
printed editions without the Vau. See
on chap. i. 16. The phrase bsa nbj)
means to recede from the incumbent atti
tude assumed by a besieging army.
Comp. xxxvii. 5.
i. It has been doubted whether SniN ,
them, refers to the implements of war
mentioned at the beginning of the verse,
or to the Chaldeans, as the nearer ante
cedent. The latter seems the more nat
ural. 5, 6. The inhabitants of Jerusalem
were to have for their enemy, not only
the king of Babylon, but Jehovah him
self, whose glorious majesty they had
provoked by their indulgence in idolatry.
7. Reduced to a state of fearful imbe-
cUity by the pestilence and famine with
which they were to be visited, they
would fall au easy prey to the besieging
foe. Seven MSS., and originally two
more, omit ni^l before ninxtasn , and

136

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XXI. 7-13.

city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine,
into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and into the
hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their
life ; and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword, he will
not spare them, neither will he pity, nor show mercy.
8 And to this people thou shalt say. Thus saith Jehovah : Behold, I
9 place before you the way of life and the way of death. He that
remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pes
tilence ; but he that goes forth and deserts to the Chaldeans, who
10 besiege you, shall live, and shall have his life for a prey. For
I have set my face towards this city for evil, and not for good,
saith Jehovah ; it shall be delivered into the hand of the king of
Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
11 And to the house of the king of Judah, say : Hear ye the word of
12 Jehovah, 0 house of David ! thus saith Jehovah : Execute judg
ment speedily, and rescue him who is plundered out of the hand
of the oppressor, lest my fury go forth as fire, and bum, and
there be none to quench it, on account of the wickedness of your
13 % deeds. Behold, I am against thee, 0 inhabitress of the valley,

the LXX. and Syr. have nothing corres
ponding to it. It may, however, b6 jus
tified by interpreting DSH , the people,
immediately preceding, of the Jews gen
erally, as distinguished from the inhabi
tants of Jerusalem.
9. hi ^S3 or hiA h*y> is of frequent
occurrence in Jeremiah, in the sense of
going over to an enemy. The verb
without either preposition is appUed to
David in reference to his deserting the
cause of Saul, and joining Achish, 1 Sam.
xxix. 3. ii^ab iias3 ib-nn';ni , tohave
one's life given to one for a prey, is to make
one's escape with it, as a person does
with whatever valuable spoil or plunder
he may have seized ; but which he often
does with much risk and difficulty.
11. The Lamed in ^T^??'' is taken by
many in the sense of quod attinet ad, but
I view it as the simple sign of the dative,
governed by "iBkR , understood from
ver. 8.
12. "The house of David" means
the royal family, including the court and
all in office about the king. It has

been doubted whether '^i^S? is to be un
derstood in the sense of in the morning
UteraUy, with reference to that as the
time when the court sat for the trial of
causes, or whether it is to be regarded
as an adverbial idiom, meaning early,
soon, quickly, as ^pS? , Ps. xc. 14 ; exUii.
8. ^^osenmvUei, summo studio et prompie.
The pressing circumstances of the time
require the latter interpretation. The
judges, who frequently belonged to the
royal family, instead of neglecting the
cause of the oppressed, ought to have
been prompt in procuring for them the
justice wliich the law afforded. Instead
ofthe Chethiv onibbsB , I have adopted
the Keri O^ipwa , which is supported
by many MSS. and by the ancient ver
sions, except the LXX. and Arab., which
have nothing corresponding to either
word. 13. By pOSfJ, the valley, is meant
the Tyropaeon, running down between
Mount Zion and Mount Moriah, on the
sides of which stood the buildings of the
citizens ; and by nilj^an IIS , the rock

Chap. XXU. 1-3.]

JEREMIAH.

137

the rock of the plain, saith Jeho\ah ; that say. Who wiU come
14 down to us ? and who will enter our habitations ? For I will
punish you according to the fruit of your deeds, saith Jehovah ;
and I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all her
environs.

of ike plain. Mount Zion, so called from
its rapid ascent on the southwest, which
renders its brow in this direction appar
ently more lofty than any other point
connected with the city (Robinson, i.
389.) The lilJia was not any plain on
the outside of Zion, for there is nothing
in such locality speciaUy entitled to this
character, but the level tract of consider
able extent on Zion itself, part of which
is now n. ploughed field (Ibid. p. 390.)
The valley and the rock are selected on

account of their contiguity, and stand
for the whole of Jerusalem. The pro
priety of the reference in this connection,
lies in the royal residence having been
situated on Mount Zion, the occupants
of which ai-e here specially addressed.
14. Pi in H^S^ refers to Jerusalem un
derstood, and the metaphor of a forest is
employed to convey the idea of the dense
mass of buildings with which the city
was fiUed.

CHAPTER XXII.

Much as the contents of this chapter may appear to agree vrith the latter part of that pre
ceding, it evidently belongs to an earlier period, namely, to the lirst years of the reign
of Jehoiakim (see verse 18). The reason why it occupies its present position seems to be
the similarity of verse 3 with xxi. 12. It begins with a charge to the king and the peo
ple to execute justice, 2, 3; with a promise of perpetuity in case of obedience, 4, 5; and
a threatening of destruction in case of disobedience, 6-9. The irreversible fate of Shal
lum or Jehoahaz as a captive in Egypt is next predicted, 10-12. The selfishness and
ambition of Jehoiakim are then denounced, and his miserable end predicted, 13-19; and
after a pointed address and reproof to Jerusalem, 20-23, follow predictions relative to
Jechoniah, the successor of Jehoiakim, 24-30.
1 Thus saith Jehovah : Go down to the house of the king of Judah,
2 and speak there this word, And say. Hear the word of Jehovah,
O king of Judah, that sittest on the throne of David ; thou and
thy ministers, and thy people who enter through these gates.

1 . However elevated the royal palace
on Mount Zion might be, it was properly
regarded as inferior to the temple : hence
the propriety of the language of descent
in reference to it. Comp. xxxvi. 10, 12 ;
2 Chron. xxiii. 20. The prophet must,
therefore, have been in the temple at the
time he was chai-ged to deHver the fol
lowing message to the king. 12*

2, 3. As it is evidently impUed in the
exhortations here given, that the evils
specified actuaUy existed, there can be
no doubt that the prophet has in his eye
the oppressive measures adopted by Je
hoiakim for raising the tribute which
Necho, king of Egypt, had imposed np
on him, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 3, and defray
ing the cost of the expensive buUdings

138 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XXn. 4-7.
3 Thus saith Jehovah :
Execute judgment and righteousness,
And rescue him that is plundered from the oppressor.
Maltreat not, and do no violence
To the stranger, the orphan, or the widow.
And shed no innocent blood in this place.
4 For if ye will indeed do this thing.
Then there shall enter through the gates of this house
Kings sitting for David on his throne,
Riding in chariots and on horses.
Each, his ministers, and his people.
5 But if ye wiU not hear these words,
I swear by myself, saith Jehovah,
That this house shall become a desolation.
6 For thus saith Jehovah respecting the house of the king of Judah :
Thou art Gilead to me, the summit of Lebanon ;
I will surely make of thee a desert.
Cities uninhabited.
7 And I will consecrate destroyers against thee.
Every one and his weapons ;
And they shall cut down thy choicest cedars.
And cast them into the fire.
8 And many nations shall pass by this city.
And they shall say one to another :
On account of what hath Jehovah acted thus.
To this great city ?
which he caused to be erected in Jerusa- loftiest part of Lebanon is about 10,000
lem, 13-15. feet above the level of the sea. "'?, to
4. For ll"?? I see chapter xiu. 13. me, i.e. in my estimation; and the mean-
Instead of "l^?? > which, if pointed ac- ing is, though thou art such in my eyes,
cording to the consonants, would read yet I will reduce thee to a state of deso-
''"'?? 1 his servant, a great number of lation. iii'Dit is a formula of swearing,
MSS. and two of the earliest editions, and expresses the certiiinty of what is
read ''"^7?- ' ^'* servants, or ministers, predicated. Comp. Numb. xiv. 35, with
according to the Keri. ver. 28 of the same chapter, where the
6. By the house here is meant the ellipsis ''?S"in , as I live, is supplied.
royal palace, which, on account of its tlDOij must either be read ri3iai3 or
beauty and height, is represented under 531^13 . The latter is preferable, under-
the metaphors of GUead and Lebanon, standing T^S before !<h .
The former was a region beyond Jordan, 7. For TlllJ'np , see my Comment, on
celebrated for the beauty of its scenery, Isaiah xiii. 3. The mention made of
the richness of its pastures, and the fer- Lebanon in the preceding verse natu-
tility of its valleys. The height of the rally suggested the idea of the cedars

Chap. XXII. 9-13.]

JEEEMIAH.

139

9 And they shall say :
Because they had forsaken the covenant of Jehovah their God,
And worshipped other gods, and served them.
10 "Weep ye not for him that is dead.
Neither mourn ye for him ;
Weep sorely for him that goeth away,
For he shall return no more.
Neither shall he see his native land.
11 For thus saith Jehovah concerning Shallum,
The son of Josiah, king of Judah,
Who reigned instead of Josiah his father,
Who went forth from this place ;
He shall not return thither any more.
12 But he shall die in the place whither they have carried him captive,
And shall see this land no more.
13 Wo to him that buildeth his house by injustice,
And his upper chambers by wrong ;
That serveth himself of his neighbor for nothing,
And payeth him not his wages ;

which Jehoiakim had procured from that
mountain, and with which he had gor
geously adorned his palace. Compare
verse 14.
10. In 133 133 , the Infinitive ex
presses intensity, and not continuance
of action, as it commonly does when it
follows the finite form of the verb. The
person for whom no mourning was to be
made was Josiah, on account of whose
death an annual lamentation had been
kept up among the Jews. (2 Chron.
xxxv. 25.) The language is compara
tive. Much more was his condition to
be deplored who was detained captive in
a foreign country, never again to behold
the land of his fathers' sepulchres.
11, 12. The prophet directly applies
what he had announced, to Shallum,
whom Necho had dethroned and carried
away captive into Egypt. That this
Shallum was the same as Jehoahaz,
which name he assumed on coming to
the throne, expositors are generally
agreed. Eliakim and Mattaniah in like
manner had their names changed into

Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, when invested
with the crown. Shallum was younger
by two years than his brother Jehoiakim,
but was preferred before him by the peo
ple, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 1 ; most probably
on account of the ambitious and expen
sive habits in which the latter indulged
as prince, and which he carried to the
most extravagant lengths after he had
been invested with regal dignity. Shal
lum appears to have been a popular mon
arch, though he reigned only three
months ; and it is likely, from what the
prophet here says, that hopes were enter
tained of his return from Egypt, in which
case the people might replace h^m upon
the throne, and thereby free themselves
from the oppressive taxes levied upon
them by Jehoiakim.
13. Jeremiah now directs his discourse
to the reigning monarch. Though im
poverished by the tribute imposed upon
them by the king of Egypt, (2 Chron.
xxxvi. 3) the inhabitants were cruelly
ground by Jehoiakim, who scrupled not
at the adoption of any measures by

140

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XXU. 13-17.

14 That saith, I will build for myself a spacious house,
And afry upper chambers ;
That breaketh out for himself windows ;
Ceiling with cedar.
And painting with vermilion.
15 Shalt thou reign because thou art eager about cedar-work ?
Did not thy father eat and drink.
And execute judgment and justice ?
Then it was well with him.
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy
Then it was well with him ;
Was not this to know me ? saith Jehovah.
17 But thine eyes and thy heart are on nothing
But thy lucre, and on shedding innocent blood.
And on oppression and violence, to practise them.

which he might be able to carry ou
the building of a large and splendid
palace. 14. nwa n"ia, at. a house of measures,
i.e. a palace of ample dimensions. Comp.
ni'na ¦'I133i< , men of dimensions. Numb.
xiii. 32. dini'na , airy, the Pual Parti
ciple of ni^ , to br.eathe, breathe fredy.
¦'3i*in for ¦'Sl^'l an unusual plural form,
like i^ito , ¦I'ln , isiiun , ^nizi , One
MS. has read originally a'^Sifetl, and
another reads I'^JIsIl, There must have
been something remarkable about the
windows here referred to, since they were
deemed worthy of special notice. Mi
chaelis thinks that blinds were intended.
Ewald, in his Commentary, regards the
word as being the usual plural, with the
singular affix of the first person, my win
dows, as it is rendered in the margin of
our common version, in which case i'
must be referred to tl'^a , and S'l|5 to
the workman understood ; but in the
fifth edition of his Grammar (1844), p.
339, he thinks it is probably a Dual.
Gesenius also (in his Grammar, as im
proved by Eodiger) thinks it may be a
dual form, signifying double windows,
which would rather favor the intei-preta-
tion of Michaelis — the blinds being two-
leaved, as most of those on the continent

are. Of this form the only other exam
ple adduced is "'1!^) Ezek. xiii. 18, but
iSlton , instanced above, and occurring
Isaiah xx. 4, may be regarded as another.
To agree with Hira , 'jlSD , should be
pointed TiSD in the Infinitive absolute.
Ittjffia , LXX. ivpiihTtf ; Vulg. sinopide;
Syr. |.Z?0. pc«uris; Targ V3aa&|l,
coloribus, colore Indico: the ancient ver
milion, a beautiful red paint, caUed
sinopis, because, according to Pliny, it
was first discovered near the town of
Sinope, in Pontus. It was a preparation
much valued by the ancients. It was
composed of quicksilver and sulphur,
and must not be mistaken for the prepa
ration of red lead, known amongst us
by the name of vermilion.
15. For fillHna , point, with one of
De Rossi's MSS. fi'inna . See on chap.
xii. 5. The point in the appeal here
made is the contrast presented by the
showy and luxurious life led by Jehoiar
kim, to the simplicity of that exhibited
by his pious father Josiah, who was con
tented with the necessaries of life, and
bent his attention to the proper admin
istration of the affairs of the kingdom.
17. It appears from this verse that
Jehoiakim indulged in the greatest self-

CH.iP. XXn. 17-19.]

JEEEMIAH.

141

18 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim,
The son of Josiah, king of Judah :
They shall not mourn for him, saying,
Alas, my brother ! or, alas, sister !
They shall not mourn for him (saying)
Alas, lord ! or, alas, his majesty !
19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass,
Dragged along, and cast out,
Beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Ascend the Lebanon, and cry ;
Utter thy voice in Bashan,
And cry from Abarim ;
For all thy lovers are destroyed.

ishness and cruelty in his treatment of
his subjects.
18, 19. There is a singular beauty in
the manner in which Jeremiah brings
home his charge to the rapacious mon
arch He first describes him in the
third person, vers. 13, 14 ; then, without
naming him, he directly addresses him,
15—17 ; and at last mentions him by
name in ver. 18. The intrepidity with
which he deUvers the unwelcome mes
sage is such, as a consciousness of the
divine sanction alone could have im
parted. For any uninspired teacher so
to speak to his monarch would be rebel
lion. But the Hebrew prophets exhib
ited legitimate and overpowering proofs
that their commission was from heaven.
They and the Hebrew kings held by the
same authority. He who had appointed
the one class to reign had equally ap
pointed the other class unreservedly to
declare his wiU. Of the disgraceful end
of Jehoiakim, distinctly predicted in ver.
19, we have no historical account ; but
it is thought that he must have been put
to death by Nebuchadnezzar, on the re
treat of that monarch to Babylon, and
that his dead corpse was left unburied
by the wayside, without Jemsalem. Jer
ome explains : Pulchre sepultura asini
dicit eum sepdiendum, nt aUis verbis sig-
nificet iusepnltum, hoc est a bestus, avi-

busque lacerandnm. Haec est enim
asini sepultura (Comp. xxxvi. 30).
The hypothesis just mentioned harmo
nizes the statement (2 Chron. xxxvi. 6),
that Nebuchadnezzar bound him with
fetters to carry him to Babylon with the
silence of the historian as to his treat
ment there. The declaration (2 Kings
xxiv. 6) that he " slept with his fathers "
is no wise in collision with the predic
tion here uttered by Jeremiah, since it is
not said that he was buried with his
fathers, but merely that he slept with
them — a mode of expression commonly
employed to express the simple fact of
death, and not necessarily excluding the
idea of a violent end. Extravagant lam
entations abounded among the Hebrews,
as among other eastern nations, over the
corpses of the dead ; and the mourners
even went about the streets bewaiUng iu
doleful dirges the death of the departed.
They likewise indulged in the sorrowful
exclamations : " Alas, my son ! " " Alas,
my brother!" and the like. By the
niriN , sister, here mentioned, it is prob
able the queen of Jehoiakim is intended
for, though she was not left without sep
ulture, Uke her husband, yet she was
taken captive to Babylon (2 Engs xxiv.
15), where no royal lamentations awaited
her. mn , as weU as TilN , is to be
referred to the king, and not, with some.

142

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XXU. 19-24.

21 I spake to thee in thy prosperity,
But thou saidst, I will not hear ;
This hath been thy way from thy youth,
That thou hast not obeyed my voice.
22 A blast shall feed thy shepherds.
And thy lovers shall go into captivity ;
Surely then thou shalt be ashamed.
And thou shalt be confounded because of all thy wickedness.
23 O thou that dweUest in Lebanon,
That makest thy nest in the cedars ;
How pitiable thou wilt be when pangs come on thee.
Pain as of a woman in travail !
24 As I live, saith Jehovah,
Though Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah,
Were a signet on my right hand.
Yet I would pluck thee thence ;

to the queen : the Holem, with H§, be
ing the less usual form of the masculine
affix. See on chap, xxxiii. 16.
20. The imperatives here being of the
feminine gender, the natural conclusion
is, that Jerusalem, under the usual image
of a female, is intended. The inhabi
tants are summoned to take their station
on the highest points of the surrounding
regions, whence their loud lamentations
over the successive removal of their allies
might be heard. Bashan was the north
ern part of the region beyond Jordan,
and though mostly a level country,
abounding in pasturage, yet there are
mountainous parts in the direction of
Hermon. Abarim was a range of moun
tains to the south of Bashan, opposite
to Jericho. These localities are selected
because they are distinctly visible from
Jerusalem. 21, 22. The lovers of Jerusalem were
the foreign princes -vvith which she had
contracted alUances, especiaUy those of
Egypt, on whom she had relied for help
against the Chaldeans. Her shqjherds
were her own kings — an acceptation in
which the term is often used in the
Prophets. See on chap. ii. 8. In ^'^?"l
'^^'^P. is 1 paronomasia. The force of

the metaphor Ues in its being the office
of a shepherd to drive his sheep from
place to place for pasture. The shep
herds, i.e. the kings of Judah, should
themselves be driven by the Chaldeans,
who are here set forth under the meta
phor of a blast. Comp. chap. iv. 11, 12,
and Isa. xxi. 1.
23. Jerusalem, or her citizens, might
be said to inhabit Lebanon, on account
of the quantity of cedar wood from that
mountain employed in the construction
of the temple, the royal palace, and the
houses of the principal inhabitants. For
the Jod in '^PSia'' and ¦'FlSJpTa , see on
chap. X. 17 ; and for "'^3113 chap. ii. 20.
In all the three instances the Jod is omit
ted in the Keri.
24. The prophet now turns to T'3^''H'>, >
Jehoiachin, the son and successor of Je
hoiakim. Besides here, and verse 28,
1il^33 , Coniah, the shorter form of the
name, occurs only xxxvii. 1. It is also
M'ritten H^?3^, , Jechoniah, xxvii. 20 ;
xxviii. 4 ; Esther ii. 6. So far as he
had an opportunity of developing his
character, he foUowed the wicked course
of his father (2 Chron. xxxvi. 9) ; and
though suffered by the king of Babylon
to succeed him, yet, most probably owing

Chap. XXH. 25-30.]

JEREMIAH.

143

25 And deliver thee into the hand of those that seek thy life.
And into the hand of those of whom tliou art afraid,
Even tmto the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
And into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 Yea, I will cast thee out.
And thy mother that bare thee.
Into another land, where ye were not born ;
And there ye shall die.
27 But to the land whither they set their mind to return,
Thither they shall not return.
28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel ?
Is he a vessel in which there is no pleasure ?
WTiy are they cast out, he and his seed.
And thrown into a land which they knew not ?
29 O earth, earth, earth !
Hear the word of Jehovah.

to his ha%'ing given some indications of
a design hostUe to the Chaldeans, he was
only suffered to reign three months and
ten days, when, on their return to attack
Jerusalem, he prudently surrendered,
and was carried away captive to Baby
lon. It was the divine determination,
that with this prince the succession of
the Da^ddic line in the descendants of
Jehoiakim should cease — so aggravated
had the wickedness of that monarch been.
Supposing even that Jehoiachin had per
sonally been held in the highest estima
tion by Jehovah, such was his displeas
ure against the father, that for his sake
his son should suffer in his public and
regal capacity. None of his posterity
ever came to the throne. The Nnn in
?]3i5riN is epenthetic. The change from
the third person to the second is an enal-
lageof frequentoccurrence in the Hebrew
scriptures. Seals, consisting of precious
stones set in rings, were often of great
valne, as ther still are in the East.
Comp. Haggai ii. 23. It is the estima
tion in which they were held, that is the
point of the metaphor in this instance.
26. We are expressly informed (2
Kings xxiv. 15) that, among others, the
queen dowager was carried into captivity.

Contrary to mle, the article is omitted
before I'^ns? i but similar exceptions
occur chap. ii. 21 : Gen. xxix. 2 ; Ezek.
xxxix. 27.
27. >^B.3 Xi!J3, to lift up the soul, meSiiis
to cherish or exercise desire ; to long for
any object. Comp. chap. xliv. 14; Ps.
xxiv. 4 ; xxv. 1 .
28. Jehoiacliin was yet young, and
might have been expected to become an
able governor : why then, it is asked,
has he been set aside ? The language
is that of the Jews.
29, 30. The triple use of y").^. is to
give intensity to tlie call, and thereby
summon the most earnest attention to
the divine message relative to the teiini-
nation of the royal Une, so far as the
family of Jehoiachin was concerned.
His being written chUdless does not
mean that he was to have no posterity,
but, as the latter half of the verse clearly
shows, that none of his posterity was to
occupy the royal throne. No son of his
is found in the catalogue of Jewish
kings. That Jechoniah had children
appears from 1 Chron. iii. 17, 18; Matt.
i. 12. It has been objected to the pre
diction contained in this verse, that the
Messiah who was to sit on the thi-one

144 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. XXTTT. 1, 2.
30 Thus saith Jehovah :
Write ye this man childless,
A man that shall not prosper in his days :
For no man of his seed shall prosper,
Sitting on the throne of David,
And ruling any more in Judah.
of David was lineally descended from Mary was descended from David, not
Jechoniah, as stated by Matthew ; but, through Solomon, from whom Jehoia-
as Michaelis observes, it was only through kim and Jehoiachin derived, but through
Joseph, the husband of Mary, who, Nathan, the brother of Solomon. (Luke
though his legal, was not his real father, iii. 31.)

CHAPTER XXIII.
This chapter properly consists of two sections; the first, from verse 1 to verse 8, containing
a denunciation against the wicked rulers of the Jews, 1,2; a promise of the restora
tion of the people and the advantages of a better government, 3, 4 ; a prediction of the
Messiah and the superior blessings of his reign, in which the descendants of both divi
sions of the Hebrew people are to share, 5-8. The second division is occupied with
threatenings against the false prophets and teachers by whom the people were deceived,
9-32 ; and against them and the people themselves for the jeering manner in which they
treated the messages of .Teremiah, 33-40.
1 Wo to the shepherds.
That destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture,
Saith Jehovah.
2 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel,
Against the shepherds that feed my people :
Ye have scattered my flock and driven them away,
And have not looked after them ;
Behold, I will punish you for the wickedness of your deeds,
Saith Jehovah.
1, 2. The shepherds here mentioned rulers, whose alienation from Jehovah
were the unworthy kings whose names and confidence in foreign alliances were
are specified in the preceding chapter, the proximate causes of their falling un-
inclnding also Zedekiah, whom, for ob- der the rule of foreign monarchs. "ip?
vious reasons, as the reigning monarch, governing the accusative, signifies here
the prophet does not specify. In pro- to look after, to exercise ¦watchful care over
phetic vision the Jews are viewed as anything : foUowed hy 53 it signifies to
already in the state of dispersion, to punish. This distinctive use of the verb
which they were reduced as a punish- in the same verse greatly adds to the
ment for the reckless conduct of their force of the language.

Chap. XXlll. 3-6.]

JEREMIAH.

145

3 But I will gather the remnant of my flock.
From all the countries whither I have driven them ;
And I will bring them back to their fold.
And they shall be fruitful and increase.
4 And I will place shepherds over them who shall feed them ;
And they shall not fear any more, nor be dismayed,
Neither shall they be missing,
Saith Jehovah.
5 Behold the days are coining, saith Jehovah,
When I wiU raise up to David a righteous branch,
Aud a king shall reign and prosper.
And shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

3, 4. For Dtli13 , in the plural, the
singular 0^.1? is found in forty-eight
MSS., in one by correction, and has been
in two more originally. It is also in
four of the earliest and eleven other
printed editions. Thus also the Syr.
and Arab. read. By the better shepherds
whom Jehovah promises to place over
his restored people, I understand Zerub-
babel, Ezra, Nehemiah, the Maccabees,
etc., under whose superintendence and
rule they were reinstated in their posses
sions, and enjoyed protection against
both internal and foreign enemies. See
my Comment, on Isa. xi. 11-16. l^l^S^.
Ewald properly renders noch vermisst wer-
den, but unwarrantably removes the
words to the margin, where they appear
in smaUer characters.
5, 6. This is almost universally admit
ted to be a prophecy of the Messiah. To
no other, indeed, can it with any propri
ety be applied. The Jews themselves so
construe it. Thus the Targ. I'l'lb D^pK
X^iS-'^S^ n^iaa / will raise up to David
ihe Messiah ofthe righteous ; ox, as it stands
in the Antwerp Polyglott, ^rjl^'^, ^'"^V^
tlie Messiah of righteousness. Comp. nas
f^pl'S. , Jer. xxxiU. 15. Kimchi, Beu-
Melec, Abenezra, Alschech, and numer
ous other Jewish authorities, adopt the
same interpretation. See Dassov. Dis
sert, in Thesaur. Theol. Philol. p. 224,
etc. To perceive at once the Messianic
character of the passage, it is only neces-
13,

sary to compare Isa. iv. 2 ; Zech. iii. 8 ;
vi. 12 ; where the term PiaS , Branch, is
nsed of our Saviour. See my Comment.
on the first of these texts. Having in
the fourth verse predicted a series of
rulers whose characters should stand out
in striking contrast to the kings who.
reigned in the time of Jeremiah, the
thoughts of the prophet were directed to
a still more illustrious Ruler, whom
Jehovah was to raise up in future time,
the distinguishing feature of whose
reign was to be that of righteousness.
To express the success of his administra
tion he employs the same verb h'^'S'lSii,
which Isaiah uses to describe the pros
perity of the Messiah's undertaking, Ui.
13. The characteristic of the king,
p'^'^S , righteous, is that by which the
Messiah is marked in other passages.
Thus Jehovah caUs him "''13^ pi'ns ,
my righteous servant, Isa. Un. 1 1 ; and
Zech. ix. 9 describes him as SiaiSI p''^S ,
righteous, and having salvation. The words
lipns nSrri isip'n-'nias •iaB-mi,
Blayney renders : " And this is the
name by which Jehovah shall call him,
OnR Righteousness " ; and rashly
asserts, that he is morally sure the text
as it stands will not properly admit of
any other construction. With respect
to the text, it stands as in the Textus
Receptus, in all the MSS. and editions
except four of De Rossi's codices, and
primarily in two others, together with

146

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XXHI. 5, 6.

6 In his days shall Judah be saved.
And Israel shall dwell in security ;
And this is his name by which he shall be called :
Jehovah our Righteousness.

six printed Bibles, in which we find Vau
Shurec instead of Vau Holem ; in other
words, the plural INIp"] , they shall call,
instead of the singular 'iK"!p'^ , lie shall
call him, which yields no support to the
proposed rendering. To make tliiTi the
nominative to the verb is to contradict
all Hebrew usage, according to which the
name given, and not the person who
gives the name, immediately follows the
verb. See the Hebrew Concordance in
'^'^i? ' and my Comment, on Isa. ix. 5.
In the present case, as frequently, the
verb is to be rendered indefinitely or
impersonally : he shall callj i.e. one,
each, or every one shall call ; or, as it
better suits our idiom, he shall be called.
Even the plural 1i<'!p'; is often used
impersonaUy. The word is thus con
strued by RosenmiiUer, De Wette, Dah
ler, Hitzig, Maurer, Ewald, Arnhcim,
.md Sachs. The LXX. render % KoXiaei
¦uurhi/ K^pios 'iGjffeSe/f, evidently taking
1'lr:"!? '^t'^"', for a proper name. The
Syr., Targ., Vulg., and Arab, read
¦1K^_p'i_ in the plural. In regard to the
import of 13p"i3 ni!T; , a difference of
opinion has existed ; some supposing
the meaning to be, tliat Jehovah would
confer righteousness upon men through
the instrumentality of the Messiah;
which might either be taken in a lower
sense, with the Jews and other Anti-
ti'initarians, or in a higher, with refer
ence to the divine righteousness on tlie
ground of which God justifies the un
godly. The text would in the latter
case be paraUel with 1 Cor. i. 30. Others
taking the words to he called in tho idio
matic sense of to be, and applying them
to the person of the Messi.ah, maintain
that, as tho incommunicable name Jolio-
vah is here given to him, ho must neces
sarily be strictly and properly divine.
To this latter interpretation it has been

objected, that in descriptive names, that
of fllfT] is applied to objects which alto
gether exclude the idea of subjective
divinity, as "iS? fll'T] , Jelmvah my ban-
ner, Exod. xvu. 15; HX"!'; •^)<^''.7 Jeho
vah urill provide. Gen. xxii. 14 ; HiiTi
DiPB , Jehovah peace, Judges vi. 24 ;
naia nirri , Jehovah there, Ezek. xlviii.
35 ; in which cases respectively the
meaning is that Jehovah, the God to
whose honor the altars were erected,
would afford protection to his worship
pers, would provide for them, would
grant them prosperity, and that he would
make Jerusalem the place of his special
residence. To this objection, however,
it may be replied, that whatever propri
ety there may be in thus interpreting the
use of the term when applied to merely
created objects, and however the rule
might hold if the Messiah were simply
a human being, yet the case must be
rcgai-ded as altogether different, when,
as we leai-n from other testimonies of
Scripture, he is manifestly to be consid
ered as possessing a strictly and properly
divine, as well as a human natm'e.
While the text traces our righteousness
to Jehovali as its author, it so connects
it with the Bkanch, as the Son op
God, as to involve the divine dignity of
his jicrson, without which its existence
is not supposable. The import and ful
filment of the words ai'e set forth by the
Apostle when he says (2 Cor. \ . 19-21) :
®ei)s ^y iy XpiCTy K6(Tfioy KaToKdoiTwv
eauTto, (U^ \oyt^6fJ.eyQS ouTOis to napaiTT^-
fiara avrSiy. rby y^p jU^ yy6yra afiapriav,
inrhp 7}p.iiiiy ap.aprlay iirol-ntyev, Iva tjhus
yiydiifjie6a SiKaioo6yTj ®eov 4v avri^. Comp.
Rom. X. 3, 4 ; PliUip. iii. 9 ; and see
the Rev. Dr. John Pye Smith's Scrip
ture Testimony to the Messiah, vol. i.
pp. 270-276. Fourtli Edition. By Ju
dah and Israel we are to understand the

Chap. XXIH. 5-9.]

JEREMIAH.

147

7 Therefore, behold the days are coming, saith Jehovah,
"\Yhen they shall no more say, Jehovah liveth,
Who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt ;
8 But, Jehovah liveth.
Who hath brought up, and who hath brought in
The seed of the house of Israel from the north country,
And from all the countries whither I had driven them ;
That they may dwell in their own land.
9 CONCEKNING THE PROPHETS.
My heart is broken within me.
All my bones are relaxed ;
I am like a drunken man.
And like a man whom wine hath overcome :
Because of Jehovah,
And because of his holy words.

Hebrews UteraUy, the same people whom
Jehov.ih calls "his flock," "his people,"
and " the sheep of his pasture," verses
1-.J ; and who are described, verse 8, as
" the seed of the house of Israel." These
were now on the point of being carried
away into exile ; but Jehovah promises
not only to restore them to their own
country, but while in that restored state
to raise up the Messiah, through whose
righteousness they would recover the
favor of Jehovah, and enjoy aU the
spiritual blessings which that favor en-
taUs. Against this interpretation it
may be objected, that, so far have the
Jews been from enjoying either temporal
security or the blessings of a spiritual
salvation, they have deprived themselves
of both, and been a lost and exiled peo
ple during almost the entire period of
the Messianic reign. But it may be
replied, that notwithstanding this, the
prediction shall yet have its accomplish
ment in the future. The remarks of
Michaelis here are not inappropriate :
" I certainly beUeve, that the Jews shall
once, when converted to Christ, return
to Palestine, and inhabit that land as an
independent, flourishing, and powerful
nation. I do not at all imagine, that

Christ will reign visibly among them ;
but as we call their state under the Old
Testament a Theocracy, so this future,
free, and happy state, in which they
shall have no mortal king, but shall
acknowledge Christ as their long, may
be called a Christocracy.''
7, 8. These verses contain a repetition
of the promise made in verses 3, 4, and
are almost identical in phi-aseology with
chap. xvi. 14, 15. They refer to the
same fact — the re-occupation of Canaan
after the Babylonish captivity. For
njiSS some MSS. read pSS , but doubt
less as the result of correction. See ou
chap. i. 13. Not only were the Hebrews
captives in Babylonia, and the countries
to the north and east of that empire,
but in Egypt, Greece, and other parts
of the East. See my Comment, on Isa.
xi. 11 ; Joel in. 6.
9. D^5<3^? , concerning the prophets.
That this is designed to stand as an
inscription to what follows as far as verse
40, is evident from similar titles or in
scriptions which occur in Jeremiah : as
D';n3ab,xlvi. 2; 3Niai,xlvin.l; ^SSb
"IBS , xlix. 1 ; etc. The Masorites,
indeed, have omitted the accent Rebia,
which they have placed over the words

148

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XXIH. 9-14.

10 Surely the land is full of adulterers ;
Surely because of a curse the land mourneth.
The pastures of the desert are dried up ;
For their course is bad.
And their strength is not right.
1 1 Surely both projDhet and priest are profane ;
Even in my house have I found their wickedness,
Saith Jehovah.
12 Therefore their way shall be to them
Like slippery places in the dark.
They shall be driven onward and fall therein ;
For I will bring calamity upon them.
The year of their punishment,
Saith Jehovah.
13 I saw folly in the prophets of Samaria ;
They prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.

in the other instances, and in accordance
with their arrangement our Common
Verson has : " Mine heart within me is
broken because of the prophets." The
Targ. has the same construction ; but
the LXX., Vulg., and most translations,
among the modern those of De Wette,
Dahler, Ewald, and Umbreit, exhibit the
word as a title ; and of this Eichhorn,
Maurer, and Hitzig approve. In this
verse and the following, the prophet
paves the way for his reproof of the false
prophets, by testifying the horror he felt
at the dire threatenings which he was
commissioned to pronounce against the
professing people of Jehovah, whom
those prophets encouraged in idolatry,
by persuading them that God would not
punish them on account of it.
10. The term adulterers is here to be
taken in its tropical acceptation, accord
ing to which it signifies persons who
had proved unfaithful to Jehovali by
abandoning themselves to the service of
idols. Contracting guilt by idolatry,
they had brought a curse upon the land,
the effects of which extended even to its
uninhabited districts. That il^N is to
be thus taken, and not in the signification
of profane swearing, the exigency of the

passage requires. The LXX. have read
nbs instead of f15N , rendering, hrh
¦npoaiiiTTov rovruy, and this is followed in
the Syr.
12. Though the country had already
been punished with drought, yet as no
reformation resulted from it, Jehovah
threatens the Jews with more condign
punishment, nipbpbn is very expres
sive, being a reduplicated or intensive
form of i^p?n ' smoothness, or slipperiness.
Comp. Ps. xxxv. 6 ; Ixxui. 18.
13, 14. Wicked as the false prophets
had been who encouraged the worship
of Baal in the kingdom of the ten tribes,
those who fiourished in Jerusalem and
the adjacent country were no better. In
the very precincts of the temple, and in
violation of all the obligations which its
hallowed objects suggested, they not
only were guilty of idolatry themselves,
but taught tho people to practise it.
njBn, verse 13, properly signifies any
thing that is the object of disgust, what
ever is offensive to the taste ; anything
morally offensive. Comp. Job i. 22 ;
xxiv. 12; the only other passages in
which the word occurs. Comp. the
Arab. Ji,Rj , fcetuit, non bene olentem
reddidit ; AjLj fimus, stercus, alvifceces^

Chap. XXm. 14-20.] JEEEMIAH. 149
14 And I have seen what is horrible in the prophets of Jerusalem,
They commit adultery, and walk in falsehood ;
They strengthen also the hands of evildoers.
So that none turneth from his wickedness ;
They are all of them become to me as Sodom,
And her inhabitants as Gomorrah.
15 Therefore thus saith Jehovah of Hosts
Concerning the prophets :
Behold, I will feed them with wormwood.
And give them water of poison to drink :
For from the prophets of Jerusalem
Profaneness hath gone out into all the land.
16 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
Listen not to the words of the prophets
That prophesy to you ;
They seduce you to vanity ;
They announce a vision of their own heart,
Not from the mouth of Jehovah.
17 Saying continually to those who despise me,
Jehovah hath spoken.
There shall be peace to you ;
And to every one that walketh in the obstinacy of his heart
They say : no calamity shall overtake you.
18 But who hath stood in the counsel of Jehovah,
And hath perceived and heard his word ?
Who hath attended to his word and heard it ?

*lS^3h for SS33nfl . To prophesy in in disappointment. Comp. chap. u. 5 ;
Baal, means to prophesy in the service Jonah ii. 8.
of, or in connection with the worship of 17. ^laN . The infinitive absolute
that idol. To express the utmost de- after the participle expresses the coii-
pravity of character a comparison is tinuity of an action. The false prophets
made with that of the inhabitants of were incessant in their work of decep-
the cities of the plain (Isa. i. 10). tion.
QUJ-iJlsab , the adverb governing a 1 8-20. The prophet boldly challenges
finite verb, instead of being construed the pretended seers to the proof. To
with the infinitive. Other instances stand in the counsel of any one is to be
occur, chap, xxvii. 18 ; Ezek. xiii. 3. famiUarly and certainly acquainted with
15. For BS^'ia, see on chapter it, as the varied forms following in the
viu. 14. verse obviously show. The language
16. The vanity to which the false is borrowed from the custom of ministers
prophets seduced the Jews was the Ser- or royal servants being present in a
vice of idols, which, so far from procur- standing posture during aulic delibera-
ing for them any advantage, only issued tions in the East. Jeremiah fearlessly
13*

150

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XXIH. 18-24.

19 Behold, a storm of Jehovah is gone forth in fury,
A whirling storm ;
It shall be hurled upon the head of the wicked.
20 The anger of Jehovah shall not turn back,
Till he have executed and till he have carried into effect
The purposes of his heart ;
In future days ye shall duly consider it.
21 I sent not the prophets, yet they ran ;
I spake not to them, yet they prophesied ;
22 But if they had stood in my counsel.
Then they would have caused my people to hear my words,
That they might have turned them from their wicked way,
And from the wickedness of their deeds.
23 Am I a God at hand, saith Jehovah,
And not- a God at a distance ?
24 Can a man hide himself in secret places,
That I should not see him ?
Saith Jehovah :
Do not I fiU heaven and earth ?
Saith Jehovah.

announces the terrible judgment that
was coming upon the nation — a judg
ment that should not cease till it had
fully answered its purpose. '^"'.3'n is an
imperfect reading for 1^3^ , which the
Keri exhibits, and is found in the text
of a great number of MSS. and of several
printed editions. T''n3'n, the conjecture
of Blayney is altogether gratuitous.
Winnji. "15& , a whirling storm, or a tor
nado, which descends with irresistible
force, sweeps up whatever is movable on
the ground, and, forming its collected
masses into eddies, carries the whole
into the air, and often to a great distance.
piajii ni^nx , future days, do not here
mean the period of the Christian dispen
sation, which the phrase does when any
thing relative to the state of things in
the course of that dispensation is the
subject of prediction ; but simply time
future, in regard to that at which
the present threatenings were uttered ;
namely, the period during and foUowing
their execution. The Jews would not

now reflect npon, or receive the prophet's
message ; but when his predictions had
proved themselves to be true by their
accomplishment in the Babylonish exile,
they would caU them to mind, and ac
knowledge their divine origin. HS'^a is
used adverbially.
21, 22. The false prophets rendered
it abundantly evident that they held no
divine commission, by their encouraging
the people in rebellion against Jehovah,
and making no effort to recover them
from their idolatrous practices.
23, 24. The deceivers might flatter
themselves and those who Ustened to
their seductive addresses, that, should
the enemy approach, they might flee to
a distance, and thus escape the punish
ment which Jeremiah had announced ;
but from the omnipresent and omnis
cient Jehovah it was impossible for
them to escape. " They should find that
he was, present to punish his enemies in
the most remote regions of the earth, as
he was iu tlie land which he claimed

CiiAp. XXin. 23-32.] JEEEMIAH. 161
25 I have heard what the prophets say.
That prophesy falsehood in my name, saying,
I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
26 How long shall it be in the heart ofthe prophets,
The prophesiers of falsehood.
Even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart ?
27 Who imagine that they shall cause my people
To forget my name through their dreams.
Which they relate one to another,
As their fathers, forgot my name through Baal.
28 The prophet with whom is a dream, let him relate a dream.
And he with whom my word is, let him speak my word faithfully :-
What is the chaff to the wheat ?
Saith Jehovah.
29 Is not my word altogether like fire ?
Saith Jehovah :
And like a hammer.
That breaketh the rock in pieces ?
30 Wherefore, behold, I am against the prophets,
Saith Jehovah,
Who steal my words one from another.
speciaUy for his ovm. Gesenius and the empty husk and the full ear of wheat.
Hitzig take 3S;3a and pH^a in their "iSO-nX 'SFlfc-fia , What is there io the
temporal, and not in their local accep- chaff as it respect the wheat ? What is
tation : the former understanding the the one compared with the other ? The
questions to mean a God of things near, particle HX is here used in order to give
and a God of things afar off; and the special prominence to the noun. The
latter, a God newly come into being, anomalous use of fi3 in connection with
and a God of ancient time ; but neither 3 , the regular particle of comparison, is
mode of construction is satisfactory. designed to give greater emphasis to the
25-27. Jeremiah, impatient of the simile. As fire consumes whatever is
audacity of the seducing phophets, asks combustible, and the hardest rock is
how long they should be permitted to broken by the application of the hammer,
carry on their deception. ¦'*?33 is the so the word of God exerts its moral
plural construct of the Niphal participle, energy on the hearts of men. Comp.
which, as different iu form from D"iiS;i33, Heb. iv. 12.
I have rendered prophesiers. 30-32. In these verses three classes of
28, 29. The prophets are called upon, false prophets are threatened. First
if they really have dreams to relate, and those who adopted certain portions of
not to feign them ; faithfully to announce the discourses deUvered by the divine
the divine message, if they had received messengers, and then distorted them to
any to communicate ; but not to pretend make them suit their own purposes,
to what had no existence. The difference borrowing one from another, to screen
between their lies and the truth of God, their own poverty of invention, or spare
was at once as appai'cnt as that between themselves the trouble of composition.

152

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XXHI. 30-33.

31 Behold, I am against the prophets,
Saith Jehovah,
Who take their tongue, and say : Saith.
32 Behold, I am against the prophesiers of false dreams,
Saith Jehovah,
Who relate them, and cause my people to err
By their falsehoods and their wantonness ;
For I sent them not, neither did I command them ;
Therefore they shall not at all profit this people,
Saith Jehovah.
33 And when this people or the prophet or the priest
Shall ask thee, saying.
What is the burden of Jehovah ?
Then thou shalt say to them,
What burden ? !
I have rejected you,
Saith Jehovah.

They were the prototypes of the spiritual
plagiarists of modern times. The second
class consisted of such as were mere
babblers — attempting to pass themselves
off for prophets, but bungling so in their
delivery, that any one might perceive
they were mere pretenders . They failed
in the very enunciation of the introduc
tory formula. Instead of the solemn
nirr] DKS, Saith Jehovah, they could
only give utterance to QN3 , Saith, and
then stopped. The word is properly
the construct of the Pahul participle,
and is equivalent to the oracle of. t3N3 ,
the verb itself, occurs only here : lasS'^l
DXp , which the LXX. render tovs 4k-
^dWovras 7rpo(/)7jTeias yKiiiaarjs. De in
dustria BN3 dicit vates, ut ipsissimam
quam falsi prophetfe imitentur vocem ex-
primat. — Maurer. The fictitious char
acter of their utterances is significantly
expressed by the phrase : their taking
their tongue; i.e. their employing it alone,
and that to little purpose. They used
it inconsiderately, babbling whatever
came first upon it, without considering
what was to follow — an example which
has also had many counterparts in the
pulpit. When it is said, ver. 32, that

the false prophets should not at aU profit
the people, it is only another mode of
expression for conveying the idea, that
their ministry would greatly injure them.
The third class were those who pretended
to have been favored with supernatural
dreams, such as Jehovah had frequently
employed for the purpose of communi
cating his will to mankind. The dreams
of these prophets, however, were the
mere inventions of their own brain —
downright falsehoods. This class ac
cordingly form the cUmax in the pro
phetical representation. They were the
worst of all.
33. Prophets, priests, and people are
now reproved indiscriminately for the
scofiing manner in which they asked the
prophet what message he had to com
municate from Jehovah. XlUa may
signify either an oracle, whether respect
ing good or evil, though more commonly
it is used of the latter ; or simply a burden.
AvaUing themselves of the ambiguity of
the term, they profanely teased Jeremiah
by asking, what burdensome oracle he
had next to deUver. He had predicted
nothing but disaster : what new calamity
had he to announce ? Jeremiah indig-

Chap. XXni. 33-40.] JEEEMIAH. I53
34 And as for the prophet or the priest or the people
That shall say. The burden of Jehovah,
I will punish that man and his house.
35 Thus shall ye say one to another.
What hath Jehovah responded ?
And what hath Jehovah spoken ?
36 But the burden of Jehovah ye shall not mention any more ;
For the word of every man shall be his burden ;
Since ye have perverted the words of the living God,
Jehovah of Hosts, our God.
37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet :
What hath Jehovah responded ?
And what hath Jehovah spoken ?
38 Bnt if ye wUl say. The burden of Jehovah,
Surely thus saith Jehovah,
Because ye say this word. The burden of Jehovah ;
Though I have sent to you, saying.
Ye shall not say. The burden of Jehovah ;
39 Therefore I, behold I will entirely take you up.
And wiU cast you.
And the city which I gave to you and to your fathers,
Out from my presence.
40 And I will lay a perpetual reproach upon you.
And everlasting shame, which shall not be forgotten.
nantly replies by asking in their own must lay his account with the punish-
words : " What burden ¦? I " He had ment he deserves for mocking not merely
nothing but the grievous message to the prophet, but Jehovah, of whom he
communicate, that Jehovah had rejected was the messenger. Instead of ''n'UiS
them. They had obstinately persevered and S1253 , ver. 39, I have followed the
in their idolatries, and now nothing punctuation "'f^"''?? and N03 , the former
remained but their abandonment to the of which is found in two of De Rossi's
enemy. The LXX. dividing the words MSS., and has been in four more origi-
differently, instead of l!«!Sa"iia"n^ , nally, and has the suffrages of the LXX.,
What burden? have read XiBHtl DBS , Syr., and Vulg., and the latter in seven
Ye are the burden. This division is of De Rossi's MSS., originally in eight
followed by the Vulg. and by several of more, in five of the earUer and four other
the moderns. The Targ. however, Syr., editions, and has the support of Aq.,
and most translators — among the mod- Syr., and Vulg. '^H'''^? assumes fiBJ
ems, Scholz, Maurer, and De Wette — as the root, which, though not occuiTing
conform to the uniform reading of all elsewhere, may have been in use in the
the MSS. and printed editions. time of the prophet as well as Nto3 , the
34-40. Whoever would still persist in common form. For nflHSlS , ver. 40,
using the ambiguous term NiSa, Jarden, several MSS. and editions read in the
perverting it in the spirit of derision, plural, niB?? .

154 JEEEMIAH. [Chap, XXIV. 1-6.

CHAPTER XXIV.
Under the symbol of two baskets of figs is set forth the fate of two portions of the Jewish
people, 1-3 : that of such as had been carried into captivity toBabyJon, towhoma happy
return to and re-establishment in their own land is promised, 4^7 ; and also that of the
refractory party, who would not listen to the prophetic messages, but formed a league
with the king of Egypt against the Chaldeans, and are threatened with irremediable
destruction, 8-10.
1 Jehovah showed me, and behold, two baskets of figs, placed before
the temple of Jehovah, after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
had carried away captive Jechoniah, the son of Jehoiakim, king
of Judah, and the princes of Judah, and the carpenters, and the
2 smiths, from Jerusalem, and brought them to Babylon. The one
basket had very good figs, like the first ripe figs ; and the other
basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten for badness.
3 And Jehovah said to me : What seest thou, Jeremiah ? And I
said. Figs ; the good figs very good, and the bad very bad, which
4 cannot be eaten for badness. Then the word of Jehovah was
communicated to me, saying :
5 Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel,
Like these good figs,
So will I regard the captivity of Judah,
Whom I have sent away from this place
To the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
1 . The initiatory formula, nifT] "'?'?'!n Jerusalem of their assistance on occasion
'^.?n'! J is found Amos vii. 1,4,7; viii. 1 ; of another assault, and partly on account
where the only difference is, that nS is of the service which they might render
prefixed, "''n"'^ properly signifies a 6oi7er to the Chaldean monarch at Babylon.
or pot, but here, from its resemblance, a Not fewer than one thousand smiths and
basket. The N in the form '^^<^W is only carpenters were carried to Babylon, on
the mater lectionis used as a guide in the occasion to which reference is here
reading the unpointed text. C'lSia, made (2 Kings xxiv. 16).
the participle iu Hophal, from "iS'^tofix, 2. For the Boccora, or early fig, see
appoint, place. The date of the vision is on Isa. xx^'iii. 4.
stated to have been after the removal of 5, 6. 'T'lSK , Hiphil of "133 , in which
Jechoniah to Babylon. How long after conjugation it signifies to look intently
that event, we are not informed ; but, upon anything, to regard with peculiar
had any length of time elapsed, Jeremiah interest, and, as in the present instance,
would doubtless have specified it. The to have a kindly feeUng towards the
Nebuchadnezzar here mentioned was object regarded (Ruth ii. 10, 19). The
the second of that name. See on chap, removal of the captives was for their
xxi. 2. The artizans may have been good, both as they were thereby saved
removed, partly with a view to deprive from the awful calamities which came

Chap. XXIV. 5-10.]

JEEEMIAH.

155

For I will set mine eye upon them for good.
And I will bring them back to this land ;
And wUl build them, and not pull them down,
-And plant them, and not pluck them up.
And I will give them a heart to know me,
That I am Jehovah,
And they shall be my people.
And I, I will be their God ;
When they shall return to me with all their heart.
And as for the bad figs which could not be eaten for badness,
Surely thus saith Jehovah,
So wUl I give up Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his princes.
And the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land.
And those who dwell in the land of Egypt ;
I will even give them up to agitation and calamity.
In all the kingdoms of the earth :
For a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and an execration.
In all the places whither I shall drive them ;

upon the rest of the nation, as their
condition in Babylon was far from intol
erable, and as they were cured of their
idolatry. It appears from 2 Kings xxv.
27-30, compared with Jeremiah xxix.
4-7, that not only was Jechoniah well
treated by the king of Babylon, but that
the captives were in prosperous circum
stances ; at least, taking the two passages
together, this may be inferred. That
the restoration here promised is not any
yet to take place, but specificaUy that
from Babylon, the circumstances of the
context clearly show.
7. There is no ground to suppose that
the promise and description of charac
ter here given, necessarily involve real
spiritual conversion to God. From the
representations furnished by the three
last prophets, who flourished after the
return from Babylon, we should not
infer that piety prevailed to any great
extent among those to whom they min
istered ; or that, generally speaking, it
amounted to more than the average
estimate of national reUgion as existing
among that people in the purer periods

of the theocracy. All that the words,
therefore, generaUy imply, is, that Jeho
vah would effectually bring them to
renounce the worship of idols, and induce
them to acknowledge and worship him
as the only true God — the God of Abrar
ham, Isaac, and Jacob. To cure them
of idolatry was the object to be answered
by their captivity, and when this was
attained, their national restoration took
place. At the same time, there is no
reason to doubt, that there was a rem
nant of the faithful among the restored
exiles who truly loved and served Jeho
vah, and who were consequently war
ranted to appropriate to themselves the
promise in the utmost latitude of its
meaning (Malachi iii. 16).
8-10. The bad figs were a symbol of
that part of the nation which remained
in Judea during the reign of Zedekiah,
and who, so far from profiting by the
calamities which had been inflicted upon
them, had become more hardened iu
wickedness ; together with such as, con
trary to the express command of Jehovah,
had fled to Egypt for refuge. Insteiid

156 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. XXV. 1-4.
10 And I wUl send among them
The sword, the famine, and the pestilence,
TDl they be consumed from off the land,
Which I gave to them, and to their fathers.
of bettering their condition, they only countries. Wherever they went, they
exposed themselves to greater miseries, were treated with ignominy.
both iu their own land and in foreign

CHAPTER XXV.

This chapter contains a remonstrance with the Jews on account of their long-continued
rejection of the prophetic messages, 2-7 ; a definite prediction of their conquest by Kebn-
chadnezzar, 8-10 ; the length of their captivity in Babylon, and the destruction of the
Chaldean power, 11-14. Then follows a striking symbolical representation, foreshowing
the punishment of the dififerent nations by which the Jews had been oppressed, 15--9.
The rest of the chapter is occupied with a repetition of the same subject couched in the
forms of prophetic poetry, 30-38.
1 The word which was communicated to Jeremiah concerning all the
people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah,
king of Judah, the same was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar,
2 king of Babylon, which Jeremiah the prophet spake to all the
people of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah,
to this day, these three and twenty years, the word of Jehovah
hath been communicated to me, and I have spoken to you, rising
1, 2. The difference between the state- dates of our prophet begin. Instead of
ment here made, that the first year of lfl^a'1'i-bs , fourteen MSS., originally
the reign of Nebuchadnezzar corres- seven more, together with the Soncin.
ponded to thefourthofthatof Jehoiakim, Bible and Prophets, read is, but the
and that made Dan. i. 1, that it corres- two prepositions are often used inter-
ponded to the third, is removed by Hales changeably, as again ver. 2.
(Sacred Chronology, u. 439), by suppos- 3, 4. Not only had Jeremiah faithfuUy
ing that the Jewish monarch was ap- warned the people against idol-worship
pointed king by Pharaoh-Necho on his for the period of twenty-three years,'but
return from Carchemish, about the month other prophets had aided him in his
of July, whereas the accession of Nebu- labors, such as Urijah, Zephaniah, Ha-
chadnezzar took place Jan. 21, e.g. 604. bakknk, etc., who flourished at the time.
So that the first year of that king was For D'^sdit , which is the proper Chaldee
partly the third and partly the fourth of form, several MSS. and editions read
Jehoiakim. It deserves notice that it is D'^BCn, the regular Hebrew form of
here first where the specific clironological tho Infinitive.

Chap. xxv. 5-11.] JEEEMIAH. I57
4 early and speaking, but ye have not hearkened. And Jehovah
hath sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising early and
sending, but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
5 They said : Turn ye now, every one from his wicked way, and
from the wickedness of your deeds, that ye may dwell in the land
6 which Jehovah hath given to you and to your fathers for ever
and ever. And follow not other gods to serve them, and to
worship them ; and provoke me not by the works of your hands,
7 and I wiU do you no hurt. Yet ye have not hearkened to me,
saith Jehovah ; that ye might provoke me with the works of
your hands, to your own hurt.
8 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah of Hosts : Because ye have not
9 hearkened to my words, behold, I will send and take all the
families of the north, saith Jehovah, and to Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against
this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations
round about ; and I will devote them to destruction, and make
them an astonishment, and a hissing, and a perpetual desolation.
10 And I wiU cause to fail them the sound of mirth and the sound
of joy ; the sound of the bridegroom and the sound of the bride ;
11 the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. And
5. lattb I the Infinitive, occurring as destroyed are without inhabitants — a
it does here, at the beginning of a verse, melancholy scene of silence and gloom.
can only properly be rendered by a finite B"^.ri1l , the hand-mill common all over
form of the verb. the East. It assumes the Dual number
9. Some JISS. read flNI before the because it consists of two circular stones,
nameofNebuchadnezzar, instead of 'SI , placed one above another: the lower
but I should rather attribute the change fixed to the ground, and convex in the
to correction, made in order to obtain upper surface; the upper, concave in the
an accusative corresponding to the pre- lower surface, to fit the former, with an
ceding HX • While this particle is aperture through which the com is let
governed by "'Rf]!?? , the preposition down in order to be crushed between
naturally foUows n'^!^ • In the LXX. them. The upper stone has a stick or
and Arab, the words corresponding to handle by which it is turned. Each
" and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Baby- house has its mill, which is vn-ought by
lon," are entirely omitted. The Chaldean two females ; and irom its indispensable
monarch is called the servant of Jehovah, necessity for daily use, its being taken
because he was employed as his agent in pledge was prohibited by the Mosaic
for punishing the Jews and the surround- law, Deut xxiv. 6. The "13 , lamp, is
ing nations. Compare chap, xxvii. 6 ; likewise in universal use in the East.
xliii. 10. Every house has its night-light, and in
10. A graphic description of the do- Egypt the poorest person would rather
mestic effects of a desolating army. Not forego his evening meal than be with-
only is there a cessation of aU festive out it.
enjoyment, but what houses are left un- 11,12. HJIB d"'S353, seventy years.

158

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XXV. 11-13.

12

13

this whole land shall become desolate and waste ; and these
nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it
shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, I will
punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith Jehovah, for
their iniquity, even the land of the Chaldeans, and v/ill render it
completely desolate for ever. I wiU even bring upon that land
all my words which I have spoken against it ; aU that is written
in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the

The number seventy being sometimes
used as a round number, it has been
supposed by some commentators that
such is simply the case here and in other
passages where reference is made to the
duration of the exile in Babylon. But
that it is in such instances to be taken
definitely of the precise amount of years
we are warranted to conclude from the
statement made Dan. ix. 2, that that
prophet "understood by books the num
ber of the years, whereof the word of the
Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that
he would accomplish seventy years in
the desolations of Jerusalem." If the
number seventy were to be understood
indefinitely, Daniel could have arrived
at no specific conclusion as to the dura
tion of the exile, nor could any certainty
be attaclied to the numbers included in
the period of seventy weeks, chap. i.x. 24,
which is evidently based upon the seventy
years of the captivity. Considerable
diversity of opinion has obtained among
chronologers with respect both to the
terminus a quo, and the terminus ad quem,
of the seventy years ; but it is generally
agreed that they commenced in the
fourth year of Jehoiakim, when Jerusa
lem was first captured, and many of the
nobles, and great numbers of the people,
together with the treasures of tlie temple,
were removed to Babylon ; and that
they terminated in the first year of Cyrus,
who, on the taking of Babylon, issued
an edict for the restoration of the Jews
to their own land, and the re-establish
ment of their polity ( Ezra i. 1 ) . Though
the Chaldeans and the other nations
were instruments in the hand of God in

punishing the Jews, yet as they had no
knowledge of this fact, but merely grat
ified their cruel and ambitious passions,
they, in their turn, thereby contracted
guilt, for which Jehovah threatens to
punish them.
13. ¦'n'-K3ni,Keri''n8<3ni. Comp.
Isa. Ivi. 7 ; Ezck. xxxviii. 16. The latter
half of the verse, Venema, Schnurrer,
RosenmiiUer, Doederlein, Maurer, Hit
zig, and Umbreit, consider to be au
interpolation. The words are also re
garded as spurious by Ewald, who
throws them into the margin of his
translation. The principal ground on
which this opinion rests is, that the
predictions against the nations which
occur considerably afterwards in the
book, cannot be considered as having
formed part of it at the time the prophecy
contained in chapter xxv. was delivered.
That the definite phrase fl:'f] "1S&2 , in
this hook, has a distinct reference to the
prophetic book of Jeremiah, and not
to any other coUection of predictions,
admits not of a doubt. As has been
shown in the General Preface, consid
erable changes have taken place with
respect to the disposition of different
portions of the writings of our prophet.
It is not, therefore, impossible, that the
words in question may have been inserted
by some copyist; or, they may have
crept into the text from being a gloss
in the mai'gin. But it is just as possible
that they may have been inserted by the
prophet himself after the completion of
his work. The occurrence of his name
cannot be urged as an objection, since
he frequently thus speaks of himself.

Chap. XXV. 13-20.]

JEEEMIAH.

159

14 nations. When many nations and great kings have reduced
them, even them, to servitude, I will also recompense them ac
cording to their deed, and according to the works of their hands.
15 For thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, to me : Take the wine-
cup of this fury from my hand, and cause all the nations to
16 drink it, to which I will send thee ; That they may drink and
reel and writhe for the sword which I will send among them.
17 Then I took the cup from the hand of Jehovah, and caused all
18 the nations to drink to which Jehovah had sent me : Jerusalem,
and the cities of Judah, and her kings and her princes, to make
them desolate and an astonishment, a hissing and an execration,
19 as at this day ; Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and his ministers and

That the predictions against the foreign
nations, chap, xlvi.-li., should imme
diately follow here in the LXX. is cer
tainly remarkable ; but the fact is not
to be pressed, since the translators may
purposely have inserted them, in order to
remove a difficulty which their absence
might have been supposed to have occa
sioned. See General Preface, sect. iv.
14. D?^ I their deed, means specificaUy
their treatment of the Jews, and is there
fore to be rendered in the singular, and
not as a collective noun, in the plural.
15. This verse and those which IbUow
to the thirty-eighth, form chap, xxxii.
in the LXX. It has been disputed
whether the prophet actually presented
a cup of wine to the representatives of
the different nations here specified, who
had come to Jerusalem to consult with
the Jewish monarch in reference to the
combined resistance that should be
offered to Nebuchadnezzar ; whether the
whole was a propheticvision, or whether
the language is merely to be regarded as
symbolical of his receiving the message
from Jehovah and pronouncing it against
them. The last-mentioned opinion is to
be preferred. The metaphor of an in
toxicating cup to denote afl3iction or
punishment, is common in Scripture.
Isa.li. 17-22 ; Jer. xlix. 12 ; U. 7 ; Lam,
iv. 21 ; Ezek. xxiu. 31-34 ; Eev. xiv. 10 ;
xvi. 19 ; xviii. 6. fl^nn If^f^ are in
apposition, so far that the latter noun is

used adjectively, as if we should say the
angry wine. Comp. rilBMSH n3?3n , the
brazen altar, 2 Kings xvi. 1 4 ; "IH^.J^
^'n'?$'7 > the beam-pin, Judg. xvi. 14. Ac
cording to rule, were T!^ in construc
tion, it should not have the Article.
16. '^'^nn I to be mad, rage, from 5?f1 ,
to be foolish. The metaphor of the cup
of wrath is here resolved into the sword,
as the instrument of punishment.
18. The plural D"'35a, kings, is em
ployed to include Jechoniah and Zede
kiah, the successors of Jehoiakim, as
well as that monarch himself. n|fH Di^B ,
as at this day. These words may either
have been delivered by Jeremiah at the
same time as the rest of the prophecy,
when, in the reign of Jehoialcim, the ac
compUshment of it had already begun
to be experienced ; or they may have
been inserted by the prophet on the final
revision of his writings during his sojourn
in Egypt after the destruction of Jerusa
lem. Some have thought that the words
may have been from the pen of Ezra, or
of whosoever collected the books of the
Canon. There is nothing corresponding
to them in the LXX.
20. The words 3-!S!l-^3 m), LXX.
irdvTas robs ov/jlhIktous, andallthe mingled
people, properly belong to the preceding
verse, and describe the auxiliary troops
who were coUected from different nations
and tribes and served in the Egyptian
army, together with such other foreign-

160

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XXV. 20-25.

20

21
22232425

his princes, and all his people ; And all the mingled people, and
all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of
the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the
remnant of Ashdod ; Edom and Moab and the sons of Ammon ;
And all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Zidon, and the
kings of the maritime regions which are beyond the sea. Dedan,
and Tema, and Buz, and all those with narrowed beards. And
all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people
that dwell in the desert. And all the kings of Zimri, and all the

ers as had settled in the country and
intermarried with the natives. The term
occurs first, Exod. xii. 38, in reference
to the mingled mass which left Egypt
with the Hebrews. Pharaoh-Hophra,
who reigned in the time of Jeremiah,
vras completely surrounded by foreign
troops, which so embittered the native
Egyptians against him as to occasion
his overthrow. Nine MSS., originaUy
two more, and one by correction, togeth
er with the Targ., read 3'lSfl I3ba ,
" kings of the mixed people ; but this is
in all probability a mere emendation
borrowed from verse 24. y^^ , Uz, oc
curring here in regular geographical
order between Egypt and the states
along the coast of the Mediterranean
Sea, is thought to be a different country
from the Uz of which Job was an in
habitant, and which is universally ad
mitted to have been in the northern part
of Arabia Deserta. That here mentioned
most likely lay in the northern portion
of Arabia PctriB.% between the sea and
Idumasa, with which it is closely con
nected (Lam. iv. 21). Uz, from whom
we may conclude it took its name, was
a descendant of Seir the Horite (Gen.
xxxvi. 20, 28). The reason why Hi'^NU! ,
the remnant only of Ashdod is mentioned,
is that that city had lost most of its
inhabitants during the twenty-nine years'
siege by Psammetichus.
22. ¦'X is used collectively to denote
the island and maritime regions of the
Mediterranean, where the Phoenicians
had planted colonies.

23. The 'i7'l ' Dedan, here referred
to lay in the northern part of Arabia,
and was inhabited by the descendants
of Dedan, one of the sons of Abraham
by Keturah (Grcn. xxv. 3, 4). There
was an island of the same name in the
Persian Gulf, with which that here men
tioned is not to be confounded. See on
Isa. xxi. 13. NO''H, Tema, and t13,
Btjz, lay in the same direction, and
were neighboring tribes. The country
inhabited by the latter was that of which
Elihu was a native (Job xxxii. 2). For
nss ¦'2iiS)3 see on chap. ix. 25.
24. By 3'nS> , Arabia, here we are to
understand the country of the Bedouins
generaUy to the east and south of the
Dead Sea. If 3"iS is not to be pointed
3^5 , and regarded as a repetition of the
name just mentioned before, introductory
to the epexegesis "iSIS? B^JD^an, it
must be considered as descriptive of a
different people from those intended in
verse 20.
25. To judge from the position occu
pied by '''10? , Zimri, we should suppose
it was designed to mark out some nation
or tribe to the east of the Arabian desert
in the direction of Persia, but respecting
which we have no further account, unless
perhaps they are referred to by Pliny in
his Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvi. 25 : " invenitur
hie in ^thiopisB Zimiri ; ita vocatur o V
regio arenosa.'' The Syr. has < r^l <
Zamron, which corresponds to < f^l
the form in which y^O) , Zimran, the

Chap. XXV. 25, 26.]

JEEEMIAH.

161

26

kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media. And all the kings
of the north, both those who are near and those who are distant,
one with another, and all the kingdoms of the earth that are on
the surface of the ground ; and the king of Sheshach shall drink
after them.

name of one of the sons of Abraham by
Keturah, is expressed (Gen. xxv. 2).
CJ'S , Elam, or Elymais proper, lay to
the west of Persia, and to the southeast
of Babylon, but the term is used indefi
nitely in Scripture for Persia in general.
26. Haring mentioned Media, the
prophet stops short in his specification,
and contents himself with a general
reference to the less known, but numer
ous hordes of the countries bordering
on the Caspian and Euxine Seas, com
monly known among the ancients by
the name of Scythians ; and to give
greater force to his representation, he
comprehends within its sphere aU the
kingdoms upon the face of the earth.
We should have expected Jeremiah
to have here exhausted his subject ; but
there remained one other power hostile
to the Jews, to which it was necessary
special prominence should be given.
This was T('3a , Sheshach, a name which
has long perplexed the critics, but of
which no satisfactory etymological so
lution has yet been furnished, least of
all that proposed by Hales (Analysis of
Chronology, vol. iv. p. 69), who would
derive it from 13 , the abbreviation of
"nax , the relative pronoun, and "jl3 , to
drink! That Babylon is meant there
cannot be the shadow of doubt, since it
is used as its synonyme in the parallelism,
chap. li. 41 :
How is Sheshach captured !
And the renown of all the earth taken !
How is Babylon become a desolation
among the nations !
Targ. ^33- NS^'? , ihe king of Babylon,
f '" * * ) ^£i!^^. the sovereign monarch.
If, however, it can be rendered at all
probable that the cabalistical system
14*

of interpretation, known by the name
mariK , athbash, existed in the time of
Jeremiah, and that he could have em
ployed it, no difficulty would remain.
According to this system, X , the first
letter of the Hebrew alphabet, is ex
pressed by Fl , the last ; 3 , the second,
by liJ , the last but one ; 3 by "i ; 1 by
P , and so on in regular inverse order.
On this principle 333 , Babel, wUl be
expressed by "^imu , Sheshach. The
principle is recognized by Jerome, who
doubtless obtained it from his Rabbi, to
whom it had come by tradition. To
the opinion that the prophet had re
course to this enigma in order to conceal
the appUcation of the prophecy from the
Babylonians, it has been thought suffi
cient to reply, that it is refuted by the
fact noticed above, that the name of
Babylon is openly mentioned as parallel
with it in chap. li. 41 ; bnt may we not
suppose, that as the two predictions were
deUvered at different times, the one at
present under consideration having been
pronounced in the fourth year of Jehoi
akim, while Nebuchadnezzar appeared
before Jemsalem, and the latter after
that monarch had returned to Babylon,
so there was a well-grounded reason for
concealment in the one case, which did
not exist in the other. That it was not
beneath the dignity of inspiration to
have recourse to the Athbash mode of
expressing the name is established by
the fact that Jeremiah would seem again
to employ it, chap. li. 1, where the letters
isp313 , rendered in the common version
" the midst of them that rise up against
me," exactly correspond to Qi1133 , the ,
Chaldeans, and are parallel with 333 ,
Babylon, in the preceding clause of the
verse. What corroborates this construe^

IQ2 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XXV. 26-33.
27 And say thou. to them. Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of
Israel : Drink ye, and be drunk, and vomit, and fall, and rise
not again, because of the sword which I will send among you.
28 And it shall come to pass, that if they refuse to take the cup from
thy hand to drink, then thou shalt say to them, Thus saith Jeho-
29 vah of Hosts : Ye shall certainly drink. For behold, I begin
to inflict calamity on the city which is called by my name, and
should ye be treated as altogether innocent ? Ye shall not be
treated as innocent ; for I wiU caU for a sword against all the
inhabitants of the earth, saith Jehovah of Hosts.
30 Thou, therefore, prophesy against them all these words, and say
to them :
Jehovah shall roar from on high.
And utter his voice from his holy abode ;
He shall roar aloud over his pasturage ;
A shout like that of those who tread out the grapes
He shall raise against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 A noise is come to the extremity of the earth.
For Jehovah hath a cause of judgment with the nations,
He will hold judgment with all flesh ;
As for the wicked, he will deliver them to the sword,
Saith Jehovah.
tion of '^Mp3? is the circumstance, that nations was fixed and certain. No effort
in the twenty-fourth and thirty-fifth on their part to escape would prove suc-
verses of the chapter the words 333 and cessful. Of this they might be assured
0^15133 ¦i3ia"' occupy the same position by the fact that the Jews, who were Je-
and the same relation to each other as hovah's peculiar people, were not spared.
ii33 and'^apsb i3\23"' in ver. 1. That For the sentiment in ver. 29, compare
the LXX. so understood the word in 1 Pet. iv. 17. IpSn np|n> should you
their day, is evident from their rendering be treated as altogether innocent ? The
it, TOVS KaToiKoui'Tas Xa\Saiovs. Thus root f1|23 signifies to be clean, pure, in
also the Targ. ''N'^P? Ni"iK , the land of Niphal and Piel, to regard or treat as
the Chaldees, in which ^('312) , Sheshach, pure in a moral sense, to let go unpunished.
is rendered by 333 , chap. li. 41 ; and The meaning of the prophet, therefore,
..> " is that the hostile powers should certainly
the Syr. Ol^JOie^i, her inhabitants, ^e punished.
referring to Babylon preceding. So re- 30-33. From verse 30 to the end of
markable a coincidence of the letters of the chapter the same subject is continued,
the alphabet cannot be supposed the only it is thrown into the more animated
result of mere accident, especiaUy in the forms of prophetic poetry. Under the
latter instance, where they are more in metaphor of a Uon, Jehovah is repre-
number and must have been designed sented as giving forth a tremendous roar,
by the author. indicative of the inevitable destruction
27-29. The destruction of the heathen which was to overtake the nations. The

Chap. xxv. 33-38.] JEEEMIAH. 163
32 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts :
Behold, calamity shall go forth from nation to nation,
And a great storm shall be raised
From the uttermost regions of the earth.
33 And the slain of Jehovah shall be in that day
From one extremity of the earth even to the other ;
They shall not be mourned for, nor collected, nor buried, —
They shall be for manure on the surface of the ground.
34 Howl, O ye shepherds, and cry.
And roll yourselves in the dust,
O ye chiefs of the flock ;
For your days for slaughter are accomplished,
And your dispersions.
And ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
35 And flight shall fail the shepherds,
And escape the chiefs of the flock.
36 The sound of the cry of the shepherds.
And the howl of the chiefs of the flock,
Because Jehovah destroyeth their flock.
37 Yea, the peaceful pastures are destroyed,
By reason of the fierce anger of Jehovah.
roar was first to be heard over Judea, editions ; and by Aq., Symm., Theod.,
considered as the pasturage allotted by Vulg., and the Hexaplar Syr. It equaUy
Jehovah to his people, and then it was well suits the connection ; the meaning
to go forth into heathen lands. fl.^3 sig- being that the period had fully arrived
nifies both habitation and pasture. The when the kings and nobles were to be
latter signification is preferable here, scattered as dust before the wind. How-
the flock occupying it being the object ever highly they may have been held in
of attack on the part of the lion. For estimation, they should fall Uke a costly
Tn"'rt, the vintage-shout, see on Isa. xvi. vessel, and be broken in pieces. For
9, 10. f^'J'?'!! "'???> like a vessd of desire, or
34-36. The kings and other rulers are precious vessel, some would read ''']133
here addressed, who were to be involved fl^'SH , like lovdy lambs. The LXX.,

in the same ruin with the nations over indeed, has Hairep oi xpiol oi iK\eKToi,
which they presided. 33^ri121Sni , with but the reference iu the connection is to
Hirik, gives the first person singular of the shepherds throughout, and not to
a verb, which some have considered to the flocks as a separate class.
be ^'B in the unusual Tiphil conjuga- 37. DiSBH niXJ , thepastures of peace,
tion ; but Ds'^nisisni , with Tzere, as denote the secure abodes of the inhabi-
a feminine noun, is more firmly based, tants of the countries, where they peace-
and is supported by thirty-five of De ably enjoyed the fruits of their industry
Eossi's MSS., by six inore originally, under the protection of their respective
thirteen by correction ; by six of the governments.
earUer, and twenty-seven other printed 38. Twelve MSS., originally six more,.

164

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XXVI. 1.

38 He hath quitted like a young lion his covert ;
Surely their land hath become desolate
By reason of the cruel sword.
And by reason of the fierceness of his anger.

now two, the Soncin. Edition,, the LXX.,
Arab., and Targ. read 3"itl , sword, in
stead of Tiin , fierceness. The same
form flSi^ri 3'nn ''SSa , occurs chapter
xlvi. 16; 1. 16. ~31*i1 is a participial
adjective qualifying 31in , which is fem
inine. To render the word oppressor, as
some have done, it must be pointed
rei^il in the masculine. The last clause
of the verse, corresponding to that of the
preceding, shows that the pronominal
refeusnee in ISS is MlIT; , and not "fSB .
There can, therefore, be no foundation

for the supposition, that the Chaldean
power is the subject, though it has been
held, that, as Hji"' also signifies a dove
(and as it is believed on the authority of
Diodoms Siculus, lib. ii. cap. 4, that the
Assyrians and Babylonians had the
figure of a dove on their standards, in
commemoration of Semiramis having
been nourished by birds, especiaUy by
young doves, when exposed after her
birth), such construction is to be adopted
here. Hence the rendering of the Vulg.
irce columbce.

CHAPTER XXVI.
On announcing what he had been charged by Jehovah faithfuUy to deliver, 1-6, Jeremiah
is accused of sedition, aud declared worthy of death, 7-11. But, on his protesting against
the injustice of the accusation, 12-15, some of the elders adduce the cases of the prophets
Micah and Urijah, who had delivered similar prophecies, the former of whom had been
protected by King Hezekiah, 16-19; and the latter, after having been brought back from
Egypt, was executed by order of Jehoiakim, 20-23. By the powerful influence of Ahikam,
the prophet is rescued, 24.
1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king
of Judah, this word was communicated from Jehovah, saying:
2 Thus saith Jehovah : Stand in the court of the house of Jehovah,
and speak to all the cities of Judah which come to worship in
the house of Jehovah all the words which I have commanded
3 thee to speak to them : withhold not a word. Perhaps they
will hear and turn every one from his wicked way, that I may
repent of the calamity which I have intended to inflict on them.

1. The events which are narrated in
this section took place about three years
previous to the delivery of the prophecy
contained in the preceding chapter.
Maurer is of opinion that the predictions
which are here stated to have given so
much offence, are those contained in

chaps. vU., viii., ix. — an opinion which
is confirmed by the coincidence of verse
6 with chapter vii. 12, 14. They must
have been pronounced on occasion of
one of the great festivals (according to
Archbishop Usher, that of tabernacles),
since the inhabitants of all the cities of

Chap. XXVI. 5-U.] JEREMIAH. 165
4 because of the wickedness of their deeds. And thou shalt say
to them. Thus saith Jehovah : If ye will not hcmken to me to
5 walk in my law which I have set before you : to hearken to the
words of my servants the propliet.s, whom I have sent to you,
even rising early and sending, but ye have not hearkened ;
6 Then I wiU make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will
make an execration to all the nations of the earth.
7 And the priests und the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah
8 speaking these words in the house of Jehovah. And it came to
pass when Jeremiah had finished spealdng all that Jehovah had
commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and
the prophets and all tho people seized him, saying, TJiou shalt
9 surely die. Why hast thou prophesied in the name of Jehovah,
saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be
laid waste without an inhabitant? and all the people ^^¦ere col
lected against Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah.
10 And when the princes of Judali heard of these things, they went
up from the king's house to the house of .JehoVah, and .sat in
11 the entrance of the new gate of the house of Jehovah. And
the priests and the prophets spake to the princes, and to all the
people, saying, This man deserves the sentence of death, for he
hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your
own ears.
12 Then Jeremiah spake to all the princes, and to all the people, say-
Judah are represented as having been state, which had been sitting in the royal
present (ver. 2). palace, on hearing ofthe tumult, repaired
6. nPNJil is anomalous ; but whether to the temple, in the gate of which they
the fl at the end of the word be a mere held a judicial court for the trial of the
error of transcription, or the fl paragogic, cause. The word n''3, house, appears
employed for the sake of giving greater to have been omitted before MSI^ . It
emphasis, cannot bo determined. It is, is found in twenty-seven MSS. and has
however, not found in forty MSS. and been originaUy in several more, and is
three editions, and is most probably an translated in the Targ., Syr., Vulg., and
addition to the text. Arab. Which gate of the temple is here
7. Tho prophets here referred to were intended, it is impossible to determine ;
the false prophets, the ^ivSoitpo([rl\rai, as but it is thought, all that is meant by
in the LXX. its being called new, is, its having re-
8, 9. Tho tumult appears to have been cently been repaired.
raised against .Icremiah by the priests 11. The crime of which Jeremiah was
and prophets, who accused him of utter- accused, was doubtless that of construct
ing falsehood in the name of Jehovah, ive blasphemy, because he had spoken
a crime which was threatened in the law against the city which contained the
of Moses with death (Dent, xviii. 20), sacred temple of Jehovah. A parallel
10. Tlie members of tho council of instance occurs, Acts vi. 11-13.

1QQ . JEEEMIAH. [Chap. XXVI. 18-23.
ing : Jehovah hath sent me to prophesy against this house, and
13 against this city, all the words which ye have heard. Now,
therefore, reform your ways and your deeds, and hearken to the
voice of Jehovah your God, that Jehovah may repent concern-
14 ing the calamity with which he hath threatened you. But as
for me, behold, I am in your hand ; do to me as may appear good
15 and proper to you. Only know assuredly, that if ye put me to
death ye shall bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this
city, and on its inhabitants ; for in truth Jehovah hath sent me
to you, to speak in your hearing all these words
16 Then said the princes and all the people to the priests and to the
prophets. This man deserves not the sentence of death, for he
17 hath spoken to us in the name of Jehovah our God. And cer
tain men of the elders of the land rose up and spake to the whole
18 assembly of the people saying, Micah the Morashthite proph
esied in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and spake to all
the people of Judah, saying. Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts :
Sion shall be ploughed as a field,
Jerusalem shall become heaps.
And the mountain of the house woody heights.
19 Did Hezekiah, king of Judah, and aU Judah, proceed to put him
to death .¦* Did he not fear Jehovah, aud supplicate the favor
of Jehovah, and Jehovah repented concerning the calamity with
which he had threatened them ? and we should commit great
wickedness against our own souls.
20 And there was also a man that was prophesying in the name of
Jehovah, Urijah, the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath-jearim, and he
prophesied against this city, and against this land, according to
21 all the words of Jeremiah. And Jehoiakim the king, and all
his heroes, and all the princes, heard his words, and the king
sought to kill him ; but Urijah heard of it and was afraid, and
22 fled, and came into Egypt. But Jehoiakim the king sent men
to Egypt, even Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and certain men
18. See on Micah iu. 12. Many MSS. furnished an apt precedent for the con-
omit the Yod in fT'Sa . demnation of Jeremiah. Of this Urijah
20. The circumstances detaUed in we have no further notice. 3'''^S']"fl!;'l,l? i
this and the three foUowing verses ap- Kirjath-jearim, lay on the confines of
pear to have been adduced in opposition Judah and Benjamin, about three hours
to what had been related respecting west of Jerusalem.
Micah; and as they had taken place in 23. 3? , peopfe, in the phrase OSil ''3? ,
the reign of the present monarch, they sons ofthepeopk, is evidently to bo taken

CH.VP. xxvn. 1-8.]

JEEEMIAH.

167

23

24

with him to Egypt. And they brought Urijah out from Egypt,
and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, and he slew him with
the sword, and caused his dead body to be cast into the graves
of the sons of the people. But the hand of Ahikam, the son of
Shaphan, was with Jeremiah, that he might not be delivered
into the hand of the people, to put him to death.

in the sense of the Arab. JLeLt , plehs,
the common people. It has been thought
by some, that the Jewish prophets had
a separate cemetery, and this seems al
most to be implied in what is said of
their tombs. Matt, xxiii. 29. Urijah
not only feU by the hand of the execu
tioner, but his corpse was treated with
indignity. Comp. 2 Kings xxiii. 6.
24. The prophet was in the greatest

danger of losing his life on the present
occasion, and doubtless would have fal
len a victim to the fury of the people
under the color of law, had it not been
for the noble interposition of Ahikam.
This person, whose father Shaphan was
probably royal secretary, must have
been of some consideration at court,
since it was owing to his influence that
Jeremiah was rescued.

CHAPTER XXVII.

The prophet is charged to announce, by a striking symbolical action, to the foreign am
bassadors, who had come to induce the king of Judah to join in a confederacy against
Nebuchadnezzar, the futility of their project, and the certainty that their princes would
be subjected to that monarch, 1-8. After warning them not to be deceived by their
idolatrous prophets, 9-11, he specially applies the subject to his own monarch, 12-15 ;
and then addresses himself to the priests and the body of the people, for the purpose of
preventing their being deceived by the false representations which were made by the
peeudo-prophets, respecting the captivity, 16-22.
1 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah king
of Judah, this word was communicated to Jeremiah from Jeho
vah, saying :
2 Thus saith Jehovah to me. Make thee bonds and yokes, and put

1 . That the name Oip^liTi , Jehoiakim,
has been substituted by some ancient
copyist for Irt^pl.S , Zedekiah, I cannot
entertain a doubt. The substitution was
in all probability originated by the words
tnp'^STr^. nsbaa truax^s , occurring at
the beginning of the preceding chapter.
On the authority of the reference, chap.
xxviu. 1 ; on that of the statements made
in the chapter itself, vers. 3 and 12 ; and
on that of one of Kennicott's MSS. ;
another at first hand, and the marginal

reading of a third, together with the
support of the Syr. and Arab, versions
(the latter as contained in an Oxford
MS.), I have not hesitated to adopt
Zedekiah in the translation. In this I
have the sanction of Lowth, Blayney,
MichaeUs, Rosenmiiller, Dahler, Maurer,
Umbreit, and Ewald.
2, 3. Though the handing of the cup,
chap. xxv. 15, was merely a symbolical
mode of representation in the language
of prophecy, yet as Hananiah took the

168

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XXVII. 3-7.

3 them on thy neck. And send them to the king of Edom, and
to the king of Moab, and to the king of the sons of Ammon,
and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand
of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of
4 Judah. And give them a charge to their masters, saying. Thus
5 saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel. Thus shall ye say
to your masters : I have made the earth, the men and the beasts
that are on the surface of the earth, by my great power, and by
my outstretched arm, and I have given it to whom it seemed
6 proper to me. And now I have given all these lands into the
hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, my servant ; and also
7 the beasts of the field I have given to him, to serve him. And
all the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son ;
tiU the very time of his land come : then many nations and great

yoke from the neck of Jeremiah, and
brake it, chap, xxviii. 10, 11, it is clear
that he must actually have worn it in
public, as a symbol of the subjection to
the king of Babylon, in which the nations
specified were to be held. Comp., for
similar symbolical actions on the part of
the prophets, Isa. xx. 1, 3, 4 ; Ezek. xii.
3, 11, 18. That the bonds and yokes
were also literally delivered to the foreign
ambassadors to convey to their respec
tive masters, there is no reason to doubt.
In like manner, when Idanthyrsus, king
of the Scythians, sent to Darius, who
had crossed the Ister and was penetrat
ing into the country, and dared him to
do his worst, it was not by letter, but
symbolically by forwarding to him a
mouse, a frog, a bird, an arrow, and a,
plough. Clem. Alex. Stromata, p. 567.
The naia was properly the curved piece
of wood which rested on the neck and
shoulders of oxen when employed for
labor, but the word is used here to denote
the collar which was fastened round the
necks of prisoners or slaves, and to which
their chains were attached.
6. The mention of the wild beasts is
designed to convey the idea of the un
limited extent of Nebuchadnezzar's em
pire. The most uncultivated regions,
the densest forests, and the most inac

cessible mountains, to which his enemies
might flee for safety, were aU subject to
Ills sway (MichaeUs).
7. The Babylonian history being in
volved in considerable obscurity, a dif
ficulty has been found in exactly de
termining who were the successors of
Nebuchadnezzar. It is, however, gener
ally agreed that they were Evilmerodach,
Neriglissar, Labosodarchus, and Belshaz-
zar ; and thus, at first sight, there would
appear to be a discrepancy between the
prediction and the history ; but though
NerigUssar and Labosodarchus reigned
at Babylon, they are both to be struck
out of the list of the successors of Neb-
uchadnezzai- in the male line, Neriglissar
being only allied to him by having
married the sister of Evilmerodach ; so
that Nabonned or Belshazzar was strictly
and properly the grandson of the great
Chaldean monarch. As his Uneal de
scendant he is repeatedly recognized,
Dan. V. 2, 11, 13. WhUe T3S , followed
by an accusative, signifies simply to serve,
or he in subjection, when it takes the
preposition ? it is causative in significa
tion, to cause to serve, reduce to servitude.
The prophecy was fulfilled in the de
struction of the Chaldean empire by
Cyrus and his royal allies, at the ter
mination of the seventy years during

Chap. xxvn. 8-18.] JEREMIAH. Igg
8 kings shall reduce him to servitude. And it shall be, that as
for the nation and the kingdom that will not serve him, even
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and that will not put their
neck into the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that
nation, saith Jehovah, with the sword, with the famine, and with
the pestilence, tiU I have consumed them by his hand.
9 Listen not, therefore, to your prophets, and to your diviners, and
to your dreamers, and to your augurers, and to your sorcerers,
who speak to you, saying. Ye shall not serve the king of Baby-
10 lon. For they prophesy falsehood to you, in order to remove
you far from your land, and that I should drive you out and ye
11 should perish. But the nation that shall bring its neck into the
yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, I will suffer to
remain in its own land, saith Jehovah, and it shall cultivate it,
and dwell in it.
12 And I spake to Zedekiah, king of Judah, according to all these
words, saying, Bring your necks into the yoke of the king of
13 Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. Why will ye
die, thou and thy people, by the sword, and by the famine, and
by the pestilence, as Jehovah hath spoken against the nation
14 that will not serve the king of Babylon ? Listen not, therefore,
to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, Ye shall
not serve the king of Babylon ; for they prophesy falsehood to
15 you. For I have not sent them, saith Jehovah, but they proph
esy falsely in my name, in order that I may driye you out, and
ye may perish, and your prophets who prophesy to you.
16 I spake also to the priests, and to all this people, saying, Thus
saith Jehovah, Listen not to the words of your prophets, who
prophesy to you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the house of
Jehovah shall now speedily be brought back from Babylon ; for
17 they prophesy falsehood to you. Listen not to them ; serve the
king of Babylon, and live ; why should this city be made deso-
which the Jews were in exile in Baby- make it agree with the other nouns here
Ionia. See 2 Chron. xxxvi. 20-23. It used, to be read DD^obh , !/o«r rfreaniers.
requires all the hardihood of modern Thus one of Kennicott's MSS., the
infidelity to regard this verse as a vaticin. LXX., Syr., and Vulg. The Targ. com-
exeventu; yet Movers and Hitzig scruple bines both '|i3obn '''ohn, the dreamers
not to affirm that it is so. For other of your dreams. All the different kinds
instances of nx before the subject of a of prognostication here denounced, ob-
proposition, see 2 Kings vi. 5 ; xviii. 30 ; tained among the heathen.
Jer. xxxvi. 22. 12-18. A special application of the
9. Ds'^riabn , yoMr (ZreaTKs, requires, to subject to Zedekiah.

170 JEEEMIAH. [CSAP. XXVIII. 1.
18 late? But if they are prophets, and if the word of Jehovah is
with them, let them intercede with Jehovah of Hosts, that the
vessels which remain in the house of Jehovah, and in the house
of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon.
19 For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts concerning the pillars, and
concerning the sea, and concerning the stands, and concerning
20 the rest of the vessels which remain in this city, which Nebu
chadnezzar, king of Babylon, did not take away when he carried
Jechoniah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, captive
from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and
21 Jerusalem. Surely thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of
Israel, concerning the vessels which remain in the house of
Jehovah, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusa-
22 lem : They shall be brought to Babylon, and there shall they
be till the day when I shall look after them, saith Jehovah ;
then I will bring them up, and restore them to this place.
18. 1i<3"^h333 stands for N3"''ri333, of Jehoiakim and Jechoniah, 2 Chron.
which is the reading of some MSS., or xxxvi. 7, 10. The remainder were taken
^N3""'F1333 . See on chap, xxiii. 14. at the destruction of Jerusalem in the
19-22. For the brazen or copper ar- time of Zedekiah, 2 Kings xxv. 13-17.
tides here specified, see 1 Kings vii. For an account of the restoration of the
15-28. Nebuchadnezzar only removed vessels by order of Cyrus, see Ezra i.
the more costly vessels in the reigns 7-U.

CHAPTER XXVm.
On the contradiction of .Jeremiah by the pretended prophet Hananiah, 1-4, the messenger
of Jehovah appealed to the event for the truth or fklsehood of their respective predic
tions, 5-9. Hananiah then, to confirm his statement by a symbolical action, took and
broke the yoke which was on the neck of Jeremiah ; at the same time repeating his
prediction, 10, 11. Our prophet having retired, received a message from the Lord, to
repeat in stronger terms what he had previously delivered respecting the subjugation of
the nations by Nebuchadnezzar, 12-14 ; and to announce to Hananiah his speedy death
for having uttered a false prophecy to the people, 15-17.
1 And it came to pass in the same year, in the beginning of the
reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the fotirth year, in the ficfth
1 . The close connection of this chapter same year. How to reconcile the state-
with that which precedes it is obvious ments, that what follows took place in
from the identity of their subject-matter, the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah,
as wcU as from the initial words, in the and yet that it happened in the fourth

Chap. XXVrn. 1-9.] JEEEMIAH. 171
month, that Hananiah the son of Azzur the prophet, who was
of Gibeon, spake to me in the house of Jehovah in the sight of
2 the priests and of all the people, saying. Thus speaketh Jehovah •¦
of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of
3 the king of Babylon. Within two years' time I will restore to
this place all the vessels of the house of Jehovah, which Nebu
chadnezzar, king of Babylon, took away from this place and
4 conveyed them to Babylon. Jechoniah also, the son of Jehoi
akim, king of Judah, and all the captivity of Judah that went to
Babylon, wUl I restore to this place, saith Jehovah ; for I wiU
5 break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Then Jeremiah the
prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, in the sight of the priests,
and in the sight of all the people who stood in the house of
6 Jehovah, even the prophet Jeremiah said. Amen. So may
Jehovah do. May Jehovah confirm thy words which thou hast
prophesied, by restoring the vessels of the house of Jehovah,
7 and all the captivity from Babylon to this place. Only hear,
I beseech thee, this word that I speak in thy hearing, and in
8 the hearing of aU the people : The prophets, who were before
me and before thee, of old also prophesied concerning many
countries, and concerning great kingdoms, of war, and of calamity,
9 and of pestilence. The prophet who prophesieth of peace, when
year, has greatly puzzled interpreters, which he acted in deUvering false pre-
Schmidins, Maurer, and others, think dictions in the name of the Lord.
that the Jews were accustomed to divide 4. There is, as Maurer observes, no
any period of time into two halves, the reason to conclude, with MichaeUs and
former of which they called rr^USXIl , the RosenmiiUer, that Hananiah was inimi-
beginning, and the latter fl'^'inx , the end. cal to Zedekiah, and that he was at-
Now, as Zedekiah reigned eleven years, tached to Jechoniah. AU that his pre-
the fourth year would belong to the diction impUes is, that the restoration
former of the two. MichaeUs is of from Babylon would be complete.
opinion, that up to the fourth year, 5. The abbreviated form of the proph-
Zedekiah had only the occupancy of the et's name, I'^^B'n'^ , instead of 1f1^'?"5'^ i
throne by the yearly nomination of occurs throughout this chapter, except
Nebuchadnezzar, but that then he was in the first instance, ver. 12. From the
fully invested with the royal title and fact that the title K''33rt, the prophet, is
authority. This opinion has also been here, and throughout the chapter, added
adopted by Scholz. Gibeon was one of to the name of Jeremiah, Mover infers
the cities of the priests, whence it may that it is of later insertion ; but Hitzig
be inferred, that Hananiah belonged to finds the propriety of its use in the cir-
that order. That he is styled N''3S!l , cumstance of its being given to Han-
ver. 1, does not miUtate against this aniah in the same connection.
conclusion, since he simply appears to 6-9. Jeremiah was wilUng to leave
be so called with reference to the part the contradictory predictions to be tested

172

JEEEMIAH.

[6hap. XXVm. 9-17.

the word of the prophet cometh to pass, the prophet shall be
known, because Jehovah of Hosts hath really sent him.
10 Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from the neck of Jere-
11 miah the prophet, and brake it. And Hananiah spake in the
sight of all the people, saying. Thus saith Jehovah : In this
manner will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Baby
lon, within two years time, from off the neck of all the nations.
Then Jeremiah the prophet went his way.
12 But the word of Jehovah was communicated to Jeremiah, after
Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke off from the neck
of Jeremiah the prophet, saying. Go and speak to Hananiah,
saying. Thus saith Jehovah : Thou ha^t broken yokes of wood,
but thou shalt make instead of them yokes of iron. For thus
saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel : I have put a yoke
of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may be in
servitude to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and they shall
serve him, and I have also given to him the beasts of the field.
Jeremiah the prophet further said to Hananiah the prophet,
Hear, I beseech thee, O Hananiah, Jehovah hath not sent thee ;
but thou causest this people to trust in falsehood. Therefore,
thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will dismiss thee from the face
of the earth ; this year thou shalt die, because thou hast spoken
that which is rebellious against Jehovah. And Hananiah the
prophet died the same year, in the seventh month.

13

14

15

16

17

by the event, according to the enact
ment of the Mosaic law, Deut. xviii. 22.
Instead of f^^"^ , calamity, verse 8, a num
ber of MSS. read 3S'1 , famine, as xiv.
12; xxi. 9; xxvn. 8, 13; xxix. 17, 18;
but all the ancient versions support the
former, which is the more difficult read
ing, whereas the latter has most proba
bly originated in emendation from the
parallel passages.
11. To the contradictory statement
made by Hananiah, our prophet did not
deign a reply ; but, as we learn from the
following verses, he was specially com
manded to declare the determination of
the divine will on the subject.
13. The Jews and their confederates
being stimulated to rebeUion by the false
prophets, should find the future servi
tude of the king of Babylon much more

severe than what they had hitherto expe
rienced. To intimate this, yokes of iron
were to be substituted for those of wood.
What Jeremiah had worn is here called
niBa yokes, in the plural, with reference
to the several parts of which it was com-

16, 17. Hananiah had predicted, that
within two years' time the Chaldean
power should cease ; but Jeremiah pre
dicts, that, as a punishment for his pre
sumption in uttering falsehood in the
name of Jehovah, he himself should be
cut off in the course of the present year,
which accordingly came to pass. This
event, which took place within tho space
of two months, was calculated to strength
en the authority of Jeremiah as a true
prophet.

CH.VP. XXIX. 1-8.] JEEEMIAH. I73

CHAPTER XXIX.
To counteract the Influence ofthe false prophets among the captives in Babylon, who flat
tered them with the hope of a speedy restoration to their native land, Jeremiah was
inspired to address to them the letter contained in this chapter, 1-4, wherein they are
exhorted to settle down quietly in Babylon, 5-7, and not to listen to those who would
deceive them, 8, 9 ; but, at the same time, they are encouraged by the assurance that
at the expiration of the predicted seventy years, when they should have been cured of
their idolatrous propensities, God would recover them, 10-14. Then follows a predic
tion ofthe severe calamities which should befall Zedekiah and tho refractory Jews, who
were still in their native land, 15-19. The letter concludes with a special threatening
against two ofthe principal false prophets in Babylon, 20-23. The remaining verses of
the chapter, 21-32, relate to another deceiver among the captives, who had written to
prejudice the inhabitants of Jerusalem against Jeremiah.
1 These are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet
sent from Jerusalem to the remnant of the elders of the captivity,
and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people,
whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem
2 to Babylon ; after that Jechoniah the king, and the queen, and
the eunuchs, and the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the
3 carpenters, and the locksmiths, had gone from Jerusalem; by the
hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of
Hilkijah, whom Zedekiah, king of Judah, sent to Babylon to
4 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, saying : Thus saith Jehovah
of Hosts, the God of Israel, to all the captivity which I have
caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon :
5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them, and plant gardens, and eat
6 their fruit. Take wives, and beget sons and daughters, and take
for your sons wives, and give your daughters to husbands, that
they may bear sons and daughters ; and increase there, and he
7 not diminished. And seek ye the peace of the city whither I
have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray on its
behalf to Jehovah, that in its peace ye may have peace.
1-4. What was the object of this brew usage for rendering the term by
embassy from Zedekiah to the king of notables, as Dahler has done. The queen
Babylon is unknown. It appears to was the mother of Jechoniah (2 Kings
have taken place soon after he had sue- xxiv. 15).
ceeded Jechoniah. From mention being 7. Comp. Eom. xiii. 1 ; 1 Tim. ii. 2.
made of If!!; , tlie remnant of the elders, 8. As 63(1 is nowhere else used in
we may infer that some of that order Hiphil in the sense of dreaming, it ia
had either died a natural death, or had thought by some that the Mem prefixed
been put to death in Babylon on account in B'^abtia , so as to form the participle
of some insubordination among the cap- of that conjugation, is merely borrowed
lives. There is no authority from He- from the preceding Bt|lX , and that the
15*

174 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XXIX. 8-17.
8 For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel : Let not the
prophets seduce you, who are in the midst of you ; nor your
diviners ; neither listen to your dreams, which ye cause to be
9 dreamed. For they prophesy falsely to you in my name ; I
10 have not sent them, saith Jehovah. For thus saith Jehovah :
When seventy years shall have been accomplished at Babylon,
I will visit you, and confirm my good word to you, by bringing
11 yon back to this place. For I know the thoughts which I en
tertain toward you, saith Jehovah, thoughts of peace and not of
12 calamity, to give to you a hopeful futurity. And ye shall caU
13 upon me, and go and pray to me ; and I wUl hear you. And
ye shall seek me, and shall find me, when ye apply to me with
14 all your heart. And I will be found by you, saith Jehovah, and
will reverse your captivity, and collect you from all the nations,
and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith Jehovah ;
And I will bring you back to the place whence I caused you to
be carried away captive.
15 Whereas ye say, Jehovah hath raised up prophets for us in
Babylon ;
16 Surely thus saith Jehovah concerning the king that sitteth on the
throne of David, and concerning aU the people who dwell in
this city, your brethren who have not gone with you into
17 captivity. Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts : Behold, I wUl send
among them the sword, the famine, and the pestUence ; and I
will make them like nauseous figs, which cannot be eaten for
word is to be pointed 6''a3h, the par- 15. Many interpreters not being able
ticiple in Kal. The present form which to trace any proper connection here,
stands for ff^a^sria , would indicate consider that this verse has been trans-
that the captives solicited the false proph- posed from verses 20 and 21, between
ets to tell them encouraging dreams. which they would restore it as its proper
10. For the seventy years, see on place. But if we regardverses 16-19 as
chap. xxv. 11, 12. designed specificaUy to contradict the
11- •^vPn'l '''"'l'!!^ J literally an end false hopes held out to the captives, that
and a hope, meaning thereby a hopeful the Jewish state should stand, and that
termination in the future of the present they should be restored to their brethren
calamity, and a happy restoration to in Judea, there is, in reality no want of
Judea. connection. The language of the false
12. 0033)11 , And ye shall go, is not, prophets is supposed, not expressed, I
with Michaelis, to be resolved into an therefore concur with Maurer : Versum
idiom, expressive of perseverance or 15, non debebant solicitare interpreles.
constancy, but refers to proceeding to 17. C'll'iU, horrible, extremely loath-
the temple, or the synagogues as places some, from ISIB , the same as ISO , to
of prayer. shudder, be greatly shocked at anything.

Chap. XXIX. 21-26.] JEEEMIAH. 175
18 badness. And I will persecute them with the sword, with the
famine, and with the pestilence, and I will give them up to
agitation in all the kingdoms of the earth, for an execration, and
an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the
19 nations whither I have driven them ! Because they have not
hearkened to my words, saith Jehovah, when I sent to them my
servants the prophets, rising early, and sending them, but ye
wotdd not hear, saith Jehovah.
20 But hear the word of Jehovah all ye of the captivity which I have
sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
21 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, respecting Ahab,
the son of Kolaiah, and respecting Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah,
who prophesy falsehood to you in my name : Behold, I will de
liver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
22 and he shall slay them in your sight. And there shall be taken
from them a form of execration by all the captivity of Judah
who are in Babylon, saying, Jehovah make thee like Zedekiah,
and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire.
23 Because they did what was nefarious in Israel, and committed
adultery with the wives of their neighbors, and spoke words in
my name falsely, which I commanded them not : I know and
am witness, saith Jehovah.
24 And to Shemaiah the Nehelemite thou shalt speak, saying:
25 Thus speaketh Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying,
Because thou hast sent letters in thy name to all the people
who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah
Applied here to the figs, as symbolical cannot be the article, is evident from its
of the inhabitants of Jemsalem, the term omission before 1? • For fi^35 , a ne-
describes theutterdepravity of their char- farious deed, see on Isa. xxxii. 6.
acter. Comp. chap. xxiv. 8. D'^'ISU) 24. This verse, and those which follow
stands for n'^'ISilJa, the participle of to the end of the chapter, furnish the
Pual. contents of a second communication
22. That burning alive was a mode which Jeremiah sent to Babylon, after
of punishment customary among the the messengers had brought a letter
Chaldeans, see Dan. iii. 19. In the from the false prophet Shemaiah, con-
present instance, the culprits have by demnatory of the prophet of Jehovah,
some been supposed to have been tor- and reproving the authorities for their
tured by being roasted before a slow fire ; supineness in not apprehending him.
but this is doubtful. Who this Shemaiah was, and why he is
23. The irregular S'l'^lfl is, with the caUed the Nehelemite, is unknown.
Keri, to be pointed S'l'l^H , or, there is 25. nsa'rs , the suffix with il par-
a coalescence ofthe two words S'l'^ Kin , agogic, for ?ia»J3 .
— the N being dropped. That the fl 26. SSM, LXX. /ioico/heVijj the Pual

176 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. XXIX. 26-32.
26 the priest, and to all the priests, saying: Jehovah hath made
thee priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, that there should be
overseers in the house of Jehovah, in reference to every one
who is .1 frantic, or pretendeth to be a prophet, and that thou
27 shouldest put him in the stocks and the dungeon. And now
why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah the Anathothite, who
28 pretendeth to be a prophet to you ? For to this effect he hath
sent to us to Babylon, saying, It will be of long continuance :
build ye houses and dwell in them ; and plant gardens and eat
29 their fruit. And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the
hearing of Jeremiah the prophet.
30 Then the word of Jehovah was communicated to Jeremiah, saying:
31 Send to all the captivity, saying. Thus saith Jehovah to Shem
aiah the Nehelemite, because Shemaiah hath prophesied to you
when I had not sent him, and hath caused you to trust in false-
32 hood, therefore, thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will punish
Shemaiah the Nehelemite and his seed ; there shall not be to
him one dwelling in the midst of this people, neither shall he
behold the good which I will do to my people, saith Jehovah ;
for he hath spoken that which is rebellious against Jehovah.
P.irticiple of sj^ ,' Arabic «SX.w , coarctam'*, to confine in a narrow place ;
" "¦ C^* hence there may naturally be associated
strenuus, fortitudine vicit, to exert oneself with the noun the idea of a narrow
powerfully ; spoken of' false prophets dungeon. LXX. KaTapdicr-qv. Michaelis
who wrought themselves up to a high thinks it denotes a sewer, in which the
pitch of fury when delivering their ora- water and filth were conveyed down
cles, and of true prophets hy way of from the temple.
contempt (2 Kings ix. 11). FornnBlia, 30-32. Jeremiah was commissioned
stocks, see chap. xx. 2. pJiS is a ajrof to write another letter to the captives,
\ey., and has no root in Hebrew. It is to put them on their guard against
found, however, in the Samaritan p3S , Shemaiah.

Chap. xxx. 1-7.] JEREMIAH. 177

CHAPTER XXX.
The prophet is commanded to commit to writing what follows in this and the foUowing
chapter, 1-4. The document commences with a dolefhl representation of the consterna
tion occasioned by the capture of Babylon, 6-7; then succeeds a prediction of the deliv
erance of the exiles as the result, and a promise of the Messiah, 8, 9 ; on which is
founded an encouragement to exercise confidence in Jehovah for the accomplishment
of these prophecies, 10, 11. However great the sufferings of the captives on account of
their sins, 12-15, yet their enemies should be put down, 16 ; while they in consequence
should be restored to their own land, 17-20, and the Messiah raised up, in union with
whom they should experience the blessings of the divine favor, 21, 22, The chapter
concludes with a superadded prediction of the destruction of Babylon, 23, 24.
1 The word which was communicated to Jeremiah from Jehovah,
2 saying. Thus speaketh Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying, Write
3 thee aU the words which I have spoken to thee in a book. For
behold, the days are coming, saith Jehovah, when I wUl reverse
the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith Jehovah ; and
I will cause them to return to the land which I gave to their
4 fathers, and they shaU possess it. Now these are the words
which Jehovah hath spoken concerning Israel, and concerning.
Judah.
5 Surely thus saith Jehovah :
We have heard the sound of a panic,
There is fear, and no peace.
6 Ask ye now, and see
Whether a male is in chUdbirth ?
Why do I see every man
With his hands on his loins like a woman in chUdbirth,
And all faces are turned into paleness ?
1-4. It is clear from the last of these in reserve for the restored nation as made
verses, that what the prophet was to up of the whole. The terms Israel and
commit to writing was not any preced- Judah (ver. 3) are used distinctively of
ing portion of what we now have in his the descendants of those who constituted
hook, but the following discourse relative the two separate kingdoms after the
to the restoration of the exiles, and what revolt.
was to ensue upon their re-establishment 5-7. These verses have generally been
in Canaan. That chapters xxx. and considered as descriptive of the miserable
xxxi. form one prophetic discourse, is condition of the Jews during the period
aUowed by most commentators. There of the exile ; but they seem rather to
is an identity of subject running through depict the state of terror into which they
both ; only the former is devoted to the were thrown on the approach of the
return of the Jews from Babylon, the Medo-Persian army to the attack on
latter to that of the ten tribes of the Babylon. The destruction of the latter
Assyrian captivity, and to the blessings power was necessary to their deUverancCj

178

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XXX. 5-10.

7 Alas, for that day is great,
There is not like it ;
It is a time of trouble to Jacob,
Yet he shall be deUvered from it.
8 For it shall come to pass on that day,
Saith Jehovah of Hosts,
I will break off his yoke from thy neck.
And I will burst asunder thy bands ;
And strangers shall no longer hold him in servitude.
9 But they shall serve Jehovah their God,
And David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
10 Fear not thou, therefore, O my servant Jacob,
Saith Jehovah,
Neither be thou dismayed, O Israel ;
For behold, I will deliver thee from afer,
And thy seed from the land of their captivity ;

but they had every reason, in common
with the Babylonians, to anticipate in
the first instance fearful results from the
invasion. What corrobates this view is
.the circumstance that 31'' , day, is never
¦used of any long period of calamity, but
:always refers to some crisis by which
the fate of a nation is decided. Comp.
Jlsa. ix. 4 ; x. 3 ; xiv. 3 ; xxx. 25 ; Joel
u. 11; Zeph. i. 14, 15. Terrible as
were to be the circumstances connected
with the faU of Babylon, and great as
might be the anxiety of the Jews on the
occasion, it was to issue iu their deliver
ance. The application of this prophecy
by MichaeUs to the times of the Macca
bees is anything but satisfactory.
8. The reference in the suffix of "13.?
his yoke, cannot be to Jacob, since he,
i.e. the nation descended from him, is
immediately addressed in the second
person ; but to the king of Babylon,
understood. The foreigners to whom
the Jews were no longer to be in subjec
tion, were the Chaldeans, whose yoke
ihad just been mentioned.
9. By David here we are to under
stand a king of royal Davidic blood ;
but no monarch of that family occupied
the Jewish throne subsequent to the

Babylonish captivity. Though Zemb-
babel, to whom Grotius appUes the term,
was of the family of David, yet he never
laid claim to the title of king ; so that
the individual spoken of can be no other
than the Messiah. Thus the Targ.
¦]i3ba li'l'J 13 xniira , the Messiah the
son of David their king, and so almost aU
the modems. Comp. Ezek. xxxiv. 23 ;
xxxvii. 24 ; Hos. iii. 5. The idea fa
vored by Kimchi, that the ancient David
will again appear, has had few approvers.
Though the prophecy that the Jews
should serve the Messiah, has hitherto
had only a very partial fulfilment, yet
the time is coming when they shall all
adore him as their Saviour and King.
(Hos. ui. 5; Eom. xi. 25-32.) It was
their privilege to have served him, and
if the body of the nation had received
him as preached by the Apostles, which
myriads of them did (Acts xxi. 20), their
present dispersion would never have
taken place. They would have contin
ued to live in their own land, composing
Christian churches at Jerusalem, and
throughout Judea, and enjoying the emi
nent privileges of a Christianized civil
government. 10. The proclamation of Cyrus, grant-

Chap. XXX. 10-16.] JEEEMIAH. 179
And Jacob shall return, and be tranquil and quiet,
And none shall make him afraid.
11 For I am with thee, saith Jehovah, to save thee:
Though I make an end of all the nations
Whither I have driven thee,
I will not make an end of thee ;
But I will chastise thee as is meet.
For I cannot leave thee altogether unpunished.
12 For thus saith Jehovah :
Thy bruise is desperate.
And thy wound is grievous.
13 No one undertaketh thy case, to heal thee ;
As for medicines, none are applied to thee.
14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee.
They seek not after thee ;
Surely I have smitten thee with the wound of an enemy,
With severe chastisement.
Because of the greatness of thine iniquity.
Because thy sins were increased ;
15 Why criest thou on account of thy bruise ?
Thy pain is desperate,
Because of the greatness of thine iniquity ;
And because thy sins were increased.
Have I done these things to thee.
16 Nevertheless, all who devour thee shall be devoured.
And aU thine adversaries shaU go every one of them into captivity ;.
. ing liberty to the Jews to return to Pal- flicted upon them for their crimes, that
estine, was made " throughout all his no human interposition which they could
kingdom" (Ezra i. 1), so that those who rationally expect, could avail for their
were in the most remote parts could deliverance. Egypt, Syria, Tyre, etc.,
avail themselves of it. which had formerly been their confeder-
1 1 . J3B1Z3B3 • It was right and proper ates, were all laid prostrate by the same'
that the Jews should be punished for haughty conqueror whose chains they
their idolatries, but their punishment themselves wore. They are accordingly
having effected its object, they were represented under the metaphor of a
nationally to be restored, while the Baby- body full of wounds, left entirely desti-
louians, etc. were to become entirely tute of medical aid. The words l'J~pK'
extinct. Some render ^2'^. St3 ngJ , Tilas 'r[5''ii are partly borrowed from a
I will not utterly destroy thee, but the verb court of justice, and partly from medical
never has this signification in Piel. practice. riNBI I take to be a nomin-
12-15. So desperate were the circum- ative absolute, as for medicines. For
stances of the Jews in Babylon, while ''135R see on chap. viii. 22.
enduring the punishment God had in- 16,17. When all help from man failed,

180 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XXX. 16-21.
And those who spoil thee shall become a. spoil,
-And all who plunder thee I wUl deliver up to plunder.
17 For I wiU restore health to thee.
And heal thee of thy wounds,
Saith Jehovah :
Because they called thee an outcast, —
It is Zion whom no one seeketh after.
18 Thus saith Jehovah,
Behold, I wUl reverse the captivity of Jacob's tenta.
And take compassion on his habitations ;
And the city shall be built on its own hill,
And the palace shall be inhabited on its proper place.
19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving,
And the sound of those who rejoice ;
And I will increase them, and they shaU not be diminished ;
And I wiU cause them to be honored,
And they shall not be despised.
20 Their children also shall be as formerly,
And their congregation sh^U be established before me ;
And I will punish all their oppressors.
21 And their glorious one shall be of themselves,
And their ruler shaU proceed from the midst of them.
And I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach to me :
But who is he that hath pledged his heart to approach to me ?
Saith Jehovah.

Jehovah, from a quarter altogether unex- does not so well apply to the temple.
pocted, raised up a deliverer in Cyrus, See 1 Kings xvi. 18; 2 Kings xv. 25.
by whom the Babylonian empire was 21, 22. The aflSx 1 in the former of
totally subverted, and the outcast Jews these verses and that which precedes it,
restored to the^r own land. TT'.OIXIZJ , is to be taken collectively, and rendered
ex more Aramseorum for T^'^OpiU , the in the plural. That 1"''^^ and 3'iJn ,
middle radical being compensated for by however, ai-e to be restricted to an indi-
K . See tbe Note of C. B. Michaelis in vidual, the accompanying circumstances
RosenmiiUer. Six MSS. and two print- show. Who this Ulustrious governor is,
ed editions read Tl'^3''123 • has been disputed. MichaeUs and Scholz
18. 30 , from 330 , to he high, to ele- think it may have been John Hyrcanus ;
vate, speciaUy used of mounds or heaps Grotius and others, Zerubbabel. But
of ruins, is here employed to denote the with neitlier of these will the predicates
remains of the temple on Moriah. Tia")N properly agree. That the person spoken
may either signify the temple, or the ofwas to be a priest, is generally allowed;
royal palace on Mount Zion. The lat- but though Hyrcanus was hereditarily
ter seems preferable on account of its high priest and ruler, yet there was
being spoken of as to be inhabited, which nothing so peouliai- about him or his

Chap. XXX. 21-23.]

JEEEMIAH.

181

22 And ye shall be my people.
And I will be your God.
23 Behold the storm of Jehovah goeth forth furiously,
A sweeping storm, it shaU be hurled on the head of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of Jehovah shall not turn back
Till he hath executed it,
TUl he hath effected the purposes of his heart ;
In futtire days ye shall consider it.

offices, as to call for the declaration that
he should approach unto Jehovah; for
this all his predecessors had done in the
way that he did ; or to warrant the
pointed and emphatic interrogatory :
"But M." X=!n ''a, who is he that hath
pledged his heart to .approach to me f "
The question is put as something alto
gether unique. Such an approach had
never been made before. Both 3'1|3 and
1253 are specially used of the sacerdotal
approach to Jehovah (Exod. xix. 22 ;
Lev. xxi. 17, 23 ; and the combination
of the priestly and regal characters in
the same person, is quite in keeping with
the representation given of the ofiices of
the Messiah (Ps. ex. and Zech. vi. 13).
The phrase 33 3'IS is peculiar to this
place. 3^S properly signifies to mix, to
mix onesdf up, or identify oneself with
the affairs of another, to pledge oneself
for his life, to become surety for him.
33 ) heart, as the centre of the circula
tion of the blood in which the life con
sists, may here be equivalent to l^JSJ,
life, or sdf, ox it may denote courage, ox
fortitude of mind; so that, to pledge one's
heart, is to venture by an exposure of

one's Ufe iu the performance of any act.
See Ewald and Umbreit. The language
conveys the idea of the magnitude of
the undertaking, and the inadequacy of
all merely human beings to engage in it.
We have here, as Dr. J. P. Smith aptly
expresses himself, in his valuable work
on The Sacrifice and Priesthood of Jesus
Christ, p. 100 (London, 1847 ; 12mo.),
" a true and efiicient Mediator depicted
as possessing a previous and independent
right, as one in union of nature with
those whom he is seeking to bless, as
pledging himself to the fulfilment of his
work, as approaching the awful presence
of Deity, the holy judge of men, on their
behalf," etc.
22. This verse, which is omitted in the
LXX., and which Hitzig considers to be
spurious, on the ground of its coming in
so tamely after the powerful appeal, ver.
21, properly connects with ver. 20, the
intervening verse being introduced par
enthetically. 23, 24. Comp. chapter xxiii. 19, 20,
where the language is identical, except
that for 33inna we have here l^iSna ,
and nji3 after 13513n!l is omitted.

16

182 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. XXXI. 1-3.

CHAPTER XXXI.
The restoratioiii should not embrace the Jews only ; the ten tribes were likewise to be in
cluded, 1-6 Jehovah, calling upon them to exult at the prospect ofthe event, promises
to conduct them in safety to their own land, 7-9. The heathen are summoned to con
template the prosperous and happy condition of restored Israel, 10-14, contrasted with
the desolate circumstance's of the land during the captivity, 16, which were now to be
reversed, 16, 17. The ten tribes are next introduced as grieving on account of their
apostasy from Jehovah, for which they had been punished, 18, 19 ; and the scene changes
by the introduction of a gracious declaration of their tender reception on the part of
Jehovah, 20, and a call to the penitents to return and take possession of their ancient
cities, 21. They are then urged to betake themselves resolutely to the journey, by the
assurance that Jehovah would effectually interpose on their behalf, and render them
superior to their enemies, 22. The following verses, 23-30, contain more specific promises
of the temporal prosperity of the restored Israelites . The Messianic dispensation is then
announced, together with the joint participation of the whole people in its blessings,
31-34, for which they were infallibly to be preserved, 35-37. The document concludes
with a, prediction ofthe restoration and enlargement ofthe city of Jerusalem, 38-40.
1 At that time, saith Jehovah,
I will be a God to all the famiUes of Israel,
And they shaU be my people.
2 Thus saith Jehovah :
Israel found favor in the desert,
A people left of the sword.
When I went to give it rest.
3 Of old Jehovah appeared to me —
Yes ; I loved thee with everlasting love,
Therefore have I prolonged loving-kindness to thee.
1. K''iiri TiS2 , at that time, refers to the 2, 3. It has been questioned whether
period when the Jews were to be restored the experience of the divine favor here
from the Babylonish captivity, which recognized belongs to the deUverance
had been specially predicted in the pre- from Egypt, or to that from Babylon.
ceding chapter. At the same time the Theodoret decidedly takes the latter
ten tribes were likewise to be restored, view, epniioy koAc? riiv BafivKwya. That
The restoration was to comprehend the SSa may be taken as a prophetic future
whole nation, and not the exiles from is undeniable, as likewise, that the Baby-""
the southern kingdom only. Instead of lonish captivity may fitly be spoken of
worshipping different idols as they had figuratively as a wilderness-state ; but
done, they should unitedly worship the the interpretation which applies the
God of their fathers, and enjoy the bles- language to the former manifestation of
sings which obedience to his will secures, the loving-kindness of Jehovah com-
Michaelis altogether mistakes the scope mends itself as the more natural and
of the chapter, when he explains the appropriate. Thus the Targ. laX nn3
promises contained in it of events which Q'''l^aa pas'! Saj'b ¦("'apl'i 3n^^ "^1 1
were to take place in the history of the Thus saith the Lord, who shewed mercy to tlie
Jews subsequent to the destruction of people who went forth from Egypt. Upon
Jerusalem by Titus. that manifestation is founded an argu-

Chap. XXXI. 3-6.]

JEEEMIAH.

183

4 I wUl build thee again.
And thou shalt be buUt,
O virgin of Israel !
Thou shalt again deck thyself with thy tabrets,
And shalt go out in the dance of those that make merry.
5 Thou shalt again plant vineyards in the mountains of Samaria ;
The planters shaU plant and enjoy the fruit.
6 For there shall be a day when the watchmen in Mount Ephraim
shall cry :
Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
To Jehovah our God.

ment in favor of a renewed experience
of it hy the exiled Israelites. The lan
guage has its parallel in Hos. xiu. 5.
When exposed to manifold evils in the
great Arabian desert, Jehovah miracu
lously appeared on their behalf, and
brought them to Canaan. They were
deUvered not only from the sword of
Pharaoh, who went forth with his army
to prevent their escape, but from that of
the Amalekites and other neighboring
nations that attempted to prevent their
entrance into the promised land. SS'liU'^ ,
placed for the sake of emphasis at the
end of the verse, is properly the nom
inative to XSa , though DS would other
wise be such from position. tjISil , the
infinitive absolute, has by some been
referred to ^S^iU"^ , but its nominative is
niiT; , and the finite form of the verb,
suggested by the attendant circum
stances, is that of the preterite tense.
In the third verse Israel is represented
as gratefully responding to the sentiment
expressed in the second ; on which Je
hovah declares, that the ancient love
which he had borne to that people should
still be extended to them, pinna ex
presses here distance of time, not of place.
tjiaa is followed by an accusative both
of person and thing, and signifies to
lengthen, prolong, continue. Comp. Ps.
xxxvi. 11; cix. 12. The preterite is
used as the prophetic fiiture.
4. The combination of the active and
passive in rT'WS'l Ti.?3X is designed to

express more strongly the certainty of
the event. Israel is represented as a
virgin, in order to convey the idea of
that state of purity or entire separation
from idols to which she was recovered
during the captivity.
5. Samaria having been the metropolis
of the ten tribes, "the mountains of
Samaria " are equivalent to the moun
tains of Israel. The temporal prosperity
to which those tribes were to be restored,
is beautifully depicted in this and the
preceding verse. 3sil signifies to piei'ce,
violate, profane, treat as common or un-
consecrated. There is a reference to the
enactment of the law, Lev. xix. 25, that
the fruit of the vineyards was not to he
eaten till the fifth year after the vines
had been planted. The produce of the
fourth was to be consecrated to Jehovah
as a first-fruit, in acknowledgment that
they held of him as the sovereign ;^^j_
prietor. Comp. Deut. xx. 6 ; xxviu. 30r
The general idea conveyed by the ex
pression is, that the restored Israelites
were to have the undisturbed enjoyment
of the fruit of their vines, for the culti
vation of which the mountainous nature
of their country was peculiarly favorable.
6. Anticipating the arrival of the an
nual festivals, the prophet calls upon
_ the watchmen to summon the people to
commence their journey to Jerusalem,
as they had been accustomed to do before
the revolt, and the establishment of
image-worship at Dan and Beersheba.

184

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XXXI. 6-9.

7 For thus saith Jehovah ;
Shout aloud with joy to Jacob,
And give a shrill cry among the chief of the nations ;
PubUsh ye, praise ye, and say :
Deliver, O Jehovah, thy people, the remnant of Israel,
8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country.
And collect them from the recesses of the earth :
Among them shall be the blind, and the lame.
The pregnant woman, and she that travaileth together ;
A large assemblage shall return hither.
9 With weeping they shall come.
And with supplications I will lead them :
I wUl conduct them to streams of water.
By a straight way, in which they shall not stumble ;
For I am a father to Israel,
And Ephraim is my first-born.

Henceforward, the ten tribes should
unite with the rest in celebrating the
rites ofthe temple-worship. There should
be a joint recognition of Jehovah, not
merely as the only God, but specially
as the God whose relationship to the
IsraeUtes the 'Jews had despised and
rejected. Instead of summoning by the
ringing of bells as with us, the Orientals
employ watchmen for the purpose, who
occupy their stations on the towers, and
proclaim the seasons of worship. "Mount
Ephraim " is put for the whole of the
mountainous country belonging to that
tribe, and not for any single isolated
elevation. As this mountain-group bor
dered on Benjamin, there is a singular
propriety in the prophet's adverting to
the proclamation as being made there,
since it rose between him and the locality,
the re-occupation of which hy the ten
tribes he here anticipates.
7. WiiU tixi, thefirst,or chief ofthe
nations. That this designation is to be in
terpreted of the Hebrews, is evident from
its standing in direct correspondence
to Jacob in the preceding member of
the parallelism. Comp. D'^iart niOX'n ,
Amos vi. 1, and my note there. Ewald
improperly : haufen der heiden, supposing

the heathen nations to pray for the res
toration of Israel. That people are here
regarded as not yet returned, and are
called universally to engage in praise
and suppUcation for deUverance. SttJifl
is the Infinitive.
8, 9. These verses contain an accu
mulation of promises on the part of
Jehovah, for the encouragement of the
supplicating exiles. WhUe they should
cherish feeUngs of deep sorrow at the
remembrance of the crimes which had
been the cause of their dispersion, and
abound in supplication for the exercise
of forgiving mercy, Jehovah graciously
declares, that he would exercise all the
tenderness towai-ds them which a father
does towards his first-born. They were
to be restored from Assyria, Media, and
the most remote regions ; and so uni
versal was the restoration to be, that not
even the most infirm were to be left be
hind, fisn , hither, at the close of ver. 8,
indicates the position of the prophet as
living in Palestine at the time he wrote.
The hypothesis of Movers, that Zecha
riah (chap. viu. 7, 8) quotes verses 7,8,
and 33, and speaks of their author as
having lived at the time when the foun
dation of the temple was laid under

Chap. XXXI. 9-17.] JEEEMIAH. 185
10 Hear the word of Jehovah, 0 ye nations,
And publish afar in the maritime regions,
And say : He that scattered Israel wiU coUect him,
And guard him as a shepherd doth his flock.
11 For Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob,
He hath redeemed him out of the hand of him that was stronger
than he.
12 And they shall come and shout aloud on the height of Zion,
And flow to the goodness of Jehovah,
For the corn and the new wine and the oU,
And the sons of the flock and of the herd ;
And their soul shall be like a weU-watered garden,
Neither shall they languish any more.
13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance,
And the youths and the aged together ;
For I wiU turn their mourning into joy.
And wUl comfort them.
And make them rejoice after their sorrow.
14 And I wiU satiate the soul of the priests with fat.
And my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
Saith Jehovah.
15 Thus saith Jehovah,
A sound was heard in Eamah,
Lamentation and most bitter crying, —
Rachel weeping for her children.
And refusing to be comforted,
Because they were not.
Zerubbabel, is rejected by Hitzig as en- be afforded for the support of the priest-
tirely unsupported by external evidence, hood, and for aU the wants of the nation.
10-14. The intelligence of the inter- 15-17. Eamah, the town here men-
position of Jehovah on behalf of his tioned, was situated in the tribe of Ben-
scattered people, is commanded to be jamin, on the east of the great northern
spread among the pagan nations, that road, at the distance of two hours' jour-
they might be led to recognize his claims ney from Jerusalem. By a beautiful
^3 the only God. Then follows a beau- figure, Eachel, the mother of the Epraim-
tiful cluster of promises, depicting the ites, who was buried at this place, is
great prosperity of the people after their personified, and represented as risen
return, and the hilarity which should from her grave, and bitterly lamenting
prevail throughout the land. Comp. the absence of her descendants, who had
Zech. viii. 5. In verses 12 and 14 is a all been carried into exile. As her
recognition of the flocking of the Israel- death took place during Jacob's journey
ites to the temple-worship at Jerusalem, from Padanaram to Mamre, and ex-
and the abundant supplies that would press mention is made of Bethlehem

186

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XXXI. 15-20.

16 Thus saith Jehovah,
Restrain thy voice from weeping,
And thine eyes from tears ;
For there is a reward for thy work,
Saith Jehovah,
And they shall return from the land of the enemy.
17 There is also hope for thy futurity,
Saith Jehovah,
For thy children shaU return to their border.
18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself;
Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised,
Like a steer untrained ;
Turn thou me, that I may turn.
For thou, O Jehovah, art my God.
19 Surely, after I turned, I repented.
And after I was instructed, I smote on my thigh :
I was ashamed, yea, I was even confounded,
Because I bore the reproach of my youth.

(Gen. xxxv. 19), nothing was more nat
ural than for the Evangelist Matthew
(ii. 18) to quote the words of Jeremiah
as applicable to the massacre of the
chUdren in Bethlehem and its vicinity,
of which they furnished an apt descrip
tion. The prediction and the quotation
relate to totally different events, but the
language in itself is equally descriptive
of both. See Dr. W. L. Alexander's
Congregational Lecture, p. 54, and my
Comment, on Hos. xi. 1. Dil^naPl is
the plural of intensity — bitternesses for
most bitter. The singular sufBx in ''2.3''*5
is to be taken as a collective, and ren
dered in the plural. This usage is so
frequent in Hebrew, that the conjecture
of MichaeUs, that the text originally
read Sl'^K , is altogether gratuitous.
The supposed authority of the LXX.,
Arab., Vulg., Syr., and Targ., goes for
nothing in such a case, since the sense
requires the plural in translations.
rt35>B , the work, ver. 16, for which there
was to be a reward to Rachel, was what
she did in weeping for her children.
Her lamentations were not to be fruit

less. Those for whom she so bitterly
grieved should again appear in their own
land. The most certain hope might be
entertained respecting their future resto
ration, ver. 17.
18-20. The ten tribes, personified in
Ephraim, the founder of the leading
portion of the northern kingdom, are
now introduced, imploring, with feelings
of the most poignant grief for past apos
tasy, the restoring grace of their cove
nant God, and their determination hence
forward to cleave to him alone. It was
only on condition of their conversion,
that they were warranted to expect
recovery from the exile. Under the
metaphor of a steer untrained to labor,
which required the severe use of the
goad, the refractory character of the
Israelites is confessed, and the severity
of their punishment acknowledged. The
metaphor was probably borrowed from
Deut. xxxii. 15. Venema, Michaelis,
and others interpret the turning spoken
of as denoting the return to Palestine,
but this construction is repugnant to
the spirit of the passage, which requires

Ch.vp. XXXI. 19-21.]

JEEEMIAH.

187

20 Is Ephraim a son dear to me ?
Is he a delightful child ?
Surely since I spoke against him,
I do earnestly remember him stiU ;
Wherefore my bowels sound for him ;
I wiU assuredly have mercy on him,
Saith Jehovah.
21 Erect for thyself pUlars,
Set up for thyself poles.
Set thy heart on the highway,
The road by which thou wentest :
Return, 0 virgin of Israel,
Return to these thy cities.

us to understand it of conversion to Je
hovah, from the sins which had occa
sioned their removal into the countries
of the north. Deeply convinced of the
innate propensity ofthe heart to continue
in a state of estrangement from God, the
Israelites earnestly pray for the exercise
of divine influence, as that which alone
could secure their genuine conversion.
The result of this conversion is stated,
ver. 19, to be a penitential, indignant,
and self-abasing feeUng at having acted
so gidlty a part. The smiting on the
thigh is a very natural mode of express
ing indignation and grief, and was com
mon among the Hebrews, Persians,
Greeks, and other nations. Ezek. xxi.
12; lUad xii. 162; xv. 113; Xenoph.
Cyropsed. vii. 3 ; Cicero, Tuscul. Quast.
iii. The youth of Ephraim was the pe
riod immediately consequent upon the
revolt of the ten tribes, during which
image-worship and idolatry prevailed in
the laud.
20. Nothing can excel the touching
exhibition of tender parental feeling
towards a returning prodigal, which is
here presented by Jehovah. The ques
tions put at the commencement of the
verse would require to be answered in
the negative, if respect were had to the
past conduct of Ephraim. Having acted
such a rebelUous part, it cannot be that
Jehovah can have any regard for him.

The treatment to which he had been
subject during the exile is naturaUy to
be considered as a mark of the divine
displeasure. But viewed in connection
with his conversion, they are met with
the strongest affirmative, and the most
powerful assurances of affection on the
part of God. 3 *i3^ which Hitzig ren
ders to speak for, in the sense of wooing
or inducing to return to God as the hus
band of the covenant people, the con
nection requires us to interpret in the
hostile sense, as Num. xxi. 5, 7. The
reference is to the threatenings which
God had pronounced against them on
account of their idolatries. Though he
had thus spoken against them and pun
ished them by carrying these threaten
ings into effect, yet he never forgot them,
but, on the contrary, delighted in the
anticipation of their ultimate recovery.
21. The captive IsraeUtes are called
to set out on their return ; those going
first, recollecting the way by which they
had proceeded when led away by the
Assyrians, and erecting monuments or
landmarks for the guidance of those who
shonld follow. '^ri33f1 , for which the
Keri has Pisbil , is according to the form
of the feminine pronoun ''flN , a form
which specially occurs in Jeremiah and
Ezekiel. Though exactly the same in
form with the substantive rendered hitter
crying, ver. 15, D'^'liap , as here used in

188

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XXXI. 21, 22.

22 How long wilt thou be undecided ;
O backsliding daughter ?
For Jehovah createth a new thing in the land :
Woman shall encompass man.
23 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel,
This saying shall yet be repeated
In the land of Judah, and in the cities thereof,
When I reverse their captivity :
Jehovah bless thee, O abode of righteousness,
O mountain of hoUness.

the sense of pillars ox columns, which the
paraUel 3''3*S requires, must be derived,
not from "l^a , but from ^an , to raise,
set up, be or make erect, like Ian , the
palm-tree — so called from its erectness.
Comp. on chap. x. 5. The idea here
expressed is taken from the custom of
the caravans by which pillars, poles, and
pointed heaps of stones are set up in the
desert, as waymarks to guide them on
their return. I frequently met with such
waymarks while traversing the deserts
in the interior of Iceland. The cities
formerly occupied by the ten tribes are
graphically represented as waiting for
their return.
22. i^pannti for T^panrn , the 1 is
paragogic. I agree with Professor Lee,
that in this passage the verb has the
signification of acting undecidedly, or
doubtfully, as the Syriac has it. In Song
V . 6, the only other place in which pan
occurs, it is evidently opposed to com
ing forward, or appearing according to
expectation. The Israelites demurred
about returning, no doubt from the fear
that, however they might obtain liberty
to set out, they might be overpowered
by the way, or subdued by fresh enemies
on their entrance into Palestine. The
prophet expostulates with them on ac
count of their indecision ; and, to remove
all apprehension from their minds, he
assures them, that by the wonderful
interposition of Jehovah they should
successfully cope with all who might
oppose them. Such I consider to be the

meaning of the words, simple in them
selves, but much contested as to sense :
^35 33130 i^3p3 , ivoman shall encompass
man. How they should ever have been
applied to the miraculous conception of
our Saviour, it is difficult to imagine.
Even supposing that 33iS could be
appUed to gestation, which it nowhere
else is, what would thus be expressed
was a thing of such every-day occurrence
that it could with no propriety be said
of it, that it was a new thing which
Jehovah would create in the earth. Be
sides, the words n3p3 and 13a, as
here contrasted, are simply distinctive
of the two sexes, — the one conveying
the idea of weakness, the other that of
strength. Now as 33D is clearly used
in the acceptation of protecting, defending,
or the Uke, Deut. xxxii. 10 ; Ps. xxxii.
10, the same signification wUl be most
appropriate here, where the prophet is
encouraging the timid and helpless
IsraeUtes to set out from the lands of
then- exile. Thus Calvin : Quum igitur
fceminam viro comparet, non dubito quin
significet Propheta Israelitas, qui similes
erant foeminis, hoc est, carebant viribus,
destituti erant omni auxilio : quin ergo
dicat fore superiores hostibus suis quo
rum potentia poterat toti mundo terro-
rem incutere. Why should they hesitate,
since Jehovah would make the feeblest
of them more than a match for the most
powerful of their foes? Gesenius not
inaptly quotes the words of the Hiad,
i. 37, ts Xpioriy aiJ,<pip40riKas. Hengs-

Chap. XXXI 22-30.] JEREMIAH. 189
24 And Judah shall dwell therein, and all its cities together.
Husbandmen, and those who go out with the flock.
25 For I have satiated the weary soul,
And filled every sorrowful soul.
26 On this I awoke, and beheld.
And my sleep was sweet to me.
27 Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah,
When I wUl sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah
With the seed of man and the seed of beast.
28 And it shall be that as I have acted vigilantly with respect to them
To pluck up and to break down.
And to puU down and to destroy and to afflict ;
So I will act vigilantly with respect to them.
To buUd and to plant,
Saith Jehovah.
29 In those days it shall no more be said.
The fathers have eaten sour grapes ;
And the teeth of the children are blimted.
90 But every one shall die for his own iniquity —
Every man that eateth the sour grapes.
His teeth shaU be blunted.
tenberg, Hitzig, with some of the earlier EoscnmiUler, Scholz, and Umbreit con-
Christian interpreters, explain the wo- sider the words of verse 26 to be those
man of the Jewish church, and the man of Jehovah, who is frequently said in
of Jehovah as her husband, to whom Scripture, anthropopathicaUy, to sleep,
she now returned from her apostasy ; when he does not actively interpose in
but such exegesis does not meet the behalf of his people. Jerome, on the
philological exigences of the text. other hand, thinks they are the language
23-26. Jerusalem was again to be the of the Hebrews; but neither interpreta-
metropoUs of the whole Hebrew nation ; tion can be recommended for its facility.
and, entirely cleansed from the aboini- The words appear rather to be those of
nations of idolatry, was, conformably to Jeremiah himself, and indicate that the
its original destination, to be the seat preceding revelations had been commu-
of the sacred worship of Jehovah. Comp. nicated to him in a supernatural dream.
Isa. i. 26, 27 ; Zech. viu. In immediate Their deUghtful character had left a
connection with the capital, the tiibe of pleasant impression on his mind.
Judah should enjoy all its former tem- 27-30. A prophecy of the great pros-
poral advantages, of which agricultural perity of the Hebrew people as restored
and pastoral prosperity are specified as and re-united in Palestine, contrasted
the chief. The pronominal sufRx in PIS , with the judgments with which they had
ver. 24, refers to y";!* j ver. 23, and the been visited in the exile, when those
nominatives to '311;^ are n^irP Judah who had been bom during that period,
and ¦'"'7?"'? oil his cities, taken for the and had not been guilty of the crimes
inhabitants both of town and country. — for which their fathers were punished,
C. B. and J. D. MichaeUs, Doderlein, nevertheless suffered the calamities as

190

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XXXI. 27-34.

31 Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah,
When I will make a new covenant
With the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.
32 Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers,
In the day I took hold of their hand.
To bring them out from the land of Egypt ;
Which my covenant they brake,
And I rejected them,
Saith Jehovah.
33 But this is the covenant which I wiU make
With the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah,
After those days, saith Jehovah :
I will put my law within them,
And write it on their heart ;
And I will be their God,
And they shall be my people.

well as they. This gave occasion to the
proverbial expressions employed here
and Ezek. xviii. 2, the import of which
we find in plain language. Lam. v. 7.
31-34. That the covenants here de
scribed are the old or Jewish dispensa^
tion, and the gospel economy under the
Messiah, must be conceded by all who
admit the inspired authority of the Epis
tle to the Hebrews. In the eighth chap
ter of that Epistle, vers. 8-12, the words
of the prophet are quoted for the express
purpose of proving the abrogation of the
old covenant and the introduction of the
new. The only questions that arise
relate to the persons with whom it is
declared by Jeremiah the new covenant
was to be made, and the time at which
it was to be made with them. Now, it
requires no elaborate inquiry to settle
the former of these points. That the
Jews as a people, literally taken, are
intended, and not the spiritual seed of
Abraham, or true believers, whether Jews
or Gentiles, must be conclusively evi
dent to every "one who impartially ex
amines the context. The subject of this
and the preceding chapter is the restora
tion of the Hebrews, who are repeatedly,
as elsewhere, designated the house of Ju

dah and ihe house of Israel, chap. xxx. 3,
4 ; xxxi. 27, 31 ; Jacob and Israel, xxx.
7, 10, 18 ; xxxi. 1, 4, 7, 10, U, 23, 24,
36. It would he doing violence to one
of the first principles of hermeneutical
consistency to explain these terms, re
stricted as they are in the passages
referred to, by various adjuncts applica
ble only to the Hebrews, of the subjects
of the Messiah's kingdom indiscrimi
nately. Nor can anything be more
glaringly incongruous than to give to
the language the house of Judah and the
house of Israd, ver. 31, a different inter
pretation from that which is given to
the same language as occurring ver. 27,
where it is universally admitted the
literal Israel are meant.
The question respecting the time when
the new covenant was to be made with
the Jews, is one of more difficult deter
mination, and necessarily involves an
other in regard to the nature of the cov
enant itself. If all that is meant by it
is merely a dispensation of mercy and
grace under which they were to be placed,
the blessings of which were secured to
them only by their compliance with cer
tain conditions, it does not appear in
what it essentiaUy differs from the old

Chap. XXXL 31-37.]

JEEEMIAH.

191

34 And they shall no more teach
Every one his neighbor, and every one his brother, saying,
Know Jehovah ;
For they shall all know me.
From the least even to the greatest,
Saith Jehovah ;
For I will pardon their iniquity.
And their sin I will remember no more.
35 Thus saith Jehovah,
Who appointed the sun for light by day.
The laws of the moon and the stars for Ught by night ;
Who calmeth the sea when its waves roar, —
Jehovah of Hosts is his name.
36 If these laws should depart from my presence,
Saith Jehovah ;
Then also may the seed of Israel cease
From being a nation before me for ever.

covenant. Nor can it be denied that the
Jews have broken the new covenant,
viewed simply as an outward dispensa
tion, as completely as their fathers did
the old, and have in consequence been
rejected for an incomparably longer pe
riod. Bnt the grand distinguishing fea
tures of the subsequent economy are its
securing, by an adequate atonement, the
actual forgiveness of sin, and, by the
inworking of effectual grace, the perma
nent obedience of those with whom it is
made. Now, so far as the atonement is
concerned, the new covenant may be
said to have been virtuaUy made when
Messiah, as the covenant-victim, died
upon the cross; but, as it respects par
don of sin and spiritual regeneration, it
then took effect in the experience of the
Jewish people only to the extent of the
remnant according to the election of
grace. With the Jews as a people, in
other words, with the great body of the
nation, it still remains effectively to be
made. It is in reference to this great
event that the apostle Paul applies the
present prophecy in an abridged form,
Eom. xi. 27. Then all, i.e. the bulk of

the people, shall be made partakers of
the spiritual blessings which the cove
nant entails. The language of ver. 34,
in regard to instruction, is altogether
paraUel to what we find 1 John ii. 27,
and was never intended to indicate that
the ordinary means of instruction should
be superseded. None should remain
destitute of the saving knowledge of God
— all having their minds enUghtened
by the influences of the Holy Spirit.
The persons spoken of are the genuine
converts. Eor the grounds on which I have ren
dered B3 inbS3 133X1 ' -^"'^ I rejected
them, which substantially agrees with the
LXX. K^yiii ^fj,4\7]ffa avrwy, and the
apostoUc quotation of that version, Heb.
viii. 9, see my Note on chap. iu. 14.
35-37. That ''ia in ver. 36 is not to
he understood strictly in the sense of
nation, is evident from the historical fact,
that the Jews lost their nationaUty when
their polity was broken up by the Eo
mans. The term is to he taken in the
looser acceptation of people, and thus is
applicable to them in their present de
nationaUzed and scattered circumstances.

192

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XXXI. 35-40.

37 Thus saith Jehovah,
If the heavens above can be measured.
And the foundations of the earth underneath searched out i
Then wiU I also cast off the whole seed of Israel,
On account of aU that they have done,
Saith Jehovah.
38 Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah,
When the city shaU be buUt for Jehovah,
From the tower of Hananeel to the corner-gate.
39 And there shall yet go forth the measuring-line,
Right along over the hUl Gareb :
And it shall wind round to Goath.

Eor the immutability of the purpose of
Jehovah to preserve the people of the
Jews in order to invest them with the
privUeges and blessings of the new cov
enant, he appeals to his almighty power
as evinced in the laws and constitution
of the natural world. However long
may be their dispersion, and however
great the number of the blinded, yet
they shall eventually be restored to the
enjoyment of new covenant blessings.
Their continual preservation as a dis
tinct people, though scattered among all
nations, exposed to every kind of mal
treatment, and even cut off by thousands
and tens of thousands, is nothing less
than a perpetual miracle. While the
celebrated nations of antiquity, the As
syrians, Babylonians, Modes, Romans,
Egyptians, Carthaginians, Goths, and
others, have all become extinct, the pos
terity of Abraham still exist, unamalga-
raated among the nations.
38-40. Having presented the Hebrew
people to view at the distant end of the
perspective, the prophet here returns to
exhibit the restored state of Jerusalem
after the Babylonish captivity. Its pop
ulation should be so much increased,
that, in order to contain it, the space
within the former boundaries would be
found insufficient. CUfS , which is
wanting in the Textus Receptus of ver.
38, is found in thirtj'-four MSS., and
has originaUy been in fourteen more.

It is exhibited in the printed editions —
Soncin. Brix. Complut. Munster 1534,
1546 ; Soncin. Proph. Jerem. Thessal.
1569; and is translated in all the ver
sions. P'??'7 , ver. 40, being in con
struction, would according to rule reject
the Article, biit here retains it because
preceded by "33 . Attempts have been
made to justify the textual reading
nia^ia , but there can be little doubt
that it is a mere error of transcription
for nia^UJ, fields, which is found in
several MSS. and early editions, and in
2 Kings xxiii. 4. Eor the Tower of
Hananeel, see Neh. iii. 1 ; xii. 39 ; Zech.
xiv. 10 ; for the comer-gate, 2 Kings
xiv. 13 ; 2 Chron. xxvi. 9. Gareb and
Goath occur nowhere else. As the verb
3'nS signifies to scratch or scrape, and
J ° "
the Syr. ^^.j.,.^ is the name of the lep
rosy, it has been supposed that 3^3,
Gareb, is the designation of the locality
to which lepers were removed, as they
were not allowed to remain in the city.
The Horse-gate is mentioned Neh. in.
28. Scholz thinks it was in the north
wall of the city, and derived its name
from the horses of the royal stud being
taken through it to the Kidron to be
watered. Ojis'S , forever, is here to be
taken with the same limitation as it is
frequently when applied to matters con
nected with the old dispensation.

Chap. XXXin-5.] JEREMIAH. 193
40 And all the valley of the dead bodies, and the ashes.
And all the fields to the brook Kidron,
To the corner of the horse-gate towards the sun-rise,
Shall be holy to Jehovah :
It shall not be plucked up.
Nor pulled down any more for ever.

CHAPTER XXXII.
After an historical Introduction, 1-5, the prophet relates tbe circumstances connected with
the purchase of a patrimonial property at Anathoth, which was designed to certify the
return of the Jews from Babylon to enjoy their former possessions, 6-16. He thereupon
in.'^orts a prayer occasioned by the transaction, in which, after expatiating on the man
ifestations of divine goodness to the Hebrew people, and contrasting therewith their
ungrateful returns, he argues from the desperate condition of their circumstances, as
attacked by the Clialdeaiis, the improbability of his ever coming to the enjoyment of
his property, 16-25. In reply, Jehovah pledges his omnipotence to the fulfilment ofthe
prophecy implied in the transaction, but gives the assurance that there could be no
escape from the impending judgments, 26-35 ; yet graciously promises a restoration to
their own land, and to the enjoyment of lasting spiritual blessings, 36-41, in connection
with that of temporal prosperity, 42-44.
1 The word which was communicated to Jeremiah from Jehovah in,
the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, -the same was the
2 eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. For then the army of the
king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem ; and Jeremiah the prophet
was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the house
3 of the king of Judah. For Zedekiah, king of Judah had shut
him up, saying. Why dost thou prophesy, saying. Thus saith Jeho
vah, Behold, I wiU deUver this city into the hand of the king
4 of Babylon, and he shall take it. And Zedekiah king of Judah,
shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall cer
tainly be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and
shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall see
5 his eyes ; And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and he shall
be there till I look after him : though ye may fight with the
Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.
1. The siege of Jerusalem began in not allowed to depart, but where any
the tenth month of the ninth year of persons who chose might come to him.
Zedekiah ; consequently, the transaction 5. The words ink I'lp&'IS , until I
here described took place while it was visit him, are ambiguous. They cannot
being carried on. be taken in a bad sense, for with punish-
2. The prophet was not confined in ment Zedekiah was visited when he was
prison, but merely within the open space removed from his capital to Babyloni
occupied by the guard, whence he was Nor can they be taken in a good sense,
17

194

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XXXU. 5-U.

6 Then Jeremiah said. The word of Jehovah was communicated to
7 me, saying : Behold, Hanameel, the son of ShaUum thy uncle,
shall come to thee, saying. Buy for thyself my field that is in
8 Anathoth, for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. And
Hanameel, the son of- my uncle, came to me according to the
word of Jehovah in the court of the guard, and said to me. Buy,
I pray thee, my field which is in Anathoth, which is in the land
of Benjamin, for thine is the right of inheritance, and thine is
the redemption, buy it for thyself ; then I knew that it was the
9 word of Jehovah. So I bought the field from Hanameel, the
son of my uncle, which was in Anathoth, and I weighed to him
10 the money, seventeen shekels of silver. And I wrote in a deed,
and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed the money in
1 1 scales. I then took the deed of purchase, that which was sealed
12 according to law and statute, and that which was open. And I
gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son
of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hananiah, the son of my uncle, and

so as to imply a restoration to his throne,
for he died in Babylon. They must,
therefore, refer to the honorable circum
stances connected with his death and
hurial, chap, xxxiv. 5.
7. Anathoth being one of the sacerdo
tal cities. Josh. xxi. 18, the field here
specified must have been part of the
thousand cubits which were allotted to
the Levites for inheritance, Numb. xxxv.
4, 5. Though they were not permitted
to possess and cultivate the land of Ca-
¦naan like their brethren of the other
tribes. Numb, xviii. 20, yet they might
•enjoy the produce of the fields in the
immediate vicinity of their cities. The
prohibition {Lev. xxv. 34), to alienate
hy sale any of the attached fields, appUed
merely to their passing out of the hands
of the Levites into those of persons be
longing to the other tribes ; so that
there is no contradiction between what
is there laid down as law and tho trans
action recordedinthischapter. Besides,
¦all that is meant in the present case is
the purchase of the crops, or of the use
¦of the field till the year of Jubilee, when
lit reverted to the proper owner. The

right of redeeming the field, or assuming
the occupancy of it on the failure of the
owner, devolved upon Jeremiah as the
nearest relative of Hanameel. Comp.
Euth iv. 3-6.
9. Reckoning the shekel at two shU
lings and four-pence, the whole amount
of the purchase-money did not exceed
two pounds sterling. The smallness of
the sum may be accounted for, partly by
the field being inconsiderable in size,
partly by its being then in the possession
of the Chaldeans, and therefore the abso
lute uncertainty of the time that might
elapse before Jeremiah or his heirs might
derive any benefit fi-om it. Michaelis
and others have thought, that as i^^?? '
ten, stands by itself, ten shekels of gold
mnst be intended, but there is nothing
in the text to warrant such conclusion.
10. Coined or stamped money not
being in use among the Jews, the silver
was weighed, as in the days of Abraham
(Gen. xxUi. 16).
11. It is customary in the East to
write out two documents when contracts
are formed : the one signed by the par
ties, solemnly sealed in the presence of

Chap. XXXn. 13-20.] JEREMIAH. I95
in the sight of the witnesses who had subscribed the deed of
purchase in the sight of all the Jews who were sitting in the
13 court of the guard. And I charged Baruch in their sight, saying,
14 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel : Take these
deeds, this deed of the purchase, both that which is sealed, and
this open deed, and deposit them in an earthen vessel, that they
15 may last many days. For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the
God of Israel, Houses and fields and vineyards shall yet be
purchased in this land.
16 And I prayed to Jehovah after I had delivered the deed of pur-
17 chase to Baruch, the son of Neriah, saying : Ah, Lord Jehovah,
Behold thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great
power and thine outstretched arm : nothing is too difficult for
18 thee : Showing mercy to thousands, and recompensing the in
iquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them,
the great, the mighty God ; Jehovah of Hosts is his name.
19 Great in counsel and powerful in action, whose eyes are open
on aU the ways of the chUdren of men, to give to every one
according to his way, and according to the fruit of his deeds :
20 Who hast placed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt to this
day, and among Israel and among other men, and hast procured
21 thee a name, as at this day : For thou didst bring out thy people
Israel from the land of Egypt, with signs and with wonders,
and with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm, and with
22 great terror. And didst give them this land which thou swarest
to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.
23 And they came in and possessed it ; but they did not obey thy
voice, neither did they walk in thy law, they have not done all
that thou commandedst them to do, therefore this calamity hath
witnesses, and carefully preserved ; the prophet asks Jehovah how it comported
other is merely a copy, which is not ¦with all that he had done for them, to
sealed, and is left open. give the land into the hands of the Chal-
14,15. Special care was taken that deans, and yet to command him to make
the deed should sustain no injury fi-om the purchase.
the length of time that should elapse 20. That ft'lN is sometimes used idio->
before the Jews could recover their pos- matically for other men, see Judges xviu.
sessions in Palestine. The transaction 28 ; Ps. Ixxiii. 5. The meaning of the
was a symbol of the certainty of this verse is not that Jehovah continuously
recovery. ¦wrought such miracles, both among the
1 6, etc. In order to afford his country- Jews and among other nations, as he
men an opportunity of fuUy understand- had wrought in Egypt, but that the
ing the import of the transaction, the memory of those miracles was preserved

196 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XXXII. 23-35.
24 come upon them. Behold, the mounds reach even to the city
to take it, and the city is delivered into the hand of the Chal
deans, who fight against it by means of the sword, and the
famine, and the pestUence ; and what thou hast spoken is come
25 to pass, and behold, thou seest it. Yet, O Lord Jehovah, thou
hast said to me. Buy thee the field with money, and take
witnesses, though the city is delivered into the hand of the
Chaldeans.
26 Then the word of Jehovah was communicated to Jeremiah, saying,
27 Behold, I, Jehovah, am the God of all flesh : can anything be
28 too difficult for me ? Therefore, thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I
will deliver this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into
the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he shaU take
29 it. And the Chaldeans shall come, who fight against this city,
and shaU set this city on fire and burn it ; and the houses on
the roofs of which they have burned incense to Baal, and poured
30 out libations to other gods to provoke me to anger. For the
children of Israel and the children of Judah have done that only
which was wicked in my sight from their youth ; for the children
of Israel have done nothing but provoke me with the works of
31 their hands, saith Jehovah. For this city hath been an object
for my anger and for my fury from the day it was built to this
32 day, that I should remove it from before me, Because of aU the
wickedness of the children of Israel, and of the children of Judah,
which they have committed to provoke me to anger ; they, their
kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the
33 men of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem. For they have
turned the back to me, and not the face, though I taught them,
rising early and teaching them, yet they hearkened not to re-
34 ceive instruction ; They even set up their abominations in the
35 house that is called by my name, to pollute it. And built the
high-places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hin
nom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the
among both. BIX, Edom, as Michaelis 27. Jehovah, emphaticaUy admitting
proposes to point, cannot be admitted. the fact of his omnipotence, to which
24. The nibbo , mounds, were the Jeremiah had appealed, ver. 1 7, proceeds
batteries or breastworks raised by the to announce the certainty of the exile,
besieging army, behind which they cm- and to describe the cause of it — the
ployed their military engines, and which, idolatrous practices of the Jews.
being gradually carried forward, were at 29. See on chapter xix. 13.
length advanced close to the walls of the 34, 35. See on chapter vii. 30, 31,
city. and Comp. Ezek. viii. 5-17.

Chap. XXXII. 36-44.] JEREMIAH. I97
fire to Moloch, which I commanded them not, neither came it
into my nund ; committing this abomination in order to make
Judah sin.
36 But now, nevertheless, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel,
concerning this city of which ye say, It is delivered into the
hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine,
37 and by the pestilence : Behold, I will collect them from all the
countries whither I have driven them in mine anger and in my
fury and in great indignation, and will bring them back to this
38 place, and cause them to dwell in safety. And they shaU be
39 my people, and I wiU be their God. And I will give them one
heart, and one way, to fear me continually, for good to them
40 and to their children after them. And I will make an everlast
ing covenant with them, that I wiU not turn from them to do
them good ; and I will put my fear into their hearts, that they
41 may not depart from me. And I wUl rejoice over them to do
them good, and will assuredly plant them in this land with all
my heart and with aU my soul.
42 For thus saith Jehovah : Like as I have brought upon this people
all this great calamity, so I will bring upon them all the good
43 of which I have spoken to them. And the fields shaU be pur
chased in this land, of which ye say. It is desolate without man
and beast ; it is deUvered into the hand of the Chaldeans.
44 They shaU purchase fields for money, and subscribe the deeds
and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and
in the environs of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in
the cities of the mountain, and in the cities of the plain, and in
the cities of the south ; for I will reverse their captivity, saith
Jehovah.
36. 133 is here strongly exceptive, and fear into their hearts to secure perpetual
introduces a proposition the very reverse adherence to him, so far as genuine god-
of what we should have expected. So liness is concerned ; though, as it re-
far from punishing the Jews -with perpet- spects the rejection of idolatry, and an
ual exile, which their iniquitous conduct outward acknowledgment of him as the
had merited, Jehovah graciously prom- one only God, this has been unquestion-
ises to restore them to their own land. ably secured.
39-41. The spiritual promises here 42-44. Special promises of the resto-
specified, together with the covenant to ration from Babylon and the commence-
be made with the Jews, are essentiaUy ment of the bestowal of that temporal
identical with those described chap. xxxi. good which the prophet had predicted,
31-34, and are yet to be realized in their and of which a, symbolical pledge had
experience as a people. Gdd has never, been given when he purchased the field
since the Babylonish captivity, put his of Hanameel.
17*

198 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XXXHI. 1-6.

CHAPTER XXXIII.
This chapter contains a fresh prediction of the restoration from Babylon, 1-9, the temporal
prosperity accompanying which is set forth by a beautiful enumeration of circumstances,
10-13. Then follows a renewal of the great promise of the Messiah, 14-16 ; the perpetuity
of his regal and sacerdotal oflices is repeatedly aflirmed, 17-22 ; and an assurance is given,
that the Hebrew people should not become extinct, but should have a national existence
under rulers of their own, 23-26.
1 Moreover, the word of Jehovah was communicated to Jeremiah
the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the
guard, saying :
2 Thus saith Jehovah who doeth it,
Jehovah who formeth it, to establish it :
Jehovah is his name.
3 Call to me, and I will answer thee.
And show thee great and difficult things,
Which thou hast not known.
4 For thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel :
Concerning the houses of this city.
And concerning the houses of the kings of Judah,
That have been pulled down for the rampaxts.
And for the swordsmen,
5 Coming to fight with the Chaldeans,
And to fill them with the dead bodies of the men
Whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury ;
Because I have hid my face from this city.
On account of all their wickedness :
6 Behold, I will restore to her cure and health ;
1. See chap, xxxii. 2 exile to be prostrate beyond all hope
2. At nto, aniX, and as-'Snb , of recovery.
subaud. f1S2> , counsel, or purpose. For 4. The m?5D here mentioned, differed
the pecuUar signification of fljfT^ , see from the mounds called by the same
my Comment on Hos. xii. 6. name, chap, xxxii. 24, being the ram-
3. fiT'SS , inaccessible, difficult things, parts raised by the Jews for the defence
RosenmiiUer : imperscmtabilia, recon- of the city, whereas those were raised
dita apud Deum, quaj humano intellec- by the enemy for the purpose of attack.
tui inaccessa sunt. A few MSS. read 3'nn , the sword, is here used for '^tjJS
ni123, hidden things, hut tho reading 3'inil, men (/(/le swor(f, i.e. warriors who
has probably been borrowed from Isa. employ it in battle, as rll^IJ , how, is for
xlviii. 6. The things referred to are the those who use the bow. Isa. xxi. 17.
restoration of the Jews, and that of 6. For Jl-^nS fl^Sa , see ou chap.
Jerusalem, which seemed during the viii. 22.

Chap. XXXm. U.] JEREMIAH. 199
And I wUl heal them, and reveal to them
The abundance of peace and of truth.
7 For I wUl reverse the captivity of Judah,
And the captivity of Israel ;
And I wiU buUd them as at the first.
8 And I wUl cleanse them from aU their iniquity,
Of which they have been guUty against me ;
And I wiU pardon aU their iniquities,
Of which they have been guUty against-me,
And by which they have rebelled against me.
9 And they shaU be to me a joyful name,
For praise and for glory.
Before aU the nations of the earth.
Which shaU hear of aU the good that I do to them ;
And they shaU fear and tremble.
For all the good and for aU the prosperity
Which I procure for them.
10 Thus saith Jehovah :
There shaU yet be heard in this place,
Of which ye say. It is waste,
Without man, and without beast.
In the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem,
Which are desolated without man.
And without inhabitant, and without beast,
11 The sound of joy and the sound of gladness,
The sound of the bridegroom, and the sound of the bride.
The sound of those who say :
Praise ye Jehovah of Hosts,
For Jehovah is good.
For his mercy is everlasting ;
Even of those that bring the sacrifice of praise
Into the house of Jehovah ;
For I wUl reverse the captivity of the land,
As at the first, saith Jehovah.
12 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts ;
There shaU again be in this place.
Which is waste, without man and beast,
11. The words of praise here employed thetemple. nWl^TlK 3il!5fl , fo reyerse
are those "with which Psalm one hundred the captivity, does not here mean to restore
and thirty-sixth commences, which, it the captives from their exile, but to re-
is implied, should be again sung in store the country irom the circumstances

200 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XXXm. U-26.
And in all the cities thereof.
Habitations of shepherds,
Causing their flocks to lie down.
13 In the cities of the mountain.
In the cities of the plain.
And in the cities of the south ;
And in the land of Benjamin,
And in the environs of Jerusalem,
And in the cities of Judah,
The flocks shall again pass
Under the hands of him that telleth them,
Saith Jehovah.
14 Behold the days come, saith Jehovah,
When I will confirm the good promise
Which I made to the house of Israel, and to the house of Judah.
15 In those days, and at that time,
I will cause to spring up to David
The Branch of Eighteousness ;
And he shaU execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
16 In those days Judah shall be saved.
And Jerusalem shall dwell securely ;
And this is the name by which he shall be called,
Jehovah our Eighteousness.
17 For thus saith Jehovah :
There shall not be wanting to David a man
Sitting on the throne of the house of Judah.
ofdesolation to which it had been reduced, has ewm, though some copies read earn.
although this naturally pre-supposed the The Slavonic also has the masculine ego,
restoration of its inhabitants. his. If S3 be pointed n'3 , which point-
12. Tn , habitation, is used coUectively ing of the mascuUne suffix is not un-
for habitations or dwelling-places. common in Hebrew, and which the
14-16. These verses contain a repeti- commencement of the following verse
tion of the promise of the Messiah, made would seem to require, both passages
chap. xxUi. 5, 6. The only variations will perfectly harmonize.
that require to be noticed, are the eUip- 17-26. Such serious difficulties have
sis of '1013 , his name, after fT| , this is, in these verses presented themselves in
and the change of ih , to him, into SP to the way of interpreters, that some have
her, ver. 16, applying the name to Jeru- been tempted to regard them as an inter-
salem, and not to the Branch, as we polation. They are, indeed, together
should have expected, and as we read in with vers. 14-16, altogether wanting in
the paraUel passage. The Syr. and the the LXX. ; yet they are found in the
Targ. in the Antwerp Polyglott, point version of Theodotion, as exhibited by
Sb in the masculine, and the Vulgate Origen, iu the Hexaplar- Syriac, and the

Chap. XXXIII. 17-21.]

JEREMIAH.

201

18 Neither shaU there be wanting
From my presence,
A man of the priests, the Levites,
OflTering holocausts.
And causing oblations to ascend.
And performing sacrifice continually.
The word of Jehovah was further communicated to Jeremiah,
saymg :
Thus saith Jehovah :
If ye can break my covenant with the day.
And my covenant with the night.
So that there should not be day and night in their season ;

19

20

Arabic versions, and in the Comment.
of Theodoret. They are also printed in
the Complutcnsian edition of the LXX.
The difficulties are created by the pre
dictions of the absolute perpetuity of the
Davidic and Levitical succession, 17,18,
21, 22. If interpreted literally, what is
said of the Levites holds good only till
the destruction of Jemsalem by Titus ;
but so much cannot be affirmed of the
famUy of David, since no Uneal descend
ant of that monarch occupied the Jewish
throne after Zedekiah — the Asmonsean
princes being of the tribe of Levi, whUe
Herod was not a Jew at aU, but an Idu-
masan. That the prophecy relates to
what will take place in the history of the
Jews after their yet future restoration to
Palestine, is equally objectionable, on
the ground that their genealogical tables
having long been irrecoverably lost, it
cannot be conceived possible for them,
¦without a miracle, to distinguish who
are the descendants of David, and who
those of Levi. Besides, according to
the doctrine of the New Testament, no
king of the family of David is to be rec
ognized but the Messiah, and the seat of
his government is not an earthly throne,
but a heavenly; nor can the Levitical
priesthood, with its services, be restored,
they having been forever abrogated by
the introduction of the everlasting and
unchangeable priesthood of Christ, their
great antitype (Heb. vii. 12-28).

On these grounds we are shut up to
the spiritual interpretation of the pas
sage, or its appUcation to the Messiah
in his regal and sacerdotal offices iu
which, as their antitypes, those of the
Jewish kings and priests, as the types,
received their fulfilment. The throne
of David, vers. 17, 21, is the spiritual
throne, which, as his descendant, the
Messiah is to fill forever, Isa. ix. 6 ; Luke
i. 32, 33. And as the reign of Da"vid is
thus carried forward spiritually, so, on
the same principle, the Levites may be
said never to want a man to present
sacrifices, inasmuch as the man Christ
Jesus ever liveth to present the merits
of his own sacrifice, which, to express
its excellence and superiority, is called
Bucriai, sacrifices, in the plural, in Heb.
ix. 23.
17, 18. The promises here made are a
repetition of those made Ps. Ixxxix. 4,
29, 36 ; Num. xxv. 12, 13, only as ac
complished in him who is a priest for
ever after the order of Melchizedek, and
in whose one sacrifice all the legal offer
ings for ever merged.
20, 21. The perpetual succession of
day and night, in -virtue of the divine
ordinance to that effect, is appealed to
as a pledge of the inviolability of the
promise make by God both to Da^vid
and the Levites. This promise is ex
pressly called a covenant, Ps. Ixxxi.x. 3,
28, 34 ; Num. xxv. 12, 13 ; Mal. U. 4, 5, 8.

202 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XXXHI. 22-26.
21 Then may also my covenant with David my servant be broken.
So that he should not have a son reigning on his throne ;
And with the Levites, the priests, my ministers.
22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered,
Nor the sand of the sea measured,
So will I multiply the seed of David my servant.
And the Levites that minister to me.
23 Moreover, the word of Jehovah was communicated to Jeremiah,
saying :
24 Dost thou not perceive what this people speak ? saying :
As for the two families which Jehovah had chosen.
He hath even cast them off.
Thus they despise my people.
As if it were no longer a people before them.
25 Thus saith Jehovah :
If there is not my covenant of day and of night ;
If I have not appointed the laws of heaven and earth ;
26 Then also may I reject the seed of Jacob,
And Da-fid my servant.
That I shonld not take of his seed to be rulers
To the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ;
But I will reverse their capti-nty, and show them pity.
22. It is impossible to take " the seed Jacob and of Da-vid in the same Ught,
of David " and " the Levites " here lite- than to take the terms in a spiritual
raUy ; for in such case, the declaration, acceptation, though, from the exigency
as Jahn and Hengstenberg remark, of the case, we are compelled to put this
would be of the nature of a threatening, construction upon them, ver. 22. There
rather than a blessing ; since the support is no necessity for supposing that the
of such a multitude of royal and priestly prophet was not at liberty to use them
persons would be an intolerable burden now in the one acceptation, and now in
to the state. The persons referred to the other — the circumstances of the
are true believers, who are described in context always affording some clue to
the New Testament as kings and priests, enable the reader to determine which is
1 Pet. ii. 5 ; Rev. i. 6. intended, just as our Lord in the same
24. Those who are thus said to speak discourse uses the word Trycvpia both as
contemptuously of the Hebrews as aban- denoting the Holy Spirit, and the natural
doned by their God, were doubtless the element of wind, John iii. 5-8, and oi
Chaldean army before Jerusalem. The yeKpol, Matt. viu. 22, first as character-
two families were the two kingdoms of izing such as are spiritually dead, and
Judah and Israel. then those who are physically so. It is
26. As the literal Jews are introduced also more natural to interpret " the seed
in the twenty-fourth verse in their na- of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob " of the
tional character, it is more natur.il to Jewish people properly taken — their
consider what is here said of the seed of restoration from captivity being specified

Chap. XXXIV. 2-5.] JEREMIAH. 203
as a distinguishing condition. Tho " seed is that, at the happy time predicted,
of David " seems here to denote the Jews the Hebrew people should no longer
generally, and corresponds to the paral- be subject to foreign rule, but should
lei " seed of Jacob " ; and the meaning be governed by native magistrates.

CHAPTER XXXIV.
This chapter contains two prophecies: the first relating to Zedekiah, 1-7; the second, to
the conduct of the Jews, who, afraid of the capture of the city, had, in obedience to the
requirement of the law, granted liberty to their servants at the expiration of seven years,
but, on the intermission of the siege, compelled them to return to bondage, 8-16. On
this account, they are threatened ¦with destruction by the Chaldeans, 17-22.
1 The word which was communicated to Jeremiah from Jehovah,
when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and aU his army, and
aU the kingdoms of the land of his dominion, and aU the people,
fought against Jerusalem, and against all her cities, saying :
2 Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel : Go and speak to Zedekiah,
king of Judah, and say to him. Thus saith Jehovah : Behold, I
will deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and
3 he shall burn it with fire. And thou shalt not escape out of his
hand, but shalt surely be taken, and shalt be delivered into his
hand ; and thine eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon.
And his mouth shall speak with thy mouth, and thou shalt go
4 to Babylon. Nevertheless, hear the word of Jehovah, O Zede
kiah, king of Judah. Thus saith Jehovah concerning thee :
5 Thou shalt not die by the sword. In peace thou shalt die, and
according to the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which
were before thee, shall they burn for thee ; and with " Alas,
Lord," shaU they bewaU thee : surely I have spoken the word,
saith Jehovah.
2. The following prediction belongs 4, 5. Though Zedekiah was to he
in point of time to chap, xxxii. 1-5, and carried captive to Babylon, yet he is
is merely an amplification of what is graciously assured of kind treatment on
contained in those verses. It was con- the part of the hostile king, and of an
sequently delivered before Jeremiah was honorable interment. Some have in-
placed in custody. T^'S ' the infinitive ferred that the removal of his dead body
absolute for the imperative, conveying for interment at Jerusalem is implied;
here the idea of future action, gives the but all that the words express is that he
conversive power to the conjunction in should receive the honors of a royal
Fi'notJ'i twice following, and thus fur- funeral, which might be rendered to him
nishes a future equivalent to an im- in Babylon, as well as in his captured
perative. city. The prediction is absolute, and not

204 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XXXIV. 4-11.
6 And Jeremiah the prophet spake to Zedekiah the king of Judah
7 all these words in Jerusalem, when the army of the king of
Babylon fought against Jerusalem, and against aU the cities of
Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah ; for
these remained among the cities of Judah, fortified cities.
8 The word which was communicated to Jeremiah from Jehovah,
after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with aU the people
9 who were in Jerusalem, proclaiming liberty to them ; That
every one should send away his man-servant, and every one his
maid-servant, the Hebrew and the Hebrewess, free ; that they
should not hold them in servitude, any one a Jew his brother.
10 Now when all the princes and aU the people who had entered
into the covenant, heard that every one should send away his
man-servant, and every one his maid-servant fi-ee, that they
should no longer hold them in servitude, they obeyed, and sent
11 them away. But afterward they caused the men-servants, and
the maid-servants which they had sent away free, to come back,
and compelled them to be men-servants and maid-servants.
12 Therefore the word of Jehovah was communicated to Jeremiah,
13 from Jehovah, saying. Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel :
I made a covenant with your fathers in the day when I brought
them out from the land of Egypt, from the house of servants,
14 saying, At the end of seven years ye shaU send away every one
conditional, as Venema and Michaelis of Zedekiah, who had been carried with
maintain. The announcement : " hear him to Babylon.
the word of Jehovah," merely calls the 8, 9. MichaeUs is of opinion, that
attention of Zedekiah to the foUo-wing Zedekiah in binding over the Jews to
prophecy, and not to obedience to any comply with the enactment of the Mo-
admonitions of the prophet, as the con- saic law, to give their servants Uberty
dition of his remaining in Jerusalem, at the expiration of seven years, ver. 14
The burnings referred to were those of (Exod. xxi. 2; Deut. xv. 12), was not
spices, the fragrance of which filled the influenced by merely conscientious, or
air, and which were customary at royal reUgious, bnt by political motives ; as
funerals (2 Chron. xvi. 14; xxi. 19). thereby he would greatly increase the
Instead of Pl^S'nipB31 , and with the burn- number of volunteers for the defence of
ings, twenty-eight MSS., many of which the city.
are of the superior Spanish class, orig- 11. It appears from verses 21, 22, that
inally three more, and eight by correc- the Chaldean army raised the siege of
tion, together with the LXX., Arab., Jerusalem for a time, most probably lo
Syr., and Vulg., read mS^lUasl , and meet the Egyptian expedition, men-
like, ox according to, tlie burnings. Those tioned chap, xjixvii. 7. During this ces-
who should accompany these burnings sation of hostilities, the Hebrew masters
with the lamentation "Alas, Lord," finding that those whom they had set
may be supposed to be the attendants free were not required for the defence of

Chap. XXXrV. 11-20.] JEREMIAH. 205
his brother the Hebrew, who may have been sold to thee, and
who hath served thee six years, thou shalt even send him away
free from thee ; but your fathers hearkened not to me, neither
15 did they incline their ear. And ye had this day turned and
done that which is right in my sight, proclaiming every one
liberty to his neighbor, and had made a covenant before me in
16 the temple which is called by my name. But ye have again
turned and polluted my name, and have caused to return every
one his man-servant, and every one his maid-servant, whom ye
had sent away free at their pleasure, and have compelled them
to become your man-servants and maid-servants.
17 Therefore thus saith Jehovah : ye have not hearkened to me, pro
claiming liberty every one to his brother, and every one to his
neighbor : Behold, I will proclaim liberty for you, saith Jehovah,
to the sword and to the famine and to the pestilence, and I will
18 give you up to agitation to all the nations of the earth. And
I will deliver the men who have transgressed my covenant, who
have not confirmed the words of the covenant which they made
before me, the calf which they cut in two, and passed through
19 between the parts thereof; the princes of Judah, and the princes
of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of
20 the land who have passed between the parts of the calf, I will
even deUver them into the hand of their enemies, and into the
hand of those who seek their life ; and their dead bodies shall
the city, retracted their deed of release, 18-20. It was customary on the mak-
and, contrary to law, compeUed them to ing of covenants for the contracting
re-enter their service. parties to slay an animal, and then pass
17. As it was the duty of the master through between the parts after it was
to protect his servants, so Jehovah would divided, implying by this action their
have thrown his protection over his willingness to be so treated, if they
people, if they had rendered to him due failed in adhering to the stipulations.
subjection and obedience ; but on their See Gen. xv. 10, 17. Hence the phrases
wantonly renouncing these, he declares ri"''13 n^3 , SpKia refnyeiv, icere fmdus.
that he would give them up to the un- Comp. Iliad, iii. 298.
restrained operation of all the hostile „ - <, , , -nj a \
. „ .'^ . , , , , , Zed KvBuTTe, /ieyuTTe, Kal aVdyaroi Biol
influences that might be brought to bear g. .
upon them, "ill"' , the term used in the .„ / ' / . < ./ /
f; „ ,., , . OTTiroTepoi -irpdrepot uirep opKia "KTiunyeiay,
Mosaic law for liberty or manumission, t„- i .••>... . i^ n ', .i^
^ . . . . „ _,_w ""^ ^V ^yKed)a\os vauaScs peot, as oo€
Lev. xxv. 10, is derived from ^^^ , to ^^^^^ ^ a f™ r >
turn swiftly round, to move fleetly, -without ^ . - , ' /
. ,. T . -, ! -tr., AvTwy, Kal TiKsay
any impediment. It is to the fulfilment
of the threatening contained in this verse and Plutarch in Qusestt. Romauis :
and to its cause, that Jeremiah refers in Bomroh Sri Srip.oaia KaSapfnos iari Kvvbs
Lament, i. 3. Sixorop-iaO^yros rSty papwv 5ie|eA0€7i/.
18

206 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XXXXV. 2.
become food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the
21 earth. And Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his princes I will
deliver into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of
those who seek their life, and into the hand of the army of the
22 king of Babylon, who are gone up from you. Behold, I wUl
command, saith Jehovah, and bring them back to this city, and
they shall fight against it, and shaU take it, and shall bum it
¦with fire ; and I wUl make the cities of Judah desolate without
an inhabitant.

CHAPTER XXXV.
In order to produce a striking contrast to the rebellious disposition of the Jews, Jeremiah
is ordered to put the obedience of the Rechabites to the test, by offering them wine to
drink, the use of which had been strictly prohibited by their father, 1-11. Occasion is
taken from their refusal to reprove the Jews, 12-17, and to pronounce a blessing on the
Eechabites, 18, 19.
1 The word which was communicated to Jeremiah from Jehovah in
the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying :
2 Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and
bring them into the house of Jehovah, and bring them into one
3 of the chambers, and give them wine to drink. Then I took
Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habatziniah, and his
brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Eechabites ;
4 And I brought them into the temple of Jehovah, to the chamber
of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which
was beside the chamber of the princes, which was above the
chamber of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, the keeper of the
5 door. And I placed before the sons of the house of the Rech
abites, goblets ftiU of wine, and cups ; and I said to them. Drink
2. The Rechabites were a tribe of were proselytes of the gate. They ad-
Arabs, of the family of Jethro, Moses's hered with the most rigorous strictness
father-in-law, who came into Palestine to the charge of Jonadab, the son of their
at the same time with the Israelites, but, founder, not to drink wine, and, that
in order to maintain their independence, they might not be tempted to do so, not
occupied no fixed settlements, but led a to plant any vineyards, nor to have
nomadic life, and were thus able ¦without houses and fields. According to Diod.
difficulty to remove on any attempt being Sic. xix. 94, the Nab.ath£eans had the
made to subdue them. Judges i. 16 ; same custom : yiiios SUirrly aiiroh, /u'^Se
I Sam. XV. 6. Though not incorporated irTroy (nreipcty, pi'liTe ipureieiy, p.'hre oXytf
with the Hebrews, Jahn thinks they xc'n'r^ai, fi'lrre oiday KaraiTKeud^eiv ; to

Chap. xxxv. 2-11.] JEREMIAH. 207
6 wine. But they said. We will not drink wine, for Jonadab the
son of Rechab our father, commanded us, saying. Ye shall not
7 drink wine, ye, nor your children for ever. Neither shaU ye
build houses, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyards, nor possess
them ; but ye shall dwell in tents all your days, that ye may
Uve many days on the surface of the ground where ye sojourn.
8 And we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab,
our father, in regard to all that he commanded us, not to drink
wine aU our days, we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters ;
9 And not to build houses for us to dweU in, neither have we any
10 vineyards, nor fields, nor seed ; but we dwell in tents, and have
obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father com-
11 manded us. But it came to pass when Nebuchadnezzar the
king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said. Come, let
us go to Jerusalem from the army of the Chaldeans, and from
the army of Syria ; so we dweU in Jerusalem.
12 Then the word of Jehovah was communicated to Jeremiah, saying;
13 Thus saith Jehovah of Host, the God of Israel : Go and say to
the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, WUl ye
not receive instruction, to listen to my words ? saith Jehovah.
14 The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded
his children, not to drink wine, are performed ; for they have
not drunk it to this day, but have obeyed the command of their
father : and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking,
15 but ye have not Ustened to me. For I have sent to you all my
servants the prophets, rising early and sending, saying : Turn
ye now, every one from his wicked way, and reform your deeds,
and follow not otiier gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in
the land which I have given to you, and to your fathers, but ye
16 inclined not your ear, neither did ye listen to me. Because the
sons of Jonadab have performed the commmand of their father,
which he gave them, but this people have not listened to me ;
17 therefore, thus saith Jehovah, the God of Hosts, the God of
Israel, Behold, I will bring on Judah, and on all the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, all the calamity with which I have threatened
them ; because I have spoken to them, but they have not heard ;
and I have called to them, but they have not answered.
observe which they pledged themselves used, as elsewhere in Jeremiah, for BPlK .
under pain of death. Mention is made 11. At the time here referred to, they
of Jonadab as zealons for the God of had taken refuge from the Chaldeans and
Israel (2 Kings x. 15-23). Drjl'S is Syrians, within the walls of Jerusalem.

208 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XXXVI. 1, 2.
18 And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith
Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, Because ye have obeyed
the command of Jonadab your father, and have observed aU his
charges, and have done according to aU that he commanded you ;
19 therefore thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, Jona
dab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me
forever.
19. Whether the Rechabites stiU ex- existence as a tribe is given in this
ist in Arabia has been doubted; but Dr. verse; but its accomplishment may
' Wolff supposed he received notices of have been dependent upon the fideUty
them when travelling in those parts, ¦with which their descendants kept their
A positive promise of their separate pledge.

CHAPTER XXXVI.
Baruch writes the prophecies of Jeremiah at his dictation on a roll, 1-8 ; reads them to the
.people who had come to worship in the temple, 9, 10 ; and at the request of the princes,
to whom information of the fact had been conveyed, repairs to the royal palace, where
they were assembled, and after reading to them what he had -written, relates to them
how he had done so by dictation, 11-19. He is then warned to secrete himself and Jere
miah, while they inform the king of the contents of the roll, which had been deposited
in the secretary's chamber ; on which the king sends for it and orders it to be read to
him. but, on hearing only a few columns, he is filled with rage, and cutting it, recklessly
throws it into the fire, 20-25; while concealed from the fury of the monarch, Jeremiah
receives a divine charge to write the same prophecies on another roU, and to accompany
them with a specific prediction of the miserable end of Jehoiakim, and of the certain
destruction of the Jews, 26-32.
1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of
Josiah king of Judah, that this word was communicated to Jer-
2 emiah from Jehovah, saying : Take thee a roll of a book, and
write on it all the words which I have spoken to thee, concern
ing Israel, and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations,
from the day I spake to thee, from the days of Josiah till this
3 day. Perhaps the house of Judah will hear aU the calamity
which I purpose to infiict upon them, in order that they may
turn, every one from his wicked way, and I may forgive their
iniquity and their sin.
1, 2. Though the command to write book consisting ofa roll made up of skins,
the prophecies on a roll was given in the scraped and smoothed for use. Comp.
fourth year of Jehoiakim, yet they were Ps. xl. 8, where the same phrase is used
not publicly read till the following year, to describe the Pentateuch. Hitzig con
ver. 9. ^&D Tqyo , u. book^oll, i.e. a tends that the word TOM , was not in

Chap. XXXVI. 1-9.] JEREMIAH. 209
4 Then Jeremiah caUed Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote
from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Jehovah, which he
5 had spoken to him, on a roll of a book. And Jeremiah charged
Baruch, saying, I am shut up, I cannot go into the house of
6 Jehovah ; but go thou, and read in the roll which thou hast
written from my mouth the words of Jehovah in the hearing
of the people, in the house of Jehovah, on a fast day ; and also
in the hearing of all Judah that come from their cities thou
7 shalt read them. Perhaps their suppUcation may be humbly
presented before Jehovah, and they may turn, every one from
his wicked way ; for great is the wrath and the fury which Jeho-
8 vah hath denounced against this people. And Baruch, the son
of Neriah, did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet
charged him, reading in the book the words of Jehovah in the
house of Jehovah.
9 And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, the son of
Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jeru
salem, and all the people that came from the cities of Judah to
10 Jerusalem, proclaimed a fast before Jehovah. And Baruch read
in the book the words of Jeremiah, in the house of Jehovah, in.
the chamber of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the
upper court, at the entrance of the new gate of the house of
11 Jehovah, in the hearing of all the people. And Micaiah, the
son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of
use before the time of Jeremiah, and he was in custody at the time, though,
could only have been employed after as may be inferred from ver. 26, he was
parchment was adopted as a -writing- not in any public prison. Perhaps he
material. Whether his object in making was only shut up in his own house.
this assertion was to bring do-wn the 7. The phrase TiTXn njSJ means to
date of the above Psalm to the time of allow a petition to be laid at the feet of
our prophet, I wiU not affirm ; but he a superior, which is done in the East by
has no authority for fixing upon this as the suppliant's faUing prostrate upon
the time when parchment was invented, the ground.
Herodotus relates that the lonians, from 9. The fast spoken of here, and pro-
the earUest period, wrote on goat and leptically ver. 7, was most likely occa-
sheep skin ; and, familiar as the Hebrews sioned by the victories of Nebuchadnez-
evidently were with dressing skins at the zar, which took place in the fourth year
time of their progress from Egypt, there of Jehoiakim, and filled the whole of
is every reason to suppose that Moses Asia with terror. The institution of
employed such materials in writing the this fast is ascribed, not to the monarch,
Pentateuch. who appears to have been an altogether
5. We have no account of the confine- irreligious prince, but to the people, who
ment of Jeremiah in the days of Jchoia- had taken alarm at the threatening as-
kim, but it is clear from this verse that pect of the^ poUtics ofthe day.
18*

210

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XXXVI. 10-18.

12

13

14

1516

17

18

Jehovah from the book ; and he went down to the house of the
king, to the chamber of the secretary ; and behold, aU the
princes were sitting there ; Elishama the secretary, and Delaiah
the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gem
ariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah,
and all the princes. And Micaiah declared to them aU the
words which he had heard while Baruch was reading in the
book in the hearing of the people. Then aU the princes sent
to Baruch Jehudi, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah,
the son of Cushi, saying. The roll in which thou didst read in
the hearing of the people, take in thy hand, and come : and
Baruch, the son of Neriah, took the roU in his hand, and came to
them. And they said to him. Sit down now, and read it in our
hearing ; and Baruch read in their hearing. And it came to
pass, when they heard all the words, they were afraid, each with
his neighbor ; and they said to Baruch, We will certainly apprise
the king of all these words. And they asked Baruch, saying.
Tell us now how didst thou write all these words from his
mouth ? And Baruch said to them. He dictated to me aU these

10. The ri'i3\33 were chambers in the
courts of the temple, mostly at the gates,
which were occupied by the priests and
Levites, and where the various things
necessary for the temple service were
kept. It was from the balcony of one
of these that Baruch read to the people
assembled in the court below. The word
!l3\23^ is used, ver. 12, of the chamber
in the royal palace occupied by the sec
retary of state.
11. It is not improbable that Micaiah,
the grandson of Shaphan, like most of
the family, of whom honorable mention
is made, was a pious person, and in com
municating the information respecting
Baruch, was actuated by religious mo
tives, produced by what he had heard
read. He did not, therefore, give the
information with the -view of bringing
Baruch or Jeremiah into trouble.
12. The officers and princes appeal- to
have been holding a council of state
when the information reached them.
14. What office Jehudi held is not
known ; but that he was of a good fam

ily may be inferred from the particularity
with which his ancestors are mentioned.
From his being despatched to Baruch,
however, it would seem that he fiUed
some subordinate station.
15. Michaelis deems it improbable
that a scribe, such as Baruch, should be
requested to sit in the presence of the
royal councillors, and proposes to read
3113 , turn and read, or read again, instead
of 313 , sit, and appeals in support of his
opinion to trd\iy aydyyaiOi of the LXX.,
and 3in of the Targ. His conjecture,
however, is not confirmed by any MS.
authority. 17, 18. The princes were so impressed
by the awful denunciations which they
heard, that they were anxious to ascer
tain whether they had really been deUv
ered by the prophet, or whether Baruch
might have written them without his
authority or knowledge, merely at ran
dom, and without being able to vouch
for their accuracy. It is maintained hy
Bcrtholdt and Hitzig that, in dictating
to Baruch, our prophet read his com-

Chap. XXXVI. 17-23.]

JEREMIAH.

211

19 words, and I wrote them in the book with ink. Then said the
princes to Baruch, Go, hide thyself, thou and Jeremiah, and let
no man know where you are.
20 And they went in to the king into the court, but deposited the
book in the chamber of Elishama the secretary ; and they re-
21 lated all the words in the hearing of the king. And the king
sent Jehudi to take the roll, and he took it out of the chamber
of Elishama the secretary, and Jehudi read it in the hearing of
the king, and in the hearing of all the princes who stood be^de
22 the king. Now the king was sitting in the winter-palace, in the
23 ninth month, and the stove was burning blfore him. And it
came to pass when Jehudi had read three or four columns, he
cut it with a penknife and threw it into the fire which was in

munications from MSS. which he had
formerly written, or which had been
-written by others. The only reason as
signed for this opinion is, that it is in the
highest degree improbable that he could
have imagined himself capable of reciting
them from memory after the lapse of
twenty years. But, not to insist upon
the aid which he might warrantably
expect from the Spirit of inspiration, it
appears evident from the reply made by
Baruch, who, when asked how he had
written the matters which he had read
to the people, affirmed that it was simply
by oral dictation on the part of the
prophet. It is true, the same verb, S^iJ ,
is employed, which is properly rendered
by read in other parts of the chajjter ;
but, instead of its being said that he
read, ''SB'? , from a booh, or ThW2 ,
from a roll, it is expressly stated that
liQa ^-\p , he read, dictated, or recited,
from his mouth ; phraseology which could
only be intended to convey the idea that
the dictation was purely oral, or. accord
ing to our analogous idiom, hy word of
mouth, i'^^ , ink, occurs only here.
Chald. i<n!l'''n; Syr. \J.a.*^, Arab.
is|,t>, atramentarium. The substantive
is supposed to be derived from H^^ , to
be black. Comp. the Greek u4\av, ink,
from ine'Aos, black. Blayuey's resolution

of the word cannot be sustained. The
specification of the material with which
he wrote, was quite natural to a person
situated as Baruch was.
19. Jeremiah, being probably only
under house-arrest, would find no diffi
culty in availing himself of the advice
given by the princes.
22. In the East, neither chimneys nor
ovens are used, but, when the weather
is cold a pitcher of brass or iron contain
ing burning wood, or charcoal, is used
for the purpose of warming the chambers,
and when the wood has burned to embers
a cover is placed over the pot to make it
retain the heat. Blayney's conjecture,
that for nxrt nxi we should read
nx nntJI , is altogether gratuitous.
Eurst derives the word flX from nx , to
glow, ox burn. Comp. the Tb-ab. _,|,
arsit. liJ| , ferbuit.
23. The ninb^ were not the leaves of
the book, as Hitzig contends, but the
columns of writing on the parchment, so
called from their resemblance in form to
doors. ^B6il "'?Pl , literally the writer's
knife, which is employed for cutting and
trimming the reed with which the scribes
in the East write. It is uncertain whether
Jehudi or the king cut the roll, and threw
it into the fire, but it is more Ukely it
was the latter, except we suppose that
he had shown such marks of indignation

212 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XXXVI. 23-32.
the stove, till all the roll was consumed in the fire which was in
24 the stove. And they were not afraid, neither did they rend
their garments, neither the king, nor any of his ministers who
25 heard all these words. Nevertheless Elnathan, and Delaiah,
and Gemariah interceded with the king that the roll might not
26 be burned, but he would not listen to them. And the king
commanded Jerahmeel the king's son, and Seraiah the son of
Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to apprehend Baruch
, the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but Jehovah hid them.
27 Then the word of Jehovah was communicated to Jeremiah after
the king had •burned the roll, and the words which Baruch had
28 written from the mouth of Jeremiah, saying. Take thee again
another roll, and write on it aU the former words which were
on the former roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burnt.
29 And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Thus saith
Jehovah, Thou hast burned this roll, saying. Why hast thou
written on it ? saying. The king of Babylon will certainly come
and destroy this land, and cause man and beast to cease from it.
30 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah, concerning Jehoiakim king of
Judah, He shall not have one sitting on the throne of Da-vid,
and his dead body shall be thrown out to the heat by day, and
31 to the frost by night. And I will punish him, and his seed, and
his ministers for their iniquity, and I will bring on them, and
on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all
the calamity with which I have threatened them, but they did
not listen.
32 Then Jeremiah took another roll and gave it to Baruch, the son
as to inspire Jehudi with the conviction to affirm, that they were not fulfilled ;
that if he did it the act would gratify but that none of his posterity should
the monarch. occupy the throne, which accords with
24, 25. There obviously existed a dif- fact. In the East, while it is extremely
ference of character between the coun- hot during the day, the nights are some-
ciUors and the courtiers, or ministers of times proportionally cold. Comp. Gen.
the king. While the latter were un- xxxi. 40.
moved by what they had heard, the 32. It is not clear whether the addi-
former regarded the document as con- tional predictions were placed upon the
taining a message from God. roU at the time, or whether they were
30. Comp. chap. xxii. 18, 19. The supplemented at a subsequent period.
words IIT N&3"3? 312311 ifc-nijn'^-Nb , If we adopt the latter supposition, it
there sliall not he to him one sitting on tlie will serve to support the fact which
throne of David, do not imply that he many have assumed, that Baruch was
should have no successor, as Hitzig con- afterwards regularly employed by Jere-
strnes them, and then has the hardihood miah in committing his prophecies to

Chap. XXXVH. I-IC] JEREMIAH. 213
of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it from the mouth of Jer
emiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim, king of Judah,
had burned in the fire : and he fm-ther added to them many
words such as these.
¦writing. Comp. chap. xlv. At all events roll was written, being found among the
it wUl account for those chapters which rest ; only allowing that they were not
belong to the time of Zedekiah, the sue- entered in the order in which they now
cesser of Jehoiakim, in whose reign the appear.

CHAPTER XXXVII.
The Chaldean army having raised the siege in order to meet that of Pharaoh, Zedekiah
sends a messenger to Jeremiah, with the request that he would pray to Jehovah ou
behalf of the Jews, 1-5 ; to which he receives the reply, that their enemies should return
and take Jerusalem, 6-10. Availing himself of the absence of the Chaldeans, Jeremiah
attempts to leave the city and retire to his native place, but is arrested as a deserter and
thrown into prison, 11-15. The king, after having a private conference with him, abates
the rigor of his confinement, 16-21.
1 And king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned instead of Coniah,
the, son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar had made king in
2 the land of Judah. But he, and his ministers, and the people
of the land did not hearken to the words of Jehovah, which he
3 spake by Jeremiah the prophet. And king Zedekiah sent Jehu-
chal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah
the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying : Pray now for us to
4 Jehovah our God. Now Jeremiah came in and went out
among the people ; for they had not committed him to prison.
5 And the army of Pharaoh had come out from Egypt ; and the
Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report of
6 them, and went up from Jerusalem. Then the word of Jehovah
1. Erom this chapter to the forty- siege of Jerusalem which they had raised,
fourth inclusive, we have little else than was anxious to obtain information from
an account of events chiefly relating to Jehovah, whose favor he solicited
the personal history of the prophet, through the prayers of Jeremiah. The
^''4^. 1 whom, refers to Zedekiah, and not mission sent to the prophet was different
to Coniah. (2 Kings xxiv. 17.) from that mentioned chapter xxi. 1, 2 ;
3-5. Zedekiah, uncertain what might for, though Zephaniah is named in both
be the issue of the conflict between the places, yet Pashhur accompanied him
Chaldeans and Egyptians, but probably on the former occasion, Jehuchal on this.
alarmed by some indications on the part 6-10. The divine reply was not more
of tho former of a design to resume the favorable in the present instance than

214 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XXXVH. 6-16.
7 was communicated to Jeremiah the prophet, saying : Thus saith
Jehovah the God of Israel : Thus shall ye say to the king of
Judah who hath sent you to me to inquire of me ; Behold, the
army of Pharaoh which hath come out for your help, shall return
8 to Egypt, their own land. And the Chaldeans shall ret-urn and
fight against this city ; and they shall take it, and shall burn it with
9 fire. Thus saith Jehovah : Deceive not yourselves, saying, the
Chaldeans will entirely depart irom us ; for they shall not depart.
10 For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans
who are at war with you, and there remained of them only
wounded men, yet they should rise, every one in his tent, and
burn this city with fire.
11 And it came to pass, when the army of the Chaldeans were gone
12 up from Jerusalem because of the army of Pharaoh, that Jere
miah went out from Jerusalem, to go into the land of Benjamin,
13 that he might take his portion thence among the people. And
as he was in the gate of Benjamin, there was an officer of the
guard there, whose name was Jirijah, the son of Shelemiah, the
son of Hananiah ; and he apprehended Jeremiah the prophet,
14 saying : Thou art going over to the Chaldeans. But Jeremiah
said. It is false, I am not going over to the Chaldeans ; but Jirijah
would not listen to him, but apprehended Jeremiah, and brought
15 him to the princes. And the princes were angry with Jeremiah,
and smote him ; and they committed him to prison in the house
of Jonathan the secretary ; for they had made it the prison.
it had been in the former. See chapter Jeremiah in retiring into Benjamin, was
xxi. that he might avail himself of the prod-
12. The words DSri Tjin^ DlSa phtlh , uce of the property which he possessed
Kimchi, our common version (in the there, and which he might require dur-
margin), RosenmiiUer, Dahler, and some ing the further siege of the city. That
others, construe to mean, that Jeremiah no reference can be had to the field which
slipped away from Jerusalem in order to he purchased from Hanameel (chapter
secure his personal safety ; but this con- xxxii.), is clear, since that purchase was
struction is entirely founded on the cir- not effected till after the present trans-
cumstance, that p?n signifies to he action.
smooth, like tSS'a and C35E , which are 13. 3S3 , especiaUy when foUowed by
used in reference to escaping by slipping h{< or hs, signifies to fall away, desert,
away from danger. P?fl, however, is or go over to another party. (1 Sam.
never thus used, but signifies cither to xxix. 3; Jer. xxi. 9; xxxix. 9.)
make smooth or divtrfi;, in which last ac- 15,16. The princes at the court of
ceptation it is very often employed in ref- Zedekiah were not the same who had
erencc to possessions. It is so taken here been at that of Jehoiakim, and who were
by the Vulg., Targ., Syr. phtTS for the affected on hearing the predictions of
regular Hiphil p'^hKys • The object of Jcremiali read by Baruch (chapter xxx-vi.

Chap. XXXVn. 16-21.] JEEEMIAH. 215
16 When Jeremiah had entered into the dungeon and into the vaults,
17 and Jeremiah had remained there many days ; then king Zed
ekiah sent and took him ; and the king asked him secretly in his
house, and said. Is there a word from Jehovah ? and Jeremiah
said, There is ; and he said, Thou shalt be delivered into the
hand of the king of Babylon. Then Jeremiah said to king Zed-
18 ekiah. What ofience have I committed against thee, or against
thy ministers, or against this people, that ye have put me in
19 prison ? And where are your prophets who prophesied to you,
saying. The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor
20 against this land. Therefore let my lord the king listen now,
I pray ; let my supplication be humbly presented before thee,
and permit me not to be sent back to the house of Jonathan the
21 secretary, that I die not there. And Zedekiah the king ordered
that they should commit Jeremiah to the court of the guard, and
that there should be given to him daily a cake of bread from the
bakers' street, till all the bread in the city were spent ; and Jer
emiah remained in the court of the guard.
16, 19). Strange as it may appear to 17, 18. We have here a striking in
ns, it is no uncommon thing in the East stance of the bold and uncompromising
to appropriate some part of the private fidelity of the Hebrew prophets. If Jer-
honse of a pubUc officer, to serve as a emiah had consulted his temporal inter-
a prison. That selected for the recep- ests, he would have prophesied smooth
tion of Jeremiah, appears to have been things to the king ; but, regardless of
of a squalid description, consisting of a consequences, he unreservedly announces
weU or pit, -with vaults round the sides, to Zedekiah his capture by the Chal-
in which the prisoners were lodged, deans.
Some have thought that STi^'Sn mean 19. The 1 in 'i''!* is paragogic, and
curved posts or stocks, in which they were the word is quite equivalent to TWA of
held in a bent and distorted posture ; the Keri.
but the word seems rather to be descrip- 21. Comp. Prov. xxvUi. 23.
tive of arched cavities or vaults.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Jeremiah predicts the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, 1-3. For this he was cast
into a miserable dungeon, in which he must have perished, had not Ebedmelech ob
tained the royal leave to transfer him to his former place of confinement, 4r-13. The
rest of the chapter contains an account of what transpired at a secret interview between
the king and the prophet, 14-28.
1 And Shephatiah, the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of
Pashhur heard, as did also Juchal, the son of Shelemiah, and

216 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XXXVIII. 4-9.
Pashhur the son of Malchiah, the words which Jeremiah spake
2 to all the people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah : He that remain-
eth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the
pestilence; but he that goeth out' to the Chaldeans shall Uve ;
3 yea, his life shall be to him for a prey, and he shall live. Thus
saith Jehovah : This city shall certainly be delivered into the
4 hand of the king of Babylon, and he shaU take it. Therefore
the princes said to the king, Let now this man be put to death ;
for by this means he weakeneth the hands of the mUitary that
remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, speaking to
them according to these words ; for this man does not seek the
5 peace of this people, but their destruction. And Zedekiah the
king said. Behold, he is in your hand ; for the king can do noth-
6 ing against you. Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into
the dungeon of Malchijah, the son of the king, which was in the
court of the guard, and they let Jeremiah down with ropes ; and
in the dungeon was no water, but mire ; and Jeremiah sank in
the mire.
7 Now when Ebedmelech the Cushite, an eunuch who was in the
house of the king, heard that they had committed Jeremiah to
the dungeon, and that the king was sitting in the gate of Benja-
8 min, Ebedmelech went from the house of the king, and spake
9 to the king, saying, My Lord, O king, these men have acted
unjustly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet,
whom they have thrown into the dungeon ; for he wiU die of
hunger in the place where he is, because there is no longer any
4. The princes might justly have ac- knowledges his impotence to carry any
cused Jeremiah of fostering rebellion, if measure without their concurrence — a
he had not afforded incontestable evi- thing very unusual with Oriental mon-
dence that he held a divine commission, archs. He would have protected Jere-
or if the government itself had not been miah if he had been able.
in a false position ; but Zedekiah, who 6. The prison into which Jeremiah
was evidently a weak prince, had been was now thro-wn, was u, cistern which
prevailed upon by his courtiers to rebel had been emptied of its water during
against the king of Babylon ; and, as the siege, and in which nothing remained
there was no hope of being able to hold but the sUme at the bottom. Its dspth
out against his army, it was for the forbade all hope of escape.
good of the people, on tho principles of 7-9. Ebedmelech was in all probabU-
mere human policy, to advise them to ity the keeper of the royal harem, and
surrender. The execution of the proph- as such, according to the custom of the
et, therefoi-e, would have been unjust. East, had private access to the king,
5. The king was evidently disgusted and opportunities of famiUar conversa-
at the conduct of the princes, but ac- tion with him. MichaeUs remarks that

Chap. XXXVin. 9-17.] JEREMIAH 217
10 bread in the city. Then the king ordered Ebedmelech the
Cushite, saying. Take hence at thy disposal thirty men, and
11 take up Jeremiah out of the dungeon before he die. And Ebed
melech took the men at his disposal, and went into the house of
the king under the treasury, and took thence old torn clothes
and old worn-out garments, and let them down to Jeremiah by
12 cords into the dungeon. And Ebedmelech the Cushite said to
Jeremiah, Put now the old torn and worn-out clothes under
13 thine armholes, under the cords ; and Jeremiah did so. And
they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and brought him up out
of the dungeon ; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the
guard.
14 Then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet to
him into the third entrance, which was in the temple of Jehovah ;
and the king said to Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing ; hide noth-
15 ing from me. Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I should tell
thee, wilt thou not certainly put me to death ? and if I should
16 give thee advice, thou wilt not listen to me. Then Zedekiah
the king sware secretly to Jeremiah, saying, As Jehovah Uveth,
he who hath made us this soul, I wiU not put thee to death,
neither wiU I deliver thee into the hand of these men who seek
thy life.
17 Then said Jeremiah to Zedekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of
Hosts, the God of Israel, If thou wilt voluntarily go out to the
princes of the king of Babylon, thy soul shall live, and this city
shall not be burned with fire, but thou shalt live, and thy house.
18 But if thou wUt not go out to the princes of the king of Baby-
the eunuchs of the present day, to whom part of the temple, favorable to the pri-
the charge of the harems is committed, vacy of confidential conversation.
are mostly from Nubia or Abyssinia. 16. HX, which is left unpointed in
10. As thirty men would not have the text, is altogether omitted in nine-
been wanted merely for drawing up Jer- teen MSS. and eight more originally,
emiah out of the cistern, the king must and is marked by the Masoretes 3^n3 .
have ordered them for the protection ""Ip «h'\ , i.e. written, but not to be read-.
of Ebedmelech against any preventive This, however, is not the only instance
measures that might have been adopted in which this particle is placed, for the
by the princes. sake of emphasis, before the nominative
14. Various conjectures have been case, in the prophecies of Jeremiah.
advanced respecting the K13'a, entrance, 17. Nebuchadnezzar himself was not
here referred to, but nothing satisfactory present at the siege, but had fixed his
has been advanced. The curious reader quarters at Riblah, in the land of Ha-
may consult Blayney. So much is cer- math (2 Kings xxv. 6). NSn NS^ ex-
tain, that it must have been some retired presses intensity, and, in such cases as
19

218 JEREMIAH. [Chap. XXXVm. 17-26.
lon, then shall this city be deUvered into the hand of the Chal
deans, and they shaU burn it with fire ; and thou shalt not escape
19 out of their hand. Then said Zedekiah the kmg to Jeremiah,
I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Chaldeans,
lest they deliver me into their hands, and they wiU mock me.
20 But Jeremiah said, They shaU not deUver thee ; obey now the
voice of Jehovah in reference to that which I say to thee, that
21 it may be well with thee, and thy soul may Uve. But if thou
refuse to go out, this is the word which Jehovah hath shown me :
22 Behold, all the women who are left in the house of the king of
Judah shall be brought out to the princes of the king of Baby
lon ; and they shall say •
Thy friends have incited thee, and have prevailed with thee ;
Thy feet are sunk in the mire ; they are turned away back.
23 And all thy wives, and thy children, they shaU bring out to the
Chaldeans, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand ; for
thou shalt be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and
this city shaU be burned with fire.
24 Then said Zedekiah to Jeremiah, let no man know of these words,
25 that thou die not. But if the princes should hear that I have
spoken with thee, and shall come to thee, and say to thee. Tell
us now what thou hast said to the king, conceal it not from us,
and we will not put thee to death ; also what the king said to
26 thee. Then thou shalt say to them, I presented my humble sup
plication before the king, that he would not cause me to return

the present, the voluntariness of the ac- the part of the Jewish deserters, in case
tion. While the councillors of Zedekiah, he surrendered to the Chaldeans. The
who had effected the revolt from the prophet now infoi-ms him that if he re-
king of Babylon, had no reason to hope fused to submit, he would become the
that they might escape without punish- object of more cutting derision on the
ment, that monarch himself might ex- part of his own mistresses, who, in order
pect, if he surrendered to tho Chaldeans, the more to gratify their new lords,
to be treated with leniency, and even to would exult over his faUen condition.
be confirmed in his position as a tribu- The "friends" of the king were his min-
tary king. isters and the false prophets. The lan-
22. It would appear from what is here guage to be employed by the female
stated, that many of the female inmates captives is poetic in form, ^ins 'XOi ,
of the palace had been carried off by the they are turned away hack, refer not to the
pestilence or famine — a less dishonor- feet of the king, but to his friends who
able fate than that of those who should had seduced him, and then left him in
fall into the power of the enemy. Zed- the lurch.
ekiah had expressed his fear lest he 26, 27. The princes, who had had
should be made the butt of mockery ou their spies upon the proceedings of the

Chap. XXXIX. 1, 2.] JEEEMIAH. 219
27 to the house of Jonathan, to die there. And all the princes
came to Jeremiah, and asked him, and he told them according
to all these words which the king had ordered him ; and they
went away in sUence from him, for the conversation was not
28 overheard. So Jerenaiah remained in the court of the guard
till the day that Jerusalem was taken ; and he was there when
Jerusalem was taken.
king, were anxious to ascertain what had 28. The words : fl^3?? IliJ^.^ Tf^T^"]
passed between him and Jeremiah ; bnt pPlUI"!"; , and he was (there) when Jerusa-
ha-ving no right to the information, Jer- lem was taken, are omitted in three MSS.,
emiah is to be justified in confining him- and have been originally omitted in three
self to the single point relative to his more, as they are in the LXX., Arab.,
not being again cast into the dungeon, and Syr. versions. In some other MSS.
which, there is every reason to believe, a space is left for them. Some inter-
was in accordance -with truth. There preters would make them begin the next
having been none present at the inter- chapter ; but they less aptly fit in there
view who could bear -witness to the con- than they do here, if only we supply the
trary, the princes were obUged to let the adverb 3B , which I have taken the Ub-
matter pass. erty to express in the version.

CHAPTER XXXIX.
This chapter consists of two parts : the first contains an account of the capture of Jerusa
lem, the flight, seizure, and punishment of Zedekiah, the removal of the people as cap
tives to Babylon, and the fate of Jeremiah, 1-14 ; the second relates to a message which
the prophet had been charged by Jehovah to deliver to Ebedmelech, assuring him of
his safety in the midst of the catastrophe, 15-18.
Verses 1, 2, 4t-13 are printed in small italics in the translation of Ewald, who considers
them to he interpolations by a later hand, takeil for the most part from chapter Iii. and
2 Kings xxv. ; but neither the reasons which he assigns for the opinion, nor those of
Hitzig, who, as usual, deals much in the minutije, are at all satisfactory. It is, however,
to be observed, that verses 4r-13 are notin the Vatican edition of the LXX., though they
have been adopted by Grabe and Breitinger from the Complutensian edition. They are
in aU the Hebrew MSS., and in the Targ., Syr., Hexaplar Syr., and Vulg.
1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the tenth month,
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and all his army came against
2 Jerusalem, and besieged it. In the eleventh year of Zedekiah,
in the fourth month, on the ninth .of the month, a breach was
1. Though Nebuchadnezzar was pres- 2. The siege continued about a year
ent when his army first laid siege to Je- and a half, not reckoning the short time
msalem, yet, as we have seen, he after- during which the Chaldeans broke up
wards fixed his quarters at Riblah. See to give battle to the army of Pharaoh.
verse 17 of the preceding chapter and 3. Jerusalem consisted anciently of
verse 5 of the present. an upper and a lower city : the former

220

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XXXIX. 3, 7

3 made in the city. And all the princes of the king of Babylon
entered, and sat in the middle gate — Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-
nebo, Sarsechim, chief of the eunuchs, Nergal-sharezer, chief
of the magi, and all the rest of the princes of the king of
Babylon.
4 And it came to pass, when Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and all
the military saw them, they fled, and went out by night from the
city, in the direction of the king's garden, by the gate between
5 the walls ; and they went out in the direction of the plain. And
the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them, and overtook
Zedekiah in the steppes of Jericho, and they took him and
brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, at Riblah,
in the land of Hamath ; and he pronounced judgment upon him.
6 And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Eiblah
before his eyes ; the king of Babylon slew also all the nobles
7 of Judali. And he dug out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound

comprehending Mount Zion with a
strong fortress, occupied the most eleva
ted ground ; the latter, to the north of
it, was considerably lower, and being
more accessible to the Chaldeans, they
made a breach in it, and entering, took
up their position opposite the gate of the
wall which ran up between the two divi
sions. By T(^.^T\ , the middle, we are to
understand this wall, which formed a
kind of breastwork to Mount Zion. I
consider all the names here specified to
he nomina propria except b^'l&"3'^ ,
Bab-saris, and il^"^'^ , Bab-mag, the for
mer of which denotes the chief of the
eunuchs, and the latter the chief of the ma
gi, 5h , Persic, kjo , mog, magus, great,
powerful. The Magi were originaUy a
sacerdotal caste among the Medes, re
nowned for their learning and influence,
and the chief supporters of the Zoroas-
trian religion. They gradually found
their way into other countries ; and, at
the time of our prophet, had estabUshed
themselves at the court of Babylon,
where, from their knowledge of astron
omy, they practised the arts of astrology.
It was, no doubt, Avith a view to obtain
from their knowledge of this science the

issue of his expedition, that Nebuchad
nezzar had brought along with him their
chief, who, from his high rank took his
place among the princes or generals of
the army.
4. If the king and those who defended
the upper city had only had a sufficient
supply of provisions they might have
held out for a considerable time against
the Chaldeans, but having no hope of
successful resistance in the circumstances
in which they were placed, they took to
fUght by the double wall which ran
along the south side of Zion, and reached
the point whence two roads struck off,
the one to Bethlehem, and the other
across the south side of .the Mount of
Olives. They appear to have taken the
latter route in order to reach the Jordan,
having crossed which, they might have
escaped into Arabia Deserta.
5. Riblah, an ancient and celebrated
city on the northern boundai-y of Pales
tine, in the country of Hamath, the ruins
of which are found in the present Rib-
leh, thirty or forty miles south of Ha
math, on the Orontes.
6,7. The punishment of Zedekiah was
doubly cruel; first, his being made to
witness the execution of his own sons,

Chap. XXXIX. 6-14.] JEEEMIAH. 221
8 him with fetters of copper to bring him to Babylon. And the
Chaldeans burned the house of the king, and the houses of the
people with fire ; and they demolished the walls of Jerusalem.
9 And the rest of the people who remained in the city, and those
who had gone over to him, and the rest of the people who
remained, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the body-guard, carried
10 away captive to Babylon. But Nebuzaradan, the captain of the
body-guard, left of the poor of the people, who had nothing, in the
land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields on that day.
11 Now Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, gave Jeremiah in charge
12 to Nebuzaradan, the captain of the body-guard, saying, Take
him and set thine eyes upon him, and do him no harm ; but do
13 to him as he shall say to thee. Then Nebuzaradan, the captain
of the body-guard, and Nebushazban, chief of the eunuchs, and
Nergal-sharezer, chief of the magi, and all the princes of the
14 king of Babylon, sent and took Jeremiah from the court of the
guard, and committed him to Gredaliah, the son of Ahikam, the
son of Shaphan, that he might bring him out to the house : so
he dwelt among the people.
15 Now the word of Jehovah was communicated to Jeremiah while
16 he was shut up in the court ofthe guard, saying. Go and speak
to Ebedmelech the Cushite, saying.
Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel :
Behold, I will bring my words upon this city
For calamity, and not for good ;
They shall even take efiect before thee in that day.
17 1 will deliver thee in that day, saith Jehovah ;
And thou shalt not be given up
Into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid.
and then his being deprived of sight by ekiah to submit, which will account for
having his eyes dug out, a mode of pun- the instructions here given to treat him
ishment not unusual in the East. 1W , mth kindness.
from ^W , to excavate, dig, dig out. Mi- 14. It cannot exactly be detennined
chaelis and Scholz think he was deprived what we are to understand by T'^!^T\ ,
of sight by having a red-hot iron held but it may be here used of that which,
before his eyes. To his being carried as by way of eminence, is frequently called
a blind captive to Babylon, reference is the house, namely, the royal palace. To
made Ezek. xii. 13. ^'''23 for 6<''3n9 . this Jeremiah was immediately removed
11, 12. It is most probable that some as an asylum, where, till the city was
of the Jews who had gone over to the completely taken, he remained among
Chaldeans had informed them of the those who had taken refuge in the same
efibrts made by Jeremiah to induce Zed- place.
19*

222 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. XL. 1-5.
18 For I will certainly rescue thee.
And thou shalt not fall by the sword ;
But thou shalt have thy life for a prey,
Because thou hast trusted in me,
Saith Jehovah.

CHAPTBH XL.
This chapter contains au account of the release of Jeremiah at Eamah, 1 ; his having it
placed at his option whether to accompany the court of Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon, or
remain in the land of Judah, — which latter he preferred, 2-6 ; the peaceable settlement
of those Jews who remained-in the land, under Gedaliah, 7-12, and a warning given to
Gedaliah of an attempt against his life by Ishmael.
1 The word which was communicated to Jeremiah from Jehovah,
after Nebuzaradan the captain of the body-guard had sent him
away from Ramah — having taken him, bound with manacles,
among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were car
ried away captive to Babylon.
2 And the captain of the body-guard took Jeremiah, and said to him,
Jehovah thy God threatened this calamity in reference to this
3 place ; and Jehovah hath brought it, and done according as he
said : because ye have sinned against Jehovah, and have not
4 obeyed his voice, this thing hath happened to you. And now I
have released thee this day from the manacles which were on
thy hands : if it appear good to thee to come with me to Babylon,
come, and I will take care of thee ; but if it appear evil to thee
to come with me to Babylon, forbear ; see, all the land is before
thee, where it appears good and proper for thee to go, thither
1. As, contrary to the usual style of discrepancy. Though immediately re-
the book, no oracle or prophecy, but leased from confinement on the enemy's
purely historical matter, foUows the in- gaining possession of the royal palace, it
troductory words of this chapter, Hou- would appear that, in the confusion
bigant proposes to cancel them; but which afterwards took place on the burn-
they are to be regarded as anticipative ing of the city, he was lost in the crowd,
of the communication (chap. xlii. 7-22). and led away in chains with the other
Previous to the delivery of this commu- captives. On reaching Eamah he was
nication, the prophet relates the circum- discovered by the captain of the body-
stances which were consequent upon the guard, and again set at liberty.
destruction of Jerusalem. 3. The Keri properly supplies the
Between what is here stated relative Article before IST .
to Jeremiah, and the statement given in 5. From the signs of hesitation which
the preceding chapter, there is no real Jeremiah manifested, the captain eon-

Chap. XL. 5-12.] JEEEMIAH. 223
5 go. And before he made any reply, Eeturn, he said, to Gedaliah
the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Bab
ylon hath appointed over the cities of Judah, and, dwell with
him among the people, or go whithersoever it appears good to
thee to go ; so the captain of the body-guard gave him provision
6 for the way, and a present, and sent him away. And Jeremiah
came to GedaHah, the son of Ahikam, to Mizpah, and dwelt with
him among the people who were left in the land.
7 Now when all the captains of the forces who were in the field, they
and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed
Gedaliah the son of Ahikam over the land, and had given him
charge of men and women and children, and of the poor of the
land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon ;
8 then there came also to Gedaliah to Mizpah, 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
Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and
9 their men. And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Sha
phan, sware to them, and to their men, saying. Fear not to serve
the Chaldeans ; remain in the land, and serve the king of Baby-
10 lon, and it shall be well with you. And I, behold, I reside at
Mizpah, to wait upon the Chaldeans who may come to us ; and
as for you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them
into your vessels, and dwell in your cities which you have taken.
11 And all the Jews also who were in Moab, and among the chU
dren of Ammon, and in Edom, and those who were in aU the
countries, when they heard that the king of Babylon had left a
remnant of Judah, and that he had appointed over them Geda-
cluded that he would rather remain in two MSS., eight originaUy, and perhaps
the land than go to Babylon, and not one more, read 'i3 , which is also the
only sent him to Gedaliah, but provided reading of the LXX., Arab., and Targ.
him with victuals for his journey, and For "'BIS the Keri has "SIJ) .
dismissed him with a present. 10. Di^iD3il "ViSb 1H?5 , to stand be-
6. There were two towns of the name fore the Chaldeans, means here to receive
of Mizpah, one in Gilead beyond Jordan, them, transact business with them, and
(Judges X. 17; xi. 11, 34); and the render them any assistance they might
other in Benjnmin, about two hours' require.
journey to the northwest of Jerusalem. 11, 12. The Jews who lived in the
That the latter is here intended, see country, and had not been able to raise
chap. xii. the contributions laid upon them by the
8. li^^iil is not found in two MSS., Chaldean army, had fled into the neigh-
nor originally in four more, and is omit- boring cotmtries.
ted in the LXX. Instead of ""Sa , twenty-

224 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. XLL 1-3.
12 liah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, even all the Jews
returned from all the places whither they had been driven, and
came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah to Mizpah, and coUected
wine and summer fruit in great abundance.
13 And Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces
who were in the field, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, and said to
14 him, Art thou at all aware that Baalis, the king of the children
of Ammon, hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee ?
15 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them. Then
Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly,
saying. Let me go, I beseech thee, and slay Ishmael the son of
Nethaniah, and no man shall know it : why should he slay thee,
and all the Jews who are collected to thee be scattered, and the
16 remnant of Judali perish? But Gedaliah the son of AMkam
said to Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing,
for thou speakest falsely respecting Ishmael.

CHAPTER XLI.
Ishmael carries his murderous plot into execution, and kiUs likewise the Jews and Chal
deans who were with the governor, 1-3; deceitfully murders eighty pijgrims who were
on their way to Jerusalem, 4-9 ; and attempts to escape with captives and booty to the
eountry of the Ammonites ; hut, having been pursued by Johanan, he was able to carry
only eight with him across the Jordan, 10-16. After this, Johanan, afraid of the ven
geance ofthe Chaldeans, attempts to flee into Egypt, 16-18.
1 And it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son
of Nethaniah, the son of Elishamah, of the seed royal, and the
magnates of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah,
the son of Ahikam, to Mizpah ; and they ate bread together
2 there in Mizpah. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah rose, and
the ten men that were with him, and smote GedaUah, the son
of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, and put him to
death, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.
3 And Ishmael slew also all the Jews who were with Gedaliali at
Mizpah, and the Chaldeans, the military who were fonnd there.
1. Ishmael and tho other Jews here 3. The words, rTOhban iCSS PN ,
referred to, had escaped at the taking of limited the persons that were slain to the
Jerusalem three months before, (chap, militai-y ; tho rest, among whom douh^
xxxix. 2, and found refuge at the Am- less was our prophet, were carried away
monitish court. captive. See verses 10, 16.

Chap. XLL 5-9.] JEEEMIAH. 225
4 And it came to pass on the second day after Gedaliah had been
put to death, and no man knew it, that there came eighty men
5 from Shechem, from ShUo, and from Samaria, having their beards
shaven and their clothes rent, and having inflicted wounds upon
themselves, carrying oblations and frankincense, to bring them to
6 the house of Jehovah. And Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, went
out from Mizpah to meet them, going slowly and weeping ; and
it came to pass when he feU in with them he said to them, Come
7 in to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. And it came to pass when
they had come into the midst of the city that Ishmael, the son
of Nethaniah, butchered them (and threw them) into the midst
8 of the cistern, he and the men who were with him. But ten
men were found among them who said to Ishmael, Do not put
us to death, for we have provisions hid in the field, wheat and
barley and oU and honey ; and he forbore, and did not put them
9 to death among their brethren. Now the cistern into which
Ishmael threw aU the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain
belonging to Gedaliah, was that which Asa the king had made
on account of Baasha, king of Israel : Ishmael, the son of Neth-
10 aniah, filled it with the slain. And Ishmael carried away captive
aU the rest of the people who were at Mizpah, the daughters of
5. The persons here spoken of he- most translators, I have supplied on the-
longed to the remainder of the ten tribes, grounds that >'^t ill accords with the
afterward known by the name of Samar- verb BniU , and its being expressly stated
itans, but who had retained their vene- in the ninth verse that the dead bodies
ration for the God of their fathers, and were cast into the cistern, which clearly
probably were in the habit of repairing implies that they had been slain out of it.
at stated seasons to Jerusalem. The 8. It cannot be ascertained whether
plight in which they now appeared was the men -had actually hid the articles
indicative of deep mourning on account mentioned in the field in order that they
of the destruction of that city. Though might take them out on their return
the temple had been demolished, there from Jemsalem, or whether they merely
can be Uttle doubt that those priests pretended to have done it in order that
who had not been carried away by the Ishmael might spare their lives. Under
Chaldeans would, with the permission existing circumstances it might have
of Gedaliah, have raised altars among been of importance to both parties to
the ruins, at which the offerings of any secure a supply of provisions. It was
remaining worshippers might be pre- customary for the peasants to conceal
sented. On this account the sacred place their grain in such natural or artificial
might still be called " the house of the cavities underground as were sufficiently
Lord." dry for the purpose..
7. There is nothing in the Hebrew 9. The reason why Asa caused this
text corresponding to the words and cistern to be constructed was, that when
threw them, which, after the example of the city should be besieged; by the king

226 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. XLL 9-17.
the king, and all the people that remained at Mizpah, whom
Nebuzaradan the captain of the body-guard had given in charge
to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam ; even Ishmael, the son of Neth
aniah, carried them away captive, and set out to cross over to
the chUdren of Ammon.
11 But when Johanan, the son of Kareah, and aU the captains of the
forces whom he had with him, heard aU the wickedness which
12 Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had committed, they took aU the
men and went to fight with Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah ; and
13 they found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon. And it
came to pass when all the people who were with Ishmael saw
Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces
14 who were with him, that they rejoiced. And all the people
whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah came
round, and turned, and went to Johanan, the son of Kareah.
15 But Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, escaped, with eight men from
Johanan, and went to the children of Ammon.
16 Then took Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains ofthe
forces who were with him, all the rest of the people whom he
had recovered from Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah,
after he had slain Gedaliah, the son of. Ahikam, mighty military
men, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs whom
17 he had brought back from Gibeon ; and they went and stopped
at Geruth-Chimham, which is close by Bethlehem, in order to
18 proceed into Egypt, on account ofthe 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 had
appointed over the land.
of Israel there might be a sufficient sup- Comp. 2 Sam. ii. 13, where we read of
ply of water for the inhabitants. See the pool of Gibeon.
1 Kings XV. 22. 16. As the miUtary who were at Miz-
12. It is generally allowed that the pah are stated, ver. 3, to have been killed
site of Gibeon, one of the sacerdotal cities by Ishmael, those here spoken of must
of Benjamin, is still to be found in the have been such as had hid themselves,
village of El-Jib, about four miles north- and afterwards surrendered to him, and
west of Jerusalem. The B"'?'^ C^a , whom, for this reason he had spared.
9ri?ai waters, were in all probability the 17. Geruth-Chimham is supposed to
large fountains described by Dr. Eobin- have been » caravansary belonging to
son (vol. ii. p. 136), the lower of which Chimham, close by Bethlehem. Tft^V.
may be about one hundred and twenty properly signifies a lodging-place or
iset in length, byone hundred in breadth, habitation.

Chap. XLII. 2-10.] JEEEMIAH. 227

CHAPTER XLII.
The Jews, afiwd that the Chaldeans would revenge the death of the Governor, request
Jeremiah to obtain for them a divine decision whether they should remain in the land
or flee into Egypt, 1-6. This the prophet communicates to them to the elfect that they
should remain, 7-18; but their determination to go into Egypt being known to Omnis
cience, their miserable fate there is expressly predicted, 1&-22.
1 And all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah,
2 and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the
least to the greatest, drew near and said to Jeremiah the prophet.
Let now our supplication be humbly presented before thee, and
pray on our behalf to Jehovah thy God, even on behalf of all
this remnant ; for we are left few of many, as thine eyes behold
3 us : that Jehovah thy God may show us the way in which we
4 should walk, and the thing that we should do. Then Jeremiah
the prophet said to them, I have heard you ; behold, I wUl pray
to Jehovah your God according to your words ; and it shall be
that whatsoever Jehovah shall answer you I will show you, I
5 wUl withhold nothing from you. Then they said to Jeremiah,
Jehovah be a true and faithful witness between us, that we will
certainly do according to everything for wliich Jehovah thy God
6 hath sent thee to us. Whether it be pleasant or whether it be
tmpleasant, we will obey the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom
we send thee, in order that it may be well with us when we
obey the voice of Jehovah our God.
7 And it came to pass at the end of ten days that the word of Jehovah
8 was communicated to Jeremiah. And he called Johanan, the
sou of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with
him, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, and said
9 to them, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel, to whom ye sent
2, 3. A few authorities read 13''H'9S , their God, ver. 4, they acknowledge him
owr God, instead of ^IT!'^. i thy God, but as such, ver. 6.
most probably by emendation, to bring 6. For 13N a vast number of MSS.
the language into accordance with that and some printed editions read ^^TliX ,
of verses 6 and 20. As "i^f^'X occurs the more common form of the pronoun,
again ver. 5, where there is no variety which the Keri also prescribes.
of reading, there is every reason to believe 7. God was pleased to delay his answer
that the Jews did employ this form, ten days, to afford an opportunity to the
expressing thereby their belief in the people of discovering the sincerity or
peculiarrelationin which Jeremiah stood insincerity of the profession which they
to Jehovah as his accredited prophet ; had made. Comp. Deut. viii. 2.
though, after he had spoken of him as 10. 31\B is an irregular form of the

228 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. XLII. 10-20.
10 me humbly to present your supplication before him. If ye wiU
continue to dweU in this land, then I wiU build you up, and not
puU you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up ; for
11 I repent of the calamity which I have inflicted upon you. Be
not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid ; be not
afraid of him, saith Jehovah, for I am with you, to save you and
12 to deliver you out of his hand. And I will excite pity for you,
13 and he will pity you, and restore you to your own land. But
if ye say. We will not return to this land, not obeying the voice
14 of Jehovah your God ; saying, No, but we will go into the land
of Egypt, where we shall see no war, and hear no sound of a
trumpet, and have no famine of bread, and there we wUl dwell.
15 Now, therefore, hear ye the word of Jehovah, 0 remnant of
16 Judah, Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, If ye
indeed set your faces to go into Egypt, and ye go to dwell there,
then the sword, of which ye are afraid, shaU overtake you there,
in the land of Egypt ; and the famine, of which ye are apprehen
sive, shall closely follow you into Egypt, and there ye shall die.
17 Yea, all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to dweU
there, shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the
pestilence ; and there shall not be to them one left, or that
18 escapeth from the calamity which I will bring upon them. For
thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, As my anger
and my fury have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusa
lem, so shall my fury be poured out upon you when ye go into
Egypt ; and ye shall become an execration, and an astonishment,
and a curse, and a reproach, and ye shall see this place no more.
19 Jehovah hath spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, Go not into
Egypt ; know for a certainty, that I have solemnly warned you
20 this day. Surely ye err against your own souls ; for ye sent
me to Jehovah your God, saying. Pray on our behalf to Jehovah
infinitive absolute 3143^ , which occurs peaceably to return to and enjoy their
without the Vau, 1 Sam. xx. 5 ; the Yod possessions which they had left to flee
being rejected by aphoeresis, on account into Egypt. Verbs in Hiphil are fre-
of the hastening onward of the voice to quently permissive as well as causative.
reach the tone-syUable at the end of the The LXX., Vulg., Syi-., MichaeUs,
word. Nordheimer, § 76. Blayney, Hitzig, and Ewald read in the
12. An unnecessary difficulty has Hipliil of 2ir^ , the three first as a''l!JK i
been derived from the use of ^''^Tf in the first person of the future.
the sense of causing to return, or re- 20. n?ri is sometimes used intransi-
storing; all that is intended being that tively in Hiphil, as Prov. x. 17. For
Nebuchadnezzar would permit them Dinsnii the Keri has Dn'^SPn .

Chap. XLnL7.] JEEEMIAH. 229
our God ; and according to aU that Jehovah our God shaU say,
21 so declare it to us, and we will do it. Now I have declared it
to you this day ; yet ye wiU obey not the voice of Jehovah your
God, nor Usten to anything for which he hath sent me to you.
22 But now know of a certainty, that ye shall die by the sword,
and by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither
ye are bent on going to sojourn.

CHAPTEE XLIII.
The Jews, in opposition to the express declaration of the divine will, proceed to Egypt,
and take Jeremiah and Baruch along with them, 1-7. By an appropriate symbolical
action, the prophet, after his arrival in that country, foreshows its conquest by Nebu
chadnezzar, when the fugitives should fare no better than their guilty brethren had
done at the conquest of Jerusalem, 8-13.
1 And it came to pass when Jeremiah had finished speaking to aU
the people all the words of Jehovah their God, with which Je
hovah their God had sent him to them, even aU these words,
2 that Azariah, the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan, the son of
Kareah, and all the proud men spake to Jeremiah, saying. Thou
speakest falsely ; Jehovah our God hath not sent thee to say,
3 Ye shaU not go into Egypt to sojourn there. But Baruch, the
son of Neriah hath incited thee against us, in order to deHver us
into the hand of the Chaldeans, to put us to death, or to carry
4 us away captive to Babylon. Thus Johanan, the son of Kareah,
and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not
5 the voice of Jehovah to remain in the land of Judah. But
Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces,
took all the remnant of Judah who had returned from all the
nations whither they had been driven to dwell in the land of
6 Judah, — the men, and the women, and the children, and the
daughters of the king, and every soul that Nebuzaradan, the
captain of the body-guard, had left with Gedaliah, the son of
Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and
7 Baruch, the son of Neriah. And they came into the land of
Egypt ; for they did not obey the voice of Jehovah, but came
to Tahpanhes.
7. For Tahpanhes, see note on chapter ii. 14-16.

230

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XLHI. 8-13.

8 Then the word of Jehovah was communicated to Jeremiah in
9 Tahpanhes, saying, Take in thy hand large stones and hidq them
in the mortar in the brick-kUn which is at the entrance of the
house of Pharaoh ia Tahpanhes, in the sight of the Jews, and
10 say to them. Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel,
Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar, the king of
Babylon, my servant, and will place his throne on these stones
which I have hid, and he shall spread out his tapestry over them.
11 And he shaU come and smite the land of Egypt: he that is for
death shall be for death, and he that is for captivity for capti-nty,
12 and he that is for the sword for the sword. And I wiU kindle
a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shaU burn
them, and carry them away captive ; and he shaU wrap up the
land of Egypt as a shepherd wrappeth up his garment, and shall
13 depart thence in peace. And he shall break in pieces the obe
lisks of the temple of the sun, which is in the land of Egypt;
and the temples of the gods of Egypt he shaU burn with fire.

8-10. Eegarding it as absurd to sup
pose that there could be such an object
as a brick-kiln at the gate of a royal
palace, Eichhorn supposes what is so
rendered to have been some cornice, or
projecting part of the building, and to
be so called because it was constructed
of tiles or brickwork ; but it is more
Ukely, from the reference made to the
mortar or cement, that the palace was
in the course of being built, or was un
dergoing repairs at the time. Indeed,
on any other supposition we cannot
conceive how the prophet could have
deposited the stones as he did. Though
these are said to have been great, it is
only as contrasted with small ones, which
might easily be removed. That they
could not have been of an enormous size
is evident; otherwise, though covered
over with cement, they must have at
tracted the notice of the workmen, who
would have effected their removal. It
is not necessary, however, to suppose
that they were to remain till the arrival
of Nebuchadnezzar, since all that is
meant by his placing his throne over
them, etc., may be his taking possession

of the palace in contiguity with which
they were placed. It was the act of
placing them there by the prophet that
was to symboUze the act of the Chaldean
monarch. By "i^llSUJ is meant the rich
tapestry or canopy which hung round
the throne from above, for the sake of
ornament. The word is derived from
^2113 , to be polished, sinning, beautiful.
The Keri proposes I'^'lB'IJ as the proper
form, which is indeed that in which
nouns with the third radical geminated
most frequently appear. Comp. "i''"!50 ,
Prov. xxvii. 15.
12. Egypt was full of temples and
idol-gods, some of wood and other in
ferior materials, and some of gold : the
former, the conquering army would
commit to the flames ; the latter, they
would carry home to Babylon.
13. CJniU rr^a, Bethshemesh, thehouse
or temple of the sun, Gr. 'RMoimSXis,
Hdiopolis, an ancient city of Egypt,
elsewhere caUed I^S, On. It was sit
uated on the eastern side of the Nile, a
few miles north of Memphis, and was
celebrated for its temple of tho sun, its
splendid festivals, and its learned priest-

Chap. XLIV. 1-9.] JEEEMIAH 231
hood, who occupied a spacious building from sixty to seventy feet high. See
specially appropriated to their use. Its Kitto's Cyclopaedia, Art. On ; and my
ruins are still visible, the only remaining Comment, on Isaiah xix. 18.
obeUsk, covered with hieroglyphics, is

CHAPTER XLIY.
Jeremiah reproves the Jews in Egypt for persisting in idolatrous practices, 1-14; they
remonstrate with him on the subject, 15-19; on which he denounces the judgments of
God against them, and the land to which they had fled for refuge, 20-30.
1 The word which was communicated to Jeremiah respecting all the
Jews who dwelt in the land of Egypt, who dwelt at Migdol, and
in Tahpanhes, and in Noph, and the land of Pathros, saying,
2 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, Ye have seen
aU the calamity which I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon
aU the cities of Judah ; and behold, they are desolate this day,
3 and there is no inhabitant in them. Because of their wicked
ness which they committed, provoking me to anger, by going to
burn incense, serving other gods which they knew not, they, ye,
4 nor your fathers. And I sent to you all my servants the proph
ets, rising early and sending, saying. Do not, I beseech you, this
5 abominable thing which I hate. But they did not Usten, neither
did they incline their ear to turn from their wickedness by not
6 burning incense to other gods. Therefore my fury and mine
anger were poured out, and hath burned in the cities of Judah,
and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they are become desolate
and waste, as at this day.
7 Therefore now, thus saith Jehovah, the God of Hosts, the God of
Israel, Wby do ye commit great wickedness against yourselves,
to cut you off, man and woman, child and suckling, from the
8 midst of Judah, not leaving you a remnant ; by provoking me
by the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in
the land of Egypt, whither ye are gone to sojourn, in order that
ye may be cut off, and in order that ye may become a curse and
9 a reproach among aU the nations of the earth ? Have ye for-
. _. , |r-r.,n'\. Tahpanhes and Noph, see my Comment.
1. b-iw, Egypt. «,tCy i UlA, on chap. U. 14-16. For Memphis, on
Migdol, a city on the eastern frontier of Isa. xix. 13. And for Pathros, on Isa.
Egypt, in the direction of the Eed Sea xi. 11.
(E.xod. xiv. 2 ; Numb, xxxiu. 7). For 9. For 1''ffl3 , their wives, the LXX.

232 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. XLIV. 9-17.
gotten the wicked deeds of your fathers, and the wicked deeds of
the kings of Judah, and the wicked deeds of their wives, and your
own wicked deeds, and the wicked deeds of your wives, which
they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of
10 Jerusalem? They have not been contrite even to this day,
neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, and in my stat-
11 utes which I set before you, and before your fathers. Wherefore,
thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I wUl set
my face against you for evil, even to cut off the whole of Judah.
12 Yea, I will take the remnant of Judah, who have set their faces
to come into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shaU
all be consumed, they shall faU in the land of Egypt by the
sword, and by the famine, they shall be consumed, from the least
to the greatest, they shaU die by the sword and with the famine ;
and they shall become an execration, and an astonishment, and
13 a curse, and a reproach. And I will punish those who dweU in
the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword,
14 and with the famine, and with pestilence. And there shall not
be one that escapeth, nor one left of the remnant of Judah, that
are come to sojourn there in the land of Egypt, to return to the
land of Judah, who set their minds on returning to dweU there ;
for they shall not return, except it be as fugitives.
15 Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense
to other gods, and aU the women who stood by, a large company,
and all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros,
16 answered Jeremiah, saying. We wiU not Usten to thee in regard
to the word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of Jeho-
17 vah ; but we will certainly do whatever proceedeth out of our
own mouth, burning incense to the queen of heaven, and potir-
ing out libations to 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, and had plenty of bread, and were happy,
read rHy apx^vraiy vp,ay, which Blayney some of the Jews were to return from
attempts to justify, but the Hebrew word the land of Egypt, the totality here spo-
is quite in its place, as the foUowing ken of must be confined to those who
03''1??? , your wives, shows. The Jewish had contumaciously refused to Usten to
queens were great promoters of idolatry the prophet, and, after they had gone
(1 Kings xi. 1-8 ; xv. 13). The third thither, had conformed to the idolatries
singular suffix is to be taken coUectively of the country. The others may have
and rendered in the plural, as it is in removed thither under dififerent circum-
the versions. stances.
11 . As it is evident, from ver. 28, that 17. See on chap. vii. 18.

Chap. XLIV.] JEEEMIAH. 233
18 and saw no calamity. But from the time that we ceased to
burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out libations
to her, we have been in want of everything, and have been con-
19 sumed by the sword, and by the famine. And when we burned
incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out Ubations to her,
was it without our husbands that we made for her wafers, serv
ing her and pouring out libations to her ?
20 Then Jeremiah spake to all the people, to the men, and to the
women, even to all the people who had replied to him, saying,
21 Was it not the incense which ye offered in the cities of Judah,
and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye and your fathers, your kings
and your princes, and the people of the land that Jehovah
22 remembered, and that came into his mind ? And Jehovah was
no longer able to endure the wickedness of your deeds, the abom
inations which ye committed, and your land hath become a
desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhab-
23 itant, as at this day. Because ye have burned incense, and
because ye have sinned against Jehovah, and have not obeyed
the voice of Jehovah, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes,
nor in his testimonies, therefore hath this calamity happened to
24 you, as at this day. Moreover, Jeremiah said to all the people,
and to aU the women, Hear the word of Jehovah, all Judah that
25 are in the land of Egypt: Thus speaketh Jehovah of Hosts,
the God of Israel, ye and your wives have both spoken with
your mouths, and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, We will
certainly perform our vows which we have made to offer incense
to the queen of heaven, and to pour out libations to her ; the
women wUl certainly confirm your vows, and they will certainly
26 perform your vows. Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, all
Judah that dweU in the land of Egypt, Behold, I have sworn by
my great name, saith Jehovah, that my name shall no longer be
named by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of
27 Egypt, saying : The Lord Jehovah Uveth ! Behold, I will act
¦vigilantly towards them for calamity, and not for good ; and all
the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be con
sumed with the sword, and with famine, till they be destroyed.
28 And those who escape from the sword shall return from the
land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in nitmber, so that all
the remnant of Judah that are come into Egypt to sojourn there
29 shall know whose word shall stand, mine or theirs. And this
shall be a sign to you, that I wiU punish you in this place, in
20*

234 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. XLIV. 29, 30.
order that ye may know that my words respecting you as to
30 calamity shall assuredly be conflrmed. Thus saith Jehovah,
Behold, I will deliver Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, into the
hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his
Ufe, as I delivered Zedekiah, king of Judah, into the hand of
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought
his life.
29, 30. S'nSn , Hophra, known hy the well at first, but afterwards gave him
Greeks under the name of Apries, sue- up to his enemies, by whom he was
ceeded Psammis, the successor of Pha- strangled. Kitto's Encyclopsedia, Art.
raoh Necho, who was beaten by Nebu- Hophba. As certainly as the king,
chadnezzar at Carchemish. He was not under whose protection the Jews had
conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, as some placed themselves, should come to this
have supposed, simply from the circum- unhappy end, so certainly might they
stance that the name of that monarch expect to faU into the hands of Nebu-
occurs in the verse ; but by a rebel of chadnezzar, who shortly after conquered
the name of Amasis, who treated him Egypt.

CHAPTER XLV.
This brief chapter, in point of time, follows immediately upon chap, xxxvi. How it came
to be removed to its present position cannot be determined. Baruch, having been
alarmed by the awful denunciations which he had written from the mouth of our prophet,
ver. 3, has a message delivered to him from Jehovah, assuring him that though the
judgments should certainly be inflicted upon his guilty people, 4, so that it would be
vain for him to expect the enjoyment of temporal prosperity, yet he should he preserved
in the midst of all the dangers to which he might be exposed, 5. See on chap. xxi. 9.
Chaps, xlvi.-li. contain predictions relating to the Egyptians, Philistines, Moabites, Am
monites, Idumsans, Damascenes, Kedarenes, Elamites, and Babylonians. Theyare com
posed in the more elevated style of prophetic poetry, and contain many passages equal
in sublimity to the prophecies of Isaiah, from which some of them are in part borrowed.
In the version of the LXX. they follow immediately after chap. xxv. 13. See on that
verse, and the Introductory Dissertation, sect. iv.
1 The word which Jeremiah the prophet spake to Baruch, the son
of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book from the
mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of
2 Josiah, king of Judah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of
'3 Israel concerning thee, O Baruch. Thou hast said, Alas, now
for me, for Jehovah hath added sorrow to my pain ; I am weary
4 with my sighing, and Und no repose. Thus shalt thou say to
him : Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, that which I have built I
will pull down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up ;
and that with respect to all the land : yet thou seekest great

Chap. XLVI. 1-2.]

JEREMIAH.

235

things for thyself. Seek them not ; for behold, I will bring
calamity upon aU flesh, saith Jehovah, but I will grant thee thy
life for a prey in aU the places whither thou mayest go.

CHAPTER XLVI.

This chapter contains two distinct prophecies relating to Egypt : the first describes the
discomfiture of the Egyptian army under Pharaoh Kecho, at Carchemish, by Nebuchad
nezzar, 1-12; the second relates to the invasion and conquest of Egypt by the same
monarch, 13-26. The chapter concludes with a brief prediction of the preservation of
the Jewish people, 27, 28. That the prophet should commence his predictions against
the foreign nations by delivering that against Egypt is most natural, considering that
he had just given, in the preceding chapters, an account of his transportation to that
country.
1 The word of Jehovah which was communicated to Jeremiah the
2 prophet concerning the nations, concerning Egypt, concerning
the army of Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, which was by the
river Euphrates, at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar, king
of Babylon, smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of
Josiah, king of Judah.

1 . A general inscription to the coUec
tion of prophecies contained in this and
the foUowing chapters against the na
tions. Eor the peculiarity of the eon-
struction TflTil ^2T Tt^T\ liax , see on
chapter xiv. 1 . Instead of D^i Jfl"?? ,
twelve of Kennicott's and as many of De
Eossi's MSS., with several of the ear
Uer editions, read d'^ijn'bs hs , which
has probably been copied from chapter
xxv. 13.
2. D'^'lSal? , CONCERNING Egypt : the
special title to the two following pre
dictions concerning the Egyptians. 13? ,
Necho, one of the most renowned of the
Pharaohs, was the sixth ting of the
twenty-sixth dynasty, the son and suc
cessor of Psammetichus, and the second
of that name. With respect to the name
itself, it is doubtless of Egyptian origin,
though the Targ. and Syr. render it by
1° "
Nl'^Sn , I i 'st.** > '^^ ^"¦"^^ — ^ deriva

tion obtained from the Hebrew phrase
0'^.^?! i^?? ) which has this signification.
After fitting out a fleet of discovery from
the Eed Sea along the coast of Africa,
which actuaUy doubled the Cape of
Good Hope, and returned to Egypt by
the Mediterranean, he sent a powerful
army through Palestine to check the
progress ofthe Babylonians, whom he de
feated at Carchemish on the Euphrates,
after having slain Josiah, king of Judah,
who rashly attempted to oppose his
march. Four years after this triumph
over Nebuchadnezzar, he again marched
forth against him ; but the Babylonians,
being prepared for his approach, com
pletely routed his army at the same
place, and he was compeUed to return
to Egypt after losing all the territory
which had been subject to the Pharaohs
to the west of the Euphrates. See
2 Kings xxiv. 7. For U;a313, Car
chemish, Cercusium, see my Comment.
on Isa. X. 9.

236

JEREMIAH.

[Chap. XLVI. 3-8.

3 Prepare the buckler and the shield,
And approach for the battle.
4 Bind to the horses, and mount the steeds,
And present yourselves in helmets ;
Polish the lances, put on the coats of mail.
5 Why do I see them terrified ?
They are turned back, and their heroes are beaten,
Yea they do nothing but flee, they look not round ;
Fear is on every side,
Saith Jehovah.
6 The swift shall no|; flee.
Neither shall the hero escape ;
In the north,
By the bank of the river Euphrates,
They shall stumble, they shall faU.
7 Who is this that cometh up as the river.
Whose waters toss themselves like the floods ?
8 Egypt cometh up as the river.
And the waters toss themselves Uke the floods ;

3. The prophet ironically summons
the Egyptians to the attack, as if they
might make sure of victory. The dif
ference between the ISa and the !^3S ,
consisted in the former being of a smaller
size, and being suspended on the left
arm, whereas the latter was of the largest
size, covering the whole body, and was
used for the shelter of heavily armed
infantry. 4. The horses were partly to be bound
to the war-chariots and partly used for
the cavalry. That the Egyptians em
ployed war-chariots in ancient times, see
Exod. xiv. 7 ; xv. 4. Some suppose the
cavalry or horse-troops to be addressed
under the name of CliJ^B , but it is
more proper to confine the signification
to the horses, the word being obviously
parallel to CblD in tho previous clause
of the verse. The DiS3i3, hdmets, or
skull-caps, consisted either of brass or
wood, and sometimes of rushes, skins,
cloth, or felt. The !Ti3''''b, coats of
mail, or cuirasses, were manufactured
of brass or iron. The most perfect kind

consisted of small circlets or rings of
metal, worked into each other, which
gave greater flexibility to the coat, and
thus left the wearer more at liberty to
move his body. In the latter half of the
verse the infantry are addressed.
6. Though h!< properly expresses pro
hibition, yet in poetry it is often used
with the future to express simple negar
tion. In the bold language of poetry
the Egyptians are represented as as
tounded at the formidable appearance
of the Babylonian army. Their most
courageous warriors are put to flight,
and universal consternation prevails.
So complete is the rout, that neither
swiftness nor strength is of any avail.
HjiBS . The rt local denotes rest in a
place, as well as motion towards it, as
rtbaa, ;« Babylon, chap. -xxix. 15;
rtsaT , in the habitation, Hab. iii. 11 ;
and this same term rtiiSS , chap. i. 13,
whore see Note.
7, 8. The principal image here is taken
from the Nile, which during its inunda
tions overspreads the surface of the

Chap. XLTl. S-12.]

JEREMIAH.

237

And he saith, I will go up, I wUl cover the earth,
I will destroy cities, and those who inhabit them.
9 Mount the horses, let the chariots dash along,
And lot the heroes march out ;
Cush and Put handling the shield,
And Lydians expert in the use of the bow.
10 For this is the day of the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts,
A day of vengeance to be avenged of his adversaries,
And the sword shall devour and be satiated.
And it shall be drunk with their blood ;
For the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts,
Hath a saoritice in the north country,
By the river Euphrates.
11 Go up to Gilead, and tiike balsam,
0 virgin-daughter of Egypt.
In vain dost thou multiply medicines, —
There is no cure for thee.

country. Iu like manner the army of
Pharaoh overspread the countiy on the
south ofthe Euphrates. IS';, originally
an Eg\-ptiau word, is almost exclusively
used of tho Xilo iu the Hebrew Scrip
tures. As. however, that river only rises
gently, tlic image borrowed from it is
exchanged for one taken from other
rivers, whose ^-iolent rush more aptly
sets forth the proud and impetuous ad-
vauce of au army. "''^? , city, is here,
without the article, a collective noun,
aud is to be rendered in the plural.
Thus Eosouiniiller, Scholz, Hitzig.
9. A continuation of tho irony intro
duced at verse 3. The native Egyptians
never appear to have been distinguished
by physical strength, which Michaelis
ascribes to the heat of the climate, the
absence of laborious exercise, abstinence
from the use of animal food, and other
causes. Hence they employed merce
naries in their armies, hired from the
different nations with which they came
in contact, especially those specified iu
this verse. Apries had no fewer than
tliirty thousand Carians and lonians in
his service. For 13'3 Cush, see my

Comment, on Isa. xi. 11. CS1B Put, ac
cording to Josephus, means Mauritania,
in which Pliny places a river of the same
name. The mention of the Di"!?? , Lyd-
I'oiis, along with this name, suflicicutly
shows that an African people so o;iUcd,
and not the Lydians of Asia Minor, are
intended. The construction "'5"!'^ '''4: r!^
T'i^.p is worthy of notice : Ut. tlie luxndla'S
of tlie benders of tlie Ixnc. The fonner of
the two participial nouns, if used alone
with bow, would express the simple idea
of archers ; but to express the idea more
emphatically, tlie second is also used,
which sliows tlie particular manner in
which the bow is used, niunely by bend
ing it with the foot Both particiiiles
axe ad sensum in construction mth ~v!i^ !
and are in apposition ¦mth each other.
Compare for similar instances of double
construction h'.n "'in'.i ^-^V ^ Deut.
xxxiii. 19. rti~s -sr-; ^^:n, isa.
xix. 11.
10-12. 'The complete slaughter of the
Egvptian army is represented as a great
sacrifice, for which many animals were
kiUed. Compare Isa. xxxiv. 6-8. By
a bold figure, the sword is represented

238

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XLVI. 12-16.

12 The nations have heard of thy disgrace,
And thy cry hath fiilled the earth ;
For hero stumbleth over hero.
Both of them are fallen together.
13 The word which Jehovah spake to Jeremiah the prophet when
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to smite the land of
Egypt.
14 Declare ye in Egypt, publish ye in Migdol,
Yea pubUsh ye in Noph and say ye in Tahpanhes,
Present thyself, and get ready.
For the sword devoureth around thee.
15 Why is thy mighty one thrown down ?
He standeth not, for Jehovah hath thrust him down.

as feasting on the flesh and blood of
those who were slaughtered. For the
balm of Gilead, see on chap. viii. 21, 22.
Egypt is called a virgin, because she
had never been brought under the power
of any foreign monarch. So complete
was to be the overthrow, that the loss
was never to be retrieved.
13. Whether the prophecy contained
in the remaining part of the chapter was
deUvered at the same time with the pre
ceding, we have no means of ascertain
ing ; but the events in which it received
its accompUshment did not take place
till sixteen years after the destruction of
Jerusalem bythe Chaldeans, Ezek. xxix.
17. In the absence of all historical ref
erence to the subject on Egyptian mon
uments, and likewise in Greek writers,
most of whom do not appear to have
been acquainted with Nebuchadnezzar,
we possess no means of throwing light
upon the circumstances connected with
the successful expedition of that monarch
into Egypt, beyond what we find in the
prophetic record. The only time to
which we can refer that expedition, is
that which was subsequent to his con
quest of Tyre in the year e.g. 585.
Having spent thirteen years in the siege
of that city and obtained nothing for his
pains, the prophet Ezekiel, in the passage
above referred to, promises him Egypt

as his reward for having destroyed the
land-influence of that maritime power,
and describes in most glowing language
the results of his expedition, chaps, xxx.
xxxi. xxxii. Miserably harassed by in
testine broils, the country became an
easy prey to his army, which, besides
destroying it and taking many of the
inhabitants captive, carried away an
immense booty.
14. A further instance of the same
irony which the prophet had employed,
verses 3, 4, and 9. The Egyptians are
summoned to stand on their defence.
15, 16. The fmitlessness of mUitary
resistance, the complete discomfiture and
confusion of the troops, and their flight
to their respective countries, are graph
ically represented. Eor 'T''!!''31Si thy
mighty ones, fifty-five MSS., perhaps
another, and four more at first hand, the
Soncin. and Brixian editions, the LXX.
and Vulg. read '^^.'^SN , thy mighty one,
which some interpreters, after the ren
dering of the LXX. 6 "Ains i ptiirxos &
iKKiKris aov, explain of Apis, the bull
to which divine honors were paid at
Memphis, where he had a temple.
Viewed in this Ught there is a striking
contrast between the weakness of the
idol, notwithstanding the power that his
worshippers might have ascribed to him,
and the true God, who is frequently

Chap. XLVI. 15-20.]

JEEEMIAH.

239

16 Numerous are those who stumble,
They fall even one against another ;
And they say : Arise, and let us return to our people,
And to the land of our nativity.
From the cruel sword,
17 There they announced : Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is destroyed ;
He hath suffered the season to pass.
18 As I live, saith the King,
Wbose name is Jehovah of Hosts,
As Tabor is among the mountains.
And as Carmel by the sea, so he cometh.
19 Make for thyself vessels for captivity,
0 daughter-inhabitress of Egypt,
For Noph shall be desolate.
And laid waste, without an inhabitant.
20 Egypt is a very beautiful heifer ;
Destruction from the north hath entered her.

styled T'ilK t *^^ mighty one. What led
the LXX. to think of Apis was doubtless
the circumstance of the term being
appUed to bulls, Ps. xxii. ' 13 ; 1. 13.
Though we have no account of Nebu
chadnezzar's having destroyed the sacred
hull, this was actually done by Cambyses,
king of Persia.
16. rta-irt, bttJiS, and ^S3 are to be
taken as collectives, as the following
plural forms clearly show.
17. There, in their own countries, they
spread the information that Pharaoh was
destroyed. Heb. I'i'*'^ , destruction in the
abstract. The words I'lHrt T'a.Srt
have been variously interpreted, but the
true sense seems to be that Pharaoh, in
stead of exerting himself to the utmost
in recruiting his forces and putting his
country in a proper state of defence after
the defeat at Charchemish, spent the
time in inactivity, and, in consequence,
fell an easy prey to the invader.
18, 19. Stark, Eosenmiiller, Dahler,
and Scholz are of opinion that it is
Pharaoh who is here compared to Tabor
and Carmel ; but it is more agreeable
to the context to refer it to Nebuchad

nezzar, whom, though not mentioned, the
prophet has in his eye. As these moun
tains towered high above all the moun
tains of Palestine, so the king of Babylon
had proved, and would stUl prove, himself
superior to all other monarchs. Tabor
is seventeen hundred and fifty-five feet
and Carmel fifteen hundred, above the
level of the Mediterranean. The latter
is particularly distinguished by its form
ing a bold promontory on the coast. In
nils "VS we have the genitive of object,
vessels of wood or skin, such as would
contain food or other necessaries which
the captives would require for their
journey. From the identity of form
between D'^^aa-na H2ttJii and naaii
?2a~n3, Zech. ii. 11, where unques
tionably the Jews are meant, it has been
thought that those Jews who were resi
dent in Egypt are addressed here. It is
more in keeping, however, with the spirit
of the passage, to consider the words as
directed to the Egyptians. The two
former nouns are, therefore, to be taken
in apposition, and are simply descriptive
of the inhabitants.
20. n5S"n''B'' is an intensive com-

240 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. XLVL 20-26.
21 Her very mercenaries in the midst of her
Are like well-fed heifers ;
Yet even they turn round.
They flee together, they stand not :
For the day of their destruction hath come upon them,
The time of their visitation.
22 Her cry proceedeth like a serpent.
For they march with valor.
And come against her with axes.
As hewers of wood.
23 They cut down her forest, saith Jehovah,
Though it is impenetrable ;
For they are more numerous than the locusts ;
Yea, they are innumerable.
24 The daughter of Egypt is confounded ;
She is deUvered into the hand of the people of the north.
25 Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, saith :
Behold, I will punish Ammon of No,
And Pharaoh, and Egypt,
And her gods and her kings ;
Both Pharaoh, and those who confide in him ;
26 And I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their Ufe,
Even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
And into the hand of his ministers ;

pound form of rtS^ , and should properly tive 1113 , which some have proposed
be written as one word, as it is exhibited to read.
in many of Kennicott and De Eossi's 25. For SSa ')TSS , Ammon of No, see
MSS. Comp. n'^S;'S; Ps. xlv. 3. y';p. , my Comment, on Nahum iu. 8. The
destruction, for the concrete destroyer ; preposition in this case indicates the
from y^p , to cut, cut off, destroy. If Xa place where Jupiter Ammon had his
were repeated for the sake of emphasis, celebrated temple. The kings here spo-
the first would occur at the beginning ken of were not kings of Egypt, of which
of the sentence. The second sa is country Pharaoh Necho was at the time
wanting in some MSS., and, instead of sole monarch, but they were the rulers
it, about one hundred, supported by all of those nations which were allied with
the ancient versions, read Sa , into her, her.
i.e. Egypt. 26. In the time of Cyrus, about forty
22. As a serpent makes the best of its years after the subjugation of Egypt by
escape, hissing when the tree is felled Nebuchadnezzar, that country threw oflf
under which it has been lurking, so the Babylonian yoke ; but, though it so
should the Egyptians" betake themselves far recovered, it never regained its for
te flight before the Chaldean army. mer prowess, and has continued to he
23. 10"]3 is preferable to the impera- held in servile subjection by foreign

Chap. xxvn. 1.] JEEEMIAH. 241
But afterwards it shall be inhabited
As in ancient days, saith Jehovah.
27 But thou, fear thou not, O my servant Jacob ;
Neither be thou dismayed, 0 Israel ;
For behold, I will deliver thee from afar,
And thy seed from the land of their captivity ;
And Jacob shall return, and be tranquil and at rest ;
And none shaU make him afraid.
28 Fear thou not, O my servant Jacob,
Saith Jehovah, for I am with thee ;
Though I make an end of all nations
Whither I have driven thee.
Yet I wiU not make an end of thee ;
But I will chastise thee as is meet ;
For I cannot leave thee altogether unpunished.
powers rmtU the present day. See Ezek. 28. A repetition almost verbatinr of
xxix. 11-15. chap. xxx. II.

CHAPTER XLVII.
This chapter contains a prophecy relating to the Philistines, whose country was overrun
by the army of Nebuchadnezzar during, or immediately after, the siege of Tyre, while
prosecuting his march towards Egypt.
1 The word of Jehovah which was communicated to Jeremiah the
prophet, CONCEENING THE PHILISTINES, before Pharaoh had
2 smitten Gaza. Thus saith Jehovah :
Behold, waters come up from the north.
And they are become an overflowing torrent ;
They overflow the land and its fulness,
The city and its inhabitants ;
So that men cry out.
And every inhabitant of the land howleth,
3 At the sound of the stamping of the hoofs of his mighty steeds.
At the bounding of his chariots.
The rumbling of his wheels ;
1. We have no means of determining Gaza. It was, probably on his return
on what occasion Pharaoh conquered' after his victory at Charchemish.
21

242 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. XLVH. 4, 7.
The fathers turn not round to the chUdren
For feebleness of hands :
4 Because of the day that cometh.
To destroy all the Philistines,
To cut off every remaining auxUiaiy
Of Tyre and Zidon ;
For Jehovah will, destroy the PhUistines,
The remnant of the island of Caphtor.
5 Baldness is come on Gaza ;
Ashkelon is destroyed.
With the rest of their valley :
How long wilt thou wound thyself?
6 O sword of Jehovah,
How long wilt thou not be at rest ?
Retire into thy scabbard ;
Rest, and be still.
7 How canst thou be at rest ?
For Jehovah hath given it a charge
Against Ashkelon, and against the sea-coast.
There he hath appointed it.
4. The Philistines, being the neigh- deep mourning on account of some aw-
bors of the Phoenicians, would naturally ful catastrophe. pH? is used not only
make a common cause with them in case of a valley, but also of a long low plain
of foreign invasion. By IIFl^B , Caph- such as that occupied by the PhUistines
tor, almost all the ancient interpreters along the shore of the Mediterranean,
understand Cappadocia ; Gesenius favors below the mountainous country of Judea
the opinion that Crete was intended ; on the east.
but MichaeUs, Scholz, and Michelson in 6, 7. The prophet apostrophizes Nebu-
Kitto, think that the island of Cyprus chadnezzar as the instrument of Jehovah
was meant. Comp. Deut. ii. 23 and in punishing the guilty nations in and
Amos ix. 7. about Palestine. After addressing the
5. The nation of the Philistines is sword in the second person, the prophet,
represented as a female who has torn turning to his hearers, speaks of it in
her hair and cut her flesh in token of the third (ver. 7). No MS. reads T]^.

Chap. XLVm. 1.] JEEEMIAH. 243

CHAPTER XLVIII.
This prophecy is couched in highly poetical language, and some parts of it are rather to be
regarded in the light of au amplified edition of Isa. xv., xvi. than an original composi
tion of Jeremiah. The hypothesis of Hitzig, that the passages common to the two
prophets are interpolations by some person who lived in the times ofthe Maccabees, is,
like many of the positions of that critic, destitute of the least shadow of proof. Equally
unsupported is the opinion which others have advanced, that both copied from an ear
lier writer. That what are called interpolations are really such, cannot be maintained.
They are rather to be considered free quotations, more or less complete, as suited the
object of our prophet. Sometimes the words are given verbatim, but more frequently
the phraseology is either abbreviated or commented on; sometimes a word is exchanged
for its synonyme, sometimes a phrase for a corresponding phrase. The extracts are not
made in regular succession, but partly from one part ofthe oracle of Isaiah, and partly
from another. The diction bears marks of the deteriorated Hebrew of the age of Jere
miah ; yet in some instances there is a decided improvement on the language of the
earlier prophet. Some of the discrepancies are attributable to transcription. See the
original of both in Gesenius's Isaiah, vol. ii. pp. 511-513, and the judicious remarks of
Professor Stuart in Biblical Eepository, vol. vii. pp. 123, 124.
The prophecy was most probably composed on occasion of the part which the Moabites
took against the Jews, as auxiliaries to the Chaldeans in the days of Nebuchadnezzar
(2 Kings xxiv. 2) ; and its fulfilment is to be referred to their subjugation by the same
monarch on his way to Egypt, five years after the destruction of Jerusalem. See Jose
phus, Jewish Antiquities, book x. chap. 9, § 7.
The oracle commences with the conquest of Moab, and the universal lamentation which it
occasioned, 1-5. The removal of Chemosh, the chief god of the country, and the com
pleteness of the destruction, are next set forth, 6-10. The prophet then shows that,
notwithstanding the proud spirit of the Moabites, engendered by their unvaried pros
perity, they should assuredly be conquered, 11-17; and, lest any of the cities should
cherish the hope of escape, an enumeration of the principal cities that were to suffer is
specially given, 18-25. Then follows an exposure of the proud exultation in which they
indulged at the calamities of the Jews, 26-30. The rest of the chapter is made up of
mingled predictions ofthe universal devastation which was to ensue, and the deep lam
entation which it would naturally produce, 31-46. The whole concludes with a gracious
promise of future prosperity, 47.
The travellers Seetzen, Burckhardt, Irby, Mangles, Banks, Legh, Buckingham, and Eobin
son have thrown much light on the geography of the region formerly occupied by the
Moabites ; many of the ruins bear the ancient names which occur in Scripture.
1 CONCERNING MOAB.
Thus saith Jehovali of Hosts, the God of Israel,
Alas, for Nebo, for it is laid waste,
Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken ;
Misgab is put to shame and confounded.
1, Nebo, see on Isa. xv. 2. d'^ri^'ip, here as a proper name, which, as derived
Kiriathaim (double town), a place of from ^^^ , to he high, indicates that it
gi-eat antiquity, originally possessed by occupied an elevated position. How the
the Emim {Gen. xiv. 5), and afterwards LXX. got, and what they understood' by,
at two different times by the Moabites. *A.y.ad /col ^PLy&Q; it is impossible to say.
It is placed by Eusebius ten miles west 2. llS'^rin ? Heshbon, an ancient and
of Medebah. 3511)^ , Misgab, occurs only royal city, nearly midway between the

244

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XL VHI. 2-7.

2 The glorying of Moab in Heshbon is no more,
They have devised calamity against her ;
" Come and let us cut her off from being a nation ; "
Thou also, 0 Madmen, shalt be destroyed ;
The sword shall follow thee.
3 The sound of a shriek from Horonaim,
Devastation and great destruction.
4 Moab is destroyed ;
Her little ones cause a shriek to be heard.
5 Surely in the ascent of Luhith,
Weeping ariseth upon weeping ;
Surely in the descent of Horonaim,
The enemies hear the cry of destruction.
6 Flee, rescue your life ;
And be as the juniper in the desert.

rivers Jabbok and Amon, called by Euse
bius and Jerome Esbus, now Hesban, the
ruins of which cover the sides of an ele
vated hill, which commands an extensive
view of the surrounding country. From
its having been the object of glorying on
the part of the Moabites, it must have
been one of their chief cities, and doubt
less was strongly fortified. Comp. Numb.
xxi. 25-30, most of which passage is
highly poetic, and part of which is copied
by our prophet (vers. 45, 46). On the
arrival of the Hebrews from Egypt, it
was the royal residence of Sihon, king
of the Amorites. Observe the parono
masia in la^an - liamn . Though the
words are separated by the division which
I have adopted, it little, if at aU, affects
the paronomasia. The common division
represents Heshbon as the place where
the plan was laid for the conquest of the
country, which is less suitable. In l^'IO
133'npl is a slight paronomasia. Of the
city called Madmen we have no further
account. If we may infer from the sig
nification of its name [dunghill, from
lO'n), it must have occupied a low situa
tion. 3-5. There is no reason why, with
three MSS., we should change "''"I'iSS ,
her little ones, into '^'JISS , LXX. cis

Zoyipa, to Zoar, to make the text agree
with 15iS"l? , Isa. xv. 5. The chUdren
are beautifully introduced as augment
ing the melancholy and distressing scene
by their pitiable shrieks. H'^'I'^SS , which
is found in many MSS., and the Soncin.
and Brix. editions, is only a different
form of tho same word. "'^S is an in
stance of the construct for the absolute
n^'iS . C^Slin , Horonaim, which sig
nifies the double caves, is only referred
to besides, in Neh. ii. 10 ; Isa. xv. 5 ;
ver. 34 of the present chapter, and Jose
phus, Antiq. xiii. 15, § 4, where, among
other cities of Moab, he mentions 'Opi-
yo-s. T^T}. J way, used by Isaiah, is here
changed into the more definite I^IH , de
scent, indicating that itlay low in compar
ison of nini? , Luhith, which is repre
sented as being high in position. In
'^•!?^ — T>?.?.'0 is a beautiful paronomasia.
Instead of "'33 > weeping, we have 12 in
Isaiah. How the former should be far
more difficult than the latter, and how
it could hardly have originated with Jer
emiah, Gesenius does not inform us.
6. For 'l?''"^? see on chap. xvii. 6.
The LXX., who render the word in that
passage by ay piofivpiKri, translate here
iiyos dypws,
7. By the D'^tosa , uwis of the Moab-

Chap. XL vm. 7-12.] JEEEMIAH. 245
7 Surely because thy confidence was
In thy works and in thy treasures,
Thou also shalt be taken ;
And Chemosh shall go into captivity,
His priests and his princes together.
8 And the destroyer shall come to every city,
And no city shall escape ;
The valley also shall be ruined.
And the plain shall be destroyed ;
As Jehovah hath spoken.
9 Give wings to Moab,
That flying she may depart.
And her cities become desolate.
Without an inhabitant in them.
10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah deceitfully,
And cursed be he that withholdeth his sword from blood.
11 Moab hath been secure from his youth.
And he hath settled on his lees ;
He hath not been poured from vessel to vessel.
Neither hath he gone into captivity :
Therefore his flavor remaineth in him,
And his scent is vmchanged.
ites, I understand their fortifications. 10. To give the greater force to the
In this construction of the term I find I representation of the completeness of
have been anticipated by the LXX., Moab's destruction, a curse is pro-
Syr., and Vulg. They must either sig- nounced against the Chaldeans if they
nify these, or their idolatrous deeds did not faithfully and zealously execute
zealously performed in honor of Che- the commission which Jehovah had
mosh, mentioned immediately after, given them.
ICHS , Keri tl5"lB3, CAewiosA, the nation- 11. The Moabites, never having been
al deity of the Moabites and Ammonites, removed by any enemy from their native
supposed by Jerome to have been Baal- soil, retained all their national pride,
Peor. According to Jewish tradition and possessed great riches and strength.
he was worshipped under the symbol of Strikingly to set forth this state of pros-
a black star, wliich would seem to coun- perity the prophet employs a metaphor
tenance the opinion that he corresponded taken from the treatment of wine, which,
to Saturn. Comp. Numb. xxi. 29 ; after its fermentation, is left for a time
Judg. xi. 24 ; 1 Kings xi. 7 ; 2 Kings on its lees, in order to preserve its
xxiu. 13. When idolaters were van- strength and flavor. To render it fit for
quished they always took care, if possi- use, it is then filtered or drawn from one
ble, to carry their gods with them on vessel into another. See on Isa. xxv. 6.
their flight. 12. il^3 signifies to turn on one side,
9. xan Kisj - y^ form a paronoma- or incline a vessel in order to empty it
sia. XiSJ stands for f1S3 on account of i . .
the followir.<' vcTk. of its contents. Arab. uLo , inclinatus

246 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. XL VHL 12-19.
12 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah,
When I will send to him overturners.
Who shall overturn him.
They shall empty his vessels,
And break their bottles in pieces.
13 Then shall Moab be ashamed of Chemosh,
As the house of Israel were ashamed of Bethel,
The object of their confidence.
14 Plow can ye say. We are heroes.
And men of power for war ?
15 Moab is destroyed, and her cities are gone up.
The choice of his youth are gone down to the slaughter,
Saith the King, Jehovah of Hosts is his name.
16 The disaster of Moab cometh soon,
And his calamity hasteth apace.
17 Bewail him all ye who are around him,
And let all who know his name say :
How is the strong sceptre broken.
The beautiful stafi".
] 8 Come down from glory, and sit in misery,
O inhabitress, daughter of Dibon,
For the destroyer of Moab cometh up to thee.
He shall destroy thy fortresses.
19 Stand by the way, and look out,
0 inhabitress of Aroer.

fuit. Conjug. iv. Effecit ut inclinaretur 16. As this prophecy was delivered in
vas. The verb overturn does not quite the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and Neb-
express the idea, but it is the best I can uchadnezzar invaded the neighboring
find. countries five years after the destiniction
13. Chemosh should no more be able of Jerusalem, about twenty-three years
to defend the Moabites, than the golden must have elapsed between the two
calf set up by Jeroboam had been to events ; yet, in prophetic vision, Jere-
protect the Israelites. miah sees the fall of Moab as near at
15. There is a marked antithesis be- hand.
tween Th-^ and T^^- The only con- 18. ''2tt;ii, Keri '^aOI- For Dibon,
struction that can be put upon the former see on Isa. xv. 2. Being plentifully
verb, is that of the cities going up in supplied with water, Isa. xv. 9, its in-
sraolce, when set on fire by the enemy, habitants are summoned to come down
Comp. Josh. viii. 20, 21 ; Judges xx. 40. into the arid region of Arabia Deserta,
When this took place, the young warriors to which tliey should be obliged to flee.
would rapidly come down from their N^S means here a dry and thirsty land.
burning fortresses, hut only to be slain 19. "i?!^? , ^Iroer, was situated on the
by the foe. northern bank of the Arnou, where, on

Ch.\p. XL vm. 19-26.] JEEEMIAH. 247
Ask the fugitive and the escaped.
Say : what hath happened ?
20 Moab is ashamed, because he is broken down ;
Howl and cry out ;
Proclaim it at Arnon,
That Moab is destroyed.
21 Judgment is also come on the champain country,
On Holon, and on Jachza, and on Mephaath.
22 And on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Beth-Diblathaim,
23 And on Kiriathaim, and on Beth-gamul, and on Beth-meon.
24 And on Kerijoth, and on Bozrah ;
-And on all the cities of the land of Moab,
Those that are distant and those that are near.
25 The horn of Moab is hewn down.
And his arm is broken, .
Saith Jehovah.
26 Make him drunk.
For he hath magnified himself against Jehovali.
So that Moab may wallow in his vomit,
And become the veriest object of derision.
27 For was not Israel an object of derision to thee ?
Was he found among thieves ?
For as often as thou spakest against him,
Thou didst shake thy head.
28 Abandon the cities and dwell in the rock,
O inhabitants of Moab.
the edge of a precipice, Burckhardt fell Hauran is highly improbable. See on
in with its ruins. As it lay in the way Isa. xxxiv. 6.
of the Moabites who fled into the desert, 26. In reference to the symbolical
its inhabitants are represented as inquir- action described chapter xxv. 15, Moab
ing what was the occasion of their flight, was represented as about to be reduced
20-24. To present the complete de- to a state of degraded and derisive
struction of the' country more vividly to wretchedness. pSD signifies to draw
the view, a graphic enumeration is given -^ ..^ , -, , , ,
. .^ , . ° "^ , ,,.-,¦", orsmifethehands togeifter, Arab. ( oJUw -
of its cities, respecting which httle or ¦' ^.^
nothing is known, further than that to turn back or down. The idea here ex-
some of them were cities of the Levites pressed is that of a person completely
when the country was in the possession overcome with liquor, sinking down and
of the Hebrews. ^'7^? i the Bozrah turning or waUowiug in his vomit. See
here mentioned, is different from that Meier's Hebraisches Wurzelworterbuch,
occurring Isa. xxxiv. 6, which was sit- pp. 314, 315. K1rt"DJ, is emphatic.
uated in the country of Idumsea. That There is in this aud the following verse
it was the city of the same name in the a reference to the violent occupation of

248

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XLVm. 28-33.

29

30

And be as a dove that resteth in the passages
Of the mouth of the abyss.
We have heard of the hatightiness of Moab, his excessive pride,
His pride and his haughtiness and his insolence.
And the loftiness of his heart.
I know, saith Jehovah, his indignation.
And the falsehood of his pretensions.
The falsehood which he practises.
31 Therefore I will howl for Moab,
I will cry out for the whole of Moab,
Moan for the men of Kir-heres.
32 With the weeping of Jazer I will weep for thee,
O vine of Sibmah.
Thy tendrils passed over to the sea.
They reached to the sea of Jazer :
The destroyer hath fallen
Upon thy fruit-harvest and thy vintage.

the Hebrew territory beyond Jordan on
the part of the Moabites.
28. It is not unusual for wild doves
to have their nests in the sides and roofs
of caverns. ^uy€y &a'T€ TreAeio
*H ^o ff vir' 'tpTjKos Koi\7}y elff^irraTo
irerpriy, — Iliad, xxi. 493.
Qualis spelunca subito commota columba,
Cui domus, et dulces latebroso in pumice
nidi. — JEneid, v. 213.
29-31. Comp. Isa. xvi. 6, 7. The
assertion of Gesenius, that the words of
Isaiah, which have there so suitable a
reference, lose it in Jeremiah, is without
any foundation. The reference is not,
indeed, the same ; but the language, as
introduced by our prophet, though not
that of a reply on the part of the Jews,
comes in with good eff'ect after an iron
ical call to the Moabites to take refuge in
the clefts of the rock. The words, on the
whole, are the same in both passages ;
but are partly varied by Jeremiah, in
such a manner as to show that he, and
not Isaiah, was the copyist. While the
language of ver. 30 is that of Jehovah,
that of ver. 31 and 32 is to be ascribed

to the prophet. It is no unusual thing
with the prophets to introduce the ex
pression of their O'wn feeUngs, whUe de
nouncing judgments against transgres
sors. See chap. xxui. 9 ; Micah i. 8.
Eor the meaning of l^'K' and "l''^3 ,
see my Comment, on Isaiah. Subaud.
IffiX before ^123 ¦ For nilJ'nn— |ip in
Isaiah, our prophet uses the shorter
form '2J'^'^""'''P , as in Isaiah xvi. 1 1 .
For the "change oft^iOSt into ''ttJpS,
see on Isa. xvi. 7. fl^H!] > ver. 31, I
cannot but suppose to be an error of
transcription for l^s'^.^t , which is found
in two MSS.
32. Some treat O in ^33^ as the sign
of comparison, but I take it to be equiv
alent to ^ in the sense of uiith, or as
expressing the material of which any
thing consists, as 1?'3'? , Deut. xxxiii.
13, 14 ; such weeping as that of the in
habitants of Jazer on account of the
destruction of their vines. For the rest
of the verse see my Comment, on Isa.
xvi. 8, 9.
33. I'^'^n xi inin , tU shouting shall
be no shouting, i.e. it shall not be the joy
ous shouting of the laborers treading

Chap. XLAOn. 33-40.] JEEEMIAH. 249
33 Ajid joy and gladness are taken away
From the fr-uitful field, even from the land of Moab ;
For I have caused the wine to cease from the presses ;
There shall be no treading with shouting :
The shouting shall be no shouting.
34 At the cry of Heshbon they raise their voice
To Elealeh, to Jahaz —
From Zoar to Horonaim, to Eglath-Shelishiyah ;
For even the waters of Nimrim are wasted.
35 And I will cause to cease in Moab, saith Jehovah,
Him that offereth on the high-place.
And him that burneth incense to his gods.
36 Therefore my heart moaneth for Moab, like pipes.
Tea, my heart moaneth like pipes, for the men of Kir-heres,
Because the remaining things which they had acquired are perished.
37 Surely on -every head is baldness.
And every beard is cut off;
On all hands are incisions.
And on the loins sackcloth.
38 On all the roofs of Moab,
And in all her streets
There is mourning ;
For I have broken Moab,
Like a vessel in which is no pleasure,
Saith Jehovah.
39 How she is broken, they howl ;
How Moab ashamed hath turned her back !
Yea, Moab hath become an object of derision,
And of dismay to all around her.
40 For thus saith Jehovah,
Behold, he shall fly as an eagle ;
And spread his wings over Moab.
41 The cities are taken,
And the fortresses captured ;
out the grapes, but only that of warriors, read Sllji ; but see on Isa. xv. 2. It
or of persons bewaiUng the destruction was customary with the nations of an-
of their property. tiquity to cut themselves in giving vent
34. For Eglaih-Shelishiyah, see on Isa. to excessive grief, but all such expres-
XV. 5. sions of mourning were forbidden to the
37. Instead of S!|"15, ten MSS., origi- Hebrews, Lev. xix. 28.
nally six more, and perhaps another, 40. " He," i.e. Nebuchadnezzar.

250 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. XL Vm. 43, 45.
And the heart of the heroes of Moab shall be in that day
Like the heart of a travailing woman.
42 For Moab shall be destroyed from being a people,
Because he magnified himself against Jehovah.
43 Terror, and the pit, and the snare.
Are upon thee, 0 inhabitant of Moab.
Saith Jehovah.
44 He that fleeth from the terror
Shall fall into the pit.
And he that cometh up from the pit
Shall be taken in the snare :
For I wiU bring upon Moab the year of their punishment,
Saith Jehovah.
45 The fugitives stood powerless in the shade of Heshbon ;
But a fire hath gone forth from Heshbon,
And a flame from the midst of Sihon,
And it hath devoured the corner of the beard of Moab,
And the crown of the head of the sons of tumult.
46 Alas for thee, O Moab !
The people of Chemosh have perished ;
For thy sons are taken away into captivity.
And thy daughters into the captive state.
43, 44. See on Isa. xxiv. 17, 18, '^'JS^ , the reading of the original,
whence, with little variation, the words Numb. xxi. 28, is found here in about
are taken. O'^l^! , the Keri rightly 0|rt . twenty MSS. and sixteen editions, but
0"'"^ is anticipative of SXia'PS , as it may only he an emendation, to make
the pronominal suffixes frequently ai'e the word in both places agree. The last
in the Aramaic dialects. words of the verse ai-e an imitation of
45. The Moabites fied for refuge to part of the prophecy of Balaam, Numb.
Heshbon, but as the army of Nebuchad- xxiv. 17, where PIU for t^S<'!J corresponds
nezzar entered the country from the to T^XB in Jeremiah. Both are from
north, that city would be the flrst point !^NO, to rage, make a tumuli. The Moab-
of attack, and, on its being conquered, ites are called " sons of tumult," or
devastation would spread over the whole " tumultuous," on account of their furi-
territory. )TPt: , Sihon, the name of the ous roai- when giving battle to their
ancient king of Heshbon, when it was enemies. For riXB , the corner of the
in the possession of the Amorites. It is ftrarrf, see on chap. ix. 25. If we render
here used eUiptically for 'fl^O ^15), tjie ^p'l.p , crown of the head, we must fox the
city of Sihon. Comp. 'priD "|1S and sake of consistency render flKB , corner
linb n;;"i|3 Numb. xxi. 27, 28, from of the heard, lijjn being understood.
which, with some few variations, this Dropping the metaphors we might give
and the following verse are borrowed, the passage thus : the comers of Moab,
tJX being of common gender takes the and tlie highest point of the sons of tumult,
masculine KS") , as Oil? HJX , Ps. eiv. 4. The devastation was to reach the most

Chap. XLIX. 1, 2.]

JEEEMIAH.

251

47 Nevertheless I will reverse the captivity of Moab,
In the latter days, saith Jehovah :
Thus far the judgment on Moab.

elevated, and the most remote parts of
the country. The genders in ""SlIJ and
n^5'-? are purposely chosen to correspond
to n-iJ^ and ni33 .
47. We have no historical accounts
of the restoration of the Moabites to the

political importance which they formerly
possessed; but from several references
in Josephus, it appears that the country
had again become inhabited (Antiqui
ties of the Jews, xiii. 13, § 5 ; 14, § 2 ;
15, MI-

CHAPTER XLIX.

The predictions contained in this chapter belong to the same period irith those in the
preceding. See the preface to chap, xlviii.
"We have first a short prophecy relating to the Ammonites, 1-6; then one respecting the
Idumasans, 7-22. This is followed by brief predictions concerning tho Damascenes,
23-27; the Kedarenes and Hazorites, 28-33; and the Elamites, 34-39.

1 CONCEENING AMMON.
Thus saith Jehovah :
Hath Israel no sons ?
Hath he no heir ?
Why doth their king inherit Gad ?
And his people inhabit its cities ?
2 Therefore, behold the days come, saith Jehovah,
When I will cause the war-shout
To be heard at Eabbah of the sons of Ammon,
And she shall become a desolate heap ;

1. 'jiax ^i^h , CONCEKNING THE Am
monites. The Ammonites were de
scended from Lot, and occupied the
territory to the north of the country of
Moab, from which it was separated by
the river Amon. On the west, between
them and the Jordan, lay the country
belonging to the tribes of Eeuben and
Gad. In conjunction with their allies,
the Syrians, Amaleldtes, Moabites, and
other nations, the Ammonites were often
engaged in war with the Hebrews. They
scut auxiliary troops to assist Nebuchad
nezzar at the conquest of Jerusalem, and

proudly exulted over its fall ; and at
last, when the two tribes and a half were
carried into captivity, they took posses
sion of their country. It is to this last
circumstance that the pointed interroga
tions in this verse refer. For D3?'? ,
their king, see on Amos i. 15 ; v. 26, and
Zeph. i. 5. To Jehovah, as king of the
Hebrews, the country occupied by them
peculiarly belonged. This the Ammon
ites had usurped, and placed under the
protection of Moloch, who, iu a theo
cratic sense, is here called their kiug. .
2. flST , Eabbah, i.e. the great, the

252 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. XLIX. 2-7.
Her daughters also shall be burned with fire.
And Israel shall possess those who possessed him,
Saith Jehovah.
3 Howl, 0 Heshbon, for Ai is destroyed;
Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah ;
Gird on sackcloth.
Mourn, and run to and fro by the walls.
For their king is gone into captivity,
His priests and his princes together.
4 Why shouldst thou boast of the valleys ?
Thy valley is flowing, O apostate daughter,
That trusted in her treasures, saying.
Who can come to me ?
5 Behold, I will bring fear upon thee,
Saith the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts,
From all around thee ;
And ye shall be driven away, each one before him.
And there shall be none collecting the fugitives.
6 Nevertheless, afterwards I will reverse
The captivity of the children of Ammon,
Saith Jehovah.

metropolis of the Ammonites. See my fertility, might be said to flow with mUk
Comment, on Amos i. 14. and honey, were now to flow with the
3. ^? , Ai, a city of the Ammonites, blood of the slain. The Ammonites
probably lying opposite to Heshbon, and might be called " apostates," because,
which being taken, the turn came to the instead of worshipping Jehovah, the God
latter city, then belonging to the Moab- of their father Lot, they were the wor-
ites. By "the daughters of Eabbah" shippers of Moloch. Before the inter-
are meant the adjacent towns and vii- rogative "^O, who, the verb 10S is to be
lages, which were dependent upon it for understood, either in the common form,
protection and support. Comp. Josh. "'ON? i ox in that of SSSbS fl^OiXH ,
XV. 44-47. Hitzig ascribes the absence which is found in three of the early edi-
of the regular transposition of the T\ and tions, whence, in the opinion of De Eos-
the IU in il3t3a""Unn to the influence of si, it has found its way into two or three
the reduplication of the U , which, for MSS. The LXX. suppUes the ellipsis
the sake of euphony, required the Ti to be by i; Keyovoa. Tli is to be taken as a
removed further back. The city having collective.
been destroyed, and the religious estab- 6. This prediction was probably ful-
lishment broken up, nothing but the filled in the time of Cyrus. In that of
walls were left ; beside which the iiihab- the Maccabees, the Ammonites were a
itants of the neighboring places are powerful people (1 Mace. v. 6, 7).
tauntingly invited to walk, and contem- 7. Biixb , concerning Edom. See
plate the melancholy scene. on Isa. xxxiv. 5, and Amos i. 1 1 . Be-
4, 5. The valleys, which, from their tween certain parts of this prophecy and

Chap. XLIX. 7-10.]

JEEEMIAH.

253

7 CONCERNING EDOM.
Thus saith .Jehovah of Hosts,
Is there no longer wisdom in Teman ?
Hath counsel failed from the intelligent ?
Is their wisdom expended ?
8 Flee, turn, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan ;
For I will bring the destruction of Edom upon him.
The time when I wUl punish him. ,
9 If vintagers had come to thee.
Would they not have left some gleanings ?
If thieves by night.
Would they not have destroyed what was sufficient for them ?
10 But I will strip Esau bare,
I will uncover all his secret places.
So that he shall not be able to conceal himself;

portions of that of Obadiah there is such
a palpable agreement, that there cannot
remain a doubt but that one of tliem
must have read the work of the other.
The more probable opinion is, that pri
ority in point of time is to be assigned
to Obadiah, and that Jeremiah borrowed
from him, just as he has done from the
books of Numbers and Isaiah. See pref
ace to Obadiah. For T3''H , Teman, as
a province and city of Idunicea, see on
Amos i. 12. Its philosophy was cele
brated in the most ancient times. See
on Obad. 8. C?? is the participle of
'j'^3 , to he intdligent, skilled, prudent, T\^ ,
Arab. —. yM , effusus fuit, libere dimisit,
to send or pour out abundantly, to be ex
hausted, expended. The prophet, vary
ing his language, asks a third time, what
has become of the boasted wisdom of the
Temanites 1 Could it no longer devise
measures of safety ¦? was it completely
exhausted t had it expended itself, so
that there was none left ? For the idea
of pouring out or emptying in reference
to intelligence, comp. the use of P|53 ,
Isa. xix. 3 ; Jer. xix. 7.
8. If we take 13Sn as -a rare instance
of a Hophal imperative, then all the three
verbs may be read in that mood, which
22

suits the spirit of the passage better than
the preterite tense. The LXX. render
IplCSn , by $a6iyaTe in the imperative.
Comp. for another instance of an imper
ative in Hophal, "13?Bn Ezek. xxxii.
19. This conjugation has here, as in
many other instances, the signification
of Kal. By changing the Kametz, how
ever, into Pattach, we should have the
imperative of Hiphil, which the verb
may originally have been pronounced to
express. T'yiih p'^'aSTt does not mean
to dwell deep in the earth, as Gesenius
and others explain it, or to retire into
the deep caverns which abounded in the
Idumfean territory, but to go deep or far
into the Arabian desert, whither the
Chaldean troops would not think of pen
etrating, "i^l. , Dedan, the name of an
Arabian ti-ibe bordering on Idumaea.
It consisted of the descendants of Jok-
shan, and of Abraham by Keturah.
9. X' for vihtl . It is forcibly impUed
in the interrogations here put that the
invading army would spare nothing;
but, on the contrary, would leave the
counti-y empty and bare.
10. Though most of the verbs in this
verse are in the preterite tense, as are
also some of those in the preceding verses,
yet, to accord in sense with h^l^ , and

254

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XLIX. 10-13.

His seed shall be destroyed.
And his brethren and his neighbors.
And he shall be no more.
11 Leave thy orphans, I will preserve them;
And let thy widows confide in me.
12 For thus saith Jehovah : •
Behold those to whom it did not belong to drink the cup.
Have certainly drunk it ;
And art thou he that should be held altogether innocent ?
Thou shalt not be held innocent ;
But thou shalt certainly drink.
13 For I have sworn by myself, saith Jehovah,
That Bozrah shall become an object of astonishment.
Of reproach, of desolation, and of execration ;
And all her cities shall be desolate for ever.
14 1 have heard a report from Jehovah,
And a messenger is sent among the nations ;

with the imperatives in ver. 8, they all
require to be rendered in the future.
!l3nD has been supposed to stand for
N3ri3 : but see for instances of a root
il3n , Isa. xxvi. 20 ; 1 Kings xxii. 25.
Tbe utter annihilation of the Idnmseans
as a distinct poUtical power, is here ex
pressly predicted ; and though this was
not effected ^y Nebuchadnezzar, for we
afterwards find them engaged in war
with the Jews, yet they become alto
gether extinct in history after the time
of the Eomans.
11. No persons are more to be pitied
than the widows and orphans of those
who have been killed by an invading
army. Considerable difficulty has been
found in the interpretation of this verse.
The positions, that the words are ad
dressed to the Jews by Jehovah, or that
they are addressed by the Jews to the
Idumseans, are too forced to recommend
themselves for adoption. Except they
be regarded as having a special reference
to the Dedonitcs (ver. 8), it is impossi
ble consistently to arrive at any other
conclusion than that they are addressed
to the Idumseans, Who form the subject

both of the preceding and following
verses. Though, as predicted (ver. 10),
none of the seed of Esau should ulti
mately be left ; in other words, that as
a people they should become extinct, yet
in the immediately approaching calamity
the widows and orphan children were to
be preserved through the special prov
idence of the Most High. With respect
to these, the words contain a gracious
and encouraging promise, but as it re
gards the adult male population, they
have, on the contrary, the aspect of a
threatening, inasmuch as they obviously
imply that none of them would be left
to protect or provide for their famiUes.
^nB3n , the masculine instead of the
feminine, perhaps for the sake of greater
force at the end of the verse.
12. Comp. on chap. xxv. 15, 16, 29.
The meaning of the prophet is not that
tlie Jews did not deserve to drink the
cup of divine indignation, but that, from
the covenant relation in which they stood
to Jehovah, it might have been expected
that they would be spared.
13. For fi^^? ' Bozrah, see on Isa.
xxxiv. 6.

Chap. XLIX. 14-19.] JEEEMIAH. 255
Collect yourselves, and come against her.
Yea, rise up to the war.
15 For behold, I have made thee small among the nations ;
Despised among men.
16 Thy formidable character.
The pride of thy heart deceived thee ;
Dwelling in the clefts of the rock.
Occupying the summits of the hills ;
Though, like the eagle, thou hast built thy nest on high,
Thence I will bring thee down,
Saith Jehovah.
17 And Edom shall become an object of astonishment.
Every one that passeth by her shall be astonished
And shall hiss on account of all her strokes.
18 As it was in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah,
And their neighboring cities, saith Jehovah,
No one shall dwell there.
Neither shall any son of man lodge there.
19 Behold, as a lion he cometh up
From the pride of Jordan to the strong abode ;
For I will give a wink, I will make him run away from her.
But who is the chosen one whom I will appoint against her ?
14, 15. Comp. on Obad. 1, 2. give the king of Babylon a hint to pro-
16. The Idumaeans proudly imagined ceed in the direction of Idumsea. Eoot
that the terror with which the celebrity SJ"^ , to tremble, use a tremulous motion,
of their power had inspired those by as with the eyelid in winking ; hence to
whom they were surrounded would wink. 5''5'^ , a moment. German Augen-
seciire them against any hostile attack, blick, eye-wink. The ease 'with which
nsV.Sn and "ilj are in apposition, on the conquest would be gained is thus
which account the verb is made to agree tersely expressed, as well as by ISSi'lX
with the latter noun in the masculine Tybyo , / will cause him to run away from
gender. Comp. on Obad. 3, 4. her. No sooner should the invader enter
19. Nebuchadnezzar, the author of the the land than, his work done, he should
devastation, though not named, is com- be ordered elsewhere. It is quite un-
pared to a rampant lion coming up into natural to refer the suffix in ISS'^'IN to
the inhabited country from the thickets any other subject than that which is
of Jordan. Compare on chapter xii. 5. understood in TVyS^ , i.e. Nebuchadnez-
'ifT'K , durahleness, strength, from yy^ , zar. There is no other masculine an
te be perennial, constant, durable. The tecedent. The repeated interrogations
impregnable rocky fastnesses of Idumsea are intended to signalize the universal
are intended by l^i'^^? i^.^?- i^?"'S1X is conqueror, whom no power had been able
not to be taken adverbially, but strictly to resist. Jehovah vindicates to himself
as the first person singular in Hiphil, the right to appoint the day of battle.
indicating that it was only necessary to "'33? 'laS , to stand before, does not here

256

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. XLIX. 19-23.

For who is like me ?
And who shall set me a time ?
And who is the shepherd that can stand before me ?
20 Therefore hear ye the determination of Jehovah,
Which he hath formed against Edom ;
And his purposes
Which he hath devised against the inhabitants of Teman :
Surely the smallest of the flock shall drag them along ;
Surely their habitation shall be astounded at them.
21 At the sound of their fall the earth shall shake ;
As for the cry, the sound of it shall be heard at the Eed Sea.
22 Behold, as the eagle, he shall ascend and fly.
And shall spread his wings over Bozrah ;
And the heart of the heroes of Edom shall be in that day
Like the heart of a travailiug woman.
23 CONCERNING DAMASCUS.
Hamath and Arpad are ashamed.
Because they have heard a bad report, they melt away ;
In the sea there is agitation, it cannot be quiet.

signify to resist, but to assume the at
titude of servants, ready to receive and
execute the orders of their master.
" Shepherd," the usual metaphor for
king. 20. To refer " the smaUest of the
flock " either to the Idumseans, or to
the Jews, is inappropriate in such con
nection. I cannot but think that the
weakest of the Chaldean army are in
tended. Since monarchs are metaphori
cally spoken of as shepherds, in the
sense of warrior kings, at the close of
the preceding verse, it was not unnatural
to represent the army under the com
mand of the great shepherd Nebuchad
nezzar as his fiock. Comp. chap. vi. 3 ;
1. 45. Thus Vatablus : vUissimi exerci-
tus Chaldseorum. The weakest of his
army should drag the Idumeean captives
along in chains. K5"QN , if not, a strong
mode of asseveration for the purpose of
expressing the certainty of any event.
D^IS^ is used intransitively.
21. For T\h^p which refers to njJSS,

we find the less appropriate reading
tl^lp in eighty-four MSS. ; it has been
originally in fourteen more ; it is in
three by correction, and is in the text of
twenty-one printed editions. The only
version which supports it is the Targ.
Neither reading is exhibited by the LXX.
and Arab. ; but the Peshito has 01^.0
and tho Hexaplar-Syriao 8l-iA? jLo .
both having found the singular feminine
suflSx in their copies. Tip^'l is the
nominative absolute, and is not to be
pointed TipV^ , the third singular femi
nine of the verb.
22, For Bozkah, see on Isa. xxxiv. 6.
23. For Damascus, see on Isa. xvii. 1 ;
and for Hamath and Arpad, see on Isa.
X. 9. The attack on these Syrian cities
here predicted appears to have been that
referred to by Josephus, and to have
taken place five years after the destruc
tion of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar
(Antiquities of the Jews, x. 9, § 7).

Chap. XLIX. 24-30.] JEEEMIAH. 257
24 Damascus is enfeebled, she turneth about to flee ;
Terror hath seized her.
Anguish and sorrows have taken hold on her
As those of a woman in childbirth.
25 How is not the celebrated city abandoned.
My joyous city.
26 Therefore her youths shall fall in her broad places,
And all the military shall perish in that day,
Saith Jehovah of Hosts.
27 For I will kindle a fire on the wall of Damascus,
And it shall devour the palaces of Benhadad.
28 CoxcEENiNG Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of
Hazoe, "WHICH Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babtlon,
S.MOTE :
Thus saith Jehovah :
Arise, go up to Kedar,
And destroy the sons of the East.
29 Their tents and their flocks they shall take.
And their curtains and all their articles ;
And their camels they shall carry away for themselves.
And they shall cry on account of them : Fear all around.
For B*3, "in the sea," sixteen MSS., were in all probability the Arabians who
and perhaps one or two more, read 0^3 , infested the Jews in the days of Jehoram,
"like the sea." 2 Chron. xxi. 16. Ti^Sn , Hazok, the
25. The inhabitants of Damascus are name of several cities in different parts
parenthetically introduced as bewailing of Palestine, but here it is obviously em
ber desertion and the cessation of her ployed to designate a country of Arabia
joys. The Yod in "'iUiuia is not para- Deserta, in the proximity of the Keda-
gogic, but the pronominal suffix, taken renes. The ITisSBO , kingdoms men-
as a collective. This ancient city was tioned, formed the combinations of tribes
celebrated for its felicitous position, the subject to more or less powerful sheiks,
exquisite beauty of its environs, the who ruled them with a sort of kingly
magnitude of its temples, and the wealth power. In geographical relation to
of its inhabitants. Palestine, the Kedarenes and Hazorites
27. Comp. Amos i. 4. Benhadad was were D'l(3""',53 , sons ofthe East,
the name of several kings of Syria, who 29. Having summoned the Chaldeans
appear to have had splendid palaces. to attack and spoil the Arabians, the
28, 29. "^^P , IvEDAR, a patronymic : prophet describes the result of the inva-
used of the descendants of Kedar, one sion, as it respects the nomadic property
of the sons of Ishmael, Gen. xxv. 13, of the latter, who, on being surrounded
who led a Bedouin Ufe. They had a by the hostile troops, would give utter-
wide range of country between the Eed ance to cries of alarm.
Sea and tho Euplirates. Pliny calls 30. Jeremiah now turns to the Ara-
them Cedrci (Nat. Hist. v. 11). They bians, and urges their flight into a remote
22*

258 JEEEMIAH, [Chap. XLIX. 30-35.
30 Flee ye, take a great flight.
Dwell deep, O inhabitants of Hazor,
Saith Jehovah ;
For Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, hath formed a plan against
you.
He hath devised a purpose against you.
31 Arise, go up against the careless nation, that dwelleth securely,
Saith Jehovah ;
It hath neither doors nor bars.
It dwelleth alone.
32 And their camels shall become a prey.
And the multitude of their cattle a spoil ;
And I -(vill scatter to every wind
Those who have narrowed beards ;
And I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof,
Saith Jehovah.
33 And Hazor shall become an abode of jackals,
A desolation forever ;
No man shall dwell there.
And no son of man shall lodge in her.
34 The w^ord of Jehovah which was communicated to Jere
miah the prophet, concerning Elam, in the beginning
OF the reign of Zedekiah, king or Judah, sating :
35 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,
The prime of their might.
part of the great desert, whither the see on chapter ix. 25. The phrase
enemy would not think of pursuing "¦'^3S"?3a , from, all sides thereof, must
them, but would content themselves with be taken restrictively of those parts of
the plunder. No conqueror has ever the country in the direction of the
ventured into this desert. Agreatnum- Chaldeans.
ber of MSS. and many editions read 34. 0'"'?, Elam, the Elymais of the
^?''r?, 1 " against you," instead of oniis , Greeks and Eomans, forming part of the
" against Mem.' ancient Susiana, on the west of Persia
31-33. A repetition of the summons proper, and used in Scripture as the
to the Chaldeans, and a descriptive pre- designation of that country in general.
diction of the plundering and desolating The date of this prophecy coincides -with
effects of the invasion. Not anticipating that of chapters xxvii. 1, and xxviii. 1.
any attack, as they lay out of the track For the order of the words Tt^f^ 11BK
of the hostile armies of Asia, the Arabs flifT^ "On , see on chap. xiv. 1.
had taken no measures of defence, but 35. The Elamites were celebrated as
lived in nnwaUed towns and villages, archers. See on Isa. xxii. 6 ; and Strabo,
For fIXB "'SISp , lit. narrowed of beard, xv. 3, 12 ; Livy, xxxvu. 40. niB]3 , bow.

Chap. XLIX. 35-39.]

JEEEMIAH.

259

36 And I will bring four winds against Elam
From the four ends of heaven,
And I will scatter them to all these winds ;
-And there shall not be a nation
Whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.
37 For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies,
-Ajid before those that seek their Ufe ;
And I will bring calamity upon them.
The fury of my anger, saith Jehovah ;
And I will send the sword after them.
Till I have consumed them.
And I will set my throne in Elam,
And 'wUl destroy thence kings and princes,
Saith Jehovah.
Nevertheless, it shall be in the last of the days
I wUl reverse the captivity of Elam,
Saith Jehovah.

38

39

stands coUectively for bows, and this for
bowmen oi: archers. See on Isa. xxi 17.
"^^35 , strength, is the abstract put for the
concrete 3*^*^133 , mighty men, warriors.
36. The meaning here is not that four
different armies, set forth under the
figure of imnds, were to attack Elam from
the four different quarters of the compass,
but that warriors from these quarters
serving in the army of Nebuchadnezzar
shonld invade the country, and scatter
the people in every direction. For DjiS ,
far ever, which some copyist has care
lessly adopted, many MSS. and two of
the oldest editions read with the Keri,
obis , Elam.
37. That Elam was conquered by the
Chaldeans and reduced to a province of
Babylon appears from Dan. viii. 2, 27,
which is a sufiicient confirmation of the
prophecy, though profane history is
sUent with respect to the event.

38. Why Jehovah executed judgment
upon the Elamites, we are not informed.
Ewald and Havernick think that they
may have formed part of the Chaldean
army which captured Jerusalem, and
effected the first captivity in the days of
Jehoiachin. Compare Ezek. xxxii. 24.
They do not appear as a people to have
molested the Hebrews. It is possible
that they may have been addicted to
idolatry, and thus been distinguished
from the Persians proper, whose religion
in the main was monotheistic.
39. The restoration here predicted
doubtless took place on the reduction of
Babylon by Cyrus, when the scattered
Elamites would naturally return to their
native country. Whether the 'EAaftTrai,
Acts ii. 9, were Jews resident in the
province, or proselyted Elamites, or a
mixture of both, cannot be determined.

260 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. L. 1-3.

CHAPTER L.
Having finished his announcement of the judgments to be inflicted upon the different
nations by the king of Babylon, the prophet in this and the following chapter delivers,
at greater length, a prediction concerning the destruction of that power itself by /the
Medes. It is the longest prophecy in the Bible, consisting of upwards of an hundred
verses. It is divided by Eichhorn into three parts, and by Eosenmuller into six ; but is
properly considered by IMaurer as composed without any special regard to order; the
prophet treating the materials quite in an untrammelled manner, repeating again and
again the same argument. The repetitions, indeed, are of such a nature as to induce
the conclusion that the whole consists of predictions originally uttered at different
times, and now collected by Jeremiah for the purpose specified, chap. li. 59-64. The
authenticity of the oracle is sufiiciently defended by Hitzig against Von Coelln and
Gramberg, by whom it had been denied. " Tbe usus loquendi and circle of imagery, as
likewise the style, the turns, the concluding formulas, the unanticipated dialogues, are
unmistakeablythoseof Jeremiah." An impartial examination, however, of the passages
agaiust which Hitzig himself excepts, will show the groundless nature of his objections.
The hypothesis of De 'Wette and Ewald, that the writer whom the Germans designate
the Pseudo-Isaiah, was the author of the oracle, is equally groundless.
The date and occasion ofthe composition are expressly stated, chap. li. 59, 60, to have been
the fourth year of Zedekiah, when Seraiah, to whom the oracle was committed, was
sent by that monarch to Babylon.
1 The word "which Jehovah spake concerning Babtlon and
AGAINST THE LAND OP THE ChALDEANS, THROUGH JeREMIAH
THE PROPHET :
2 Declare ye among the nations.
And publish, and raise a banner.
Publish, conceal not ;
Say : Babylon is taken,
Bel is put to shame,
Merodach is confounded ;
Her idols are put to shame.
Her logs are confounded.
1-3. The reason why the fall of Baby- confounded, because they were unable
lon was to be announced among the to defend the city of which they were the
nations, was that the Hebrews resident tutelary gods. By personifying them,
there might be informed of it, and avail the prophet heightens the effect of the
themselves of the opportunity which was representation. To maintain, from the
afforded them to return to their own circumstance that many of the verbs in
land, as well as that the natives might this prophecy are in the preterite tense,
rejoice at their deliverance from the that the writer must have lived after the
power of the oppressor. For hs, Bd, event, would argue gross ignorance of
the principal Babylonian deity, see on tho prophetic style, in which the preterite
Isa. xlvi. 1 ; and for Tll^a , Merodach, is frequently used for the future, for the
another of the deities worshipped at purpose of expressing the certainty of
Babylon, sec on Isa. xxxix. 1. Tho the events predicted. In the present
idols are re]n-csented as ashamed and case there is a large mixture of both

Chap. L. 3-7.] JEEEMIAH. 261
3 For a nation cometh up against her from the north.
It shall make her land desolate.
And there shall be no inhabitant in it ;
Both man and beast are fled, they are gone.
4 In those days aud at that time, saith Jehovah,
The children of Israel shall come.
They and the children of Judah together.
They shall proceed, weeping as they go,
-And shall seek Jehovah their God.
5 They shall ask for Zion, with their faces hitherward, —
Come and let us join ourselves to Jehovah,
By an everlasting covenant.
Not to be forgotten.
6 My people have been lost sheep ;
Their shepherds have caused them to wander.
They have turned them away on the mountains ;
From mountain to hill they have gone.
They have forgotten the place of their rest.
7 All who found them devoured them.
And their adversaries said, We are not guilty ;
Forasmuch as they have sinned against Jehovah,
The proper pasture.
Even Jehovah, the hope of their fathers.
tenses, in accordance with the varied covenant, we have Neh. ix. 38 ; x. 29,
manner in which Jeremiah presents the etc. The position of the prophet, as
subject. The only power capable of being in or near Zion when he wrote,
subduing Babylon was Media, which is is distinctly marked by the adverb TllfZ ,
here described by its relative geographi- which uniformly signifies hither. It is
cal position. only in the phrase TfSfl'i T\iT\ , hither and
4, 5. At the. termination of the cap- thither, that the latter signification ob-
tivity the descendants of the ten tiibes, tains.
who had been removed into the East by 6, 7. fl^tl the textual reading connects
the Assyrians, were jointly with their with "'H? ; the Keri ^"^il , with the pre-
brethren of the southern kingdom, who ceding predicate. The Keri 0133113, is
had been removed by Nebuchadnezzar, preferable to D"'33il) in the text, as the
to be restored to the land of their fathers, parallel DWrri shows. The language
See on Hosea i. 10, 1 1. Eecovered from here ascribed to the enemies of the Jews,
idolatry, and deeply contrite on account was that of their actions, not that of
of it, they would avail themselves of the their lips. They unintentionally pun-
liberty granted by Cyrus, return to ished them on account of their apostasy
Palestine, and thenceforth worship and from Jehovah. They were his instru-
serve Jehovah to the utter exclusion of ments, though only gratifying their own
idols. The fulfilment of what is here lust of conquest. Comp. Isa. x. 5-7.
predicted relative to their entering into p"i2"n_"5 , the LXX. render yop.ii Sikol-

262

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. L. 7-12.

8 Flee out of the midst of Babylon,
And go forth from the land of the Chaldeans,
And be as he-goats before the flock.
9 For behold, I will rouse and bring up against Babylon
A multitude of great nations from the north country.
And they shall set themselves in array against her ;
Thence she shall be taken.
Their arrows shall be like those of a prosperous hero,
Who returns not empty.
10 And Chaldea shall become a spoil ;
All who spoil her shall be satisfied,
Saith Jehovah.
11 Because ye rejoiced.
Because ye exulted.
Ye plunderers of mine inheritance ;
Because ye skipped like a threshing heifer.
And neighed like stallions,
12 Your mother is greatly ashamed.
She that bare you blusheth ;

oaliyris, pasture of righteousness, which
construction, or that of fold of righteous
ness, is adopted by J. D. Michaelis,
Dahler, Scholz, Maurer, and Ewald ;
meaning that Jehovah was the true
source of good, contrasted with the false
pasturage which the Jews had sought in
idolatry. This interpretation seems the
more appropriate in this connection,
Jehovah having been spoken of as the
resting-place of his fiock in the preceding
verse ; though the same words are ob
viously used of Jemsalem as the abode of
righteousness, chap. xxxi. 23.
8. The Hebrews are called to take
their departure boldly and quickly, as
the he-goats move on before the flock.
9. DBO is to be taken in its usual
acceptation as an adverb of place, and
not as one of time, which signification is
more than doubtful. The reference is
to the quarter whence the attack was to
be made upon Babylon. Eor '''SCO ,
bereaving, or destroying, in the sense of
making childless, the reading h'O'ii'O ,
prosperous, is found iu eleven of De

Eossi's MSS., and has originaUy been
in four others. It is exhibited in six
ancient and thirty-five later editions, and
is supported by the LXX., Symm., and
the Syriac. It is dicidedly the prefera
ble reading.
1 1 . The Keri, supported by MSS. and
early editions, reads the verbs *nabr ,
¦sj^sn , >mtiT\ , 'bnsn , as second' plu
rals, thus: ^naian, itbsn, TO-isr,
ifciisn. Some would render Thi'S.
NITT , grazing heifer, n young heifer at
the grass, fat and frisky ; but ^'^T
cannot be the root, because it does not
agree in gender with TOi.'S^ . The Keri
therefore is to be preferred, TOl^'j,
threshing, being the regular feminine
participle of 11311 , to thresh. It not
being permitted to muzzle the mouth of
the animal, she might eat at pleasure,
and thus become wanton. Twenty-four
MSS. and four printed editions read
iT&i . Eor O'^l'^aN , see on chap. viii. 16.
12. By 03'?'? ) your mother, is meant
Babylon, as the metropoUs ofthe empire^
not the inhabitants, as Gesenius and

Chap. L. 12-17.] JEEEMIAH. 263
Behold, the last of nations
Is a desert, an arid region, a steppe.
13 Because of the indignation of Jehovah
She shall not be inhabited.
But shall be entirely desolate :
Every one who passeth by Babylon
Shall be astonished, and shaU hiss
On account of all her strokes.
14 Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about,
-All ye that bend the bow ;
Shoot at her, spare not an arrow ;
For she hath sinned against Jehovah.
15 Raise a cry against her round about,
She hath surrendered.
Her foundations are fallen in.
Her walls are destroyed ;
For it is Jehovah's vengeance that is taken upon her,
As she hath done, do to her.
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon,
And him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest ;
Because of the sword of the oppressor.
Let them turn each to his own people.
And flee each to his own country.
others interpret. Before its fall, the throw out, hence shoot, as here. ri''n''Hl)K ,
empire was, in point of opulence and or correctly in the Keri Jl'^ni'^IDS , found-
strength, the first of nations : when con- ations, occurs only here, but is obviously
quered by Cyrus, it became the last, and cognate with ffiiiijx, Arab. au«l ,
ceased from being reckoned among them, , ' '
having ultimately, as described in this IT^' ' ^"'S- fr^ridamenta ejus.
verse and the following, become utterly 16. There is here an apt reference to
desolate. the agricultural occupations of the in-
14-16. A summons to the Median habitants, who^ cultivated large fields
army to proceed to the attack, which is within the walls of the city, by which
described in the 15th verse as having means they could raise a quantity of
already proved successful. The cry to grain sufficient to enable them to sustain
be raised against Babylon was the war- a long siege (Quin. Curtius, Ub. v. cap.
shout, or the terrific shout of the war- 1). Having been coUected from all the
riors inspiriting each other to the onset, different countries which the Chaldeans
1 Sam. xvii. 20; 2 Chron. xiii. 15. "^J!?,? had subdued, the colonists should now
Tn'^ , she hath given her hand, i.e. sub- have it in their power to return to their
mitted, surrendered to the victor. Comp. respective homes.
the Latin dare manus. For 11^ three of 17. Eor the metaphor of a lion to de-
De Eossi's MSS., and primarily another, note a hostile foreign king, see chap. iv.
read 1'''] . Both verbs signify to project, 7 ; Nah. ii. 11, 12. By the gnawing of

264 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. L. 17-21.
17 Israel hath been a scattered sheep.
The lions have driven him away.
The first who devoured him was the king of Assyria,
And the last, this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, hath gnawed
his bones.
18 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel,
Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land ;
As I punished the king of Assyria.
19 And I will restore Israel to his habitation.
And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan ;
And his soul shall be satiated on mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days, and at that time, saith Jehovah,
The iniquity of Israel may be sought for, but there shall be none.
And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found ;
For I will pardon those whom I reserve.
21 Go up against the land of Merathaim,
And against the inhabitants of Pekod ;
Lay waste* and destroy after them,
Saith Jehovah,
And do according to all that I have charged thee.
22 There is the sound of battle in the land.
And great destruction.
the bones, the rapacity of the king of of opinion respecting the exact meaning
Babylon is expressed. of the former. That of the doubly rebd-
19, 20. Though it is a fact that the lious, proposed by Dahler and adopted
sin of idolatry of which the Hebrews had by Michaelis, Eichhorn, De Wette,
been guilty, entirely ceased during tlieir Scholz, Ewald, and Maurer, is the most
residence in Babylon, yet the terms TIS , satisfactory. Most of these expositors,
iniquity, and HNan , sins, seem rather to however, explain it of the two rebellions
be here employed in the sense of punish- of the Babylonians against the Persians
ment or inflictions on account of sin, a in the reigns of Darius Hystaspes and
signification which the terms not unfre- Xerxes ; bnt Maurer more appropriately
quently have in the HeTirew Scriptures, of the twofold rebelUon of the eastern
The calamities to which that people had power — first as wielded by the Assyri-
becn subjected had now come to an end : ans, and then by the Babylonians their
they were no longer found to exist, successors, — against Jehovah as the
Those who remained, or survived the God of the Hebrews. Comp. verses 24,
captivity, experienced the pai'doning 29. 'Vip'S sigaifies visitation, punishment,
mercy of their God. and designates Babylon as the city which
21. There is an animated paronomasia was to be destroyed. DrT^^nS , after
in Tph^ hbs h'S . That O^nnia , Mera- them, refers to the complete devastation
tliaini, and Tip? , Pekod, are descriptive of the city after it had been deserted by
names of Babylon, is aUowed on all tho inhabitants. It ultimately became
hands, though there is some difference a scone of utter desolation, which it con-

Chap. L. 22-28.] JEREMIAH. 265
23 How the hammer of the whole earth
Is cut down and broken !
How Babylon hath become an object of astonishment
Among the nations 1
24 I laid the snare for thee,
-And thou art taken, O Babylon,
But thou wast not aware of it ;
Thou wast found and also captured.
Because thou didst wage war against Jehovah.
25 Jehovah hath opened his arsenal.
And brought out the weapons of his indignation.
For the Lord Jehovah of Hosts hath a work
In the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come to her from the extremity.
Open her stores, throw her up like heaps,
And destroy her utterly ;
Let her have nothing left.
27 Destroy all her bullocks,
Let them go down to the slaughter ;
Alas, for them, for their day is come.
The time of their punishment.
28 The voice of those who flee and make their escape
From the land of Babylon,
Announcing in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah our God,
The vengeance on account of his temple.
tinues to be in the present day See on denote Shechem, the Hivite prince. In
Isa. xiii. 1. the expression " to go down to theslaugh-
23. The appropriate metaphor of ter," there would seem to be a reference
UJ^upQ , a hammer, is employed to set to the position of the slaughter-houses,
forth the destructive character of the which it is natural to suppose stood by
Chaldean power. Comp. Isa. xiv. 6. the side of the river. The princes to be
24. Cyrus took the city by surprise ; killed are the nominative to IT^,!; , and
the government had no apprehension of not the Medes.
the stratagem which he employed in dry- 28. The prophet in anticipation already
ing up the Euphrates, and then entering hears the announcement of the capture
by the upper and lower gates. of Babylon, brought to Judea by Jewish
26. After yp, extremity, y'^^T\, the fugitives, who had made their escape on
eartA, is understood, expressing the great the occasion. Zion, though laid waste
distance whence the Median army came by the Chaldeans, is represented as the
against Babylon. scene where the joyful news was to be
27. By B^'^S , Mfocis, the princes and pubUshed. Vengeance was to be wreaked
other magnates are meant. Comp. Gen. upon the king of Babylon especially on
xlix. 6, where "iili3 , ox, is employed to account of the destruction of the temple,
23

266 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. L. 28-34.
29 Summon the archers against Babylon,
All who draw the bow ;
Let them encamp against her round about.
That there may be no escape for her ;
Recompense her according to her desert.
According to all that she hath done, do to her ;
For she hath acted insolently against Jehovah,
Against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore her young men shall fall.
And all her warriors shall be destroyed in that day,
Saith Jehovah.
31 Behold, I am against thee, O thou proud one,
Saith the Lord Jehovah of Hosts ;
Surely thy day is come.
The time when I will punish thee.
32 And the proud one shall stumble and fall in her open places.
And he shall have none to raise him up ;
-And I will kindle a fire in his cities,
And it shall devour all that are around him.
33 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts :
The children of Israel and the children of Judah
Are oppressed together ;
And aU who led them captive, hold them fast.
They refuse to set them free.
34 Their Eedeemer is strong,
Jehovah of Hosts is his name,
and the desecration of its vessels, which vah vindicates to himself the infliction
hetookandplacedin the temple of Belus of the punishment. By Tilt, pride,
as trophies of his victory over the God which is equivalent to lilt IJJiN; , man of
ofthe Jews. pride = proud one; the king of Babylon
29. Eor B'^3'^ , archers, compare Job is intended.
'^^- 13. 33, 34. A renewed recognition of the
30. The Babylonians were so dis- captive condition of tlie Hebrews, and
couraged by having lost some battles, an assertion of the omnipotent interpo-
that they retired within the waUs of the sition of Jehovah for their deliverance.
city, and could not be induced to meet The paronomasia in T''^'p. and f?in
Cyrus again in the field. is designedly formed, the more point-
31. Instead of T'^lgQ , two of Ken- edly to express the contrast. The earth,
nicott's MSS., the LXX., Arab., Syr., which had been incessantly disturbed by
Targ., and Vulg. read ?;ni1pa , and the Chaldean wars, was now to enjoy
one of De Eossi's and the Soncin. tranquility; but this tranquility was to
Prophets, ^'^'^i'S • The sense is the be purchased by the breaking up of the
same, only in the common reading Jelio- peace of Babylon. Comp. Isa. xiv. 6-8.

Chap. L. 34-38.]

JEEEMIAH.

267

He will certainly plead their cause.
That he may give rest to the earth.
And cause the inhabitants of Babylon to tremble.
35 A sword against the Chaldeans,
Saith Jehovah ;
And against the inhabitants of Babylon,
-Against her princes and against her wise men.
36 A sword against the boasters.
And they shall become foolish ;
A sword against her heroes.
And they shall be astounded.
37 A sword against his horses and against his chariots,
And against all the mingled people that are in the midst of her,
And they shall become women ;
A sword against her treasures, and they shall be plundered.
38 A sword against the waters, and they shall dry up ;

Some take ?''5'1rt in the sense of causing
to tremble, but the verb has never this
signification in Hiphil, except in refer
ence to the movement of the eyeUds,
caused by winking.
35-38. An animated passage carried
out by the figure anaphora, or the repe
tition of the same word at the commence
ment ofthe several members of discourse.
Each verse begins with 3^11 , a sword.
The prophecy is directed against the
sum total of what was in Babylon — the
inhabitants generally, the princes, the
philosophers, the astrologers, the native
cavalry and foreign auxiUaries, together
with the immense treasures collected
from the nations which she had con
quered ; and the Euphrates, her plenti
ful supply of water as well as her defence.
The change of the gender from the fem
inine to the mascuUne (ver. 37 ), specially
marks the king as the object. For 3^? ,
mingled people, see on chap. xxv. 20. In
ver. 38, the word 3in is not pointed
2")n , Herev, which signifies a sword, as
in the five preceding instances, but 3'in ,
Horev, which signifies drought ; and this,
without any variety in all the pointed
MSS. and printed editions. There can,

however, be little doubt, that originally
the word was pronounced in all cases
alike, and that the change is to be at
tributed to a supposed incongruity of
making a sword instrumental in drying
up the waters. ¦ Bnt there is in reality
no more incongruity in employing the
sword for this purpose than for seizing
the treasures, as stated in the preceding
verse. The term is used throughout
metonymically — the weapon for those
wielding it — the hostile conquering
power; in a word, the soldiers whom
Cyrus employed iu digging the ditches
into which he turned off the water of
the Euphrates, so that entering the chan
nel of the river by the gates above and
below the city, they marched on dry
ground to its conquest. (Xenophon, Cy
ropsed. vii.) See on Isa. xliv. 27. Though
omitted in the ordinary editions of the
LXX., that of Grabe has p.dxaipay ; the
Hexaplar-Syr. has ^H t Tf> without an
c y
asterisk ; the Peschito Syr. ].Sfjt the
Slavonic, Metch ; all signifying a sword.
The word is rendered in the same way by
Blayney, Ewald, Umbreit, and Scliolz,

268 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. L. 38-44.
For it is the land of graven images.
And by their terrific idols they have shown themselves fools.
39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert shall dwell with the jackals,
The ostriches also shall dwell there,
And it shall be inhabited no more for ever.
Neither shall it be dwelt in to all generations.
40 As when God overtlirew Sodom and Gomorrah,
And their neighboring cities.
No one shall dwell there,
Neither shall any son of man lodge in her.
41 Behold, a people cometh from the north.
Even a great nation, and many kings
Shall be roused from the recesses of the earth.
42 They shall seize the bow, and the lance ;
They are cruel, and will show no mercy ;
Their voice shall roar like the sea.
They shall ride on horses.
In array as men for battle,
Against thee, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them,
And his hands have grown feeble ;
Anguish hath seised him.
And pain, as a woman in childbirth.
44 Behold, he shall come up
As a lion from the pride of Jordan,
To the strong abode ;
For I will give him a wink, I will make them run over her ;
and I have not scrupled to follow their employed in describing the approach of
example. Babylon might well be called the Chaldean army to the capture of
" a land of graven images." Next to Jerusalem, chap. vi. 22, 23. The kings
Egypt, it swarmed with idols. Many wore the allied princes and generals of
of them were huge and grotesque in the different armies which were collected
appearance, and calculated to inspire under Cyrus, in the expedition against
beholders with terror. See Dan. iii. 1. tlie Baljylonian empire.
39, 40. A description of the state of 42. liJ"'S , a man, collectively for men,
complete desolation to which Babylon i.e. soldiers, as Isa. xxi. 9. Scholz ex-
should be reduced. Comp. Isa. xiii. phiins the term as equivalent to one man,
20-22; xxxiv. 14, 15. The latter of but this would require inN ir^X .
these two verses is a repetition of chap. 44. Comp. xlix. 19. B^T^S is merely
xlix. 18. a corruption of DS'^'^S , which is exhib-
41. The prophet here calls attention ited in several MSS. and in the Soncin.
to the Medes, as marching against Baliy- and Brix. editions, and appears in the
lon, in the same language which he had Keri. Some Codices have 'S^^'??*, ! hut

Chap, LL 1,2] JEEEMIAH. 269
But who is the chosen one whom I shall appoint against her ?
For who is like me ?
AjQd who can set me a time ?
-And who is this shepherd that shall stand before me ?
45 Therefore hear ye the determination of Jehovah,
Which he hath formed against Babylon,
And his purposes
Which he hath devised against the land of the Chaldeans ;
Surely the smallest of the flock shall drag them along.
Surely their habitation shall be astounded at them.
46 At the sound, " Babylon is taken," the earth is shaken.
And the cry is heard among the nations.
this is probably a correction from chap, found originally in twenty MSS. and
xlix. 19. expressed in the Syriac, Vulg., and
45. Comp. xlix 20. flj? for tiVi , as Targ.

CHAPTER LI.
See Preface to the foregoing chapter.
1 Thus saith Jehovah :
Behold, I will raise against Babylon,
And against those who dwell in Chaldea,
A destructive wind.
2 And I will send to Babylon winnowers.
And they shall winnow her.
And empty her land :
Surely they shall be against her all around
In the day of calamity.
1, 2. That ^tp 39 is equivalent to words, by taking them in the inverse
^33 , Babd, in the sense of Babylonia, order from that in which they appear in
is evident from the parallelism; but in- the alphabet: — Fl occupying the place
terpreters have differed as to the proper of N , 123 that of 3 , and so on through-
manner of construing it. The LXX. out. On this principle ''ap35 will ex-
XaXSalous, Targ. '''<1p3 , the Chaldeans, actly correspond to D^IDD , Chaldeans,
Symraachus and Eosenmiiller merely It may be observed in support of this
retain the letters of the two words, as if mode of resolving the words, that "'SttfT'
they expressed a proper name : Af0Kap.ri, t^'^t^B stand in the same relation to
Lebcamai. The latter, however, in his ^33, ver. 24, that ¦'H|5 3^ ^3'ai do in
Scholia adverts to the Athbash or cabba- this. Ewald, oddly imitating such mode
listical mode of intciTireting tho Hebrew of interpretation, reverses the German
23*

270 JEEEMIAH. [Chap, LL 2-7.
3 Let not the archer bend his bow.
Let him not be proud of his coat-of-mail ;
And spare ye not her young men, —
Exterminate the whole of her army.
4 The slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans,
-And those who are pierced through, in her streets.
5 For Israel is not left widower.
Nor Judah by his God, —
By Jehovah of Hosts :
Though their land is fuU of punishment
From the Holy One of Israel.
6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon,
And let every one save his own life ;
Perish not in her punishment ;
For it is the time of Jehovah's avenging.
He rendereth her desert to her.
7 Babylon was a golden cup in the hand of Jehovah,
Intoxicating the whole earth ;
The nations drank of her wine.
Therefore the nations reel.
8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and broken ;
form Chaldda, and presents Aadlach in he written but not read, and is accord-
his translation. See on chap. xxv. 26. ingly left unpointed, is omitted in many
To what was there observed in reference MSS. and in some editions, and is man-
to the Athbash use of the alphabet, may ifestly an error of transcription. The
be added for consideration the fact of words in the former half of the verse are
the use made by the prophet of the alpha- addressed to the Chaldeans who defended
betical arrangement of his poetry, not the city ; those in the latter half to the
fewer than four of his five Elegies being army of Cyrus.
composed in this style. Under an agri- 5. The suflix in DS"1X refers to Israel
cultural metaphor, the prophet represents and Judah ; and B123S is here, like fl^ESn
the Medo-Persian army as sent against and TlS , to be taken as expressive of
Babylon to clear her of all that she the result of sin and guilt, viz. its pun-
contained, ishment.
3. The connection shows that ^iJ can- 6. The address is to the Jews, who
not be the preposition htA ; but that it are warned to make their escape from
must be taken as the negative 'St , which the devoted city.
is exhibited in twelve MSS., and has 7. The sense is not, as some interpret,
been originally in four more. It is like- that Babylon had intoxicated the nations
wise found in the Soncin. and Brix. by her idolatries, and led them to prac-
editions, and the word is so rendered in tise the same, but that she had been em-
hoth the Syriac versions, the Vnlg., ployed by Jehovah as an instrument of
Targ., and Talmud. The second TiT' , punishing the enemies of his people.
which is marked by the Masoretes as to She is metaphorically called " a golden

Chap. LL 7-13.] JEEEMIAH. 271
Howl ye for her ;
Take balsam for her wound,
Perhaps she may be healed.
9 We have attempted to heal Babylon,
But she would not be healed ;
Abandon her.
And let us go, every one to his own country ;
For her judgment reacheth to the heavens.
It riseth to the skies.
10 Jehovah hath produced the grounds of our acquittal ;
Come, and let us declare in Zion
The work of Jehovah our God.
11 Polish the arrows, fiU the shields,
Jehovah hath excited the spirit of the kings of Media,
For his design is against Babylon,
To destroy her ;
Because it is the avenging of Jehovah,
The avenging of his temple.
12 Elevate the standard on the walls of Babylon,
Strengthen the guard.
Set the watchmen,
Prepare the ambuscades ;
For Jehovah hath both purposed and done
What he hath spoken against the inhabitants of Babylon. '
13 O thou that art dwelling beside great waters.
Abundant in treasures,
cup," to indicate the abundance of her beUion against Jehovah, on account of
wealth and the splendor of her power, which he had employed Nebuchadnezzar
Compare Dan. U. 38, and see note on Isa. to punish them, yet as that monarch had
xiv. 4. treated them with a severity which they
8, 9. The nations are caUed to come had not merited at his hands, the de-
to the assistance of the fallen empire, struction of his power, issuing in their
but they reply that it is hopeless, and liberation, is represented as a justifica- '
abandon her to her fate. tion of their character.
10. The Hebrews are now introduced 11, 12. The Chaldeans are ironically
as encouraging one another to return to summoned to use all possible means for
Jerusalem, and there gratefully celebrate the defence of Babylon. Medes is here
the goodness of their covenant God iu used as a general name for both Medes
the faithful fulfilment of his promises and Persians. Strictly taken, they were
to deliver them from their oppressor, superior to the latter in political and
ripIS , righteousness, i.e. grounds or military importance.
proofs of righteousness. Though the 13. ''H?3il3 is the feminine Participle
Jews had contracted guilt by their re- with the Yod paragogic. nss , properly

272 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. LL 13-23.
Thine end is eome.
The measure of thy rapine.
14 Jehovah of Hosts hath sworn by himself.
That surely I will fill thee with men like locusts.
And they shall raise the battle-shout against thee.
] 5 He made the earth by his power,
He established the world by his wisdom.
And stretched forth the heavens by his understanding.
1 6 When there is thunder.
He causeth abundance of water in the heavens.
And maketh the vapors to ascend
From the ends of the earth :
He maketh the lightnings with rain.
And bringeth out the wind from his stores.
17 Every man is rendered brutish by his art,
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image ;
For his molten images are a lie,
And there is no breath in them.
18 They are vanity, the work of delusions ;
In the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19 The Portion of Jacob is not like these ;
For he is the Former of the universe.
And Israel is the rod of his inheritance ;
Jehovah of Hosts is his name.
20 Thou hast been my war-club, my weapons of war ;
With thee I have broken nations in pieces.
And with thee I have destroyed kingdoms.
21 With thee I have broken in pieces the horse and his rider.
And with thee I have broken in pieces the chariot and its rider.
22 With thee I have broken in pieces the husband and the wife.
And with thee I have broken in pieces the aged and the young ;
a cubit, is here used indefinitely for 20-23. An address to Babylon, which,
measure generally. though in point of style it may seem
15-19. These verses are verbally a to trail, is designed, by an accumulation
repetition of chap. x. 12-16. The only of particulars, to bring out more prom-
diversity is, the omission of '*?"J'2'; in inently the universal destruction effected
verse 19, which omission is supplied in by the conquests of that power. That
twenty-three MSS. and has been orig- thePrctcritcshouldherebet.ikcn strictly
inally in four more. It is in two more of that tense, and not be converted into
by correction, and is expressed in the the Enture, as is done in the ancient
Targ., Vulg., and the Pachom. MS. of versions, and by Hitzig and Ewald, tho
tlie LXX. connection requires. The appUcation of

Chap. LL 23-26.] JEEEMIAH. 273
With thee also I have broken in pieces the youth and the maid.
23 With thee I have broken in pieces the shepherd and his flock.
And with thee I have broken in pieces the ploughman and his
team ;
With thee also I have broken in pieces the satraps and the gov
ernors.
24 And I have repaid Babylon, and all the inhabitants of Chaldea,
For all their injury which they have done to Zion in your sight,
Saith Jehovah.
25 Behold, I am against thee, 0 destroying mountain,
Saith Jehovah,
Which destroyest the whole earth ;
And I will stretch out my hand over thee.
And roll thee down from the rocks.
And make thee a burnt mountain.
26 And men shall not take of thee a stone for a corner.
Nor a stone for foundations ;
But thou shalt be desolate for ever,
Saith Jehovah.
27 Raise the banner in the earth.
Blow the trumpet among the nations.
Consecrate the nations against her.
Summon against her
The kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz ;
Appoint a military commander against her ;
Cause cavalry to come up
Like bristled locusts.
the words to Cyrus would be out of 25, 26. The prophet now changes the
place. ^'91? , from ySi to scatter, break, metaphor of a war-club for that of a vol-
dash in pieces, designates the dub, an- cano, which, pouring forth floods of lava,
ciently used by warriors for the purpose spreads destruction over all the sur-
of clearing away all with whom they rounding country. Eor 'the same image,
came in contact. Comp. 1. 23, and Na- comp. Eev. viii. 8. It sometimes hap-
hum ii. 2. pens that volcanic mountains, after hav-
24. The change from the second per- ing spent themselves, fall into the vac-
son to the third, as weU as the turn uum ; and nothing hut the surrounding
given to the announcement, requires the rocks are left to mark where the craters
Preterite here to be taken as the pro- had been. The walls of Babylon, which
phetic Future, and rendered accordingly, were three hundred and sixty feet in
The persons addressed in D?"'.?"'?, "your height, not inaptly suggested the idea
eyes," were the Jews, many of whom of a monntain, and their rugged appear-
had witnessed the ruthless conduct of the ance after the destruction of the city,
Chaldeans at the capture of Jerusalem, that of. an^ extinct volcano. As volcanic

274

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. LI. 26-29

28 Consecrate the nations against her,
The kings of Media,
Her satraps and her governors,
-And all the land of their dominion.
29 And the earth shall quake, and be in pain.
For the purposes of Jehovah against Babylon shall stand.
To make the land of Babylon desolate
Without an inhabitant.
80 The heroes of Babylon cease to fight.
They remain in their strongholds.
Their strength faileth.
They are become women ;
Her dwelUngs are burned.
Her barriers are broken in pieces.
31 Coitrier runneth to meet courier.
And messenger to meet messenger.
To announce to the king of Babylon,
That his city is altogether taken :

stones and pumice are unfit for use in
the construction of buildings, and are
left whefe they have been deposited, so
Babylon should never rise from its ruins.
No prince or governor should ever be
appointed from among her inhabitants.
27, 28. The nations of western Asia
are summoned to join the Medes in the
attack on Babylon. By ^y^^. Ararat,
are meant the regions in the vicinity of
that mountain, forming some of the
most fertile and beautiful parts of Arme
nia. "'W , MiNNi, a province of the
same country, from which in all proba
bility it takes its name. According to
Major Eawlinson, Van was the capital
of this province. The country was con
quered by Tetarrassa, the general of
Temembar H., the Assyrian king whose
wars are commemorated on the black
obeUsk, now in the British Museum.
tBBN , has been variously interpreted.
Targ. a"''^n, Adiabene. The Arab.

^¦^

I, the Cliozars, Bochart. xis-

cania, from places of that name in Phry-
gia or Bithynia. Comp. Iliad) ii. 862 :

^SpKvs a5 ^piiyas ^ye Kal 'A.ffKdyios
6eoeiSi]S
TijA* 4^ 'AoKavirfs,
The modern Jews preposterously under
stand Germany. If not also a province
of Armenia, it no doubt bordered on that
country. Cyrus had subdued the terri
tories of Asia Minor before he marched
against Babylon, and consequently aug
mented his forces by levies fi:om that
quarter. See Cyropsed. books iii. and
iv. "lOSB occurs only ver. 27, and in the
plural, Nahum in. 17, which see. ^KO,
bristling, from "IBO, to stand erect, or
bristle as the hair.
28. Some have thought that ¦^'TO''?^'?,
kings of Media, are to be taken as of the
dual number, and that Cyaxares and
Cyrus are intended ; but as the phrase
stands in immediate connection with
D'^IJ , the nations, I prefer applying it to
the tributary kings subject to the Medes.
The sufiix in 1Pl>l?3aa , points to the
proper king of Media.
29. Eor ni3iana , fifteen MSS. read
ri3i:3ria , in the singular ; and thus the
Vulg. and both the Syriac versions.

Chap. LL 31-35.] JEEEMIAH. 275
32 That the passages are captured.
That the stockades are burned with fire.
And the military thrown into confusion.
33 For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel,
The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor,
At the time when it is trodden ;
Yet a little while.
And the time of harvest shall come to her.
34 Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me,
He hath discomfited me.
He hath made me an empty vessel.
He hath swallowed me up like a sea-monster,
He hath filled his belly with my delicacies :
He hath cast me out.
35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon,
Shall the inhabitress of Zion say ;
And, Let my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea,
ShaU Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah,
Behold, I will plead thy cause.
And win execute vengeance for thee ;
31. The couriers or messengers were before that of the harvest, instead of
those who were despatched from differ- after it, as might have been expected,
ent parts of the city to convey the unex- may be accounted for on the principle,
pected intelUgence of the breaches made that the prophet wished to give greater
by the enemy. prominence to his announcement of the
32. On the ground of its being difficult completeness of the destruction that
to conceive of the burning of pools with should come Upon Babylon.
fire, Blayney proposes to read Diabs , 34, 35. The Jews are here introduced,
vestibules or porches instead of 0"'aSS . complaining ofthe injuries inflicted upon
This latter word, however, which is them by the Chaldeans, and imprecating
found in all the MSS. and is supported divine retribution. For the five instances
by the versions, is here used in the same of the plural suflSx in these verses, the
acceptation as TiaSX , viz. reeds or canes, singular of the Keri is found in not a
such as grow around lakes or pools of few MSS. and in the Soncin. and Brix.
stagnant water ; and as such are often editions and is the Masoretic punctua-
of considerable strength, so as to admit tion. It is also the reading supported
of their being made into stockades, it is by all the ancient versions, and agrees
most probable that these defences or out- with the singular affix to the nouns.
works are here meant. Thus Eabbi By '''^XIU , my flesh, we are here to under-
Jona, comparing the cognate Arabic stand the blood relations of the inhabi-
X^~.| , munimenta, arces, tants of Jerusalem, or the Jews through-
33. The circumstance, that the time out the country, who were killed or
of treading out the com is mentioned carried captive to Babylon.

276 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. LL 36-43.
For I will dry up her sea.
And make her spring dry.
37 And Babylon shall become heaps.
An abode of jackals :
An object of astonishment and derision,
Without an inhabitant.
38 They roar together Hke lions,
They roar like young lions.
39 When they are heated I will make their banquets,
And intoxicate them,
In order that they may exult.
And sleep a perpetual sleep, and not awake,
Saith Jehovah.
40 I wiU make them go down like lambs to the slaughter,
Like rams and he-goats.
41 How Sheshak is taken !
The praise of all the earth captured !
How Babylon is become desolate among the nations !
42 The sea hath come up over Babylon,
She is covered with the multitude of its waves.
43 Her cities have become a desert.
An arid land, and a steppe ;
A land in which no one dwelleth.
And through which no son of man passeth.
44 For I will punish Bel in Babylon,
-And I will take out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed,
And the nations shall flow to him no more ;
The wall of Babylon is fallen down.
36. The Orientals are accustomed to in to such a pitch, that most of the in-
call any great collection of waters, a habitants were more or less in a state of

sea. Thus in Arab.

inebriation. 41. For 5AesAacA, see on chap. xxv. 26.
thesea ofthe Nile, for the Nile itself, and 42. The image of the inundation of a
river to represent the invasion of a

JjuJt «sxj,

imply >.£XaJ| , the sen. See on Isa.

country by a large and powerful army
xix. 5. The prediction was literally is not uncommon in the prophets. See
fulfilled in the well-known fact of the Isa. viii. 7; xvii. 12, 13. To interpret
drawing off of the Euphrates by Cyi-us. the words Uterally of the Euphrates, as
38, 39. The night in which the con- MichaeUs does, is quite repugnant to the
quest of Babylon was effected, was during spirit of the passage.
the great festival which had been insti- 43. The plural 1^3 , though occurring
tuted in honor of the idols, and at which in immediate connection with f^iS in
revelry of every description was indulged the singular, is doubtless intended to

Chap. LI. 43-49.]

JEEEMIAH.

277

45 Come out of the midst of her, O my people.
And let every one save his own life
From the fury of the anger of Jehovah.
46 And let not your heart be timid.
Neither be ye afraid at the report
Which shall be heard in the land ;
For this year a report shall come,
-And the following year another report, —
Violence in the land.
And ruler against ruler.
47 Therefore the days are coming
When I will punish the graven images of Babylon,
And her whole land shall be ashamed ;
And all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48 Then heaven and earth, and all that are in them.
Shall rejoice over Babylon ;
For the destroyers shall come against her from the north,
Saith Jehovah.

comprehend the cities specified at the
beginning of the verse.
44. In iSiS— ?3 is obviously a pa
ronomasia. For Belns, the principal
god of the Babylonians, see on Isa. xlvi. 1 .
Though there may be a reference here
to the numerous sacrifices which were
offered to this idol, and which the priests
pretended he devoured during the night,
yet what the prophet strictly has in view
is the abundance of treasure which had
been taken from the conquered nations,
and deposited in his temple, as well as
that which had been voluntarily dedi
cated to him by the multitudes of pilgrims
who resorted to his shrine. The long
processions of pilgrims moving slowly
along are fitly expressed by ^f]J , which
properly signifies to flow as a river. For
the fulfilment of the prophecy, as it re
gards the restoration of the plundered
vessels of the temple at Jerusalem, see
Ezrai. 7-11.
45, 46. The prophet again turns to
the Jews in Babylon, and urges them to
make their escape from the city, lest
they should be involved in its destruction
24

— intimating to them, that in the course
of the previous year they should hear of
the approach of the Medo-Persian army,
which would be a signal to them to
retire into the country, in an opposite
direction from that in which the invaders
might be expected to appear. IB at the
beginning of a sentence has all the force
of a prohibitory adverb. It is to be un
derstood as if it were repeated before
1K";"'ri . The conjunction 1 is found
before 3t?3a, as first occuring in PlUa
ilUa-bs, in sixty-four MSS., and. has
been originally in ten more. It is like
wise in thirteen printed editions, and is
supported by Symm., the Targ., Syr.,
Vulg., and Arab. N3 occurs anoma
lously in the masculine, though nsiaiU ,
the subject, is previously introduced. It
is an instance of constructio ad sensum.
47-49. The complete downfall of the
city of Babylon, with all her idols, in
cluding the cessation of the Chaldean
empire, was an event of such iniportance,
both in a civil and a religious point of
view, that not only is universal nature
represented as exulting at it, but the

278 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. LL 47-58;
49 Babylon also shall fall, 0 ye slain of Israel,
Those also of Babylon shall fall, 0 ye slain of all the earth.
50 Ye that have escaped from the sword.
Go on, stand not still :
Remember Jehovah from afar.
And let Jerusalem come into your mind.
51 We were ashamed because we heard reproach ;
Confusion covered our face.
Because foreigners had entered
The holy places of the house of Jehovah.
52 Therefore, behold the days come, saith Jehovah,
When I will punish her graven images.
And through all her land the wounded shall groan.
53 Though Babylon hath mounted up to heaven.
And though she hath fortified the heights of her strength,
Destroyers shall come from me against her,
Saith Jehovah.
54 The sound of an outcry from Babylon,
And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans.
55 For Jehovah is destroying Babylon,
And causing the great sound to perish from her ;
Her waves raged like mighty waters,
The noise of their sound was given forth.
56 For a destroyer is come against Babylon,
And her heroes shall be taken.
Their bows shall be broken :
For Jehovah is a God of retributions.
He will render full recompense.
departed spirits of the multitudes slain plural ''IS^pa , sanctuaries, ver. 51, is
in its wars are invoked to participate in expressive of the several compartments
the joy. The signification of sia^ei-s, i.e. of the temple.
soldiers, which Kennicott and some 53-58. Exalted as Babylon had been
others have given to C'PH , ver. 49, is by her military prowess, her wealth, and
not supported by Hebrew usage. her celebrated idol-gods, she was now to
50-52. Though the Jews had been be reduced to utter desolation. The
reproached by idolaters as abandoned by noise made by lier inhabitants and her
Jehovah, as if he had not been able to numerous armies was now to be ex-
save them, and they could not contradict changed for that of her destruction.
the fact that they had been abandoned According to Herodotus, the walls of
by him, yet they are assured that he Babylon were si.xty miles in circumfer-
would prove himself to be mightier than ence, and three hundred and fifty feet in
all the gods of Babylon, whose devotees height. They formed a squai-e, in each
should faU throughout the empire. The side of which were twenty-five gates

Chap. LI. 53-64.]

JEEEMIAH.

279

57 And I wiU intoxicate her princes and her sages.
Her satraps and her military governors and her heroes.
And they shaU sleep a perpetual sleep,
-And shall not awake,
Saith Jehovah.
58 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts :
The walls of spacious Babylon
Shall be utterly demolished.
And her lofty gates shall be burned with fire ;
So that the people shall have labored for mere vanity.
And the tribes for the very fire, and been wearied.
59 The thing which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the
son of Neraiah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zede
kiah, king of Judah, to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign :
Now Seraiah was a quiet prince. And Jeremiah described all
the calamity which should come on Babylon in a book — all
these words which are written against Babylon. And Jeremiah
said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see,

60

61

leading into the city. Between these
gates were two hundred and fifty towers,
so that it was considered to be impreg
nable. Berosus states that Cyrus or
dered the outer walls to be pulled down ;
and the rest were reduced by Darius to
the height of fifteen cubits. Eor con
structing these works Semiramis is said
to have brought to Babylon two millions
of men ; but in the view of their demoli
tion the prophet declares that all their
labor should terminate in conflagration
and emptiness. For the force of "''13 ,
see Gesenius's Lexicon in ''I! . With
the exception that 1I3S and p"''! have
exchanged places, the two concluding
lines of ver. 58 are found in Habak. ii.
13, where the same subject is predicted,
.and from which Jeremiah appears to
have borrowed them.
59-64. These verses, which form an
epilogue to the preceding prophecy
against Babylon , bear unequivocal marks
of genuineness, and are not to be re
garded as the composition of a later
writer. A special copy of the prophecy,
prepared by Jeremiah, was deUvered to

Seraiah, to furnish the Jews in Babylon
with matter of consolation in their state
of exile. Though, on his arrival within
sight of Babylon, he was to bind a stone
to it, and throw it into the Euphrates,
accompanying the symboUcal act with
an inspired prediction, it is not to he
supposed that he could forget the con
tents of the document ; so that though
it might not have been safe for him to
retain it in his possession, he might
communicate the substance orally to his
countrymen, as occasion served.
59. As Zedekiah did not go to Baby
lon till he was carried thither captive
in the eleventh year of his reign, it is
obvious that the particle HS before his
name in this verse, is not to be taken in
the sense of with, but eUiptically for riSa ,
from, with i.e. from, with special reference
to the monarcli from whom Seraiah re
ceived his commission. Comp. for simi
lar ellipses of the preposition. Gen. iv. 1 ;
xliv. 4 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 35. nriii:a-11!3
has been variously rendered. The Vul
gate strangely : princeps prophetice. The
LXX. Apxiiy Sdpay, as if they had read

280

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. LI. 59-64.

62 and shalt read all these words. Then thou shalt say, O Jehovah,
Thou hast spoken against this place to destroy it, that there
should be no inhabitant in it, neither man nor beast, but that it
63 should be desolate forever. And it shall be when thou hast
finished reading this book, thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast
64 it into the midst of the Euphrates : And shalt say, Thus shall
Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the calamity which I
bring upon her, so that they shall have been wearied. Thus
far the words of Jeremiah.

nr^ja'lia ; and this is likewise given iu
the Targum : SttJ^'^P'R 3'^ , supposing
the office of Seraiah to be that of the
distributer of the royal presents. Mi
chaeUs, Scholz, Maurer, and Hitzig,
interpret the title as denoting the chief,
or commander of the caravan, on whom,
according to Oriental custom, it devolved
to appoint the resting-place for the night.
Cahen : chef des agents de suretg, i.e.
master of police, whose office it was to
maintain tranquillity in the city, or the
palace. Others, lord chamberlain, an
office of high consideration and confi
dence. But the most probable meaning
is that given in our common version :
a quiet prince. Comp. ilHISa U3^K , a
man of quietness, 1 Chron . xxii. 9. Se
raiah was a prince of a peaceable dis

position — not hostile to Jeremiah, but
one who might be safely trusted with
the commission given him by the prophet.
64. It seems scarcely possible to ac
count for ^SSS^'l , so that they shall have
been wearied, on any other ground than
that some copyist has inadvertently in
serted the word from the end of ver. 58.
It is, however, found in all the MSS.,
and in the versions of Aquila, Symm.,
the Hexap. Syr., the Vulg., the Pesch
ito, and the Targ. The LXX. conclude
the chapter with the preceding words.
The additional note. Thus far thewards
of Jeremiah, is in aU probability to be
ascribed to the person who collected the
sacred writings of the Old Testament,
and who added the following chapter to
the book written by our prophet.

CHAPTER LII.

By whom this chapter was penned has been matter of dispute, and it may safely be
asserted that it is a question which never will he determined. The hypothesis that
Jeremiah himself was the writer, appears to have originated, either in the opinion that
he was the author ofthe Book of Kings, between a portion of which (2 Kings xxiv. 18;
xxv. 1-21) and this chapter, 1-27, there is an almost verbal identity; or, that he com
posed it to serve as an historical account of the destruction of Jerusalem by Kebuohad-
nezzar, to be prefixed to the Book of Lamentations, which celebrates that disastrous
event. If, however, any credit Is to be given to the statement made chapter li. 64,
'''^^'?1"! '''O^'^l '^Ivl"''? ) Tims far the words of Jeremiah, all that our prophet had
composed terminated with the foregoing words of that verse, and the reader is palpably
left to infer that what follows was supplied by the writer of that annotation. !4.1though
it is impossible to ascertain the time at which the additional chapter was received into
the canon, yet so much is beyond dispute, that it must have formed part of that canon
in the time of our Lord and his apostles, forasmuch as it is found in tlie version of the
LXX., and there is no reason whatever to believe that it could by any possibility have

Chap. LH. 3-7.] JEEEMIAH. 281
been translated from that vereion and added to the Hebrew text at a later period.
Bertholdt, indeed, maintains positively that it must have existed iu the book previously
to the completion of the canon, since we have no instance of any extraneous portion
having been added subsequently to that event.
This chapter contaius certain particulaj's relative to Zedekiah, 1-3; the siege and capture
of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the removal of the valuable appurtenances of the
temple to Babylon, the disposal of the leading men among the Jews, and of the lower
orders of the community, 4-30 ; and the kind treatment which Jehoiachin, who had
previously been transported to Babylon, 31-34, received from Evil-merodach.
1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he came to reign, and
he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem ; and his mother's name
2 was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he
did that which was wicked in the sight of Jehovah, according to
3 all that Jehoiakim had done. For it was through the anger of
Jehovah against Jerusalem and Judah, tUl he had cast them
away from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king
of Babylon.
4 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth
month, on the tenth of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar, king
of Babylon, came, he and all his force, against Jerusalem, and
encamped against it, and built watch-towers against it round
5 about. So the city was in a state of siege till the eleventh year
6 of Zedekiah. In the fourth month, on the ninth of the month,
the famine was grievous in the city, and there was no bread for
7 the country-people. And the city was broken in upon, and aU
the military fled and went out of the city by night, in the direc
tion of the gate, between the two walls, which was by the king's
garden ; for the Chaldeans were all around the city : and they
8 went out in the direction of the steppe. And the Chaldean
force pursued the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the steppes
9 of Jericho, and all his force dispersed from him. And they took
the king and brought him to the king of Babylon, to Riblah, in
3. hv is omitted in one or two MSS., observe — a signification which the verb
the Syr., Vulg., and the Arab, of the has in Aramaic. Gesenius, who form-
Oxford Codex ; but it occurs in 2 Kings erly approved of loalls, circumvallations,
xxiv. 20, where there is no variety of proposed by Michaelis, has at last
reading. The word expresses more adopted the above interpretation. The
forcibly the immediate connection be- towers were erected by the besieging
tween the judgment infiicted on .lerusa- party for the double purpose of observ-
lem and the divine displeasure with the ing what was done by those who defended
sins of the inhabitants. the city, and of annoying them by dis-
4. p2'^ is to be taken collectively, and charging missiles upon them from the
is not to be rendered hy forts, but watch- elevation which was thus afforded.
towers ; from pW , to look out, look about, 7. Comp. on chap, xxxix. 4.
24*

282 JEEEMIAH. [Chap. LIL 11-15.
the land of Hamath, and he pronounced judgment, upon him.
10 And the king of Babylon butchered the sons of Zedekiah in his
sight ; and all the princes of Judah also he butchered at Eiblah,
11 And he dug out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with
fetters of brass, and the king of Babylon brought him to Baby
lon, and he put him in a house of custody tiU the day of his
death.
12 And in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, which was m
the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Neb
uzaradan, captain of the body-guard, who stood before the king
13 of Babylon, came into Jerusalem, and burned the temple of
Jehovah, and the palace of the king ; and aU. the houses of Jeru
salem, and aU the houses of the great, he burned with fire.
14 And all the Chaldean force which was with the captain of the
body-guard, demolished all the walls of Jerusalem round about.
15 And some of the poor of the people, and the rest of the people
that were left in the city, and those who went over to the king
of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan, the
16 captaiu of the body-guard, carried away captive. But some of
the poor of the land Nebuzaradan, the captain of the body-guard,
17 left for vinedressers and for ploughmen. Aaid the pillars of
copper which were in the temple of Jehovah, and the bases,
and the copper sea which was in the temple of Jehovah, the
Chaldeans brake in pieces ; and they carried away aU the cop-
18 per of them to Babylon. And the pots, and the shovels, and
the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and all the
vessels of copper, with which service was performed, they
19 took away. And the dishes, and the pans, and the basons,
11. mpQtl"n^3 , the house of visita- between the two chapters, in aU proba-
tions, or punishments, the LXX. render bility owing to a similar cause.
oiKiay p.v\wvos, the house of the mill, with 13. 7'i"I5il'"n'^2"?3'"nS<'l is of unusual
special reference to the custom of pris- construction. It seems to stand for
oners being condemned to work at the ni?iiafl"';ri3"53 . In 2 lungs xxv. 9,
mUl. Thus Samson, after his eyes had the article is omitted before 'IIS . Both
been put out by the Philistines, ground the substantive and the adjective are to
in the prison-house. Judges xvi. 21. be taken collectively, and rendered in
12. The discrepancy between the tenth the plural.
day and the seventh (2 Kings xxv. 8), 15. The poor of the people here spo-
may be accounted for on the assumption ken of were those of the city, as distin-
that the Hebrews used letters as numer- guished from those of the country ut the
als, and that one has been mistaken for beginning of the follo\ving verse. There
another by a transcriber. There are is, therefore, no sufficient reason why
more discrepancies of the same kind the words Di'n nis'ia should be rejected,

Cha^ LIL 15-30.] JEEEMIAH. 283
and the pots, and the lamp-stands, and the spoons, and the bowls,
the gold of that which was gold, and the silver of that which was
20 silver, the captain of the body-guard took away. The two
pillars, the one sea, and the twelve copper oxen which were
underneath, and the bases which king Solomon had made for
the temple of Jehovah — there was no weight to the copper of
21 all these vessels. And as for the pillars, eighteen cubits was
the height of one pillar, and a thread of twelve cubits surrounded
22 it ; and its thickness was four fingers ; it was hollow. And the
chapiter on it was copper, and the height of the one chapiter
was five cubits with network, and pomegranates on the chapiter
round about, aU of copper ; and the second pUlar and the pome-
23 granates were like these. And the pomegranates were ninety-
six towards the wind ; all the pomegranates were a hundred on
24 the lattice-work rotmd about. And the captain of the body
guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second
25 priest, and the three keepers of the door. And from the city
he took an etmuch who had been appointed over the military,
and seven men of those who had been in attendance on the king
that were found in the city, and the secretary of the commander-
in-chief, who enrolled the people for service, and sixty men of
the country people who were found in the midst of the city.
26 And Nebuzaradan, the captain of the body-guard, took them,
27 and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. And the
king of Babylon smote them, and killed them at Riblah in the
"land of Hamath ; and he took Judah away captive from his land.
28 This is the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive :
in the seventh year, of Jews three thousand, twenty and three.
29 In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, of the men of Jeru-
though they are omitted in one MS. and 23. flHIl , towards the air or unnd, i.e.
in 2 Kings. the outside of the capitals of the columns
20. As, according to the description or pillars.
1 Kings vu. the nljba , bases, were 28-30. These verses are omitted in
not under the oxen which supported the 2 Kings xxv. and in the LXX. Ac-
molten sea, but formed the supports of cording to 2 Kings xxiv. 14, the number
the ten lavers, f'npl must be taken in of captives taken along with Jehoiachin
reference to O; i^ , as interpreted hy the amounted to 10,000, with which the
LXX. viroKdrai rrjs BaKdaoiis, and not statement here made, that the number
joined to msba following. By supply- was 3,023, may be reconciled, by com-
ino- the conjunction 1 , according to the paring 2 Kings xxiv. 16, where we are
reading in 2 Kings x,xv. 16, no difficulty informed that 7,000 of the 10,000 speci-
wiU remain. fied ver. 14 were military, leaving the

284

JEEEMIAH.

[Chap. LII. 28-34.

30 salem eight hundred, thirty and two. In the twenty-third year
of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard,
carried away captive of Jews seven hundred, forty and five
persons : all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.
31 And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of
Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the fifteenth
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,
32 and brought him forth out of prison. And spake kindly to him,
and placed his throne above the thrones of the kings which were
33 with him in Babylon. And he changed his prison garments,
34 and he ate bread before him all the days of his life : -And as for
his diet, a constant diet was given to him from the king of
Babylon, every day its portion, till the day of his death, aU the
days of his life.

sum total to be completed by the addi
tion of the round number of 3,000, which
our author, giving the exact number of
3,023, states to have been Jews, under
standing thereby the inhabitants, exclu
sive of the soldiers. To the number of
4,600, specified in ver. 30 before us as
the amount of those who had been taken
captive at three different times, must be
added the 7,000 soldiers of 2 Kings xxiv.
14, so that the whole will come to 11,600;
and regarding these as full-grown men,
if we take into the account the women
and children, the total estimate of those
carried away to Babylon will be, accord
ing to the computation of MichaeUs,
about 50,000 individuals.
31-34. Though, as the author just
mentioned shows, Jeremiah might have
lived long enough to have appended this
account of the favorable change of cir
cumstances in the history of Jehoiachin,
there seems to be no weight in the argu
ment, that, if he had not written it, men
tion would have been made of the death
of the prophet, as an event of greater

interest to the reader than what happened
to the captive king. It is much more
natural to suppose that the mind of the
writer, assuming that he was another
person, would be occupied with the fate
of his compatriots, and especiaUy of the
Jewish kings, in Babylon — the captiv
ity there being the subject of which he
was treating, — than that he should re
introduce Jeremiah, whose history had
been dropped at chap. U. 64. EvU-me-
rodach was the son and successor of Neb
uchadnezzar ; according to Jewish tradi-
' tion, he had been thrown into prison by
his father for some misdemeanor in the
government during the period of Neb
uchadnezzar's monomania ; and while
there he contracted a personal friendship
with Jehoiachin ; so that, on his ascend
ing the thi-one, he not only released him,
but advanced him to the most distin
guished seat at the royal table. The
position maintained by Marsham, Hup-
feld and Hofmann, that he was identical
with Belshazzar, is untenable. That
monarch was unquestionably Nabonned.

THE

LAME]N^TATIONS

JEEEMIAH,

INTRODUCTION^.

Though the Elegies of Jeremiah have their place awkwardly assigned
them in the Hebrew Bible among the Chethuvim, between the books
of Ruth and Ecclesiastes, there can be little doubt that originally they
immediately followed, or formed the concluding part of, the book of
that prophet. On this hypothesis alone can we account for the enu
meration of the prcphetical books by Josephus, in his book against
Apion, which he states to be thirteen. To make up this number he
must have reckoned Jeremiah and Lamentations as one book, just
as he must have classed together and reckoned as one each of the
following pairs : Judges and Ruth ; the two books of Samuel ; the two
books of Kings ; the two books of Chronicles ; and the books of Ezra
and Nehemiah. Nor is it otherwise than natural that these elegies
should follow immediately after the description of the disastrous cir
cumstances coimected with the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchad
nezzar, which obviously form the subject that they so dolorously
depict. As, indeed, specific mention is made (2 Chron. xxxv. 25) of lamen
tations having been composed by Jeremiah, on occasion of the death
of Josiah, and of their not only having been made an ordinance to
be perpetuated by recitation in Israel, but also of their having been
" written in the Lamentations," the opinion was entertained by Jose
phus, by Jerome and others of the Fathers, and was adopted by Usher,
Michaelis, and Dathe, as it has been by some others of the moderns,
that they are contained in the collection before us.^ But — not to
insist on the fact, that though the Jews now sometimes give the name
of m3p, lamentations, to the book of elegies which we thus designate,
1 Though Michaelis contended for this opinion in his Commentary, yet he after
wards rejected it in his Neuen Orient, und Exeg. Bibliothek. 1. p. 106 ; and Dathe
did the same in the second edition of his Translation.

-288 INTEODUCTION.
yet the current title of the collection is rrS'^N, how, the first word of
the book having been adopted as the title, agreeably to a custom wliich
obtained among the Jews with respect to the Pentateuch and some
other books of the Hebrew Scriptures — nothing can more convinc
ingly prove that the collection refers to Jerusalem, and not to Josiah,
than the circumstances that the former is repeatedly mentioned, either
expressly by name, or by equivalent circumlocutory epithets ; and that
a great variety of metaphors are employed which can be justified only
on the supposition that the destruction of the city (as the type and
representative of the Jewish state), the miserable condition to which the
inhabitants were reduced during the siege, and their transportation to
Babylon, formed the scenes which the prophet had in his eye ; none of
which apply to the time of Josiah. The only supposable reference to
a king, is Elegy iv. 20 ; but this reference is exclusively applicable to
Zedekiah, since the Jews could have no anticipation of living among
the heathen in connection with the reign of Josiah, whereas, when
Zedekiah was conveyed by the king of Babylon to Riblah, they might
have expected that, if they should be carried with him to Babylon, and
if he should be treated as Jehoiachin had been, they might have favor
shown them for his sake. Besides, it is quite impossible to imagine
how Jeremiah could have composed such elegies as those before us on
account of Josiah, without expatiating on the singular piety of that
monarch, and the melancholy circumstances of his death.
That the traditionary reference at the time the version of the LXX.
was made supports the hypothesis which represents the destruction of
Jerusalem in the time of Zedekiah as being the subject of the Lamen
tations, appears from the introductory verse prefixed by these transla
tors, which reads as follows : koX eyivero /xcra to al)(iJia\o)Ti.o'6rjvai tov
lapa-qX, Kai lepovcraXrjfji, lpy)jj.ui6rjvai, iKoOtxriv 'lepipla'S, K\aiuiv, Kal lOpiq-
vr/cre tov dprjvov tovtov i-irl 'lepoucraXijyu., Kai ctTre — " And it came to
pass after Israel had been carried away captive, and Jerusalem had
been laid waste, that Jeremiah sat weeping, and lamented with this
lamentation, and said."
In point of style, the Elegies of Jeremiah hold a middle place be
tween the simple elevation of prophetic poetry and the more elevated
rhythmical movement which we find in the songs of Moses, David,
and Habakkuk. It is impossible in a translation to exhibit anything
like that conciseness and brevity by wliich the Hebrew original, not-

INTRODUCTION. 289
withstanding all the diffuseness of style characteristic of the prophet, is
so strongly marked. The imagery is tender and pathetic, and bursts
at times into violence, manifesting all the characteristics of elegiac
poetry. The elegiac effusions are grouped in stanzas as they arose in
the mind of Jeremiah, without exhibiting, for the most part, any special
connection which wUl account for the absence of artificial and method
ical arrangement.*
The principal characteristic of these Elegies, the last excepted, is
that they are acrostic or alphabetical. Each Elegy is divided into
twenty-two stanzas or verses. In the three first they aU consist of
triplets, each beginning with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in
regular order. In three instances, viz. Elegy ii. 16, 17; iii. 46-51;
iv. 16, 17, the letters have been transposed. The third elegy has this
remarkable feature, that each hne of the three forming the stanza be
gins with the same letter of the alphabet. The fourth is distinguished
from aU the others by each stanza consisting only of two lines ; while
the last, though exhibiting stanzas of three lines each, and, hke the
rest, consisting of twenty-two — the number of letters in the alphabet,
— is not alphabetical. It likewise differs in the lines being shorter
than those of which the others are composed. With this exception,
the lines are longer than we find in any other specimens of Hebrew
poetry. They contain, on an average, twelve syllables, and are per
ceptibly marked by a caesura about the middle, so as to divide them
into two somewhat unequal parts.
It has been justly remarked that a greater variety of beautiful, ten
der, and pathetic images, aU expressive of deep distress and sorrow,
were never more happily chosen and applied than in these incompara
ble Elegies of Jeremiah.^
1 Lowth's Lecture xxii.
2 Dr. John Smith's " Summary View and Explanation of the Writings of the
Prophets." 25

LAMENTATIONS.

ELEGY I.
Contemplating the sad reverse of circumstances which the Jews had experienced, Jere
miah at once breaks out in utterances of the most profound grief over the fate of
Jerusalem. He mixes up his graphic description of the miseries which her inhabitants
had had inflicted upon them with her own personified description of her calamities,
her confession of her crimes as their cause, her justification of Jehovah in her punish
ment, and her hope that the time would come when the conduct of her enemies should
¦ meet with condign retribution.
N 1 HovT she sitteth sohtary — the populous city I
She is a widow that was great among the nations ;
She that was princess among the provinces is become tributary ;
3 2 She weepeth sorely in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks ;
There is no comforter for her of all her lovers :

1. The Yod in ''n3'n and in^lU is
merely paragogic, but appears originally
to have been used as a mark of the gen
itive case, just as the corresponding
letter is in Arabic. It only occurs in
Hebrew poetry, or the higher style of
composition, and in compound names of
ancient times, as p.ia""'3'1St , pTl~'''sh'a ,
etc. It is impossible to determine what
was the extent of the population of an
cient Jerusalem. Before the revolt under
Eehoboam it must have been very great,
especially during the celebration of the
three annual festivals, when the males
congregated there from all parts of the
country ; and even after that event there
is reason to beUeve that, as the metropolis
of the southern kingdom, the number of
inhabitants was considerable. It not
only continued to be the resort of the
tribes of Judah and Benjamin, but was
one of the principal mercantile cities of
the East. The present population of the

city does not exceed twelve thousand.
In the prosperous times of the Hebrew
monarchy it exercised authority over all
the countries from the Eiver of Egypt to
the Euphrates ; but now, when this elegy
was composed, its king having been re
moved, and itself being deprived of the
favor of its theocratic Head, it is repre
sented as reduced to the circumstances of
solitary widowhood. The 3 in Tii'ah^S
is simply that of comparison, and is not
intended to express any hope that she
would be restored from her widowed state,
as Jarchi fancifully supposes. It is im
possible to read this verse without think
ing of Judea Capta, or the representation
of the conquered Jewish state under the
emblem of a disconsolate female sitting
under a palm-tree, which was struck on
a medal on the taking of Jerusalem by
Titus. 2. The infinitive absolute iu 133
n33n is expressive of intensity, as it

292

LAMENTATIONS.

[Elegt I. 2-5.

AU her friends have acted falsely by her ; they are become her
enemies.
a 3 Judah hath gone into captivity because of oppression, and because
of much servitude.
She dwelleth among the heathen ; she findeth no rest ;
AU her pursuers have overtaken her between the straits.
T 4 The ways of Zion mourn because none come to the festivals ;
All her gates are desolate ; her priests sigh ;
Her virgins are afilicted, and she is in bitterness.
n 5 Her adversaries are become the chief, her enemies prosper ;
Because Jehovah hath afilicted her for the multitude of her
rebellions :
Her children are gone captives before the enemy.

generally is when it stands before a finite
verb. The phrase is therefore to be
rendered, " she weepeth sorely,'' and not
continually, as Blayney prefers. 133
stands for f133 , by a common permuta
tion of the letters. To express the more
aggravated character of the weeping, it
is represented as indulged in even during
the night ^ the period of rest and quiet.
The D^^it^it , lovers, and C"'> 11 , friends,
were those neighboring states which
were allies of the Hebrews, who were
accustomed to rely on their assistance
in case of any hostile attack, and their
idol-gods which they worshipped, and in
which they trusted. Egypt especially
was the object of their confidence, but
not even she durst venture to come to
their help against the Chaldeans. See
Ezek. xxix. 6, 7, 16, Those in the more
immediate vicinity actuaUy joined the
northern enemy on his irruption into the
country (2 Kings xxiv. 2).
3. Interpreters have differed with re
spect to what we are to understand by
the "oppression and much servitude"
mentioned in this verse : some supposing
it to be that which the Jews experienced
from the Chaldeans ; and others, that
which was inflicted by the Jews upon
their brethren. To the former view it
may justly be objected, that it does not
make the two parts of the line to cohere ;

since, on such supposition, the evils must
have been the efiect, and not the cause of
the exile. I cannot, therefore, but think
that the reference is to the circumstances
narrated chap, xxxiv., in which the Jews
are expressly threatened with captivity,
because, in violation of the Mosaic law,
and of the covenant into which they had
entered, they withdrew the grant of lib
erty which they had made to their ser
vants, and reduced them to their former
state of servitude. From the use of the
qualifying term 3"1, much or great, it
may be inferred that the circumstances
of these servants had been rendered
worse than they had been before. The
" straits " were the narrow passes in the
mountainous parts of the country, in
which it would be easy to arrest the
progress of the fugitives. Such locaUties
in the East are frequently infested by
robbers, who lie in wait for, and attack
such traveUers as may ventui-e to urge
their way through them.
4. Instead of the joyous festival-scenes
exhibited at Jerusalem in the time of her
prosperity, when all the roads leading
thither' were thronged with passengers,
all was now desolation and woe. Comp.
Jer. xiv. 2. The introduction of the
metropoUs herself at the end of the verse
is inimital)ly beautiful.
5. All the attempts made by the ene-

Elegt I. 5-

LAMENTATIONS.

293

1 6 And there hath gone forth from the daughter of Zion all her
splendor.
Her princes are as harts that find no pasture,
-And go powerless before the pursuer.
t 7 Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction, and her per
secution,
-All her precious things which were from ancient days :
When her people fell into the hand of the adversary, and she
had no helper.
The adversaries saw her ; they laughed at her ruin.
n 8 Jerusalem hath committed great sin, therefore she hath become
unclean ;
AJl who honored her despise her, because they see her nakedness :
She also sigheth, and turneth backward.
ta 9 Her filthiness is in her skirts, she remembered not her latter end,

mies of God's people to distress them,
must have proved unsuccessful, had he
not delivered them into their hand to be
punished for their iniquities. To these,
as the cause of their calamities, the
prophet here distinctly points. In the
representations which we find on ancient
sculptures nothing is more affecting than
to observe females and young children
driven as captives before their con
querors. 6. For nS'l^ the Keri and some MSS.
read more correctly ^IM . The phrase
is also thus quoted in the Eabboth.
Jerusalem had been renowned for the
magnificence of the temple, and her other
buildings : these the Chaldeans had
stripped and burned with fire, and had
can-ied into exile the most distinguished
of her inhabitants.
7. The bitterest ingredient in the cup
of adversity is the remembrance of lost
possessions and enjoyments. In ''H']
there is an ellipsis of 3 , of which there
are numerous examples. For D^'l^la ,
persecutions, see my Comment, on Isaiah
Iviii. 7 ; LXX. a.ira<rp.iiy. As each verse
in this Elegy, except the present, con
tains regularly three lines, it has been
supposed by some critics, that the words
ninaiija-i? iipnia oi"i2 nisT , which
'25*

here form a fourth line, have been added
by some transcriber. Since, however,
they are found in all the Hebrew MSS.
and all the ancient versions, it would be
unwarrantable to omit them in translar
tion. There is no reason to beUeve that
Jeremiah considered himself so rigidly
bound to adhere to his triple arrangement
as on no occasion to break through it, in
order to give utterance to a thought
forcibly bearing on the statement which
he had just made. A similar addition
occurs Elegy ii. 19. tl'^fiSBa, Ut. her
ruined circumstances ; the state of the
complete cessation of all the active busi
nesses of life. Eoot ri3tt) , to cease ;
Hiph. to put an end to, cause to cease.
8. irjlpn NBO , the substantive re
peated in the form of the verb, for the
sake of emphasis ; she hath sinned a sin :
i.e. she hath committed great sin. Targ.
r3ri N3T t<3in, she liath contracted great
guilt. To express the abomination in
which the character of Jerusalem was
held, in consequence of her having mor
ally defiled herself by her indulgence in
idolatry, she is said to have become
Tfn , a term borrowed from the state
of a female who is unclean by reason
of the menses.
9. The prophet continues the revolt-

294

LAMENTATIONS.

[Elegy I. 9-12.

Therefore she came down wonderfully ; she hath no comforter :
Behold, 0 Jehovah, my affliction, for the enemy hath magnified
himself.
¦^ 10 The adversary hath stretched forth his hand on all her precious
things :
Surely she hath seen it, the heathen have entered her sanctuary.
Which thou commandest that they should not enter into thy
congregation.
D 11 All her people sigh, they seek bread ;
They have given their precious things for food to restore life :
Look, O Jehovah, and regard ; for I am vile.
i 12 Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass along the way?
Look and see if there be any sorrow like my sorrow which hath
been inflicted upon me ;
With which Jehovah hath afilicted me in the day of his fierce
anger.

ing imagery which he had introduced
in the preceding verse; and, after as
cribing the fall of Jerusalem to heedless
indulgence in sin, by a striking proso
popoeia, he introduces her as imploring
the compassionate regard of Jehovah.
D''XPQ , wonders, used adverbially for
wonderfully. 10. The n in finiiia is merely the
fuller form of the pronominal fragment
for nils , the common form. It is
omitted in some MSS. The legal re
striction here referred to, is that which
prohibited the Ammonites and Moabites
from entering the temple, Deut. xxiii. 3.
If even their entering to perform an act
of worship would have been construed
as a violation of the precept, how much
more when it had for its object destruc
tion and spoliation ! By implication the
Chaldeans, as an idolatrous people, were
included in the prohibition.
11. Comp. Job U. 4. dn'^'niana is
quite irregular. It is corrected in the
Keri, which rejects the 1 . The word
is thus exhibited in a great number of
MSS., and in eight printed editions.
Compare ver. 10. The form !7"'';!Pn'? ,
occurs ver. 7 ^B.? 2*^^^ , to cause the
breath, or life, to return ; here, to support

or refresh a person with food. This
mode of expression is founded on the
idea, that when one is faint the breath
or Ufe, is as it were, gone. It might be
supposed that there is something incon
gruous in assigning her vileness as a
reason why God should regard Jerusa
lem ; but there is reason to believe that
what is here meant, is not her moral
pollution, but her abject and despised
condition, which was exposed to all
around her. ??.' is properly the Benoni
Participle of hyt , to shake, pour out,
squander, act basdy ; hence, to be re
garded and treated as a person deserves
who thus acts.
12. Ki? is not to be considered as
equivalent to '? , the inteijection of wish
ing, but is a strong mode of expressing
the negative VO , which has here all the
force ofa substantive put interrogatively,
as it is in the common version : Zs it
nothing ? The words of this verse have
been very generally appUed, in the lan
guage of the pulpit, to the sufferings of
our Saviour, and unquestionably they
graphically describe the intensity of
those sufferings ; but, considering the
extent to which the original sense of the
passage has been lost sight of, and the

Elegt I. 12-16.]

LAMENTATIONS.

295

a 13 From on high he hath sent a fire into my bones, and it bath sub
dued them ;
He hath spread a net for my feet ; he hath turned me back ;
He hath made me desolate — languishing all day long.
a 14 The yoke of my rebellions is bound by his hand, they are
wreathed ;
They rise up on my neck ; the Lord hath made my strength to
fail ;
He hath delivered me into the hands of those from whom I am
unable to rise up.
0 15 The Lord hath cast away, all my mighty men in the midst of me ;
He hath summoned an assembly against me, to break my young
men in pieces :
The Lord hath trodden the wine-press as it respects the virgin-
daughter of Judah.

accommodated one substituted in its
room, it would be well to notify that the
secondary meaning is merely an accom
modation of the words.
13-15. In these verses Jeremiah accu
mulates metaphor upon metaphor, in
order more powerfully to affect the mind
of the reader. The first is borrowed
from a fact well established in osteology,
that inflammation in the bones is not
only extremely painful, but dries them
up, and renders them brittle and conse
quently useless, f^l'n'i^l) Eootfi'i'n,
Arab. — (Jj , fregit, percussit, calcavit ;
to tread, or hreah in pieces, prevail over,
subdue. The verbal suffix is to be taken
coUectively, and refers to HiaSS , as its
antecedent. The metaphor of the net
is borrowed from the custom of catching
wild beasts with nets, which are so
spread as effectually to entangle them,
and thus secure their capture. The
next metaphor is taken from agricultu
ral Ufe. As the hand of the ploughman
firmly binds the yoke on the neck of the
ox, so inseparably had the punishment
of the iniquities of Jerusalem been con
nected with her rebellious conduct to
wards Jehovah. 1i?i^?, to he hound,

though occurring only this once in the
Heb. Bible, is alone suitable to the con
nection. 1|5'U3 , to be watched, which is-
found in the Keri and in several MSS.
and printed editions, and is supported
by the renderings of the LXX. and Syr.,
is inappropriate. To express more for
cibly the complicated character of the
iniquities of the Jews as entailing pun
ishment upon them, they are said to en
twine or interweave themsdves — the idea
being probably borrowed from the inter
twining of withes for the purpose of
binding the yoke with them. Although
''•h^.r or, as many MSS. read, Tlini,
is more immediately connected with
''?5C? ' i' 's ^1^° t° be regarded as the
nominative to S'^IUSH . I have construed
accordingly. After ''^¦'3 subaud. IllJS
^Tp3 . TOO , ver. 15, 1 consider as hav
ing the signification of the Syr. \LsS j
rejecit, respuit, sprevit. Comp. H'^Sft ,
Ps. cxix. 118. By 1?ia, assembly, are
meant the coUected forces of the Chal
deans. The term is borrowed from its
use, as expressing the vast multitude
who assembled at the solemn festivals.
16. That the very plaintive language
here employed is that of Jerusalem, and.

296 LAMENTATIONS. [Elegt L 16-22.
» 16 For these things I weep, mine eye, mine eye floweth down with
water ;
Because far from me is the comforter, the restorer of my life :
My children are desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed.
B 17 Zion spreadeth out her hands, she hath no comforter ;
Jehovah hath given charge to the enemies of Jacob around him ;
Jerusalem hath become unclean among them.
^ 18 Jehovah is righteous, for I have rebeUed against his command
ment.
Hear, I beseech you, aU ye peoples, and behold my sorrow ;
My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.
p 19 I called to my lovers, they deceived me ;
My priests and my elders expired in the city.
While they sought for themselves food that they might restore
their life.
^ 20 Behold, 0 Jehovah, for I am distressed, my bowels are made to
boU;
My heart is turned within me, for I have greatly rebeUed ;
Without the sword bereaveth ; in the house it is as death.
13 21 They have heard that I sigh, that I have no comforter ;
AU mine enemies have heard of my calamity, they rejoice that
thou hast inflicted it ;
Briog the day which thou hast announced, that they may be
• like me.
not the personal lamentation of Jere- with D'^5h3 , priests, is to be understood
miah, is evident from the last clause of in an ofBcial sense, and not as simply
the verse. Although the second ''^''S indicative of old age. Both, without
is wanting in some of Kennicott and respect to dignity of office, were under
De Eossi's MSS. and in all the ancient the necessity of going in quest of food.
versions, yet the repetition for the sake 20. The geminated form ^ia")an is
of emphasis is quite in the style of Jer- strongly expressive of that violently ex-
emiah. Comp. "^Sa iSa, chap. iv. 19. cited state of the intestines which is oc-
17. There is no authority for revers- casioned by excessive grief. The whole
ing the alphabetical order of 5> and S , verse is the most affecting imaginable.
and so changing the position of this and The Caph in n.ia? is the Caph veritatis,
the preceding verse, as Green does here, expressing the reality of the thing.
and proposes should be done Ps. xxxiv. 21, 22. Wliile acknowledging that
16,17. SeeonElegyii. 16, 17. Spread- God had inflicted the punishment upon
ing out the hands is a token of the Jerusalem on account of her sins, in the
greatest distress. true spirit of the theocracy, Jeremiah
18. For Qia? read, with the Keri, imprecates a similar treatment of her
a-n^ST; in the Vocative. enemies. Without their destructioQ as
19. Comp. ver. 2. n"'Jj31 , occurring a people, it was impossible for that the-
as it here does, iu immediate connection ocracy to be restored. The servant of

Elegt IL 1-4.1 LAMENTATIONS. 297
n 22 Let aU their wickedness come before thee ;
And deal with them as thou hast dealt with me for all my
rebeUions ;
For my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.
God is to be regarded as here speaking Babylon, and the destruction of the
in his prophetical character. Comp. Chaldean empire, and that of the neigh-
Elegy iii. (i4 -66. The 61"^ , rfay, referred boring states by which the Jews had
to ver. 21, was that of the capture of been maltreated.

ELEGY II.
In this Elegy the same subject is prosecuted which had been taken up in the preceding, but
though the scene in general is identical, the character of the description varies, consist
ing for the most part of references to circumstances connected with the immediate
taking of the city. The prophet seems as if he felt it impossible to turn away hia eye
from the sad catastrophe before him, while he sets forth in the most plaintive strains,
the sad havoc to which Jerusalem had been subjected.
N 1 How hath the Lord covered with darkness the daughter of Zion !
He hath cast down from heaven to earth the beauty of Israel ;
And hath not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.
^ 2 The Lord hath destroyed, and not pitied, aU the dwellings of
Jacob ;
He hath thrown down in his wrath the fortresses of the daughter
of Judah ;
He hath razed them to the ground ; he hath profaned the king
dom and its princes.
a 3 He hath cut down in his hot anger every horn of Israel ;
He hath turned back his right hand before the enemy :
And hath burned in Jacob like a fire which devoureth round about.
1. mS'N , liow, with which the first By the "ybote^ooZ " of Jehovah, the ark
Elegy commences, and which forms the of the covenant on which the glory, as
title of the coUection, is repeated here the symbol of the divine presence, rested,
and Elegy iv. 1. Instead of '^J'^*'. as seems to be intended. See 1 Chron.
occurring here, vers. 5 and 7, and Elegy xxviii. 2; Ps. xeix. 5.
i. 14, several MSS. read flifT^, but ap- 3. A horn, projecting from the fore-
parently by correction of the transcribers, head, was used not only as an ornament,
ix'^i:;;"! triSBri , the beauty of Israd, is but also as a badge of power and author-
descriptive, not of the inhabitants of ity. 1 Sam. ii. 10; Ps. cxxxii. 17. It
Jerusalem under the emblem of a beau- may seem doubtful whose right hand is
tiful female, but of the magnificent and here intended, but it seems most natural
splendid temple, called by Jehovah ni3 to refer it to Israel.
TllNSn, my beauteous house, Isa. Ix. 7. 4. The point of comparison here is

298

LAMENTATIONS.

[Elegt II. 4-8.

T 4 He hath bent his bow like an enemy ; he hath steadied his right
hand like an adversary ;
And hath slain aU the delights of the eye in the tents of the
daughter of Zion :
He hath poured out his fury like fire.
Tt 5 The Lord hath been like an enemy, he hath destroyed Israel ;
He hath destroyed all her palaces, he hath destroyed his for
tresses ;
He hath increased in the daughter of Judah sorrow and sadness.
1 6 He hath also broken down his inclosure like that of a garden ;
He hath destroyed his place of assembly :
Jehovah hath caused to be forgotten in Zion assembly and
sabbath :
And rejected, in the indignation of his anger, king and priest.
f 7 The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary ;
He hath delivered over into the hands of the foe the walls of her
palaces ;
They made a noise in the house of Jehovah as on the day of
assembly.
n 8 Jehovah hath purposed to destroy the waU of the daughter of
Zion ;

obviously that of the care taken by the
archer to obtain a steady aim. ^'lll , to
kill, slay, is used metaphorically, as in
Ps. IxxviU. 47, for destroy. There is,
therefore, no necessity, with Lowth
(Prelim. Diss.), Blayney, and Green, to
supply ^55"P3 , every youth, which, after
all, would lamely fill up the supposed
defect in the metre. Pnx , tent, is to be
taken collectively for the habitations of
the Jews.
5. Ill HJJS1 fl*?Nn is a beautiful par
onomasia, which, like nxilJan ntfia.
Job xxx. 3, is intended to heighten the
effect. 6. tliU , the same as "^O , an enclosed
place, from T13& , to interweave, as the
boughs of trees, and so make a hedge, to
enclose. Hence the noun comes to sig
nify what is enclosed, as a hut, booth,
tabernacle. It is here specially applied
to the temple. '7\0 is found as the read
ing in a considerable number of MSS.

¦llSla is first used for the place of assem
bly in this verse, and then for the sol
emn assembly which used to be congre
gated there.
7. Though it may at first sight appear
incongruous to compare the noise made
by warriors in storming a city to that
of an assembly engaged in the celebra
tion of worship ; yet, however loud the
sound of the temple-worship may have
been when instruments and human voices
were conjoined, it is not strictly with the
noise thus produced, that the compari
son is made, but with that of the multi
tudes who crowded the city on festival
occasions. Green strangely transfers the
scene to the temple-worship of Bel or
Nebo. Wliatever relation there may bo
in pointof signification between 1S3 and
IJ'J , we are not warranted, with Blayney
to adopt the latter as the true reading.
8. The ancients nsed the measuring
line, not only in the erection, but also

Elegt IL 8-13.] LAMENTATIONS. 299
He hath stretched the line, he hath not turned back his hand
from destroying ;
The breastwork and the wall he hath made to mourn, they
lament together.
ta 9 Her gates are sunk into the earth, he hath destroyed and broken
in pieces her barriers ;
Her king and her princes are among the heathen;
There is no law ; her prophets find no vision from Jehovah.
"' 10 They sit on the earth, they are silent, the elders of the daughter
of Zion ;
They throw up dust over their heads, they gird themselves with
sackcloth ;
The virgins of Jerusalem bow down their heads to the earth.
3 11 Mine eyes are consumed with tears, my bowels are troubled;
My liver is poured out on the earth because of the breach of
the daughter of my people :
Through the swooning of the infant and the suckling in the
streets of the city.
il 12 They say to their mothers : Where is the corn and the
wine?
While they swoon like a wounded man in the streets of the
city;
While their life is poured out into the bosom of their mothers.
in the demolition of buildings. Comp. posture and signs of mourning. Comp.
2 Kings xxi. 13; Isa. xxxiv. 11. The John. 12, 13.
metaphor is here employed to denote the 11, 12. The scene here depicted is pre-
rigidness with which the punishment sented in the most touching colors.
was inflicted. 153 , the liver, put for Tf^'y^ , used in a
9. The sinking of the gates is to be similar phrase. Job xvi. 13, denoting the
referred to their being thrown down and bile, which is formed in a pecuUar bladder
covered with earth and rubbish from the on the inferior surface of the liver, and
walls. Some are of opinion that by the is copiously discharged when the passions
laconic fl"lin 'j'^X , there is no law, we are are violently agitated. The language is
to understand Jeremiah as meaning to physiologically correct, as we find it in
say, that all the calamity had come upon other ¦ passages in Jeremiah. See on
Jerusalem because her inhabitants had chap. iv. 19. A more pitiable spectacle
not observed the fundamental principles cannot be witnessed than that of a starv-
of the theocracy ; but it is more in keep- ing child swooning with hunger, and
ing with the spirit of the passage to turning to the breast of its mother, but
consider him as referring to the legal finding no supply of milk. For the
obsei'vances which had all been swept famine during the siege, see Jer. Ui. 6.
away by the destruction of the Jewish 13. The verb 113) occurs nowhere else
state. Comp. Ps. Ixxiv. 9. in Kal, in the sense of testifying. Hence
10. A most graphic description of the the Keri substitutes tl'l''?^, in HiphU,

300

LAMENTATIONS.

[Elegt U. 13-17.

a 13 What shall I take to witness ? or with what shall I compare
thee, O daughter of Jerusalem ?
To what shall I liken thee that I may comfort thee, 0 virgin
daughter of Zion ?
For great as the sea is thy breach : who can heal thee ?
3 14 Thy prophets see for thee vanity and stuff:
And reveal not thine iniquity, to reverse thy captivity ;
They see for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.
D 15 All who pass along the road clap their hands at thee.
They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem :
Is this the city which men called the perfection of beauty, a joy
to the whole earth ?
S 16 All thine enemies gape at thee with their mouth;
They hiss and gnash the teeth ; they say : We have destroyed
her;
Surely this is the day which we expected, we have found, we
have seen it.
j> 17 Jehovah hath done that which he had purposed, he hath fulfiUed
his threatening.
Which he commanded from the days of old ; he hath razed, and
not pitied :

and with this a great number of MSS.
and several printed editions agree. Jer
emiah feels as if he had exhausted his
powers of description. He cannot find
any object to put in parallel with the
lamentable condition of Jerusalem. The
only exception is the sea, vyhich, on ac
count of its vast dimensions, alone fur
nished a fit emblem of the magnitude of
the devastation effected by the Chaldeans.
Upwards of seventy MSS. and five of
the early editions read fiai , instead of
ilia , and this reading is supported by the
LXX., Syr., Vulg,, Arab., and Targ.
14. I have employed our familiar term
stuff, denoting contempt or dislike, as
the most proper by which to express
idiomatically the meaning of 'SFl , any
thing disagreeable, foolish, insipid. Comp.
the Arab. jLfiJ , froth, vomit. ti''T\'i''\i2 ,
LXX. i^iiiTiiaTa, expulsions, or, as the
common version, causes of banishment.

Eoot, nij, to thrust, or drive out.
rilNiaa , burdens, strictly mean heavy or
severe punishments, but here, the causes
of such punishments. The false proph
ets, in their attempts to account for the
captivity, invented any cause but the
true one — the apostasy of the Jews.
15. The language of this verse is that
of insult and astonishment. For TO'^hs
'^S'' , the perfection of beauty, comp. S?3a
^S'l , Ps. 1. 2 ; and for I'^sn-^sb bitoa ,
a joy to the whole earth, see Ps. xlviii. 3.
16, 17. That the order of these verses
has been inverted is undeniable, that
beginning with B being placed before
that commencing with S , contrary to
the order of the Hebrew alphabet.
Blayney justly scouts the conjecture of
Grotius, that the order of the Chaldean
alphabet may have differed from that of
the Hebrews, and that Jeremiah, now
Uving under a new government, adopted
the ai'rangement of the letters in their

Elegt II. 16-20.]

LAMENTATIONS.

801

He hath made thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath elevated
the horn of thine adversaries.
18 Their heart cried out to the Lord :
O waU of the daughter of Zion, make tears to flow down like
a torrent day and night ;
Give thyself no rest ; let not the pupU of thine eye cease.
19 Arise ! cry loud in the night at the first of the watches ;
Pour out thy heart like water before the Lord ;
Lift up thy hands to him for the life of thine infants.
Who swoon with famine at the top of all the streets.
20 Look, O Jehovah, and consider whom thou hast treated thus !

alphabet. In the LXX. the notations
'All' and *!) are given in the proper order,
though the verses are translated as they
now stand. Four of Kennicott's MSS.
and one of De Eossi's exhibit the verses
in the regular alphabetical order, as does
also the Syriac version. The relation,
however, of ver. 16 to that which pre
cedes it, furnishing a continuation of the
insulting language there employed, and
the contrast so strikingly introduced in
ver. 17, may be urged in favor of the
hypothesis, that the inverted order as to
alphabetical arrangement may be re
ferred to Jeremiah himself, whose mind,
when he composed the verses, was more
intent on the matter than the mode in
which it was arranged. See for similar
transpositions of these very letters, and
consequently of the verses commencing
with them. Elegies iii. 46-51 ; iv. 16, 17 ;
a fact which is the more remarkable,
since it is precisely in regard to these
two letters, and not any others in the
alphabetical series, that in aU the three
instances the alteration has taken place.
However the enemies of the Jews might
tauntingly exult in then- destruction of
the Jewish metropoUs, that disastrous
event was ultimately to be referred to
the purpose of Jehovah to punish its
inhabitants for their sins. For 1'13"1i3E3 ,
ver. 16, nineteen MSS. and one of the
earUest printed editions read in full
!inirii5C. Ir-iax,, an anomalous
punctuation for the usual IfTnax .
26

18. The nominative to the sufiix in
B33 , are the inhabitants of Jerusalem
understood. In this and the following
verse, Tnsin , the wall of Jerusalem, is
addressed synecdochecally as a mother
who has lost her children.
19. Instead of "'Jl^t , forty of Kenni
cott's, and forty-eight of De Rossi's
MSS., together with seven more of his
originally, and the Hagiographa printed
at Naples, read TiiT\^_ . The Venetian
Greek version has rov oyruTov. On
these authorities, I have not scrupled to
follow this reading in the translation.
The Hebrews at first divided the night
into three watches ; the first, commenc
ing at sunset, and extending to what
corresponded to our ten o'clock ; the
second from ten till two in the morning ;
and the third from that time till sunrise.
They afterwards adopted the Eoman
division of the night into four watches,
which is the calculation found in the
New Testament. A very considerable
number of MSS. have i1^'1^3 in the text,
agreeably to the Keri, aud the textual
punctuation of the printed editions.
For the addition of a fourth line in this
verse, see on Elegy i. 7.
20. DX is twice used in this verse with
the force of a demonstrative interjection.
The masculine suffix in 0^13 is adopted
instead of the feminine, to agree in form
with D'''UJ preceding. Eor the horrible
act here referred to, comp. Lev. xxvi. 29 ;
Deut. xxviii. 56, 57, and the prediction.

302 LAMENTATIONS. [Elegt HI. 1.
Behold, women eat their fruit, infants of a span long !
Behold, priest and prophet are slain in the sanctuary of the
Lord !
la 21 Boys and old men Ue on the ground in the streets ;
My maidens and my young men fall by the sword :
Thou hast killed in the day of thy wrath ; thou hast slaughtered,
and not spared.
n 22 Thou hast summoned, as on a festival day, my terrors around ;
And there was not that escaped or remained in the day of the
anger of Jehovah :
Those whom I had nursed and brought up, the enemy hath
consumed.
Jer. xix. 9. No MS. suppUes Dill, Arab., supply T before Si in the phrase
womb, after "'IS, fruit. The scene, piban sb-
though past, is vividly depicted by Jere- 22. The meaning is not that the Jews
miah, as if it were stall present to his were surrounded by terrors on their
view. The nominative to llil^} is 1'13 festival days ; but that the call for the
and I!'''^5 , taken singly. terrors in which they were involved at
21 . Sixty-nine MSS., originally fifteen the capture of Jerusalem, was as loud as
more, and eight printed editions, sup- that given by the blowing of trumpets
ported by the Targ., Syr., Vulg., and to summon the people to the feasts.

ELEGY III.
The subject of this Elegy is the personal experience of Jeremiah, on which he expatiates in
the most touching strains, in order partly to give vent to his own feelings, and partly to
excite corresponding emotions in the breasts of his exiled countrymen. From the lively
recollection which he had of the severe trials that he had endured in the course of his
prophetic ministry, the merciful interpositions of the Lord on his behalf, and the indis
putable right ofthe Most High to inflict suffering on sinful men, he proposes himself as
au example from which they might derive instruction, aud be induced, in the exercise
of repentance and prayer, to hope for a restoi-ation from their captivity. Towards the
close this object comes out in the change of person from the singular to the plural.
The formal arrangement of the verses differs from that ofthe two preceding elegies, inas
much as they here consist of three lines, each of which begins with the same letter of
the alphabet in regular order, whereas in the others the alphabetical arrangement is
confined to the first letter of each verse. 1-3.
N I AM the man that hath seen afiliction, through the rod of his in
dignation.
1. Before fiSI supply 112JS<, • The to see, is frequently in Hebrew equivalent
antecedent to the suffix in 15^133 is Je- to feeling, or experiencing in any way.
hovah, understood, not expressed. HXT , Hence the phrase : to see death, i.e. to die.

Elegt m. 1-11.] LAMENTATIONS.

303

N He hath led me away, and made me go into darkness, where there
was no Ught.
N Surely he hath turned back his hand upon me all the day.
4-6.
a He hath consumed my flesh and my skin, he hath broken in pieces
my bones.
3 He hath buUded against me and struck me on the head, and it is
distressed.
2 He hath made me sit in dark places as those that have long been
dead. 7-9.
a He hath enclosed me around, so that I cannot go out : he hath
made my chain heavy.
J Even when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.
a He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stones ; he hath made my
paths crooked. 10-12.
t He hath been to me a lurking bear, a Uon in secret places.

Jeremiah had experienced peculiar afflic
tions. Besides being visited with them
in his own person, he was painfully
caUed to vritness their endurance by his
feUow-countrymen .
2. Though there may he, in the men
tion here made of darkness and the ab
sence of light, an allusion to his circum
stances when shut up in the dungeon,
yet the language is metaphorically de
scriptive of his afflictions in general.
This metaphor, which is exceedingly
expressive, is very common iu Scripture.
3. The phrase to turn back the hand,
here denotes to give repeated strokes,
to aflUct continnonsly, as it follows in
the verse. Thus EosenmiiUer : iterum
iterumque. 4-6. The cast of the language in these
verses is borrowed from the effect of
affliction on the human frame. 133 , to
build, is used in a military sense for the
making of hostile preparations, such as
raising mounds, from which to shoot at,
and otherwise attack a city. l^KI is
properly rendered kei^oA.^ by the LXX.,
and similarly the Targ. and Arab. The

word is here an accusative absolute, '^flit ,
me, being understood. riSJjnil , lit. and
there is distress ; viz. in the head just
mentioned. 6. n^SCna , dark places, such as mau-
solea, or sepulchres in which the bodies
of the dead are deposited, as it foUows
in the verse. Whether there be here an
allusion to an ancient custom of placing
the dead bodies in a sitting posture in
the sepulchres is doubtful, though the
language would rather seem to imply it.
Jeremiah represents himself as having
more the appearance of a skeleton, or a
mummy, than that of a living body.
7-9. The prophet now places himself
in the position of a prisoner, who is se
curely immured, and to whose supplica
tions for deliverance, how earnestly so
ever they may be made, no attention is
paid. 10, 11. He next conceives of himself
as a traveUer whose w-iy is blocked up
by a solid wall, and who, being com
peUed to turn aside into the devious
pathways of the forest, is exposed to the
rapacity of wild beasts.

304

LAMENTATIONS.

[Elegt IH. 12-24.

He hath turned my ways aside, and torn me in pieces ; he hath
made me desolate.
He hath bent his bow, and taken a steady aim at me, as a mark
for the arrow. 13-15.
He hath caused to enter into my reins the sons of his quiver.
I was a laughing-stock to all my people ; their song aU the day,
He hath filled me with bitter things, he hath made me drunk with
wormwood. 16-18.
He hath made my teeth cranch grit ; he hath covered me with ashes.
Thou hast thrust me away from prosperity, I forgot happiness.
And I said : my confidence is perished, and my hope from Jehovah.
19-21.
Remember my afiliction and my persecution, the wormwood and
the gaU.
Do but remember, for my soul is bowed down within me.
This I lay to heart, therefore I hope.

12, 13. The idea of a hunter was nat
uraUy suggested by the circumstances
just referred to. This is beautifully
expressed in language borrowed from
such employment. By a common He
braism, arrows are caUed sons of the
quiver. 14, 15. Instead of "'53? , my people, a
considerable number of MSS. read Ca? ,
and four biBSIl , in the plural ; but
this reading, though supported by the
Syr., seems less suitable than the former.
There is no evidence that the prophet
was treated otherwise than with respect
by foreigners. Instead of meeting with
any commiseration from his country
men, fidelity in the discharge of his duty
to whom had been the occcasion of all his
personal troubles, he was made the butt
of their ridicule, and the theme of their
satirical songs. How much this must
have embittered his condition it is easy
to imagine. Comp. Job xxx. 9. To
express the excessive acerbity of liis feel
ings, he employs the plural, D"''li'na ,
bitternesses. 16. It is probable that reference is

here made to the grit that often mixes
with bread baked in ashes, which is com
mon in the East. From the covering of
the bread with the ashes Jeremiah bor
rows the idea, and represents himself as
thus covered. Such was the humiliating
condition to which he had been reduced.
123S3 , the verb here used for coveri-ng, is
a airal \fy., but the signification is suffi
ciently established by the cognate Arab.
iwaaj , to throw down, ovenvhdm, cover
a well, by filUng it up with earth. LXX.
€1^/(6 jUlO'6.
17, 18. Not only had all present en
joyment been annihilated, but aU pros
pect of future prosperity had been cut
olf. The circumstances of the prophet
had been most pitiable.
19-24. Notwithstanding temptations
to despondency, and the bitter com
plaints to which he had given utterance,
the prophet does not let go his hold on
the God of his life ; but is convinced
that, if He only will regard him, all will
be weU. The form IIBJP! li3J, (ver.
20), being emphatic, I have endeavored

Elegt ra. 22-36.] LAMENTATIONS. 305
22-24.
n It is of the loving kindnesses of Jehovah that we are not consumed,
because his mercies fail not.
n They are new every morning, great is thy faithftdness.
n Jehovah is my portion, saith my soul, therefore do I hope in him.
25-27.
e Good is Jehovah to them that wait for him, to the soul that
seeketh him.
t2 Good is it both to hope and to wait in sUence for the salvation of
Jehovah.
a Good is it for a man that he should bear the yoke in his youth.
28-30.
^ He sitteth alone and is silent, because He hath laid it upon him.
"> He putteth his mouth in the dust ; perhaps there may be hope.
¦^ He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him, he is fiUed with
reproach. 31-33.
3 For the Lord wiU not cast ofi" for ever.
3 For though he grieve,,he wiU yet have compassion according to the
greatness of his mercies.
3 For he afflicteth not wiUingly, nor grieveth the children of men.
34-36.
b To tread under one's feet aU the prisoners of the land ;
to give the force of it by the rendering : It is thought by some that Jeremiah has
Do but remember. The T\ prefixed, to here special reference to his own youth
mark the finite form of the verb, is that (chap. i. 6, 7). Scarcely had he entered
of the second mascuUne, and not that on his prophetical work, than he became
of the third feminine. For n*U3rl , the object of persecution from his base
read with the Keri f11'^"1. • fSt , this, and ungrateful countrymen.
the demonstrative pronoun anticipative 28-33. Having asserted ver. 27, that
is designed to attract attention speciaUy it is beneficial to he early visited with
to what foUows ; viz. the view of the affliction, Jeremiah proceeds in these
divine character, verses 22, 23. Upon verses to describe the position of the
this, as upon an immovable foundation, afflicted saint, who in the midst of his
the hopes of Jeremiah rested. severest trials recognizes the hand of
25-27. The repetition of 31B at the God, and in patience possesses his soul,
beginning of these three Unes, just as "'S , assured that in due time deUverance wUl
verses 31-33, has a fine effect. lip , arrive ; that no adversity is infflcted
according to the punctuation, should be arbitrarily, but that what men suffer is
1"'1p . Before 131ZJ"!"!n supply 1DX . less than their iniquities deserve.
For 1''1'S33 , in his youth, ten MSS., 34-36. This triplet is marked by each
originally nine more, and now two, read line beginning with an infinitive — the
•iinWSa , from his youth. Thus the Al- nominative to the verbs being reserved
dine text of the LXX., and Theodotion. till the close of the last. Whether the
26*

306

LAMENTATIONS.

[Elegt HL 34-42.

To turn aside a man's cause ;
To wrong a man in his suit ; the Lord approveth not.
37-39.
Who is this that ordereth and it taketh place, when the Lord com
mandeth it not ?
Out of the mouth of the Most High proceed not evU and good ?
Why should a living man murmur ? a man for the punishment of
his sins ? 40-42.
Let us search and try our ways, and return to Jehovah,
Let us Uft up our hearts with our hands to God in the heavens.
We have sinned and rebeUed : thou hast not pardoned.
43-45.
Thou hast shut us up in anger and pursued us : thou hast slain,
and not pitied :

words are to be considered as a general
statement, or whether there be a specific
reference to the injustice and cruelty
with which the Jews were treated by
their conquerors, or with which they
treated each other, it is difficult to deter
mine, fltfl , to see, ver. 36, is used in
the sense of regarding with approbation.
This acceptation of the verb, however
much Eosenmiiller may doubt it, is
clearly established by such passages as
Ps. Ixvi. 18 ; Hab. i. 13. The meaning
is, according to a common Hebraism,
that God disapproves of such acts of
cruelty as are here specified, and by im
plication, that he will punish those who
are guilty of them.
37. What the prophet here interrogar
tively teaches, is that nothing transpires
without the divine appointment.
38. Adversity and prosperity are not
indiscriminately administered ; all the
circumstances of mankind are arranged
according to infinite wisdom. HIS)"! ,
evils, i.e. calamities, adversities.
39. Ktjn , or, as a considerable num
ber of MSS. and some printed editions
read, according to the Keri, in the plural
signifies here punishment, or sufferings
inflicted on account of sin. Some inter
preters would set aside the force of ''tl ,

living, but without any just reason. The
implied meaning is, that if sin were
punished according to its full demerit,
life itself would be no longer continued
to the transgressor. WhUe, therefore,
he continues to enjoy this inestimable
blessing, and thus has time afforded him
for repentance, it is highly nnhecoming
in him to indulge in murmuring at the
divine conduct in afflicting him.
40. From the assumption of the plural
in this and the immediately following
verses, it is obvious that in those which
just precede Jeremiah has in view the
punishment to which the Jews, as a peo
ple were subjected. He now exhorts to
repentance and ingenuous confession of
sin. 41. In D';B3"Pl!<, the preposition has
here the rare signification of ¦with, to
gether with, in addition to. The action of
confession was not to be the mere out
ward extension of the hands towards
God. Such outward expression, to be
sincere, was to he accompanied with the
inward feelings of the heart.
42. The confession is supposed to he
made while the exile still continued.
There is impUed a fervent hope that,
now it was made, the captivity would
be reversed.

Elect HI. 43-54.]

LAMENTATIONS.

307

D Thou hast shut thyself up in a cloud, so that prayers cannot pass
through. •
D Thou hast made us an oflPscouring and a refuse in the midst of the
peoples. 46-48.
a All our enemies gape at us with their mouths ;
Q Fear and terror have fallen upon us, desolation and destruction.
D Mine eye floweth down in streams of water for the destruction of
the daughter of my people. 49-51.
S Mine eye poureth down and ceaseth not, because there are no
intermissions,
S WhUe Jehovah looketh down and beholdeth from heaven.
S Mine eye afiecteth my soul, because of aU the daughters of my city.
52-54.
:!£ They have chased me closely as a bird, who were my enemies
without cause.
a They have made my Ufe silent in the dimgeon ; they have thrown
a stone over me :
a Waters flowed over my head ; I said, I am cut ofil

43-51. Now follows an elaborate de
scription of the disastrous' outcast con
dition of the Jewish people. After
iiniBD , at the beginning of ver. 43,
Unix , IIS, is understood. Instead of
nban tti, upwards of eighty MSS.,
twelve printed editions, the Alex, copy of
the LXX., the Arab., Syr., Vulg., and
Targ. read ^h) .
46-51. A similar inversion of the
letters S and D has taken place here as
at Elegy u. 16, 17, and iv. 16, 17. The
true alphabetical order is rectified in one
of Kennicott's, and five of De Eossi's
MSS., and in the Syr. The present
arrangement, however, better suits the
connection, and was most probably that
of the prophet. See on Elegy U. 16, 17.
47. Eleven of De Eossi's MSS. read
nX'iJfl , removal, from Nto , to lift up,
take or carry a.ivay, and two more have
read so originaUy ; but this reading,
though also found in upwards of twenty
printed editions, and supported by the
LXX. and Vulg., is inferior to HKlSh,

desolation, from l^l^ > to lay waste, which
is that of the Textus Eeceptus.
50. IS is here to be rendered while.
The prophet regarded it as a great ag
gravation of the calamity, that the Lord
should see it all, and yet not interpose
for its removal.
52-54. The prophet, having in the
preceding triplet given vent to his feel
ings in behalf of his exiled countrymen,
now reverts to his own personal afflic
tions. In verses 53, 54 it has been
thought that he describes his situation
in the dungeon, of which we have an
account in chap, xxxviii. 6-12 ; but as
it is expressly stated in that narrative
that there was no water in the dungeon,
it is more probable that the description
in the Elegy is merely a poetical aggra
vation of the sufferings which Jeremiah
endured, and is not to be understood
Uterally. The flowing of waters over
the head is an image of imminent danger.
See Ps. Ixix. 1, 2. At the same time,
there can he no doubt that the placing

308 LAMENTATIONS. [Elegt HI. 55-65.
55-57.
P I invoked thy name, O Jehovah, from the deepest dungeon.
p Thou heardest my voice ; cover not thine ear at my breathing, at
' my cry:
P Thou drewest near in the day when I invoked thee ; thou saidst,
Fear not. 58-60.
^ Thou, 0 Lord, hast pleaded the causes of my soul, thou hast re
deemed my Ufe ;
^ O Jehovah, thou hast seen my wrong ; judge thou my cause :
*! Thou hast seen all their vengeance, aU their devices against me.
61-63.
U3 0 Jehovah, Thou hast heard their reproach, aU their devices
against me ;
ta The speeches of those who rose up against me, and their machina
tions all the day ;
ffi Thou hast seen their sitting down and their rising up : I am their
song. 64-66.
n Render them a retribution, 0 Jehovah, according to the work of
their hands.
n Give them hardness of heart, thy curse to them ;
n Pursue and destroy them in anger, from under the heavens of
Jehovah.
of a stone over the mouth of the dungeon Targ., Syr., Vulg., and Venet. Greek,
refers to the custom of enclosing prison- read "'JS , as in ver. 61 ; where, on the
ers by this means for the sake of greater other hand, seventeen MSS. read ''5 for
security. For 3 in the sense of over, in "^JS •
the phrase "'S 1155, see Gesenius in 61. ^^^'^T\ , their reproach, i.e. the oip-
voc, A. 4. probrious language with which they
56. ohSTi hn , the Future used for the insult me.
Imperative. Before '^nni'ip , the prep- 62. D^S^Bil), lips, for what they utter ;
osition has the signification of with u. talk, speeches. The false prophets and
view to; before "'HST?? it takes its tem- their adherents among the people were
poral signification, at, at the time of. continually traducing Jeremiah in their
57-62. The prophet records the gra- conversation.
cious answers which he had received to 65. 3p*n55a , Ut. a covering of heart,
his prayers to encourage others to apply, i.e. mental disease, obstinacy, hardness,
as he had done, to Jehovah for relief the worst calamity that can befaU a
60. For ¦'? twenty-three MSS., orig- human being. For the imprecations of
inally thirteen more, now two, the LXX., Jeremiah, see on Elegy i. 21. 22.

Elegt IV. 1-3.]

LAMENTATIONS.

309

ELEGY IV.
This Elegy, like the first, treats of the disastrous circumstances connected with the capture
of Jerusalem, the overthrow of the Jewish polity, the removal ofthe people into exile,
the hope of restoration, and the certainty of retribution on the Idumieans, who to all
their former Injuries, had added that of attacking, as auxiliaries of the Chaldeans, the
chosen people.
N 1 How the gold hath become dim, the fine gold changed !
The sacred stones are thrown down at the top of every street !
a 2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold ;
How they are regarded as earthen pitchers, the work of the
potter's hands !
J 3 Even the jackals draw out the breast, they suckle their whelps :
The daughter of my people is cruel, Uke the ostriches in the
desert.
T 4 The tongue of the suckling cleaveth to its palate with thirst.
Infants ask bread, but no one breaketh it for them.

1. D31'', the Hophal of t=aS, to con
gregate, Arab. !L&. , texit, obstruxit, as
clouds, when collected, do the heavens ;
hence to grow or make dark, obscure the
lustre of anything. LXX. eptavp^dri.
The gold, and the fine gold, are used
metaphoricaUy to denote the illustrious
portion of the Jewish people, as the
princes, counciUors, priests, etc., as it
follows in ver. 2. For X.?!^"; , the Chaldee
orthography, the more correct Hebrew
n.512|"; is found in many MSS. By
liJ^p""'53X , the sacred stones, C. B. Mi
chaelis thinks are meant the precious
gems in the breastplate ofthe high-priest ;
but though these may have suggested
the idea, it seems more in keeping with
the connection to interpret the phrase
of tjiose persons who were consecrated
to the service of the temple.
2. B'^SSCsan , lit. those who were weighed.
As what is weighed is estimated accord
ing to the contents of the opposite scale,
the verb came to be employed in the
sense of comparing one thing with an
other. Comp. Job. xxviu. 16, 19.
3. The prophet here contrasts the un

natural conduct of the Jewish people,
in whose treatment of their children
during the siege all tender feeUng seemed
to have been extirpated, with the instinct
of jackals, which suckle their young ;
and compares them to the ostriches,
which, after laying their eggs in the
sand, speed their way into the desert,
and never think more about them.
Comp. Job xxxix. 15. If the textual
reading D^JS "^S were genuine, it could
only be pointed D"'3S "'3, which is not
susceptible of any suitable interpretation ;
but the textual punctuation, and the
division of the words adopted by the
Keri, Di5Si3 , Uke the ostriches, affords a
meaning quite in accordance with the
drift of the context. Thus forty-five of
Kennicott's MSS., and seventy-seven of
De Eossi's, and most of the early printed
editions. I^Sn is the Chaldee plural for
D^'Sn ; sing, y^ , a wild beast, now gen
eraUy aUowed to be the jackal ; LXX.
SpdKoyrcs. Some, confounding the word
with 1^3F) , a sea-monster, the plural of
which is 3''?"'SR , interpret it of the
whale. IIS is commonly used of the
whelp of the Uon.

310 LAMENTATIONS. [Elegy IV. 5-12.
n 5 They who fed on dainties perish in the streets :
They who were brought up on scarlet embrace dunghUls.
1 6 For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people
is greater than that of the sin of Sodom :
That was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands attacked her.
T 7 Her Nazarites were brighter than snow, they were whiter than
milk ;
They were more ruddy in body than corals, their shape was the
sapphire.
n 8 Their appearance is [now] darker than the dawn, they are not
recognized in the streets :
Their skin adheres to their bones, it is dried up like wood.
B 9 Happier were the slain with the sword than the slain with famine :
Because these pined away, pierced through, without the fruits
of the field.
¦' 10 The hands of compassionate women boUed their children :
They became food for them in the destruction of the daughter
of my people.
all Jehovah spent his fury, he poured out the heat of his anger ;
And kindled a fire in Zion, which devoured her foundations.
5. h in D'^I'IS*'?? is used as the sign of it may be inferred that they were held
the accusative, as in the Aramaic and in high estimation. DSS , bone, and this
Ethiopic languages. Instead of scarlet for the body, or bodily form, of wliich
couches, on which the grandees had been the bones form so essential a part.
nursed, they were compelled to recUne D''3''3B Bochart, after the Eabbins, ren-
on dunghills. ders pearls, but quite preposterously, as
6. y^ and PSBn are here, as fre- the color specified at once shows. Mi-
quently, to be taken in the sense of chaelis, Gesenius, and others, red corals,
punishment. 1^ ?in means to attack; from, the xoot']'i^, to divide into branches,
Axah. O^.::^ , irruit in aliquid ; to afflict, Hence the Arab. ..vij? » branch.
wound with the hand, and is here expres- JTin , lit. cut, i.e. shape or figure, from
sive of human intervention. No instru- , .
mentality of the kind was employed in ^'?. '" ^"*- ^^"^ ^<'^^''^<=^1 «^«'-
the destruction of Sodom, but it was body.
most barbarously used by the Chaldeans 9. Q'''^|31SI , pierced through, is very
at the capture of Jerusalem. expressive of the sharp pain occasiolied
7. CI"'?? , lit. separated ones, those by severe hunger.
who, by special acts of self-denial or 10. Comp. Elegy ii. 20; 2 Kings vi.
abstinence, consecrated themselves to the 28, 29 ; Lev. xxvi. 29 ; Deut. xxviii. 56,
more immediate service of God. For 57. For a most graphic description of
the law regulating the conduct of the such a horrible scene, see Josephus's
Nazarites, see Num. vi. From the special account of the siege under Titus, Bell.
notice here taken of them, and the en- Jud. cap. x. 9.
comiums passed upon their appearance, 12. Such was the natural strength of

Elegt IV. 12-19.] LAMENTATIONS. 311
b 12 The kings of the earth and all the inhabitants of the globe would
not have believed
That the adversary and the foe could have entered the gates of
Jerusalem.
a 13 Because of the sins of her prophets, the iniquities of her priests.
Who shed the blood of the righteous in her midst,
3 14 They wandered blind in the streets, they were stained with blood.
So that men could not touch their garments.
D 15 Away, unclean ! they cried to them. Away, away ! touch not !
Surely they flee away, they wander ;
They say among the nations, they shall dwell no more.
S 16 The face of Jehovah hath divided them, he wiU no more regard
them :
They respected not the persons of the priests, they showed no
favor to the elders.
S 17 WhUe we still existed, our eyes faUed [looking] for our vain
help :
On our watch-towers we watched for a nation that could not
save us.
i: 18 They hunted our steps, so that we could not walk in our streets ;
Jerusalem, and such the wide-spread 16. The same inversion of the order
belief that the God of the Jews was of the letters 3> and B has taken place
omnipotent, that the city was considered here which has been noticed at Elegies
to be impregnable. ii. 16, 17 ; iii. 46-51. Vers. 16 and 17
15. The inhabitants were so stained follow in the regular order ofthe alpha-
with blood, that they were, as legally bet in four of Kennicott's MSS. and two
unclean, shunned by all, and earnestly of De Eossi's. In the LXX. there is
summoned to remove. There is much the regular notation of the letters, but
force and beauty in the triple form the verses are unaltered, fllil'^ "^JQ , the
liaO T\'[0 — Ti'i'O . Although US strictly face of Jehovah, i.e. his anger or dis-
signifies to turn aside from the way when pleasure, as Ps. xxxiv. 1 7 ; the counte-
travelling, and only stopping for the nance being that part of the body in
night, or sojourning for a short period which angry feelings are manifested.
anywhere, yet here, as Judg. v. 17; Ps. The nominative to IXiUJ and 13 211 are
XV. 1 ; Ixi. 5, and elsewhere, it is used the enemies, understood.
in a more extended acceptation, as equiv- 17. While the city was surrounded,
alent to 3123^ to dwell, to have a per- but not yet taken by the Chaldean army,
manent abode. The Jews were so com- the inhabitants looked, but looked in
pletely driven away from th^ir homes, vain, for assistance from Egypt. That
that no prospect was afforded of their power, in which they had always been so
re-occupying them. They had turned prone to trust, completely disappointed
a deaf ear to all the admonitions of the their hopes, as every refuge must all
prophets, and, with the warnings, had whose hearts are alienated from God.
also rejected the promises of a restora- Comp. Jer. xxxvii. 5-11.
tion. 19. p?1 properly signifies to burn, be

312 LAMENTATIONS. [Elegt V. 1.
Our end approached, our days were filled up, surely our end
was come.
p 19 Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of heaven ;
They chased us hotly on the mountains, they lay iu wait for us
in the desert.
"1 20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah, was taken
in their pits ;
Respecting whom we said: Under his shadow we shall Uve
among the heathen.
113 21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom ; thou inhabitress of
the land of Uz.
To thee also shall the cup pass over ; thou shalt be drunken and
uncover thyself
n 22 The punishment of thine iniquity is completed, O daughter of
Zion ; he will no more hold thee captive :
He will visit thiae iniquity, O daughter of Edom ; he wiU carry
thee away captive because of thy sins.
hot, then as here, and Gen. xxxi. 36 ; the hope, that if he were spared by Neb-
Ps. x. 2, to pursue hotly, uchadnezzar, they might be kindly
20. That Zedekiah is the king here treated in Babylon for his sake. See
referred to, is now aUowed by the most Introd. p. 276. The application of the
approved interpreters. For the histor- words to our Saviour is altogether
ical fact, see 2 Kings xxv. 5, 6 ; Jer. Ui. arbitrary. ,
8, 9. We read of no such capture of 21. The Idumseans are ironically
Josiah, to whom some, from a misinter- called to indulge in their wanton mirth.
pretation of 2 Chron. xxxv. 25, have It would soon come to an end. Comp.
applied the present verse. Zedekiah Jer. xlix. 7-22.
might be said to be " the breath of their 22. IpQ and n|a are prophetic futures.
nostrUs," inasmuch aa their life was Punishment woiild assuredly overtake
bound up with his. They entertained the Idumaeans.

ELEGY V.

This concluding Elegy may be regarded as an epiphonema containing a brief recapitulation
of the grievous calamities which had been treated of in the preceding ones. The whole
body ofthe Jewish people, now in exile, bewail the sad change which had taken place
in their ch-oumstances, acknowledge that their sins were the cause, and express their
earnest desire that their covenant God would restore, them to theu- former prosperity.
1 Remember, O Jehovah, what hath happened to us ;
Regard and look on our reproach.
1- ^¦'3tl, Keri nV^'l. the fuU or- imperative, expresses the emotion of
thography. The n thus added to the ai-dent desire on the part of the speakers.

Elegt V. 3-10.]

LAMENTATIONS.

313

2 Our inheritance is transferred to foreigners ;
Our houses to strangers.
3 We are orphans, and have no father ;
Our mothers are as widows.
4 Our water we drink for money ;
Our wood comes in for a price.
5 We are persecuted with a yoke on our necks ;
We toil and have no rest.
6 We gave the hand to Egypt
And to Assyria to be satisfied with bread.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are not ;
-And we bear the punishment of their iniquities.
8 Slaves domineer over us ;
None delivereth out of their hand.
9 With our lives we bring in our bread.
Because of the sword of the desert.
10 Our skins are black like an oven.
Because of the hot blasts of famine.

3. The Jews were reduced to the con
dition of orphans and widows, the most
deplorable of any in which the members
of the human family can be placed.
4. 13'^B''B , our water, not merely what
was necessary for their use, but what
was contained in their own cisterns, con
sequently was their own property. This
they were compelled to purchase from
the enemy. It was the same with their
forests. 5. Ninety MSS. and three of the early
printed editions read 13111X1S in the
plural, instead of 'JI'*?? in the singular.
The words, 13e'7l.3 13^S1S b? , lit. upon
our necks we are persecuted, express eUip
tically the great hardship to which the
Jews were reduced in being compelled
as captives to bear a heavy yoke on their
necks. 6. 1^ "f13 , to give the hand, means to
give a pledge of fideUty, to submit, sur
render. Before 111SK and C^ISB is an
ellipsis of the preposition h . The Jews
had been grievously oppressed by the
Egyptians after the death of Josiah, and
were now reduced to the last extremity
27

by the Chaldeans, to whom the name of
11U3N , Assyria, is given, because they
occupied the territory over which the
Assyrian empire had formerly extended.
7. The Keri suppUes the "I before
631X and 13n3it , and this in the textual
reading of many MSS. and of some of
the early printed editions. What the
Jews here complain of, that they were
make to suffer for the sins of their an
cestors, was current- as a proverb among
them, for which they were specially re
proved (Ezek. xviii).
9. In procuring the necessaries of life
from those parts of the country which
lay at a distance from the metropoUs,
where the fiocks and herds were feeding,
they were exposed to attacks from the
robber Arabs in the desert. Seventy-
three MSS. and two of the earliest edi
tions read W^BSSS in the plural.
10. Fifty-eight MSS. and the Soncin.
Bible read 13'i^13) in the plural, as in
the preceding instance. Hunger occa^
sions a violent irritation of the whole
nervous system, and dries up the pores
of the skin, so that at last it becomes as

314

LAMENTATIONS.

[Elegt V. 10-18.

11 They ravished the matrons in Zion,
Virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes they hung up by the hand ;
The persons of elders were not honored.
13 Young men they took to grind at the miU,
-Ajid boys fell with the wood.
14 Aged men have ceased from the gate,
Young men fi'om their song.
15 The joy of our heart hath ceased ;
Our dance is turned into mourning,
16 The crown of our head hath fallen ;
Alas, now for us ! because we have sinned.
17 Because of this our heart is faint;
Because of these things our eyes are darkened.
18 Because of Mount Zion which is desolate;
Foxes traverse it.
19 Thou, 0 Jehovah, sittest [as king] for ever,
Thy throne is from generation to generation.

if it had been exposed to the influence
of the burning heat of the simoom, to
which it is probable Jeremiah refers when
he uses the term HISS?? , glowing, hot
winds, Gesenius compares the Xip.hs
atdoiji of Hesiod, Xifihs atOay of Callima
chus, ignea fames of Quintillian, gulce
flamma of Ovid, and the Arab. »Lj
r »¦*- 1 5 fii'e of famine, Comp. for the
use of MSSit , Ps. xi. 6.
11. The usual practice of a, brutal
soldiery on the taking of a city.
12. As it does not appear that hanging
by the hand was ever used as a mode of
judicial punishment by the ancients, it
must have been practised on the Jewish
princes from mere wanton cruelty. In
this verse the term D''?p1 , dders, is used
in an official sense, and not merely to
describe age, as the word princes in the
parallelism shows.
13. Grinding at the mill was the work
of female slaves, or the lowest maid
servants. To put the young men to
such employment was regarded as the
greatest degradation. Mere boys were

compeUed to carry quantities of wood
too heavy for them to bear without fall
ing from its weight.
14, 15. A painful reflection on the sad
reverse of circumstances which had taken
place, f ?PJ is not here descriptive of
office, but of age, as the contrast in
D^^in3 , young men, shows. It is com
mon in the East for aged men to meet in
the open space without the gate of the
city, to pass the time in narrating or
hearing the news of the day, or the sto
ries of bygone years. From this an easy
transition is made to the jocund pastime
of the young.
16. fllHS, the crown, the insignia of
honor. The removal of this, and the
consequent disgrace with which the Jews
were overwhelmed, they trace to the true
cause, their sin, which they ingenuously
confess before God.
18. Foxes, which are numerous in
Palestine, had taken possession of the
desolations of Zion. They were prob
ably first attracted thither by the bodies
of the slain, of which they are particu
larly fond.

Elegy V. 19-22.]

LAMENTATIONS.

315

20 Wliy shouldest thou forget us for ever ?
Why abandon us for a length of days ?
21 Turn us back, 0 Jehovah, to thyself, and we shall return ;
Renew our days as in tlie olden time.
22 For surely thou hast utterly rejected us.
Thou hast been exceedingly wroth with us.

19-22. On the assurance of the perpe
tuity of the divine government of human
affairs is founded the hope that, however
desperate the circumstances of the Jews
might be, their restoration was possible.
They therefore make it the subject of
earnest prayer. The melancholy conse
quences of their repudiation they urge
as a reason why God should grant them
the renewed experience of his favor.

Eosenmiiller observes that in the He
brew MSS. verse 21 is repeated after
verse 22, the Jews laboring under the
superstition, that when a book concludes
with a tristful and threatening sentence
the penultimate verse is to be repeated,
to put to flight the bad omen. The
same repetition is found in most of the
printed editions of the Hebrew Bible at
the end of the Books of Isaiah, Malachi,
and Ecclesiastes.

WARREN F. DRAPER,
PUBLISHER AND BOOKSELLER,
Andorer, Mass.,
PUBLISHES AND OPFEKS ffOK SALE THE FOLLOWIWO WOKKS, WHICH WILL
BE SEHT, POSTPAID, OH KEOEIPT OB- THE SUMS AfffflXED.

COMMENTARIES (Critical and Granfmaiical) OF C. J. ELLICOTT,
Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol.
The Commentaries of Prof. Ellicott supply an urgent want in their sphere of criticism.
Prof. Stowe savs of them, in his Notice to the Commentary on the Galatians : ** It is the
crowning excefience of these Commentaries that they are exactly what they profess to be,
— criticat and grammatical, and therefore in the best sense of the term, exegetical 
His results are worthy of all coniidence. He is more careful than Tischendorf, slower and
more steadily deUberate than Alford, and more patiently laborious than any other living
New Testament critic, with the exception, perhaps, of Tregelles."
" They fEIlicott's Commentaries] have set the flrst example in this country [England] of a
thorough and fearless examination of the grammatical and philological requirements of every
word of the Sacred Text. I do not know of anything superior to them, in their own partic
ular line, in Germany; and they add, what, alas! is so seldom found in this country, pro
found reverence for the matter and subjects on which the author is laboring; nor is their
value lessened by ilr. EUicott's having confined himself for the most part to one depart
ment of a commentator's work, — the grammatical and philological." — Sean Afford.
CoMMESTART ON Galatians. With an Introductory Notice by
C. E. Stowe, Professor in Andover Theological SemiLary. 8vo. pp. 183. $1.75.
" We have never met with a learned commentary on any book of the New Testament so
nearly perfect in every respect as the ' Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians,' by Prof.
Elhcott, of King's College, London — learned, devout, and orthodox." — Independent.
" We would recommend all scholars ofthe original Scriptures who seek directness, lumin
ous brevity, the absence of everything irrelevant to strict grammatical inquiry, with a con
cise and yet very complete view of the opinions of others, to possess themselves of Elhcott'a
Commentaries." — American Presbyterian.
COMMENTABT ON EPHESIANS. 8t0. pp. 190. |1.75.
Commentary ON Thessalonians. 8vo. pp. ITl. $1.75.
Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. 8vo. pp. 265. $2.50.
Commentary on Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. $2.50.
THE SET in five vols., tinted paper, cloth extra, bevelled edges, gilt tops. S12.00.
THE SET in two vols, same style. SIO.OO.

Henderson on the Minor Prophets. The Book of the Twelve
Minor Prophets. Translated from the Original Hebrew. With a Commentary, Critical,
Philological, and Exegetical. By E. Hehdeeson, D.D. With a Biographical Sketch
of the Author, by E. P. Babeows, Hitchcock Professor in Andover Theological Seminary.
6vo. pp.490. 84.00.
" This Commentary on the Minor Prophets, Uke that on the Prophecy of Isaiah, has been
highly and deservedly esteemed by professional scholars, and has been of great service to the
working ministry. We are happy to welcome it in an American edition, very neatly printed."
— Bib. Sacra.
" The American pubUsher issues this valuable work with the consent and approbation of
the author, obtained from himself before his death. It is published in substantial and ele
gant style, clear white paper and heantiful type. The work is invaluable for its philological
research and critical acumen. The notes are learned, reUable, and practical, and the voluma
deserves a place iu every theological student's library."— .4mcncare Presbyterian, etc.
" This is probably the best Commentary extant on the Minor Prophets. The work is worthy
of a place in the Ubrary of every scholar and every diligent and earnest reader ofthe Bible."
-• Cnristian Chronicle.

Publications of W. F. Draper .
Murphy on Genesis. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary
on the Book of Genesis, with a new Translation. By James G- Mubphy, LL.D,,
T.C.D., Professor of Hebrew, Belfast. With a Preface by J. P. Thompson, D.D., New
York. 8vo. pp. 535. ©3.50.
" The most valuable contribution that has for a long time been made to the many aids for
the critical study of the Old Testament is Mr. Draper's republication of Dr. Murphy on
Genesis, iu one octavo volume. Dr. Murphy is one of the Professors of the Assembly's
College at Belfast, and adds to a thorough knowledge of the Hebrew, and of the science
of interpretation, great common sense, genuine wit, and admirable power of espression.
Hence his commentary is racy and readable, as well as reliable. No volume will be more
useful to tbose who have been troubled by the Colenso criticisms; and no man has pricked
the bubble of that inflated bishop with a more effectual and reheving wound than Dr.
Murphy. It is a good deal to say of a commentary, but we say it in all sincerity, that this
volume furnishes about as fascinating work for one's hours for reading as any volume of
the day, in any department of literature ; while its general influence will be salutary, and
eflcctive for the truth." — [Congregationalist;.]
*' Dr. Thompson, in the preface, commends this work * as a timely antidote to much oi
the negative and destructive criticism upon the Pentateuch." Dr. Murphy is an Irish
Presbyterian, who has prepared several books which show high scholarship and patient
research; and this book proves him to be a devout and believing Christian. His handling
of Colenso's difficulties shows his Irish wit, as well as his learning and logic. The transla
tion here given is very beautiful, and in such explicit language as to be a rich commentary
of itself, while the abundant aud rich information given in the notes charms the reader
on with more than the zest of fiction. The volume reads more like a book of critical his
tory, and must have a decided popularity in this country. — [Boston Kecorder.J
" A Commentary on Genesis, embodying the results of the latest investigations and crit
icisms, and treating the record fairly and in a Christian spirit, has long been needed. We
think the want is here excellently well supplied. Dr. Murphy is evidently at home in
* Hebrew criticism.' He is soundly ' orthodox ' ia his own doctrinal views. He rejects,
with the contempt they deserve, the absurd glosses and inventions of rationalist theolo
gians, whether German or English; and he is not afraid to stand loyally by all the demands
of the original record, strictly interpreted. We do not hesitate to say that his exposition
of the first chapter of Genesis satisfies our own -mind better than any other we have ever
seen. He holds that the days of creation, were literal days; a sufficient interval of time, as
he thinks, being implied between the first and second verses of the chapter for all those
immeu.^e effects which Geologists claim to trace, and the work of the six days being simply
the preparation of the earth's present surface for its present inhabitants. The author's
views on this, as on other points, may not commend themselves to all classes ol readers;
yet we think that with such abatements as tl^ose who difier from him may feel compeUed
to make, the work will be found, upon the whole, much the best commentary on Genesis
now extant." — [Christian Times and Witness.]
Pond's Pastoral Theology. Lectures on Pastoral Theology.
By Enoch Pond, D.D., Professor in Bangor Theological Seminary. 12mo. pp. 395.
^1.75.
" We are glad to notice a new edition of ' Lectures on Pastoral Theology,' by Eev. Dr.
Pond, of the Theological Seminary in Bangor, Me., first published twenty years ago.
These lectures have been almost entirely rewritten, and several of them have been modi
fied in important respects. A valuable feature ofthe book is its practical character: pas
toral duties and relations, and questions which are likely to perplex the minds of young
ministers, especially, being treated with minuteness and plainness. Clear common sense
— a rare quality — and a correct view of the mutual relations of pastor and peop e are
characteristics of every lecture ; and the devout spirit pervading the treatment of the many
subjects is what we should naturally expect from the author." — [Congregationalist.]
WORKS 01^ ARCHBISHOP WHATELY. Published under the saactioii
of the author, from his latest revised editions.
Essays on some op the Difficulties in the Weitings of St,
Paul. 12mo. pp.397. Cloth extra, gilt tops. $2.00.
'• Dr. Whately's writings are characterized by sound thought and solid judgment. Clear
and solid sense is his peculiar characteristic. He is often ingenious, generally candid
almost always plain and transparent. He sometimes fails in acuteness, as is seen in the
third Essay of the present volume, where, as we thiuk, he fails to apprehend the exact idea
ot 'Election' ; still, he is more sharp-sighted than the majority of writers on theological
"Wo regard the present volume as, on the whole, the ablest of his theological works.
It deserves the faithlul study of every clergyman. Dr. Whately is one of those authors
wbo can be as profitably read by those who do not agree with him as by those who do.
Ihe religious opinions of a writer who earned so eminent a name in the department of
logic and rhetoric, and who had so great skill iu the practical affairs relating to the state
as well as the church, cannot be without peculiar interest to the theologian, — [Bib. Sac]
On some of THE Peculiaeities of the Christian Eeligion.
12mo. pp: 264. Cloth extra, gilt tops. Nearly ready.
Historic Doubts conoeening Napoleon. 12mo. pp. 48.
Iu press.

PuUtcatioiis of JF. F. Draper.
WORKS OF W. G. T. SHEDD, recently Professor of Ecclesiastical IL*
tory in Andover Theological Seminary.
Few clearer and more penetratins minds cau be found in our country than tliat of I'rof.
Shedd. And besides, lae writes with a chaste and sturdy eloquence, transparent as crystal)
BO that if he goes deep, we love to follow him. If the mind gets dull, or dry aud ungovernable,
put it to grappling with these masterly productions.— C'on^i-ej7a«ona( Herald, Cliioago.
DiscouKSES AND EsSATS. 324 pp. 12mo. 11.50.
COKTENTS.— The Method and Influence of Theological Studies.— The True Nature of the
Beautiful, and its Eelation to Culture.— The Characteristics and Importance of a Natural
Ehetoric. — The Nature and Influence of the Historic Spirit.— The Kelation of Language
and Style to Thought. —The Doctrine cf Original Sin.— The Atonement, a Satisfaction fO'
the Ethical Nature of both God and Man.
These elaborate articles are written in a lucid and racy style, and invest with a rare inter
est the themes of which they treat. — Bibliotheca Sacra,
Lectures upon the Philosophy op History. 128 pp. 12mo. 75c.
COKTENTS.— The abstract Idea of History.— The Nature and Definition o f Secular His
tory.— Nature and Definition of Church History.- The Verifying Test in Church History.
Professor Shedd has already achieved a high reputation for the union of philosophic in
sight with genuine scholarship, of depth and clearness of thought with force and elegance of
style, and tor profound views of sin and grace, cherished not merely ou theoretical, but still
more on moral and experimental grounds. — Princeton Eeview,
Guericke's Church History. Translated. 449 pp. 8to. |3.00.
This volume includes the period of the Anoieht Chitroh (the flrst six centuries, A. C),
or the Apostolic and Patristic Church.
Here is a Manual of Church History which may be confidently recommended, without
reserve or qualification, to students belonging to all evangelical churches. Guericke is thor
oughly Orthodox. His evangelical belief and feeling give him a lively and appreciative in
terest in the internal history of the Church ; he devotes special attention to the development
of doctrines, and presents the range of thought and substance of opinion distinguishing tho
works ofthe principal writers in successive ages of the Church. G uericke's manual is complete
in the particular lines of history he has chosen, ana is a most useful and reliable book for
the theological class-room. Professor Shedd has wisely translated with freedom, and has
improved the structure ofthe work. — Nonconformist,
Outlines op a Systematic Rhetoric. From tlie German of
De. Fkahcis THEEEmiN. Third and Eevised Edition, with an Introductory Essay by
the translator, pp.216. 12mo. «l-00.
This is a work of much solid value. It is adapted to advanced students, and can be read and
reread with advantage by ijrofessed public speakers, however accomplished they may be iu
the importantart of persuation. This edition is au improvement upon the other, containing a
new introductory esbay, illustrating the leading position of the work, ar.d a series of ques
tions adapting it to the use ofthe student. — Boston Recorder.
The Conpbssions of St. Augustine. Edited, with an Introduc
tion. S1.50.
*' Prof. Shedd has earned our heartfelt thanks for this elegant edition of Augustine's Con
fessions. The book is profitable for the Christian to study, and we would commend it as a
daily companion in the closet of the intelligent behever who desires to be taught the way tc
holiness through communion of the Spirit. Prof. Shedd's Introduction is a masterly essay,
which itself is a volume for attentive reading. It ought to bo read before the book is begun.
Thorough, searching, and discriminating beyond the facts it communicates, its instructions
and hints are suggestive and invaluable." — N. Y. Observer.
" We have long wcnted to see just such an edition of Augustine's Confessions. The editor
has done a public service in introducing it; and its typographical beauty ia no small recom
mendation of it."— Prest)yterian.
The Theology op the Greek Poets. By W. S. Tylee, Willis-
ton Professor of Greek in Amherst College. 12mo. pp. 365. Price, S1.75.
" The whole discussion is an honor to the Christian scholarship of America  We
think all sermon writers will be aided by the fertile suggestions of this volume, and we com
mend it warmly to all." — Congregationalist,
" The care of the scholar and the enthusiasm of the poet has been given to the work." —
Independent, " We hope that all men of scholarly tastes, above all, that Christian scholars, will give this
volume a careful perusal, for they will find in it much to admire and store away." — Spring,
field Republican.
" Professor Tyler does his work with the mind of a master." — Zimis Herald,

Publications of W. F. Draper.
WOEKS OP MOSES STUART, late Professor in Andover Theological
Seminary.
Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. Third Edition.
Edited and revised by Pegs'. E. D. C. Eobeihs. 12mo. pp 6M. ®2.25.
" His Commentary on the Eomans is the most elaborate of all his works. It has elicited
more discussions than any of his other exegetical volumes. It is the result of long-continued,
patient thought. It expresses, in clear style, his maturest conclusions. It has the animating
influence of an original treatise, written on a novel plan, and under a sense of personal re
sponsibility. Kegarding it in all its relations, its antecedents and consequents, we pronounce
it the most important Commentary which has appeared in this country on this Epistle.— .Bj&.
Sacra. " We heartily commend this work to all students of the Bible. The production of one of
the flrst Biblical scholars of our age, on the most important of all the doctrinal books of the
New Testament, it deserves the careful study, not only of those who agree with Prof. Stuart
in his theological and exegetical principles, but of those who earnestly dissent from some of
his views in both respects." — Watchman and Reflector.
" This contribution by Prof Stuart has justly taken a high place among the Commentaries
on the Epistle to the Eomans, and, with his other works, will always be held in high estima
tion by the student of the Sacred Scriptures." — Ne^w Yorle Observer.
Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews. Edited and re
vised by Peoe. E. D. C. Eobbihs. 12mo. pp. 570. S2.25.
" It is a rich treasure for the student of the original. As a commentator, Prof. Stuart wai
especially arduous and faithful in following up the thought and displaying the connection
of^ a passage, and his work as a scholar will bear comparison with any that have since ap
peared on either side ofthe Atlantic." — AmeHcan Presbyterian,
" This Commentary is classical, both as to its hterary and its theological merits. The edition
before us is very skilfully edited by Professor Bobbins, and gives m full Dr. Stuart's text,
with additions bringing it down to the present day." — Episcopal Recorder,
"We have always regarded this excellent Commentary as the happiest effort of the late
Andover Professor. It seems to ns well-nigh to exhaust the subjects which the author com
prehended in his plan." — Boston Recorder.
Commentary on the Apocalyse. 2 vols. 8vo. pp. 504, 504. $4.
Commentary on the Book op Proverbs. 12mo. pp. 432. 11.75.
" This is the last work from the pen of Professor Stuart. Both this Commentary and
the one preceding it, on Ecclesiastes, exhibit a mellowness of spirit which savors of the good
man ripening for heaven; and the style is more condensed, and, in that respect, more agree
able, than in some ofthe works which were written in the unabated freshness and exuberant
vigor of his mind. In learning and critical acumen they are equal to his former works. No
English reader, we venture to say, can elsewhere find so complete a philological exposition of
these two important books of the Old Testament." — Bib. Sacra.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes. Second Edition. Edited and
revised by E. D. C. Eoeeihs, Professor in Middlebury College. 12mo. pp. 345. S1.50.
The Introduction discusses the general nature of the book ; its special design and method,
diction, authority, credit, and general history; ancient and modern versions, and commenta
ries. The Commentary is strictly and minutely exegetical.
Miscellanies, pp. 369. 12mo. $1.00.
CoNTEMTS. — I. Letters to Dr. Channing on the Trinity. — II. Two Sermons on the
Atonement. — Sacramental Sermon on the Lamb of God. — I'Y. Dedication Sermon. — Eea 1
Christianity. — V. Letter to Dr. Channing on Eeligious Liberty. — VI. Supplementary Notes
and Postscripts.
Critical History and Defence op the Old Tbstajient Canon.
12mo. pp. 460. S1.50.
The Author thus states the purpose he had in writing this book : Eeferring to Norton's
EvinENGEB OF THE Genuinehess OP THE GosPELS, he says : " It is not my design in the
present work to review at length and controvert all the positions of Mr. Norton  My
mtention is to confine myself, in the main, within the limits of a critical and historical view
of the Jewish Canon of Scripture in the days of Christ and his apostles, and to show that this
Canon as received by the Jews at that time, was declared by our Saviour and his apostles to
be of divine origin and authority, and was treated by them as entitled to these claims."
He-BHEw Grammar : Translated from Gesenius. 8vo. fl.OO.
4

Bibliotheca Sacra Advertiser.
A Critical and Exegetical Commentakt on the Book of Exodds ; with
a new Translation. By James G. Murphy, D.D., T.C.D., Professor of Hebrew,
Belfast. Andover : Wnrren E. Draper. 1868. 8vo. pp.385. Cloth, bevelled.
Small Pica and Long Primer type ; uniform with the Commentary on Genesis
by the same author. Price, $3.00.
"Dr. Murphy's Critical and Exegetical Commentary ou Exodus will be grate
fully received as an important help to the study of the Old Testament by those
who have already been largely profited by his volume ou Genesis. This is marked
by the same general characteristics, and, in a frank and manly way, seeks to make
itself a real help to the understanding of the word  His plan is first to give
brief and pithy exegetical notes upon difficult Hebrew words and phrases ; theu to
give a new translation, which is designed to be a careful revision of the authorized
version to make it coiTcspond with the original as closely as may be ; then to add
an exposition intended to explain the historical import of the facts involved, to
show their bearing upon human welfare, aud to make them illustrate those great
principles of ethical and theological truth which are stated for men's guidance and
comfort. The difficulties which are raised iu the discussions of the day are ex
amined and disposed of, and it has been made a point to offer the reader a decided
opinion in all cases of importance. The English reader will find nothing accessible
to him which will compare favorably with this as a help in the study of this portion
of the divine word ; while he will, of course, read always with his own judgment
upon the views which find expression." — Congregationalist.
" It bears on every page the marks of close and critical study, of careful and
laborious composition, of eminent conscientiousness, of fresh, independent, and
suggestive thought, of profound and steady insight, and of an all-pervading vene
ration for these most ancient of human records as being saturated with the wisdom
and vocal with the authority of God  In suggcstivencss it is equalled by almost
no other work which we have seen. There are single sentences that penetrate to
the very heart of the most profound topics that come up for consideration, and now
and then one comes upon a luminous statement that irradiates a whole narrative,
and makes its hidden meaning come unobstructed to the surface." — Morning ,i>tar.
The Theology op the Gkeek Poets. By W. S. Tyler, Williston Professor
of Greek in Amherst College. Boston: Draper and HaUiday. 1867. 12mo.
pp.365. SmaU Pica type. Price, $1.75.
This volume is made up of six Articles, viz. ; The Head of the Church, Head
over AU Things ; the Home^¦ic Question ; the Homeric Doctrine of the Gods ; the
Homeric Doctrine of Sin, its expiation and its penalty ; the Theology of Aeschylus ;
and the Theology of Sophocles. The first is reprinted from the Biblical Repository ;
the second and last two, from the Bibliotheca Sacra ; the third and fourth, from
the American Theological Eeview.
" The first Essay is an ingenious and powerful argument in proof that the God
of the church is also the God of nature and of providence  The second Essay
discusses freshly and powerfuUy the Homeric Question, glancing at the sentiment
of antiquity and of modern scholars in Germany, England, and in our own land ;
states and answers the argument of Wolf for a various authorship for the Homeric
Poems  The four remaining Essays develop the Natural Theology there is
interwoven in the Poems thus demonstrated to be Homer's, and in those of Aeschy
lus and Sophocles  The whole discussion is an honor to the Christian scholar
ship of America  We think all sermon writers will be aided by the fertile
suggestions of this volume, and we commend it warmly to aU." — Congregationalist,
" The care of the scholar and the enthusiasm of the poet has been given to the
work." — Independent,
" We hope that all men of scholarly tastes, above all, that Christian scholars, will
give this volume a careful perusal, for they wiU find iu it much to admire and store
away." — Springfield Republican,
" Professor Tyler does his work with the mind of a master." — Zion's Herald,
The whole forms a body of interesting criticism, which the scholar will be glad
to have brought into one connected view. Professor Tyler is weU qualified for hia
task and has executed it with abiUfy." — Tlie Presbyterian,

Publicatio'ns of W. F. Draper.
Carlyle's Latter-Day Pamphlets. 12mo. pp. 427. $1.00.
CoHTEHTB. — The Present Time. — Model Prisons. — Downing Street. — The New Down.
Ing Street. — Stump Orator. — Parliaments. — Hudson's Statue. — Jesuitism.
Historical Development of Speculative Philosophy from Kant
to Hegel. From the German of Dr. H. M. Chaltbabus. With au Introductory Note
by Sir William Hamiltoh. pp. 413. 12mo. S1.60.
The Debate Between the Church and Science ; or, The Ancient
Hebraic Idea of the Six Days of Creation. With an Essay on the Literary Character of
Taylek Lewis. ' 12mo. pp. 437. $1.25.
" We wish in this notice to state concisely our impressions of an important and remarka
ble book  The first impression which the volume has given us is of a certain chivalry
and nobleness. ..... The ne.Kt is of a pervading ¦modesty  An impression equally strong
is that of reverence  Then of extraordinary paiieTice both of thought and composition.
 Exactness of reasoning isanother undeniable feature of the volume  The learn^
ing of the volume, though not paraded in any fulness of notes or references, is yet quite
sufficient for the purposes of the argument  One more merit of the volume we mention,
—ita wonderful suggestiveness, — North American Review.
Erskine on the Internal Evidence for the Truth of Revealed
Religion. Third American, from the Fifth Edinbnrg Edition, pp. 139. 16mo. 75 cts.
" The entire treatise cannot fail to commend the positions which it advocates to intelligent
and considerate minds. It is one of the best, perhaps the best, of all the discussions of this
momentous subject. " — Congregationalist.
" This argument of Erskine for the Internal Evidence of the Truth of Eevealed Eeligion,
is the most compact, natural, and convincing we have ever read from any author." — Chris.
Charon. "Neman ought to consider himself as having studied theology unless he has read, and
pondered, and read again, ' Erskine ou the Internal Evidence. '" — I'ndepeMdemt.
Hymns and Choirs ; or, the Matter and the Manner of the
Service of Song in the House of the Lord. By Austim Phelps aud Edwakdb A.
Paek, Professors at Andover, and Dahiel L. Furber, Pastor at Newton. 12mo. pp. 125.
$1..50. This volume describes the true design and character of Hymns; it comments on their rhe
torical structure and style ; points out the proper method of uttering them in public worship ;
aud the most important principles and rules for congregational singing.
Plutarchus de sera Numinis Vindicta ; Plutarch on the Delay
ofthe Deity in the Punishment of the Wicked. With Notes by H. B. Hackett, Pro
fessor of Biblical Literature in Newton Theological Institution, pp. 172. 12mo. 60 cents.
Punchard's View of Congregationalism, its Principles and
Doctrines, the Testimony of Ecclesiastioil History in its favor, its Practice and it advan-
tiiges. With an Introductory Essay by K. S. Stores, D.D. Second edition. 16mo. pp.
331. 60 cents.
Theologia Germanica. Which setteth forth many fair linea
ments of Divine Truth, and saith very lofty and lovely things touching a Perfect Life.
Edited by Du. Pfeieeee, from the only complete manuscript yet known. Translated from
the German by Susanna Wihkwokth. With a Preface by the Eev. Charles Kinqsley,
Eector of Eversley j and a Letter to the Translator, by the Chevalier Bunsen, D.D., D.
C. L., etc. i aud an Introduction by Prop. Calvin E. Stowb, D. D. 275 pp. ISmo. Cloth,
S1.50. This treatise was discovered by Luther, who first brought it into notice by an edition
which he published in 1616, of which he says : " And I will say, though it be boasting of my-
Belf, and ' I speak as a fool,' that, nest to the Bible and St. Augustine, no book hath ever
come into my hands whence I have learnt, or would wish to learn, more of what God and
Christ, and man, and all things, are."
The Angel Over the Right Shoulder. By the author of
"Sunny Side." 18mo. pp.29. 40 ots.

P'ublications of JT. F. Draper,
classical works and text-books.
Bateman's Questions on Kuhner's Elementary Greek Gram
mar; with Modifications and Notes by S. H. Taylor, LL.D., Principal of Phillipi
Academy. 12mo. pp. 57. Paper covers, 40 cents.
These questions are designed to aid the pupil in making his knowledge of the principles
of the Grammar more definite, and in fixing them more permanently in his mincf. Teach
ers also will derive much assistance from their use.
Political Economy. Designed as a Text-book for Colleges. By
John Bascom, A.M., Professor in Williams College. 12mo. pp. 366. $1.50.
"It goes over the whole ground in a logical order. The matter is perspicuously arranged
onder distinct chapters and sections j it is a compendious extubition of the principles of the
science without prolonged disquisitions on particular points, and it is printed in the styl* for
which the Andover Press has long been deservedly celebrated." — Pnnceton Review.
Dodbrlein's Hand-Book of Latin Synonymes. Translated by
Eev. H. H. Arnold, B.A., with an Introduction by S. H. Taylor, LL. D. New Edition,
with an Index of Greek words. 16mo. pp. 267. S1.25.
" The present hand-book of Doderlein is remarkable for brevity, distinctness, perspicuity,
and appositeness of its definitions. It will richly reward not merely the classical, but the
general student for the labor he may devote to it. It is difficult to open the volume, even at
random, without discovering some hint which may be useful to a theologian  From the
preceding extracts it will be seen that this hand-book is useful in elucidating many Greek as
well as Latin synonymes." — Bib. Sacra.
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Chap. L 18—22.

EPHESIANS.

169

revelation in true knowledge of Him ; '^ having the eyes of your
heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His call
ing, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance are
among the saints, '' and what the surpassing greatness of His
power is to us-ward who believe, according to the operation of the
power of His might, ^ which He wrought in Christ, when He
raised Him from the dead, — and He set Jli'm on His right hand
in the heavenly regions, ^' over above all Principality, and Power,
and Might, and Dominion, and indeed every name that is named
not only in this world, but also in that which is to come ; "^ and
put all things under His feet, and gave Him as Head over all

True knowledge^ ' The knowledge,' Atith.,
and all the other Vv.
18. Having the eyes, etc.] ' The eyes of
your* understanding being enlightened,'
Aiith., sira. Bish. ( ' lightened ' ) ; ' and
lighten the eyes of youre myndes,' Tynd.,
Cran., Gen. 1, sim. Cov. ; 'the eyes of
yoare harte heynge lyghtened,' Cov.
(Test ) : 'the eies of your hart illumin-
nated,' Rhern. Are among]
' In,' Auth. and the other Vv. except
Tynd., Cov., Cran., 'apon the sainctes.'
It may be observed that Tynd., Cov.,
Cran., Gen. (both), similarly insert the
verb immediately before the prep.,
showing that they did not consider
^y rols a'yiois as merely K\7ipovofj.. avTov ;
see notes.
• 19. What] 'What is,' Auth. and the
other Vv. except WicL, Rhem., 'whyche
is.' Surpassing] ' Excellent,'
Wirl. . ' passing,' Rhem. ; ' exceeding.'
Auth. and other Vv. 7s to us-ward]
'Tons-ward,' Auth., Tynd., Cran., Gen,
1 , Bish. ; ' in to us,' Wicl. ; ' toward us,'
Cov. (Test.), Gen. 2, Rhem,
Operation] So Rhem,; 'working,' Auth,
and the remaining Vv. ; see notes on
ch. iii. 7. The power of His might]
' His mighty power,' Auth,, Cov., Bish.,
sim. Tynd., Cran., Gen. ; ' the myght of
His vertu,' Wicl; 'the myght of His
power,' Cov. (Test), Rhem,

20. And He set] 'And set,' Autli, : the
change in the original from the participial
structure to that of the aor. indie, is bet
ter preserved by inserting the pronoun.
On His right hand] So Tynd.,
Cov., Cran., Bish., Rhem,, sim. Wicl. .
' at His own right hand ,' Auth. ; so also
Cov. (Test.), Gen. (both), hut omit
' own.' Heavenly regions] ' Heavenly
places,' Auth., Gen. (both), Bish. ; ' heav-
enli thingis,' Wicl., Tynd., Cov. (both),
Cran. ; ' celestials,' Rhem.
21. Over above] 'Far above,' Auth.,
Gen. (both), Bish. .- ' above,' Wicl. and
remaining Vv. And indeed] 'And,'
Auth., see notes.
22. Put] 'Hath put,' Auth., Tynd.,
Cov,, Cran,, Bish,, Rhem, : ' hath ap
pointed,' Gen, (both : Wicl, alone omits
the auxiliary verb, ' and made alle
thingis,' etc. And gave Him, *¦.]
'And gave Him to be head over all
things to, etc.,' Auth,, Bish., ('the
head ') ; 'and hath made Him above all
thynges, the heed of, etc.,' Tynd., Cov.,
Cran. ; ' and made Hym heade over all
the congr.,' Cov. (Test.) ; 'hath ap
pointed Him aboue all thinges, the heade
of, etc.,' Gen. 1 ; ' to he the heade of,'
Gen. 2 ; ' and hath made Him head oner
al the church,' Rhem. The emphatic
position of aiyr6v in the original should
not be left unnoticed.

22

170

EPHESIANS.

Chap. I. 23. II. 1—3.

things to the church, ^ which indeed is His body, the fulness of
Him that fiUeth all with all.

Chapter II.
And you also being dead by your trespasses and your sins, —
' wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the empire of the air, of the spirit that
now worketh in the sons of disobedience ; ^ among whom even we

23. Which indeed] ' Which,' Auth.
and the other Vv. except Wicl., ' that
is.' If the distinction usually made
between ' that ' and ' which ' is correct,
viz., that the former is restrictive, the
latter resumptive (see Brown, Gramm. of
Grammars, II. 5, p. 293, and notes on
Col. iii. 1 , Transl. ) , ' that ' will often be
a correct translation of Tins when used
differentially (see notes on Gal. iv. 24),
e. g., T] Tr6xis TJTiy 4y AeKcpois Kri^^Tai ; in
the present case, however, Wicl. is not
correct, as ^t« appears here used ex-
plicatively. With all] ' In all,'
Auth,, Cov., Cran., Bish., Rhem,, and
similarly the remaining Vv.
Chap. II. 1. And you also who, etc]
'And you hath He quickened who, etc.,'
Auth, The participle ivras has been
ditferently translated : ' whereas ye were,'
Cran, : ' when ye were,' Cov, (probably
following Vulg.) ; ' that were,' Tynd,,
Gen. (both), Bish.; 'who were,' Auth.
Of these, the first two, though more cor
rect in point of grammar than Tynd.,
al., which tacitly apply an article, seem
scarcely so satisfactory as the more sim
ple translation in the text, esp. if the
present verse be compared with verse 5.
The part. 6yTas obviously marks the
state in which they were at the time
when God quickened them. While in
verse 5 this is brought prominently for
ward by the Kai ; here, on tho contrary.

the Kal is joined with, and gives promi
nence to ifias. In the present case, then,
a simple indication of their state without
any temporal or causal adjunct, ' when,'
' whereas,' etc., seems most suitable to
the context, as less calling away the
attention from the more emphatic ipias.
By] So Rhem. ; ' in,' Auth. and
other Vv. Your trespasses, etc.]
' Trespasses and sins ' Auth., Cov., Cran.,
Gen. (both), Bish., similarly Tynd.:
Wicl., Cov. (Test.), Rhem. insert 'your'
before the fir-t substantive only.
2, Once walked] ' In time past j'e
walked,' Auth. and the other Vv. except
Wicl., ' ye wandriden sumtyme,' and
sim. Cov. (Test.), Rhem. Empire]
'Power,' Auth., Wicl, Cov. (Test.),
Rhem. ; ' the governor that ruleth in,'
Tynd., Cran., Gen., sim. Cov. This
somewhat modern form of expression*
seems the only one that exactly repre
sents the view taken iu the notes of the
collective term i^ovalas. Of the
spirit] So Wicl, Rliem. : ' the spirit,'
Auth., Tynd., Cov, (Test), Cran,, Bish,;
' namely after the sp.,' Cov. ; ' and the
sp.,' Gen. 1 ; ' even the sp.,' Gen. 2.
Sons] So Wicl. ; ' children,' Auth. and
the otlier Vv.
3. Even we all] ' Also we all,' Auth. ;
' we also had,' Tynd., Cov., Gen. (both) ;
' we all had,' Bish. Once had our
convers.] ' Had our convers. in times
past,' Auth., and sim. the other Vv.

Chap. II 3—6.

EPHESIANS.

171

all once had our conversation in the hists of our flesh, doing the
desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, and we were children by
nature — of wrath, even as the rest : — '' but God, being rich in
mercy, because of His great love wherewith He loved us, ^ even
while we were dead by our trespasses, quickened us together with
Christ (by grace have ye been saved), " and raised ms up with !Him,

except Wicl, 'lyueden sumtyme; Cov.
(Test), 'somt3Tne;' Rhem., 'conversed
sometime.' This lighter translation of
iroT'e seems preferable both here and in
ver. 2. The order of the Greek would
seem to require ' had our conversation
once,' but this would lead to ambiguity
when read in connection with the suc
ceeding words. Doing] So 117f/.,
Cov (Test.), Rhem,, and similarly Cov, :
' fulfilling,' Auth., and sim. the remain
ing Vv. Thoughts] Wicl, Cov.
(Test), Rhem.; 'mind,' Auth. and re
maining Vv. We were] ' Were,'
Auth. Children] ' The children,'
Auth. and all other Vv. except Wirl,
' the sons.' By nature — of wrath]
' By nature the children of wrath,' Auth,
and sim. all other Vv. All attempts to
explain away the simple and ordinary.
meaning of these words must be, some
what summarily, pronounced as both
futile and untenable. Such a transla
tion as 'children of impulse ' (Mnurice,
Unity, p. 538), has only to be noticed to
be rejected. The substantive opyrj is
used in thirty-four other places in the N.
T., and in none does it appear even to
approach to the meaning thus arbitrarily
assigned to it. The rest] So
Rhem. : ' others,' Auth., Gen. 2 ; ¦ other
men,' Wicl, ; ' other,' Tynd, and the re
maining Vv.
4. Being rich] ' Who is rich,' Auth. ;
' that is,' Wicl. ; ' which is,' Tynd, and
the remaining Vv. Because of]
•'Fox,' Auth., Wid., Cov. (Test.), Cran.,
Bish.. Rhern.; 'through,' Tynd, Cov.,
Gen. (both).

5. While] • When,' Auth. and all Vv.
The change is only made to express
more forcibly the existing state ; see
notes. By our trespasses] Similarly
Tynd., 'by sinne ; ' Cran. Gen. (both),
Bish., Rhem., 'bysynnes ; ' Cov. (Test.),
' thorow synnes : ' 'in sins,' Auth., Wicl,
Cov. Quickened} So Wicl, Cran.,
Rhem. ; 'hath quickened,' Auth. and the
remaining Vv. Have ye been]
' Ye are,' Auth. On the simplest practi
cal rule of choosing between ' am ' and
' have been ' in the translation of the
Greek perf. pass., see notes on Col. i. 16
(Transl). 'Are' might indeed still be
retained on the ground that 'am' with
the part, does involve an essentially past
element (Latliam, Engl. Lang. § 568),
still tlie change seems a little more in
harmony with the context.
6. Raised] So Wicl, Cran., Rhem. :
' hath raised,' Auth. and the remaining
Vv. Up with him] So Cov. (both),
Rhem. : ' up together,' Auth. and the re
maining Vv. except Wicl, which omits
'up.' Sit with him] So Cov.
(Test,), Rhem. ; ' sit together,' Auth. and
the remaining Vv. except Cov. ; ' set us
with Him.' The heavenly regions]
' Heavenly places,' Auth. ; sim. Gen.
(both), 'the heavenly places : ' ' hevenly
thingis,' Wicl, Tynd., Cov. (both), BasA.;
'among them of heaven,' Cran,; 'the
celestials/ Rhem.
7. That He might, etc.] So as to order,
Wicl, Tynd., Gen. (both), Rhem.; 'that
in the ages to come He might,' Auth.,
and sim. Cov. (both), Cran., Bish,
That are coming] ' To come,' Auth. and

172

EPHESIANS.

Chap. II. 7—11.

and made us sit with Him in the heavenly regions, in Christ Jesus ;
' ijiat He might show forth in the ages that are coming the exceed
ing riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.
'For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and this cometh
not of yourselves, the gift is God's ; ' not of works, that no man
should boast : ^° for His workmanship are we, created in Christ
Jesus for good works, which God before prepared that we should
walk in them.
" Wherefore remember, that aforetime ye. Gentiles in the flesh,
who are called the Uncircumcision by the so-called Circumcision,

the other Vv. except Wiclif, ' above
comyng,' Rhem, ' succeeding.' Shew
.forth] ' Shew,' Auth,, and all the other
Vv. In kindness] So Tynd., Cov.,
Cran.: 'in His kindness,' Auth., Gen.
(hoth), Bish. ; 'in goodness,' Wicl, Cov,
(Test.) ; ' in bountie,' Rhem. In]
So all the Vv.' except Auth , Cran., Bish.,
' tlirough.' 8. Have ye been] 'Are ye,' Auth. . see
notes on ver. 5. And this cometh]
Sim. Wicl. : ' and that not,' Auth. and
remaining Vv. It does not seem neces
sary to change 'of into 'from,' the
former being frequently a very suitable
translation of ix ; see notes on Gal. ii.
16. The gift is God's] 'It is the
gift of God,' Auth. and all the other Vv.
The emphasis is maintained, appy, more
in accordance with English idiom, by
placing the gen. at the end rather than
at the beginning.
9. That no man] So Wicl, Rhem. .
'lest any man.' Auth. and the remain
ing Vv.
10. His workmanship are we] ' We are
His workmanship,' Auth, Tynd., Cov,
(both), Cran., Gen, (both), Bish.; 'we
ben the makynge of Hym,' Wicl. ; ' we
are His work,' Rhem. The emphatic
position of abrov should not be neglected.
For good, etc.] ' Unto,' Auth., aud the
other Vv. except Wicl, Cov. (Test),
Rhem., ' in.' Prepared] So Cuv.

(Test), but omits ' before ; ' sim. Rhem.,
but inserts ' hath : ' ' hath before or
dained,' Auth,, and sim. remaining A''v.,
some of which, Wicl, Gen, (both), omit
' before,' some ' hath,' Tynd,, Cov,, some
both words, as Cran,, Gen,
11. That aforetime] *'That ye being
in time past,' Auth. This translation of
iroTE (Cov.) is perhaps a little simpler
than that of Auth. (and remaining Vv.
except Wicl, Cov. (Test.), Rliem., 'sum
tyme'), and serves equally well to keep
up the antithesis between irore and t^
Kaipw ^Keiy^ in ver. 12. By the
so-called, etc.] ' By that which is called
the circumcision,' Auth., and similarly
all Vv. Performed by hand] So,
as to order, Wicl, ' made hi hand in
iieiseh ; ' Cov, (Test), 'made wyth the
hande in the ilesh ; ' ' in the flesh made
by hands,' Auth,, sim. Gen. 2, Bish. :
' which circumcision is made by hondes,'
Tynd., Cran., sim. Cov, ; ' and which is
made by handes,' Gen. 1. The trans
position in the text seems desirable as
precluding any connection of fy oapKl
\v'ith\fyop,4yTis, the error of Tynd,, Cran,,
and most of the other Vv, ; ' made with
the hande,' Cov., and sim. remaining Vv.
12, Ye were at that time] So Tynd.,
Gen. (both), sim. Wid., Rhem.: 'at that
time ye were,' Auth. and the remaining
Vv, except Cov., 'that ye at the time
were.' The promise] So Cran.,

Chap. IL 12—18.

EPHESIANS.

173

performed by hand in the flesh, — 'Hhat ye were at that time
without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and
strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope, and
without God in the world, '^ but now in Christ Jesus ye who once
were far off are become nigh by the blood of Christ. " For He is
our Peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of
the partition — ^^ to wit, the enmity — in His flesh, having abolished
the law of commandments expressed in decrees ; that he might
make the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace,
'° and might reconcile again both of us in one body unto God by
the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. ^' And He came and
preached peace to you which were afar ofi", and peace to them that
were nigh ; ^ since through Him we both in one Spirit have our

*Coverd. (Test.), *Rhem. : 'promise,'
Auth. and the remaining Vv.
13. Once were] So Gen. (both) : 'some
times,' Auth. and the remaining Vv, ex
cept Tynd., ' a while agoo ; ' Cov,, 'afore-
tyme.' Are become] ' Are made,'
Auth, and all the other Vv. The change,
however, seems desirable, if only to ob
viate the supposition that eyey^^'qTe is
here used with a passive force ; see notes
on ch. iii, 7, The aorist cannot be pre
served in English when in association
with the particle of present time {yvyi) ;
comp, notes on ch. iii. 5.
14, Made — broke] ' Hath made 
hath broken,' Auth. and sim. the other
Vv, except Wicl,, ' made  and un-
bindynge ; ' Rhem., ' hath made 
and dissolving.' The partition]
So Rhem., and sim. Gen. (both) : ' parti
tion,' Auth. ; ' the myddel-walle,' Wicl. ;
' that was a stoppe bitwene us,' Tynd.,
Gov., Cran., Bish.
15. To wit, the enmity, etc] ' Having
abolished in His flesh the enmity even,'
Auth,, and similarly as to connection the
other Vv. except Wicl, Cov. (Test),
Rhem, which separate & aapKi from
Karapyfioas, and appy. connect it with
rny ex^pw ; see notes. Expressed
in decrees] Similarly Cov. (Test.), Rhem.:

'contained in ordinances,' Auth., Bish.;
' maundementis, bi domes,' Wicl. ; ' which
standeth in ordinances,' Gen. 2.
That he might make, etc.] Similarly Cov.
(both), Rhem ; 'for to make in Himself
of twain,' Auth., and similarly Tynd.,
Cran., Gen. (both); 'that he make two
in Hym Silf into a newe man,' Wicl :
' for to make of twaine one new man in
Hymselfe,' Bish.
16, And might] 'And that He might,'
Auth. Reconcile again] ' Recon
cile,' Auth. and the other Vv. ; see
notes in loc. Both of us] 'Both,'
Auth. In one body unto God]
Similarly Wicl, Cov. (Test), Rhem. .-
' unto God in one body,' Auth, and re
maining Vv.
17, And He came] 'And came,'^«(/i.
and the other Vv. except Wicl, Coverd,
(Test), 'and He comynge;' Rhem,,
' and coming He.' And peace to]
* 'And to,' Auth,
18 Since] 'Fox! Auth, ^'^'i ^'' t^®
other Vv, We both, etc] ' We
both have access by one Spirit,' ^urfi. ,•
' han nyg comynge,' Wicl, ; ' have an
open waye,' Tynd , Gen, 1 ; 'an in-
traunce,' Cov, (Test.) Cran,, Gen, 2,
similarly Cov. ; ' we have both an en
trance,' Bish. ; ' have access,' Rliem.

174

EPHESIANS. Chap. U, 19—22. Ill, 1—4.

admission unto the Father. -"^ So then ye are no more strangers
and sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of
the household of God, '" built up upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone ;
^^ in whom all the building being fitly framed together groweth into
an holy temj^le in the Lord ; ^^ in whom ye also are builded together
for an habitation of God in the Spirit.
Chapter III.
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you
Gentiles, — ^ if indeed ye have heard of the dispensation of the
grace of God which was given me to you-ward; ^how that by
REVELATION the mystcry was made known unto me, as I have
before written in few words ; * agreeably to which, when ye read,
ye can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ,

19. So then] 'Now therefore,' Auth.
and the other Vv. except Wicl, ' there
for now ; ' Couerrf. (Test.), 'therefore;'
Rhem,, ' now then.' Sojourners]
' Foreigners,' Auth. and the other Vv,
except Wicl,, Cov, (both), ' straungers.'
But yeare] * 'But,' jlu^A,
20, Built up] ' And are built,' Auth,
and the other Vv. except Wicl, ' aboue
bildid;' Cov, (hoth), Rhem,, 'built,'
21, All ihe building] So Auth,, Gen.
(hoth), Bish. ;' eehe bildynge,' Wicl;
' every bildynge,' Tynd., Cov. (both) ;
' what buildyng so ever,' Cran. : see
notes. Being fitly] 'Vitij,' Auth.
22, In the Spirit] So Wid., Tynd.,
Coverd. (both), Rhem. ; ' through the
Spirit,' Auth., Cran., Bish.; 'by the
Spirit,' Gen. (both).
Chap, III, 1, Christ Jesus] 'Jesus
Christ,' Auth. and other Vv., but with
out any difference of reading in the Rec.
Text. 2, If indeed] 'If ye,' Auth., Tynd.,
Cran., Gen. (both), Bish. ; ' if notholess,'

Wicl. ; ' accordinge as,' Cov. ; ' if so be
that,' Cov. (Test,) ; 'if yet,' Rhem.
Which, etc.] It is nearly impossible
(without paraphrase) to imply that
' which ' refers to ' grace : ' in the original
edition ' God ' was foUowed by a comma.
Was given] ' Is given,' Auth. and all the
other Vv,
3. The mystery, etc.] * ' He made
known unto me the mysterj',' Auth.
As I have before written] 'As I wrote
afore,' Auth., Cran., Bish. ; ' wrote
above,' Tynd., Cov., Gen. (both), and
similarly Wicl.
4. Agreeably to which] ' Whereby,'
Auth. and the other Vv, except (1 7c/,,
'as;' Cov., (Test.), 'like as;' Rliem.,
' according as.' Can] ' M;\v,'
Auth. and all the other Vv,, but perhaps
not with perfect exactness ; the rule ap
parently being, ' may et can potentiam
innuunt, cum hoc tamen discriminc, may
ot might vel de jure vel saltem de rei
possibilitate dicnntur, at can et could de
viribus agentis,' Wallis, Gramm. Angl.
p. 107. Perceive my understanding]

Chap. III. 5—9.

EPHESIANS.

175

' which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of
men, as it hath now been revealed unto His holy apostles and
prophets by the Spirit ; ^ to icit, that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs,
and of the same body, and joint-partakers of the promise, in Christ
Jesus, through the Gospel ; ' whereof I became a minister, accord
ing to the gift of the grace of God which was given unto me
according to the operation of His power. ' Unto me, who am less
than the least of all saints, was this grace given, — to preach
among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ^ and to
make all -men see what is the dispensation of the mystery, which
from the ages hath been hid in God, who created all things ;

So Cov. .- ' understand my knowledge,'
Auth., Cran., Bish. ; ' know myne under-
stondynge, Tynd., Gen. (both) ; undur-
stonde my prudence,' Wicl, Cov. (Test,),
' und, my \visdom,' Rhem.
5. Generations] So Wiclif, Cov.
(Test,), Rhem.: 'ages,' Auth., Gen. 2,
Bish. ; ' tymes passed,' Tynd., and re
maining Vv. It hath now been]
' It is now,' Auth. and the other Vv. ex
cept iJAem., 'now it is.' This is a case
where the strict translation cannot be
maintained ; in English the aorist has
no connection with pres. time (Latham,
Engl. Long. § 579), and therefore cannot
here properly be connected with yiiy ; in
Greek this is possible, from the greater
temporal latitude of the tense ; comp.
notes on 1 Tim. ch. v. 15 (Transl).
6. To wit, that] Similarly Coverd.,
' namely, that : ' ' that,' Auth. and the
remaining Vv. except Rhem. (which is
excessively harsh), ' the Gentiles to he,
etc.' Are] So Wicl, Cov. (Test,) :
'should be,' Auth. and the remaining
Vv. except Rhem., supr. cit Joint-
partakers] Sim. Cov. (Test,), 'lyke par
takers ; ' ' partakers,' Auth'. and the re
maining Vv. except Wicl, ' parteneris
to gidre ; ' Rhen^., ' comparticipant.'
The promise] * ' His promise,' Auth.
Christ Jesus] * ' Christ,' Auth.
Through] So Cov. (Test): 'by,' Auth,

Wicl, Cov., Gen. 2, Bish., Rhem.; 'by
the means of,' Tynd., Cran., Gen. 1.
7, I became] * ' I was made,' Auth,
Which was given] Sim. Wicl, Coverd.
(both), Cran., Rhem., ' which is given : '
Auth. and remaining Vv,, 'given,'
According to] So Cov., Rhem.: 'by,'
Auth., Wicl: 'thorow,' Tynd., Gen.
(both) : 'after the,' Cov. (Test,), Cran.,
Bish. Operation] So Rhem. .•
' effectual working,' Auth. ; ' ;\orchynge,'
Wicl. and all the remaining Vv. This
word is always difficult to translate :
'effectual working' is perhaps too strong;
' working ' alone is appy. too weak.
Perhaps the term in the text ns marking
a more formal nature of working is
slightly preferable; comp. notes on 2
Thess. ii. 12, where, however, the present
translation would seem less suitable.
8, TFas this] ' Is this,' Auth. and all
the other Vv. To preach] So
Wicl, Coo. (Test.), sim. Rhem. ; 'that I
should -pxeach,' Auth. and all the remain
ing Vv. The change is made to pre
serve a similar translation of the two in
finitives; see Scholef, Hints, p, 190.
9. Dispensation] * ' Fellowship,' Auth,
From the ages] ' From the beginning of
the world,' Auth. and the other Vv. ex
cept Wicl, Rhem., ' fro worldis,' and
Cov. (Test,), ' sence the worlde beganne.'
All things] * ' AU things by J. C., Auth..

176

EPHESIANS.

Chap. III. 10—18

*" to the intent that now unto the Principalities and the Powers in
the heavenly regions, might be made known through the church
the manifold wisdom of God, " according to the purpose of the
ages which he wrought in Christ Jesus our Lord ; ^ in whom we
have our boldness and our admission, in confidence, through the
faith in Him. •'^ Wherefore I entreat you not to lose heart in my
tribulations for you, seeing it is your glory.
" For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father, ^^ from whom
every race in heaven and on earth is thus named, ^'^ that he would
grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened
with might through His Spirit into the inner man, " so that Christ
may dwell in your hearts by faith, — ^* ye having been rooted and

10. The powers] ' Powers,' Auth. and
the other Vv. except Wicl, Rhem,, ' po-
testatis,' The heavenly regions]
'Heavenly places,' Auth., Gen. (both);
'hevenly thingis,' Wicl, Cov. (Test,),
Cran., Bish. ,- ' in heven,' Tynd., Cov. :
' in the celestials,' Rhem. Might
be made known] ' Might be known,' Auth.
and the other Vv. except Wicl, ' be
knowun ; ' Rhem., ' may be notified.'
Through] ' By,' Auth. and all the other
Vv. 11, Purpose of the ages] ' Eternal pur
pose,' Auth. and the other Vv. except
Wicl, ' ordenaunce of worldis,' and
Rhem., ' prefinition of worldes,'
Wrought] So Cran., Gen. (both), Bish:
' purposed,' Auth., Tynd. : ' made,' Wicl,
Rliem.: 'hath shewed,' Cov. (both).
12. Our boldness] 'Hoidness,' Auth.
Our admission] ' Access,' Auth., Rhem. ;
'intraunce,' Cov. (both), Cran., Gen.
(both), Bish. In confidence] So,
as regards the prep,, Wicl, Cov. (both),
Rhem., Bish.; 'with,' Auth., Cran., Gen.
(both). The words irpoaayary^y iy
TreiroiSrijOit are joined together by Tynd.
and appy. all Vv. except Wicl, and
Auth. (orig. ed,).
13, I entreat you, etc.] 'I desire that
ye faint not,' Auth., Gen. 2, Bish., and
similarly the remaining Vv. except Wicl,

' axe that ye faile not.' Seeing it is,
etc.] ' Which is,' Auth. and all the other
Vv. 14. The Father] 'The Father* of our
Lord Jesus Christ,' Auth.
15. From] 'Of,' Auth., Gen., Bisk,
Rliem. Every race] ' The whole
family,' Auth., Gen. (both), ' eehe fadir-
heed,' Wicl., similarly Coverd. (Test.) ;
' which is father over all that ys called
father,' Tynd , Cran., sim. Cov. : ' all the
familie,' Bish. ; ' al patei'nitie,' Rhem.
On the difficulty of properly translating
this clause, see Trench on Auth, Ver, ch.
ii. p. 26 (ed, 2). And on earth]
' And earth,' Auth. Is thus
named] ' Is named,' Auth. The word
thus is introduced only to make the
paronomasia in the original a little more
apparent. 16. Through] 'By,' Auth. and aU the
other Vv, Into] ' In,' Auth. and
all the other Vv.
17. So that] "That,' Auth., and the
other Vv. except Rliem., ' Christ to
dwel, etc'
18. Ye having been, etc.] Similarly Cow.
(Test), Rliem.: 'that ye being,' Auth.
and the remaining Vv. except Wicl.
which omits 'being.' That ye may
be fully able] ' May be able,' Auth. and
sim. all the other Vv.

Chap. IV. 1—21.

EPHESIANS.

177

grounded in love, — that ye may be fully able to comprehend with
all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height,
" and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye
may be filled up to all the fulness of God.
^ Now unto Him that is able to do beyond all things, abundantly
beyond what we ask or think, according to the power that worketh
in us, -' unto Him be glory in the church, in Christ Jesus, to all
the generations of the age of the ages. Amen.
Chapter IV.

I exhort you, therefore, I the prisoner in the Lord, that ye
walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye were called, ^with
all lowliness and meekness, with longsufiering, forbearing one
another in love ; ^ striving to keep the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace. * There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye

19. May] So Cov. (both). Gen. (both),
Rliem.: 'might,' Auth., Tynd., Cran.,
Bish. ; change made to avoid the violation
of the law of ' succession of tenses ; ' see
Latham Engl. Lang ^616. Up
to] ' With,' Auth. and the other Vv. ex
cept Wid., 'in;' Cov. (Test), 'into;'
Rhem., ' unto.'
20, To do beyond, etc.] ' To do exceed
ing abundantly above all that, etc., Auth.
and the other Vv. except Wicl, 'more
plenteously than we axen ; ' Cov. (Test,),
Rhem., 'more abundantly than we
desire.' 21. In Christ Jesus] ' By J. C.,' Auth.
Cran., Gen. (both), Bish.; 'and in J.
C, Wid., Cov. (Test,), Rhem.; 'which
I is in,' Cov. To all the generation,
etc.] ' Throughout all ages, world with
out end,' xiuth., Bish., sim. Rhem.; 'to
alle the generaciouns of the worldis,'
Wid. ; ' thorow out all gen. from tyme
to tyme,' Tynd., Cran. ; ' throughout all
gen. for ever,' Gen. (both).
Chap, IV, 1, / exlurrt you, etc.] 'I,
therefore, the prisoner, etc, beseech you

that,' Auth,, and in similar order all the
other Vv, It seems, however, desirable
to maintain the emphatic collocation
( ' ad excitandum affectum, quo cit effi-
cacior exhortatio,' Est.) of the original.
There is some variation in the translation
of TvapaKaXS, The translation in the text
is found in Tynd., Cov,, Cran,, Bish, :
'beseech,' Auth., Wicl, Cov. (Test),
Rhem. ; ' praye,' Gen. (both). In the
Lord] So Coverd. (both). Gen. (both),
Bish., Rhem. ; ' ofthe Lord,' Auth., Cran. ;
' for the Lord,' Wicl. ; ' for the Lordes
sake,' Tynd. Were called] 'Are
called,' Auth. and all the other Vv.
3, Striving] ' Endeavouring,' Auth.
The present current use of the verb
' endeavour ' seems to fall so short of the
real meaning of the irTrouBd^siv as to war
rant the change in the text or the adop
tion of 'being diligent' (Tynd., Cran.),
' using diligence,' — terms more clearly
indicative of the a-irovSii and zeal that
was evinced in the matter ; see Trench
on Auth. Ver. ch. iii, p. 43.
4, There is, etc.] It can scarcely be
doubted that the Auth. is right in retain-

23

178

EPHESIANS.

Chap. IV. 5—12.

were called in one hope of your calling ; " one Lord, one faith, one
baptism ; " one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through
all, and in all.
' But unto each one of us the grace which he has was given ac
cording to the measure of the gift of Christ. * Wherefore He saith.
When He ascended up on high. He led captivity captive. He gave
gifts unto men. ^ Now that He ascended, what doth it imply but
that He also descended into the lower 2Mrts of the earth. ^° He
THAT DESCENDED, He it is that ascended up above all the heavens,
that He might fill all things. " And Himself gave some to be
Apostles ; and some. Prophets ; and some. Evangelists ; and some
Pastors and Teachers ; '^ with a view to the perfecting of the saints.

ing (after Gen. i, 2) this assertory form.
Some of the older Vv,, Wicl, Cov. (both),
Bish., supply nothing ; others, Tynd.,
Cran., supply the participle ' being one
body, etc.,' both of which forms fail to
convey the force of the original ; see
notes. Were called] 'Are called,'
Auth. and all the other Vv.
6, Over] So Rhem .:' above a.l\,' Auth,
and all the remaining Vv. In all]
' In *you all,' Auth,
7. Each one] Sim. Wicl, : ' every one,'
Auth. and the remaining Vv, This
change seems desirable to avoid a con
fusion ivith the usual translation of Trai'Ti.
The grace which, etc.] ' Is given grace,'
Auth. and the other Vv. except Wicl,
' grace is gouun.'
8. He gave] ' *And gave,' Auth.
What doth it imply] ' What is it,' Auth.,
Cov. (hoth). Gen. ii,, Rhem.; 'what
meaneth it,' Tynd., Cian., Gen. i.
Descended] ' Descended *first,' Auth.
10. He it is] So Wicl.: 'is the same
also that,' Auth. Above] ' Far
above,' Auth. The heavens] So
Cov. (Test,), Rhem.; 'heavens,' Auth.
and the remaining Vv.
11. Himself] 'He,' Auth., Wid.,
Rhem. ; ' and the very same,' Tynd., Cran. ;
' and the same,' Cov. (both) ; ' He there
fore,' Gen. (both). To be Ajiostles]

So Cov. (both). Gen. (both); 'some,'
Auth., Wicl, Bish., Rhem. ; ' made
some,' Tynd. Cran. The insertion of
the words in italics seems necessary to
make the sense perfectly clear.
12, With a view tu] ' For,' Auth., Cov.
(Test,), Gen. ii. ; 'to the ful endynge,'
Wicl, ; ' that the sainctes might have all
things,' Tynd. ; ' whereby the sayntes
mighte be coupled together,' Cov. ; ' to
the edifyeng,' Cran. ; ' that the sainctes
might be gathered together,' Gen. i. ; 'to
the gathering togeather,' Bish, ; ' to the
consummation,' Rhem. Of minis
tration] So Bish, ; ' of the ministry,'
Auth, ; ' of mynsteri,' Wid, ; ' work and
minystracyon,' Cran, For the build
ing up] ' For the edifying,' Auth., Cov.
(Test); 'to the edifying,' Tynd., Cov.;
' even to the edifying,' Gen. i. ; ' edi
fication,' Gen. ii, ; ' unto the edifying,'
Bish., Rhem. This translation is perhaps
slightly preferable to that of Auth., and
to that adopted in ed. i. ('edification'),
as both verb and substantive are now
commonly associated with what is simply
instructive or improving, without neces
sarily suggesting the wider sense which
seems to prevail in the present passage.
The article is required by the principles
of English idiom, though confessedly tlius
not in exact harmony with the Greek.

Chap. IV. 13—16.

EPHESIANS.

179

for the work of ministration, for the building up of the body of
Christ ; '^ till we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the
true knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto
the measure of the stature of the fuhiess of Christ : " that we may
no longer be children, tossed to and fro and borne about by every
wind of doctrine, in the sleight of men, in craftiness tending to
the settled system of Error ; ^^ but holding the truth may in love
grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ :
'" from whom the whole body being fitly framed together and com
pacted by means of every joint of the spiritual supply, according

13. Arrive at] ' Come in,' Auth. ;
' rennen into,' Wicl, ; ' growe up unto,'
Tynd,, Gen, 1 ; ' come to,' Cran. ; ' al
meete together (in the etc), unto,' Gen,
2 ; ' meete together into,' Bish. ; ' meete
al into,' Rhem. The true knowl
edge] ' The knowledge,' Auth, .- the other
Vv. omit the article Full-grown]
'Perfect,' Auth, and the other Vv.
14. May, etc] 'Henceforth be no more,'
Auth, Borne about by] ' Carried
about with,' Auth, and the other Vv.
except Wicl, ' borun aboute with ; '
Tynd,, ' caryed with.' In — in] So
Wicl, Coverd. (Test.), Bish., Rhem.. 'by
— and,' Auth., Tynd,; 'by — through,'
Cran, In craftiness, etc] 'And
cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in
wait to deceive,' Auth, and the other
Vv. except Wicl, 'to the disceyuynge
of errour;' Cov, (Test,), 'to the de-
ceatfulness of errour; ' Bish,, 'in crafti
ness to the laying in wayte of eiTour ; '
Rhem., ' to the circumvention of errour.'
It is by no means easy to devise a literal
and at the same time perfectly intelligi
ble translation of the last clause of this
verse. The difficulty is mainly in the
brief and almost elliptical form of ex
pression introduced by the prep. -. of the
translations that have hitherto been pro
posed, that in the text, or 'furthering,
promoting the system, etc' (but see
notes on Phil. iv. 17 Trand.), or more

simply, ' with a view to the system/ etc.,
seems the most suitable.
15. Holding the truth] 'Speaking the
truth,' Auth.; 'folowe the truth,' Tynd.,
Coverd,, Cran,, Gen, (both), 'do truthe;'
Wicl, 'peifourmyng ye truth,' Coverd:
(Test); ' folowing the truth/ Bish.;
' doing the truth,' Rliem. May in
love] 'In love may,' Auth,
16, Being fitly framed together] 'Fitly
joined together,' Auth, It seems desira
ble to retain the same translation here
and ch. ii. 21. The translation of sev
eral of the older Vv. e. g. ' coupled and
knet togedder,' Tynd,, Cov. (Test.), Cran.,
Gen. (both), is not unsatisfactory ; ' com
pacted ' has, however, the advantage of
preserving the cvy in each verb without
repetition; otherwise, 'knit together'
would perhaps have been a more genu
inely English translation. Ac
tive working] ' The effectual working,'
Auth. ; ' worchynge,' Wicl. ; ' the opera-
cion,' Tynd., Cran., Rhem. ; ' the effectual
power,' Gen. 1. The addition of the
epithet 'active' or 'vital,' Alf,, — if in
italics (see notes on ch. iii. 7, and on
2 Thess. ii. 11), may perhaps here be
rightly admitted as serving slightly to
clear up the meaning. By
means of, etc] 'By that which every
joint supplieth,' Auth.; 'in every joint
wfaerwith one ministreth to another,'
Tynd., Gen. 1, and similarly Cov., Cran. ;

180

EPHESIANS.

Chap.IV. 17— 19.

to active working in the measure of each single part, promoteth
the increase of the body for the building up of itself in love.
^' This then I say and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer
walk as the other Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind,
" being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life
of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the
hardness of their hpart : ^ who as men past feeling have given

'bi eehe joynture of undir seruynge,'
Wid. ; ' every joynt of subministration,'
Cov. (Test,), and sim, Rhem. ; 'by every
joint for the furniture thereof Gen. 2 ;
' by every joint yeclding nourishment,'
Bish. Each single] Sim, Wicl,
'each:' ' every ,' Autli. and all the re
maining Vv. ; see notes on ver. 7,
Promoteth the increase] ' Maketh in
crease,' Auth. ; ' makith encreesyngc,'
Wicl ; ' maketh the increase,' Rhem. ;
Tynd., al. paraphrase. The more mod
ern term ' promoteth,' seems admissible
as both literal, and also tending to clear
up the sense. For the building
up of itself] ' Unto the edifying,' Auth. .
it seems desirable, for the sake of uni
formity, to preserve the same translation
as in ver. 12 ; the simplest (paraphras
tic) translation would be ' so as to build
itself up in love.'
17, This then I say] 'This I say
therefore,' Auth. and the other Vv. ex
cept Rhern., ' this therefore I say,' The
resumptive character of the address is
appy, here best preserved by the more
literal translation of oZy; comp, notes
on 1 Tim. ch, ii, 1, Ye must no
longer] 'Ye henceforth walk not,' Auth.,
Tynd., Cran., Gen. (both), Bish.; 'ye
walke not now,' Wicl, Cov. (Test.), sim,
Rhem. As the other .... also]
Sira, Cov,: ' as other,' yi-M^/i. and the other
Vv, except Wicl, Coverd, (Test.), Rliem.,
which omit to, \onrci, in translation,
18. Being darkened, etc.] 'Having the
understanding darkened,' Auth,, Cov.
Test ('an und.' etc) ; 'that han undir-

stondynge derkned with derknesses,'
Wicl; 'blynded in their und' Tynd.,
Cov. ; ' whyle they are blinded, etc'
Cran. ; ' having their cogitation dark
ened,' Gen. (both) ; ' darkened in cogita
tion,' i?isA, ; 'having their und, obscured
with darkness,' Rhem. Alienated]
' Being alienated,' Auth. On account of
the absence of byres in the second mem
ber, it seems best to omit the part, of the
verb substantive. Because of]
So Tynd., Cran., Gen. 1 : ' through,'
Auth., Cov. (both), Gen. 2; 'hi,' Wid.,
Bish., Rhem. Hardness] So
Gen. (both) : 'blindness,' Auth. and re
maining Vv, ; see Trench on Auth. Ver.
ch. vii, p, 117.
19. Who as men] ' Who being,' Auth.,
and sim., as to the translation of the
relative, all the other Vv. Wan
tonness] So Tynd., Cov., Cran., Gen.
(both), Bish.; ' lasciviousness/ Auth.;
' unchastite,' Wicl. ; ' unclennesse,' Cov.
(Test) ; ' impudicitie,' Rliem. The ar
ticle joined with it tends almost to per
sonify it, hence the capital. For
the working] Sim. PTW.,' in to the worch
ynge ; ' Cov. ( Test. ), ' in the workinge ; '
' unto the operation,' Rhem. . ' to "work,'
Auth. and the remaining Vv.
All manner of] So Tynd., Cov., Cran.,
Gen. I . ' all,' Auth. and tho remaining
Vv, ; see notes on ver, 31,
In greediness] ' With greediness,' Auth.
and the other Vv. except Wicl, ' in
coueitise ; ' Cov, (Test), 'unto gr. ; '
Rhem., ' unto avarice.' This translation
of TTXeoye^la may be retained if qualified

Chap. JV. 20—25.

EPHESIANS.

181

THE.MSELVES Over unto Wantonness, for the working of all man
ner of uncleanness in greediness. ^"But YE did not so learn
Christ ; "^ if indeed ye heard Him, and were taught in Him, as is
truth in Jesus " that ye must put oif, as concerns your former con
versation, the old man, which waxeth corrupt according to the lusts
of Deceit, ^ and rather become renewed by the Spirit of your
mind, "* and put on the new man, which after God's image hath
been created in righteousness and holiness of Truth.
^ Wherefore, having put away Falsehood, speak truth each man
with his neighbor ; because we are members one of another.

by the remarks in loc, and not under
stood as indicating a mere general
cLfierpia, The true idea of irAeove^la is
' amor habendi : ' the objects to which it
is directed will be defined by the context.
20. Did not so learn] ' Have not so
learned Christ,' Auth, and all the other
Vv, •21. If indeed] 'If so be that,' Auth.,
Bish., and sim. other Vv, except IF(c/,,
' if nethless ; ' Rhem,, ' if yet,'
Ye heard him] Sim, Wicl, , ' have heard
Him,' Auth, and all the remaining Vv,
Were taught in Him] ' Have been taught
by Him,' Auth,, Gen, (hoth) ; ' ben
tangte in Him,' Wicl, Tynd., Cov. ; ' be
instructe in Him,' Cov. (Test); 'haue
bene taught in Him,' Cran. and the re
maining Vv. As is, etc.] So
Wicl; 'as the truth is in Jesus,' Auth.,
Bish., and sim. remaining Vv,
22, That ye must] ' That ye,' Auth.
As concerns your former] ' Concerning
the former, etc' Auth. Wliich
waxeth, etc.] ' Which is corrupt,' Auth.,
and the other Vv. except Cov., ' which
marreth himselfe. The lusts of
Deceit] ' The deceitful lusts,' Auth, ; ' bi
the desiris of en-our,' Wicl, sim. Cov.
(Test.), Rhem. ; ' the deceavable lustes,'
Tynd., Cov., Cran., Gen. (both); 'the
(ustes of errour,' Bish.
23. And rather] ' And,' Auth,
Become renewed] 'Be renewed,' Auth,

This change is made as an attempt to
express the contrast between the pres.
avaveovabai and the aor. ^y^ljoair^ai.
By the Spirit] 'In the spirit,' Auth, and
all the other Vv.
24, And put on] 'And that ye put on,'
Auth. After the image of God]
So Tynd., 'after the ymage of God:'
' after God,' Auth. and the other Vv.
except Rhem., ' according to God.' The
order of the Greek rhy Kara &ehy ktktA.
is similarly retained by all the Vv.
except Wicl, Cov. (both). It may be
observed that the transl. of Rhem., 'ac
cording to,' has the advantage of pre
serving the antithesis Kara ras ^iriS-.
K. T. A.(ver. 23), and Kara &e6y, but fails
in bringing out clearly the great doc
trinal trath appy. implied in the latter
words. Hath been created] ' Is
created,' Auth., and similarly all the
other Vv. The transl. ' hatli been,' is
perhaps here slightly preferable to ' was,'
as the latter tends to throw the ktiois
further back than is actually intended ;
the ref, being to the new kt'icis in Christ.
Holiness of Truth] So Wicl, Cov. (Test,),
Bish,, similarly Rhem , ' true holiness,'
Auth, and the other Vv. except Cov.,
where it is more coiTectly, ' true righteous
ness and holynes.'
25. Having put away] ' Putting away/
Auth, Falsehood] ' Lying,' Auth.
and the other Vv, except Wicl, ' lesynge.'

182

EPHESIANS.

Chap. IV. 26—31.

^ Be angry, and sin not : let not the sun go down upon your
angered mood ; ^ nor yet give place to the devil. ^ Let the
stealer steal no more : but rather let him labor, working with his
own hands the thing that is good, that he may have to give to him
that needeth. ® Let no corrupt communication proceed out of
your mouth, but that which is good -for edification of the need,
that it may minister a blessing unto the hearers ; "" and grieve not
the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed for the day of
redemption. ^^ Let all bitterness, and wrath and anger, and

Truth each man] So Wicl, ; ' every man
truth,' Auth, and the other Vv, except
Cov, (Test.), Rhem, (omits 'the'), 'the
truth every man.' Because] ' For,'
Auth,, Gen, 1, al. ; 'for as moch/ Tynd,,
Cran, ; ' because,' Rhem.
26. Be angry] So the other Vv. ex
cept Auth,, Cov, (Test,), Bish,, 'be ye
angry ; ' Wicl, ' be ye wTootli.'
Angered mood] ' Wrath,' Auth. and all
the other Vv, The change may per
haps be considered scarcely necessaiy,
as the expression has become so familiar ;
still Trapopyio'ij.ds, 'exacerbatio,' 'exas
peration,' cannot strictly be translated
' wrath,' 27, Nor yet] *' Neither,' Auth.; see
notes on I Thess, ii. 3 (Transl)
28. The stealei-] 'Him that stole,'
Auth,, Bish., and sim. all other Vv. ex
cept Cov., ' he that hath stoUen ; ' Cov.
(Test.), 'he that dyd steale.' The
Auth. in ver, 29 supplies a precedent for
this idiomatic translation of the present
part, with the article. His own]
' His,' Auth. and all the other Vv.
The thing that] ' The thing which,'
Auth,, Cran,, Bish, ; ' that that,' Wicl, ;
' some good,' Cov, ; ' some good thing,'
Tynd, ; ' that which,' Bish., Rhem. The
slight change to ' that ' is perhaps more
critically exact; see Brown, Gram, of
Gramm. ii. 5, p. 293, and notes on ch: i.
23. 29, For edification] ' To the use of
edifying,' ^!((A., Gen (both); 'good to

edefye with all,' etc, Tynd., Cov., Cran.,
Bish. ; ' to the edificatioun of feith,'
Wicl, sim. Cov. (Test,), Rhem. On the
difficulty of properly translating these
words, see Trench on Auth. Ver. ch. x.
p. 1 78. A blessing] ' Grace,'
Auth. and the other Vv. except Cov.,
' that it be gracious to hear ; ' Tynd.,
' that it may have faveour.'
30, In whom] Sim, Wicl, Rliem., ' in
whiche:' 'whereby,' .^mJA, ,• 'bywhorf,'
Tynd., Cran., Gen. (both), Bish.;
' wherewith,' Cov. (both). Ye
were] ' Ye are,' Auth. and all the other
Vv. For] ' Unto,' Auth., Cov.,
Tynd., Cran., Gen. (both), Bish. ; ' in
the,' Wicl: 'agaynst the,' Cov. (Test).
31, All bittei-ness] So Auth. It is not
always desirable to preserve the more
literal transl, of vas ('all manner of),
esp. when it is prefixed to more than
one abstract substantive, as it tends to
load the sentence without being much
more expressive. AVhen the adj, fol
lows, as in ver. 19, the longer translation
will often be found more admissible.
Wrath] So Auth., Wid., Coverd. (Test.),
' fearsness,' Tynd., Cov., Cran., Gen. ;
' .inger,' Bish., Rhem. The translation
may be retained, whenever ^uphs and
ipyil occur together, as sufficiently exact,
provided that by ' wrath ' we understand
rather the outbreak ('excandescentia,'
Cicero, Tusc. Disput. it. 9), by 'anger'
the more settled and abiding habit It
is perhaps doubtful whether 'wrath'

CiiAP. V. 1—3.

EPHESIANS.

183

clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all mahce ;
^- but become kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one
another, as God also in Christ forgave you.

Chapter V.
Become then followers of God, as beloved children ; " and walk
in love, even as Christ also loved us, and gave Himself for us, an
oSering and a sacrifice to God, for a savour of sweet smell.
^ But fornication, and all manner of uncleanness or covetousness,

does not imply , a, greater permanence
than ^v/xSs, see Cogan on the Passions, i.
1. 2, 3, p. Ill, still as it is several times
applied to God as well as man, it seems
generally the most proper and satisfac
tory translation. Malice] So
Auth. Wicl, Cov. (Test.), Rhem.; 'ma
liciousness,' Tynd. and remaining Vv.
except Bish., 'noughtiness.' As Kama
points rather to the evil habit of the
mind, as distinguished from irovijpia, the
outcoming of the same ( Trench, Synon.
§ XI.), — 'malice,' which is defined by
Crabb (Synon. s. v.) as 'the essence of
badness lying in the heart,' would appear
a coiTect translation ; see Cogan on the
Passions, i, 3. 2, 1, p. 159.
32. But] ' And,' Auth. Be
come kind] 'Be ye,' Auth. and other
Vv. ; corresponding to ap&i^Tco cup' vp.ay,
ver. 31. As God also in Christ]
Similarly Wicl, Cov. (Test), Rhem.;
' even as God for Christ's sake,' Auth.,
Tynd., and the remaining Vv.
Forgave] So Wicl, Tynd., Gen. (both),
Biih. ; ' hath forgiven,' Auth. and the
remaining Vv. The aorist seems more
exact, as pointing to the past act of
God's mercy and forgiveness displayed
in ' Christ,' ('. e, in giving Him to die for
the sins of the world.
Ch APTEK V. 1 . Become then followers]

' Be ye therefore followers,' Auth. and
the other Vv. except Wicl, ' therfor be
ycfolowers;' Cof., 'be ye the folowers
therefore;' Cov. (Test,), 'be ye therfore
the folowers.' The more literal transl.
of ylyeaSie might perhaps be here dis
pensed with, as necessarily involved in
the action implied in fii/iriTai; as, how
ever, it seems an echo and resumption
of the preceding yiyeoSie (eh. iv, 32), it
will be most exact to retain this more
literal translation. Beloved]
' Dear,' Auth, and the other Vv. except
IFic?., 'dereworthe;' Cov, (Test,) , Rltem,,
' most deare.'
2. Even as] So all the other Vv, except
Wid,, Rhem,, Auth., 'as;' Cov. (Test,),
' lyke as ; ' see notes on 1 Thess. i, 5
(Transl), Loved us, etc] So
all Vv. except Auth,, Gen. 2, Bish.
(similarly Cov.), 'hath loved us .and
hath given,' Savour of sweet
snielf] ' Sweet smelling savour,' Auth,,
Gen, (both), Bish, ; 'in to the odour of
swetnes,' Wicl, sim. Cov, (Test,) ; ' sacr.
of a swete saver,' Tynd., Cov., Cran. ; ' in
an odour of sweteness,' Rhem,
3. All manner of unrleanness] * ' All
uncleanness,' Auth, ; see notes on ch. iv.
31. Be even] ' Be once,' Auth,,
Cran,, Gen, 2, Bish., sim. Tynd., Gen. 1 ;
'so much as be,' Rhem.; Wicl, omits
Kal in transl.

184

EPHESIANS.

Chap. V. 4—13.

let it not be even named among you, as becometh saints ; * and no
filthiness, and foolish talking or jesting, — things which are unbe
coming, — but rather giving of thanks. * For this ye know, being
aware that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man
who is an idolater, hath an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ
and God. ^ Let no man deceive you with vain words : for because
of these sins cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobe
dience. 'Do not then become partakers with them. *For ye
were once darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord : walk as
children of hght, — ' for the fruit of the hght is in all goodness
and righteousness and truth, — "proving what is well-pleasing
unto the Lord. " And have no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness, but rather even reprove them. ¦'^ For the
things which are done by them in secret it is a shame even to
speak of. '' But all these things, when they are reproved, are
made manifest by the light ; for everything that is made mani-

4. And no — and] 'Neither — nor,'
Auth. As several MSS., e. g. ADiE^
FG ; 4 mss. ; Vulg., Clarom., al.
(Laclim., Meyer, al.), read ^ — fj, it seems
desirable to mark in the translation the
reading adopted. Or] ' Nor,'
Auth. Jesting] So Auth. and
the other Vv, except Wicl, ' harlotrie ; '
Rhem., ' scurrility.' Things
which are, etc.] ' Which are not con
venient,' Auth. ; ' which are not comely,'
Tynd., Cov., Cran., Bish.; 'which are
things not comely,' Gen. (both).
5, Ye know, being aware] *'Ye know
that, etc,' Auth. An inheritance]
'Any inheritance,' ^uiA. and the other
Vv. except Wicl, 'eritage;' Cov.
(both), Rhem., ' inheritaunce.'
Of Christ and God] ' Of Christ and of
God,' Auth. and all the other Vv.
6. These sins] ' These things,' Auth.
7. Do not then become] Sim. Rhem.,
' become not therefore ; ' 'be not ye
therefore,' Auth., Cov. (both), Cran.,
Gen. 2, Bish. ; ' therfor nyle ye be
made,' Wicl; ' be not therefore,' 2]/nc/.,

Gen. 1 ; the insertion of 'ye' is not in
accordance with the original.
8. Once] So Tynd., Gen. (both) :
' sometimes,' Auth., Bish. ; ' sometime,'
Wicl, Cov, (both), Cran,, Rhem,
9. Tlie light] ' The * Spirit,' Auth,
10. Wdt-pleasing] So Wicl, Cov.
(Test.), Rhem.; 'acceptable,' Auth,,
Bish, ; ' pleasinge,' Tynd, and the re
maining Vv.
11 But rather even] Similarly, but
rather awkwardly. Gen, 2, 'but even
reprove them rather ; ' ' but rather,'
Auth, and remaining Vv. except Wicl,
' but more ; ' Bish., ' but even rebuke.'
12, For the things, etc] 'For it is a
shame even to speak of those things
which are done of them in secret,' Auth.
and in similar order, the other Vv. ex
cept Wicl, Rhem,
13. All these] ' All,' Auth,
When they arc] So Tynd,, Cov,, Cran,,
Gen. (both), Bish,; 'that are,' Auth,,
Wid., Cov, (Test.) Rliem,
For everything, etc.] 'For whatsoever
doth make manifest is light,' Auth. ; ' for

GEN. VI. 1-8. 177
3. And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not strive with man for
ever, inasmuch as he is also flesh ; and his days shall be a
hundred and twenty years. 4. The giants were in the earth
in those days ; and also after that, when the sons of God went
in unto the daughters of man and they bare to them, these
were the heroes, who were of old men of renown. T 10.
5. And the Lord saw that the evil of man was great in the
earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only e\il every day. 6. And it repented the Lord that he had
made man on the earth, and he was grieved at his heart. 7.
And the Lord said, I will wipe away man whom I have created
from off the face of the soil ; from man to cattle to creeper and to
the fowl of the sky ; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8. And Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. 2 ITinr 11.

Having traced the line of descent from Adam through Sheth, the-
seed of God, to Noah, the author proceeds to describe the general
spread and growth of moral evil in the race of man, and the determi
nation of the Lord to wipe it away from the face of the earth.
1—4. There are two stages of evil set forth in this passage, — the
one contained in the present, four verses, and the other in the following.
The former refers to the apostasy of the descendants of Sheth, and the
cause and consequences of it. When man began to multiply, the sep
arate famihes of Cain and Sheth would come into contact; The
daughters of the stirring Cainites, distinguished by the graces of na
ture, the embellishments of art, and the charms of music and song, even
though destitute of the loftier qualities of likemindedness with God, .
would attract attention and prompt to unholy alliances. The phrase
so'ns of God, means an order of inteUigent beings who retain the purity
of moral ckaracter originally communicated, or subsequently restored,
by their Creator. They are called the sons of God, because they have
his spirit or disposition. The sons of God mentioned in Job xxxviii.
7, are an order of rational beings existing before the creation of man,
and joining in the symphony of the universe, when the earth and all
things were called into being. Then all were holy, for all are styled
the sons of God. Such, however, are not meant in the present passage.
For they were not- created as a race, have no distinction of sex, and
23

178 THE GROWTH OF SET.
therefore no sexual desire ; they " neither marry nor are given in mar
riage " (Mat. xxii. 30). It is contrary to the law of nature for dif
ferent species even on earth to cohabit in a carnal way ; much more
for those in the body, and those who have not a body of flesh. More
over, we are here in the region of humanity, and not in the sphere of
superhuman spirits ; and the historian has not given the shghtest inti
mation of the existence of spiritual beings different from man.
The sons of God, therefore, are those who are on the Lord's side,
who approach him with duly significant offerings, who call upon him
by his proper name, and who walk with God in their daily conversa
tion. The figurative use of the word son to denote a variety of rela
tions incidental, and moral as well as natural, was not unfamiliar to the
early speaker. Thus Noah is called the son of five hundred years
(Gen. V. 32). Abraham calls Eliezer "'nia"'i3 son of my house (Gen. xv.
3). The dying Rachel names her son Ben-oni, son of my sorrow,
while his father called him Benjamin, «o« of thy right hand (Gen. xxxv.
18). An obvious parallel to the moral appUcation is presented in the
phrases the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. The
word generations (nilVin v. 1) exhibits a similar freedom and elasti
city of meaning, being applied to the whole doings of a rational being,
and even to the physical changes of the material world (Gen. ii. 4).
The occasion for the present designation is furnished in the remark of
Eve on the birth of Sheth. God hath given me anotlier seed instead
¦ of Habel. Her son Sheth she therefore regarded as the son of God.
Accordingly, about the birth of his son Enosh, was begun the custom of
calling upon the name of the Lord, no doubt in the family-circle of
Adam, with whom Sheth continued to dweU. And Enok, the seventh
from Adam in the same line, exhibited the first striking examjjle of a
true believer walking with God in all the intercourse of life. These
'descendants of Sheth, among whom were also Lamekwho spoke ofthe
Lord, and Noah who walked with God, are therefore by a natural
transition called the sons of God, the godlike in a moral sense, being
born of the Spirit, and walking not after the flesh, but after the Spirit
>(Ps. Ixxxii. 6 ; Hos. ii. 1).
Some take the daughters of man to be the daughters of the Cainites
only. But it is sufficient to understand by this phrase, the daughters
of man in general, without any distinction of a moral or spiritual kind,
and therefore including both Cainite and Shethite females. And they
.took them wives of all whom they chose. The evil here described is
cthat of promiscuous intermarriage, without regard to spiritual character.

GEN. VI. 1-8. 179
The godly took them wives of all ; that is, of the ungodly as well
as the godly famUies, without any discrimination. " Whom they
chose,'' not for the godliness of their lives, but for the goodliness of
their looks. Ungodly mothers will not train up children in the way
they should go ; and husbands who have taken the wrong step of mar
rying ungodly wives cannot prove to be very exemplary or authorita
tive fathers. Up to this time they may have been consistent as the
sons of God in their outward conduct. But a laxity of choice proves a
corresponding laxity of principle. The first inlet of sin prepares the
way for the flood-gates of iniquity. It is easy to see that now the de
generacy of the whole race will go on at a rapid pace.
8. !My Spirit, in contradistinction to the spirit of disobedience which,
by the fall, obtained entrance into the soul of man. Shall not strive
with man forever. To strive ("|11) is to keep down, rule, judge, or
strive with a man by moral force. From this passage we learn that the
Lord by his Spirit strives with man up to a certain point. In this
little negative sentence streams out the bright light of God's free and
tender mercy to the apostate race of man. He sends his Spirit to ir
radiate the darkened mind, to expostulate with the conscience, to prompt
and strengthen holy resolve, and to bring back the heart, the confidence,
the affection to God. He effects the blessed result of repentance to
wards God in some, who are thus proved to be born of God. But it
is a solemn thought that with others he will not strive perpetually.
There is a certain point beyond which he will not go, for sufficient
reasons known fuUy to himself, partly to us. Two of these we are to
notice for our instruction : First, he will not touch the free agency of
his rational creatures. He can put no force on the volitions of men.
An involuntary or compulsory faith, hope, love, obedience, is a contra
diction in terms ; and anything that could bear the name can have no
moral validity whatsoever. Secondly, after giving ample warning, in
struction, and invitation, he will, as a just judgment on the unbelieving
and the impenitent, withdraw Iiis Spirit and let them alone. The an
tediluvian world was fast approaching to this point of final perversity
and abandonment.
Inasmuch as he is also flesh, in contradistinction to spirit, the brea'ih
of life whicli the Almighty breathed into his nostrils. These two parts
of man's complex being were originally in true and happy adjustment,
the corporeal being the fit organ and complement of the spiritual as it
is in him. But now by the fall the flesh has gained the upper hand,
and the spirit is in the bondage of corruption. The fact that he is

180 THE GROWTH OF SIN.
flesh also as well as spirit, has therefore come out into sad promi
nence. The doctrine of the carnal mind in the Epistle to the R-omans
(vui.) is merely the outgrowth of the thought expressed in this pas-

His days shall he an hundred and twenty years. " His days" are the
days of man, not the individual, but the race, with whom the Lord still
strives. Hence they refer to the duration, not of the life of an indi
vidual, but of the existence of the race. From this we learn that the
narrative here reverts to a point of time before the birth of Shem, Ham,
and Japheth, recorded in the close of the preceding passage, as there
were only a hundred years from their birth to the deluge. This is
according to the now well-known method of Scripture, when it has two
lines of events to carry on. The former narrative refers to the godly
portion of mankind ; this to the ungodly remnant.
Not forever will the Lord strive with man ; but his longsuffering
wiU StiU continue for one hundred and twenty years. Meanwhile he
does not leave himself or his clemency without a witness. He sent
Noah with the message of warning, who preached by his voice, by his
walking with God, and also by his long labor and perseverance iu the
buUding of the ark. The doomed race, however, filled up the measure
of their iniquity, and when the set number of years was accompUshed,
the overwhelming flood came.
4. Two classes of men, with strong hand and strong will, are here
described. The giants, the well-known men of great stature, physical
force, and violent wiU, who were enabled by these quaUties to claim
and secure the supremacy over their fellow-men. !H!ad been in the
land in those days. In the days when those intermarriages were be
ginning to take place, the warriors were asserting the'claim of might.
Violence and rapine were becoming rampant in the land. And after
that. The progeny of the mixed marriages were the second and sub
sequent class of leading men. The sons of God are here contradistin
guished from the nephilim, or giants, who appear therefore to have
belonged to the Cainites. The offspring of these unhallowed unions
were the heroes, the gallants, the mighty men, the men of renown.
They were probably more refined in manners and exalted in thought
than their predecessors of pure Cainite descent. " Men of name,"
whose names are often in men's mouths, because they either deserved
or required to be named frequently on account of their influential or
representative character. Being distinguished from the common herd
by prominent qualities or memorable exploits, thev were also frequently

GEN. VI. 1-8. 181
marked out by a special name or surname, derived from such trait of
character or deed of notoriety. " Of old " (niisa). This has been
sometimes explained of ihe world, in the sense of o!aov ; but the mean
ing is too late for the present passage. The phrase uniformly means
of old, covering a more or less extensive length of time. This note of
time impUes a writer probably after the deluge, who could speak of
antedUuvian affairs, as happening of old.
It is remarkable that we have no hint of any kind of government in
the antediluvian world. It is open to us to suppose that the pa'tri-
archal polity would make its appearance, as it is an order based upon
natural relations. But it is possible that God himself, being stiU pres
ent and manifest, was recognized as the governor. To him offerings
were brought, and he deals with Cain on his first and second transgres
sion. In that case the lawless violence of the strong and wilful is to
be regarded as rebeUion, not only against the patriarchal rule, but the
divine supremacy. A notice of civil law and government would not
of course affect the authority of the book. But the absence of such
notice is in favor of its divine origin. It is obvious that higher things
than these have the attention ofthe sacred writer.
5—8. In these verses we are to conceive the hundred and twenty
years of respite to be at an end. The iniquity of the race is now full,
and the determination of the Lord is therefore announced, with a state
ment of the grounds on which it rests, and a glance at the individual
to be excepted from the general destruction.
5. And God saw. The course of the primeval world was a great
experiment going on before the eye of God, and of all intelligent
observers, and manifesting the thorough depravity and full-grown degen
eracy of the faUen race, when left to the bent of its perverted inclina
tions. Every imagination Os;;). Here the object of thought is
distinguished from the thought itself. This is a distinction not gen
eraUy or constantly recognized by the mental philosopher, though of
essential importance in tlie theory of the mind. The thought itself is
a real phase or attitude of mind ; the form, idea, species, object of
thought may have matter, real content, or it may not. Only evil every
day. This is an unlimited condemnation of the state and process of
the carnal man. The reason is obvious. Homage to God, to truth,
to right, to love, does not reign in his heart ; and the imaginations or
purposes that are not regulated by this, however excellent and praise
worthy in other respects, are destitute of the first, the essential prin
ciple of moral good. This is now made palpable to the eye of

182 THE GROWTH OF SIN.
observation by the almost universal predominance of the ungodly spirit..
This accordingly forms the ground of the divine procedure.
6. And it repented the Lord that he had made man. The Scripture
is frank and unreserved ; some men would say, imprudent or regardless
of misconstruction, in its statements of truth. Repentance ascribed to
the Lord seems to imply wavering or change of purpose in the Eter
nal Self-existent. But the sublime dictate of the inspired word is,
" God is not a man, that he should lie ; neither the son of man, that he
should repent : hath he said and shall he not do it ? or hath he
spoken and shall he not make it good?" (Num. xxiii. 19.) In sooth,
every act here recorded — the observation, the resolve, the exception —
seems equaUy with the repentance to jar with the unchangeableness of
God. To go to the root of the matter, every act of the divine wiU, of
creative power, or of interference with the order of nature, seems at
variance with inflexibility of purpose. Bnt, in the first place, man
has a finite mind and a limited sphere of observation, and therefore is
not able to conceive or express thoughts or acts exactly as they are in
God, but only as they are in himself. Secondly, God is a spirit, and
therefore has the attributes of personality, freedom, and holiness ; and
the passage before us is designed to set forth these in all the reaUty of
their action, and thereby to distinguisli the freedom of the eternal mhid
from the fatalism of inert matter. Hence, thirdly, these statements
represent real processes of the Divine Spirit, analogous at least to those
of the human. And, lastly, to verify this representation, it is not ne
cessary that we should be able to comprehend or construe to ourselves
in all its practical detail that subUme harmony which subsists between
the liberty and the immutabiUty of God. That change of state which
is essential to will, Uberty, and activity, may be, for aught we know,
and from what we know must be, in profound unison with the eternity
of the divine purpose.
7. I will wipe aiuayman from the face ofthe soil. The resolve is
made to sweep away the existing race of man. Heretofore, individuals
liad departed this Ufe. Adam himself had long since paid the debt of
nature. These solemn testimonies to the universal doom had not made
any salutary or lasting imjsression on the survivors. But now a gen
eral and violent destruction is to overtake the whole race, — a standing
monument of the divine wrath against sin, to all future generations of
the only family saved.
!From man to cattle, creeper and fowl of the sky. These classes of
animated nature being mingled up with man are involved in the same

GEN. VI. 1-8. 183
ruin with liim. This is of a piece with the curse laid upon the serpent,
which was the unconscious organ ofthe tempter. It is an instance of
a law which runs through the whole course of nature, as we observe
that it is the method of the divine government to allow for the time
the suffering inflicted on an inferior animal, or even on a fellow-crea
ture, by selfish passion. It has an appearance to some minds of harsh
ness and unfairness. But we must remember that these animated
creatures are not moral, and, therefore, the violent termination of their
organic life is not a punishment ; that the pain incidental to this, being
apart from guilt, is in itself a beneficial provision for the conservation
of life ; and that it was not intended that the life of animals should be
perpetual. The return of the land to a state of desolation by the
destruction of animal and vegetable Ufe, however, has its lesson for
man, for whom ultimately all of this beauty and fertUity were 'designed,
and from whom it is now withdrawn, along with all the glories it fore
shadows, as part of the punishment of his guilt. The tenant has be
come unworthy of the tabernacle, and accordingly he is dispossessed,
and it is taken down and removed.
8. And Noah found grace in ihe eyes of the Lord. Noah and his
famUy are the only exceptions to this sweeping destruction. Hitherto
we have met with distant and indirect intimations of the divine favor,
and significant deeds of regard and acceptance. Now for the first
time grace itself finds a tongue to express its name. Grace has its
fountain in the divine breast. The stream has been flowing forth to
Adam, Eve, Habel, Henok, and others, we hope, unknown to fame.
By the time it reaches Noah it has found a name, by which it is rec
ognized among men to this day. It is opposed to works as a source of
blessino-. Whither grace comes there merit cannot be. Hence we
learn even from the case of Noah that original sin asserts its presence
in the whole race of Adam. This completes the circle of saving doc
trine in regard to God that comes down from the antediluvian times.
He intimates that the seed of the woman, an individual preeminently
so called, wiU bruise the serpent's head. He clothes our first parents
with coats of skin — an earnest and an emblem of the better, the moral
clothing of the soul. He regards Habel and his offering. He accepts
him that in faith does weU. He translates Enok, who waUied with
him. His Spirit, we learn, has been striving with antedUuvian man.
Here are the Spirit of God and the seed of the woman. Here are
clothing, regarding, accepting, translating. Here, then, is salvation
provided and applied, begun, continued, and completed. And last,

184 THE GROWTH OF SIN.
though not least, grace comes out to view, the eternal fountain of the
whole. On the part of man, also, we have repenting, believing, con
fessing, offering, calling on the name of the Lord, and walking with
God. The two parts of the document which is now closed are as distinct
from each other as it is from the following one. They combine, in fact,
to form the needful preliminary to the fourth document. The geneal
ogy brings us to the leading agent in the succeeding narrative ; the
description of the corruption of the human race furnishes the occasion
for his agency. The third is therefore the prologue, as the fifth is the
epUogue, to the fourth document, in which the main action lies.

SECTION VI. — THE DELUGE.

XXm. THE AKK. — Gen. vi. 9-22.
9. *ii^ age, time from birth to death, applied either to an individual
or the whole contemporary race, running paraUel with some leading
individual. Hence the race or generation living during that time.
14. nan chest, ark. It is used only of this vessel of Noah's con
struction, and of the Uttle vessel in which Moses was put (Es. ii. 3, 5)_
The root, according to Fiirst, means to be hollow, nsx a cognate
word, signifies a reed; kl^to's, LXX. 1SS o. A., perhaps fr, cypress,
resinous wood, 'jjs nest, room ; r. prepare, rear up.
16. 'nriS shining, light ; not the same as the "(iiin (Gen. viii. 6), or the
aperture through which Noah let out the raven.
18. ni"i3 covenant ; r. cut, eat, choose, decide.
9. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just
man ; perfect had he been in his ages ; with the God walked
Noah. 10. And Noah begat three sons, — Shem, Ham, and
Japeth. 11. And the land was corrupt before God, and the
land was filled with violence. 12. And God saw the land,
and, behold, it was corrupt ; for all flesh had corrupted its
way upon the land. § 15.
13. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come
before me ; for the land is filled with violence through them ;
and, behold, I will destroy them with the land. 14. Make
thee an ark of gopher wood : rooms shalt thou make in the
ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. 15. And
this is the way that thou shalt make it : three hundred cubits
the length of the ark, fifty cubits the breadth of it, and thirty
cubits the height of it. 16. Lighting shalt thou make for the
24

186 THE ARK.
ark, and to a cubit shalt thou finish it above ; and the door
of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof : with lower, sec
ond, and third stories shalt thou make it. 17. And I, behold,
I do bring the flood of water upon the land, to destroy all
flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under the skies: all
that is in the land shall expire. 18. And I will establisli my
covenant with thee ; and thou shalt go into the ark, thou and
thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. 19. And
of all the living of all flesh two of each shalt thou bring into
the ark to keep alive with thee : male and female shall they
be. 20. Of the fowl after its kind, and of the cattle after its
kind, of every creeper of the soil after its kind ; two of each
shall come unto thee to keep alive. 21. And thou take unto
thee of all food that may be eaten, and gather it for thee : and
it shall be to thee and to them for food. 22. And Noah did
so : according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

The close of the preceding document introduces the opening topic of
this one. The same rule applies to all that have gone before. The
generations of the skies and the land (Gen. ii. 4) are introduced by the
finishing of the skies and the land (ii. 1) ; the generations of man in
the line of Sheth (v. 1), by the birth of Sheth (iv. 25) ; and now the
generations of Noah, by the notice that Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. The narrative here also, as usual, reverts to a point of
time before the stage of affairs described in the close of the preceding
passage. Yet there is nothing here that seems to indicate a new au
thor. The previous paragraph is historical, and closely connected with
the end of the fourth chapter ; and it suitably prepa^-es for the pro
ceedings of Noah, under the divine direction, on the eve of the deluge.
We have now a recapitulation of the agent and the occasion, and then
the divine commission and its execution.
9-12. Here are the man and the occasion. 9, 10. The generations
of Noah. In the third document we had the generations of man ; now
we are limited to Noah, because he is himself at peace with God, and
is now the head and representative of those who are in the same blessed
relation. The narrative, therefore, for the first time, formally confines
itself to the portion of the human family in communion with God.

GEN. VI. 9-22. 187
Noah is here characterized by two new and important epithets, — just
&\i(}i perfect. It is to be remembered that he had already found grace,
in the eyes of the Lord. Adam was created good ; but by disobedience
he became guilty, and all his race, Noah among the rest, became
involved in that guilt. To be just is to be right in point of law, and
thereby entitled to all the blessings of the acquitted and justified. When
applied to the guUty, this epithet implies pardon of sin among other
benefits of grace. It also presupposes that spiritual change by which
the soul returns from estrangement to reconciliation with God. Hence
Noah is not only just, but perfect. This attribute of chai-acter imports
not only the turning from darkness to light, from error to truth, from
wrong to right, but the stability of moral determination which arises
from the struggle, the trial, the victory of good over evil, therein in
volved. The just is the right in law ; the perfect is the tested in holi
ness. In his ages ; among the men of his age. This phrase indicates
the contrast between Noah and the men of his day. It is probable,
moreover, that he was of pure descent, and in that respect also distin
guished from his contemporaries who were the offspring of promiscu
ous intermarriage between the godly and the ungodly. Noah walked
with God, like Henok. This is the native consequence of his victory
over sin, and his acceptance with God. His sons are mentioned, as
they are essentially connected with the following events.
11, 12. And the land was corrupt. In contrast with Noah, the rest
of the race were corrupt, — entirely depraved by sin. It was filed with
violence, — with the outward exhibition of inward carnality. And God
saw this. It was patent to the eye of Heaven. Tliis is the ground of
the following commission.
13-21. The directions concerning the ark embrace the purpose to
destroy the race of man (13), the plan and specification of the ark
(14-16), the announcement of the deluge (17), the arrangements for
the preservation of Noah and his family, and certain kinds of animals
(18-21). 13. The end of all flesh. The end may mean either the point to
which it tends, or the extermination of the race. The latter is the
simpler. All flesh is to be understood of the whole race, while yet it
does not preclude the exception of Noah and his famUy. This teaches
us to beware of applying an inflexible literality to such terms as all,
when used in the sense of ordinary conversation. Is come before me,
is in the contemplation of my mind as an event soon to be realized.
For the land is filled with violence. The reason. I will destroy them.

188 THE ARK.
The resolve. There is retribution here, for the words corrupt and
destroy are the same in the original.
1-4-16. The ark. Reckoning the cubit at 1.8 feet, we find the
length to be about 540, the breadth 90, and the height 54 feet. The
construction of such a vessel implies great skill in carpentry. The
Ughting apparatus is not described so particularly that we can form
any conception of it. It was probably in the roof. The roof may
have been fiat. And to a cubit shalt thou finish it above. The cubit
is possibly the height of the parapet round the Ughting and ventilating
aperture. The opening occupied, it may be, a considerable portion of
the roof, and was covered during the rain with an awning (noaa Gen.
viii. 13). If, however, it was in the sides of the ark, the cubit was
merely its height. It was then finished with a strong railing, which
went, round the whole ark, and over which the covering, above men
tioned, hung down on every side. The door was in the side, and the
stories were three. In each were of course many " nests " or cham
bers, for animals and stores. It may be curious to a mechanical mind
to frame the details of this structure from the general hints here given ;
but it could not serve any practical end. Only the animals necessary
to man, or peculiar to the region covered by the deluge, required to be
included in the ark. It seems likely that wild animals in general were
not included. It is obvious, therefore, that we cannot calculate the
number of animals preserved in the ark, or compare the space they
would require with its recorded dimensions. We may rest assured
that there was accommodation for all that needed to be there.
17. The method of destruction is now specified. A water flood shall
cover the land, in which all flesh shall perish. /, behold, I. This
catastrophe is due to the interposition of the Creator. It does not
come according to the ordinary laws of physics, but according to the
higher law of ethics.
18-21. The covenant with Noah. Here is the first appearance of
a covenant between God and man on the face of Scripture. A cove
nant is a solemn compact, tacit or express, between two parties, in
which each is bound to perform his part. Hence a covenant implies
the moral faculty ; and wherever the moral faculty exists, there must
needs be a covenant. Consequently, between God and man there was
of necessity a covenant from the very beginning, though the name do
not appear. At first it was a covenant of works, in regard to man ;
but now tliat works have failed, it can onlj' be a covenant of grace to
the penitent sinner. My covenant. The word my points to its orig-

GEN. VII. 1-9. 189
Inal establishment with Adam. My primeval covenant, which I am
resolved not to abandon. Will I establish. Though Adam has failed,
yet wUl I find means of maintaining my covenant of life with the seed
of the woman. With thee. Though all flesh be to perish through
breach of my covenant, yet wiU I uphold it with thee. Go into the ark.
This is the means of safety. Some may say in their hearts, this is a
clumsy way to save Noah. But if he is to be saved, there must be
some way. And it is not a sign of wisdom to prescribe the way to the
All-wise. Rather let us reflect that the erection of this ark was a daily
warning to a wicked race, a deepening lesson of reliance on God to
Noah and his household, and a most salutary occupation for the pro
genitors of the future race of mankind. And thy sons, etc. Noah's
household share in the covenant.
19, 20. And of all the living. For the sake of Noah, the animal
species also shaU be preserved, two of each, male and female. They
are to come in pairs for propagation. 20. The fowl, the cattle, the
creeping thing or smaller animals, are to come. From this it appears
that the wild animals are not included among the inmates of the ark.
(See Gen. vii. 2, 3, 8.) The word all is not to be pressed beyond the
specification of the writer. As the deluge was universal only in
respect to the human race, it was not necessary to include any animals
but those that were near man, and within the range of the overwhelm
ing waters. 21. Fodder and other provisions for a year have to be
laid in.
22. The obedience of Noah and the accomplishment of his task are
here recorded. The buUding of so enormous a fabric must have occu
pied many years.

XXrV. THE ARK ENTERED. — Gen. vii. 1-9.
2. "lina clean, fit for food or sacrifice.
4. onp'^ standing thing; that which grows up, whether animal or
plant. Comp. inaj? stalk, or standing corn.
VIL 1. And the Lord said unto Noah, go thou and all thy
house into the ark : for thee have I seen righteous before me
in this age. 2. Of all clean cattle thou shalt take to thee seven

190 THE ARK ENTERED.
each, he and his mate ; and of cattle that are not clean two, he
and his mate. 3. Also of the fowl of the skies seven each, male
and female : to keep alive seed upon the face of all the land.
4. For in yet seven days will I cause it to rain upon the land
forty days and forty nights : and I will wipe out every stand
ing thing that I have made from the face ofthe soil.
5. And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded
him. 6. Aud Noah was the son of six hundred years, when
the flood of waters came upon the land. 7. And Noah went
in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him,
into the ark, from before the waters of the flood. 8. Of the
clean cattle and of the cattle that are not clean, and of the
fowl and all that creepeth upon the soil, 9. Two each went
they unto Noah into the ark, male and female ; as God com
manded Noah.

1-4. The command to enter the ark. The general direction in the
preceding chapter was given many years ago, before the ark was com
menced. Now, when it is completed, a more specific command is
issued. For thee have I seen righteous before me. Noah has accepted
the mercy of God, is therefore set right in point of law, and walks
aright in point of practice. The Lord recognizes this indication of an
adopted and renewed son. In this age he and his were the solitary
family so characterized.
2, 3. Of all clean, cattle. Here the distinction of clean and unclean
animals meets us without any previous notice. How it became known
to Noah we are not informed. From the former direction it appears
that the animals were to enter by pairs. Now it is further arranged
that there are to be seven pairs of the clean cattle and fowl, and only
one pair ofthe unclean.
4. Seven days after the issue of the command the rain is to com
mence, and continue for forty days and nights without ceasing. Every
standing tiling means Q^erj plant and animal on the laud.
5-9. The execution of the command is recorded aud fully particu
larized with the additional circumstance of the age of Noah. 6. The
son of six hundred years, in his six hundredth year. 9. Went they unto
Noah. They seem to have come under the influence of a tpecial in-

GEN. VII. 10-24. 191
stinct, so that Noah did not require to gather them. Seven days were
employed in receiving them, and storing provisions for them.

XXV. THE FLOOD. — Gen. vii. 10-24.
10. And it came to pass in seven days that the waters of
the flood were upon the land. 11. In the six hundredth year
of Noah's life, in the second month, in the seventeenth day of
the month, in this day were broken up all the fountains of the
great deep, and the windows of the skies were opened. 12.
And the shower was upon the land forty days and forty nights.
13. In the self-same day were gone Noah and Shem and Ham
and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three
wives of his sons with them, into the ark. 14. They and every
living thing after its kind, and all cattle after their kind, and
every creeper that creepeth on the land after its kind, and
every fowl after its kind, every bird of every wing. 15. And
they went in unto Noah into the ark, two each of all flesh
wherein was the breath of life. 16. And they that went in,
male and female of all flesh went they in, as God had com
manded him : and the Lord shut him in.
17. And the flood was forty days upon the land ; and the
waters increased and bare up the ark, and it rose from upon
the laud. 18. And the waters prevailed and increased greatly
upon the land ; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
19. And the waters had prevailed exceedingly on the land ;
and all the high hills that were under the whole skies were
covered. 20. Fifteen cubits upward had the waters prevailed,
and the hills were covered. 21. Then expired all flesh that
creepeth upon the land, in the fowl and in the cattle, and in
the living thing, and in every crawler that crawleth upon the
land, and every man. 22. All in whose nostrils was the breath
of the spirit of life, of all that was in the dry land died. 23.

192

THE FLOOD.

Then was wiped away every standing thing which was upon
the face of the soil, from man to cattle, to creeper and to fowl
of the skies, and they were wiped away from the land ; and
there remained only Noah and they that were with him in the
ark. 24. And the waters prevailed upon the land fifty and a
hundred days.
10-16. The date is here given, at which the flood commenced and
the entrance into the ark was completed. 10. In seven days. On the
seventh day from the command. W. In the second month. The
primeval year commenced about the autumnal equinox ; we may say, on
the nearest new moon. The rains began about a month or six weeks
after the equinox, and, consequently, not far from the seventeenth of
the second month. All ihe fountains of the great deep, and ihe wi-ri/-
dows of the skies. It appears that the deluge was produced by a grad
ual commotion of nature on a grand scale. The gathering clouds were
dissolved into incessant showers. But this was not sufficient of itself
to effect the overwhelming desolation that followed. The beautiful
figure of the windows of the skies being opened is preceded by the
equally striking one of the fountains of the great deep being broken
up. Tliis was the chief source of the flood. A change in the level
of the land was accomplished. That which had emerged from the
waters on the third day of the last creation was now again submerged.
The waters of the great deep now broke their bounds, flowed in on
the sunken surface, and drowned the world of man, with all its inhabi
tants. 12. The accompanying heavy rain of forty days and nights
was, in reality, only a subsidiary instrument in the deluging of the
land. We may imagine the sinliing of the land to have been so gradual
as to occupy the whole of these forty days of rain. There is an awful
magnificence in this constant uplifting of the billows over the yielding
land. 13-16. There is a simple grandeur in the threefold description of
the entrance of Noah and his retinue into the ark, first in the com
mand, next in the actual process during the seven days, and, lastly, in
the completed act on the seventh day. Every living thing after its
kind is here unaccompanied with the epithet iiS'i evil, or the qualify
ing term of the land or of the field, and therefore may, we conceive,
be taken in the extent of Gen. vi. 20, vii. 2, 3, 6. At all events the
whole of the wild animals did not need to be included in the ark, as

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