*H And the Lord said to me: If Moses and Samuel shall stand before me, my soul is not towards this people: cast them out from my sight, and let them go forth.
Ver. 1. If. The Geneva Bible reads corruptly, "Though Moses...stood," contrary to Heb. and Gr. W. — And Samuel. These two had shewn a particular love for the people. Ex. xxxii. and 2 K. xii. C. — Ezechiel (xiv. 4.) specifies Noe, Daniel, and Job, who were eminent for sanctity. Daniel was still alive. Yet God will not grant their request; and he forbids his prophet to pray for those who were resolved not to repent. C. xiv. 11. H. — Their punishment was fixed, and God will not remit it at the request either of the living or of the dead. Hence it is evident, that the dead could and did sometimes make intercession, otherwise they would not here be mentioned. To evade this argument, Prot. in the Geneva Bible, suppose God's "meaning to be, that if there were any man living, moved with so great zeal towards the people as were these two, yet he would not grant their request, for so much as he had determined the contrary." Yet surely Jeremias, Daniel, &c. had a similar zeal; and therefore the text speaks of Moses and Samuel in a state of happiness, where their charity is greater than in this life, as S. Jer. S. Chrys. (hom. 1. in 1 Thess.) and S. Greg. (Mor. ix. 12.) explain it. W. — Jeremias had been praying earnestly for the people in the temple. But God answers his request with a severity rarely witnessed in Scripture, ordering him to drive the people out, or to announce that they should be thus treated. C.
*H And if they shall say unto thee: Whither shall we go forth? thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: Such as are for death, to death: and such as are for the sword, to the sword: and such as are for famine, to famine: and such as are for captivity, to captivity.
Ver. 2. Death. This Heb. phrase intimates that some should die by sickness, &c. W.
* Footnote * Zacharias 11 : 9
And I said: I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die: and that which is cut off, let it be cut off: and let the rest devour every one the flesh of his neighbour.*H And I will visit them with four kinds, saith the Lord: The sword to kill, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy.
Ver. 3. Kinds of persecutors, the sword, &c. C.
*H And I will give them up to the rage of all the kingdoms of the earth: because of Manasses the son of Ezechias the king of Juda, for all that he did in Jerusalem.
Ver. 4. Rage. Heb. "agitation." C. — Sept. "necessities." Prot. "to be removed into all," &c. H. This the event verified. Isai. xi. 11. — Manasses. Though he obtained pardon, the people would not imitate his repentance. A dreadful warning for princes! C. — "The people generally perish by the fault of their governors." S. Jer.
* Footnote * 4_Kings 21 : 7
He set also an idol of the grove, which he had made, in the temple of the Lord: concerning which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son: In this temple, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name for ever.* Footnote * 4_Kings 21 : 12
Therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring on evils upon Jerusalem and Juda: that whosoever shall hear of them, both his ears shall tingle.*H For who shall have pity on thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go to pray for thy peace?
Ver. 5. Peace. All will abhor thee. C. — "The creatures cannot be so clement as the Creator." S. Jer.
*H Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward: and I will stretch out my hand against thee, and I will destroy thee: I am weary of entreating thee.
Ver. 6. Intreating thee. Heb. "of being intreated;" (S. Jer.) or, "of repenting," and suspending the effects of my wrath. C. — Sept. "I will no longer spare them." H.
*H And I will scatter them with a fan in the gates of the land: I have killed and destroyed my people, and yet they are not returned from their ways.
Ver. 7. Will, or "have scattered" the ten tribes, and many of Juda, before the last siege. C.
*H Their widows are multiplied unto me above the sand of the sea: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young man a spoiler at noonday: I have cast a terror on a sudden upon the cities.
Ver. 8. Man, or "a spoiler of the young man," (H.) so that the widow shall also be deprived of her children. Heb. "the young spoiler," Nabuchodonosor. He shall not come like a night thief, to attack the metropolis.
*H She that hath borne seven is become weak, her soul hath fainted away: her sun is gone down, while it was yet day: she is confounded, and ashamed: and the residue of them I will give up to the sword in the sight of their enemies, saith the Lord.
Ver. 9. Seven: many. It is not common for a mother to lose so numerous a family; yet such shall be the misfortune of Jewish parents. The synagogues shall decrease. — Day. Her prosperity shall end on a sudden. C.
* Footnote * 1_Kings 2 : 5
They that were full before, have hired out themselves for bread: and the hungry are filled, so that the barren hath borne many: and she that had many children is weakened.* Footnote ** Amos 8 : 9
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that the sun shall go down at midday, and I will make the earth dark in the day of light:*H Woe is me, my mother: why hast thou borne me a man of strife, a man of contention to all the earth? I have not lent on usury, neither hath any man lent to me on usury: yet all curse me.
Ver. 10. Strife. Jeremias was under continual persecution, (M.) yet ceased not to reprimand the wicked. H. — Obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit. Cic. — Usury. Such people are exposed to contention. M.
*H The Lord saith to me: Assuredly it shall be well with thy remnant, assuredly I shall help thee in the time of affliction, and in the time of tribulation against the enemy.
Ver. 11. Remnant; posterity, (C.) or rather possessions, as the prophet never married. C. xvi. 2. H. — God assures him that he shall be protected. M. — The Chaldees treated him with respect. C. xxxix. 2. and xl. 1. Sedecias and the people had often recourse to him. Chal. "They will come to intreat thee, when the enemy shall straiten them." C.
*H Shall iron be allied with the iron from the north, and the brass?
Ver. 12. Iron. Shall the iron (that is, the strength of Juda) stand against the stronger iron of the north, (that is, of Babylon) or enter into an alliance upon equal footing with it? No, certainly; but it must be broken by it. Ch. — Iron is not easily united with brass, though Pliny (xxxiv. 4.) mentions a statue of this nature. Neither iron nor brass can stand against steel, which is meant by the iron from the north. The Jews shall not hurt Jeremias, v. 20. C. i. 17. C. — Prot. "shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?" The riches of Juda shall become a prey, v. 13. H. — Stronger kingdoms easily oppress their weak allies. W.
*H And I will bring thy enemies out of a land, which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in my rage, it shall burn upon you.
Ver. 14. Bring. Sept. "enslave thee to thy," &c. Chal. "thou shalt serve." H. — They have read (C.) hahabadti. Heb. has r instead of d, "I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a," &c. Prot. H.
*H O Lord, thou knowest, remember me, and visit me, and defend me from them that persecute me, do not defend me in thy patience: know that for thy sake I have suffered reproach.
Ver. 15. Patience. That is, let not thy patience and long suffering, which thou usest towards sinners, keep thee from making haste to my assistance. Ch. — He is actuated by a zeal for God's glory. C. — He is afraid of his own weakness, and begs to be delivered shortly. Ps. xii. 2. W.
*H Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy word was to me a joy and gladness of my heart: for thy name is called upon me, O Lord God of hosts.
Ver. 16. Eat them. I received them most cordially, (Ezec. iii. 1. H.) as one who is hungry. — Upon me. I was recognized as the prophet of the Lord.
*H I sat not in the assembly of jesters, nor did I make a boast of the presence of thy hand: I sat alone, because thou hast filled me with threats.
Ver. 17. Jesters, who deride religion, (Ps. i. 1.) or sport away their time. C. — Hand, through vanity. Lit. "and I boast of." H. — I rejoiced in suffering, as this prophet. Many (C.) supply nor from the former part of the sentence. M. — Threats. I could not refrain from admonishing the people of their ways, (H.) which I would not countenance by my presence. C. — All indeed kept at a distance from me.
* Footnote * Psalms 1 : 1
Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence:* Footnote * Psalms 25 : 4
I have not sat with the council of vanity: neither will I go in with the doers of unjust things.*H Why is my sorrow become perpetual, and my wound desperate so as to refuse to be healed? it is become to me as the falsehood of deceitful waters that cannot be trusted.
Ver. 18. Trusted. It is not cured as soon as might be expected. H. — It continually breaks out again, (M.) like a bog not properly drained. H. — Heb. "Thou art become," &c. Chal. "break not thy promise, as," &c. Do not reject me when I stand most in need of redress. C. — My hopes seem (H.) vain. W.
*H Therefore thus saith the Lord: If thou wilt be converted, I will convert thee, and thou shalt stand before my face; and thou wilt separate the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: they shall be turned to thee, and thou shalt not be turned to them.
Ver. 19. Converted, and cease to fear the people; (C.) and confide in my precious words, (H.) despising the vile threats of the people. M. — Mouth; interpreter. Ex. iv. 16. Chal. "If thou wilt recall the wicked into the way of justice, though shalt fulfil my will." See S. Jer. in Ps. cv. 32. — To thee. Thus Sedecias and the people acted, C. xxi. 1. and xlii. 2. C. — The prophet must not give way to sinners, but they must be reclaimed. W.
*H And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the mighty.
Ver. 21. Mighty; Chaldees. Providence watched over Jeremias, amid all his enemies. C.