*H Strengthen yourselves, ye sons of Benjamin, in the midst of Jerusalem, and sound the trumpet in Thecua, and set up the standard over Bethacarem: for evil is seen out of the north, and a great destruction.
Ver. 1. Strengthen. Heb. also, "Flee, Benjamites, from the midst," &c. Jerusalem belonged partly to this tribe, which prided itself on its valour. — Thecua was in the lot of Juda, 15 miles south of Jerusalem. — North. The Chaldees approach. C. i. 13. C.
*H The shepherds shall come to her with their flocks: they have pitched their tents against her round about: every one shall feed them that are under his hand.
Ver. 3. Shepherds. So captains are styled, because they feed and govern soldiers. W.
*H Prepare ye war against her: arise, and let us go up at midday: woe unto us, for the day is declined, for the shadows of the evening are grown longer.
Ver. 4. Prepare. Lit. "sanctify." Observe the usual formalities of demanding reparation, offering victims, &c. The Chaldees thus encourage one another, and will allow themselves no rest day or night. v. 5.
*H As a cistern maketh its water cold, so hath she made her wickedness cold: violence and spoil shall be heard in her, infirmity and stripes are continually before me.
Ver. 7. Cold. Heb. "come forth." All the citizens imitate her vices.
*H Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a land uninhabited.
Ver. 8. Instructed, by afflictions and prosperity, by public and internal admonitions. Wilful ignorance is criminal, and drives God away. C. li. 9. Ps. lxxx. 12.
*H Thus saith the Lord of hosts: They shall gather the remains of Israel, as in a vine, even to one cluster: turn back thy hand, as a grapegatherer into the basket.
Ver. 9. Basket. Chaldees, destroy all. Nabuchodonosor took Joakim twice, and afterwards Jechonias and Sedecias. C. xxix. 2.
*H To whom shall I speak? and to whom shall I testify, that he may hear? behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot hear: behold the word of the Lord is become unto them a reproach: and they will not receive it.
Ver. 10. Uncircumcised. Impure and deaf. C. — Non vocat impossibilitas supplicio quæ de contemptu et infidelitate descendit. S. Jer.
*H Therefore am I full of the fury of the Lord, I am weary with holding in: pour it out upon the child abroad, and upon the council of the young men together: for man and woman shall be taken, the ancient and he that is full of days.
Ver. 11. In. Jeremias is indignant. The Lord then orders him to pour, or declare what will ensue. C.
*H For from the least of them even to the greatest, all are given to covetousness: and from the prophet even to the priest, all are guilty of deceit.
Ver. 13. Prophet. Sept. "false prophet." C. iv. 31. H.
* Footnote * Isaias 56 : 11
And most impudent dogs, they never had enough: the shepherds themselves knew no understanding: all have turned aside into their own way, every one after his own gain, from the first even to the last.*H And they healed the breach of the daughter of my people disgracefully, saying: Peace, peace: and there was no peace.
Ver. 14. Disgracefully. They shall be ashamed, when the contrary to what they declared shall come to pass. C. viii. 11.
*H Thus saith the Lord: Stand ye on the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, which is the good way, and walk ye in it: and you shall find refreshment for your souls. And they said: We will not walk.
Ver. 16. Paths, of patriarchs, and of Moses. Avoid novelty in religion. C. — This advice is very applicable to the present generation. H.
* Footnote * Matthew 11 : 29
Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart: And you shall find rest to your souls.*H And I appointed watchmen over you, saying: Hearken ye to the sound of the trumpet. And they said: We will not hearken.
Ver. 17. Watchmen. Prophets. Ezec. iii. 17. and xxxiii. 2.
*H Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what great things I will do to them.
Ver. 18. Congregation. Sept. "shepherds feeding their flocks have heard." The Chaldees are apprised of my resolution against Juda. C. — After the Jews had been called repeatedly in vain, the Gentiles obey. Mat. x. 5. W.
*H To what purpose do you bring me frankincense from Saba, and the sweet smelling cane from a far country? your holocausts are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me.
Ver. 20. To me. For want of proper dispositions; otherwise the offerings of the best things were enjoined, and commendable. The Jews are taught not to depend on external observances, while they neglect the heart. C.
* Footnote * Isaias 1 : 11
To what purpose do you offer me the multitude of your victims, saith the Lord? I am full, I desire not holocausts of rams, and fat of fatlings, and blood of calves, and lambs, and buck goats.*H Thus saith the Lord: Behold a people cometh from the land of the north, and a great nation shall rise up from the ends of the earth.
Ver. 22. North. As Babylon lay with respect to Jerusalem, (W.) or rather to the east. H.
*H Gird thee with sackcloth, O daughter of my people, and sprinkle thee with ashes: make thee mourning as for an only son, a bitter lamentation, because the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.
Ver. 26. Only son. Let thy grief be extraordinary. Amos viii. 10. Zac. xii. 10.
*H I have set thee for a strong trier among my people: and thou shalt know, and prove their way.
Ver. 27. Trier of my people, as of gold in the furnace. Job xxii. 25.
*H The bellows have failed, the lead is consumed in the fire, the founder hath melted in vain: for their wicked deeds are not consumed.
Ver. 29. Bellows, or crucible. — Lead, which was intermixed to purify the dross (S. Jer.) of gold and silver. But brass and iron could not be thus purified. All would be lost labour. Afflictions do not correct the obstinate. C.