*H Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord, and proclaim there this word, and say: Hear ye the word of the Lord, all ye men of Juda, that enter in at these gates, to adore the Lord.
Ver. 2. Gate, before all the people. This discourse ends C. xiii. C.
*H Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Make your ways and your doings good: and I will dwell with you in this place.
Ver. 3. Dwell. Heb. "make you dwell here." H.
*H Trust not in lying words, saying: The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, it is the temple of the Lord.
Ver. 4. Lord. The triple repetition shews the vain confidence of the people, who blindly imagined that the temple would screen them, (C.) and that external sacrifices would suffice. But they were rejected with the temple. W.
*H I will dwell with you in this place: in the land, which I gave to your fathers from the beginning and for evermore.
Ver. 7. Dwell. Heb. and Sept. as v. 3. H.
*H To steal, to murder, to commit adultery, to swear falsely, to offer to Baalim, and to go after strange gods, which you know not.
Ver. 9. Not, which have done you no good, and deserve not to be styled gods. C.
*H And you have come, and stood before me in this house, in which my name is called upon, and have said: We are delivered, because we have done all these abominations.
Ver. 10. Because. Heb. also, "although," (Sa. Grot.) "to perform," (Chal. Mont.) or "by doing." God must surely approve of our conduct, since we are unmolested. S. Tho. Lyr. — But the Vulg. seems preferable, and the people attribute their success to idols. C. xliv. 17. and 2 Par. xxviii. 23.
*H Is this house then, in which my name hath been called upon, in your eyes become a den of robbers? I, I am he: I have seen it, saith the Lord.
Ver. 11. Robbers. Our Saviour alludes to this. Mat. xxi. 13. — Seen. Think not to hide yourselves, as in a den. My temple shall not be an asylum for wretches. C.
* Footnote * Matthew 21 : 13
And he saith to them: It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves.* Footnote * Mark 11 : 17
And he taught, saying to them: Is it not written: My house shall be called the house of prayer to all nations, but you have made it a den of thieves.* Footnote * Luke 19 : 46
Saying to them: It is written: My house is the house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves.*H Go ye to my place in Silo, where my name dwelt from the beginning: and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel:
Ver. 12. Beginning, under Josue. H. — The sins of a few priests caused this place to be abandoned, (1 K. ii. 22. and iii. 4. Ps. lxxvii. 60.) and shall the crimes of a whole people escape? C. — It is true, that place and Jerusalem were once sanctified: but the people being criminal, God retires. W.
*H And now, because you have done all these works, saith the Lord: and I have spoken to you rising up early, and speaking, and you have not heard: and I have called you, and you have not answered:
Ver. 13. Early. Sparing no opportunity of reclaiming you. C.
* Footnote * Proverbs 1 : 24
Because I called, and you refused: I stretched out my hand, and there was none that regarded.* Footnote * Isaias 65 : 12
I will number you in the sword, and you shall all fall by slaughter: because I called and you did not answer: I spoke, and you did not hear: and you did evil in my eyes, and you have chosen the things that displease me.* Footnote * 1_Kings 4 : 2
And put their army in array against Israel. And when they had joined battle, Israel turned their backs to the Philistines: and there were slain in that fight, here and there in the fields, about four thousand men.* Footnote * 1_Kings 4 : 10
So the Philistines fought, and Israel was overthrown, and every man fled to his own dwelling: and there was an exceeding great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.*H And I will cast you away from before my face, as I have cast away all your brethren, the whole seed of Ephraim.
Ver. 15. Ephraim. The ten tribes (W.) had been led into captivity in the days of Ezechias, the great-grandfather of Josias. C.
*H Therefore do not thou pray for this people, nor take to thee praise and supplication for them: and do not withstand me: for I will not hear thee.
Ver. 16. Praise, offered to appease my wrath. H. — This admirably shews the force of the saints' intercession, which God does not reject, but rather encourages by such declarations. Abraham and Moses did not leave off praying for the guilty, (Gen. xviii. 23. Ex. xxxii. 10.) and the Lord complains that there was none to withhold him. Is. lxiv. 7. Ezec. xxii. 30. C.
*H The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to offer libations to strange gods, and to provoke me to anger.
Ver. 18. Heaven. That is, the moon, which they worshipped under that name. Ch. — Some understand the sun also and stars. C. xliv. 17. Is. lxv. 11. All the family contributes to promote this idolatry.
*H Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat ye the flesh.
Ver. 21. Flesh. I reject your holocausts. Keep them for yourselves. C.
*H For I spoke not to your fathers, and I commanded them not, in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt offerings and sacrifices.
Ver. 22. I commanded them not: viz. such sacrifices as the Jews at this time offered without obedience; which was the thing principally commanded: so that in comparison with it, the offering of the holocausts and sacrifices was of small account. Ch. — The observance of the decalogue would suffice. Victims were to teach internal piety. Lev. i. W. — God "brought them out of Egypt, not for the sake of their sacrifices, but that they might...hear his word." S. Iræn. iv. 17. — This was the principal design. See Mat. ix. 13. Os. vi. 6. and 1 Cor. i. 17. Maldon. M. C. — The rules for sacrifices were given after the adoration of the calf, as necessary preservatives against idolatry. S. Tho. i. 2. q. 102. a. 3. — Yet the paschal lamb, &c. had been already commanded. C. — Many such absolute expressions imply a condition or comparison. Gloss. Prov. viii. 10. — I brought. Several MSS. read thus more accurately than the Heb. "He brought," (Ken.) which Prot. abandon, (H.) though the present reading may stand. Chappel. Crat. — Every variation should be noticed, as this and the former verse "seem greatly corrupted; perhaps the Syr. version will be the best guide to their true meaning." Kennicott. — Yet the passage is sufficiently intelligible in the Vulg. and Sept.
*H And thou shalt speak to them all these words, but they will not hearken to thee: and thou shalt call them, but they will not answer thee.
Ver. 27. Thee. Sept. omit this verse, which Grabe replaces. The people will be more inexcusable. H.
*H Cut off thy hair, and cast it away: and take up a lamentation on high: for the Lord hath rejected, and forsaken the generation of his wrath,
Ver. 29. High. People lamented in such places. C. ix. 13. Judg. xi. 35. C. — Wrath, which he treats with the utmost severity. H.
*H Because the children of Juda have done evil in my eyes, saith the Lord. They have set their abominations in the house in which my name is called upon, to pollute it;
Ver. 30. Abominations. Heb. We have lit. "stumbling-blocks," offendicula. H. — Manasses placed idols in the very temple, as the last kings of Juda did. 4 K. xxiii. 4. Ezec. viii. 3.
*H And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Ennom, to burn their sons, and their daughters in the fire: which I commanded not, nor thought on in my heart.
Ver. 31. Valley, to the south of the city. Here Moloc was adored, and Josias therefore contaminated the place. 4 K. xxiii. 10. C. — It was very delightful. S. Jer.
*H Therefore behold the days shall come, saith the Lord, and it shall no more be called Topheth, nor the valley of the son of Ennom: but the valley of slaughter: and they shall bury in Topheth, because there is no place.
Ver. 32. Place, elsewhere. H. — This was verified when Nabuchodonosor and Titus besieged the city. C. — The latter was quite shocked. Jos. Bel. vi. 14. See C. xix. and xxxi. 40.
*H And I will cause to cease out of the cities of Juda, and out of the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.
Ver. 34. Bride. None shall think of marrying, (C. xvi. 9. and xxv. 10. C.) all being filled with lamentation. M.