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THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET

JEREMIAH.

INTRODUCTION.

JEREMIAH was a Priest, who resided at Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin, and was called to the prophetic office when very young; in the 13th year of king Josiah, and about 70 years after the death of Isaiah. He exercised his ministry about 42 years, with great faithfulness and zeal, and in very unfavourable circumstances. At the commencement of his labours, the sins of Judah were come to their full measure, after a reformation had been in vain attempted by good Josiah, who was called to heaven at an early age, as a punishment for their transgressions. His two sons, who successively filled the throne after him, were as remarkable for vice, as their father was for virtue. Their history we have already seen, 2 Kings, xxiii. to xxv. compared with, 2 Chron. xxxv. and xxxvi.

Jeremiah was a man of sincere piety, unblemished integrity and warm patriotism; so much so, that rather than seek a separate asylum, which he might have undoubtedly enjoyed under the king of Babylon, he chose to flee with his brethren into Egypt, though in that step they acted contrary to his advice. There is a tradition that the Jews of Tahapanes stoned him for the fidelity of his remonstrances against their idolatry and other vices. If so, a few years afterwards they were properly rewarded by the armies of the king of Babylon, according to his own prediction, Chap. xliv. 27, 28.

The style of Jeremiah was tender and pathetic to a high degree, especially in his Lamentations; but he sometimes emulates the sublimity of Isaiah. The chapters merely narrative are in prose, but the prophetic parts, which form the bulk of the book, are in the usual poetical style. Mr. Horne divides the book into four parts; the first comprising the introduction, and all the prophecies supposed to be delivered under the reign of king Josiah.-2. The prophecies under the reign of Jehoiakim.-3. Those in the reign of Zedekiah: and 4. Au account of the affairs of Judah, from the capture of Jerusalem to their flight into Egypt.

The chapters in our present copies are evidently not arranged according to the time in which they were delivered, and perhaps cannot now be so arranged with certainty : we shall, however, give the order adopted by Dr. Blayney, though we cannot, from the nature of our work, adopt it. The first 20 chapters as in the established version: then the next 25 in the following order: Chap. 22, 23, 25, 26, 35, 36, 45, 24, 29, 30, 31, 27, 28, 21, 34, 37, 32, 33, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, and the following to the end, as in our version. This order is exactly adopted by Dr. Boothroyd. Mr. Prebendary Townsend, however, comparing and examining the systems of other commentators, has given a table of chronological arraugement, differing in several particulars, which we should be glad to copy; but, for want of room, we can only refer to it. (See his O. T. arranged, vol. ii. pp. 387, 8.)

The Lamentations of Jeremiah, appended to his prophecies, consist of five beautiful and pathetic Elegies, forming as many Chapters, lamenting the misfortune of his country from its conquest by the king of Babylon. It is indeed mentioned, 2 Chron. xxxv. 25, that Jeremiah composed Lamentations for king Josiah, which were performed in the public service; but that these are not the same is evident, because they every where suppose the subversion of the kingdom, and the destruction of the temple. Of these poems, the eloquent and witty Dr. South thus speaks: "Did we ever find sorrow flowing forth in such a natural, prevailing pathos ?.... One would think that every letter was wrote with a tear; that every word was the noise of a breaking heart; that the author was a man compacted of sorrow, and disciplined to grief from his infancy; one who never breathed but in sighs, nor spoke but in a groan.' (Serm. vol. iv. p. 31.)

As Bp. Lowth was our principal guide through Isaiah, so will Dr. Blayney be through Jeremiah, availing ourselves of the same collateral assistance, and in particular that of Mr. Gataker, who wrote the elaborate notes on this book as well as the preceding, in the "Annotations" published by certain members of " the Assembly of divines." The editor wishes it, however, to be understood, that he has allowed himself to be led by no interpreter, farther than he himself appeared to be guided by the Scriptures.

The call of Jeremiah]

CHAP. I.

CHAP. I.

THE words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin : 2 To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GoD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.

7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to foot out, and to pull down, and to destroy; and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

il Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what

CHAP. I.

[to the prophetic office.

seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.

12 Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

13 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.

14 Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

15 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD: and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.

16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.

17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.

18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.

19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee. (A)

EXPOSITION.

(A) Prefatory Chapter, with the call of Jeremiah to the prophetic office. This so

lemn designation of the Prophet is stated to have been in the 13th year of the young King Josiah, at which time he speaks of

NOTES.

CHAP. I. Ver. 5. I sanctified that is, separated thee to my service, &c.———I ordained — Heb. "Gave."

Ver. 10. To root out-Lowth, "To-pluck up." Ver. 11. An almond tree. — See Note on Eccles.

Ver. 13. Towards the north Heb. "From the face of the north. See chap. iv. 6.

Ver. 14. Shali break forth-Heb. "Be opened." Ver 16. I will pronounce.-Blayney, "I will discourse my judgments." Sec ch. xxxix. 5; lii. 9.

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The Lord's kindness]

CHAP. II.

JEREMIAH.

MOREOVER the word of the

LORD came to me, saying,

2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

3 Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.

4 Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:

5 Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

6 Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of

[to Israel of old.

drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?

7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine hehitage an abomination.

8. The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets! prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead.

10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.

11 Hath a nation changed their .gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.

EXPOSITION-Chap. I. Continued.

himself as a child, (ver. 6) and probably was little more, as we find him neither named nor consulted in that King's reforms. (See 2 Kings xxii. 14.) Like Moses of old time, he seems to have had a deep sense of his own inability, which is generally the case with those whom God calls to services of difficulty and importance. But the Lord, in a visible appearance, touched his lips, and put words into his mouth. The high commission given him is thus expressed: "See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms;" by which we are not to understand the conferring any authority; but in the prophetic style, God's servants are said to do what they merely predict. His pulling down or pulling up, was merely the delineating of what God was about to do, which was

farther explained to him in two preparatory visions. The " rod," or branch" of almond tree," which is said to be the first tree that blossoms, was evidently intended to signify the speedy accomplishment of the judgments he was commissioned to pre dict; and "the seething (or boiling) pot" their great severity; and both being turned from the north, farther intimated the quar ter from which they were to come, namely, Chaldea, which was north of Jerusalem. The concluding verses at once point out the arduous nature of his work, and assure him of strength and support to perform it. He shall be an iron pillar, or a brazen wall, whom the Lord supports and fortifies. This first chapter is considered as prose, but the following opens in poetic numbers.

NOTES.

CHAP. II. Ver. 2. I remember thee-Marg. "For thy sake." See Exposition; and Mr. Gataker approves the sense there given.-A land not sownihat is, uncultivated.

Ver. 10. Pass over the isles-Blayney, "Pass over to the countries," &c. See Note on Isa. xxiii. 1. Ver. 14. Is (or was) Israel a servant.... he a home born slave? The question seems to imply that

Israel did not go down into Egypt in a state of setvitude, but as Joseph's kindred; Egypt, therefor, had no right to enslave them. He was also God's son; "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." Hos. xi. l. 1 Israel were free, the question then is, “Why is he spoiled?" "Why do all the nations round oppress him ?"

The Lord's kindness,]

CHAP. II. [and Israel's ingratitude. nerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

14 Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? Why is he spoiled?

15 The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.

16 Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head.

17 Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by way?

the

18 And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?

19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see, that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GoD of hosts.

20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the dege

22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much sope, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God.

23 How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;

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24 A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.

25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst there is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets.

27 Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.

28 But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise; if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.

NOTES.

Ver. 15. The young lions (the kings of Egypt and Babylon) yelled-Heb. Gave out their voice." Ver. 16. Noph and Tahapanes-the cities of Memphis and Daphne, in Egypt. See 2 Kings xxiii. 33,

Have broken," &c. Blayney," Shall bruise," &c. So Boothroyd.

Ver. 18. Sihor-that is, the Nile. See Note on Isa. xxiii, 3.--And the river-that is, the Euphrates; both were remarkable for sediment; the latter required to settle before it could be drank. See Orient. Lit. No. 954.

Ver. 20. I have broken thy yoke- that is, the yoke of Egyptian bondage. Then thou saidst, I will not transgress that is, to provoke fresh punishments. So Chal. and 15 MSS. This is not the Keri, but the Ketib, "I will not obey ;" i. e. not submit to slavery any more.

Ver. 21. A noble vine-Heb. Vine of Sorek." See Ps. lxxx. 8-10; Isa. v. 2.

Ver. 22. Wash thee with nitre-rather, nitrum. See Note on Prov. xxv. 20.

29 Wherefore will ye plead with

Ver. 23. Traversing her ways → that is, running wild in the desert. Blayney, and other moderas, connect this verse with the following, instead of the preceding, which seems more natural. But Boothroyd supplies the particle of comparison, "(As) a swift dromedary; (as) a wild ass," meaning, that Israel was thus mad after her idolatries. The valley in ver. 23 probably refers to that of Hinnom See chap. vii. 31.-xix. 2-4.

Ver. 24. In her pleasure-Heb. "In the desire of her soul."

Ver. 25. Withhold thy foot from being unshodthat is, as we conceive, Go not into the idol temples which probably was not permitted in shoes, &c. and the next clanse, and thy throat from thirst, may refer to the drinking the potations of idolatry, whic were perhaps of mixed and strong liquors.

Ver. 27. Turned their back-Heb. The back of the neck;" i. e. turned away their heads, as aver

sion.

THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET

JEREMIAH.

INTRODUCTION.

JEREMIAH was a Priest, who resided at Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin, and was called to the prophetic office when very young; in the 13th year of king Josiah, and about 70 years after the death of Isaiah. He exercised his ministry about 42 years, with great faithfulness and zeal, and in very unfavourable circumstances. At the commencement of his labours, the sins of Judah were come to their full measure, after a reformation had been in vain attempted by good Josiah, who was called to heaven at an early age, as a punishment for their transgressions. His two sons, who successively filled the throne after him, were as remarkable for vice, as their father was for virtue. Their history we have already seen, 2 Kings, xxiii. to xxv. compared with, 2 Chron. xxxv. and xxxvi.

Jeremiah was a man of sincere piety, unblemished integrity and warm patriotism; so much so, that rather than seek a separate asylum, which he might have undoubtedly enjoyed under the king of Babylon, he chose to flee with his brethren into Egypt, though in that step they acted contrary to his advice. There is a tradition that the Jews of Tahapanes stoned him for the fidelity of his remonstrances against their idolatry and other vices. If so, a few years afterwards they were properly rewarded by the armies of the king of Babylon, according to his own prediction, Chap. xliv. 27, 28.

The style of Jeremiah was tender and pathetic to a high degree, especially in his Lamentations; but he sometimes emulates the sublimity of Isaiah. The chapters merely a narrative are in prose, but the prophetic parts, which form the bulk of the book, are in the usual poetical style. Mr. Horne divides the book into four parts; the first comprising the introduction, and all the prophecies supposed to be delivered under the reign of king Josiah.-2. The prophecies under the reign of Jehoiakim.-3. Those in the reign of Zedekiah: and 4. An account of the affairs of Judah, from the capture of Jerusalem to their flight into Egypt.

The chapters in our present copies are evidently not arranged according to the time in which they were delivered, and perhaps cannot now be so arranged with certainty: we shall, however, give the order adopted by Dr. Blayney, though we cannot, from the nature of our work, adopt it. The first 20 chapters as in the established version: then the next 25 in the following order: Chap. 22, 23, 25, 26, 35, 36, 45, 24, 29, 30, 31, 27, 28, 21, 34, 37, 32, 33, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, and the following to the end, as in our version. This order is exactly adopted by Dr. Boothroyd. Mr. Prebendary Townsend, however, comparing and examining the systems of other commentators, has given a table of chronological arraugement, differing in several particulars, which we should be glad to copy; but, for want of room, we can only refer to it. (See his O. T. arranged, vol. ii. pp. 387, 8.)

The Lamentations of Jeremiah, appended to his prophecies, consist of five beautiful and pathetic Elegies, forming as many Chapters, lamenting the misfortune of his country from its conquest by the king of Babylon. It is indeed mentioned, 2 Chron. xxxv. 25, that Jeremiah composed Lamentations for king Josiah, which were performed in the public service; but that these are not the same is evident, because they every where suppose the subversion of the kingdom, and the destruction of the temple. Of these poems, the eloquent and witty Dr. South thus speaks: "Did we ever find sorrow Howing forth in such a natural, prevailing pathos?.... One would think that every letter was wrote with a tear; that every word was the noise of a breaking heart; that the author was a man compacted of sorrow, and disciplined to grief from his infancy; one who never breathed but in sighs, nor spoke but in a groan." (Serm. vol. iv. p. 31.)

As Bp. Lowth was our principal guide through Isaiah, so will Dr. Blayney be through Jeremiah, availing ourselves of the same collateral assistance, and in particular that of Mr. Gataker, who wrote the elaborate notes on this book as well as the preceding, in the "Annotations" published by certain members of “the Assembly of divines." The editor wishes it, however, to be understood, that he has allowed himself to be led by no interpreter, farther than he himself appeared to be guided by the Scriptures.

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