Exposition of the Whole Bible

they could not complain, being conviéted in their confciences of their fins; and brought them into a {tate of deftruétion and death, which makes filent: and given us water of gall to drink; affiictions bitter and deadly. The Targum is, ‘* and hath made us <¢ drink the cup of an evil curfe, as the heads of “© ferpents;” a poifonous and deadly potion 5 becaufe we have finned againft the Lord x which they were obliged to owns tho’ it does not appear that they had true repentance for their fins, or amended their ways; fometimes confeffion of fin is made without either of thefe.

y.15. We looked for peace, 8&c.] Outward profperity, affluence of temporal bleffings, peace with enemies, and fafety from them, which the falfe prophets had given them reafon to expect; or which laft they concluded and hoped for, from their being in the defenced cities: but no good came; they were difappointed in their expectation; the good that was promifed them, and they looked for, never came, but all the reverfe: and for a time of health; or, of healing '; the political wounds of the commonwealth of J/rael: and behold trouble; or ferror™; at the approach of the enemy, defcribed in the following verfes. The Zargum is, ‘< a time of pardon of offences, and lo a punifh- ** ment of fins.” Healing, in fcripture, fignifies pardon of fin; fee Pf. xli. 4. and ciii. 3.

¥..16. The fnorting of his horfes was beard from Dan, &c.] That is, was heard at Ferufalem. It feems to be an hyperbolical expreffion, fhewing the certainty of the coming of the Afyrian monarch and his army, to invade Fudea, and befiege feru- Salem; the news of which was brought from Daz, which lay in the further part of the land; fee ch. iv. 15. and pointing at the way in which they fhould come northwards, thro’ Phenicia and the tribe of Dan, with a numerous.cavalry of horfes and horfemen: for, by Sis horfes, are meant Nebuchadnezzar’s; unlefs, with Calvin, it can be thought that they are called the Lord’s, hecaufe | ordered and fent by him, whofe war it was againft | the people. The Yarvgum paraphrafes the words thus, ‘* becaufe they worfhipped the calf that is ** in Dan, a king with his army fhall come up ‘** againft them, and carry them captive;” and fo Farchi interprets it. The whole land trembled at the found of the neighing of his ftrong ones; his horfes, flrong and mighty; fee Fudg. v. 22. where we read of the pranfings of the mighty ones; and here the Targum, ‘* at the voice of the treading of his ‘* ftrong ones, all the inhabitants of the earth “* fhall be moved;” and by the Jand trembling, undoubtedly are meant the inhabitants of the land, filled with dread and confternation at the noife and near approach of the Chaldean army. For they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; or, the fulnefs of it; which, becaufe of the certainty of it, is reprefented as then done: the city, and thofe that dwell therein, meaning not only the city of Ferufalem, and the inhabitants of it, but other cities alfo, the fingular being put for the plural; and fo the Targum, ‘* the cities, and “¢- they that dwell in them.”

¥. 17. For behold, I will fend ferpents, cockatrices among you, Sc.) The Chaldeans, comparable to thefe noxious and hurtful creatures, becaufe of the mifchief they fhould do unto them. The Targum is, “ for‘lo I will raife up againft you, people

“¢ that kill as the deftroying ferpents.” Thefe were raifed up by the Lord, and fent by him, juft as he fent fiery ferpents among the J/rae/ites in the wildernefs, when they finned againft him; there literally, here metaphorically. Which will not be charmed; Farchi {ays, at the end of feventy years a ferpent becomes a cockatrice, and ftops its ear, that it will not hearken to the voice of the charmer, according to Pf: Iviii. 4, 5., the ing is, that thefe Chaldeans would not be diverted their purpofes in deftroying of the Yeqws, by any arts or methods whatever; as not by force of arms, fo not by good words and intreaties, or any way that could be devifed. And they fhall bite you, faith the Lord that is, kill them, as the Targwm interprets it; for the bite of a ferpent is deadly. > ¥. 18. When I would comfort myfelf againft terror, &c.] Either naturally, by eating and drink+ ing, the neceffary and lawful means of refrefhment; of fpiritually, by reading the word of God, and looking over the promifes in it: my Beart ts faint in me; at the confideration of the calamities which were coming upon his pre ie which were made known to him by a {pirit of prophecy, of which he had no room to doubt. So the Zargum takes them to be the words-of the prophet, paraphrafing them, ‘* for them, faith the prophet, “« my heart grieves.” } ¥. 19. Behold, the voice of the ery of the daughter of my people, &c.| This was what made his heart faint, fuch was his fympathy with his countrymen, his people in diftrefs, whom he affectionately calls the daughter of his people, whofe cry was loud, and whofe voice he heard lamenting their cafe: becaufe of them that dwell in a far country; becaufe of the Chaldeans, who came from a far country; fee ch. v.15. who were come into their land, and devoured it; thro’ fear of them, and becaufe of the devaftation they made; hence the voice of their cry: or this is to be underftood of the Fews in a far country, carried captive into Babylon, and the voice of their cry there, becaufe of their captivity and oppreffion. So Abarbinel and the Targum, ** lo, the voice of the cry of the congrega- ‘“* tion of my people from a far country;” and fo read the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic verfions. 1s not the Lord in Zion? is not ber. king in her? thefe are the words of the people, complaining of the Lord, calling in queftion, whether he was in Zion, and whether he was kine. there; and if he was, how came it to pafs that he did not protect it; that he fuffered the city to be taken, and the inhabitants to be carried captive? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with their firange vanities? that is, with their idols, and their idolatrous worfhip; thisisthe — Lord’s anfwer to them, giving a reafon why he fuffered the enemy to come in among them, and prevail over them, namely, their idolatry. - | be rendered, with the vanities of a ftranger”, Of ftrange people, or of a ftrange god. ol yale y. 20. The harveft is paft, &c.] Which was the month of Jjar, as Farchi obferves, and to part of April and May: the fummer is ended; which was in the month Tammuz, and anfwers to part of une and Fuly: and we are mot faved; delivered from the fiege of the Chaldeans; and harveft and fummer being over, there were no hopes — of the Egyptians coming to their relief; fecing ter was approaching; and it may be obferved, that | it was in the month of 44, whiclr an{wers to part of Fuly and Avgufi, that the city and temple were burnt. Thefe are the words of the people of tha Jews, defpairing of help and falvation. So the Targum, ‘ the congregation of J/rael faid, the time “¢ js pafied, the end is up, and we are not re-

*¢ deemed.”, - ys. 21. For the burt of the daughter of my people ain I burt, 8c.) Thefe are the words, not of God, as Ferom;, nor of Ferufclem, as the Targum, but of the prophet, as Kimchi obferves, expreffing his fympathy with the people in their affliction, and they may be rendered, for the breach of the daughter of my people °, which was made, when the city was broken up and deftroyed, Yer. lii..7. I am broken; in heart and fpirit: J am black with grief and forrow. The Iargum is, ‘* my face is covered ee with blacknefs, black as a pot.” - d/tonifbment hath taken bold on me; at the miferies that were come upon his people; and there was no remedy for them, which occafion the following words.

y¥. 22. Is there no balm in Gilead? &c.] Which was famous for it; fee Gen. xxxvii. 25. or rather turpentine or rofin, a gum which drops from pinetrees, and the like; fince balm or balfam grew on this fide Yordan, near Fericho and Engedi, and | not beyond orden, in the land of Gilead; and rofin is good for healing. Some render it treacle, but very wrongly, fince, as Calvin obferves, that is a compofition of many things. Js cbere no phy/- cian there? or furgeon; any one that heals wounds and bruifes;. very probably there were many fuch lived in Gilead, Gince it was a place where proper mec{cines were to be gotvand applied: this may be underftood of prophets, and teachers, who in a moral and {piritual fenfe are inftruments of healing of men, by fhewing them theirevil, calling them to repentance, and directing where to go for healing or pardon of fin; namely, to Chrift, the alone phyfician, and to his precious blood, fhed for the remiffion of fins. Some reference may be had to Elijab, who was of Gilead, and to the {chool of the prophets there, 1 Kiags,xvii, 1, The Targum is, ‘* Feremiah the prophet faid, perhaps there are ‘“* no good works in me, that I fhould fupplicate ‘* for the houfe of J/rael; fhould I not -defire the “< doctrine of Eijah the prophet, who was of Gi- ** lead, whofe words were healing?” Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered 2 that is, feeing there is balm in Gilead, and a phyfician there, how comes it ‘to pafs, that fuch medicine is not made ufe of, and fuch a phyfician not applied to, that. health might be reftored? This fhows the ftupidity, fluggifhnefs, and indolence of the people, and» how inexcufable they were, as well as the prophet’s great concern for their welfare; the want of means of deliverance, or non-attendance to them, or the unfuccefsfulnefs

HIS chapter is a continuation of the judg-. ments of God upon the Fews, for their fins and tranfgreffions herein mentioned; illuftrated by the lamentation of the prophet; by calling for the mourning women, and upon other women that had loft their hufbands or children, with an intimation that none of any rank and clafs fhould efcape. The prophet is introduced, mourning over the deftruétion of his people, ¥. 1. and as uneafy at his ftay with them, becaufe of their uncleannefs, treachery, lying, unfaithfulnefs, and deceit, ¥. 2, 3, 45 5, 6. wherefore the Lord threatens to melt and try them; and for their deceitfulnefs particularly to vifit them, and avenge himfelf on them, y. 7, 8, 9. the deftruction is defcribed by the defolation of the mountains, and habitations of the wildernefs; they being fo burnt up, that there were neither grafs upon them, nor beafts nor birds to be | feen or heard about them; and of Feru/falem, and the cities of Fudab, fo that there was no inhabitant in them, ¥. 10, 11. upon which a wife man is_ enquired after, to give the true reafon of all this, y. 12. but none appearing, the Lord gives it himfelf; which were their difobedience to his law, and’ their worfhip of idols, following the imagination of their own hearts, ¥. 13, 14. wherefore they are threatned to be fed with wormwood and gall; to’ be fcattered among the nations, and a fword fent after them to their utter confumption, ¥. 15, 16. hence, for the certainty of it, mourning women are ordered: to be called for in hafte, to affift them in their mourning, on account of their diftrefs, ¥. 17, 18, 19. and fuch as were mothers of children, are bid to teach their daughters and neigh-— bours lamentation, becaufe of the children and!

young men cut off by death, and for the carcafes of men, that fhould fall as dung in the field, and as the handful after the harveft-man, y¥. 20, 21, 22. and it is fuggefted that none fhould efcape; not the wife man by any art or cunning he was mafter of; nor the ftrong man by his itrength; nor the rich man by his riches; and therefore ought not either of them to glory in thefe things, but in the Lord, as exercifing loving-kindnets, judgment, and righteoufnefs in the earth, ¥. 23, 24. and the chapter is concluded with a {trong affeveration, that the wicked, both circumcifed and uncircumcifed, fhould be punifhed, y. 25, 26.

¥. 1. Ob that my bead were waters, and mine eyes @ fountain of tears, &c.] Or, who will give to my bead water, and to mine eyes a fountain of tears? as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic verfions.° The prophet wifhes that his head was turned and diffolved into water, and that tears might flow from his eyes as water iffues out from a fountain; and he fuggefts, that could this be, it would not be fufficient to deplore the miferable eftate of his people, and to exprefs the inward grief and forrow of his mind on account of it. That [ might weep day and night, for the flain of the daughter of my people; the defign of all this is to fet forth the greatnefs and horriblenefs of the deftruction, fignifying that words were wanting to exprefs it, and tears to lament it; and to awakén the attention of the people to it, who were quite hardened, infenfible, and ftupid. The Few writers clofe the eighth chapter with this verfe, and begin the nixth

¥. 2. Ob that I had in the wildernefs a lodging-., &c.] Such as travellers:

‘place of wayfaring men, i “dl oan r defert, when they are benighted, and can’t reach a town or village. This the prophet chofe, partly that he might haye an opportunity to give vent to his grief being alone; for which reafon he did not defire to be in cities and

‘populous places, where he might be amufed and diverted, whilft his people were in diftrefs: and ‘partly to fhow his fympathy, not being able to bear the fight of their mifery; and alfo fome degree of indignation at their impicties, which had brought ruin upon them; on account of which it} was more eligible to dwell with the wild beafts of the defert, than with them in his native country: ‘wherefore it follows, that I might leave my people, and go from them, which of itfelf was not defirable; no man chufes to leave his country, his own people, and his father’s houfe, and go into diftant lands and ftrange countries; and efpecially into a wildernefs, where there is neither fuitable food, nor.

agreeable company: wherefore this fhows, that there muft be fomething very bad, and very provoking, to lead him to take fuch a ftep as this: the reafon follows, for they be all adulterers, either in a literal or figurative fenfe; the latter feems rather intended; for tho’ corporal fornication and adultery might greatly prevail among them, yet not to fuch a height as that a// of them were guilty; whereas idolatry did generally obtain among them: an affembly of treacherous men; not a’

few only, but in general they were apoftates from God, and from true religion, and treacherous to one another. The Septuagint calls them, a4 fynod: and Fofeph Kimchi interprets it, a kingdom, deriving the word from 9¥y, as it fignifies to have rule and dominion; denoting, that the kingdom in general was falfe and perfidious.

¥. 3. And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies, &c.] ‘Their tongues were like bows, and their lying words like arrows, which they directed againft perfons to their injury; fee Pf xi. 2. and Ixiv. 3, 4. or, like their deceitful bow”; to which the Targum agrees, ‘* they teach their tongues ** words of falfhood, they are like to a deceitful <* bow.” Moft agreeably to the accents, the words may be rendered, shey bend their tongues, their bow is a fies; either deceitful, or carries a lie in it, and fhoots one out of it: dut they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; which a man fhould do every thing for, and nothing againft; and which he fhould earneftly contend for, and not part with or give up at any rate; not only for the truth of doétrine, for faith, as the Targum, for the doctrine of faith, the truth of the gofpel, and as it is in Chrift; but for truth between man and man, for veracity, uprightnefs, and integrity: for they proceed from evil to evil; from one fin to another, growing worfe and worfe, as wicked men and deceivers ufually do. Kimchi obferves, it may be interpreted as of evil works, fo of the evil of punithment, from one evil of the enemy to another; or this year they are fmitten with blafting, another with mildew, or with the locuft, and yet they turn not from their evil ways: and they know not me, faith the Lord; the God of truth, and without iniquity, and who will feverely punifh for it; they did not ferve and worfhip him as the only Lord flanders; go about fpreading lies and cal

IP? CAML veluti arcum falfum, Munfter; quafi arcum mendacii, Valg. Lat. arcus ipforum mendacium eft, De Dieu; qui tendunt linguam fuam, arcus eorum elt mendaci FymMwAN Dy msx_55 Sy & omni fra AI ob dolum, andy 4. Take ye,hee every ONC Of Bt. Take care of being impofed, upo they are fo given to lying and d credulous, or too eafily believe whi keep yourfelves from them; have no. compa converfation with them, fince evil com corrupt good manners: and trujt ye not im ay ther; whether by blood, or by marriage,.o1 ligion, believe not his words; truft hi at ther with your money, nor with your minds ¢ mit not your fecrets to him, place mo conf in him; a people muft be very corrupt indée when this is the cafe: or, trujt ye not im every bi ther*; fome maybe trufted, but not all: tho’t following claufe feems to contradict thi brother will utterly fupplant; or, im fup, plant*; play the Facob, do as he did b ther, who fupplanted him twice; firft got th tight from him, and then the bleifling; which w: prefignified by taking his brother by the womb, from whence he had his the fame word is here ufed, which figni cret, clandeftine, and infidious way of circumy ing another: and every neighbour will walk as whifperers, backbiters, and tale-bearers. do. word 5'35 is ufed for a merchant; and ‘becau fuch perfons went from place to place with their goods, and made ufe oftentimes of fraudulent practices to deceive people, it is applied to one that is guilty of flander and calumny; fee Cantiii. 8. > ¥.5. And they will deceive every one bis neighbour, &c.] In converfation, with lying words; and ia trade and commerce, by art and tricking: “amd will not {peak the truth, with refpeét to facts the report, or goods they fell: they have taught bei tongue to {peak lies; and become.fo accuftomed to lying, that they can’t do otherwife; it is as it were natural to them: and weary themfelves to commit iniquity; {pare no pains to come at it, nor any in it, and go on even to wearinefs; are more laborious and indefatigable in committing fin, than men are in doing good; which fhows great folly and ftupidity. The Targum is, ‘* they are become ‘¢ foolifh, they have erred.” | IF ¥. 6. Thine habitation is in the midft of dectit, &c.] In the midft of a people of deceit, as Kimchi and Ben Melech. Thefe are the words of the Lord to the prophet, fhewing what a people he dwelt among, and had to do with; how cautioufly a prudently he fhould ac; how little they were to be trufted to, and depended upon; and what little’. hope there was of bringing them to true repentance, fince there were fo much deceit and hypocrify among them, The Targum interprets the words not of the habitation of the prophet, but of the people, thus, ‘* they fit in the houfe of thei “© own congregation, and talk of their. ink ** deceitfully;” and fo Farchi, ** whilft “¢ fitting, they devife deceitful devices.” 7 deceit they refufe to know me, faith the becaufe of deceit‘; hypocrify being a re governing fin in them; they liked n knowledge of God, and refufed to w according to the revelation of his wi

oo So 7.eTberefore thus faith the Lord of hofts, &c.

Becaufe of this deceit and hypocrify, and lying: behold, I will melt them, and try them, as thé refiner does his gold and filver, by putting them into the fire of afflictions, and thereby remove their drofs sand corruption from them: So the Targum, “* be- «hold, I will bring diftrefs upon them, and melt “© them, and try them.” For bow fhall I do for the daughter of my people? the fenfe is, what could be done.otherwife or better? what was more fit or proper to be.done, than to melt and try them, and purge away their fin, from the face of the daughter of my people, as the words may be rendred? The Septuagint verfion is, what shall I do from the face of the wickednels of my people? and fo the Targum, ‘ what fhall I do from before the fins of the “« congregation of my people?” that is, by way of refentment of them, and in order to remove

Z y. 8. Their tongue is as an arrow fhot out, &c.]

As an arrow out of a bow, which moves {wiftly, and comes with great force; or, drawn out“; as out of a quiver. The word is ufed of gold, and rendered, beaten gold, 1 Kings x. 16. gold drawn out into plates; and here of an arrow drawn out of a quiver; and fo it is interpreted in the Ta/- mud”; or is wounding, as the Septuagint, or flaying *; denoting the, mifchief and injury done to the characters of men, by a deceitful, detracting and: calumniating tongue. The Targum is, “ as “¢ a fharp arrow their toneue;” which pierces deep, and is deadly; fee the note on y¥. 3: it /peaketh deceit; deceitful words, by which men are impofed upon, and are led into wrong ways of thinking and acting: one /peaketh peaceably to his neighbour with bis mouth, falutes him in a friendly-manner, - wifhes him all health, peace, -and profperity; profefiés a fincere and cordial friendfhip for him, and pretends a ftrong affection to him: but in bis heart he layeth wait, to draw him into fnares, and circumvent, trick, and defraud him.

Weg. Shall I not vifit them for thefe things, faith the. Lord? &c.] The Targum adds, ‘“‘ to bring ** evil upon them.” Shall not my foul be avenged on fuch a nation as this? the Targum is, “* or of a ** people whofe works are fuch, fhall I not take “* vengeance according to my pleafure?” fee the note on ch. v..9.

¥. 10. For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, &c.| Becaufe of the defolation of them; becaufe no pafture upon them, nor flocks feeding there; or concerning them, as the Arabic verfion; or wpox them ’, in order to caufe the lamentation to be heard the farther; but the former fenfe feems beft, as appears by what follows. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic verfions read it as an exhortation to others, take up a weeping, but they are the words of the prophet, declaring what he would do. And for the habitations of the wildernefs a lamentation; for the cottages of the fhepherds, erected for their conveniency, to look after their flocks, feeding on the mountains, and in the vallies; for the wildernefs does not denote barren places, but paftures: becaufe they are burnt up, by the fire of the Chaldeans, who burnt the cottages, and drove off the cattel: fo that none can pafs through them; or there is none that paffés through;

which fhows how very defolate thefé places were: neither can men bear the voice of the cattel; the low: ing of the oxen, or the bleating of the theep, there — being none to be heard, being all carried off; and indeed no men to hear them, had there been any: both the fowl of the heavens, and the beafts are fled, theyvare gone; or, from the fowl of the heavens to - the beafts, 8c *. the places lying wafte and uncultivated; there were no feed for the fowls to pick up, which generally frequent places where there is fowing, and where fruit is brought to perfection; and no pafture for the beafts to feed upon. Kimchi fays thefe words are an hyperbole. The word mp2 Zea/t, being by geometry, or numerically fifty-two, the ews * gather from‘hence, that for the fpace of fifty-two years no man pafied thro" the land of udab; which they reckon from the time that Zedekiab was carried captive, to the commandment of Cyrus.

y. 11. And I will make Ferufalem heaps, &c.] That is, the walls and houfes of it thal] be thrown down, and become heaps of ftones and rubbith: and a den of dragons, only inhabited by wild beatts: and I will make the cities of Fudab defolate, without inhabitant, {0 that the calamity would be univerfal; not only Ferufalem, but all the cities of the land would be deftroyed, forfaken, and uninhabited.

¥. 12. Who is the wife man that may underftand this, &c.| Not the calamity, but the caufe of it; a man of wifdom would enquire into it, find it out, and underftand it; but the intimation is, that there was not a wife man among them, at leaft very few;. there were fcarce any that took any notice of thefe things, or were concerned about them: and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath fpcken; and foretold this defolation and deftruction; meaning a prophet: that he may declare. it; as from the Lord, namely, what follows: for what the land perifbeth, and is burnt like a wildernefs that none paffeth through? that is, what were the fins of the inhabitants of the land, which brought fuch diftrefs upon it, and for which it became fuch a ruinous heap, and like the heath in the wildernefs, fo that it had no inhabitant, nor even a paflenger: they muft be fome very great and abominable iniquities, that were the caute of all this.

¥. 13. And the Lord faith, &c.| The Septuagint verfion adds, to me; there being no wife and underftanding man, nor prophet », to take up this affair, and open the caufe of it, therefore the Lord undertakes it himfelf: the queftion was put to them, but they not anfwering it, the Lord does it, becaufe they have forfaken my law, which I fet before them; in a plain and eafy manner, fo as to be readily underftood; yet this they attended not unto, but forfook it, neglected it, and caft it behind their backs. Kimchi’s note on the phrafe, defore them, is, “* not in heaven is it, nor beyond <¢'the: fea’ is it 3""fee Destxxx. 11,12, 13, £4: and have not obeyed my voice, in the law, and by the prophets: either walked therein; according to it, as the Lord directed; they neither hearkened to the voice of the Lord, nor did as they were initructed by it. y¥. 14. But have walked after the imagination of as no inhabitant there, fo no paffenger that way; sheir own heart, 8c.) What their own hearts de- vifed, chofe, and were beft pleafed with; fee the note on ch, vii. 24: and after Baalim; the idols that, according to the Mifnic do& of the Gentiles; thefe they ferved and worthipped, and not the true God: which their fathers. taught them; which was fo far from excufing: them, that.

it was an aggravation of their fin, that continued in their wicked ways and idolatrous*pfactices, from age to age, from one generation to an- This then was the caufe of their calamity and deftruétion; they had forfaken the law of the Lord, and had broken that; they had chofe their own ways, and had been guilty of idolatrous practices time out of mind; wherefore the Lord had fhown much long-fuffering and patience with them, | and would now no Jonger’forbear; he was juft and rigmowie s in his doings..15. Therefore thus faith the Lord God of hofts, ven and in earth, in oppofition to Baalim, the ido of the Gentiles; which word fignifies Lords; which, tho’ there be many who are called fo, there is but one God, and one Lord, who is God over all, and the God of I/rael; who had chofen them, and diftinguifhed them by the bleffings of his goodnefs s and yet they had forfaken him, and followed after other gods; by which the eyes of his glory were provoked, and he was determined to chaftife them for it: Lebold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood; ficulties, as the Septuagint verfion; with bitter affligtions; fuch are not joyous, but grievous; which are irkfome and difagreeable, as bitter things, and* particularly wormwood, are to the tafte. The Targum is, ** I will bring tribulation upon them, bit- “¢ ter.as wormwood:” and give them water of gall to drink, meaning either of the entrail of a beaft’

fo called, or of the juice of the herb hemlock, as the word is rendered in Hof. x. 4. as Kimchi; or of the poifon of a ferpent, as Farchi, and fo the Targum, * and I will give them the cup of cur- ‘** fing to drink as the heads of ferpents;” fignifying that their punifhment would be very fevere, tho’ juft.

y. 16. I will featter them alfo among the heathen, &c.] Befides the bitter judgments of famine and peftilence during the fiege, what remained of them fhould be carried captive out of their own land into foreign countries, than which nothing could be. more ‘diftrefing: whom neither they nor their fathers have kilown 3 a circumttance. greatly aperavating their captivity: and I will fend a fword after them, ” till I have confumed them; or men that kill with the fword, as the Targum: it chiefly regards fuch of them as were fcattered among the Moabites and Ainmonites, and efpecially that went into Egypt s fee fer. xliv..27, 28,

¥.17. Thus faith the Lord of ofits confider ye, &c.}] The punifhment that was juft coming upon them, as Kimchi, or the words that the Lord was about to fay unto them; as follows: ead call for the mourning women, that they may come; the fame with the Prafice among the Romans; perfons that were fent for, and hired by, the relations of the dead, to raife up their mourning; and who, by Shenae dithevelled hair, naked breafts; and beatings thereon, and mournful voice, and what they faid | in their doleful ditties in praife of the dead, greatly moved upon the affections of the furviving relatives, and produced tears from them. ‘This was a cuftom that early prevailed among the Jews, and

| wailing for us, &c.| Deliver Out a mournfu the ved of Jfrael, &c. | He calls himfelf, the Lord

God of hofis, of armies above and below, in hea> |The prophet puts himfelf among

|certainty of them, ‘and how foon they that is, with ftraits or dif-.

long coleinaved with! thant) aid was fe con o man in Ijrael, when his wlth di than two pipes, and one «mourning Matt. ix. 23. and the note'there. Now to fhew what a calamity-was coming of what mourning there would be, and wh fion for it; the Lord by the prophet, “h proving, but deriding the practice, bids for the mournin ng women to affift them | mentations: Jend for cunning women,” may comes fach as were expert in this bu could mimic mourniig*welly and had t ea moving the affections with their voice | v.18. And let them Wake hafte, a tae

$ the Arabic verfion; fetting forth and diftreffes, and affecting their mi being a party concerned in their fuff fympathizing with them, as well a to - involved in them: hat our eyes may tears, and our eye-lids gufh out with waters; of the eye, as the Targum and Kimchi; thele hyperbolical expreffions are ufed to exprefs #1 the great= nefs of the calamity, and that no mourning was equal to it; fee ¥. 1.

¥. 19. For a voice of wailing is” aed ou 4 Zion, &cc.] Out of the fortrefs of Zion, oe the city of Yerufalem, which was thought inexpugnable, and could never be tafe at a voice is heard out of that, deploring lation of it: how are we Spoiled? our h {troyed, and we plundered of our fubftan are greatly confounded, filled with than count of their vain confidence; pa ‘ir | would never be taken, and they wefe fy becaufe we have forfaken the land, the of dea, being obliged to it, the enemy cat captive into other countries: decaufe our have caft us out, not fuffering us to continue there any longer, as being unworthy of them; or enemies have caft down our habitations to the Farchi and fo the Targum, ‘ for our palaces are “< defolate;” the principal buildings in ery; a) well as che’ Hélstbsioe tie common people, thrown down to the ground, or burnt. fire, and particularly the temple; fo that the wiles as in a moft ruinous condition, and a fit fabjedt of a mournful fong. ay

¥.20. Yet hear the word of the Lord, ox 90 men, &c.] Not the mourning women, b 0 who had loft their hufbands and their | and had juft reafon for real mourning; anc fore they are called upon to it, not © they were more tender-hearted than r chi obferves; or becatfe they were 1 to the hearing of the word of C but becaufe of the paucity of men, | being flain in the fiege, and by the fword the lofs the women had fuftained, fee y. let your ear receive the word of ‘bis mon prophets; fo the Targum, © let yi “ to the words of his’ pees i daughters wailing. The verfior ful fong; but not the fcholars of the me women are meant;_ but the eal dai 3 who had loft their hufbands or ¢ follows: and every one her neighbour lamens fignifying that the mortality among them would be very univerfal, not a family efcaping; which is defcribed in‘ the next verfes. This wailing and lamentation was made by refponfes, according to the ews; for they fay 4, ‘* what is lamentation? *¢ when one fpeaks, and all the reft anfwer after *¢ her, as it is written in Fer, ix. 20.

¥. 21. For death is come up into our windows, &c.} Their doors being fhut, bolted and barred, they thought themfelves fafe, but were not; the Chatdeans icaled their walls, broke in at the tops of their houfes, or at their windows, and deftroyed them: for the invafion of the enemy, and the manner of their entrance into them, feem to be defcribed. Death is here reprefented as a perfon, as it fometimes is in fcripture; fee Rev. vi. 8. and XX. 13,14. and as coming fuddenly and unawares upon men, and from whom there is no efcape, or any way and method of keeping him out; bolts and bars will not do; he can climb up, and go in at the window: and is entered into our palaces, the houfes of their principal men, which were well built, and moft ftrongly fortified, thef€ could not keep out the enemy; and death fpares none, high nor low, rich nor poor; it enters the palaces of great men, as well as the cottages of the poor, The Septuagint verfion is, it ts entered into our land; and fo the Arabic verfion; only it places the phrafe, into our land, in the preceding claufe; and that of, into, or thro our windows, in this: to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the fireets; thefe words are not ftrictly to be conneéted with the preceding, as tho’ they exprefied the end of death, afcending up to the windows, and entering palaces, to cut off fuch as were in the ftreets; but the words are a propofition of themfelves, as the diftinctive accent Athnach fhews; -and muft be fupplied ‘after this manner, and paffing thro” them-it goes on, to cut of, &c. and fo aptly defcribes the invading enemy climbing the walls of the city, entering at windows, or tops of houfes, upon or near the walls; and having deftroyed all within, goes forth into the ftreets, where children‘were at play, and flays them; and into courts or markets, where young men were employed in bufinefs, and deftroys them. The Fews * interpret it of famine..

-y.22. Speak, thus faith the Lord, &c.|° -Thefe are the words of the Lord to Yeremiah; to go on with his prophecy in his name; fo the Targum, *¢ prophefy, thus faith the Lord:” even the carcafes of men fhall fall as dung upon the open field; or, upon the face of the field‘, this fhows the reafon why the women are called to mourning, becaufe the men would fall by the fword in the open field, and there lie and rot, and become dung upon it. | The Targum is, ** as dung fpread “upon the face “¢ of the field;” which denotes the great number that fhould fall, which would cover the face of the field; the’ condition they fhould be in; and’ the contempt and neglect they fhould be had in: -and as the handful after the harveft-man, and none foall gather them as an handful of corn that is: forgot, and left by the harveft-man; or as ears of corn which are dropped by the reaper, or binder, and are ufually gleaned or gathered.up: by the poor that follow; but in the cafe referred to, or fuppofed, are not gathered; fo it would be with thefe people; they fhould be left upon the ground, like an handful forgot, or like ears of corn dropped, — and not gathered up, and there they fhould lie, and none fhould bury them. ¥. 23. Thus faith the Lord, let not the wife man glory in his wifdom, 8c.) Not in his natural wifom, or knowledge of natural things: this is often but an appearance of wifdom, and is fcience falfly fo called; arid whatever is real‘of this kind; is of God; and the beft falls fhort of leading men to a true and faving knowledge of God; the foolithnefs of God is wifer than it; and it is*made foolith, deftroyed, and brought to nought by him: nor in evangelical ‘wifdom and knowledge; not in that which is lefs common, or what fits ‘men for public ufefulnefs, as minifterial gifts; for fuch are © received from above; are more for the ufe of others, than a man’s felf; there is fomething better than thefe, which a man may not have, and yet have thefe, which is grace; thofe may fade, or be taken away; and aman may have thern, and be | loft eternally: nor in that which is more general, fpeculative knowledge of gofpel-truths; for if it is attended with conceit, it is little or nothing that a man knows; if he is proud of it, his Knowledge is not fanctified; and it is no other than what the devils themfelves have: ‘nor in that which is more fpecial; wifdom in the inward part, or a fpiritual and faving knowledge of God in Chrift; this a man has wholly of free-grace, ‘and fhould give the ’ praife and glory of it to God, and not attribute ° it to himfelf: neither let the mighty man glory in bis might; not in his natural might or ftrength; this is of God, and is greater in fome of ‘the brutes, © than in men; and is what God can take away, and, does often weaken it in the way by difeafes, ‘and at laft deftroys it by death: nor in-moral ftreneth, or in the power of free-will; which is very weak and infufficient to do any thing that is fpiritually good: nor even in fpiritual ftrength; this is from ° Chrift; it is only thro’ him, ftrengthening his people that they do what they do; and all fupplies and increafe of it are from him; and therefore no room for glorying: Jet. not the rich man glory in his riches; thefe come of the’ hand of “God; and* are what he can take away at pleafure, they are very uncertain and precarious things; there is a better and-more enduring fubftance; thefe cannot profit in a day of wrath, nor deliver from death, corporal, fpiritual or eternal.’ And the ‘intention’ of the‘words here is’ to fhew, that neither the wife man with all his art and cunning, nor the mighty’ man ‘by ‘his ftrength, nor the rich man ‘thro’ hisriches, ‘could ‘fave themfelves from the deftructionbefore prophefied' of. “The Targum paraphrafes them ‘thus’ ** thus faith the Lord, let not Solomon’ “6 the fon of David the wife man, -praife (or pleafe “¢ himfelf) in this wifdom; ‘nor let Samp/on the fon’ “© of:Manoah the mighty man, pleafe himfelf in‘ “ his might; nor let bab the fon of Omri the: ‘¢ rich man, pleafe himfelf in‘his riches.) ~~~ y.24.' But let him that glorieth, glory in this, &c.] -In*the Lord alone,!as it is interpreted by the apoftle, 1 Cor. i. 31. 2 Gor. x. 17: that he un-' derftandeth ‘and knoweth mes or, in underftanding and knowing me®, or, he'underftanding and knowing me; for this claufe is defcriptive of the perfon that is to glory in the Lord, and not of the’ thing in BOITI Rr BDiWR: ‘ef ~~ “which ‘@ Mifn. Moed Katon, c.3. §.9. © T. Bab, Bava Kama, fol. 60. 2.. fet 998 Sy fuper faciebus agri, Montanus, Schmidt; in facie agri, Cocceius; in fuperficie agri, Junius & T'remellius, Pifcator. ~ “£98 yy SDv-T1 intelligendo & fciendo me, Montanus.

which he.is to glory; for it is not even in the knowledge of God that men are to glory, but in the Lord himfelf; and he that underftands himfelf | as a creature dependent on God, and efpecially as a fallen finful creature; and ftill more, as one regenerated by the grace of God; he’ll never glory in himfelf, but in the Lord; and fo, if he underftands divine things, and the fcheme of falvation by the grace of God, and not by the works of men; and if he knows the Lord, he’ll never glory in his own wifdom, nor in his own ftrength, nor in his riches, nor in his righteoufnefs, nor in any man or creature, but in the Lord only; and particularly in what follows: that I am the Lord, which exercife loving kindunefs; in fuch various in- {tances; in election, redemption, effectual vocation, the pardon of fin, juftification, adoption, and eternal life; and towards perfons fo very undeferving of any favour; and to have an intereft in this exceeds all things elfe; it is better than life, and all the enjoyments of it: judgment; exercifing it on Chrift, fin being laid, found, and condemned on him; and thro’ Chrift protecting and defending. his people; and by Chrift at the laft day: and righteoufne/s in the earth, wrought by Chrift here on earth in our nature, and imputed to his people in their prefent ftate, whereby they have a right to eternal glory: for in thefe things I delight, faith the Lord; in fhewing mercy, grace and favour to miferable and undeferving men; in making his fon an offering for fin, and bruifing him; and in his righteoufnefs, whereby the law is magnified.and made honourable. ¥. 25. Bebold, the days come, faith the Lord, &c.] Or, are coming», it feems to refpect the time, after the Babylonifh captivity, when the punifhment after threatened took place, and not before: ¢bat I will punifh all them that are circumcifed, with the uncircumcifed, Jews and Gentiles together. ‘The circumcifed Fews trufting in their circumcifion, and being, as is faid in the next verfe, uncircumcifed in heart, were no better than the uncircumcifed Gentiles; wherefore both. being tranfgreffors of the law, and defpifers of the gofpel of Chrift,: are pee chapter fhews that there is no comparifon to be made.between God and the idols ot the Gentiles; reprefents the deftruction of the Jews as near at hand; and is clofed with fome petitions of the prophet. It begins by, way of preface with an exhortation to hear the word of the Lord, anda dehortation not to, learn the way of the heathens, or.be. difmayed.at their figns;> fince their cuftoms were in vain, ¥. 1525 3. which lead on to expofe their idols, and fet, forth the greatnefs and glory of God. Their idols are de-’ cribed by the matter.and makers of them, ¥. 33 4,9. and from their impotence to fpeak, to ftand, to move, or do either.good, or evils ¥i.45 5. but, on the other hand, God is defcribed by the greatnefs of his name and power, and by the teverence that belongs unto. him. in comparifon of whom all the wife men of the. nations are ‘brutith, foolifh and yain, ¥.,6,.7, 8. by the epithets of true, living and everlafting, and by the terriblenefs of threatened with deftruGtion; fee Rom, ii. 12, 25° 20.. haere sealing: gre. heats Egypt, and Fudah, and Edom, and thechildren of Ammon, and Moab, &c.| Places and people among which the Yews-were difperfed, and. whofe punifhment is predicted in ch.xlvi,xlvii,xlviii, xlix. and whofe countries are now under the dominion of the Turks: end all that are in the utmoft corners, that dwell in the wilderne/s; who dwelt in the defert of Arabia; thefe,. according to Kimebr, were the Kedarenes, and the kingdoms of Hazor, a people that dwelt in the utmoit corners, whom

“¢ cut off in a corner of the wildernefs;” that live by themfelves, and have no communication with other people; were at the greateft diftance, and fecure; dwelt alone, and had neither gates nor bars, as is faid of the fame people, ch. xlix. 3r.

The Septuagint verfion is, upon every one that fhaves what is about bis face, that dwells in the wildernefs;

and fo the Syriac and Arabic verfions; to which agrees the Targum, ‘* upon all that round the cor— “ ners of the head, that dwell in habitations in

‘¢ the wildernefs.”” The Arabians ufed to fhave the extreme hairs of the head round about, as the forehead, temples, and behind the ears, which are. the corners of the head; fo Heredotus ' reports of them, who feem to be meant here; tho’ fome think the ews are intended, to whom this was forbidden, Lev. xix. 27: for all thefe nations are uncircumcifed, in the flefh, tho’ they were not pu-~ nifhed on this account, becaufe it was not com-. manded them, as Kimchi obferves; but is mentioned. to fhew that the Fews were no better than. they, tho’ circumcifed, and that they fhould be. punifhed together: avd all the houfe of dfrael-are. uncircumcifed in the heart, had not the circumcifion - made without hands; or were not circumciled in. heart, to love the Lord, fear and. ferve him; the. forefkin of their. flefh taken off availed not, fo, long as that on their heart remained, and were {tupid, impenitent and difobedient, der and lightning, wind and rain, when the godsthat, have no fhare in thefe fhall utterly perifh;» ¥s. 11, 12, 13. their makers being brutifh, and, brought to fhame; and they falfhood and breath-. lefs. vanity, the work of errors, and fo fhall-cometo ruin, ¥.14, 15. but he, who is Facod’s portion,: and whofe inheritance J/rae/ is, is not like thems. being the former of all things, and his name the Lord of hofts, ¥. 16. and next follows a prophecy’ of the deftruction of the Jews; wherefore they aré- bid, to gather up their wares, fince in-a very little:

time, arid at once, the Lord would fling them. out of the land, and bring them into diftrefs, ¥. 175. 18, upon which the prophet expreflés his fympathywith his people in trouble, and the part of grief. he took and bore with them, y. 19. the partic lars of his diftrefs, thro’ the defolation of the land,.; and ‘the; captivity of the people, with-the caufé: anid authors of it, by whofe means thefe things;

were brought upon them, are mentioned, y. 20, his wrath, y. 10, by his power and wifdom, in! 21.,and the Chaldean army, the inftruments of their making the heavens and theearth, in caufing thun-