Exposition of the Whole Bible

Farchi fays, fignifies fuch a fluttering motion as is made by the wings of a bird hovering over its neft. The fame word is ufed in Gen. i, 2. which Ben Melech refers to here. The prophet fhuddered at their dreadful impiety; and at the thoughts of what was coming upon them on that account: J am like a drunken man, that can neither fpeak nor ftand; that knows not what to fay, or which way to go; fo confufed and aftonifhed was the prophet at what he faw was doing by them, and was likely to befal thein: (and like a man whom wine bath overcome) or, has paffed over™; like waves and billows, fo that he is drowned in it, and mattered by it: becaufe of the Lord, and becaufe of the words of bis boline/s; becaufe of the difhonour done to his holy name, and holy truths; becaufe of the prophanation of both in the mouths of thefe falfe prophets; they pretending to come in the name of the Lord, and to fpeak his words; and becaufe of the dreadful judgments which he, the prophet, was fent to denounce againft them from the Lord. y¥. 10. For the land ts full of adulterers, &c.] Of fuch as were guilty of corporal adultery, and of fpiritual adultery, which is idolatry. Now, tho’ in this, and in the following veries, the prophet defcribes the men of his generation, both ecclefiaftics and Jaics; yet alfo fo as to have regard to the Fews in the times of Chrift, to which this prophecy has refpect between whom there was a great refemblance; adulteries were fo frequent in Chrift’s time, that the fews left off the ule of the bitter waters"; and our Lord fometimes calls the generation in which he lived, an adulterous one, Matt. xii. 39. and xvi. 4: for becaufe of fwearing the land mourneth, becaufe of falfe fwearing and curfing; becaufe of the oaths and imprecations of men; or becaufe of the curfe of God, for the fins of men, the land was defert or defolate, as the Targum; it became barren and unfruitful, the land of Fudea; juft as the earth was curfed for the fin of man originally; tho’ it feems rather to fignify perjury or falfe {wearing, which, and adultery, were the reigning vices of theage; fee Matt.v. 33—37: the pleafant places of the wildernefs are dried up, or the paftures of the wildernefs, where cattel ufed to feed, were dried up for want of rain, and fo were unfruitful, and produced no grafs for the beafts of the field: and yet, their cour e is evil;

the courfe of their miniftry or prophefying was bad; and the courfe of their lives and converfations was one continued feries of iniquity; the race they ran, both prophet and people, was a wicked one; they ran and made hafte to commit fin; tho’ a profeffing people, their converfation was according to the courfe of this world, and not according to the rule of God’s word: and their force is not right; or, is not fo°; as it ought to be, or employed in the manner it fhould: the power and authority of the prophets over the people was not ufed as it might have been, for the preferving of the people from fin; nor their courage and valour fhewn for truth, as it ought to have been; and they ufed their power to hurt and opprefs, and not to relieve and help: fo the Pharifees in Chrift’s devotion, devoured widows houfes, Matt. xxiii. 4; 14. So fome render the words here, and their violence is not right ®; their rapine and oppreifion were very unjuft; fo that befides adultery and {wearing, they are charged with violence in particular, and with a wicked courfe of life in general,

¥. 11. For both prophét and prieft are profane, &c.] Being guilty of the afore-mentioned fins. The Targum is, ‘* the fcribe and the prieft;” and fuch were the fcribes and priefts in the time of our Lord; they played the hypocrite», as fome render the word here; and are often charged with the fin of hypocrify, and called hypocrites, Maft. xxii. 18. and xxiii. 13, 14,15, 23, 25, 27, 29: yea, in my houfe have 1 found their wickednefs, jaith the Lord; where they officiated in holy things, or fhould have done fo; where the one fhould have inftru@ted the people, and the other offered facrifices for them, according to the will of God; there they committed wickednefs, which was an ageravation of their fin, as was the cafe of Eii’s fons, 1 Sam. ii. 22. perhaps the fame fin was committed by thefe men; or idolatry may be meant; fetting up images, and building altars for them in the houfe of God; fee ch, vii. 30. or carryjng on traffic and merchandife, whereby the temple was made a houfe of merchandife, as it was in the times of Chrift, Fobz ii. ta, bsp G:

¥.12. Wherefore their way fhall be anto them as Slippery ways in the darknefs, &c.] Their courfe of life may fitly be compared, and in the iffue will prove to be like to a man’s walking in a dark night without any lamp or lanthorn to light him, and in a flippery way, fcarce able to ftand upon his legs, and can’t fee to pick his way, nor where to ftep next, which is very uncomfortable and dangerous; fuch are blind leaders of the blind, and both in danger of flipping and falling into a ditch, Matt. xv. 14: they fhail be driven on, and fall there~ in hurried on by fatan, and their own lufts, in their finful ways to their ruin; or forced on into captivity and deftruction; their enemies and the juit judgments of God purfuing them, like a man purfued by others ina dark and flippery way; who can’t ftand to feel his way, but is obliged to go on, tho’ he can fcarce keep upon his legs, and knows not where to fet his foot next; fee P. xxxv.

6: for I will bring evil upon them; the evil of punifhment, which is from the Lord; as fword, famine, peftilence, or captivity: even she year of their vifitation, faith the Lord; the precife and exact time appointed by the Lord to vifit them in a way of judgment for their iniquities,; which was a fet time that would certainly come, and they could not efcape; and which may not only refpect the time of the Badylonifh captivity, but the deftruction of the Yews by the Romans, which was the time of their vifitation, Luke xix. 44.

y. 13. And I have feen folly in the prophets of Samaria, &c.] The ten tribes of I/rael, among whom, in Abad’s time, there were many falfe prophets, Baal’s prophets, even four hundred and fifty; whofe folly the Lord had formerly taken no- time laid heavy burdens on others, but would not move them themielves; and thro’ a pretence of! tice of; even their idolatry and impiety, for giving into which the ten tribes had been carried captive years ago. The word + here ufed. fignifies,, that which. is unfavoury; fomething very unfavoury in their doétrines, and in their lives they were as falt which has. loft its favour,.and is good for nothing; to which bad minifters are compared, Matt. v.13..Thefe words are to be. read in conneétion with the following, and may be rendered, indeed I have: feen folly in the prophets of Samaria; of Jrael in times patt; but I have feen inthe prophets of Ferufolem*, that which is far worfe; and | therefore they muft not, expect to efcape; or, as the Syriac verfion, as I have feen in the praphets of Samaria—Jo have I feen in the prophets of Ferufalem, &c. fothat here is a conmiparifon run between them, and the latter are reprefented as worfe than the former, tho’ they were bad enough;, as follows: for they prophefied in Baal, in the name of Baal, whofe prophets, they were; fo the Zargum, “* they pro- ‘¢ phefied in the name of idols;” or, they prophefied by Baal, as the Septuagint verfion ‘; they pretended to be infpired by him, and to receive, their prophecies from him: or, they prophefied concerning Baal; what he would do for them, for thofe that worfhipped him. The Arabic verfion is, they prophefied in my name to Baal, which feems to be fo- ‘reign from the fenfe’ of the place: and caufed my people Irael to err; by following their directions and inftructions, and worfhipping Baal.

' y. 14. I have feen alfo in the prophets of ferufalem aun horrible thing, 8c.] Or but, or fe bave I seen, &c. as before obferved; even in the prophets of Ferufalem, where the temple was, and where the pure worfhip of God was profefléd to be obferyed, and that now, at the prefent time; as he had formerly feen and obferved what was foolifh, ridiculous and impious in the prophets of the ten tribes, and had punifhed them for it; fo now at this inftant he fees that in the prophets of Fudea, which was enough to make a man’s hair ftand an end, as the word" fignifies; or as it may be derived from another, root, what was filthy “ and ob- mitting. adultery *; with their neighbours wives; for this rather, than idolatry or {piritual adultery in lies’; conitantly fpeaking lies in their common talk and converfation,; fo that they. were not to be believed in any thing they faid; which was monitrous,; and. delivering out falfe doétrines.in the name of the Lord, pretending they received them from him; which was worfe than prophefying in the name of Baal: they strengthen alfo the hands of evil doers, that none doth return from bis wickedze s;

doctrines; extenuating their.fins,, putting a falfe

Hi9'8 upon them,.and promifing them peace, tho’ they lived in fin; and partly by their own, wicked examples the people concluding that what. the prophets did, they might do alio;, fo that they never, thought of repentance. for their fins, or amendment of their tives;.but went, on in. fin wathout, remorfe. or..reformation;. not, thinking any thing about it, and,not,feeing.any,.need of its

~ Sodom,.and the inbabitants. thereof as Gomorrah the, s prophets were. all, of them in God’s.account as thei) not, fauch as come from. the mouth of | who were exceeding great finners” i before the: Lord,’ daring-and impudent in finnings — and the people, the inhabitants of Yeru/jalem, that were led by them into \the fame wicked fentiments and practices, were like unto Gomorrah; and as they were like to them.in finning, fo they would be in punifhment 5 or alike punifhment would be inflicted upon the prophets and people of, Feru/a-, Jetty, as were, Upon, Sodom and Gomorrah, fee If, ix 9» LO.. bot GD Gata 67

¥..15. Therefore thus faith the Lord of hofts concerning the prophets, &c.] Concerning, the falfe prophets, as the Targum; their fin is, before de-, clared, and now their punifhment: debeld, L will Seed thim with wormwood; with fome bitter afflietion and calamity; fo the Zargum, ** behold, I ‘* will bring upon them diftrefs bitter.as worm ‘* wood;” they that have been fed with.dainties, and lived upon the fat of the land; their views in. pleafing the people with their lies being to. ferve their own. bellies; now. they, fhall. fare after an-+ other manner:, end make them drink thewaterof gall; or, the juice of hemlock, as fomes\ orepoifon, as others; the favour of death, fo Kimehts as they poifoned the people with their falfe doétrines, they fhali drink poifon themfelves; they, fhall not only have that which is bicter and. unpleafant, but.that which is noxious and. hurtful; not only a bitter potion, but a deftructive one. The Zargum is, ‘¢ T will caufe them to drink a cup of;the curfe, ** bad as the heads of ferpents;” as pernicious.as poifon; fee ch, viil. 14. and ix. 15: for from, the prophets of Ferufalem is prophanene/s gone forth into all the land; by their falfe doctrines, and bad.examples, debauchery; irreligion and wickednefs. of all kinds were encouraged, and. fpread all over the land; Yeru/alem, the metropolis of the nation, being infected by them, the contagion fpread from thence throughout the country.. Evil teachers havea bad influence all around them; from whom; and:frem whence, true doctrine and real religion fhould. have been propagated; from them,.and thence, was the fource of all impiety and pollution,. Somemender hypocrify and flattery of thefe falfe. prophets,.all manner of fin was countenanced;.and thelike hypocritical {pirit.and_ behaviour,every where =prevailed.: fy

(KAS LOTIRLEL ¥. 16. Thus faith the Lord of hoftsy bearken not unto the words of the prophets. that prophefy uute you, &c.]. Don’t hear them;,ftop) youn ears, at what they fay; give no credit to thems, DheLergum. is, ‘ do not, receive the words of. the/falfe you. vain, they filled their heads with vain-and empty things, and their hearts with, vain hopes, which deceived them;. fo the Targum, \nthey,de~

“ceive you;” they taught them yainthings;<and asians vain-and.finful in chsin lige or yerfations; and therefore were not to, be! hearkened to: they fpeak a vifion of their own heats out of, the mouth of ike Lord, what they imagine they. faw was. a device of their own hearts, ane what was agreeable to, them, which muft be bas enough; a produce of their own brains5 am i vention of their own; mere doétrines,of m revealed will, and according to his ord.

it, Lypocrify +, or flattery; as if by means\of the therefore not to be hearkened to; for nothing is to be heard and received in matters of religion, but what ‘is according to the revelation of God’s wilbin his word; fee Jf viii. 20. The Targum is, s¢ they {peak to you the wickednefs of their hearts, ** and not by the word of the Lord.” ~~ Ye17. They fay fill unto them that defpife me, &c.] That defpifed the word, worfhip and ordinances of the Lord; with fuch mockers and {coffers at religion, fuch abandoned creatures they affociated themfelves; finding that their prophecies and doctrines met with approbation and fuccefs among them. The Septuagint verfion is, they fay to them that put away the word of the Lord, reject it, and caft it behind their backs; fee Affs xiii. 46: the Lord hath faid, ye foall have peace; all manner of profperity; that they fhould dwell in their own jand, and not go into captivity, and enjoy the good things of it in peace and profperity; this they pretended they had from the Lord; which was an aggravation of their fins; not only to tell a lie, but to tell it in the name of the Lord, and in difect oppofition to what the true prophets faid from the mouth of the Lord, particularly Jeremiah: and they fay unto every one that walketh after the imagination of bis own heart, which is evil, and that continually, Gex. vi. 5. whofe courfe of life is after the lufts of his own “wicked heart; and a worfe. cuide than thefe a man cannot well have: and this is a true chara¢ter and defcription of an unregenerate man, who walks after the flefh, and not after the Spirit; after his own carnal heart, and the dictates of it; and not according to the will and word of God: and yet to fuch, to whom the Lord fays, there is no peace, the falfe prophets faid, no evil foall come upon you; no evil of punifhment for the evil of fin, as the prophets of the Lord had threatened; fiich as the {word, famine, ‘peftilence and captivity.. ¥.18. For who hath food in the counfel of the Lord? &c.|] Thefe are either the words of the prophet Jeremiah; fignifying that none of the falfe prophets were of God’s privy-council, or were acquainted with his fecrets, that they could tell the people they fhould have peace, and no evil come upon them; this they faid, not from divine revelation, but-from the imagination of their own hearts; for tho’ the Lord does nothing but he reveals it to his fervants, the prophets; yet not to men of fuch bad principles, and wicked lives, as they were: or rather thefe are the words of the falfe prophets; either taking this to themfelves, that they were of God’s privy-council, and’ knew his feerets, and afk who were befides themfelves; or elfe infulting the prophets of the Lord, as tho’ they took too much upon them to threaten the people with captivity-and deftruction, as if they were in the fecret of ‘the Moft High, and his privycounfellors:; but that they thought themfelves in fuch a fituation feems to be the fenfe, from y. 22:. and hath perceived, and heard his word? or, bath feen and heard his word.*? feen a vifion from him, and heard the word from his mouth, declaring the above things? or ‘/eez what was in his heart, what he purpoied and defigned to do; and beard ' what he faid he would do? who bath marked bis _ tavord, and beard it? Titened and attended. to it, JIswW:; e arid obeyed it? not the falfe prophets, but the trie ones as the Targum of the whole’ is, * for they * ftood not! (or rofé not up) that the fecret from ** before the Lord might be revealed to them 3 “and they faw not, nor heard his words; nof’ ** did they hearken to his word, nor receive;” or obey; underftanding this of the falfe prophets:

¥. 19. Bebold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, &c.] Or, bebold, a whirlwind of the Lord, ‘of the fury is gone forth”; which latter claufe explains the former and flows, that by the whirlwind of the Lord, is meant his fury or wrath; which, like a whirlwind, would*comeé fud - denly, and at an unawares, ‘and be very boifteroug and powerful, and carry all before it; and which was gone forth from the Lord in the decree and commiffion; «and would quickly break out and appear in the Chaldean army that would invade Judea and befiege ‘Yera/alem, compared to a full and fanning wind, and its chariots toa whirlwind, «ch. iv. 11, 12,13. from whence it would “appear, that thefe men, the falfe prophets, were not in the counfel of God; had feen no vifion from him, nor had marked his word; fince they prophefied of peace and profperity, when a bluftering ftorm was coming: even a grievous whirlwind, it foall fall grievoufly upon the head of the wicked; or reft © thereon; even on the head of the wicked prophets, and all fuch wicked perfons as give heed unto them; on them it would fall with its full weight, and give exceffive pain, and there continue to their utter ruin. Kimchi {ays this refers to the days of the Meffiah, when all the wicked fhall be confumed. It may refer to the deftruction of Jerufalem by the Romans, at leaft include it; which was a grievous whirlwind indeed.

¥.20. The anger of the Lord fhall not returns &c.] Having a commiffion from him, and being fent fofth en an errand to do bufinefs for him, it fhall not return to him, without having done it; as a fervant fent by his. mafter does not return till he has finifhed what he was fent ‘about: aii be have executed, and till he bave performed the thoughts of bis beart; all his counfels, purpofes and defigns refpecting thofe his anger is kindled againft, the falfe prophets and wicked Jews: in the latter days ye hall confider it perfettly; when too late to avert it by repentance and reformation; when all this fhall be fulfilled, and the feventy years captivity take place: or, iu the end of days *; in the latter part of time, when. the Jews fhall be converted, and feek the Lord their God, Ho/. iii. 5. then hall they underfland it with an unierflanding*, as it may be rendered; when they fhall have the Veil removed from them, and turn to the Lord; then they fhall have a true and thorough underftanding of thefé things; of the caufe and reafon of them; and of the mind of God in them, and the ends to be anfwered by them. Kinzchi fays this will be in the times of the’ Mefiah. rf y.21. Ihave not fent thefe prophets, yet they rats &c.] They might be fent of men, and be encouraged by them; but they’ were not fent of God: it is not only ne¢eflary that men employed in religious affairs fhould have an external call, in an orderly way from the church of Gods but alfo an internal cail from the’ Lord himfelf; he quali- en pfocella Jehove! ira exivit, fying them with gifts, putting his word into their mouths, and enclining their hearts to publifh it; fee Heb. v. 4, 5. but thefe falfe prophets had no miffion nor commiffion from the Lord, nor were they fent on any efrand, or with any meflage from him; and yet they ran, fhewed great diligence and zeal, and made hafte to tell the people what the Lord had never faid to them, but what were the warm imaginations of their own heads and hearts; they ran a race or courfe of miniftry, but it was not good, as iny.10. The Yargum adds, ‘‘ to «< do evil:” J have not [poken to them, yet they prophefied; wherefore what they prophefied was not the word of the Lord, but what they themfelves devifed; and fo was what was falfe, as the Targum adds: it is a fad character of men when they fpeak in public, neither by the will of God, nor according to the word of God.

¥.22. But if they had ftood in my counjel, &c.] As they boafted they did; or, as they reproached the true prophets, and charged them with vanity and arrogance, in talking as if they had; had this been truly their cafe, as it was that of the prophets of the Lord: and had caufed my people to bear my words; or, then they would have caufed my people to hear my words; had it been fo, they would have heard firft the words of the Lord themfelves in fecret and privately, and then they would have caufed the people to have heard them; they would not have gone to them with their own lies; they would not have dared to have done that; they would have delivered nothing but what they had heard from the Lord: shen they should, or, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings; and not have ftrengthened their hands, and hardened them in their wickednefs, and fo kept them from repentance and reformation, ¥.14. The Lord argues from the efficacy and fuccefs of the miniftry of the word to the truth of it, and their miffion from him; for tho’ a good miniftry is not always fuccefsful, at leaft fo fuccefsful as could be wifhed for, and as it might reafonably be expected it would; yet it is more or lefs fo; and at leaft it has a tendency to bring men off from their evil practices; and it attempts to do it, tho’ it may tail in the execution; whereas a wicked miniftry, fuch as this of the falfe prophets, had no tendency hereunto; nor was it the defign of it; nor did they attempt it; but, on the contrary, encouraged and hardened men in fin.

y. 23. Am I aGod at band, faith the Lord, &c.] Or near £; that is, in heaven; and only fees, and hears, and obferves perfons and things there, being near unto him: and not a God afar off? that fees, and hears, and takes notice of perfons and things at a diftance, even on earth. The meaning is, that he certainly was; and that perfons and things on earth were as much under his cognizance and notice, as perfons and things in heaven; which was quite contrary to the notions of thefe atheiftical prophets and people; who, like heathens, thought that God did not concern himfelf about perfons and things on earth. The Septuagint and Arabic verfions render it, without the interrogative, J am 4 God near, faith the Lord, and not afar off. The meaning is, that God is alike near in one place,.as in another; which is a very great truth; and a very comfortable one it is to the people of God, to whom he is near in all places, and at all times; f WWPiD € propinquo, Junius & Tremellius, Pifcator at a diftance from them, in the higheft he: and neither faw, nor heard, nor took any notice; vel propinquus, Schmidt.

he is a prefent help in time of trouble; he is near them, to hear their cries, and grant their requefts 5 he is near to give them affiftance in a time of need, and to deliver them out of all their troubles; to afford them his gracious prefence, and to indulge them with communion with himfelf; to communicate all good things to them; to {peak comfortably to them; to take them by the hand, and lead them in the way everlafting: he is at their righthand to uphold them with his, and to ftrengthen them with ftrength in their fouls; to advile and counfel, and direét them; to rebuke their enemies, and fave them from them, that condemn them; and indeed there are no people like them, who have God fo nigh unto them, in all things they call upon him for, Deut. iv. 7. and tho’ he may feem at times to be afar off, and ftand at a diftance from them; when he hides his face; withdraws his gracious influences; does not appear at once for their relief in diftrefs; but fuffers them to be afflicted in one way or another; yet in reality he is not; but is nigh unto them when they call upon him: and this truth is as uncomfortable and dreadful to wicked men, who cannot go from his Spirit, or flee from his prefence; which is every where, in heaven and hell, in’ the earth and feas, even in the uttérmoft parts of them; there his eye is upon them, and his right-hand can reach‘them; he is omniprefent, omniicient and omnipotent. The Zargum is, ‘‘ I God have created the world ‘* from the beginning, faith the Lord; and I God ‘¢ will renew the world for the righteous;” fee 2 Pet. iii. 13. and fome interpret the words of time, as well as of place; as if the fenfe was this, am I a God of late date, as the gods of the heathens are? no, Iam not: am I not a Ged from eternity, who was before the world was, and the creator of it, which they are not? verily I am: but the former fenfe is beft, and moft agreeable with the context, and what follows. ¥.24. Can any hide himfelf in Secret places, that I foall not fee him, faith the Lord? 8c.) Ifa man fhould hide himfelf in the moft fecret and hidden places of the earth, and do his works in the moft private manner, fo that no human eye can fee him; he can’t hide himfelf or his actions from the Lord, who can fee from heaven to earth, and thro’ the darkeft and thickeft clouds, and into the very bowels of the earth, and the moft hidden and fecret recefles and caverns of it. The darknefs and the light are both alike to him; and alfo near and diftant, open and fecret places: do not I fill heaven and earth, faith the Lord? not only with inhabitants, and with other effects of his power and providence; but with his effence, which is-every where, and is infinite and immenfe, and cannot be contained in either, or be limited and circumferibed by fpace and place; fee 1 Kings viii. 27. The Targum is, ‘* does not my glory fill heaven and ‘* earth, faith the Lord?” both of them are full of his glory; and every perfon and thing in either muft be feen and known by him; and fo the falfe prophets and their lies; in order to convince of the truth of which, all this is faid, as appears by the following words. ie ¥.25. I have heard what the prophets faic prophely lies in my name, &c.] Or, I bear the prophets fay *, &c. tho’ they thought Ge of what was done on earth, they were gieatly miftaken; he heard and obferved with indignation the falfe doctrines and lying prophecies, which they _ delivered out in his name to the people, whether in public or in private; for he is’ the Lord God omnifcient and omniprefent; and therefore though they deceived the people, they could not deceive him; who knew all their fchemes,’and all their defigns, ftom what principles they acted, and- with what views. Saying, I bave dreamed, I have dreamed; not a common dream, but a divine dream: this was one way in which the Lord formerly made known his mind and will to his fervants, Numb. xii. 6. wherefore thefe falfe prophets, in imitation of the true ones, and in order to gain credit from the people, pretended they had a dream from the Lord, in which fuch and iuch things were revealed to them; and this is repeated by them for the greater certainty of it, and to raife the people’s attention as to fomething very uncommon and extraordinary. So the Targum, “ faying, a word of *¢ prophecy has been fhewn to me in a dream.” Now, tho’ the people could not contradié& them, or know any otherwife than as they might obferve that they agreed not with the word of God, or with his will, as made known by the true prophets of the Lord; for if a man fays he has dreamed fo and fo, another can’t fay he has not; becaufe no man. knows the things of a man, fave the fpirit of a man that is in him; yet God, that knows all things, knew that thefe were all lies and impoftures, and that they had never had a dream from him, or any revelation of his will in that way. y¥. 26. How long fhall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophefy lies? 8c.) To invent fuch lies, and deceive the people, and turn them away from God; agreeably to the preceding and following verfes: this fhows that this was not through ignorance and inadvertence; it was a meditated and ftudied thing by them; they contrived it in their hearts, and they were refolute and bent upon it, and took much delight and pleafure in it; their hearts were in it, and it was in them to do as they did: and in this way they had been long, but fhould continue no longer. Or the words may be rendered, how long"? and a ftop be put there, being a fhort, abrupt expreffion, like that in P/- vi. 3. and the fenfe be, how long fhall they go on thus, pretending to dreams, and vifions, and revelations from the Lord, and fo impofe upon the people? fhall they always go on after this manner? no, they fhall not: and then the next words may be read, is there any thing in the heart of the prophets that prophefy lies*? nothing that is good; truth is not there; nothing but lies and deceit; the word of God is not there, a$ it is ‘with the true prophet of the Lord, he that hath my word, as in y. 28. there is no fear of God, nor knowledge of him and his will, nor faith in him, hor love to him, or any regard to his honour and glory. Yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own hearts; they prophely nothing but what their own. deceitful hearts fuggeft to them, whereby they are deceived themfelves, and deceive others, 2 Tim. ili. 13. ae.

¥. 27. Which think to caufe my people to forget my name, &c.| The Septuagint and Arabic verfions render it, my law. The word and worthip of God; from which men are drawn off by falfe teachers, and are in a fair way to be brought to atheifm, and to forget that there is a God; for when.once men are turned from the word of God to believe lies, and from the pure worfhip of God to a falfe religion, there is no knowing where things will end; and, indeed, it was the defign of thele falfe prophets, a fcheme and device of theirs, in which they hoped to fucceed dy their dreams; which, {ays the Lord, they tell every man to bis neighbour, privately from houfe to houfe, as well as publicklys to take off the people from all thoughts of God and his worfhip: as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal; or, by Baal*; by means of Baal’s prophets in Samaria, before-mentioned; who {educed J/rael from the pure worfhip of God, and made them forget him; having the name of Baal more in their minds and mouths, than the name of God. The Syriac verfion is, as their fathers forgot my name, and worfbipped Baal; and fo the Targum, ** as their fathers forfook the worfhip of *¢ my name, and fwore by the name of idols.”

¥. 28. The prophet that hath a dream, let him telt a dream, &c.| Thefe words are directed not to a true prophet of the Lord, that has a dream from him, or fomething communicated to him in a dream by the Lord, which he is to deliver as fuch; but to a falfe prophet, that fays he has dreamed; and if he has dreamed a dream, let him tell it as a dream'; fo fome fupply it, as the fruit of his own roving fancy and imagination in fleep and not call it a revelation from the Lord; and impofe it upon the people as fach. The Septuagint verfion is, let him tell bis dream, \et him tell it as his own, and not as a dream from the Lord. And he that hath my word, the word of prophecy by revelation, and under the influence of the Spirit of God, as the true prophets: my word; not the word of men, or the word fpoken by angels, or the icriptures in general; but the word of the gofpel, the word of peace and reconciliation, of righteoufnefs, life, and falvation; the evangelical part of the word, tho’ not to the exclufion of all the reft, but this chiefly: he that hath it; or with whom, or in whom it is™; who has it, not only in his hands to read, nor merely in his head, jo as to have {peculative notions of it; but has it in his heart, where it is come with power, and is become the ingrafted word; and who. has. a large fhare of fpiritual and experimental knowledge of it, and an ability and capacity to exprefs it to the edification of others. Let him [peak my word faith-. fully, or truly"; as it is. Minifters of the word are ftewards, and it is required of fuch that they be faithful, and a more honourable character they cannot well have; and then may the word’ of the Lord be faid to be fpoken faithfully, when nothing elfe is fpoken but that; when there is no mixture of man’s with it; and when the whole of it is fpoken, and nothing kept back or concealed; when a man’s views in it are fincere and upright, and he aims only at the glory. of God, and the k bya per Baslem,: Junius

PANN IIT TWN & penes quem eft verbum meum, Junius & Tremellius, Pifcator; at cum quo eft verbum meum, good of immortal fouls; when it is fpoken out, openly and boldly, not as pleafing men, but God, and as in his fight, to whom the account mutt be given: or, Jet bim [peak my word, truth°, which is truth; or for it is truth, as Kimchi; fo this is a reafon why it fhould be fpoken freely, fully, publickly, and boldly, becaufe it is truth, and nothing but truth: or, Jet him [peak my word as truth, or as it is’; it comes from the God of truth; it lies in the fcriptures of truth; the fubject-matter of it is truth, Chrift, who is truth itfelf, and thofe doétrines, relative to his perfon, office, and grace, and falvation by him; and it is the Spirit of truth that directs into it, owns it, and makes it ufeful. What is the chaff to the wheat, faith the Lord? there is no comparifon between the one and the other; the one is greatly preferable to the other; there is as much difference between the dreams and lies of the falfe prophets, and the word of God, as there is between chaff and wheat. Falfe doétrine is as chaff, light; when put into the balance of the fanétuary, it is found wanting; it is of no value; it is as wood, hay,-and ftubble, in comparifon of gold, filver, and precious ftones; it is not fit for food, and has no nourifhment in it, but the contrary, and its end is to be burned. Some doétrine is as wheat, choice and excellent, pure, folid, fubftantial, and of a nourifhing and ftrengthening nature. And what is the one to the other? or what have they to do with one another? they fhould not be mixed together, but feparated. So the Syriac verfion, why do ye mix the chaff with the wheat? fee 2 Cor. ii. 17. The Targum interprets this of perfons, paraphrafing the words thus, ‘‘ be- «© hold, as one feparates between the chaff and the “© wheat, fo I feparate between the righteous and “© the wicked, faith the Lord.” Wicked men are as chaff, fuch were the falfe prophets, and all ungodly men, for their emptinefs, lightnefs, unprofitablenefs, and for their being fit fuel for ever- Jafting burnings; fee Pf. i. 5. Matt. ii. 12. and good men, and true prophets of the Lord, and all the righteous, are as wheat for choicenefs and excellency, purity and folidity; and thefe are not to be mixed together, fhould not now, nor will they be hereafter, Matt, iii. 12. and xiii. 30.

¥.29. Is not my word like as a fire, faith the Lord? &c.] The legal part of it is as fire; it is called a fiery law, Deut. xxxiii. 2. like fire it is quick and piercing, and penetrating into the hearts and coniciences of men; and works wrath there, and raifes a fearful expectation of fiery indignation; it threatens with everlafting fire; it fentences men to the fire of hell; and the righteous judge, in the execution of it, will be a confuming fire to wicked men. The gofpel-part of the word is like fire, on account of the light, the entrance of it gives to finners; by which they fee their own impurity, impotence, and the infufficiency of their own righteoufnefs, and the way of life and falvation by Chrift; and by the light of this fire faints are direéted in their walk and converfation; and by it immoralities, errors, and fuperftition, are detected: alfo, on account of the heat of it; it is the.means of a vital heat to finners, the favour of life to them; and is warming and comforting to faints, and caufes their hearts to-burn within them; it inflames them with love to God, Chrift, and one another, and with zeal for truth, and the intereft of a Redeemer; though it has a fcorching and tormenting heat to

? Loquatur verbum meum ficuti efl, Schmidt, wicked men, and fills them with burning malice and envy, Rev. xi. 5, 10. and thro’ the corruption of human nature, is the occafion of contention and difcord, for which reafon Chrift calls it fre, Luke xii, 49. and indeed, it has different effects on different objects, as fire, which hardens fome things, and foftens others; fee 2 Cor. li. 16. moreover, it may be compared to fire for its purifying, feparating, and trying nature: as fire purifies gold and filver, and feparates the drofs, and tries, the metal, and fhews it what it is; fo the gofpel tries mens principles, and difcovers what they are, and feparates one from another: and alfo for its confuming nature; it oppofes, weakens, and burns up the worft in man, his lufts and corruptions, which it teaches him to-deny; and the beft in man, all his holinefs and righteoufnefs he depended upon; and it burns up the chaff of falfe doétrine, and human inventions, before-mentioned. And like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? to which the heart of man may be compared, being hardened by fin, confirmed in it; deftitute of {piritual life; ftupid and fenfelefs; ftubborn and inflexible; on which no impreffions are made, and is impenitent and inflexible; fee Zech. vii. 12. now the word of the Lord, in the hand of the Spirit, is a means of breaking fuch hard hearts, and taking away the obduracy and hardnefs of them; there is a legal contrition of it, thro’ the law-part of the word, by which there is a knowledge of fin, and the foul is wounded with a fenfe of it, and fore broken, but without any view of pardon, righteoufnefs, and {alvation by Chrift; and there is an evangelical contrition or brokennefs of heart, through the gofpelpart of the word, by means of which the ftony heart is not only broken, but melted and diffolved into true evangelical repentance for fin, thro’ the difcoveries of a Saviour bruifed and broken for its fin, and thro’ a view of free and full pardon by his blood, and juftification by his righteoufnefs. Now the word is only an inftrument; it is not the efficient caufe of all this; as an hammer is but an in{ftrument, and a paffive one, can do nothing of itfelf; it muft be taken up and ufed by a powerful hand, or it can do no execution; what’s an hammer without an hand? fo the gofpel is only an inftrument in the hand of the Lord; but when he takes it into his own hand, and ftrikes with it, it will break the hardeft heart in pieces, and make a ftony heart an heart of flefh, Ezek. xxxvi. 26. Affs Xi. 20, 21. Rom. i. 16. 1 Theff. i. 5. 2 Cor. x. ds 5 y. 30. Therefore behold, I am againft the prophets, faith the Lord, &c.] The falfe prophets, with whom the Lord was difpleafed; he fet himfelf againft them, and was determined to bring wrath and ruin on them. -So the Targum, ‘* therefore be- ‘< hold, I fend my fury againft the falfe prophets.” That fteal my word, or words *, every one from bis neighbour; either from the true prophets; beginning their prophecies as they did, with a thus faith - the Lord; and mingling fome words and phrafes ufed by them, the better to ingratiate themfelves among the people, and that they might be taken for the prophets of the Lord; as Pelagius, as Auftin fays, ufed the word grace, the better to hide his fentiments, and caufe them the more eafily to_ be received by the people: or from the falfe pro- -phets; they privately meeting, and confulting, and agreeing together, what they. fhould fay to the

Ch. xxiii. ¥.31—36. F¥ ER people, as if they were the words of the Lord: or elfe from the people themfelves; leffening their efteem for the words of the Lord; making them negligent of them, and indifferent to them} and caufing them to forget what they had heard and received, - ¥. 31. Behold, I am againft the prophets, faith the Lord, &c.} Not another fort of prophets diftinét from the former, or thofe that follow; but the fame under another character, and againft whom he was, and fet his face on another occafion. That ufe their tongues, at their pleafure, their lips being their own. So the Targum, ‘“* who prophefy ac- “* cording to the will of their own hearts;” talk in an haughty and infolent manner, fpeaking bold and daring things of the divine being; or in a boafting bragging manner, extolling themfelves, and fpeaking highly in theit own commendations; or rather in a flattering way to the people: fo fome read it, by a tranfpofition of a radical letter *, that fmooth their tongues, as Kimibi, or {peak fmooth things with their tongues, to pleafe the people: and fay, he faith; that is, the Lord, as the Vulgate Latin and Syriac verfions exprefs it; that fo they might be the more eafily believed. by the people; but this was highly provoking to God, to father their lies and falfhoods upon him.

¥. 32. Behold, I am againft them that prophefy falfe dreams, faith the Lord, &¢.].And not true ones, fuch as the Lord fpoke in to his prophets, and which they communicated from him to his people; fee Numb. xii. 6. And do tell them, and caufe my people to err by their lies, and by their lightne/s; by the falfe doctrines and prophecies which they delivered, and by their loofe and diforderly lives which they led; fo that they debauched the principles of the people by the former, and their practices by the latter. Kimchi interprets the word tranflated Aghtne/s, of lightnefs of their knowledge; as if it was through the fhallownefs of their judgments, and want of capacity in teaching, that the people were made to err by their falfe doctrines. The Yargum interprets it of their temerity or rafhnefs; and Schultens *, from the ufe of the word in the Arabic language, explains it of their pride and falfe glorying. Yet J fent them not, nor commanded them; wherefore they lied, and acted a vain-glorious part, when they pretended they were fent by him, and had their orders from him what they fhould fay;. fee ¥. 21. Therefore they /hall not profit this people at all, faith the Lord;. fo far from it, that they did them a great deal of hurt by their lies and flatteries; feducing them from the ways and worfhip of God, and leading them on in fuch as would iffue in their deftruction, and did.

¥. 33. And when this people, or a prophet, or a pricft fball afk thee, &c.) Any of the people, who were grown very prophane; or any of the falfe prophets, who encouraged them in ‘their irreligion and impiety; or any of the priefts, who were in combination with them. againft the true prophets of the Lord; when any of.thefe, in a {coffing jeering manner, fhould afk the prophet Feremiah, faying, what is the burden of the Lord? or prophecy in the name of the Lord, as the Targum; and becaufe fome of the prophecies are called burdens, fee I, xiii. 1. hence, by way of derifion, they called every one fo; and becaufe many of thefe, tho’ not

So the Tigurine verfion, Junius & Tremellius, Pifcator.

EMIAH. 503 all, were predictions of judgments aid calamities that were to cothe on men; therefore they accounted all that the true prophets brought from the Lord as fuch, and fneering afked, what bad news do you bring now? what calamities are now to befal us? as if he was always a bririger of evif tidings. Thou fhalt then fay unto them, what burden? making as if he was ignorant of what they meant} or rather as expreffing indignation and refentment at the queftion; do you afk me fuch a queftion? T’ll tell you what it is, as follows: tho’ the words may be rendered without an interrogation, thou fhalt then fay.unto them, that which is a burden *;, which will fall heavy upon themy and be a burden ‘unto them, and fink them down into ruin and deftruction. J will even forfake you, faith the Lord; {fo that they fhould have no more his prefence among them, or of ptophecy; with them, or of his protection of them.

¥. 34. Andas for the prophet, and the prieft, and the people, &c.] Be they one or the other, or all of them; no regard will be had to their character and office, rank and dignity: ‘hat fall fay, the burden of the Lord; ufing that phrafe in a bantering and ludicrous manner: J wall even punifh that man and his houfe,; not only he, but his family fhall fuffer for it. This fhowsthow much it is refented by the Lord, and what a dangerous thing it is to lampoon the word of God, to make a jeft of fcripture-phrafes, or to joke with them; this is foolifh jefting, which is not convenient, yea impious and abominable. It is alfo hard jefting with edge tools.

¥. 35. Thus fhall ye fay every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, 8c.) When conferring about religious things, and the word of God in particular; when any enquiry is made of another, whether any meflage from the Lotd by his prophets? or what is it? that it fhould not be put in fuch deriding and calumniating words, what is the burden of the Lord? but in more decent and be+ coming language, thus, what hath the Lord anfwered? and what hath the Lord fpoken? they might lawfully and laudably enquire of the pro-~ phet what anfwer he had received from the Lord, and what it was that he had faid to him, provided they were ferious in it, and afked with meeknet$ and fear: the word of God fhould be reverently fpoken of, and attended to:

¥. 36. And the burden of the Lord fhall be mentioned no more, &c:] Or the word of the Lord under that name, {peaking of it in a ludicrous and fcofing manner: for every man’s word fhail be his burden; every flout, fcoff, and jeer of his, at the word of the God, fhall fall heavily upon him, with weight upon his confcience, and prefs hini with guilt to the loweft hell; or, however, a heavy punifhment for his fin fhall light upon him: or as the words may be rendered, for bis word is a burden to every one“; that is, the word of the Lord is reckoned by every one a burden; and with them a burden and the word of the Lord ate fynonymous terms; which ought not to be, and was offenfive to the Lord; and therefore he forbids the ufe of fuch a phrafe, and threatens to punifh for it. For ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hofts, our God; derided them, and put a wrong fenfe upon them;

fuam, Pagninus, Gataker; fumentes blandam linguam fuam, dicito ad eos quodnam onus onus erit unicuique verbum fuum, Schmidt; ve verbum ejus, nempe, Dei, De Dieu.

and which is aggravated by their being the words of the living God, who is the true God, and his words true; and he lives, and is able to refent and punifh any ill ufage of him, and ill treatment of his words; and not the oracles of lifelefs idols: rand they are the words of ¢he Lord of hojts, of all armies above and below, and fo was able to make them good: and befides, they were the words of our God, the God of Jrael,; who had in all ages kept his covenant with them, performed his promifes to them, and had done great and good things for them.;

y. 37. Thus foalt thou fay to the, prophet, &c.] To Jeremiah, or any true prophet of the Lord; after the following manner, fhould every one addrefs him, that made any enquiry of the will of the Lord by him: what hath the Lord anfwered thee? and what bath the Lord fpoken? this is repeated from ¥. 35. for the confirmation of it, and for the direction of the people, and to thew how much the Lord approved of fuch a way of behaving towards his prophet, and himfelf by him,

¥. 38. But fith ye fay, the burden of the Lord, &c.] Seeing, notwithftanding all prohibitions of it, and directions to the contrary, they ftill perfifted to call prophecy by this name, and that in a jocofe and bantering way, and afked for it, and what it was, in a fcoffing manner: sherefore thus faith the Lord, becaufe you fay this word, the burden of the Lord will continue to ufe it, tho’ fo difpleafing to me: and I have fent unto you, faying, ye foall not fay, the burden of the Lord, and therefore could not plead ignorance of his will, or excufe themfelves, by faying they would have avoided it, had they known it was difagreeable to him: this was an aggravation of their impiety, that they fhould obftinately perfift in it, after he had remonftrated againft it by his meflages to them.

¥. 39. Therefore bebold, I, even I will utterly forget you, &c.] That is, fo behave towards them, as though they were intirely out of his fight and mind; fhew no affection to them; take no care of them; beftow no favours upon them; and no more have them under his protection. In the word here ufed, and rendered forget, and the word before ufed for a burden, there is an ele paranomafia *, which another language will not eafily exprefs; no doubt there is an allufion to that word in this. Aud I will forfake you, neither vouchfafe them his gracious prefence, nor his powerful protecting prefence, but give them up to the enemy: and the city that I gave you, ond your fathers, the city of Ferufalem, which he had given, to them to dwell in, and their fathers before them; but now they having finned againft him, and provoked him; therefore notwithftanding this grant of the place to them, and which is mentioned that they might not depend upon it, and buoy up themfelves with hopes that they fhould be in fafety on that account; as he had forfaken them, he would forfake that, and the temple in it, and give it up into the hand of the Chaldeans: and caft you out of my prefence; as ufelefs and loathfome. The Zargum is, ‘* I will remove you far away, and the city ‘* which I gave you and your fathers, from my ‘“* word;” it fignifies their going into captivity. ¥. 40. And I will bring an everlafting reproach upon you, &c.}] Which was a juft retaliation for reproaching, vilifying, and bantering his word: they who had been honoured fo much and fo long as the people of God, and their city counted the glory of the earth; yet now both they and that fhould be the by-word of the people, and had in the utmoft contempt, and that for ever, or at leaft a long time, even for a feries of ages; which has been their cafe ever fince their deftruétion by the Romans, and ftill is; for this cannot be reftrained to the fhort captivity of feventy years in Babylon; tho’ this reproach began then, and they never recovered their former honour and glory. And @ perpetual foame, which fhall uot be forgotten; the fame thing in different words, to heighten their difgrace, and confirm the perpetuity of it.

HIS chapter contains a vifion of two bafkets of figs, reprefenting the fews both in captivity and at Yerufalem. The vifion is declared, ¥. 1, 2, 3. where both time and place are pointed at, in which the vifion was feen, and the nature of the figs defcribed, and what paffed between the Lord and the prophet concerning them. The explication of the vifion begins, ¥. 4. and continues to the end of the chapter. The good figs were an emblem of the good people that were carried captive with Feconiah into Babylon, which the Lord fays was for their good; and he promifes to own them, and fet his eyes upon them for good, and that they fhould return to their own land, and have an heart to know him as their God, and return unto him, ¥.5, 6, 7. the bad figs fignify the people that were with Zedekiah at Ferufalem, and thofe that were in Egypt, who are threatened to be carried captive into all lands, and there live under the greateft reproach and difgrace; or be deftroyed in their own land by the fword, famine, or pettilence, ¥. 8, 9, 10.

¥. 1. The Lord fhewed me, &c.] A vifion, or in a vifion, what follows; for by this it appears that what was feen was not real, but what was exhibited in a vifionary way by the Lord, and reprefented to the mind of the prophet: and debold, two bafkets of figs were fet before the temple of the Lord; or pots, as Farchi; thefe do not fignify the law and gofpel, or the fynagogue and church, or the ews and chriftians, or hell and heaven, as fome have interpreted it, obferved by Ferom; but the Fews that were in captivity with Feconiab, and thofe that remained in Ferufalem with Zedekiah, as it is explained in fome following verfés. Thefe bafkets are faid to be fet before the temple of the Lord, not to be fold there, but to be pref to the Lord; in allufion to the bafkets of firft fruits, which, according to the law, were thither Lae for that purpofe, Deut. xxvi. 2. and fignify, the two people reprefented by them, were before the Lord, in his fight, were’ known to him, and judged by him. After that. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Feconiah the fon of Feboiakim Ring of Judah, and the princes of Fudah, with the carpenters and finiths from Ferufatem, and had brought them to Babylon; this was done when econiab had reigned but little Pos than three months, and in the eighth year of Nebuchad-