Exposition of the Whole Bible

Latin verfion; but rather a country of Jdumea, fo called from Uz the fon of Difhan, the fon of Seir, Lam. iv. 21. Gen, xxxvi. 28.; the land of the Philiftines; the petty kings of it, called the lords of the Phihjlines elfewhere, who were great enemies to the people of the Fews: the prophecy of their deftruction is in ch. xlvii. and whofe principal cities are next mentioned: aud

Afbkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Afhdod, of Afbkelon, and the fword in it, and ruin, fee ch. xlvii. 5, 7. Aezab is the fame with Gaza, whofe deftruction is alfo foretold in ch, xlvii.

1, 5. fee Affs viii. 26. Ekron was another of the cities of the Philiftines; fee 1 Sam. v. 10. and Apbdod is the fame with Azotus, another of their cities,

Ais viii. 40. called the remnant of Afhded, becaule the remains only of a once very {trong and fortified place; but was fo weakened and waited by P/am- _ miticus king of Egypt, in a blockade of it, for the {pace of nine and twenty years *, before he took it; that when he had got in it, it was but as, the carcafs of a city, to what it was before }.

mon.} All well-known and implacable enemies, of

Tjrael. The Edomites defcended from E/au; and the Moabites and Ammonites from Moab and Ammon, the two fons of Lot by his daughters. ‘Their de- {truction is prophefied of in ch. xlviii. and xlix.

y¥. 22. And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, &c.] ‘Two very ancient. cities in Phenicia, frequently mentioned together in {fcripture, being near each other. Their ruin is foretold in ch. xlvii. 4. And the kings of the ifles which are beyond the fea; which fome underftand of Greece and Italy, others of Rhodes, Cyprus, and Crete, and other iflands in the Mediterranean fea;. the Cyclades, as ‘ferom: but the words may be rendered, and the kings of the country by the fea-fide; and may defien thofe that dwell upon the coaft of the Mediterranean fea.

y. 23. Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, &c.| Thefe feem to be places in Edom or Idumea, of whofe deftruétion Feremiab. prophefies in ch. xlix. 7, 8, 20. or rather in Arabia and Mefopotamia. Ferom reckons them among the J/hmaelites and Saracens. "The perfons from whom they defcended, are mentioned in Gen. xxii. 21. and xxv. 3,15. And all that are in the utmoft corners; that is, either of the above countries, or of the whole earth: or, all shat bad their hair fborn.™, or the corners of their beards, which: Ferom {ays is applicable to the Saracens.

y..24. Aud all the kings of Arabia, &c.| Of Ayabia Peirea. And all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the defert, the other Aradians or mixed people, that dwell in Arabia Deferta, as the Sventtes, Nophades Kedarenes, and others;. and fo the Targum, ** and all the kings of the Arabians, “< that dwell in tents in the defert.” Of thefe fee the prophecy in ch. xlix, 28, 29.

¥. 25. And all the kings of Zimri, &c.| Of Arabia Felix, fo called’from Zimran, a fon of Abraham by Keturah, Gen. xxy..2. the fame whom Phuy" calls Zamerenes. ° And all the kings of Elam, or Perfia; who are prophefied againit in ch, xlix, 34—39. And all the kings of the Medes; who commonly go together with the Per/ians. Daag

¥..26. And all the kings of the north, far and neat, one with another, 8c.) That were on the

Fob, called by the Greeks Aufitis, as the Vulgate north of Fudea, the kings of Syria, and thofe that were near. to the kingdom of Babylon, whether - more remote from Fudea, or nearer it, and which joined one another in that part of the world. And all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth; the whole Babylonian monarchy, called the whole world;. as the Roman empire afterwards was, Luke ii. 1. And the king of Shefbach

Jhall. drink after them, or the king of Babylon, as the Targum; and that Badylon is meant by Shefhach, is certain from ch. li..41, but why it is fo called, is not fo eafy to fay. The Yewi/) writers make it to be the fame with Badylon, by a change of the letters in the alphabet, put in fuch a fituation, which they call Athbafh, in which Shin is put for Beth, and Caph for Lamed; and fo, inftead of Babel or Babylon, you have Shefbach, which is thought to be ufed rather than Babylon, that Nebuchadnez- — zar, now befieging Ferufalem, might not be irritated: but others take it to be the name of an idol of the Babylonians, from whence the city was called, which is not improbable; for, as Hillerus has obferved, their god Bel and Shefhach fignify the fame thing... Bel is the fame as Bebal, /wift; and Shefbach may be derived from the Arabic word Gi, which fignifies so move fwiftly®; and may. both be names of the fun, worfhipped by the Chaldeans, fo called from the fwiftnefs of. its motion. Now in Babylon ftood the temple of Bel or Shefhach, and fo might have its name from thence: and it may be further obferved, what has been by others, that the Babylonians had a public feftival, like the Saturnalia of the Romans, which held. five days, and was called Sacchea or Shace, as is fuppofed from their god Shach, to whom it was kept: to which may be added, that Mihael had the name of Méefbach given him in Babylon; Shach in the one, anfwering to E/ in the other, which fignifies God, Dan.i..7. Shach is ufed for a king or prince in the Perfic language to this day. And now the king of Shefhach or Babylon mutt drink of the cup, or be punifhed laft of all; who was the inftrument of deftroying moft of the reft, yet fhould. not go. unpunifhed, L AB

¥. 27. Lherefore thou foalt fay unto them, &cc.| To the feveral nations before-mentioned, prophefied againft: thus faith the Lord of hofts, the God of Ijrael, the Lord of armies, above,and.below, the fovereign of the whole univerfe; but,in a fpecial and peculiar manner the God of »J/rael: drink

ye, and be drunken, and fpue, and fall, and rife no

more; as is fometimes the cafe of drunken men; they drink till they are quite intoxicated, and become drunk, and then they fpue up what. they have drunk; and attempting to walk, fall, and fometimes fo as never to rife more; not only break their, bones, but their necks, or fall, into, places where they are fuffocated, or in one or other, where they lofe their lives. So it is fignified, that thefe nations fhould drink, of the cup of God’s wrath and fury; or his judgments fhould come upc them in fuch a manner, as that they fhould be obliged to part with all their riches, power, and authority; and fhould fall and fink into fuch a ruinous condition, as that they fhould never be able to rife more to a profperous one: Jecaufe of the fword that I will fend ameng you; by which, they fhould be deftroyed..The Targum joins this with _ the preceding claufe, thus, ‘* and ye fhall not rife 3 od aoe geek pfpom Bat. py 2 / orien gta IND SIP? Nat Hi ©) 285 yon “ net ode

“ from before thofe that kill with the fword, whom «¢ J fend among you.” y¥. 28. And it fhall be, if they refufe ‘to take the cup at thine hand to drink, &c.| To give credit to the prophecies of ruin and deftruction delivered by the prophet, but fay, thefe things fhall not be: then fhalt thou fay unto them, thus faith the Lord of hofis, ye foall certainly drink; or thofe judgments fhal! certainly be inflicted; there will be no poffibility of efcaping, whether they were believed’ or no; or how unwilling foever they were to believe the denunciations of them, or to have them come upon them; yet affuredly fo it would be; for thus faith the Lord of hofts, who is omnipotent, and does what he pleafes in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, over whom he has a defpotic power and government. ¥. 29. For lo, I begin to bring evil upon the city which 1s called by my name, &c.|} Ferufalem, the city of God, the holy city, where his name was called upon, and he was worfhipped; on this he would firft bring down his judgments; and indeed he had already begun to bring evil on it; for this very year Nebuchadnezzar came up to befiege it, and carried fome -away captives: | and fhould ye be utterly unpunifbed? or could they expect to go free from punifhment, who had fo grofsly finned, and were guilty of fuch abominable idolatries, and had been the means of “drawing in the people of God into the fame? and therefore, fince the profeffing people of God, who-had been drawn in by their - examples, were punifhed, they could not, they ought not, to think of efcaping. See the like argument in Luke xxiii. 31. 1 Pet. iv..17, 18. Ye foall not be unpunifbed, or cleared, or acquitted, or go free; but made inftances and examples of vindictive juftice: for I will call for a fword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, faith the Lord of hojts, or I will call them that kill with the fword, as the Targum,; who will obey the call, anfwer to it, and come forth and flay the inhabitants of the earth, and none fhall efcape. ¥. 30. Therefore prophefy thot againft them’ all thefe words, and fay unto them, 8c.] What follows, as well as declare all that is before {poken concerning the cup. of fury, all nations muft drink of: the Lord foall roar from on high, from heaven, like a lion, in violent claps of thunder; or in fuch dreadful difpenfations of his providence, as will be very amazing and terrifying: dnd utter his voice from his holy habitation, from heaven, as before; and tho’ it will be terrible, yet quite confiftent with his holinefs and juftice: 4e /ball mightily roar upon his habitation, the temple at Feru/alem,; where he had his refidence; but now fhould be deferted by him, and feel the effects of his wrath in the deftruction and defolation of it: or rather, fince the addrefs is made to the nations of the world, and not to the ews, it may be rendered, z# or out of bis habitation®; and fo defigns heaven, as before; and all thefe expreffions are intended to fhow both the certainty and terriblenefs of the difpenfation. He fball give a fhout, as they-that tread the grapes, againjt all the inbabitants of the earth; or, anfwer a fhout*; give the onfet for battel againit the inhabitants of the earth, as the general-of an army; which is accompanied with a fhout, like that which is made by workmen treading in the wineprefs, to encourage one another to go-dn the more chearfully in their work.

¥. 31. A noile fhall come even to the ends of the earth, &c.] Wars, and rumours of wars every where, till the cup has gone round, and all nations have drank of it, and have felt the power of divine wrath for their fins: for the Lord hath 2 controver[y with the nations; will enter into a judicial procefs with them; will litigate the point with” them, and try it openly; that it may be feen who» is in the right, and who in the wrong: 4e will plead with all flefh; or enter into judgment with them, as Kimchi; or reprove them in judgment, as Farchi; he will be too many for them; he will carry his caufe, overcome them in judgment, and reprove and condemn them. Or the words may be rendered, be will be judged by all fleh+; he will fubmit it to the judement of the whole world, if it is not a righteous thing in him to do what he is about to do, and will do; he will make it clear and manifeft, that he does nothing unjuftly, but all according to the ftrict rules of juftice and equity: be will give them that are wicked to the fword, faith the Lord; to be deftroyed by it, and none but them; and feeing they are fuch that deferve it, he is not to be charged with unrighteoufnefs in fo do-_ ing.

¥. 32. Thus faith the Lord of hofts, behold, evil fball go forth from nation to nation, &c.] Begin in one nation, and then go on to another; firft in Judea, and then in Egypt, and fo on; like a catching diftemper, or like fire that firft confumes one houfe, and then another; and thus fhall the cup go round from nation to nation, before prophefied of: thus beginning at Yudea, one nation after another was deftroyed by the king of Babylon, then he and his monarchy were deftroyed by the Medes and Per-' fians; and then they by the Macedonians; and then the Greeks by the Romans. And a great whirlwind foall be raifed up from the coafts of the earth, or, from the fides of it‘, that is, from the ends of it, as the Targum, which paraphrafes it,’ ‘° and many ‘* people fhall come openly from the ends of the *¢ earth;” this was _firft verified in the Chaldean army under Nebuchadnezzar, compared to a whirl+ wind, ch. iv. 13. and then in the Medes and Perfians under Cyrus; and after that in the Greeks under Alexander; thé great and laft of all in the Romans under Titus Vefpafian..

¥..33. And the flain of the Lord, &c.} Slain by his permiffion, yea by his orders, according to his will, in his wrath and fore difpleafure, and to glorify his vindictive juftice: /hall be at that day from one end of the earth, even unto the other end of the éarth; not that this fhould be at one and the fame time; for there never was fuch a time, that there was fuch a general flaughter in the world, that the flain fhould reach from one end to the other; but that within the difpenfation, in which the cup fhould go round to all nations, meant by that day, the flain of the Lord would be in all parts of the world; or that according to his will, there would be a great flaughter every where, as the cup went round, or the fword was fent, firft ravaging one country, and them another... They foall not be lamented; having no pity from their enemies; and as for their friends, they'll fhare the fame fate with them; fo that there will be none refpondebit, Schmidt; celeufma refpondebit, Gataker. © er 555 Son ODw’) judicium fabibit ipfe cum omni to mourn over them: seither gathered, taken up from the field of battel where they fall; but where they thould fall, there they fhould lie; nene gathering up their bodies or bones, in order for interment: wor buried; in the fepulchres of their fathers, nor indeed in any place, or in any manner; as not in any grand and magnificent manner, fo not fo much as in a common way. They fhall be dung upon the ground, {pread upon it, and lie above it, as dung, to manure the earth.

¥. 34. Howl, ye foepherds, and cry, &c.) The Targum is, ‘* howl, ye kings, and cry.;” and the rulers and governors of the nations before threatned with deftruction are meant; who are here called upon to lamentation and mourning for the ruin and lofs of their kingdoms; though Ca/vin thinks that this is an apoftrophe to the Yewi/h nation, and the rulers of it. It is no uncommon thing in {cripture to call kings and ciyil magiftrates fhepherds fee Fer. xxiii. 1, 2. Zech. x. 3. and xi. 3. And wallow yourfelves in the afhes ye principal of the flock; or roll yourfelves in dutt, as a token of mourning; as being in the utmoft diftrefs, and uncapable of helping themfelves, and redreffing the grievances of their people; and therefore lie down and tumble about as in the greateft anxiety and trouble. The Yargum is, ‘* cover your heads with * afhes, ye mighty of the people;” meaning thofe who were in the higheft pofts of honour and profic; the chief as to authority and power, riches and wealth. For the days of your flaughter, and of your difperfions are accomplifoed, the time is come, when they who were the fat of the flock, and were nourifhed up for flaughter, fhould be flain. ‘The allufion to fhepherds and fheep is {till kept up; and fuch who fhould efcape that, fhould be icattered up and down the world, as a flock of fheep is by the wolf, or any other beaft of prey, when fome are feized and devoured, and others difperfed; and this was not the cafe of the Fews only, but of other nations in their turn. dd ye fhall fall like a pleafant vefél; a veffel of worth and value, and fo defirable; as vefiels of glafs, of gems, or of earth, as of Venice glafs, of Alabafter, of China; which when they fall and are broken, become ufelefs, and becaufe of the certainty of it: for the Lord bath Spoiled their paftures, their kingdoms, provinces, — cities, and towns; or their people, as the Targum, among whom they lived, and by whom they were fupported; {till keeping up the metaphor of the fhepherd and flock. This the Lord is faid to do, becaufe he fuffered it to be done, yea, ordered it to be done, as a punifhment for their fins.

¥. 37. And the peaceable habitations are cut down, &c.] Or, their peaceable ones, as the Targum; the palaces and ftately dwellings, in which they lived in great pomp and profperity, in great peace, plenty, and fafety, are deftroyed by the enemy, and laid wafte, and become defolate; yea, even thofe that lived peaceably and quietly, and neither were difturbed themfelves, nor difturbed others, yet, as is ufual in times of war, fhare the fame fate with their neighbours, who have been more troublefome and molefting: becaufe of the fierce anger of the Lord; or from before it, from the face of it; fhall be deftroyed by it, that being difplayed; and ufing enemies as inftruments in the deftruction of them. Sin is the caufe of God’s wrath and fierce anger, and his wrath and anger the caufe of the deftruétion of men and their habitations, whoever are the inftruments,

¥. 38. He bath forfaken bis covert-as a lion, &c.} Which fome underftand of God leaving Feru/alem, or the temple, where he dwelt; who whilft he made it his refidence, protected it; but when he forfook it, it became expofed to the enemy. Kimchi fays, it may be underftood of the deftruction of the firft temple by Nebuchadnezzar; but he thinks it is righteft to interpret it of the deftruction of the fecond temple; that is, by the Romans, when it was left defolate by Chrift, the lion of the tribe of Fudab.. But it may be underftood of Nebuchadnezzar leaving Babylon, his den, and ranging about like a lion for shis prey; fee ch. iv. 7. and 1.17. So the Zargum, ‘* and a king has re- ** moved from his tower or fortrefs.” And the land is defolate, the land of Fudea, or whatfoever country he comes into with his army; that, or Egypt, or any other: decauje of the fiercenefs of the oppreffor, the tyrant Nebuchadnezzar; or oppreffing are irreparable; fignifying hereby, that their de- /word “, as fome fupply it, it being feminine; and firablenefs and excellency would not fecure them from deftruétion, and that their ruin would be irretrievable.

¥. 35. And the /bepherds foall have no way to flee, &c.] Or, and flight fhall perifh from the fhepherds"; tho’ they may attempt it, they fhall not be able to accomplifh it; neither the dignity of their perfons, the greatnefs of their power, or the abundance of their riches, would make a way for them; their enemies being fo numerous, powerful, and watchful: zor the principal of the flock to efcape; this was particularly verified in Zedekiah and his princes, ch. xxxix. 4, 5, 6. The Targum is, “‘ and “* the houfe of fugitives fhall perifh from the kings, ** and deliverance from the mighty of the peo- “< nile y 36. And @ voice of the cry of the shepherds, @&c.] Or of the kings, as the Targum: and an howling of the principal of the flock thall be heard; of the mighty of the people, as the fame; what is before called for, is here reprefented as. in fact,

* PINT gladii opprimentis, Junius & Treme fo the Zargum, “‘ from before the fword of the “< enemy.” Some render it, decaufe of the fiercenefs of the dove; fo the Vulgate Latin; and underftand it of the Babylonians or Chaldeans; who as the Romans had an eagle, they had the dove on

| their ftandards or enfigns; which they received from the Affrians, when they fucceeded them in their monarchy; and thofe from Semiramis their firft queen, who had it, it is faid, on her ftandard *; and was retained in honour of her, and in memory of her being nourifhed by a dove, and turned into one after her death, as commonly believed ¥; and who had her name, as is afirmed *, from the word MVDY Semira, fignitying, in the Chaldee language, the fong or cooing of the dove; but fiercenefs ill agrees with the dove, which is a meek and harmlefs creature. And becauje of his fierce anger; either of God, or of the king of Babylon his inftrument, in deftroying nations; not Judea only, but many others. 0 CHaTae

HIS shapes gives an account of ‘Feremiah’s preaching; of his being apprehended by the people; of his “defence of himielf, and acquittance upon it, The time when, place where, and _perfons to whom the prophet delivered his difcourfe, are pointed at in ¥. 1, 2. the fubftance of it was, that if the people of the Jews would repent of their fins, and turn from them, the Lord would avert the evil he had threatened them with;. but if not, he would make their temple like Shilob, and their city a curfe to all the earth, ¥. 3, 4, 5, 6. upon hearing which the people feized him, and vowed he fhould die, becaufe he had prophefied of the deftruction of their city and temple, ¥. 7, 8,9. which the princes hearing of, came from the king’ s houfe to one of the gates of the temple, and fat as a court of judicature; to whom the priefts and prophets aceufed Yeremiah of the above things,. as worthy of death, ¥. 10, 11. and before whom the prophet made i eee! alledging his miffion and orders from the Lord; and therefore, inftead of recanting, repeats his exhortation; and as for himfelf, he was not careful what they did to him; but advifes them not to fhed innocent blood, fince it would bring evil upon them, y. 12, 13, 14, 15. upon which the princes acquit him, and. declare him innocent, ¥. 16. and this is confirmed by a like inftance of Micah the prophet, in the times of

Hezekiah, who prophefied of the deftruction of Ferufalem, and yet was not put to death, ¥. 17, 18, rg. and by a contrary inftance.of Uriah, in the then prefent reign of Fehoiakim, who had beem put to death for the like, but wrongly, ¥. 20, 21, 22, 23. and in the iffue, Feremiab, through the good office of Abikam the fon of Shaphan particularly, was faved from being put to death, y. 24.

. 1. In the beginning. of the reign of Feboiakim the fon. of Fofiah king of Fudah, &c.] So that. the prophecy of this chapter, and the faéts,and events connected with it, were before the prophecy of the preceding chapter, tho’ here related; that being in the fourth year, this in the beginning of. eboiakim’s reign... Fofiah was lately dead; Fehoabax his fon reigned but three’ months, and then was depofed by Pharaoh Necho king of Zgypt; and this Fehoiakim, another fon of Fofah, who before was called Eliakim, was fet on the throne; and quickly after his coming to it,, came this word fromthe Lord, faying; as follows, to, the prophet... This was-in the year of the, world, 3394, and. before Chriit 610, according to bifhop Ufer*;. with whom agree,Mr,. Whifton °, and, ni authors of the Univerfal Hiftory,*.

the Lord’s houfe, 8c.) In the, great court of Lfrael, where the people ufed to meet together for worfhip: and jpeak unto all the, cities of Fudab;, the inhabitants of them; not only to thofe that) dwelt at Ferufalem, but jin the reft of the cities of Fudab;

for what: he was, to fay concerned. them. all,.they having all finned, and. needed repentance ane re- fear of them; obeyed, let the confequence be what it will: nifp not a words {often not any expreffion, or alter to worfhip in the Lord’s houfe; as they did three times in the year, at the feafts of paflover, pentecoft, and tabernacles; and it was now the laft of thefe, as bifhop Ufher thinks, when this prophecy was to be delivered to them: al] the words that I command thee to [peak unto them; nothing mutt be kept back, the whole counfel of God muft be declared;

not a word fupprefled thro’ affection to them, or God commanded, and ieanit be dimi- any word, by putting one more fmooth for one rough; or change the accent, or abate of the vehemency of delivering it; but both for matter, manner, and form, let it fe as directed, without any {ubftraction and diminution, change or alteration: a rule which every minifter of the word ought to attend to; feeking not to pleafe men, but God that fends him, and Chrift whofe minifter he is.

¥. 3. If fo be they will hearken, &c.| And obey; which is expreflive not of ignorance and conjecture in God, but of his patience and long-fuffering, granting {pace and time for repentance, and the means of it; which difregarded, leave without,excufe: and turn every man from bis evil way, his feries and courfe of life, which was evil, and was the cafe of every one; fo that as their fin was general, the reformation ought to be fo too: that I may repent.me of the evil which I purpofe to do unto them, or aim thinking, or devifing“ to do unto them; which repentance muft be underftood not of a change of mind, but of the courfe.of his providence towards them, which, by. his. threatnings, and fome fteps taken, portended ruin and deftruction; yet, in cafe of repentance.and reformation, he would change his method of action, agreeable to his will: decaufe of the evil.of their doings, this was the reafon why he had \threatened them with the evil of punifhment, becaufe of the evil of their, actions; which were breaches, of his law, and fuch as provoked the eyes of his glory.

¥.4..And thou fhalt. fay unto them, &c.| What follows.’ is the fubftance of the prophecy, and the fam.of thé. fermon or difcourfe he was fent.to deliver, without diminifhing a\.word of. it: 7f ye will not bearken to me, to;twalk in my law which L have fet before yous firft.by Mofes, by whofe hands it was given to their fathers;.and by the prophets, the interpreters of it, to them; before whom it was fet, as a way for them to walk in, anda rule to walk by 5 a directory for them’ in’-their lives and converfations; and which continues to be fo, as it is fet before us chriftians by our king and law-giver Jefus Chrift; tho’ not to obtain righteoufnefs and life by the works of it; which thould not be fought for, nor are attainable thereby.

Me i5- To g hearken to the words of my fervants, the

the law; the doétrines they deliver; the exhortations, cautions and reproofs.given by them in,the name of the Lord, whofe fervants they were.;; and formation; without which they would be involved therefore fhould be hearkened to; fince hearkening which ae to them is hearkening | to, the Lord himfelf, in

whofe name they fpeak, and whofe meflage they deliver: whom I fent unto you, both rifing up early, and fending them, they had their miffion and commiffion from the Lord; and who was careful to fend them betimes, if they might be inftruments to do them good, and prevent their ruin; they crime: had he faid what he thought fit to fay in his own name, they fuggeft it would not have been fo bad; but to vent his own imaginations in the name of the Lord, this they judged wicked and blafphemous, and deferving of death; efpecially fince what he faid was againit their city and temple:

had the beft of means, and thefe feafonable, and /aying, this houfe hall be like Shilob? forfaken and fo were left without excufe: (dut ye have not hearkened); neither to the Lord, nor to his prophets; but went on in their own ways, neglecting the law of the Lord, and the inftructions. of his fervants.

¥. 6. Then will I make this houfe like Shiloh, &c.] Where the ark was, until it was taken by the Philiftines, and then the Lord forfook his tabernacle there, Py: lxxviii, 60. and fo he threatens to do the like to the temple at Ferufalem, fhould they continue in their difobedience to him; fee the note on ch. vii. 12, 14: and will make this city a curfe to all the nations of the earth; that is, the city of Ferufalem, which fhould be taken up, and uied proverbially in all countries; who,: when they would curfe any one, fhould fay, the Lord make thee as Ferufalem, or do unto thee as he has done to 7erufalem.

¥. 7. So the priefts, and the prophets, and all the people, &c.] As-it was in the temple, in one of the courts of it, that Feremiah was, and-faid the above things; it is no wonder to hear of the priefs, fince they were there about their work and fervice; the prophets, were the falfe prophets, as the Septuagint and Arabic verfions exprefsly call them; and all the people, were all the males out of the feveral cities of Fudah, who were come up to the temple on the account of the feaft,; fee ¥. 2: now thefe heard Feremiah {peaking thefe words in the houfe of the Lord; in the temple; in the court of J/rae;

they heard him out, and did not interrupt him while he was {peaking; and having heard him, they were angry with him, and were witneffes againft him; they did not hear him, fo as to obey his words, receive his inftructions, and follow his directions; but they heard him with indignation, and were determined to profecute him unto death.

¥.8. Now it came to pafs when Feremiah had made an end of /peaking, &c.] For they let him alone till he had done, either out of reverence of him as a prieft and prophet; or they were awed by a fecret influence on their minds that they might not difturb him: al] that the Lord had commanded him to {peak unto all the people; he did as he was ordered, kept back nothing, not fearing the refentment of the people, but fearing God: that the priefts, and the prophets, and all the people took him; the priefts and the prophets were the leading men in this action; they ftirred up the people againit him, and thro’ their inftigation he was feized and laid hold on: faying, thou halt furely die, fignifying that they would bring a charge againft him, which they were able to fupport, and which by the law would be death; unlefs they meant in the manner of zealots to put him to death themfelves, without judge or jury; and which they would have put in execution, had not the princes of the land, or the great Sanbedrim, heard of it; and therefore to prevent it, came to-the temple, as is afterwards related.

¥. 9. Why haft thou prophefied in the name of the Lord? &c.)_ Made ufe of his name in declaring deftroyed; that is, the temple: and this city fhall be defolate without an inbabitant? fo they wrefted his words; for this he did not fay, only that it fhould be a curfe to all the nations of the earth: and all the people were gathered againft Feremiah in the houfe of the Lord; befides thofe that were in the temple that heard him; others, upon a rumour that he was apprehended by the priefts, and prophets, and people in the temple, got together in a mob about him: or, they were gathered to * him; to hear what he had to fay in his own defence; and it appears afterwards that they were on his fide, y¥. 16.

¥. 10. When the princes of Fudabh heard thefe things, &c.] The tumult there was in the temple;

thefe were the princes of the blood, or the nobles of the realm, particularly the courtiers, and who were of the king’s privy-council; or elfe the great Sanhedrim, confifting of feventy perfons, and were the chief court of judicature: then they came up from the king’s houfe, to the houfe of the Lord; from the royal palace where they refided; by which it fhould feem that they were the king’s courtiers, and counfellors, and officers of ftate; unlefs in thofe times the Sanhedrim fat there; from hence they came up to the temple, where Jeremiah and the priefts, €%c. were, which being built on a hill, was higher than the king’s palace; and. therefore are faid to come up to it: and fat down in the entry of the new gate of the Lord’s houfe; as a court of judicature, to hear and try the caufe between the prophet and his accufers. This gate of the temple is thought to be the higher gate, which Fotham built, 2 Kingsxv. 35. The Targum calls it, the eaftern gate; and fo Kimchi fays it was; and that it was called the mew gate, according to the Rabbins, becaufe there they renewed the conftitutions and traditions; tho’ he thinks the better reafon is, becaufe newly repaired, or fome new building was added to it. ‘archi alfo fays, it was the eaftern gate; and gives this reafon for its being called mew; that when Fehoiakim was carried captive, and fome of the veffels of the temple, Nebuchadnezzar’s army broke the eaftern gate, which Zedekiah afterwards repaired, and made new; but if fo, it is here called new by a prolepfis; or this account was written after that time::

y¥. 11. Then fpake the pricfis and the prophets unto the princes, and to all the people, &c.| The priefts and the prophets they were the accufers; the princes were the court before whom thé caufe was brought; and the people were the hearers of it; tho’ it does not feem as if they were. a fort of jury, or had any vote in determining; tho’ they fometimés had in inftigating a court, and. the judges of it, to take on the fide of the queftion they were for: faying, this man is worthy to die, or, the judgment of death is to this man‘; he is guilty of a capital crime, and judgment ought to be given againft him, and he condemned to die: for ke hath — prophefied againft this city, the city of Ferufalem; faying that it fhould be a curfe to other nations;

a falfhood, as they would have it; this was the or, as they interpreted it, that it fhould be utterly