y¥. 31. Bebold, the days come, faith the Lord, &c.] This refers to gofpel-times, as is. clear from the quotation and application by the apoftle, Hed. vii. §$—12. and it is owned by a modern Few ', to belong to the times of the Meffiah. It is introduced with a Jebold, as a note of attention, pointing to fomething of moment, and very agreeable and defirable, as the covenant of grace, its blef- new covenant with the houfe of Urael, and with the houje of Fudab; by this covenant is meant the covenant of grace; called new, not becaufe newly made, for it was made with the ele in Chrift trom everlafting; fo early was Chrift fet up as the Mediator of it; and fo early were promifes made, and bleffings given, to them in him: nor becaufe newly revealed; for it was made known to all the faints, more or lefs, under the former difpenfation, particularly to David, to Abraham, yea to our firft parents immediately after the fall, tho” more clearly manifefted under the gofpel-difpenfation; but becaufe of its new mode of exhibition; not by types, and fhadows, and facrifices, as formerly; but by the miniftry of the word, and the adminiftration of gofpel-ordinances; and in diftinction from the former covenant, which is done away, as to the mode of it; and becaufe it is a famous covenant, an excellent one, a better covenant, bet of all; better than the covenant of works, and even better than the covenant of grace, under the former adminiftration; in the clear manifeftation, and extenfive application of it; and in the ratification of it by the blood of Chrift; befides, it provides and promifes new things, as a new heart, and a new fpirit; to which may be added, that it may be called new, becaufe it is always new; it continues, it ftands firm, as Kimchi obferves, and fhall not be made void; it will never be fucceeded nor an— tiquated by any other covenant, or any other mode of adminiftration of it. The perfons with whom this covenant is faid to be made, are, the hou/e of Ifrael, and of Judah; which was literally true of them in the firit times of the gofpel, to whom the gofpel was firft preached, and many of them were called by grace, and had an application of covenant-bleffings made to them; and is myitically to be underftood of God’s elect, whether Fews or Gentiles; the J/rael after the fpirit; J/raelites indeed, ews inwardly, even all that are fellow-citizens of the faints, and of the houfhold of God, the middle wall of partition being broken down: and this making of a covenant with them, intends no other than a making it known unto them, fhewing it to them, and their intereft in it; in God, as their covenant-God; and in Chrift, as the Mediator of it; and an application of the bleffings and promifes of it to them.
¥. 32. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, &c.] Meaning not dbrabam, Ifaac and Facob, but the anceftors of the Fews that came out of Egypt, as appears by what follows. This was the covenant made at Sinai, which is here referred to; but the above covenant was not according to that; for, tho’ it was not properly a covenant of works, but a typical one; yet it was in fome fenfe faulty and deficient; or however, the perfons under it were faulty, and did not keep it; and befides, it was made with the J/raelites; whereas this new covenant belongs both to Fews and Gentiles. That the Sinai-covenant is intended, is clear by the following circumftances: in the day that I took them by the band, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; that is, immediately after their being brought out of Egypt, the covenant was made with them; fee Exod. xix. 1—8. and xxiv. 7, 8. at which time of their bringing out, the Lord took them by the hand, as being unable to deliver themfelves, and to go out of themfelves; which is expreffive, as of their weaknefs, fo of his power and goodneis, kindnefs and tendernefs to them;
and is an aggravation of their ingratitude to him in breaking the covenant, made with them at fuch a time by the Lord, who was fo kind and indulgent to them; and which is ftill more fully exprefled in the following claufe: which my covenant they brake, altho’ I was an bufband unto them, faith the Lord, they promifed fair, but did not perform; their hearts were not right with God, nor were they ftedfaft in his covenant; tho’ it was fuch a folemn tranfaétion, and had the nature of a matrimonial contract; it was the day of their efpoufals; they were betrothed to the Lord, and he ated the part of an hufband to them in nourifhing and cherifhing them, in providing food and raiment _ for them; manna that continued with them, and cloaths that waxed not old 5 and in protecting them from their enemies, and bringing them to a g fettlement in the land of Canaan. The Septuagint verfion renders it, and J regarded them not; and fo the apoftle, Hed. viii. 9. for the reconciliation of which to the Hebrew text, fee the note on the fame. 2 ema ¥. 33. But this fhall be the covenant that I will make with the houfe of Ijrael, after thofe days, faith the Lord, &c.] The feveral articles or branches of the covenant next follow, which fhew it to be different from the former: I will put my ldw in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; not the ceremonial law, which was abolifhed when this covenant was made; but rather the moral Jaw ftill in force, which is a tranfcript of the nature and will of God; was infcribed on Adam’s heart in innocence; is greatly obliterated by fin; a contrary difpofition to it is in man; this is reinferibed in regeneration; and hence a regard is had to it by regenerate perfons, in which lies part of their conformity to Chrift: or elfe, fince the word here ufed fignifies doétrine or inftruction, the gofpel and the truths of it may be meant; fee Jf ii. 2. and xlii. 4. Rom. iii. 27. which haye a place, and dwell in the hearts of renewed ones. The Septuagint verfion reads it in the plural number, Jaws; and fo does the apoftle, Hed. viii, 10. and may-defign the ordinances of the gofpel, and the commandments of Chrift; which fuch, who are called by grace, have at heart to keep, and are made willing to be. fubject to; befides, the principle of grace in the, foul is called, the law of the mind, Kom, vii. 23. it has the force of a law; is a reigning, governing. principle, and which is implanted -in the heart by, the Spirit and power of God; the tables on which, this law or laws are written, are not tables of ftone, but the flefhly tables of the heart; the heart is. the proper feat, both of the law of God and gofpel of Chrift, as well as of the grace of God in — all regenerate perfons: and the putting of thofe things there denotes knowledge of them, as of the fpirituality of the law, and its perfection; that. there is no righteoufnefs by it, and is only fulfilled by Chrift; and that it is a rule of pea converfation; and alfo of the do¢trines of the el, in the power and favour of them, and of the or-_ dinances of it, fo as to practife them, and walk. in them; and an experience of the truth and reality, of internal grace: and writing them here, may denote affection for, and fubjection to, the above. things; and a clear work of grace upon the foul, — fo as to be legible, and appear to be the epiftle of. Chrift, written not with the ink of nature’s power,. but by the fpirit of the living God; fee 2 Cor. iii, 3. This paflage is applied to future times, the times of the Meffiah, by:the ews ™: and will be their God, and they Jhall be my people; God is the God ot his covenant-ones; not as the God of nature and providence only, but as the God of grace, and as their God and Father in Chrift; which. is preferable to every thing elfe; all things are theirs; nor can they want any good thing; they need fear no enemy; they may depend upon the love of God, and be fecure of his power; they may expect all -bleffings here and hereafter; for this covenant-intereit will always continue; and they are his people in fuch fenfe, as others are not; a di- {tinct, tpecial and peculiar people; a people near unto the Lord; high in his favour, and greatly blefled by him; all which is made to appear in their effectual vocation; fee 1 Pet. ii. 9, 10.
¥. 34. did they fhall teach no more every man his neighbour, aud every man bis brother, &c.] Which is not to be underftood of the outward miniftry of the word; in heaven indeed there will be no need of it, nox in the new Ferufalem-ftate; but in every period of: time before it. -In the firft times of. the golpel, perfons were appointed and qualified’ by
" Chrift to be paftors and teachers; and in the latter day men fhall run to and fro, and increafe knowledge; befides, the faints in the prefent ftate ftand in need Of teaching; fince they know but in part, and there is reom for a growth in grace, and in the Knowledge of Chrift: nor does this contradict brotherly teaching, or the private inftructions of faints in religious converfation and chriftian conference, which are very ufeful; but is rather oppofed to pretended revelations of private men; or to the magifterial dictates of perfons in public office; the word of God being the only rule of inftruction in righteoufnefs: or this miay be not abfolutely, but comparatively faid; fetting forth the abundance of knowledge under the gofpel-difpenfation, that, in comparifon of former times, there would be no need of the means of further knowledge: faying, know the Lord; not naturally, or as by the light of nature; but fpiritually; nor in a general way, as the God of nature and providence, as a creator,
‘preferver and benefactor; but in a fpecial manner, as the God of grace, as the God and Father of Chrift, and his people in him; not legally, but eyangelically; not fpeculatively, but practically, and in a faving way and manner: this kind of knowledge now under the gofpel -difpenfation, is greater than under the former; as the knowledge of God in his perfons, in his perfeétions, in his titles and charatters, and in his Son; and as to the manner of it, clearly, with open face as in a glafs; and as to the perfons to whom it is communicated, not to Fudab-only, but to men of all nations; all which is owing to a greater effufion’ of the Spirit, as it follows: for they fhall.all know me, from the leaft of them unto the greateft of them, faith the Lord; not all mankind; but all the houfe of J/rae/, all the family of God, all the children of God being taught by him; not all alike, but all with the fame kind of knowledge. This is frequently applied to the times of the Meffiah by the Fews *: for J will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their fin no more, there was forgivene(s of fin under the former covenant, but the blood of Chrift was not then actu- year; and faints had not fuch a clear and comfortable fight of pardon in common as’ now; and it was known and applied but to afew. This is the {taple-blefling of the covenant, and the evidence of all the reft.
¥. 35. Thus faith the Lord, which giveth the fun for a light by day, &c.| As he did at firft, and {till continues it; and which is a wonderful gift of nature he beftows on men, unworthy of fuch a favour, Matt. v. 45: and the ordinances of the moon, and of the flars for alight by night; which have a fettled regular order and courfe, in which they move; and whereby they impart the light they borrow from the fun, to enlighten the world by night; which is another favour to the inhabitants of it; fee Gen.i. 16: which divideth the fea when the waves thereof roar; fome refer this, as Kimchi, to the dividing of the Red-/ea for the [/raelites to pafs over; but it rather refpeéts an action more frequently done; and fhould be rendered, which fiilleth, or maketh the fea quiet °; which beft agrees with what follows; when it is tumultuous, and threatens the lofs of fhips and mens lives, and attempts to pafs its bounds, he redukes it; fo the Targum; and makes itacalm; he ftilleth the noife of the feas, the noife of their waves, P/. Ixv. 7: the Lord of hofts is bis name; that has all the armies of heaven and earth at his command, and can do whatever he pleafes; he, and he only, can do the above things, and does them; and he that can do them, is able to make good the covenant he has made with the houfe of J/rae/, and fulfil the promifes of it, of which there is an affurrance; as well as he is able to fecure an intereft and a church for himfelf unto the end of the world, as the following words fhew.
¥. 306. If thofe ordinances depart from before me, faith the Lord, &c.] Of the fun, moon and ftars; fhould thefe leave their proper courfe, and not perform their feveral functions, or do the fervice appointed for them; fhould they defert their mafter, or difobey his orders, turn away from him, and pay no regard to the laws and rules he has fet them: then the feed of Ifrael foall alfo ceafe from being a nation before me for ever; but, as the former is impoffible, fo is the latter. The Hews ceafed not from being a nation thro’ their captivity in Babylon, nor thro” their deftruction by the Romans; they continue a diflinét nation and people to this day, tho’ fcattered throughout the nations of the world: tho’ this rather refers to the {piritual J rae/, the holy nation and peculiar people; Chrift will have a feed to ferve him as long.as the fun and moon endure; his church fhall continue to the end of the world; it is built on a rock; and the gates of hell can’t prevail againft it.
¥. 37. Thus faith the Lord, if heaven above can be meafured, &c.| Either the fpace between the higheft heavens and the earth; or the extent of the heavens from one end of them to the other, which cannot be done by man; fo the Targum, “‘ as it is impoffible that man fhould know the ‘© meafure of the heavens above;” otherwife it is meafured by the Lord, for he hath meted out heaven with the fpan, If. xl. 12: and the foundations of the earth fearched out beneath; {o as to be known
“ally thed for it; it was held forth under types;! what they are, or on what they are faftened, fince and there was a remembrance of fin made every! the earth is hung upon nothing, ob xxxviii. 6.
and xxvie 4: I will alfo caft off all the feed of Rev. xxi. 15: upon the bill Gareb; which fignifies
Vireel, for all that they have done, faith the Lord, as the former cannot be, fo neither the latter; when there was a very great rejection of the Fews for their difbelief of the Meffiah, they were not all caft off; the apoftle Pau] was an inftance to the contrary, and fo were others; the remnant according to the eleétion of grace; and there is a time coming when all J/raef fhall be faved, Rom. x1. 8,25, 26. nor fhall any of the fpiritual J/rael be caft off by him, or caft away from him fo as to.
perith; the J/rac/, whom God foreknew, is chofen, redeemed, and whom he calls by his grace; no, not for all the fins and tranfgreffions they have been guilty of, however they may deferve it. The reafons are, becaufe of his unchangeable love to them; his unalterable covenant with them; the fatisfaction his fon has made for them; and the free and full pardon of their fins, which he has granted to them.
y¥. 38. Bebold, the days come, faith the Lord, &c.} The word come is not in the text; it is read, but not written. The vowel-points are in the text, * but not the letters; which thofe, who are againft the antiquity of the points, would do well to confider; fince the Jews never fuffered any additions to the Bible. archi fays, this prophecy refers to future times in the latter redemption, and never was fulfilled in the fecond temple; and indeed, under the figure of rebuilding Yerufalem, feems to be intended the building of the gofpel church, which was to continue to the end of time; for both holinefs and perpetuity are afcribed to it: that the city Joall be built to the Lord; the city of Ferufalem; which was to be rebuilt upon the return of the Fews from the Badbyloni/h captivity, as by the order, and under the direction and protection of the Lord, fo for his fervice and worfhip; the temple in it fhould be built up again, and divine worfhip reftored; and both that and the city, with the inhabitants of it, be devoted to his fervice; a type of the gofpel-church, built up an habitation for God, where he is worfhipped, feared and glorified: from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner, of the tower of Hananeel mention is made in Ned. iii 1, and xii. 39. Zech. xiv. 10. The Zargum calls it, the tower of Pikkus. Lightfoot places it on the fouth-fide of the city, bending to the eaft; but moft place it on the eaft-fide of it: here probably the building of the city began in Nebemiah’s time, and proceeded to the gate of the corner, which Jay north-eaft; of which fee 2 Kings. xiv. 13. 2 Chron. xxvi. 9. Jerom interprets the tower of Hananeel, the tower of obedience, or of the grace and gifts of God, which latter is not much amifs; fince the word Hananeel may be interpreted, God gives grace; and the fpiritual building of the church proceeds from the grace of God, upon the foundation of the apoftles and prophets, Chrift being the chief corner-{tone, Ep. ii. 20.
¥. 39. And the meafuring line fhall yet go forth over againft it, &c.| Or, before it?; the gate proceeding right on from it; of the Jength of the meaturing line, or reed; fee Ezek. xl. 5. tho’ fome render it, defore bim%; before the Lord, under whofe direCtion and powerful providence the work went on; fo the city-gates and walls of the new Ferufaiem are faid to be meafured with a reed, a fcab, fo called, as is fuppofed, from fcabby and leprous perfons fent here to dwell, which was a Lazaretto for them. Lightfoot following Lyra, takes it to be the fame with mount Calvary: it was on the north-fide of the city, ‘bending ‘to th weft; and, if the fame with Calvary, it was on the weft-fide. The Targum renders it, * the: hill ‘¢ which was near to Gareb:” and fhall be about to Goath; fo called perhaps fromthe difficulty of its afcent, it being a laborious work to go up to it, enough to make a man breathe. Lyra takes it to be Golgotha, which is not very likely; it feems to be at fome diftance from the former; fince from that there was a round about, a compafs fetched to this; it is fuppofed to lie on the weftfide of the city, towards the fouth. The Targum renders it, the calves pool, or the round pool; it is thought by fome more likely to be the hill Jofephus * {peaks of, that hung over the valley of Siloam. ' ¥. 40. And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the afbes, &c.| The Targum paraphrafes. it, ‘* where the carcafes of the Afyrian army fell;” Sennacherid’s army deftroyed by an angel; and fo Farchi and Kimchi; which latter obferves, that the word for afhes, fignifies fat; and fo may defcribe the perfons then deftroyed, who were fat and lufty men: others think more probably, that the valley of Tophet or Hinnom is here meant; fo called, either from the perfons that were burnt and facrificed to Moloch; or from the carcafes of malefactors interred here; and from the afhes of the facrifices which were brought from the temple, and laid here. This valley lay fouth-weft of the city; it was a ditch at the foot of the rmount of Calvary, where, as Monfieur Thevenot * fays, now ftands the chapel of the invention of the crofs: and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, fach as the potters and fullers fields, which lay to the fouth of the city, or more to the eaft, where Kidron was' fituated: unto the corner of the horfe-gate towards the eat, and fo the compafs is fetched round the city to the eaftern part of it, from whence it began, even to the tower of Hananeel, which was on the eaft of this horfegate; fee 2 Kings xi. 16. Neb. iii. 28. TheLargum renders it, ‘* to the corner of the gate of the “* houfe of the king’s courfe;” fuppofed to be the gate at which the king’s horfes went in and out, when led to be watered or exercifed: /ball be holy unto the Lord; that is, the whole city in its utmoft compafs thus rebuilt, yea even the outparts of it, and thofe that were defiled with the carcafes of men, and afhes of the burnt-offerings. It feems to refpect the extenfive holinefs of the church of God in the latter day; compare with it Zech. xiv. 10, 20, 21: tt, foall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever; which, if underftood literally of the city of Ferufalem, can only fignify, that it fhould not be deftroyed foon, but fhould continue a long time; for certain it is, that after it was rebuilt by Zorobabel, it was plucked up, and thrown down by the Romans, oo ticularly by Hadrian, who plowed it up, a ilt another city, and called it by his own name; but this figuratively rather intends the church of Chrift, — which is built on him the rock, and fo is immoveable; and, like mount Zion, fhall abide for ever. P| | coram ipfo, Calvin. rs gh HIS chapter contains an account of Fere-; miah’s imprifonment, and the caufe of it; of his buying a field of his uncle’s fon, and the defign of it; of his prayer to God, and of the anfwer returned to him. The time of his imprifonment, the place where, and the reafons of it, are. obferved in ¥. 1, 2, 3,4, 5. that his uncle’s fon would come and offer the fale of a field to him, was told him by the Lord, which he did accordingly, ¥. 6, 7. of whom he bought the field, paid the money, had the purchafe confirmed in a legal way, before witnefles, ¥. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. and the writings of it he committed to Baruch, to put in an earthen vefiel, where they were to continue fome time as a pledge of shhouies, fields and vineyards being poffefied again after the captivity, ¥. 13, 14, 15. then follows a prayer of his to the Lord, in which he addrefles him as the maker of all things; as the Lord God omnipotent; as a God of great grace and mercy, as well as ftrict juttice; as a God of wifdom, counfel and might, and an} omnifcient and rfghteous being, ¥. 16, 17, 18, 19.’ and recounts the wonderful things he had done for the people of J/rael, ¥. 20, 21, 22. and obferves the ingratitude and difobedience of that people, which were the caufe of the prefent fiege of the city, which fhould furely be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans, y¥. 23,24, 25. to which prayer an anfwer is returned, ¥.26. in which the Lord defcribes himfelf as the God of all flefh, and as able to do what he pleafes, y. 27. and confirms the delivery of the city of Feru/alem unto the Chaldeans, ¥. 28,29. and affigns the caufes of it, the backflidings, difobedience and dreadful idolatry of the people, ¥. 30, 31, 325 33> 345 35. and notwithitanding, promifes.a reftoration of them to their own land again, ¥. 36, 37. when an opportunity is taken to infert the covenant of grace, and the fpecial articles and peculiar promifes of it, for the comfort of the fpiritual J/rae/ of God, whether Fews or Geutiles, ¥. 38, 39, 40. and the chapter is concluded with a trefh affurance of the return of the captivity, and of the punétual performance of the promife of it; when fields fhould be bought in every part of the land, in like manner as Feremia had bought his, ¥. 41, 42, 43, 44.
people, to imprifon a prophet of the Lord, when furrounded by an enemy’s army, and that according to the prediction of the prophet; by which it appeared that he was a true prophet; and they might reafonably expect that the reft of his predictions, which related to the taking of their city, and carrying them captive, would be fulfilled. It is true indeed, he was in a better prifon than before, more honourable, being within the limits of the king’s houfe; and befides, was not clofely confined, but allowed to walk in the court of the prifon; and fo had a free air to breathe in, and more company to converfe with, and could exercife himfelf by walking about; perhaps he was placed here to keep him from prophefying to the people to their difcouragement, and the more to awe him, as he was under the eye of the king and his mi- ° niftry, Of this prifon and its court, mention. is made in Ned. iii. 25. it feems to have been for ftateprifoners. _ ¥. 3. For Zedekiah king of Fudah bad fout him ‘up, &c.| In prifon, at leaft in the court of the prifon; he had given orders for his imprifonment, which were executed, and it was the fame as if he had done it himfelf; the reafon of which was, as follows: faying, wherefore doft thou prophefy, and fay, thus faith the Lord, bebold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he fball take it? meaning the city of Ferufalem, now befieged by the king of Babylon. This prophecy {tands in ch. xxxiv. 1, 2,3. the prophecies of this book not being put together in proper order of time.
¥.4. And Zedekiah king of Fudah shall not efcape out of the band of the Chaldeans, &c.|.This is 2 continuation of the prophecy of Feremiah, repeated by the king to him, and which concerns himfelf more efpecially; who, upon the taking of the city, would endeavour to make his efcape, as he did; but fhould not be able, ch. lii. 8: but fhall furely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, not only into the hands of his army, and of his generals, but into his own hand perfonally; fince it follows: and hall {peak with him mouth to mouth, and bis eyes foall behold bis eyes; converfe together face to face, eye to eye; but no doubt with different tones and looks; the king of Babylon upbraiding the king of Fudab with perjury and ingratitude, and looking upon him with indignation and contempt; the other fpeaking faintly, and looking down with grief, fhame and confufion; moreover, the eyes of the king of Babylon beheld the eyes of Zedekiah, and ordered them to be put out, as they were.)
¥. 5. And he fhall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, &c.} As he did in chains, from Riblab, where he was brought unto him after he was taken, endeavouring to make his efcape, ch. lii. 8,9 11: and there foall be be until I vifit him, faith the Lord, in taking him away by death; for he continued in Babylon to the time of his death, which was not violent, but natural; and, confidering his circumftances, his captivity, imprifonment, and -lofs of fight, might be reckoned a vifitation in mercy: though fome underftand this of God’s vifiting the people at the return of them from their feventy years cap+ tivity; if Zedekiah lived till then, he muft be a y.i. The word that came to Feremiah from the Lord, &c.] ‘The word of prophecy, as the Zargum, concerning Feremiab’s buying the field of his uncle’s fon, ¥. 6. and concerning the delivery of the city of Ferujalem into the hands of the Chaldeans, ¥. 26. and the return of the captivity, ¥. 36: in the tenth year of LZedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar, the fame with Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, a year before the taking of the city by him; for that was in the eleventh of Zedekiah, and the nineteenth of Nebuchadnezzar; fee ch. hii. 1, 5, 12.
x. 2. For then the king of Babylon’s army befieged Ferufalem, &c.] And had done fo for fome time; tor the fiege began in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, ch. lii. 4: end Jeremiah the prophet was fout up in the. court of the prifon, which was in the king of Fudch’s houfe; which fhewed great ftupidity and hardnefs of heart in the king, snd his courtiers, and in the very old man; but of this we have no account, nor is it probable: tho’ ye Jight with the Chaldeans, ye foall not profper; though they fhould {ally out upon them, in order to beat them out of their trenches, and drive them from the walls of the city, yét without fuccefs..
_¥. 6. Aud Feremiab faid, the word of the’ Lord came unto me, faying,| Not that he faid this'to Zedekiah, but the prophet, after the above preface, returns to declare What the word of the Lord was, which came to him at the time before-mentioned.
y. 7. Bebold, Hanameel the fon of Shallum thine iincle fhall tome unto thee, &c.] Hilkiah, the father of Feremiah, ‘and this Shallum, were own brothers; fo that ‘feremiah and Hanameel were brothers fons, or own coufins: this coming of Hanameel to Feremiab being a contingent event, with refpect to fecond ‘caufes, and yet foretold as what would certainly be, fhows that fuch events are fore-known by the Lord, and are. fure to him: /aying, buy thee my field that is in Anathoth; the place from whence Yeremy came, and was but about two or three miles from Feru/alem, and therefore muft be now in the poffeflion of the. Chaldean army; wherefore it may feem very ftrange in Hanameel to propofe it to fale, and ftranger {till in Yeremiah to buy it: tho’ fomething of this kind was done at Rome, while Hannibal was befieging it; the field where Hannibal pitched his camp was offered to fale at Rome, and found a buyer’; but then he that bought it was in high fpirits, and in a {trong belief that the city would not be taken, and that the enemy would be obliged to quit the fiege; but feremy knew, and firmly believed on the other hand, that the city of Feru/alem, and all the country round it, would fall into the hands of the king of Babylon. Moreover, Anathoth was a city of the priefts, and the fields adjoining to it belonged to them; as fome of them did to Adiathar the prieft in his time, 1 Kings ii. 26. and fuch fields as belonged to the prietts and Levites, were not to be fold, according to the law in Lev. xxv. 34. to which it is anfwered, that this was not arable land, which the Zevites might not poffefs; but fome meadow, orchard, or garden, in the fuburbs of the city, which tho’ it might not be fold to ftrangers, yet might be fold among themfelves; tho’ it is more probable, that this was a field that came from fome of.his anceftors by his mother or grandmother’s fide, and fo might be difpoted of; as it feems certain to be lawfully done, not only as it was the will of God, who could indeed difpenfe with his own law, was that in the way, but {ince it was a matter of right, and incumbent on him, as follows: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it, that is, had it been fold to another, it would have lain upon him to have redeemed it, as being next of kin, that fo it might not pafs to another tribe and family.
¥. 8. So Hanameel mine uncle's fon came unto me, &c.] Freely and voluntarily, of his own accord; tho’ it was determined he fhould, as it was predicted he would; for God’s decrees do not infringe the liberty of the will: this man came from Auathoth very probably, to ‘Ferufalem, to the place where the prophet was: in the court of the prifon, according to the word of the Lord, which had been made known betore to Yeremich: and foid unto ve, buy my field, 1 pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin; it belonged to that tribe: forthe right of inheritance is thine, the ieverfion of this field; it would come to him after the death of his coufin, as being next heir: and the redemption is thine, buy it for thyfelf i fince, if it was fold to another, he, according to law, was obliged to redeem it; ‘and therefore it was’ p better to buy it at once for himfelf:” them T knew that this was the word of the Lord; that it was the word of the Lord which came to him‘ before, and ‘that it was the will of the Lord that he
| fhould make this purchafe; fince there was fuch an exact agreement between the prophecy ‘and the event. ct
¥. 9. And I bought the field of Henameel mine uns cle’s fon, that was in Anathoth, &c.) The prophet agreed with his coufin to take his field of him, at a certain price hereafter mentioned; which may feem ftrange in one that was a poor prophet, now a prifoner, and the land juft going to be fubjeét to the Chaldeans: but the defign of this was to fhow, that there would be a return from captivity, when houfes and fields fhould be botight and fold again, of whith this was a pledge: and weighed him the money; agreed upon, which was reckoned not by tale, but by weight: even feventeen fhekels of filver; which, reckoning a fhekel at half a crown, were no more than two pounds, two fhillings, and fixpence;°a fmall fum of*money to make a purchafe of a field with, tho? this may be accounted for, by the fearcity of money, the fieltl in the hand of the enemy, there being only his kinfman’s life in it, the prophet bought the reverfion, being his of right; and befides, it might be only an orchard or garden that is fo called: In’the, Hebrew text itis, even /hekels and ten pieces of filver, and Kimchi and Ben Melech fay, that by /bekels are meant mina’s' or pounds; and by pieces of filver, felahs or fhekels: and fo the Targum renders it, “¢ {even mina’s, and ten fhekels of filver.” Now a minah or maneh, according to Hzek. xlv. 12. was equal to fixty fhekels, and fo of the value of feven pounds, ten fhillings; feven of thefe mad¢ fifty-two pounds, ten fhillings; and the other ten fhekels being one pound, five fhillings, the whole amounted to fifty three pound,’ fifteen fhillings, which would purchafe a confiderable field.
xy. 10. And I fubjcribed the evidence, 8c.) Or, wrote in a book*; the inftrument or bill of fale, the-deed of purchafe; which deferibed the field fold, and exprefied the condition’ on which the purchafe was made; and by, fubfcribing it, he agreed to it, and laid himfelf under obligation to perform it: and fealed it, for the further confirmation of it: and took witneffes, to be prefent at the payment of the money, and to fign the deed likewile: aud weighed him the money in the balances; this he did a fecond time; he weighed’ it firft before Hanameel himfelf, and then before the witnefits; every thing was done fairly, and with great exactnefs. ace
y.11. So I took the evidence of the purchafe, Bec.
The deed of purchafe, the book or ‘fale, the inftrument of the bargain, as before ment: both that which is fealed, according to the law and ciftom; which was both fealed by the buyer and feller, and was fealed up, and not to be looked into by every one, only when there might be a neceifity.; this was the original copy: and that which was open the counter-part or copy of former, which tho’ figned and fealed as the ‘other,' laid in the earth by. themfelves, they would have yet not fealed up, but was open and expofed to view; either for the relations to fee what was done, as fome; or for the judges, as others, to ratify and make authentic; or as is moft probable, this copy was laid up in fome public regifter, to have recour{e unto upon any occafion; however it was, it was according to the laws and cuftoms of, thofe times, which Yeremiah carefully attended to: or, as others, it lay open for the witneffes to fign,; fo there are three diftinét things; firft the written, contraét; then that as figned and fealed by buyer and feller, according to law; and then as figned, | but not fealed by the witneffes.
y. 12. And I gave the evidence of the purchafe, &c.} Both that which was fealed, and that which was open; both the original, and the copy; or the whole, as figned, fealed, and witnefled: unto Baruch the fon of Neriah, the fon of Maafeiah; this Baruch, as appears from other places in this book, was one that attended on Feremiah, was his fcribe or amanuenfis, and did bufinefs for him of one kind or another, and is defcribed here by his pedigree; and it was the more neceflary now to make ufe of him in this affair, becaufe the prophet was confined, and could not go out of the court of the prifon; to him he gave the above deed: im the fight of Hanameel mine uncle’s fon; of whom the purchafe was made: fhe word fou is not in the text, which has led fome to think, that both were prefent at this bargain, both the uncle, and the uncle’s fon; or that Hanameel was both uncle, and uncle’s fon, to Jeremiah, as Farchi, but there is no need to fuppofe that; the word /on may eafily be fupplied, from what is before faid: and in the prefence of the witneffes that fubfcribed the book of the purchafe; the fame that the prophet fubfcribed; fo that the book the witneffes fubfcribed, was not a feparate book, as fome have thought; for there was but oné book or deed in all, befides the copy that was taken of it: before all the ‘ews that fat in the court of the prifon; where Jeremiah was; and who probably came to vifit him, and to hear the word of the Lord from his mouth; unlefs we can fuppofe that thefe were fellow-prifoners, or were fet as {pies upon him, to watch him what he faid and did...
y. 13. And I charged Baruch before them, &c.] Before his kinfman, the witnefles of the deed, and the Fews that were in the court: /aying, as fol- y. 14. Thus faith the Lord, the God of Ijrael, &c.] The order to do the following, is ufhered in in this folemn manner, partly that Baruch might more ftrictly obferve jt, and act according to it; and partly that the perfons before whom it was given, might take the greater notice of it, and be-
_ jieve that there was fomething intended by it of moment and importance: take thefe evidences; or books *, the deeds of purchafe: this evidence of the purchafe, both which is fealed, and this evidence which is open; both the original, and the copy: and put them in an earthen velffel, that they may continue many days; it feems, tho’ it is not faid, that this earthen veffel, with thefe deeds in it, were to be put under ground, and very probably in fome part of the field that was bought: had thefe writings been laid up in a cheft or box, they might have been ftolen and deftroyed; and had they been = DDOM AW libellos hos, ag, Schmidt;
mouths of the Hews, who objected the impoffibiliteras has, Junius & Tremellius, Pifcator.
rotted and confumed; but being put into a dry earthen veflel, they might be preferved from the injury of the air, and the moiftnefs of the earth; and fo might continue many days, even many years, to the end of the captivity, as it was defigned they fhould; when Ferémiah’s heirs, having fome hint of them where they were depofited, might take them up, and claim the eftate; tho’ fomething more ufeful and inftruétive than this was defigned by it, as appears by the following words.
¥. 15. For thus faith the Lord of hofis, the God of Irael, &c.]; Who is the Lord God almighty, and can do what he pleafes; and is the covenant- God of his people, and therefore will do them good by all his providences, in the iffue of things: houfes, and fields, and vineyards, foall be poffeffed in this land, ox bought” in it; of which the prophet’s buying this field was a pledge and earneft; fignifying, that tho’ the city, now befieged, fhould be taken, and the people carried captive, yet they fhould return to their own land, and purchafe and enjoy houfes, fields, and vineyards again, as at the prefent time..
¥. 16. Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchafe unto Baruch the fon of Neriab, &c.] When he had finifhed his worldly bufinefs, and which yet was by a divine order, and to anfwer a divine purpofe, then he betook himfelf to prayer; and it is proper we fhould be quite free from worldly cares and concerns, when we e€nter upon religious duties, particularly prayer to God; when the foul ought to be feparated from the world, and the things of it, and wholly devoted to God: I prayed unto the Lord; either for further information in this matter, of the ufe and defign of buying the field; and how this part of the prophecy, fignified by it, concerning the Fews buying and poffeffing houfes and fields, can be made to agree with the other prophecy, that the city fhould be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans; or, at leaft, that he might be able to anfwer the cavils and objections made by the Fews to it: that he was in fome puzzle, perplexity, and diftrefs, appears by his prayer, which begins, /aying, as fol-
¥. 17. Ab Lord God, &c.] Which the Vulgate Latin verfion repeats three times, 42, Ab, Ab, as being greatly. diftreffed with the trouble that was coming upon his people; and it may be, not without fome doubts and temptations about their deliverance; or, at leaft, was preffed in his mind with the difficulties and objections ftarted by the Fews, that were with him in the court: bebold, thou haft made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and ftretched-out arm with great propriety is the making of the heaven and the earth afcribed_ to the mighty power of God; for nothing fhort of almighty power could have produced fuch a ftupendous work as the heavens, with all the hoft of them, fun, moon and ftars, the terraqueous globe, the earth and fea, with all that in them are; and all this produced out of nothing, by the fole command and word of God: and with great pertinency does the prophet begin his prayer with fuch a defcription of God; both to encourage and ftrengthen his faith in him, touching the fulfilment of the above prophecy, and to ftop the
55° lity of it: wherefore it follows, and there is nothing too hard for thee; or hidden from thee *; fo the Targum, which his wifdom and knowledge did not reach, or his power could not effet; or which is too wonderful for thee*; there is nothing that has fo much of the wonderful in it, as to be above the compafs of his underftanding, and out of the reach of his power, as fuch things be, which are beyond the power and fkill of men; but there 1s no fuch thing with God, whofe underftanding is unfearchable, and his power irrefiftible; with him nothing is impoffible; and who can think there is, that obferves that the heaven and earth are made by him? ¥. 18. Thou foeweft loving kindnefs unto thoufands, &c.] Not to thoufands of perfons only, but to a thoufand generations, even fuch that love, fear, and ferve him; fee Exod. xx. 6. Pf. cv. 8. this is very properly added, for the further ftrengthening of faith; for tho’ the omnipotence of God affures us, that there is nothing but what he can do, yet it gives us no certain encouragement he will do this, or that, or the other, in a favourable and gracious manner; but this his loving kindnefs, experienced by a multitude of perfons in all ages, gives reafon to hope for: and recompenfeft the iniquities of the fathers into the bofom of their children after them, it is added in the decalogue, from whence thefe words are taken, of them that hate me, and here the Targum adds, ‘‘ when they go on to fin after «* them;” when they imitate their fathers in their wickednefs, and commit the fame fins they have done, and continue in them; wherefore having filled up the meafure of their fathers fins, they receive a juft and full recompence of them into their bofom; which denotes both the certainty of it, and the fulnefs of it: the prophet formed in his mind juft notions and ideas of the divine being, as being not only gracious and merciful, but holy, juft, and righteous; and it may be, he ftrikes at the Fews, who might complain of God, as they fometimes did, for being punifhed for their fathers fins, as if they themfelves were innocent and guiltlefs: the great, the mighty God, the Lord of hofts is his name; great in all the perfections of his nature, and greatly to be praifed, loved, and feared; mighty to do whatfoever he pleafes; and who, agreeable to his name, has all the hofts and armies of heaven and earth at his command; and what is it that he cannot do? ¥. 19. Great in counfel, and mighty in work, &c.] Counfel belongs to him, and he does all things after the counfel of his will, all things in nature, providence, and grace; and fuch a difplay of his wifdom is there in all, that fhew him to be excellent in counfel; to excel all others; not only to be great, but to be the greateft in counfel; and who regularly and perfectly performs all that he has wifely contrived; his wifdom and his power are equal to each other; he forms the fcheme of all that he does with the greateft wifdom, and accomplifhes by his power all that he has purpofed in _his eternal mind; fee Jf xxviii. 29: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the fons of men; all their thoughts, {chemes, devices, and purpofes; all their words and actions, every ftep they take, whether good or bad, they are all before him, and manifeft to him; he is God omnifcient, as well as God omnipotent; and he does not look upon men,
‘and their ways, and works, as an idle fpectator or indifferent perfon, as unconcerned at what they do, © letting them pafs without calling them to an account for them, or without pafling any judgment on them, or fentence concerning them; no, he is - the judge of all the earth, and he fits in the heavens and obferves what is done on earth: fo give every one according to bis ways, and according to the fruit of bis doings; good things to good men for Chrift’s fake; and evil things to evil men, aceording to the juft demerit of their fins and tranfgrefions.
¥. 20. Which haft fet figns and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, &c.} The prophet here defcends to particular inftances of the power, wifdom, and goodnefs of God; and begins with the miracles wrought in Zgypt, the plagues inflicted on the Egyptians for refufing to let Drael go; thefe were /et among them, they were true and real things, and obvious to every one’s view; there was no deception in them, they were plain to the fenfes of men; and the remembrance of them continued among the Egyptians to the times of the prophet; the tradition of what was done was handed down among them to that age: for that any marks of thefe things remained, is not to be fuppofed; the tracks of Pharaoh’s chariot-wheels, to be fill feen in the Red-Sea, muft be rejected as fabulous, tho’ Orofus relates it: and in Ifrael, and amongft other men that is, figns and wonders were fet among the J/raelites, or wrought for them; fuch as bringing them out of Egypt; leading them thro’ the Ked-Sea as on dry land; feeding them in the wildernefs with manna and quails; fubduing their enemies, and fettling them in the land of Canaan; and in other nations, very wonderful things have been done in one age or another: or elfe the meaning is, that the miracles done in Egypt were not only remembred there to this time, but alfo by the J/raelites, and by other men, to whom the knowledge of thefe things came; on ac~ count of which, God was more or lefs every where glorified, as follows: and haft made thee a name as at this day; that is, got praife, honour, and glory in Egypt, in J/rae/, and in other nations.
y. 21. And haft brought forth thy people Ifrael out of the land of Egypt, &c.] As he promifed Abraham fome hundreds of years before, that they fhould come out from thence; and where they had been as bondfmen, tho’ they were the Lord’s peculiar people, whom he had chofe for himfelf above alt people, and therefore he brought them out of their ftate of bondage; and this was his own doing, they could not deliver themfelves; the enemy would not let them go, till he was obliged to it, by the fuperior power of God: with figns, and with wonders; which he wrought for them at the time of their deliverance, flaying the firft-born; and at the Red-Sea, and in the wildernefs, after he brought them out of Egypt, and before their fettlement in the land of Canaan; and fo thefe may be confidered as diftinét from the figns and wonders in the land of Egypt before-mentioned: and with a firong hand, and with a ftretched-out arm, with great power, and fo delivered the J/raelites from them that were ftronger than they; with a mighty hand, that protected his people; and with a long arm,_ that reached their enemies, and deftroyed them: and with great terror, with great reverence in the
=“ p55? non eft abiconditdn w te uicquam, Pagninus; non poteft occultari tibi ulla res, Junius & Tremellius.
* Non mirabile eft pra te ullum verbum, Schmidt; non eft ulla res abfcondita a te, five mirabile, Calvin te ullum verbum, Montanus.
Ifraelites,; who faw the power and majefty of God, and with great terror to Pharach and his hott, when they faw the waters return and’ overwhelm them; and to all the nations round about, when they heard of it; fee Deut. iv. 34. The. Zaryum is, ‘* with great vifion;” fo a fpectacle, as the Syriac verfion;. openly, before the eyes of all. ¥. 22. And baft given them this land, which thou didft fwear to their fathers to give them, &c. Abraham, Ifaac, and Facob; fo that God was faithful to his word, kept his covenant and oath; and the faithfulnefs of God is obferved and acknowledged by the prophet, along with other perfections of God before taken notice of. The land of Canaan was a land of promife, confirmed by an oath, and was the pure gift of God to the J/raelites, and not any merit of theirs; it was given them by him who had a right to difpofe of it, and could make them a good title to it, and which they had; tho’ before in the poffeffion of others, who for their wickednefs were driven out: @ land flowing with milk and honey; abounding with plenty of all good things, for the fuftenance and comfort of human life; a very frequent defcription of the land of Canaan, and is expreffive of the great kindnefs and goodneis of God to this people.
y. 23. And they came in and poffeffed it, &c.] After forty years travel in the wildernefs, they entered into it with Yo/hua at the head of them, and the Lord with them, giving victory over the Canaanites, who were foon fubdued; and the J/- raelites with little trouble fettled in their land, which was divided to them by lot, and poffeffed as their inheritance: but they obeyed not thy voice; though they promifed at Sizai they would, and tho’ they were fo much obliged by the goodnefs of God to them; this fhows great ingratitude in them: xeither walked in thy law; moral, ceremonial, and judicial, given at Hored as the rule of their obedience; but they walked not according to it: ¢hey bave done nothing of all that thou commandeft them to do they were not only deficient in fome things, but in every thing; they not only broke fome of the laws of God, but all of them; there was not one law, one command, obferved by them as it ought to have been; and yet thefe people were always prone to eftablifh their own righteoufnefs, and feek for juftification by it: therefore thou haft caufed all this evil to come upon them; the Chaldean army, now befieging them; and the famine and peftilence among them; which, the prophet obderves, were but the righteous judgments of God upon them for their fins.
y. 24. Behold, the mounts, they are come unto the city, to take it, &c.] Thefe were ramparts or batteries, that were erected againft the city, the more, eafily to annoy it: fome take them to be engines from which they caft out ftones; and others fuppofe them to be battering-rams, ufed to break down the walls of the city; be they what they will, they were now brought near the city to make way for the Chaldeans to enter into it, and take it: and the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans that fight againft it; not only it was the purpofe of God that it fhould be, but it was a plain cafe that he had withdrawn his protection from it, and that. the city was indefenfible; and that, humanly fpeaking, it was impoffible it fhould hold out long,