Exposition of the Whole Bible

Chrift is David's fon and fucceffor, and whofe kingdom is an everlafting kingdom. ~

¥. 18.*Neither fhall the priefts the Levites want a man before me, &c.} The Levitical priefthood has been abolifhed long ago;' that was typical of Chrift’s priefthood, and is fucceeded by it; who is a prieft for'ever after the order of Melchizedek; and who, having offered up himfelf a facrifice here on earth for his people, ever appears in heaven, in’ the prefence of God, on their behalf, making interceffion for them; and as long as he continues todo fo, which will be always, a man fhall not be wanting before the Lord: ¢o offer burnt-offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do facrifice continually, that is, to prefent.that facrifice before him, and plead the efficacy and virtue of it with him, which was typified by all thofe facrifices, and has fuperfeded them, being much better than they. Some underftand this of a continuance of gofpelminifters unto the end of the world, who fueceeded the priefts and Levztes; but as they are never called priefts and Levites in the New-Teftament; nor were they properly the fucceffors of the priefts and Levites; rather it may be applied unto all believers now, who are priefts unto God, and offer up fpiritual facrifices acceptable to God thro’ Chriit; but the firft fenfe is beft.

V.19. And the word of the Lord came unto Fereimiab, 8c.| For the further explanation and confirmation of what is before faid; and which came at the fame time as the other; this being not a new prophecy, but an illuftration of the former: Jaying, as follows,.

¥.20. Thus faith the Lord, if you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, &c.] The fame with the ordinances of the fun, moon and ftars, ch. xxxi. 35, 36. the original conftitution and law of nature, fettled from the beginning of the world, and obferved ever fince, in the conitant revolution of day and night; and which was formed into a covenant and promife to Noah after the deluge, that day and night fhould not ceafe, as long as the earth remained, Gen. viii. 22. and which has never been, nor can be broken, and made void: fo that there hould not be day and night in. their feafon, or turn; continually fueceeding each other: this, as it would not be attempted, fo could never be effected by any mortals, if it were.

¥.21. Then may alfo my covenant be broken with David my fervant, &c.] A type of the Meffiah, with whom the covenant of grace is made, ftands faft, and will never be broken; fee P/. Ixxxix. 3, 28,34. for; as the other is impoffible, the breaking of the covenant with day and night, or hindering the certain rotation of them; fo likewife’ as impoflible is the breaking of the covenant -with David, concerning the perpetuity of his kingdom in the Meffiah: that he should not have a fon to reign upon bis throne; which he has in*Chrift, and ever will have; for he thall reign. for ever ever: ond with the Levites my priefts, my minifiers; of the line of Phineas, to whom: an? everlafting priefthood was promifed, and which has been fulhis throne. David’s earthly kingdom was. but a typical and fhadowy one; a type of Chrift’s fpiritual kingdom, which has fucceeded it, and in which filled in Chrift, who has an unchangeable priefthood; a priefthood that will never pais from him, and goto another; fee/Vuinb.xxv.13. Heb.vii-24.

tablus 3 hic eft ille qui vocabit eam, ad Je, Jehova juftitia noftra, Guffetius. * Et hoc eft nomen quo vocabit eum ille, Jehovah noftra juftitia. So fome in Vatablus, 7. vor "79 mp’ a) non exfcindetur Da Janius & Tremellius, Pifcator, Schmidt,: 2 tatth eae greater and mightier than their enemies in the world; angels encamp about them, and falvation is walls and bulwarks to them: aad ¢bis is the name wherewith fhe foall be called, the Lord our righteoufnefs; the fame with the Meffiah’s name, ch. xxiii. 6. he is Jehovah; and he is our righteoufnefs; the author of it, by his obedience, fufferings and death; and which becomes ours, by being wrought out for us, beftowed on us, imputed and applied to us. The Targum renders it here, as in the other place, “* this is the name wherewith they fhall call him;” and fo the Vulgate Latin verfion; but this is contrary to the Hebrew text, which has er, and not him. R. Fofeph Kimchi reads it, and this who calls her, is the Lord our righteoufnefs,; which is followed by fome chriftian writers ¥, Some interpret it, who calls her by his gofpel to the falvation promifed and performed; others, who calls her to dwell fafely; others render it, this is the name with which be (the Lord) foall call him, for ber, for the fake of the church, the Lord our righteoufnefs*, but David Kimchi and Ben Melech take the fenfe to be this, ‘* the holy blefied God fhall <¢ call Ferujalem, the Lord our righteouinefs;” and certain it is, that this is the name impofed on the church here meant, as Hephzibah and Beulah, in Jf. \xii. 4. and why may fhe not be as well called Febovabh Tzidkenu the Lord our righteoufnes, as Febovab Shammah the Lord is there? Ezek. xlviii. 35. She is called Fehovab, not as deified by him, but as united to him; and owr righteou/ne/s, as juftified by him. Chrift and his church are one, as head and members are; and therefore are called by the fame name: hence the church is called Chrift, 1 Cor. xii. 12, they are in a marriagerelation; Chrift is the hufband, and the church is his fpoufe; and as hufband and wife bear the fame name, fo do Chrift and his church;, moreover, not only Chrift is made righteoufnefs to his people, but they are made the righteoufhefs of God in him, his righteoufnefs is. put upon them, and imputed to them, fo that they are righteous as he is righteous, 1 Cor.i. 30. 2 Cor.v. 21. 1 Fobn ii. 7. y¥.17. For thus faith the Lord, &c.]. Confirming the above promife concerning the Meffiah; giving a reafon why his coming may be expected; and why the falvation, juftification and ‘final perfeverance of his church and people. are certain things, and to be depended upon: David jhall never want a man to fit upon the throne of ‘the houfe of Ifrael or, there fhall not be cut off unto David @ man+; and this is not to be underftood of the temporal kingdom of David, which has been at an.end long ago; Yeconiah that was carried captive into Babylon, was written, childlefs, and.left no iffue; and Zorobadel, the only one of Davia’s feed that made any figure after the captivity, was not a king; this is only true of the man Chrift Jefus, of the feed of David, and is his fon, to whom has been given the throne of his father David; and who reigns over the houfe of Faced for ever; and of whofe kingdom there is no end, Luke i.\325 33. and as long as he is king of faints, which will be for ever, Devid will not want a man to fit upon

¥. 22. As the hoft of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the fand of the fea meafured, &c.| As the ftars of heaven are innumerable, and the fand of the fea unmeafurable: /o will I multiply the feed of David my Jervant; the Meffiah; the fon and antitype of David; and who is often called by his name; and as the fon of David is the fervant of the Lord; his fpiritual feed are meant, which:thall endure for ever; and in gofpel-times, efpecially in the latter part of them, fhall be very numerous; fee Pf. Ixxxix. 29, 36: and the Levites that minifter unto me, meaning the fame as before; not mini-~ {ters of the gofpel, for they never were, or will be, fo numerous as here exprefled; but true believers in Chrift, who are all priefts unto God, and minifter in holy things, offering up the fpiritual facrifices of prayer and praife thro’ Chrift: thefe Levites are the fame with the feed of David, or Chrift, in whom the kingdom and the priefthood are united.

¥. 23. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, &c.} Upon the fame fubject, concerning the-continuance of Davia’s feed;, with'a refutation of a calumny uttered againft the Lord about the rejection of them: /aying, as follows,

¥. 24. Confidereft thou not what this people have Spoken, &c.] The words are direéted. to the prophet by an interrogation, if. he had not confidered in his mind what he heard the people fay; not the Chaldeans, with whom the prophet was not;, but the unbelieving Yews, either the profane part of them, who had a wicked view in it, to accufe God, and difcourage the godly; or the weaker fort of the good people, indulging unbelief and defpondency: faying, the two families which the Lord hath chofen, be hath even caft them off? the kingdom and the priefthood, as Farchi; the family of David, and. the family of Aaron, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; the one with refpect to the kingdom; and the other with refpect to the priefthood; fo Aharbinel, which feems right: tho’ fome interpret it of the kingdoms of J/rael and Fudah, and others of the two tribes of Fudab and Benjamin; but fince the covenant with David, and with the priefts, are before {fpoken of; and the feed of David afterwards; it feems rather to regard the two houfés of David and Aaron, which the Lord chofe for the kingdom and priefthood to continue in; but by the captivity of the royal family, and of the priefts in Babylon, juft now about to take place; it was fuggefted, that both were caft off by the Lord,. and that there would be no more kings out of the one, nor priefts out of the other: thus they have defpifed my people, as being rejected of God, whom he would never more regard or reftore to their former condition in church and

N this chapter is a prophecy of the taking and burning of Ferufalem, of the captivity of Zedekiah king of Fudab; and of the deftruction of the whole land, becaufe of their breach of covenant to let fervants go free. The time of this prophecy is obferved, ¥. 1, 6,7. the taking and burning of the city, ¥.2. the carrying captive the king, who yet fhould not die a violent death; but in peace, and fhould have an honourable fu-

Sof {tate; fo giving them up for loft, that they would be no more a nation and church, having kings to reign over them, or priefts to minifter for them: that, they foould be no more a nation before thems; either before their kings and priefts; or in the fight of tho perfons who {poke the words before reated, y 1007,

¥.25. Thus faith the Lord, &c.}. In anfwer to the above calumny: if my covenant. be not with day and night; that is, if it fhould not ftand; if it fhould be broken; or there fhould be no longer a fucceflion of day and night: and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, concerning the courfe of the fun, moon and ftars, and the influence of the heavenly bodies; and concerning the fruits of the earth, the feafons of the year, feed-time and harveft, fummer and winter; if thefe are not fettled and fixed, and do not appear according to appointment and promife,

¥. 26. Then will I caft away the feed of Facob, and David. my servant, &c.| R. Fonah thinks, that Jacob is put inftead of Aaron, becaufe of the two families. of David and Aaron before-mentioned; but in this latter part of the chapter no mention is made of priefts at all; and by the /eed is meant, one and the fame, the {fpiritual feed of Chrift, the antitypical David, and feryant of the Lord; and which.are no other than the feed of Jacob, over whom the Meffiah reigns; or the fpiritual J/rael of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, and whom the Lord. never cafts away, fo as to perifh; but they fhall all be faved in the Lord with an everlafting falvation: fee the note on ch. xxxi. 37. and even the feed of Facob, and of David, who was of Facob, in the:line of Fudab, fhall not be in fuch fenfe rejected: fo that I will not take any.of his feed to be rulers over the feed of Abraham, Ifaac, and Facob; that is, any of the feed of David taken literally; from whom the Lord has taken one, or raifed up one of his feed, even the Meffiah, to be a ruler over all the fpiritual feed of Abraham, Tfaac, and Facob; or of all that tread in their fteps: but inafmuch, as by the feed of Facob and David may be meant the fpiritual feed of Chrift; by rulers taken from them may be intended fpiritual rulers and governors of the church, or minifters of the gofpel: for I will caufe their captivity to return, and have mercy on them; not only their captivity from Babylon, and fo the family. of David reftored and continued till the Meffiah fhould fpring out of it; but the fpiritual captivity of the J/rae/ of God, of which the other was a type, and would be brought about by the Meffiah; who in his love and pity fhould redeem them, as he has, from fin, fatan, law, hell and death, and péople entered into, to let their fervants go free, according to the law of God, which was at firft obferved, and afterwards retracted, ¥.:8, 9, 10, 11. which conduét is taken notice of and. refented, ¥. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. and they are threatened with the fore judgments of God, fword, famine, peftilence and captivity, the king, princes, priefts, and people; and with the deftruction, noz only of Ferufalem, but of the reft of the cities of

¥.1. The word which came unto Feremiah from she Lord, &c.] This prophecy came to Feremiah, and was delivered by him, when he was at liberty, and before his imprifonmént, and was the occafion of it, as appears from ch. xxxii. 2, 3, 4, 5. compared with ¥. 2, 3. of this chapter; the prophecies not ftanding in the proper order in which’ they were given out; for the prophecy, in this firft part of the chapter at leaft, was delivered out before that in ch. xxxii: when Nebuchadnezzar we Baby- Jon, and all ‘bis army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people fought againft ¥erufalems when this mighty monarch appeared before Feru/alem with a numerous army, confifting of Chaldeans, the natives of his own kingdom, and with the auxiliary troops of the feveral kingdoms he had fubdued, and made tributary to him, even people of almoft every nation under the heavens; and invefted it, and laid fiege' to it} and lay againft it: and againft all the cities thereof, the reft of the cities of ‘Ffudah, which were as daughters -of “7erufalem, the metropolis or mother-city: /aying, as follows,

¥.2. Thus faith the Lord, the God of Ifrael, &c,} Who, tho’ the covenant:God of J/rael, yet provoked by their fins, fends the following meflage to their kine: go and {peak to Zedekiah king of Fudah, and tell bim; alone; and tell it to no ‘other but him; at leaft' at. préfent,; the meflage being more peculiar to him, and muft, had it been told to the people, been veiy difheartening to them: behold, 1 will give this city into the hand-of the king of Babylon,‘ and he foall burn it with fire, ee ch.

“y. 3. And thou fhalt not efcape out of his hand, &c.] Tho’ he would, and did attempt to do it, ch. lii. 8, 9: but fhalt furely be taken, and dehivered into his hand; he was taken on the plains of 7ericho, and delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon at Riblab, as may be feen’in the place juft referred to: and thine eyes fhall bebold the eyes of the king of Babylon; and that was all; for they were quickly put out by him: and he fhall [peak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou fhalt go to Babylon, fee ch. xxxii. 3. and lii. 9, 11.

y. 4. Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiab king of Fudab, &c.] Which, tho’ a king, he ought to hearken to; and befides, what follows was for his comfort, being a mitigation of his fentence, and containing in it mefcy, as well as judgment: thus faith the Lord of thee, thou fbali not die by the fword, of the king of Babylon; or a violent death; and therefore, fear not to deliver up thyfelf and city into his hands; which he might be loth to do, fearing he would put him to death immediately.

¥. 5. But shou fhalt die in peace, &c.] Upon his bed, a natural death, and in, good friendfhip with the king of Babylon; and, it may be, in peace with God; for before his death, fome time in his captivity, he might be brought to true repentance for his fins: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee: fo foall they burn odours for thee. The fenfe is, that he fhould have an honourable burial; and that fweet odours

and fpices fhould be burned for him, as were for the: kings of Yudab his predeceffors, particularly Afa, 2 Chron. xvi. 14. Fofepbus fays *, that Nebuchadnezzar buried him in a royal manner; tho’ this feems to refer to what the people of the Fews in Babylon would do in honour of him, by burning for him. The Rébdins fay, as Farchi, Kimchi and Ben Melech obferve, that they burned their beds and miniftring veféls, or houfhold goods “, as was ufual on.fuch occafions. The Yalmudifts ¢ fay, all this honour was done him for that fingle aét of ordering Yeremiah to be'taken out of the dungeon; for this was done in honour to perfons: fo when Gamaliel the elder died, Onkelos the profelyte burned for him féventy Zyrian pounds *; not fuch a quantity of money, but goods that were worth fo much; and this was a cuftom with the Heathens, who ufed to burn the bodies of the dead, to burn their garments with them, and their armour, and whatever were valuable and efteemed of by them in life; and particularly odoriferous things, ‘as frankincenfe, faffron, myrth, fpikenard, caffia and cinnamon ‘; and which feem to be meant here, by comparing the paffage with the cafe of Afa betore-mentioned; for tho’ the word odours is not in the text, it feems rightly enough fupplied by us; as it is by other interpreters *. The Vulgate Latin verfion very wrongly tranflates it, and foall burn thee; for it was not the manner of the Fews to burn the bodies of the dead, but to inter them in the earth; and fo Tacitus" obferves, it was the cuftom of the Yews not to burn, but after the manner of the Egyptians to bury in the earth; nor does it appear to have been the cuftom of the Babylonians or Chaldeans, as fhould feem from the account that is given of the death and burial of the Babylonian monarch in If. xiv: and they will lament, faying, Ab Lord; alas! our lord the king is dead. The form of lamentation faid over him, as the Fews record‘, was, ‘* alas! king Zedekiab ‘* who is dead, drank the dregs of all ages;” was punifhed for the fins of men in all generations paft: for I have pronounced the word, faith the Lord, both that which refpeéts his captivity, and that which refers to his death; the manner of it, and his honourable interment, which fhall be accomplifhed. P

¥. 6. Then Feremiah the prophet fpake all thefe words, &c.] The threatning, as well as the confolatory ones; he kept back no part of the meffage he was fent with, but faithfully delivered the whole: unto Zedekiah king of Fudab in Ferufalem; tho’ he knew it would difpleafe him, and bring himfelf into trouble, as it did; for upon this he was put into prifon.

¥.7. When the king of Babylon’s army fought

| againft Ferufalem, &c.| Had laid ‘clofé fiege to it, and {till continued it: and againft all the cities of Fudah that were left; unconquered by him; when he invaded the land, he fought againft, and took, and ravaged all the cities that lay in his way; and it feems there were none that ftoed out againft him but Feru/alem, now befieged by him, — and two others, next mentioned: agaznft i and againft Azekah, for thefe defenced cities remained of the cities of Fudab, two cities that had been for-. _ tified tified by Rehoboam, 2 Chron. xi. 9. and were the only ones befides Feru/alem, which as yet had not fallen into the hands of the king of Badylon.

¥. 8. This is the word that came to Feremiah from the Lord, &c.| Here begins a new prophecy, which was delivered fome time after the former; that was given out while the king of Badylon was befieging Ferufalem; this after he had quitted the fiege for a-while, and was gone to meet the king of Egypt, who was coming to the relief of the city, was delivered in the feventh year of Zedekiah, in the firft month, and tenth day of the month; at the fame time that the elders of J/rael came to Ezekiel, to enquire of the Lord by him, Ezek. xx. 1. which was two years before the king of Baby- Jon came againft Ferufalem; but this feems not likely. It is faid to be, after that the king Zedekiab ‘made a covenant with all the people that were at Ferufalem to proclaim liberty unto them not. unto the people, or to themfelves, the king and the people; unlefs the fenfe is, that the king and the people ‘entered into an agreement among themfelves to make proclamation, that liberty would be granted by them to their fervants; for the liberty proclaimed was to the fervants, and not to them. This feems to confirm it, that it was while the ‘city was befieged that this covenant was made; fince it was made only with the people at Feru/alem, which were pent up in it; for otherwife it would in all probability have been made with all the people of the land; and feems to have been done with this view, to obtain this favour, of the Lord, that they might gain their freedom from the enemy, and come not under the yoke, and into the fervitude of the king of Babylon: and very probable it is, that they did not do this of. their own accord, but were exhorted to it by Jeremiah, who perhaps, among other fins, had reproved them for the breach of the law refpecting the liberty of fervants.

¥. 9. That every man fhould let his man-fervant, and every man bis maid-fervant, being an Hebrew, or an Hebrewefs, go free, &c.] This is the proclamation that was agreed to be made, that every man-fervant and maid-fervaht, that ferve fix years an apprenticefhip, fhould be freed from their fervitude, according to the law in Exod. xxi. 1, 2. a law founded upon juftice and equity, mercy and compaffion; done for the honour of the Jewish nation, that they might be a free people, and in commemoration of their deliverance trom their fervitude in Egypt. ‘This law, as it feems, had been long neglected, and fervants had been retained in bondage beyond their due time, thro’ the oppreffion and covetoufnefs of their mafters, and the neglect of the civil magiftrates; who fhould have took care that fuch a law was put in execution, and that fervants were not oppreffed. Some have thought, that it was at the beginning of the fabbatical year that this proclamation was made, when, according to the law, there fhould be a releafe of fervants, Deut. xv. 1. but that was not a releafe of fervants, but of debts; for if a fervant had not ferved out his time, the fabbatical year, or year of releafe, did not difcharge him; tho’ the year of jubilee did, according to Maimonides ', who fays,

“< if the year of releafe happens in any of the fix,

“ years, he (the fervant) ferves in it; but if the

“< year of jubilee happens within the time, even

** tho” he has been fold but one year before it, he ** is free.” That none foould ferve bimfelf of them, to wit, of a Few his brother; or caufe them to ferve him, oblige them againft their will to continue in his fervice; or by any means avail himfelf of them, and receive to himfelf any profit or advantage by their fervice, they being’ ¥ews and brethren; which feems to be added, both as the reafon of the law, becaufe they were brethren of the fame nation and religion with them, and to diftinguifh them from other fervants, who notwithftanding this law might be retained as fuch.

¥. 10. Now when all the princes, and all the people. which had entered into the covenant, &¢.] The king had made with the people. Here the princes are mentioned, who were not before, but. included in the people; they and the reft of the people are here meant, who having agreed to the covenant, heard that every one foould let his man-fervant, and every one his maid-fervant, go free, that none foould Jerve themfelves of them any more; or any longer,’ which they had done, contrary to law: when they underftood that this was the fum of the covenant they had entered into, and this the intent of the proclamation they agreed unto; or when they heard the law read and explained by the prophet, concerning the. manumiffion of the Hebrew fervants, when the time of. their fervitude was expired, then they obeyed, and let them go; difmified them from their fervice, in obedience to the law of God, agreeable to their own covenant, and the proclamation of liberty they affented to. The whole might be rendered thus, and all the princes, and all the people obeyed, which had entered into the covenant, to let every one his man-fervant, and every one. bis maid- Jervant, go free, not to ferve themfelves of them any more, and they obeyed, I fay, to let them go; fo far they did well; and were praife-worthy, that they kept the law of God, and their own covenant.

y¥. 11. But afterwards they turned, &c.| From the law of God, and their own agreement, and returned to their former ufage of their fervants; they changed their minds and meafures. This feems to be done, when the king of Babylon, hearing the king of Egypt was coming to break up the fiege of Ferufalem, quitted it, and went forth to meet him, as appears from y¥. 21. and ch. XXxvii. 5. the Fews.now finding themfelves at liberty, and out of danger as they imagined, wickedly rebelled againft the law of God; perfidioufly broke their own covenant, repenting of what they had done, and returned to their former ways of oppreffion and cruelty; which fhows they were not hearty and fincere in their covenant: and caufed the fervants, and the hand-maids, whom they had let go free, to return; and brought them into fubjection for fervants and for hand-maids; which was done by force, contrary to the will of their fervants and hand-maids, and in violation of the law of God, and their own folemn oath and covenant.

y. 12. Therefore the word of the Lord came to Feremiah from the Lord, &c.| The word of Jehovah the Son,.from Jehovah the Father, becaufe of this tranfgreffion of the princes and people, and as foon as it was committed by them; for it is. plain from y. 21. that it was before the Chaldean army returned to Yeru/alem, after its departure from it: faying, as follows.

redeemer, and benefactor: J made a covenant with your fathers, gave them a fyftem of laws, among which was that of releafe of fervants: ia the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt; that is, at that time, quickly after, when they were come to mount Sinai; this fhows what fathers are meant, the ewi/b anceftors that came out of Egypt, brought from thence by the mighty hand of God, and indulged with many favours by him, both in the wildernefs, and in the land of Canaan, where he brought and fettled them: out of the boufe of bondmen, where they were bondmen, fervants, and flaves: this is mentioned, to put them in mind of their former ftate and condition; to obferve unto them the foundation and ground of the law concerning fervants, how equitable and merciful it was, and to ageravate their fin; who tho’ their fathers had been bondmen, and they muft have been fo too, had they not been releafed, yet acted fuch a cruel part to their fervants, who were their brethren, in not difcharging them in due tinte: faying; giving out the following law, as a part of the covenant made with their fathers.. ¥. 14. At the end of feven years, &c.] Not when feven years were elapfed and fully compleated; but within the compafs of feven years, or as foon as the feventh year was begun; for this term of feven years, is the term of the feventh year coming in, and not going out, as appears from the law itfelf, Exod. xxi. 2. and from an after-claufe in this verfe, when he hath ferved thee fix years, at the end of which, and the beginning of the feventh: and fo Maimonides™ interprets this law, ‘* he whom the «¢ Sanhedrim fold, ferved fix years from the day “< of his fale, and at the beginning of the feventh *¢ year he was free:” tho’ the Vulgate Latin verfion very wrongly renders it, when feven years are compleated; which verfion Sanétius takes a good deal of pains to reconcile to the original law. An Hebrew might fell himfelf for more years than fix; he might fell himfelf for ten or twelve, as the above Yewi/fh writer fays, and nothing could releafe him but the year of jubilee; and that would do it, if he had ferved but one year™. Let ye go every man is brother, an Hebrew, which hath been fold unto thee; or, hath fold bimfelf unto thee° to be a fervant; for money was not given with apprentices to their mafters, as is ufual with us; but mafters gave money for their fervants, and bought them either of themfelves, or of the magiftrates; hence it is faid, if thou buy an Hebrew fervant, 8c. Fixed. xxi. 2. An Hebrew fervant was fold either againft his will, or with it; if a man committed a theft, and he had not wherewith to make reftoration, the Sanhedrim or magiftrates fold him: if he was exceeding poor, the law gave him liberty to fell himfelf; but he might not fell himfelf as long as he had any thing left, even.a covering; and after that was gone, he might fell himfelf; and he was bought with filver, or the value of filver, or by contract or bond’. And when he hath Served thee fix years, thou fhalt let him go free from thee, or from with thee *; from being with thee, from being in thy houfe, as well as from being in thy fervice; he was to be difmiffed, fo as to go where he pleafed, and work for himfelf, or another, as he thought fit. But your fathers hearkened ae % not unto me, neither inclined their ear; to obey the laws of God, and particularly this concerning er— vants. This is not to be underftood of the fathers with whom the covenant was firftanadey afid to whom this law was firft given; but their pofterity in after-times, who yet lived long before the prefent generation, and fo might with grear propriety be called their fathers; and by which ic appears, that this law had been long negle&ted..__

¥..15. And ye were now turned, &c.4 Or, to-day indeed ye were turned +, fome little time ago, an deed, it muft be owned, that ye turned from evil ways of your fathers, for which you wereso be commended, as having aéted a better, part than they: and had done right in my fight; what was acceptable to the Lord, approved of by him, being agreeable to his law; and it would haye been well, if they had continued fo doing: i proclaiming liberty every man to bis neighbour; for a man-fervant, or maid-fervant, was his neighbour, and ao -be treated as fuch, and loved as himfelf, efpecially an Hebrew one, of the fame nation and religions and not to be ufed as a flave, or retained for ever in bondage: and ye made a covenant before me, in the houfe which is called by my name, this circumftance is mentioned, as an aggravation of. the breach of the covenant they had made, to difmifs their fervants according to law; it was made in a very fo- Jemn manner, in the prefence of God, appealing to him as a witnefs; it was done in the temple, a facred place, devoted to him and his worthip; which was called by his name, the temple of the Lord, and where his name was called upon, and where were the fymbols of his prefence.

¥. 16. But ye turned and polluted my name, 8cc.} Changed their minds, and turned from their refolutions they had entered into, and the good ways they were walking in, and returned to their ‘former evil practices; and fo polluted the name of God by taking it in vain, and breaking the covenant they had agreed to: and caufed every man bis Servant, and every man his hand-maid, whom he had Jet at liberty at pleafure; or according to their foul*s according to their fouls defire, what was very agreeable and acceptable to them, and gave them a real pleafure; which did not laft long, fince they caufed them zo return to their former fervice and bondage under them: and brought them into Jubjection, forced them to come back to their houifes, and into their fervice, and be fubje& to them, and obey their commands as formerly: to be unto you for fervants, and for hand-maids; to do the bufinefs of fuch, as they had done be fore.

y. 17. Therefore thus faith the Lord, &c.|. This being the cafe, and this their crime, which was provoking to the Lord: ye bave not hearkened unto me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every one to his neighbour; for tho’ they did proclaim liberty, they did not act according to its they did not give the liberty they proclaimed, at leaft they did not continue fo to do; as foon almoft as they had granted the favour,, they t away again; and becaufe they did not in well doing, it is reckoned by the Lord as nor done at all: debold, I proclaim ‘erty Sonagaodaitt the Lord; or rather againft them; he difmiffed—,, them jam, vel et quidem converfi fuiftis hodie, Schmidt 3 reverfi quidem vos hodie, Junius & Tremellius, Pifcator.

them from his fervice, care and protection, and <onfigned them to other lords and mafters; he gave them up to rhe fword, to the poftilence, and to the famme + to rule over them; and gave them liberty to make’havock of them, and dettroy them, that what was left by the one, might be feized on by the other: and J will make you to be rémoved into all the kingdoms of the earth; or, for a commotion *; to be moved, and wander from place to place in great fear and terror, not knowing where to ‘fetrle or live comfortably. This was a liberty to. go about in foreign countries where they could, tor relief and fhelter, being banifhed from their own land; but this was a liberty very miferable and uncomfortable; and indeed, no other than captivity and bondage; and fo it is threatened, that what remained of them, who were not deftroyed with the fword of the Chaldeans, or perifhed not by peftilence and famine, fhould be carried captive, and be miferable vagabonds in feveral kingdoms and nations of the world.

¥.18. dnd I will give the men that have tran/- greffed my covenant, &c.] The covenant, the king, princes, and ali the people made to let their fervants go free, is calied the Lord’s covenant,: becaufe made in his name, in his prefence, and before him as a witnefs § and very probably the calf that was Cut in pieces on this occafion, after-mentioned, was facrificed to him, which made him a party concerned; unlefs this is to be underftood or the covenant of God in general made with J/rae/ on mount Sizai; and {fo is diftinct from the other covenant, which may be more efpecially defigned in the next claule: which have not performed the words what they promifed to do in the prefence of the Lord, as in ¥. 15: when they cut the calf in twain, and paffed between the parts thereof; which was a rite or cuftom ufed in making and confirming covenants; a calf, or fome other creature, -were cut in pieces, and the parts laid in order, and the covenantees paffed between thefe parts; fignifying thereby, that if they did not fulfil the engagements they entered into, they imprecated to be cut to pieces as that creature was. Some footfteps of this practice are to be feen as early as the times of Abrabam, Gen. XV. 9, 10, 17. upon which place Farchi obierves, that it was the way of making a covenant to divide a beait, and pafs between the parts of it; and this cuftom obtained among the Chaldeans, Greeks and Romans; or what was very fimilar to it. Cyril" fays, this cuftom was ufed by the Coaldeans, who might take it from Abrabam. A people called Molotti, had fomething of this kind among them; for they confirmed the covenants they iwore to, by cutting oxen into little pieces ”; and Homer feems to have refpect to fuch a practice, when he fays, that the prieft, after he had prayed to Apollo, flew the facrifice, and flead it, and cut it in pieces, making duplicates *, alike to one another. Cicero ’ is thought to have the fame cuftom in view; and likewife Virgil*, when he fpeaks of the covenant made between Romulus and Tatius king of the Sadines, whom he reprefents as ftanding armed before the altar of Fupiter, holding cups, and joining in covenant by killing a {wing and Cutting it in pieces; in like manner Livy * de- {cribes the covenant made between the Romans and Aibanians, when the herald at arms reciting the conditions, called aloud “* hear, -O Fupiter, &e- “* if the Roman people firft fail in obferving, thefe, ftrike them as I now firike this. hog, and fo “¢ much. the more, as thou att more able and mighty;” which being faid, he ftruck it with a fiint-ftone; hence the phrafe, ferire, fedus, to | ftrike or make a covenant; and in allufion to the above cuftom, making a covenant is commonly called in the Old Teftament, cutting @ covenant. Some verfions, as the Syriac interpreter, render it, I will muke the men—as the calf they cut in twain; &c. they fhall be cut in pieces as that is; fee Matt. xxiv. 51.

v.19. The princes of Fudab, and the princes of jeruy lem, &c,| Here is a particular enumeration oi the perfons that had made the covenant, and tranigreifed it, and that fhould fuffer for fo doing; the princes of Fudah, diftinguithed from the princes or jerujelem, defign {uci princes as lived without Jerujalem, in the cities of Yudab, and prefided over them, tho’ now at Jerufalem, having fled thither upon the invafion of the king of Babylon for their fatety; as the princes of ‘feru/alem, or the magi- {trates of that city, are diftinguifhed from the princes of the blood, and irom the courtiers, both in this and ¥. 21: the eunuchs, and the pritjis, and all the people of the land; that is, as many ¢@s had got into Yerujalem to fecure themfelves from the common, enemy: the prises alfo were concerned

| herein, who had men-iervants, and maid-fervants, of the covenant made before me; did not perform as well as others; and befides, were perfons doubtlefs concerhed in drawing up the covenant and the form of an oath, as well as in flaying the facrifice, and cltting it into pieces, and laying the parts in order! it is more furprizing that there fhould be eunuchs here; that fuch fhould be in the court of the king of 3/udab, and have offices in it, and prefide in them, as among the Gentiles. The Targum renders the word, princes: which paffed between tbe parts of the calf, fignifying their affent to the covenant, and wifhing they might be fo ufed if they broke it.

¥.20. I will even give them into the band of their enemies, &cc.] The Chaldeans, who were the enemies of the Yews, that were come from a far country to invade, difpoffefs, ravage and plunder them; and what can be a greater punifhment than to be given up into an enemy’s hand, to be in his power, and at his mercy? and into the band of them that jcek their life, not their wealth and fubftance only, but their lives alfo; nothing lefs will content them: and their dead bodies fhall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beajts of the earth; not only fuch fhould be the cruelty of their enemies that fought their lives, that they fhould flay them with the fword, and give them no quarter; but fuch their inhumanity, that they fhould not fuffer their carcafes to be buried, but leave them expofed to birds and beafts of prey; of the princes of Fudab, fee ch. lii, 10.

¥.21. And Zedekiah king of Fudah, and his prin- «ces, &c.] Thefe were cither the princes of the blood, the fons of Zedekiah, and his nobles and courtiers, as diftinét from the princes in ¥.19. ‘thefe fhall not be fpared, neither the king, nor his fons, nor thofe of the privy-council: but thefe ‘will I-give into the hands of their enemies, and into ‘the hand of them that feek their life, as in,the preceding verfe: and into the band of the king of Babylon’s army or, even into the band», &c. and fo this is an explanation of the former, and fhews who their enemies were, and thofe that fought their life. The accomplifhment of this may be feen in ch. lit. 9,10, 11: which are gone up from you; departed from Feru/alem, as the Chaldean army did upon hearing that Pharaoh king of Egypt was marching with his army to raife the fiege of Yerufalem;, upon which.they left it, and went forth to meet him; and this encouraged the wicked Fews to break their covenant, and reduce their fervants to bondage again, they had let go free; fee ch. XXXVii. 5.

y.22. Bebold, I will command, feith the Lord, “and caufe them to return to this city, &c.| ‘The Lord of hofts, or armies, was generaliffimo of Nebuchadnezzar’s army’; had it at his command, and could direét it as he pleafed, and order it to march and counter-march as he thought fit: it was under the direction of his providence’ that _ it departed” from Ferufalem, to try the inhabitants of it; and’ now, by a fecret inftin@, he would’ fo powerfully work upon it, and by the ordering of external caufes fo manage it, that it fhould return to ferufalem again, and carry on the fiege with’ redoubled vigour: and they /Lall fight agajnft it, and take it, and burn it with fire; they fought againit it by fhooting arrows from their bows,.caft g ftones from their engines, and by beating down the walls with their battering rams; with which making breaches, they entered in and took the city; and burnt the temple, palaces; and other houfes with fire; of all which fee the accomplith ment in ch, lii.4,7,13: oad I will make the cities of Fudab a defolation without an inhabitant; many of them were already; the king of Babylon having taken, ravaged and plundered them before he came to Ferufalem, and whither the inhabitants of them that efcaped the fword, fled for fecurity; and others of them that were not, now fhould be made deiolate upon the taking of Ferufalem, as Lachifo and Azekab, ¥. 7. which fhould fall into the hands “f the enemy, and the inhabitants thereof be forced to flee into other countries, or would be carried captive; fo that they would be without® any, or have but few to dwell in them, — 3

N this chapter the difobedience of the people of the ¥ews unto God is aggravated by the obedience of the Rechadites to their father; and the one are threatened with the judgments of God upon them, and the other have a promife,of the divine bleffing.. The time of this prophecy is obferved, y. 1. an order to bring the Rechabites into one of the chambers of the temple, which was done accordingly, ¥. 2, 3, 4. wine is fet before them to drink, which they refufe; alledging the command of their father to the contrary, y. 5, 6,,7. which they had carefully and conftantly obeyed in every part of it, excepting that which redpeéts their dwelling in tents; for which they give a reafon, ¥. 8,9, 10, 11. by this inftance of filial obedience to parents, the difobedience of the Fews towards their Father, which is in heaven, is aggravated; who, tho’ he gave them laws and commandments, and fent his prophets to put them in mind of them, and exhort them to obedience, yet hearkened not to them, ¥. 12, 13, 14, 15. wherefore the Lord threatens to bring all the evil on them he had pronounced, y. 16, 17. and promifes the fons of Rechab that there fhould be always fome of them that fhould minifter unto him, ¥. 18, 19.

¥.1. The word which came unto Feremiah from the Lord, &c.| Not as following the former prophecies; for they mutt be delivered feventeen years after this. ‘The prophecies of Feremiab are not put together in their proper time in which they were delivered. The preceding prophecies were delivered in the tenth and eleventh years of Zedekiah’s reign: but this in-thedays of Feboiakim the fon of Fofah king of Fudab, in what part of his reign is not certain; but it muft be after Nebuchadnezzar had invaded the land, ¥. 11. very probably in the fourth year of Feboiakum, after he had been the king of Bady/on’s fervant three years, and rebelled againft him, 2 Kings xxiv. 1, 2: /aying, as follows, ' ¥.2. Go unto the houfe of the Rechabites,, &c.] Or family‘, thefe are the fame with the Kenites, who. defcended from Hobab or Fethro, Ma/es's father-in-law, Fudg.i. 16. and iv. 11. 1 Chron. ii. 55. thefe, as their anceftors, became profelytes to Jrae, and always continued with them, tho’ a diftinct — people from them; thefe here had their name from Rechab, a famous man in his time among thofe people: and fpeak unto them, and bring them into the boufe of the Lord; into the temple; for they were worfhippers of the true God, tho’ foreigners and uncircumcifed perfons; and fo might be admitted into places belonging to the temple: into one of the chambers; of the temple, where there were many; fome for the Sanbedrim to fit in; others for the priefts to lay up their garments, and the veffels of the fanétuary in; and others for the prophets and their difciples to converfe in together about religious matters: and give them wine to drink, fet it. before them, and invite them to drink of it, and thereby try their fteady obedi to their father’s commands. Now, this family was brought to the temple either in vifion, as it feemed to the prophet; or really, which latter is moft probable; and that for this reafon, that this affair might be tranfacted publickly, and many might be witnefles of it, and take the rebuke ¢ iven by it; and, as fome think, to reproach the priefts.

¥. 3. Then I took Faaxaniah the bi’ the fon of Habaziniab, 8c.) “Who yas 1 the moft famous and leading man in this::