J A C 7:1-28. Exhortation. D 7:29 - 8:13. Call for lamentation. B 8:14 - 9:9. Invasion. A D 9:10-26. Call for lamentation. C 10:1-16. Exhortaion. B 10:17-25. Expulsion.
C E 1,2. Proclomaton. F 3-26. Disobedience. E 27,28-. Proclomation. F -28. Disobedience.
518-500 B.C.
7) 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yehovah, saying, (the danger attending this message is shown in ch. 28. Cp. 7:2 with 26:2; 7:3 with 26:13; 7:12-14 with 26:4-6. Ch. 26 was in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, probably his 4th year. Ch. 26 is the historical appendix of ch. 7.)
2 “Stand in the gate of the Yehovah's house (i.e. in the fore-court. This proclomation has the Temple and its frequenters for its subject.), and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of Yehovah, all Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship Yehovah.
F G¹ 3-20. Incrimnation. (Shiloh). G² 21-26. Incrimination. (Egypt).
G¹ H¹ 3-. Ways and Doings. J¹ u¹ -3. Land. v¹ 4. Temple. H² 5. Ways and Doings. J² v² 6. Temple. u² 7. Land. H³ 8,9. Ways and Doings. J³ v³ 10,11. Temple. u³ 12-16. Land. H4 17-19. Ways and Doings. J4 v4 20-. Temple. u4 -20. Land.
3 Thus says Yehovah Sabaioth, the Elohim of Israel, ‘Amend your ways and your doings,
and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
4 Confide you all not in lying words, saying, 'The temple of Yehovah, The temple of Yehovah, The temple of Yehovah, are these.’ (Note the Fig., for great empahsis, to exhibit the fanaticism common to all idolaters.)
5 For if you all throughly amend your ways and your doings; if you al throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
6 If you al oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow (see Deut.24:17), and shed not innocent blood in this place (see Deut.19:10), neither walk after other gods to your hurt: (see Ex.20:3. Deut.6:14; 8:19, &c.)
7 Then will I cause you to dwell in this place (see Deut.4:40), in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. (Fig. put for an age-abiding generation)
8 Behold, you all trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
9 Will you all steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you all know not; (see Ex.20:7-15)
10 And still come and stand before Me in this house, whereupon My name was called, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations?’
11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? (this passage used by our Lord, just as Isa. 56:7 was in Matt.21:13. Mark 11:27. Luke 19:46) Behold, even I have seen it, [is] Yehovah's oracle.
12 But go you all now to My place which was in Shiloh (which is now Seilün. Cp. 26:6,9; 41:5), where I set My name at the first (see Deut.12:5,11, &c. Cp. 1 Sam.4;4), and see what I did to it for the wickedness of My people Israel. (see 1 Sam.4:11, and cp. 25:6)
13 And now, because you all have done all these works, [is] Yehovah's oracle, and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking (this phrase is almost peculiar to Jeremiah, where it occ. 11 times. Occ. only elsewhere in 2 Chron.36:15), but you all heard not; and I called you, but you all answered not;
14 Therefore will I do to this house, which is called by My name, wherein you all trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, according as I have done to Shiloh.
15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim. (Fig., for the 10 tribes which were already in captivity. The trouble recorded in ch. 27 proves that this prediction was spoken)
16 Therefore do not you pray for this People, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to Me (cp. 11:14; 14:11): for I will not hear you.
17 Do not you see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? (look what they do in Christian churches today!)
18 The sons gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make (or, offer) cakes to the queen of heaven (= the "asheroth" ["Easter"] of whom they worshipped. See 19:13; 44:19; and cp. 2 Kings 21:3,5; 23:12,13 ), and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger. (they had confused themselves)
19 Do they provoke Me to anger? [is] Yehovah's oracle (Fig., by which the one word implies a second meaning. "Do they provoke Me...? No: they bring on themselves" the judgment of Yehovah. See Deut.32:21): do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
20 Therefore thus says Adonai Yehovah; Behold, My anger and My fury shall be poured out upon this place,
upon mankind, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.” (curse put on a family that will partake in such nonsense as "Easter" = rolling of fertility eggs & quick like a bunny = fertility rites, instead of PASSOVER which our Lord and Saviour became, because you insult God!!! See Ezek 8:15-18)
G² w 21,22. Command. x 23,24. Disobedience. w 25. Command. x 26. Disobedience.
21 Thus says Yehovah of hosts, the Elohim of Israel; “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
22 For I spoke not to your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: (see Ex.15:26; 19:5, which was before any law was given. This vindicates the passage from modern criticism. Cp. Lev.26:3-13, and 1 Sam.15:22, with Ps. 50:8,9; 51:16,17; Isa.1:11-17. Hos.6:6. Amos 5:21-24. Mic.6-8. Matt.9:13; 12:7; 23:23)
23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your Elohim, and you all shall be My people: and walk you all in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.’ (see Lev.26:3-13)
24 But they listened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart (see 3:17), and went backward, and not forward.
25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt (see Ex.12-15) unto this day I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
26 Yet they listened not to Me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
27 Therefore you shall speak all these words to them; but they will not listen to you: you shall also call to them; but they will not answer you.
28 But you shall say to them,
‘This is the nation that listens not to the voice of Yehovah their Elohim, nor receives correction (or instruction, or discipline): fidelity (or veracity) is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.’
D K¹ 7:29-31. Incrimination. Polution of the Temple. L¹ 7:32 - 8:3. Threatening. Slaughter. K² 8:4-9. Incrimination. Impenitence. L² 8:10,11. Threatening. Dispossession. K³ 8:12-. Incrimination. Effrontery. L³ 8:-12,13. Threatening. Fall. Cast down.29: Cut off your hair (a symbol of mourning), O Jerusalem (or, "daughter of My People". Cp. 8:11,19,21,22; 9:1,7. The verb is fem. [sing.]), and cast it away (showing the completenes of the operation), and take up a lamentation on high places (as such. Cp. 3:21); for Yehovah has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath. (gen. of relalation. Cp. Rom.8:36)
L¹ M y 7:32-. Cessation of Name. Temple. z 7:-32. Reasobn. " a 7:33. Carcases unburned. " M y 7:34-. Cessation of joy. Land. z 7:-34, REason. " a 8:1-3. Bones unburned. "
32: Therefore, behold, the days come, [is] Yehovah's oracle, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: (Cp. 19:9; 12:3. Zech.11:4,7. Occ. only in Jer. and Zech.)
for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.
33: And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven (see Deut.28:26), and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall frighten them away.
34: Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: (this refrain is peculiar to Jer.)
for the land shall be desolate. (see Lev.26:31,33)
8) 1: At that time, [is] Yehovah's oracle, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves: (emphasising each class as responsible for the corruption and apostacy)
2: And (particularising here the details of the idolatry) they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
3: And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, [is] Yehovah of hosts oracle.”
K² b¹ 4,5-. Question. c¹ -5-7. Answer. b² 8-. Question. c¹ -8-9-. Answer. b³ -9. Question.
4: Moreover you shall say to them, “Thus says Yehovah; ‘Shall they fall, and not rise up again? shall he turn away, and not return? (The Massorah calls attention to the fact that of the two words represented by "turn" and "and", the first letter of the second word belongs to the first word; so that this latter will read "shall they return [to Him], and He not return [to them]?" it is the same word in both clauses)
5: Why then is this People of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding?
they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
6: I listened and heard, but they spake not aright: scarcely any repented him of his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ every one turned to his course, as the horse rushes into the battle.
7: Yes, the stork in the heaven knows her appointed times (fig., put for the efect of acting on the knowledge); and the turtle-dove and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but My People know not the judgment of Yehovah.
8: How do you all say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us?’
Lo, certainly in vain made He it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.
9: The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of Yehovah; (the second of 4 downward steps. See 6:10)
and what wisdom is in them?
10: Therefore will I give their wives to others (see Deut.28:30), and their fields to them that shall sieze them (or, to their dispossessors): for every one from the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness, and from the prophet even to the priest every one deals falsely. (the former, raised up on account of the failure of the latter, now of one accord)
11: For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace’ (= perfect peace); when there is no peace.
12: Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? no, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: (see 6:15)
therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, [is] Yehovah's oracle.
13: I will surely consume them, [is] Yehovah's oracle: there shall be no grapes on the vine (see 6:9), nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf is withered; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.’ ” (or, "I have appointed them those that shall pass over them.")
B N¹ 8:14-16. The Prophet. Sorrow. O¹ 8:17. Yehovah. Threatening. N² 8:18. The Prophet. Sorrow. O² 8:19. Yehovah. Threatening. N³ 8:20 - 9:9. The Prophet. Sorrow.
14: Why do we (i.e. the prophet to the People) sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for Yehovah our Elohim has put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink (= poppy water; = poisoned water), because we have sinned against Yehovah.
15: We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold terror!
16: The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan (the Assyrians entered the land from the north): the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.
17: “For, behold, I will send serpents, adders, among you, which will not be charmed (this shows that the People were not penitent, and vv.14-16 are not their words), and they shall bite you, [is] Yehovah's oracle.”
18: (When I (i.e. the prophet again) would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.)
19: “Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of My People because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not Yehovah in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked Me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?” (see Deut.32:21)
20: The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
21: For the breach of the daughter of my People am I hurt; I am black (i.e. mournful); astonishment has taken hold on me.
22: Is there no balsam in Gilead; is there no physician there? (the words of the prophet, showing that healing remedies were employed; thus accounting for the silence respecting them. Cp. Isa.1:6) why then is not the health of the daughter of my People recovered?
9) 1: Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my People! (not healed by "balsam" or "physician")
2: Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my People, and go from them!
P² d -2-6. Incrimination. Deceit. e 7. Threatening. Trial. d 8. Incrimination. Deceit. e 9. Threatening. Vengeance.
“for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
3: And they bend (or, prepare) their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the veracity upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not Me, [is] Yehovah's oracle.
4: Take you all heed every one of his friend, and do not confide in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant (see Gen.25:26; 27:36), and every neighbour will walk with slanders.
5: And they will deceive every one his friend, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.
6: Your habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know Me, [is] Yehovah's oracle.
7: Therefore thus says Yehovah Sabaioth, ‘Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how else shall I do for the daughter of My People?
8: Their tongue is as an arrow shot out (Heb. = piercing. Some codices read "pointed"); it speaks deceit: one speaks peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he lays his wait.
9: Shall I not visit them for these things? [is] Yehovah's oracle: shall not My soul (= I Myself. Emphatic) be avenged on such a nation as this? (cp. 5:9,29)
D f 10. Lamantation. g 11. Threatening. Places. h 12-14. The wise. Call. i 15,16. Dispersion among the nation. f 17-21. Lamantation. g 22. Threatening. Persons. h 23,24. The wise. Exhortation. i 25,26. Dispertion with the nations.
10: For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.
11: And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.
12: Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of Yehovah has spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perishes and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passes through?’
13: And Yehovah says, ‘Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them (see Deut.32:15,21. Also see Ex.20, &c. Deut.4:8,44), and have not obeyed My voice, neither walked therein; (in the law, not the verse)
14: But have walked after the stuborness of their own heart (see 3:17), and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
15: Therefore thus says Yehovah Sabaioth, the Elohim of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. (se Deut.29:18. Repeated in 23:15. Cp. 8:14)
16: I will scatter them also among the nattions (see Lev.26:33. Deut.28:64), whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.’
17: Thus say Yehovah Sabaioth (this, vv.17-20, develops the calamity, for which this chapter gives the reason), ‘Consider you all, and call for the mourning women (a class still hired for that purpose. Cp. 2 Sam.1 :24. 2 Chron.35:25. Ecc.125. Matt.9:23. Mark 5:38), that they may come; and send for skillful women (in this buisness), that they may come:
18: And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.
19: For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How is it we are spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because (some codices read "yes, for", or " for indeed") we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out.’ ” (or, "they have cast down our habitation. Cp. Dan.8:11. Job 8:18. Ezek.19:12)
20: Yet (or "For", or "Yes") hear the word of Yehovah, O all you women (these had been largely the instrumental cause; now they share the calamity), and let your ear receive the word of His mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.
21: For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the infants from without, and the young men from the streets.
22: Speak (this shows that Jerome's Heb. text was unpoited, for he read d-b-r as deber = pestilence, instead of dãbãr = word, or dabber = speak), “Thus says Yehovah, ‘Even the carcases of mankind shall fall as dung upon the open field (or, ground), and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them. (cp. Ps.79:3)
23: Thus says Yehovah (the lesson which follows is of universal application), ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, neither let the rich man glory in his riches: (these are the 3 things which men trust in. This was Jerusalem's sin. These things of the world not God. It will never bring you peace of mind)
24: But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am Yehovah (quoted in 1 Cor.1:31. This lies at the foundation of everything: of all trust in God, for One unknown cannot be trusted at all; of all pleasing, Eph.117. Col.1:9,10. 1 John 5:20. The want of it led to the nations corruption, Rom.1:28; to Israel's fall, Isa.1:3. Luke 19:42,44; and all the future blessing is wrapt up in it: for Israel, 31:34. Isa.54:13; and for creation, Isa.11:9. This is why we have the written Word, 2 Tim.3:15, and the living "Word", John 1:18) Which exercise (practices and brings forth) lovingkindness (= favor shown to the unwothy), and judgment (justice to the oppressed, emphasising the statement), and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, [is] Yehovah's oracle. (no other way)
25: Behold, the days come, [is] Yehovah's oracle, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised; (= circumcised in uncircumcision: i.e. "circumcised [externally] who [are yet really] uncircumcised", as explained at the end of the next verse. Hence the contrast with the nations mentioned, which all practiced [external] circumcision, Rom.2:25-29. See Lev.26:41,42. Deut.10:16; 30:6)
26: Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the sons of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners (or, all that have the corners of their beard polled. See Lev.19:27. Cp. Jer.49:32), that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised [in the heart], and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart. (see 2:4)