CHAP. XVI. V.2—4. ‘ Fruitfulness was promised
* as a blessing under the law, (Deut. xxviii. 4,) but it ceased “to be so, in such difficult times as were coming on the _“ Jewish nation.’ (Lowth.) (Nores, Hos. ix. 11—14. Matt. xxiv. 19, 90. Luke xxiii. 26—31,)—The prophet was therefore forbidden to marry, and required to make the prohibition known ; in order the more forcibly to impress the minds of the people, with the apprehension of the reality, and near approach, of the tremendous judgments which he had predicted. (Marg. Ref.) The time was at hand, when the most endeared relations would be an additional cause of anguish and misery : and to manifest his assured belief of this, the pres was required to remain unmarricd, that he might be ess encumbered and more prepared for days of distress, (Marg. Ref.) (Notes, 1 Cor. vii. 6—g. 25—28. )
V. 5—7. The best comment on these verses might be
CHAPTER XVI.
a Se: on}.?. “i. THE *word of the Lorp came also | for-them in mourning, to comfort them
not into the house of “mourning, neither’
for the dead ;_ neither shall men give them |
2 ‘Thou shalt "not take thee a wife, | the °cup of consolation to drink for theiie Prev: xxi. 6, 7.
father, or for their mother.
8 Thou shalt not also go into "ther ®,,!7, 2 i: house of feasting, to sit with them to eat *#,27'\An-and to drink. Xie 27 — 89.
Q For thus saith the Lorn of hosts, “""' the God of Israel, Behold, *I will cause’ Ie. xxiv. @=12. to cease out of this place in your eyes, Hos. itl REY and in your days, the voice of mirth, and - the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.
10 @& And it shall come to pass, when
‘thou shalt shew this people all these
words, and they shall say unto thee,
‘Wherefore hath the Lorp pronounced? 8% i,3%,:
19. — xili. 22.
all this great evil against us? or what is ria 24, 2.
our iniquity ? or what 7s our sin that we hese” ™ have committed against the Lorp our
God? sii, S. v. 79.
Jadz. ii. 12, 13,
11 Then shalt thou say unto them, + 18, 14. Neb.
"Because your fathers have forsaken me, ¢ti-ss—41-pan.
saith the Lorp, and have ‘ walked aftert wi. 2 ix 1s.
other gocls, and have served them, and, See on vil. 26-—
have worshipped them, and have forsaken s ox stubsorines.
me, and have not kept my law:. xii 1, Sane
out, 3%. &7,
12 And ye have done “worse than xx.19. Mag.
Indg. it, t9
your fathers ; for, behold, ye walk every_ 1'sam. xv. ss.
xvii. 9. Gen vi.. ° ° e be . °. x ses one after the imagination of his * evil », vi,
Ec. x. $
heart, that they may not hearken unto me: Mak wi. 91.: Heb. iii. 12,
EERE SEENON ALLS found, in an authentick narrative of what takes place, when.
dire pestilence baffles all efforts to restrain it, in any city or district. So far from the customary funeral-rites being attended to; itoften happens, that houses are deserted, where the dead, nay, thedying, remain ; who are not found for some time, and then in circumstances too horrid to be described. —Several of these customary tokens of mourning were prohibited by the law. (Notes, Lev. xix. 27-—29. Xxi. 1—5, Deut. xiv. 1, 2, Ez. xxiv. 16—24. xliv. 25—97. Malt. ix. 18—26. Mark v. 35—43.)—I have taken, 8c. (5-) © They ‘ are to be esteemed as so many malefactors, at whose fune-
‘rals men do not use to pay the common respects, which |
‘are due to the deceascd.’ (Lowth.)—Tear. (7.) Or, ‘¢ Break bread for them.” (Marg. and Marg. Ref.) « The ‘ friends of the mourner, who came to comfort him~—each ‘ sent in his proportion of meat and drink, in hopes to prevail ‘with him—to partake of refreshments, &c,’ (Blayney.) (Note, John xi. 17—~19.)
- 8,9. Fasting and mourning for sin were more seasonable, in the present circumstances of Israel, than any kind of mirth or pleasure, (Notes, Ec. ii. 1—a11. Js. xxii. 8—14, Matt. ix. 14, 15. xi. 16—19.)—“ In your eyes, and in your “days ;” this clearly shewed, that the predicted miseries would no longer be delayed. (Notes, vii. g39—94. Ez. xii. 21—25,)
V.10—-12. * Because the wicked—dissemble their own ‘sins, and murmur against God’s judgments, as though he ‘ had no just cause to punish them ; he sheweth the prophet
1308
B.C. 605.
~
B.C. 605 :
yvile 15. xv. 4.
14. XVii. 4. Lev.: 13 Therefore Ywill I cast you out of XVI. 97, eR. ° 2: Deut iv. 25, o7. this land *into a land that ye know not,
MXVIN. = G63—15.
xxx. 98, xxx. Neither ye nor your fathers; *and there 17, 18. Jush. ;
nil," tas 16, shall ye serve other gods day and night, Deut. © 14 4 Therefore, "behold, the days Ixxx1. 1%. iii, 4, 5.
zxiv. a. xvii. « Where I will not shew you favour. aDeut. iv. 28.
xxviii. $6. Ps. : . : parity, come, saith the Lorn, that it shall no hag more be said, The Lorp liveth, ‘that € See on Ex. xx. 2
Deut, xv i, Drought up the children of Israel out of
Bic. vi. 4.
dui. 18. ox. s. the land of Egypt.. XxXt. 4. N e
xxxii. 57.1. 19. $8 But, Vhe Lorp liveth, ¢ that Deut. xxx. 3, . - rcv 47. 1s brought up the children of Israel from 1 xxvii. 12, 13. the land of the north, and from all the
xadv. 14. lands whither he had driven them: and I
XAKVEOIKNXVEn.
a2 ae ee will bring them sgain into their land that
| Be Hab, a is gave unto their fathers. isam. xxiv.tt. 106 ( Behold, “I will send for many ere un 1g fishers, saith the Lonp, and they shall Ata. 9. ix. fish them; and after I will send for many si-s7. Rev. vi.’ hunters, and they shall hunt them, from
h xxiii. 24. axxii® every mountain, and from every hill, and
hr. xvi. @. Job xxiv.2!- ont of the holes of the rocks. Giese, 17 For "mine eyes are upon all their
12. ix. 9. Luke xii. 1,42. 1 Cor. iv. 5. Heb. iv. 13,
a
‘ what to answer.’—It is worthy of remark, how much the
spirit of self vindication appeared in the Jews, even in the grossly wicked state of the nation at this time. Several times already we have seen the traces of it in this prophecy. (Notes, ii. 22—24. 393—97.) It is inherent in human nature, and no enormity or actual guilt will subdue or silence it.— The iniquities of the fathers are punished on the children ; because in general, bad education, bad examples, and false principles lead children to imitate; and even to excced, the wickedness of their fathers: (Notes, xxxi. 29, 30. Ex. xx. 5 Ez. xviil, 2—4. 19, 20!) but it is here intimated, that had not this generation of Israel copied the crimes of their ancestors, and grown worse than they, the threatened judgments would not have been poured out on them, and in their days. |
V. 13. Serve other gods, &c. © Mr. Mede expounds this ‘—of their serving those nations who worshipped other ‘ gods.—The Chaldce paraphrase explains the phrase to the “same purpose, ‘ Ye shall serve those people that worship
* idols night and day.’ (Lowth.)—It is, however, probable,
that most of the Jews were on some occasions seduced, or terrified, into ‘conformity to the idolatry of the victors: (Notes, Dan. iii:) and many of them might be incorporated among the idolaters ; though the nation in general was by the captivity set against gross idolatry. (Notes, Deut. iv. 26—28. xxvii. 96. 64. Ps, Ixxx. 12, 13.)—The last clause is by some rendered, ‘* So long as I shall not have given them *< prace.”” (Notes; Xxxli. 39—A41.)
VY. 14, 15. Therefore, Or, ‘* Surely the days come,” &c.—The same particle is rendered ‘‘ surely,” v. 2: and that construction suits this place. ‘‘ After this, &c.” (Blayney) —Intimations of merey in reserve for the Jews, were given in the midst of the denunciations of vengeance; for the support of the pious remnant, and toencourage repentance. The restoration from the Babylonish captivity, as the more recent mercy, and in every respect interesting and remarkable, would be more remembered than their ancient deliverance from
JEREMIAH.
ways: they are not hid from my face, *S"nis. "ar
eyes.
| their detestable and abominable things. = Mive.7. za-b
‘them to know mine hand and my might;
B.C. 605.
xvi. 6. i. qe Li. J, 2. a, 23 Nom. xzxv.
38 And ' first I will recompense their. sn. is Pe &
e e s « ® e , . Hl. e iniquity and their sin double: because , Zepb ill. ts.
they have defiled my land, they have filled &, #)'* *-
mine inheritance with ‘the carcases of! xt. zi
neither is their iniquity hid from mine j
1g O Lorp, ‘my Strength, and my Prov. er”
Fortress, and my Refuge in the day of sant iil. 19.
affliction, "the Gentiles shall come unto _ ii.. y, Mut. 16, 17. Ps.
thee from the ends of the earth, and shail “si. (27 — $0. say, "Sufely our fathers have inherited 3.08 Soi
lies, vanity, and things °wherein there ts Fie Satie
no profit. Zech. i. 14h
20 Shall a man ’make gods unto him- 11, Rev. Lira.
self, and they are no gods? n Sez enil. . x.
™ ° e- 14, 15. aD. Us
21 Therefore, behold, %T will this isis wees;. © See onil. 13. %
once cause them to know, I will cause | 5. 1s. xliv. 10. CXXxV. 1. Ia, XXXTL ig.
Hos. vil. 46,
tr ? e ’ e > ' and they shall know that my name as [et wats.
1. §.
>The Lorp.
XiV. 4, Ps. ix. 16. Bz. Vi. 7. XXIV. 24. 27. exv. 14.
18. Is, xlini. 38. Am, v.38. ® Or, JEROF AH.
q Bx. ix. 14—a8. ¥ xXxxiii. 2. Ex. xv. 3. Ps, Lxxziil.
x
——
Egypt: it was also typical of spiritual redemption, and of the future deliverance of the church from antichristian ap-pression. But the gathering of the Jews and Israelites from their present dispersions, their conversion to Christianity, and their restoration to their own land, seems also tobe predicted, (Note, xxiii. 7,8. Marg. Ref.) . V. 16. ‘ Enemies and oppressors are elsewhcre repre- ‘ sented under the metaphor of fishers and hunters; (Marg.
Ref;) because they use all the methods of open farce and § se- ‘ cret wiles, (often compared to wefs,) in order to make men ‘their prey.” (Lowth.)—Their alacrity, perseverance, self. denying assiduity, and skilfulness in the work of destruction, may also be intended.—‘ The Chaldeans shall make an entire - ‘ conquest and booty of the whole land, of its inhabitants and ‘their riches: and what shall escape one party shall fall into | ‘the hands of another.’ (Low/h.) (Notes, xxv. 9, 10. Am. iV. 1—9. ix. 1—4.)
| | V.17, 18. (Notes, xxiii. 23, 24. Job xxxiv. 20—30. | |
Marg. Ref.) ‘‘ Double,” in proportion to God's usual severity ‘in punishing men’s sins.’ (Lewth.) Or doudle, in proportion to his former dealings with the Jewish nation.—He would fully execute his judgments on them before he began to shew them mercy. (Notes, xvii. 15—18. Js. xl. 1, 2.)—Their idols, or the sacrifices, especially those of their sons and daughters, which they offered to idols, are called the carcases* ‘of their abominable things; and with these they had defiled that land, which belonged to JEHOVAH as his chosen inheritance. (Notes, Lev. xxvi. 30. Ez. xiii. 7—g.) ee V.1g—21.
The prophet, hearing intimations of mercy, addressed the Lord, as his Strength and Refuge. He had revealed to his other prophets and to him, the calling of the Gentiles from all the ends of the earth; when they would renounce the idolatry of their fathers, as unprofitable lies and vanity, to worship the God of Israel.—The fact, now unfe-niable, that the Gentiles, through so large a part of the world, have actually renounced their idols, to worship, in.profession at least, the God of Israel, (that despised nation,) is ynost
B. C. 605.
The Jews are convicted of idolatry, and condemned to captivily, 1—A. They who trust in man are cursed, and they who trust in God are blessed, 5—8.
_ None Lut God can search out the deceitfulness, and desperate wickedness, of the heart, 9,10. The doom of those who grow rich by injustice, 11. The glory of God, as dwelling among his people, an aggravation of the guilt of such as forsake him, 12, 13. The prophet prays
for comfort and salvation; complains of | green trees upon the high hills.
wonderful, when compared with the state of thingsat the time, when Jeremiah wrote this most remarkable prediction. (Nore, Zech. viii. 29 -23.)—And should not Israc] be previously convinced of the folly and wickedness of making gods for themselves, which were no gods ; but the canse of all their miseries? ‘* Shall man,” (Adam,) ‘‘ make to himself gods ?” (ELOHIM.) (20.)—God, (ELOHIM,) at first created Adam, and in him all mankind: how senseless then, as well as abominable, for man to attempt making god, that is, an object of his ownadoration and confidence! ‘Shall that power, which ‘ is finite and weak, take upon hin to make that which is in- ‘finite?’ (Bp.
Hall.) (Note, Is. xliv.g -11.) Because of this abominable folly and impiety, the Lord determined, that he would by this one proof of his power and might, in the Ba-bylonish captivity and the deliverance of the Jews from it, make them to know his nameand effectually set them against idolatry. — Yet the calling of the Gentiles, of which some understand ‘* this one time,” was ; and the future conversion of all Israel to Christianity, and restoration to their own land, will be, far more effectual for the destruction of idolatry, than any preceding events ever were.
PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS.
spends
The servants of God have continual occasion for self-denial in their iniplicit obedience: and he may very properly require them to forego the most innocent comforts of life, for his glory, and to render them instructive examples to the people. For he can make them more easy and satisfied In the situation allotted, than they who are not bound by such restrictions can imagine.—None can be sure, that if they had children, or if their children were continued to them, they would add to their comfort; and many events may take
_ Place, which might cause them to wish that their children
had never been born, or that they had died in their infancy : $0 that entire resignation to the will of God, inall these mat-fers, is our only wisdom.—Peace, inward and outward, do-mestick and publick, is wholly the work and gift of God, the result of his loving-kindness and mercy : and when he takes his peace from any people, every kind of confusion and distress must follow.—There may be circumstances, in which it may be proper to avoid those things, which at other times are a part of our duty. In general it is good to go to the Ouse of mourning ; both in order to-learn profitable lessons, and that we may.counsel and comfort the afflicted, and give a religious direction to their sorrows. (Note, Ec. vii. 2—6.) et times of publick calamity may render all private regards “unseasonable ; and it behoves the servants of God by every
TER XVI.
‘| mercy to thousands and tens of thousands.
B.C. 605.
CHA Pp | 7 | illusage; protests his patience, fidelity, : : CHAP. XVII. and love to the peoples; and calls for
vengeance on his persecutors,14—18. 4 message te the rulers concerning hallowing the sabbath, with conditional promises and threatenings, 19—27.
"THE sin of Judah is * written with 2°? ™™ % %
‘pen of iron, and with the * point of * "**# a diamond ;-z¢ is * graven upon the table's"? cor, i's: of their heart, ‘and upon the horns of- as Rowe your altars ; d vil. 18, Hos. iv, (2 Whilst “their .children remember se,0n ti.,20.— ‘their altars and their groves, by the i. $.
2 Chr. xxxiii. $.
19. Ps. kxxviti.
59. Is, 1.99. xvii.
8. Ez. xx. us,
means to shew their abhorrence of sin, and their apprehension of the divine indignation against impenitent transgressors. But it is far more generally expedient for them to withdraw from the house of teasting: especially when the Lord calls his people to mourn and sigh, for the abominations and miseries which they witness.
And indeed we should ‘all sit loose to the pleasures and concerns of this life: for carnal mirth, yea, the most allowable causes of joy, will soon cease from impenitent sinners, or be turned into ** weeping, wail- ‘* ing, and gnashing of teeth.””— We cannot silence the objections of unhumbled sinners ; they will persist in justifying and excusing themselves, and declaiming against the dispensations and threatenings of God, as unmerited and severe.
But he will shortly shew them and all the world, their iniquities: for ‘* his eyes are upon them ;” none of their sins, or the aggravations of them, are hid from him: and then they will no more be able to object to the justice of their sentence, than to elude or resist the executioners of it; ‘* for ever ‘¢ mouth shall be stopped, and all the world shall be found ‘¢ guilty before God.’’ Thus will he recompense the sins of the impenitent on their own heads ; but he will also exercise Every publick calamity shall promote the purity of his church, every perso-~ nal affliction, the sanctification of the true believer: succeed ing remarkable interpositions in behalf of his people shall eclipse those which have preceded ; till the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, and all Israel shall be saved.
The nations have often known the power of JEHOVAH in his in« dignation; but they shall at length know his name, as *‘ the ‘* Strength and Fortress” of his people, and their ‘* Refuge ‘‘ in the time of trouble.” When sinners truly repent, they renounce the vain practices ‘* delivered to them by tradition ‘¢ from their fathers ;”’ and are not content with unprofitable vanity and lies, because these were the portion of their progenitors. (Note, 1 Pet. i. 17—21.
P.O.) And these are indeed the only portion of all, who do not come to the Lorp, renouncing all for his sake, accepting of his salvation, and de~ voting themselves to his worship and service.
7 NOTES.