45 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Jeremiah 4 This chapter begins with several exhortations to repentance; first to Israel, or the ten tribes, to return to the Lord with their whole hearts, and put away their abominations, and serve him in sincerity and uprightness of soul; with promises of rest and safety to themselves; and that it would have a happy influence on...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord,.... To which they had been encouraged, and as they had promised they would, and said they did, Jeremiah 3:14: return unto me; with thy whole heart, and not feignedly and hypocritically, as Judah did, Jeremiah 3:10. Some render the words (and the accents require they should be rendered so) "if thou...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
It should seem that the first two verses of this chapter might better have been joined to the close of the foregoing chapter, for they are directed to Israel, the ten tribes, by way of reply to their compliance with God's call, directing and encouraging them to hold their resolution, ver. 1, 2. The rest of the chapter concerns Judah and Jerusalem....
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove. And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory. So he sets before them life and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And thou shalt swear, the Lord liveth,.... Or by the living Lord, by him and him only; not by the creatures, but by the God of truth. This is sometimes put for the whole worship and service of God, Deuteronomy 6:13 and for a confession of Christ, and profession of faith in him, Isaiah 45:23, compared with Romans 14:11 and which ought to be done,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem,.... The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who were at the time of this prophecy in their own land; and so are distinguished from Israel the ten tribes, who were in captivity; unless the same persons should be meant, who were called by these several names, the people of the Jews; and it was...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. They...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,.... Or, "be ye circumcised", as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it. This is to be understood of the circumcision of the heart, as Kimchi observes; and as appears from the following words: and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; this is the true...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem, and say,.... Exhortations to repentance being without effect in general, though they might have an influence on some few particular persons, the Lord directs the prophet to lay before the people a view of their destruction as near at hand; who calls upon some persons as a sort of heralds, to publish...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defensed cities. Set up the standard towards Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. The lion is come up from his thicket, and the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Set up the standard toward Zion,.... Not on the tower of Zion, as Kimchi interprets it; but on some high place, pointing to Zion, and directing the country people to flee thither for safety; for the setting up of the standard here is not for enlisting of soldiers in order to fight, but as a sign of danger, and a direction where to flee from it:...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The lion is come up from his thicket,.... Meaning Nebuchadnezzar (s), from Babylon, who is compared to a lion for his strength, fierceness, and cruelty; see Jeremiah 50:17 so the Roman emperor is called a lion, 2 Timothy 4:17, agreeably to this the Targum paraphrases it, "a king is gone from his fortress;'' or tower; and the Syriac version, "a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl,.... That is, because of this destruction threatened, which was so near at hand, and so sure and certain: for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it "from you" and some render it "from it" (u); from his purpose and design to...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of LORD is not turned back from us. And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder. Universal fear would take hold upon them. If...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord,.... When Nebuchadnezzar should be come up from Babylon into the land of Judea, and lay waste the cities thereof, and besiege Jerusalem: that the heart of the king shall perish; meaning Zedekiah king of Judah, who should be in the utmost fright and consternation, not knowing what to do, being...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then said I, ah, Lord God!.... Expressing great sorrow and concern: this "ah" is by way of lamentation. The Targum interprets it as a petition, "and I said, receive my prayer, O Lord God:'' surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem: what the false prophets did, that God is said to do, because he suffered them to deceive the...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Then said I, Ah! Lord God! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul. God promises them peace, but it was upon a condition which they did not fulfill. There was peace while they gave up their sin, but “There is no peace, With God, unto the wicked”: and so they...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
At that time shall it be said to this people, and to Jerusalem,.... The inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem, the people of the Jews; or "concerning" (x) them, as Jarchi interprets it: a dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people. The Targum is, "as the south wind upon the heads of floods of water in the...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem. A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse, Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them. What an awful line that is. “Now also will I give sentence against them.”...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me,.... That is, a strong one, very vehement; or, "a wind which is fuller than these", as the Syriac version renders it; which is stronger than those winds which are fit for fanning and winnowing the chaff from the wheat. Jarchi interprets it, a wind full of those punishments which God had...