1415 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Take ye heed everyone of his neighbour,.... Take care of being imposed upon by them, since they are so given to lying and deceit; be not too credulous, or too easily believe what is said; or keep yourselves from them; have no company or conversation with them, since evil communications corrupt good manners: and trust ye not in any brother; whether...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they will deceive everyone his neighbour,.... In conversation, with lying words; and in trade and commerce, by art and tricking: and will not speak the truth; with respect to facts they report, or goods they sell: they have taught their tongue to speak lies; and become so accustomed to lying that they cannot do otherwise; it is as it were...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit,.... In the midst of a people of deceit, as Kimchi and Ben Molech. These are the words of the Lord to the prophet, showing what a people he dwelt among, and had to do with; how cautiously and prudently he should act; how little they were to be trusted to and depended upon; and what little hope there was...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... Because of this deceit and hypocrisy, and lying: behold, I will melt them, and try them: as the refiner does his gold and silver, by putting them into the fire of afflictions, and thereby remove their dross and corruption from them. So the Targum, "behold, I will bring distress upon them, and melt them,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Their tongue is as an arrow shot out,.... As an arrow out of a bow, which moves swiftly, and comes with great force; or, "drawn out" (u); as out of a quiver. The word is used of gold, and rendered "beaten gold", 1 Kings 10:16, gold drawn out into plates; and here of an arrow drawn out of a quiver; and so it is interpreted in the Talmud (w); or is...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord,.... The Targum adds, "to bring evil upon them.'' Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? the Targum is, "or of a people whose works are such, shall I not take vengeance according to my pleasure?'' [See comments on Jeremiah 5:9].
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing,.... Because of the desolation of them; because no pasture upon them, nor flocks feeding there; or "concerning" them, as the Arabic version; or "upon" them (y), in order to cause the lamentation to be heard the further; but the former sense seems best, as appears by what follows. The...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I will make Jerusalem heaps,.... That is, the walls and houses of it shall be thrown down, and become heaps of stones and rubbish: and a den of dragons; only inhabited by wild beasts: and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without inhabitant; so that the calamity would be universal; not only Jerusalem, but all the cities of the land,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Who is the wise man that may understand this?.... Not the calamity, but the cause of it; a man of wisdom would inquire into it, find it out, and understand it; but the intimation is, that there was not a wise man among them, at least very few; there were scarce any that took any notice of these things, or were concerned about them: and who is he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord saith,.... The Septuagint version adds, "to me"; there being no wise and understanding man, nor prophet (b), to take up this affair, and open the cause of it, therefore the Lord undertakes it himself: the question was put to them, but they not answering it, the Lord does it, because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But have walked after the imagination of their own heart,.... What their own hearts devised, chose, and were best pleased with; [See comments on Jeremiah 7:24], and after Baalim; the idols of the Gentiles; these they served and worshipped, and not the true God: which their fathers taught them; which was so far from excusing them, that it was an...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,.... He calls himself "the Lord God of hosts", of armies above and below, in heaven and in earth, in opposition to Baalim, the idols of the Gentiles; which word signifies "lords"; which, though there be many who are called so, there is but one God, and one Lord, who is God over all, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I will scatter them also among the Heathen,.... Besides the bitter judgments of famine and pestilence during the siege, what remained of them should be carried captive out of their own land into foreign countries, than which nothing could be more distressing: whom neither they or their fathers have known; a circumstance greatly aggravating their...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, consider ye,.... The punishment that was just coming upon them, as Kimchi; or the words that the Lord was about to say unto them; as follows: and call for the mourning women, that they may come; the same with the "praeficae" among the Romans; persons that were sent for, and hired by, the relations of the dead, to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us,.... Deliver out a mournful song, as the Arabic version; setting forth their miseries and distresses, and affecting their minds with them. The prophet puts himself among the people, as being a party concealed in their sufferings, and sympathizing with them, as well as to show the certainty of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion,.... Out of the fortress of Zion, out of the city of Jerusalem, which was thought to be inexpugnable, and could never be taken; but now a voice is heard out of that, deploring the desolation of it: how are we spoiled? our houses destroyed, and we plundered of our substance: we are greatly confounded:...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Yet hear the word of the Lord, O ye women,.... Not the mourning women, but others who had lost their husbands and their children, and had just reason for real mourning; and therefore they are called upon to it, not only because they were more tenderhearted than men, as Kimchi observes; or because they were more attentive to the hearing of the word...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For death is come up into our windows,.... Their doors being shut, bolted, and barred, they thought themselves safe, but were not; the Chaldeans scaled their walls, broke in at the tops of their houses, or at their windows, and destroyed them: for the invasion of the enemy, and the manner of their entrance into them, seem to be described. Death is...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Speak, thus saith the Lord,.... These are the words of the Lord to Jeremiah, to go on with his prophecy in his name; so the Targum, "prophesy, thus saith the Lord:'' even the carcasses of men shall fall as dung upon the open field; or, "upon the face of the field" (f); this shows the reason why the women are called to mourning, because the men...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,.... Not in his natural wisdom, or knowledge of natural things: this is often but an appearance of wisdom, and is science falsely so called; and whatever is real of this kind is of God; and the best falls short of leading men to a true and saving knowledge of God; the foolishness of God...