For, lo, I begin to bring evil upon the city which is called by my name,.... Jerusalem, the city of God, the holy city, where his name was called upon, and he was worshipped; on this he would first bring down his judgments; and indeed he had already begun to bring evil on it; for this very year Nebuchadnezzar came up to besiege it, and carried...
Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them,.... What follows, as well as declare all that is before spoken concerning the cup of fury all nations must drink of: the Lord shall roar from on high: from, heaven, like a lion, in violent claps of thunder; or in such dreadful dispensations of his providence, as will be very...
A noise shall come up [even] to the ends of the earth,.... Wars, and rumours of wars, everywhere, till the cup has gone round, and all nations have drank of it, and have felt the power of divine wrath for their sins: for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations; will enter into a judicial process with them; will litigate the point with them,...
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation,.... Begin in one nation, and then go on to another; first in Judea, and then in Egypt; and so on, like a catching distemper, or like fire that first consumes one house, and then another; and thus shall the cup go round from nation to nation, before prophesied of:...
And the slain of the Lord,.... Slain by his permission, yea, by his orders, according to his will, in his wrath and sore displeasure, and to glorify his vindictive justice: shall be at that day from [one] end of the earth even unto the [other] end of the earth; not that this should be at one and the same time; for there never was such a time, that...
Howl, ye shepherds, and cry,.... The Targum is, "howl, ye kings, and cry;'' and the rulers and governors of the nations before threatened with destruction are meant; who are here called upon to lamentation and mourning for the ruin and loss of their kingdoms; though Calvin thinks that this is an apostrophe to the Jewish nation, and the rulers of...
And the shepherds shall have no way to flee,.... Or, "and flight shall perish from the shepherds" (u); though they may attempt it, they shall not be able to accomplish it; neither the dignity of their persons, the greatness of their power, or the abundance of their riches, would make a way for them; their enemies being so numerous, powerful, and...
And a voice of the cry of the shepherds,.... Or of the kings, as the Targum: and an howling of the principal of the flock, [shall be heard]; of the mighty of the people, as the same; what is before called for is here represented as in fact, because of the certainty of it: for the Lord hath spoiled their pastures: their kingdoms, provinces, cities,...
And the peaceable habitations are cut down,.... Or, "their peaceable ones", as the Targum; the palaces and stately dwellings, in which they lived in great pomp and prosperity, in great peace, plenty, and safety, are destroyed by the enemy, and laid waste, and become desolate; yea, even those that lived peaceably and quietly, and neither were...
He hath forsaken his covert as a lion,.... Which some understand of God leaving Jerusalem, or the temple, where he dwelt; who, while he made it his residence, protected it; but when he forsook it, it became exposed to the enemy. Kimchi says it may be understood of the destruction of the first temple by Nebuchadnezzar; but he thinks it is most...
INTRODUCTION TO Jeremiah 26 This chapter gives an account of Jeremiah's preaching; of his being apprehended by the people; of his defence of himself, and acquittance upon it. The time when, place where, and persons to whom the prophet delivered his discourse, are pointed at in Jeremiah 26:1; the substance of it was, that if the people of the Jews...
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah,.... So that the prophecy of this chapter, and the facts and events connected with it, were before the prophecy of the preceding chapter, though here related; that being in the fourth year, this in the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign. Josiah was lately dead; Jehoahaz his son...
Thus saith the Lord, stand in the court of the Lord's house,.... It, the great court of Israel, where the people used to meet together for worship: and speak unto all the cities of Judah; the inhabitants of them; not only to those that dwelt at Jerusalem but in the rest of the cities of Judah; for what he was to say concerned them all, they having...
If so be they will hearken,.... And obey; which is expressive not of ignorance and conjecture in God, but of his patience and long suffering, granting space and time for repentance, and the means of it; which disregarded, leave without excuse: and turn every man from his evil way; his series and course of life, which was evil, and was the case of...
And thou shalt say unto them,.... What follows is the substance of the prophecy, and the sum of the sermon or discourse he was sent to deliver, without diminishing a word of it: thus saith the Lord, if ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law which I have set before you; first by Moses, by whose hands it was given to their fathers; and by the...
To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets,.... The interpretations they give of the law; the doctrines they deliver; the exhortations, cautions, and reproofs given by them in the name of the Lord, whose servants they were; and therefore should be hearkened to; since hearkening to them is hearkening to the Lord himself, in whose name they...
Then will I make this house like Shiloh,.... Where the ark was until it was taken by the Philistines; and then the Lord forsook his tabernacle there, Psalms 78:60; and so he threatens to do the like to the temple at Jerusalem, should they continue in their disobedience to him; [See comments on Jeremiah 7:12] and [See comments on Jeremiah 7:14];...
So the priests, and the prophets, and all the people,.... As it was in the temple, in one of the courts of it, that Jeremiah was, and said the above things, it is no wonder to hear of the "priests", since they were there about their work and service; the "prophets" were the false prophets, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions expressly call them;...
Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking,.... For they let him alone till he had done, either out of reverence of him as a priest and prophet; or they were awed by a secret influence on their minds that they might not disturb him: all that the Lord had commanded [him] to speak unto all the people; he did as he was ordered,...
Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord,.... Made use of his name in declaring a falsehood, as they would have it; this was the crime: had he said what he thought fit to say in his own name, they suggest it would not have been so bad; but to vent his own imaginations in the name of the Lord, this they judged wicked and blasphemous, and...