129 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou hast made us [as] the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people. Had given them up into the hands of the Gentiles, the Chaldeans, to be treated as the dirt of the streets, as the sweepings of a house; or the dross of metal; or anything that is vile, mean, and contemptible. The apostle seems to have some reference to this passage; and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. Like lions and other beasts of prey, to devour us; or in way of scorn and derision; pouring out their reproaches upon us, and scoffs at us, for our religion, and the worship of God, and on account of present miseries and distresses; see Lamentations 2:16. The Targum adds, "to decree against us...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Fear and a snare is come upon us,.... Or, "fear and a pit" (m); the fear of failing into the pit of ruin and destruction, on the brink of which they saw themselves; or fear seized us, and caused us to flee; and a snare or pit was prepared for us to fall into; so that there was no escaping hence: desolation and destruction; desolation or...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Mine eye runneth down with rivers of waters,.... Denoting the greatness of his grief and trouble at the afflictions of his people, and the vast profusion of tears on that account. Here the prophet speaks in his own person, expressing the anguish of his soul he felt, and the floods of tears he shed: for the destruction of the daughter of my people;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not,.... From weeping, as the Targum: the prophet was continually weeping; the distresses of his people were always uppermost in his mind; and which so affected him, that it drew tears from his eyes, which constantly trickled down his cheeks: without any intermission; or, "without intermissions" (n); there were...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Till the Lord look do: on, and behold from heaven. Disperses and dissipates the cloud that was about him; shines forth and manifests himself, and looks favourably upon his people, and delivers them out of their troubles: this the prophet was in hope of, and was waiting for; but, till it came to pass, could have no rest and comfort. The Targum is,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Mine eye affecteth mine heart,.... Seeing the desolation of his country; the ruins of the city and temple of Jerusalem; and the multitudes of those that were slain, and carried captive; and the distresses the rest were in; this affected his heart, and filled it with grief; as his heart also affected his eyes, and caused them to run down in rivers...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Mine enemies chased me sore like a bird,.... That is weak and helpless, fearful and timorous; that flees from place to place when pursued; so it was with the prophet, or rather with the people of the Jews he represents; for here and in the following verses he speaks not only of himself, but of them; who, when they fled out of the city, were chased...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause. They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off. I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon. He said, “I am cut off,” yet he called upon the name of the Lord out of the low dungeon into which his enemies...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
They have cut off my life in the dungeon,.... Jarchi interprets it, "they bound me in the prison.'' Jeremiah was both in a prison and in a dungeon, where he was deprived of the society of men, as if he had been dead; and he was in danger of losing his life; but whether any respect is had to it here is not certain: it seems rather to respect the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Waters flowed over mine head,.... As in a pit or dungeon, where there is not only mire and clay, but much water, into which persons being put, sink, and are covered therewith; see Psalms 69:1; this is to be understood metaphorically of the waters of afflictions, which overflowed and overwhelmed the people of the Jews. Jarchi interprets it of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I called upon thy name, O Lord,.... As in times past, so in the present distress; when all hope was gone, and all help failed, still there was a God to go to, and call upon: out of the low dungeon; or "dungeon of lownesses" (r); the lowest dungeon, the deepest distress, a man or people could be in; yet then and there it is not too late to call...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon. Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry. Sometimes our prayers get to be so very weak that they are only a breathing; yet we must never forget that, “Prayer is the breath of God in men, returning whence it came,” and “Praying breath is never spent in vain.”
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou hast heard my voice,.... Either in times past, when he cried unto him, and was delivered; and this was an encouragement to call upon him again in such extremity, who had shown himself to be a God hearing and answering prayer; hence it follows: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry; turn not a deaf ear to me, who hast been wont to hear...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry. Is not that a beautiful description of prayer, when the soul cannot find words, nothing but a “breathing”? Did I say nothing but a breathing? Why, that is the very essence of prayer. “Prayer is the breath of God in man, Returning whence it came.” Vocal sounds in prayer can be...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou drewest near in the day [that] I called upon thee,.... When persons draw nigh to God in a way of duty, and particularly in this of prayer, and calling on his name; he draws nigh to them in a way of grace and mercy, and manifests himself to them, and works salvation for them. The Targum is, "thou didst cause an angel to draw near to deliver me...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not. O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; What a comfort it is that Christ in heaven is our great Advocate, and that he has pleaded the causes of our soul before the throne of God!
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: Oh, sweet experience! Cannot you, beloved, say that these words suit you as much as they did Jeremiah? I am inclined to say to him, “They are mine, Jeremiah, they certainly were yours, but I am sure that they are equally mine.”
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Thou saidst, Fear not. O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life. Blessed be his holy name for ever and ever!
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
O Lord, thou hast pleaded the cause of my soul,.... Or, causes of "my soul", or "life" (u); such as concerned his soul and life: not one only, but many of them; and this respects not Jeremiah only, and the Lord's pleading his cause against Zedekiah and his nobles; but the people of the Jews in former times, when in Egypt, and in the times of the...