12 But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, And seest the reins and the heart, 13 Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: 14 15 16 For he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers. 14-18. A renewed outburst of passionate grief. Cursed be the day wherein I was born: Let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; Making him very glad. And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: belong to the verb immediately preceding them (they have acted foolishly with an everlasting, etc.). 12. Virtually the same as xi. 20. 13. This exclamation of praise may be compared with those which break out from time to time in the course or at the conclusion of many even among the most mournful and despondent of the Psalms. 14-18. A RENEWED OUTBURST OF PASSIONATE grief. 14. Cursed be the day] These words may be compared with those which Job (iii. 3; compare x. 18) first uttered after his seven days of silent grief, although those passages are even more violent than this. The words however are sufficiently intense in their tone to cause some difficulty, especially when we compare them with those which have gone immediately before. Hence it has been sought to explain them as (i) words put by Jeremiah in the mouth of Pashur, (ii) words misplaced by copyists, (iii) words placed here by Jeremiah, although really uttered by him at a different time, and only introduced now by way of contrast to the happier feelings to which he had just given expression, and to remind him of the passionate trouble from which he had been delivered. These explanations are all rather desperate remedies. We are probably nearer the true explanation, if we say that the words express in the intense language of Eastern emotions the bitterness of the pangs which ever and again seized upon the prophet's mind and heart, as he contemplated his position and that of his country. Compare David's imprecation on Gilboa, as the scene of the death of Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam. i. 21). 15. making him] he made him, added in a tone of bitter reflection. And let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shout ing at noontide; Because he slew me not from the womb; Or that my mother might have been my grave, That my days should be consumed with shame ? CHAP. XXI. 1-7. Zedekiah's appeal to the Prophet. His reply, announcing the approaching capture of the city. The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, 16. cry] lamentation, of cities suffering the horrors of war. shouting] war-cry. 17. or that] Probably so that is the sense. The prophet is not thinking of the possibility of that which he wishes, but simply of the blessing which he would have felt it not to have lived, and so to have escaped his present anguish. This is further explained in ver. 18. In Jeremiah's conduct here and in the support given him now and throughout the rest of his life "we should see the greatness of God's grace, which raises again those who are stumbling to their fall, and does not let God's true servants succumb under the temptation... And that Jeremiah did indeed victoriously struggle against this temptation we may gather from remembering that hereafter, when, especially during the siege of Jerusalem under Zedekiah, he had still sorer afflictions to endure, he no longer trembles or bewails the sufferings connected with his calling." Keil. CHAP. XXI. 1–7. ZEDEKIAH'S APPEAL TO THE PROPHET. HIS REPLY, ANNOUNCING THE APPROACHING CAPTURE OF THE CITY. 1. The word which came] This commences a new division of the whole book. The substance of the roll of chap. xxxvi. has been given in the preceding chapters, while fragments of the same are doubtless included in this portion. We here pass at once from the time of Jehoiakim to that of Zedekiah the last king of Judah, and the occasion on which (ver. 4) the city was attacked by the Chaldaeans (see Introd. chap. i. § 16). Zedekiah under these circumstances follows the example set by Hezekiah towards Isaiah the great prophet of his time (2 Kings xix. 2) and sends Pashur and Zephaniah to Jeremiah to ask for a declaration of the future. The prophet replies in this and the three following chapters to the effect that the successive crimes of kings, prophets and priests, which he speaks of in detail, have secured for Judah the unenviable fate now visibly at hand, while there appear however from time to time gleams of brighter things. Chaps. xxi, xxii. describe the sins of the successive kings, xxiii. 1-8 gives expression to Messianic 17 18 21 2 when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying, Inquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous 3 works, that he may go up from us. Then said Jeremiah + unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah: Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into 5 the midst of this city. And I myself will fight against you hopes, xxiii. 9-40 sharply rebukes prophets and priests, xxiv. shews under the similitude of baskets of figs the rottenness to which the State has now under Zedekiah been reduced. Pashur the son of Melchiah] See note on xx. I. Zephaniah] (see also note on xx. 1) mentioned again xxix. 25, xxxvii. 3, lii. 24. In this last place he is spoken of as the second priest, meaning, next to the high-priest in rank. He was one of those slain by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah. Both he (as we may gather from that fact) and Pashur (chap. xxxviii. 1, 4) belonged to the party who were for refusing to recognize and submit to Nebuchadnezzar's overwhelming power, and thus were politically hostile to Jeremiah. the priest] These words belong to Zephaniah not Maaseiah, as (chap. i. 1) "of the priests" to Jeremiah not Hilkiah. Compare xxii. II. 2. Inquire, I pray thee, of the Lord] not, Ask for His help, but, Seek a revelation of the future. Compare the case of Josiah (2 Kings xxii. 13). Nebuchadrezzar] This is a nearer approach than Nebuchadnezzar to the correct spelling of the word. Nabo-kudurri-uzur presents perhaps the nearest sound in English writing. The meaning is very doubtful, but it probably includes the name of the God Nebo. his wondrous works] Zedekiah may have been induced by the somewhat similar circumstances above referred to in Hezekiah's reign, when Isaiah was thus appealed to, to hope for a promise of miraculous deliverance (2 Kings xix. 6, 7, 35, 36). 4. turn back] Those who are engaged outside the walls in trying to baffle the Chaldaeans as they take up their positions for the siege, are to be driven back by the foe into the city. without the walls] These words are probably to be connected, not with 'besiege,' but with 'fight.' assemble them] gather the weapons together. 5. I myself] Not only shall the sword of the enemy devour you, but also the pestilence. This was a visitation considered as coming most direct from the hand of God. Compare 2 Sam. xxiv. 14. with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. And I will smite 6 the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence. And afterward, saith the LORD, 7 I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy. 8-14. Counsel to the people and the king. And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the 8 LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. He that abideth in this city shall die by the 9 sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey. For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for 10 good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. And touch- II with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm] The phrase is suggested by Deut. where it occurs several times (iv. 34, V. 15, xxvi. 8). 7. and such] even such. The whole verse is as explicit as possible in its assurance that none shall escape either the sword or submission to the conqueror's pleasure. 8-14. COUNSEL TO THE PEOPLE AND THE KING. 8. the way of life, and the way of death] A somewhat similar expression in Deut. (xxx. 19) may probably have suggested these words to Jeremiah. 'Life,' however, here does not mean prosperity, but the mere avoidance of death. 9. falleth to the Chaldeans] giveth himself up, not as an act of treachery against his own countrymen (see xxxvii. 13, 14) but simply as a means of saving his life. for a prey] something snatched up hurriedly and borne away with him rather than his secure possession. 10. I have set my face against this city] Compare xliv. 11, also Amos ix. 4, where we have a similar phrase-to look closely at, to direct the attention to. Hence, as the phrase itself is ambiguous, the words are added, 'for evil and not for good.' 11. The counsel here given to the royal house seems not to have ing the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word 12 of the LORD. O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of 13 the evil of your doings. Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or 14 who shall enter into our habitations? But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it. 22 CHAP. XXII. 1-9. A further exhortation to amend. Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king formed part of Jeremiah's reply to the king's messengers at this time, but to be the first section of that series of prophecies which, altered probably at different dates, are thus placed in a historical connexion by Jeremiah himself or Baruch. This particular section (verses 11—14) belongs to a time when there was still a possibility of escape by amendment of life. touching] as to. The word say, which follows, should be omitted. It is a direct address from the prophet to the royal house of Judah. 12. Execute judgment in the morning] An important part of the king's duties was personally to hear and adjudicate upon cases in the open space at the city gate. Compare 2 Sam. xv. 2—4. in the morning] probably, every morning, as the same Heb. expression means Amos iv. 4, and a similar one Ps. ci. 8 (“early” in Eng. Vers.). It was the ordinary time for business, while it was still cool. him that is spoiled] See chap. xx. 8 with note. 13. inhabitant] The Heb. is inhabitress, i. e. the feminine used collectively for the body of the inhabitants. See iv. 31, vi. 2, vii. 29, xiv. 17. and rock] rock. The 'and' should be omitted. Jerusalem is called both 'valley' and 'rock' (compare xvii. 3 with note) because, although it is lower than the surrounding mountains, yet the hills on which it is built rise high above the plain. 14. the forest thereof her forest, i.e. of Jerusalem. The expression does not mean literal trees, of which there was nothing like a forest in the neighbourhood of the city, but denotes either the houses clustering together like a forest, or more generally, the beauty and grandeur of the place. Compare for the general sense note on Gilead, etc. chap. xxii. 6; also Is. x. 34, where Sennacherib, king of Assyria, is likened to "the thickets of the forests," and to "Lebanon." CHAP. XXII. 1-9. A FURTHER EXHORTATION TO AMEND. 1. Thus saith the Lord] This section is of the same general cha |