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men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and 3 say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, which I commanded your fathers in the day that I 4 brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God: that I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing thus exhorted to report to each other the message from the LORD; (b) the priests and elders; (c) the prophets. The last is the best, for it is natural, inasmuch as the words are directly addressed to one of their number, that the whole body should be included simply under the pronoun 'ye.' This verse therefore contains the general injunction laid upon the prophets as a class, and is followed by the special command to Jeremiah.

3. This and the following verses contain several references to the Book of Deuteronomy. The prophet is commanded to remind the people of those terms of the covenant under which alone they held the land.

Cursed be the man that obeyeth not] The words are an adaptation of the last of the solemn warnings (Deut. xxvii. 15-26) to be pronounced against those who failed to observe the enactments of the Law, "Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them." The observance of this ceremony on their arrival in the land was enjoined by Moses, and was accordingly carried out (Josh. viii. 30-35). For confirm of the passage in Deuteronomy is substituted obey by Jeremiah, because in the former case the acknowledgment of the obligation at the outset was the point of importance, while now a life of actual obedience to it is that which is needed.

the words of this covenant] Compare for the expression Deut. xxix.

I, 9.

4. in the day that I brought them forth] at the time of their leaving Egypt. The covenant enjoined in Deuteronomy was the same in essence as that which was made on Sinai and which was confirmed by solemn ceremonies (Exod. xxiv. 5-8), and thus its enactment followed the exodus from Egypt at but a short interval.

the iron furnace] another point of connexion with Deuteronomy, where this same expression occurs, meaning Egypt (iv. 20). It is found also in Solomon's prayer at the dedication of his Temple (1 Kings viii. 51). Compare Isaiah xlviii. 10 ("I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction"). do them] namely, the words of this covenant (ver. 3).

5. that I may perform] Some would make the quotation of the substance of the Mosaic precept to end with ver. 4, so that the opening words of ver. 5 should be the direct address of God to Jeremiah, and refer accordingly to the present time. It seems better however to take them as the quotation continued from the Pentateuch, their substance being found in Deut. vii. 12, 13.

with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, 6 and said, So be it, O LORD. Then the LORD said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of this cove7 nant, and do them. For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, say8 ing, Obey my voice. Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they

your fathers] Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as ancestors of those who entered upon the enjoyment of the land.

flowing with milk and honey] Comp. chap. xxxii. 22; Exod. iii. 8, 17, xiii. 5, xxxiii. 3; Ezek. xx. 6, 15.

as it is this day] this day omitting as it is will be the rendering, if we take the whole sentence as proposed above. The phrase in the Hebrew seems often, or even generally, to have this sense (compare Deut. viii. 18; 1 Kings iii. 6 and specially viii. 61), although its more literal rendering is that which is adopted by the English Version.

So be it] Amen. As the words of the LORD were in effect those of the curses to be pronounced as directed (Deut. xxvii.), so the prophet's reply is that assigned to the people on the same occasion. Thus it testifies to the prophet's sense of the justice of the divine announcement, and further expresses his readiness to aid in the carrying out of God's will in the matter.

6. After the exhortation to the prophetic class generally (ver. 2), and the warning of the consequences which had always attended upon disobedience to the precepts of the Law, Jeremiah is commanded to make a direct appeal to the people to conform to the agreement to which they had from old time given their consent.

the cities of Judah] Jeremiah may very probably have accompanied Josiah in the journeys which he made to Bethel and to the cities of Samaria for the overthrow of idolatry. Compare 2 Kings xxiii. 15, 19. 7. rising early] See chap. vii. 13.

8. The first part of this verse is almost word for word the same with chap. vii. 24.

imagination] stubbornness. See chap. iii. 17.

I will bring] rather, I have brought, not meaning that the result of the people's disobedience had as yet displayed itself in its full terrors, but that, as instances in their past history were not wanting (e.g. the captivity of the Ten Tribes and the events recorded 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11) to prove that temporal calamity followed upon neglect of God's Law, so the glaring disobedience which now existed had already involved the certainty that the provisions of the covenant in the way of penalties should be carried out to the full.

did them not.

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And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy 9 is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers. Therefore thus saith the 11 LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them. Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble. For according to the number 13 of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry 14

9. A conspiracy] Possibly this may mean that there were actual measures taken in secret against Josiah on account of his reforms. At any rate the expression denotes a considerable amount of agreement in the pursuance of idolatry, and in all probability further points to a secresy of combination.

10. their forefathers] The Hebrew is their fathers, the first ones, thus bringing us back to the wilderness times, and pointing to the idolatry committed there.

and they went after] yea, they are gone after. In the Hebrew the word 'they' is emphatic, and therefore refers to the Jews of the prophet's day as contrasted with their forefathers of the time of Moses. Israel and Judah are placed on a par as regards crime, that it may be inferred that no less punishment than had been already meted out to the former was in store for the latter.

11. will bring] am bringing, or, as the Heb. participle is often a future, am about to bring.

12, 13. Compare the almost identical language used in chap. ii. 27, 28. 13. streets] open places. So in chap. vii. 17.

that shameful thing] See note on chap. iii. 24. The verse has been taken to imply that altars, such as are here mentioned, were actually set up in most if not all of the streets of Jerusalem, and hence it has been said that this portion of the prophecy cannot be as early as the reign of Josiah. The verse however need mean no more than that a strong though secret opposition existed to the reforming work of that king and that the worship of Baal was practised, though not openly, in all parts of the country and city.

14. Therefore pray not thou] The people's wickedness had gone beyond the limits at which intercession would avail. Their own cry,

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or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.

15-20. The People resent the Prophet's faithful rebuke. 15 What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou re16 joicest. The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult when it should be uttered, would be a sign, not of penitence, but merely of suffering. The whole verse closely resembles chap. vii. 16. 15-20. THE PEOPLE RESENT THE PROPHET'S FAITHFUL REBUKE. 15. my beloved] Judah; so chap. xii. 7.

to do in mine house] The people by their idolatry have made any entrance of the Temple on their part to be an intrusion. Having rejected their Father, they have no claim upon His house.

lewdness] the better rendering is guile. Her service of God has been but hypocrisy and deception.

with many] There is no authority for the word with. The Hebrew however is very difficult. If the reading in the original be retained, we may join the word either with the preceding or succeeding ones. Hence we have the renderings (i) She hath wrought lewdness in crowds, or (ii) The chief men and the holy flesh are, etc. Of these the former keeps closer to the sense of the original word, and is less rugged, but involves a violation of grammar in the following clause (unless, by a slight alteration of one Heb. word, we there read, and they cause the holy flesh to pass, etc.) Another reading has been followed by the Septuagint translators, who render the whole verse, How has my beloved wrought abomination in my house? Shall vows and holy flesh remove from thee thy wickedness, or by these shalt thou escape? i.e. Shall promises or sacrifices profit thee?

is passed] Possibly, they cause (the holy flesh) to pass.

when thou doest evil] There is no Hebrew for thou doest. It seems best however to understand the clause in that way, though some would translate the latter part of the verse thus, Shall vows and holy flesh remove thy calamity from thee? then mayest thou exult. This depends on the fact that the same word in Hebrew will stand for moral evil and the

physical evil which is its consequence. The last part of this rendering however seems scarcely in Jeremiah's style.

16. called thy name] acknowledged thee to be worthy of comparison with.

A green olive tree] Compare for this figure as applied to the nation Hosea xiv. 6. It is taken from a tree which abounds in Palestine, being indeed in many parts the only one to be seen.

of goodly fruit] "Olive oil is obtained by expression from the pulp of the fruit, and is of great economical importance, not only in Pales

he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken. For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath 17 pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal. And the LORD hath given me knowledge 18 of it, and I know it: then thou shewedst me their doings. But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the 19

tine, but also in Southern Europe. It is extensively used in the preparation of food, and may be called the milk of these countries. Smith's History of Bible Plants).

J.

tumult] The word in the original is used but once elsewhere, Ezek. i. 24 (where Eng. Vers. has "speech"). It there occurs in reference to the noise made by an army on the march. This therefore may be its sole sense, which would quite agree with Jeremiah's custom of hasty assumption and dismissal of a metaphor noticed in Introduction chap. II. $8 (d), where see instances. It is however very possible on the other hand that the word may denote here the noise of a storm of rain, or of crackling flames, either of which would be excellently adapted to the figure which the rest of the verse contains of a fair fruit tree struck and maimed by lightning.

17. The strong contrast which exists between the first and second parts of ver. 16 is renewed here in other words. The Planter of the Tree, who took delight in His work, now designs nothing but evil against it, and that because of its failure to bear the fruit which He had purposed. the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah] The branches of the tree are the whole nation. The one part has already had its branches broken by the storm, and the turn of the other will soon come. 18. This and the following verses have been placed by some as late as the time of Jehoiachin or even Zedekiah, because agreeing with what we read of the general feeling which then existed against Jeremiah. There seems however no sufficient cause for separating them from the words which precede. There is an easy connexion in thought between the two parts. The prophet proceeds from the general charge of wickedness against Israel to specify a particular attack upon himself as the messenger of the LORD. The men of Anathoth, his native city, among whom therefore he would seem still to be at this time resident (see remarks at the beginning of notes on this chapter), hoping either to put him out of the way, or at any rate to terrify him into silence, had secretly conspired against his life. The LORD however had shewn him their intentions.

hath given] gave.

know] knew.

19.

like a lamb or an ox] like a tame lamb. The Hebrew rendered by the English Version ox is indeed found in Psalm cxliv. 14 in that sense but only as a poetical expression, the domesticated ones. It was common among the Arabs, and apparently the Jews also (2 Sam. xii. 3), to bring