graves and they shall spread them before the sun, and the 2 moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth. And 3 death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts.

4-17. The people have been hardened and unblushing

in their iniquity.

Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; 4 Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return? Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back s

2. spread] scatter, carelessly, not of any fixed purpose.

before the sun] heavenly bodies will not be prevented by all the offerings and devotion they received from using their influence to hasten the rotting of the carcases of their sometime worshippers.

whom they have loved] The gradual progress in idolatry expressed by this and the succeeding verbs is worthy of notice: fondness, submission, adaptation of conduct, frequency of service, treasonable acceptance in the place of God.

be gathered] for burial.

3. The thought and much of the language corresponds with Lev. xxvi. 36-39; Deut. xxviii. 65-67.

family] used of the whole nation. Compare chap. iii. 14 with note; also xxv. 9.

which remain] This probably did not stand in the_text_originally, but represents an inadvertent repetition by the copyist of the same Hebrew word in the previous line.

places] the lands outside Palestine.

4-17. THE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN HARDENED AND UNBLUSHING IN THEIR INIQUITY.

4. We have had (chaps. vii. 28—viii. 3) a kind of parenthesis, setting forth the nature of the coming punishment. Jeremiah now returns to the subject of the conduct which has procured it.

But this people 'return' are the 'return' chap.

they] one, impersonal. If a man stumble, he will naturally regain his footing; if he lose his way, he will return to it. doth not so. In the Hebrew 'turn away' and same verb. Compare for the repetition of the word iv. 1, where however there is no play on the word.

5. slidden back... backsliding ... return] All three expressions are

by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they 6 refuse to return. I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the 7 horse rusheth into the battle. Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my

from the same root in the original. "Why do they turn away with a perpetual turning?"

deceit] either (i) their own treachery towards God, or, better, (ii) their idols, as being a denial of God, and deluding those who confide in them.

refuse] scorn, loathe.

6. I] God is still the speaker.

hearkened and heard] implying an anxiety to give every chance of amendment.

not aright] virtually one word in the Hebrew, not right=wrong. See note on chap. ii. 8. The same expression occurs chaps. xxiii. 10, xlviii. 30.

repented] repents.

What have I done?] shewing reflection and contrition.

course] implying rapid motion, an eager plunge into wrong-doing. A more probable reading is the pl. courses, thus expressing that each follows his individual bent.

rusheth] literally, overfloweth. Thus two metaphors (a fiery steed, and a torrent) are combined.

7. Even migratory birds are punctual to their seasons.

stork] There are two species found in Palestine, the white and the black, the former dispersed generally in pairs over the whole country, the latter living in the marshes and in large flocks. They have been observed to reach Palestine on March 22. After a few weeks they proceed to Northern Europe.

in the heaven] which makes its nest on high (compare Ps. civ. 17), alluding to its custom of selecting the loftiest situation-a pillar, a ruin, a tall tree; or, better, which takes flight by day at a great height, unlike other migratory birds. (Tristram, Nat. Hist. of Bible, 246, quoted in Sp. Comm.)

turtle] The turtle dove was very abundant in Palestine from early time (Gen. xv. 9). A pair of these formed the alternative offering instead of pigeons for the poor. "One of the first birds to migrate northwards, the turtle...immediately on its arrival pours forth from every garden, grove and wooded hill its melancholy yet soothing ditty." (Tristram in Sm. Bibl. Dict.)

crane] swift (Cypselus). Several species of it are found in Palestine, from which country the swallow does not migrate.

swallow] crane.

people know not the judgment of the LORD. How do ye 8 say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and 9 taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them? Therefore will I give their wives 10 unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. For they have healed the hurt of it the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they

judgment] ordinance, law, which is thus recognised by the lower animals.

8. the law] The reply of the priests and false prophets was, We have the written Law, and are learned in its language and precepts. Such men were the two Pashurs (chaps. xx. I, xxi. 1) and Shemaiah (chap. xxix. 24, &c.) who boasted of the Law newly discovered in the Temple. Some take the Hebrew for wise, here, and in chap. xviii. 18 to denote a special class of persons.

Lo, certainly...] In truth lo! the lying pen of the scribes hath made it (the Law) a lie. The English marginal rendering is thus fairly correct (The false pen of the scribes worketh for falsehood'). They have used their knowledge of the Law to deceive others, in assuring them that they may sin with impunity.

scribes] First found as a class in Josiah's time (2 Chron. xxxiv. 13). This class probably arose in Hezekiah's day (compare Prov. XXV. 1). Hence the preservation of so many prophecies of his time, while most of the words of earlier prophets have been lost. The schools of the prophets (1 Sam. xix. 20, &c.) no doubt helped much towards the same result. We gather that the Law must have existed in writing before the class of scribes could have grown up, and therefore the modern view that the "Books of Moses" were a late fabrication may be disproved even from this verse alone.

9. what wisdom] literally, wisdom of (=in) what matter. 10-12. Almost identical with chap. vi. 12-15 above. See notes there. There is no valid ground however for supposing it to be a later insertion here. Jeremiah frequently repeats himself. Compare ver. 15 with xiv. 19, v. 9 with 29 and ix. 9, vii. 31-33 with xix. 5-7 and xxxii. 35, X. 12-16 with li. 15-19, xv. 13, 14 with xvii. 3, 4, xvi. 14, 15 with xxiii. 7, 8, xxiii. 5, 6 with xxxiii. 14-16, xxiii. 19, 20 with xxx. 23, 24.

Therefore] Because my people know not,' &c. (end of ver. 7).

that shall inherit] that shall take possession of. The idea is that of forcible seizure on the part of the invader.

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had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD. I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them. 14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD. 15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time 16 of health, and behold trouble. The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and

13. I will surely consume them] I will gather and sweep them away. There is a play on the two verbs in the Hebrew which is untranslateable.

there shall be] These words had best be omitted. The description concerns the present state of the people, who are the vine and fig tree spoken of.

shall fade] fadeth. A contrast to the righteous man, who is like the tree with leaves ever green, chap. xvii. 8; Ps. i. 1-3.

the things that I have given them shall pass away from them] I appoint unto them those that shall pass over them, viz. the destroying foe, which shall inundate them as a flood. The same figure is used Is. viii. 8, xxviii. 15. For this somewhat difficult clause in the original other renderings have been proposed, but they are rather forced, (i) I deliver them up to those who pass over them, (ii) I gave to them that (viz. my Law) which they trangress.

14. The people address one another and urge the best course that remains under the circumstances announced in the previous verse. be silent] better, perish. Compare 1 Sam. ii. 9.

hath put us to silence] The original is even stronger, has decreed our ruin.

gall] the margin reads 'poison.' It was a bitter plant. There have been suggested (i) poppy, hence ‘water of gall' (also chaps. ix. 15, xxiii. 15)=opium (see Matt. xxvii. 34), but this its grape-like berries (Deut. xxxii. 32) forbid, (ii) hemlock, (iii) colocynth (a kind of cucumber), (iv) tares, (v) night-shade (belladonna). The last seems the most probable meaning.

16. Dan] As the northernmost boundary, probably with no reference to its having been one of the great seats of idolatry.

land] or, earth.

strong ones] war-horses. The same epithet is used as a substitute

have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein. For behold, I will send serpents, 17 cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.

18-22. A bitter Lament for the people.

When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is 18 faint in me. Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of 19 my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities? The harvest is past, the summer is 20 ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter

for the noun, chaps. xlvii. 3, 1. 11 (Eng. Version "bulls"). The horse is the embodiment of strength in Scripture. See Job xxxix. 19; Ps. xxxiii. 17, cxlvii. 10.

17. cockatrices] vipers. There are several Hebrew words for serpent. The kind mentioned here probably is that called in Latin regulus. We gather from Isaiah (xi. 8) that it burrowed underground, and (lix. 5) that it produced eggs. The serpent to which Dan is compared (Gen. xlix. 17) may be the same.

which will not be charmed] Compare Eccles. x. 11. The serpentcharming art is still kept up in the East. It is supposed that the sharp shrill sounds which the charmers produce by their voice or an instrument are the means by which the desired result is reached. They also "repeatedly breathe strongly into the face of the serpent and occasionally blow spittle, or some medicated composition upon them." The Land and the Book, p. 154.

18-22. A BITTER LAMENT FOR THE PEOPLE.

18. When I would comfort myself against]

in, i.e. O that I could comfort myself in.
in me] on me, as an oppressive burden.

literally, O my comfort

19. because of them that dwell in] from. Jeremiah is in thought anticipating the captivity, and the distressful cries of the exiles in the direction of their home.

Why have they...] This is the LORD's reply. strange] foreign.

20. summer] vintage, ingathering of fruits. As when the harvest was bad, there remained yet hopes from the yield of grapes, figs, olives, &c., and till these hopes had failed to be realized, men did not despair; so the people had lost one chance after another, and were now without any hope. Accordingly it is again the people who speak here, and use what is obviously a proverbial saying.

21. the hurt] literally, the breaking, the breach, and so the verb that follows.

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