1The calamities of the Jews, both of the dead and the living. 4The prophet upbraideth their stubborn and shameless impenitency: 13he sheweth God's severe judgments against them; 18and bewaileth the misery of his people.
1AT that time, saith the LORD, 1they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:
1 The Babylonians.
2And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, 2whom they have loved, and whom they have served,a and after whom they have walked, and whom they have 3sought, and whom they have worshipped: 4they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the 5earth.
2 Sun, moon, etc.
a Jer. 7:18; 19:13.
3 Or, asked counsel.
4 The aforesaid bones.
5 Hebr. upon the face of the earth, that is, upon the open land.
3And death shall be 6chosen 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 7hosts.
6 That is, they shall rather wish to be dead than to live. Compare Rev. 9:6.
7 See 1 Kings 18 on verse 15.
4¶Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; 8Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
8 Hebr. Shall they, namely, the people; also in the following: Shall he, etc., that is, there is surely no one so void of reason, that he would not willingly rise again when he is fallen, and would not gladly return into the right way when he is gone astray?
5Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a 9perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
9 Or, strong, passing through, ever proceeding, infinite, everlasting backsliding, that is, an exceeding obstinate backsliding or aversion. Of the Hebrew word see Psalm 4 in the title; Psalm 13 on verse 1.
6I 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 10horse rusheth into the battle.
10 That hunts, snorts, breaks through, and runs through everywhere as a water flood, from which the Hebrew word is properly used; thus the Holy Scripture likewise compares the snorting of an horse unto thunder, Job 39:19.
7Yea, the stork 11in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtleb and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people knowc not the 12judgment of the LORD.
11 Hebr. in the heaven, that is, in the air. Or, a stork knoweth by the heaven, that is, by the condition and change of air. These creatures know by a natural instinct, which they have from God, what is for their good. Compare Isa. 1:3.
b turtle-dove*
c Jer. 5:4, 5.
12 Heed not what is prescribed unto them by God in His Word. Other, justice, which by all the signs they were to perceive that God intended to bring upon them if they did not repent.
8How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly 13in vain made he it; the pen of the 14scribes is in vain.
13 Hebr. for lying, that is, in vain. See 1 Sam. 25:21. Or, for falsehood, falsely.
14 They, who ought to understand and expound the law aright, use mere falsehood. See Ezra 7 on verse 6. These words are diversely translated, but all comes to one sense, namely, that they wrote in vain many things concerning the law of God, seeing they misused all to falsehood and lies, and did not in the least according to it, nor taught others so to do. Compare Mat. 23:13; Luke 11:52; Rom. 2:17, etc.
9The 15wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and 16what wisdom is in them?
15 The scribes, who falsely boasted of their wisdom, as is said in the previous verse. Other, Have these wise men made anyone ashamed? Were the men frightened and taken? Namely, by their reproofs, in order that they would have repented themselves of their wickedness?
16 Hebr. of which thing’s wisdom.
10Therefore will I give their wivesd unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for 17every one frome the least even unto the greatest is givenf to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
d Jer. 6:12.
17 See the same words which are recorded here and in the following unto the 13th verse in Jer. 6:13, 14, 15, except some alteration. See the annotations there.
e Jer. 6:13, 14, 15.
f Isa. 56:11.
11For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
12Were they ashamed 18when they 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.
18 Or, because they, etc.
13¶I will surely 19consume them, saith the LORD: 20there shall be no grapes on the vine,g nor figs on the fig tree,h and the leaf shall fade; 21and 22the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.
19 Of the Hebrew word see Psalm 26 on verse 9. Hebr. gathering I will gather them. Other, devour.
20 This may be also understood that they brought forth no good works at all, yea, had no show or appearance of any. Compare Isaiah 5; Mat. 21:19. Or, with others, it may be taken for the future, general desolation of the land, or that, for a precursory sign, it was already present with the fruits of the ground, and what there might yet remain, which the enemy would further take away everything.
g Isa. 5:1, etc.
h Mat. 21:19; Luke 13:6, etc.
21 Or, for.
22 Or, and the commandments that I have given them, they transgress them. Other, and the things that I have given them (namely, fruits of the ground and other gifts), shall depart or pass away from them, or, I had given them indeed to them, but they shall depart from them.
1423Why do we sit still? assemblei yourselves, and let us enter into the 24defenced cities, and let us be 25silent there: 26for the LORD our God hath 27put us to silence, and given us 28waterj of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.
23 Words of the distressed and fleeing people.
i Jer. 4:5.
24 Hebr. cities of defense.
25 Waiting for help or deliverance, as some take it, having respect to the following verse, or, that we may be quiet there.
26 Words of the prophet, wherewith he answers the words of the people, deriding (as some conceive) the vain hope of the Jews.
27 So that we have nothing to say to all these plagues, as if we were wronged.
28 That is, sent us bitter and deadly calamity. See Psalm 69 on verse 21. Also Jer. 9:15; 23:15.
j Jer. 9:15; 23:15.
1529Wek looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of 30health, and behold trouble!
29 Or, We look, they look. Likewise: Wait freely whereas, etc. all to one sense.
k Jer. 14:19.
30 See Psalm 30 on verse 2. These and similar phrases are contrasted to others, which make mention of hurt, stripes, wounds, etc.
16The snorting of 31his horses was heard froml32Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his 33strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and 34all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.
31 Of the king of Babel.
l Jer. 4:15.
32 See Jer. 4 on verse 15.
33 This may be understood either of the shouting of the mighty ones of his army, or of the snorting of his strong horses. See Psalm 22 on verse 12; Jer. 47:3.
34 Or, and its fulness, that is, all what is in it. Compare Psalm 24:1, etc.
1735For, behold, I will send 36serpents, cockatrices,m among you, which will not be 37charmed,n and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.
35 The words of the Lord.
36 The most hurtful enemies, the Chaldeans, whose power and cruelty ye shall not be able to turn away or escape.
m adder, cobra
37 See Psalm 58 on verse 5.
n Psalm 58:5, 6.
18¶When I would comfort myself 38against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.
38 Or, in or with¸ that is, when I would refresh and strengthen my nature with food, drink or sleep, then sorrow overwhelms me. Other, when I would refresh or strengthen myself against sorrow, then mine heart is, etc., to one sense. The prophet imagined in himself as if he saw the future calamity present before his eyes.
19Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell 39in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? 40is not her king in her? 41Why have they 42provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with 43strange vanities?
39 Babel, to where they would be carried captive. Other, shall be heard because of them that come from a far country, namely, the Chaldeans. Hebr. as if one said: land of distances.
40 Is the promise then at an end (someone might say) which He has made so often concerning Zion and His people?
41 God’s answer to the previous question.
42 Or, incensed.
43 Idolatries of strange pagan nations, or with strange gods. See 2 Kings 17 on verse 15. Hebr. of the stranger, unknown, outlandish one.
20The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
21For the 44hurt of the daughter of my people am I 45hurt; I am 46black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
44 Because of heart-break and internal sorrow. Compare Psalm 51 on verse 17.
45 See Jer. 4 on verse 6.
46 As mourners. See Psalm 35 on verse 14.
22Is there no 47balmo in Gilead; is there no 48physician there? why then is not the 49health of the daughter of my people 50recovered?
47 See Gen. 37:25; Jer. 46:11. As there has been plenty of precious spices and ointments in Gilead, so that they were wont to be transported from there into other countries, it seems that there were also skilful physicians or surgeons. But some do apply these phrases by way of complaint to the contempt of the spiritual means whereby they ought to escape these miseries, namely, true repentance and imitating the good counsel of the faithful prophets. Others understand it as a derision of the vain remedies whereby the people attempted in vain to escape this mischief; both in a good sense, but to the first the beginning of the next chapter suits here very well.
o Gen. 37:25; Jer. 46:11; 51:8.
48 Surgeon or healer.
49 Or, healing.
50 Or, why hath it not increased, that is, why is not my people healed, or cured, amended? See the same manner of speech 2 Chron. 24:13; Neh. 4:7; Jer. 30:13, 17 with the annotations.