3 And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, ⚫ and covered their heads. 4 Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the ploughmen were ashamed, they covered their heads. makes a confession of sins. 6 And f the wild asses did stand in A. M. 3403. B. C. 601. the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass. 7 O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee. 8 O the hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a 5 Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man forsook it, because there was no grass. that turneth aside to tarry for a night? e 1 Sam. v. 12.—d Psa. xl. 14.— Le 2 Sam. xv. 30. f Chap. ii. 24.- -8 Psa. xxv. 11.- h Chap. xvii. 13. word, chap. xvii. 8, rendering it, not dearth, as here,|| Hebrew, лn, broken, bruised, turned into dust. but drought: a calamity which, however, produced The ploughmen-The husbandmen, as O, proa dearth or famine, similar, it seems, to that in the|| perly signifies; were ashamed-Disappointed in time of Elijah. At what precise time this great their hopes of reaping fruit from their labours. drought took place, we are not informed in the re- They covered their heads-An expression of great cords of history: nor whether it be the same with affliction and mourning. The hind also calved and that of which an intimation is given chap iii. 3, forsook it-The hinds are loving creatures, and as where see the note. That it was a calamity very || all creatures, by a natural instinct, love their young, incident to the land of Israel, and applied as a punishment of sin, appears from many parts of the Old Testament. The effects of it are described in the next five verses in very elegant and moving language, and afterward earnestly deprecated. || || Verse 2. Judah mourneth-The people of Judah and Jerusalem, here considered collectively, and represented as a mother oppressed with grief for the|| miseries which have come upon her children. And the gates languish; they are black-" They are in deep mourning:" so Blaney, who observes, "The gates of cities, being places of public resort, where the courts of justice were held, and other common business transacted, seem here to be put for the persons wont to meet there; in like manner as when we say, 'The court is in mourning,' we mean the persons that attend the court. So that by this passage we are to understand, that all the persons who appeared in public were dejected, and put on black, or mourning, on account of the national distress." And the cry of Jerusalem is gone up-Namely, to heaven: That is, the cry of the inhabitants of Jerusalem; of their sin and trouble, but not, as it seems, of their confessions, prayers, and supplications. Verses 3-6. And their nobles, &c.-This scarcity of water afflicted not poor persons only, who had not such means of supplying their necessities as the rich; but the greatest among them, who sent their || little ones, (or inferiors, as Onys, seems here rather to signify,) to the places made to receive and retain water; who, finding none, returned with their|| vessels empty, like persons ashamed, and troubled upon seeing their expectations frustrated. Jerusalem, it must be observed, was supplied with water by two lakes, or pools, termed the upper pool, and the lower pool; Isa. vii. 3; and xxii. 9; from which the water was conveyed by pipes or conduits, for the use of the city. Because the ground is chapt—|| || so the hinds especially; but their moisture being dried up, they had not milk for them, but were forced to leave them, and to run hither and thither to seek grass to eat. And the wild asses, &c.The wild asses, wanting water, got upon the high places, or cliffs, where the air was cooler and its current stronger than in lower places, and their sucked in the wind; and this, it is said, they did like dragons, which are reputed to delight in cool places, and are said by Aristotle and Pliny to stand frequently upon high places imbibing the cool air. Their eyes did fail, &c.-They languished, or pined away for want of food; in which case the natural splendour of the eyes, which is very great in wild asses, grows dull or languid. Verse 7. O Lord, &c.—The prophet, having described their misery both in its cause, the drought, and the effects produced thereby, here applies himself to God, who alone could remove it, confessing that their many and great sins and backslidings had well deserved to be thus severely scourged. Though our iniquities testify against us-That thou art righteous in what thou hast done, and make it evident that we have merited the most dreadful judgments thy wrath can inflict; yet do thou it-Do thou what we stand in need of; give us rain, though not for our sake, we deserve no such kindness from thee, yet for thy name's sake; for the sake of thy word and promise, by which thou engagest to hear the prayers of thy people in their distress, Psa. 1. 15, and for thine honour and glory. Verses 8, 9. O the hope of Israel-That is, the object of Israel's hope; the Being in whom alone thy people Israel have been wont to hope, or in whom they have just reason to hope; the Saviour thereof in time of trouble-Who hast formerly been their Saviour in their distresses, and who alone canst save them in such times of trouble as thou hast now The afflictions and B. C. 601. B. C. 601. A. M. 3403. 9 Why shouldest thou be as a man || not, neither have I commanded them, A. M. 3403. astonished, as a mighty man that neither spake unto them: they procannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the phesy unto you a false vision and divination, midst of us, and we are called by thy name; and a thing of naught, and the deceit of their leave us not. heart. 10 T Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. 11 Then said the LORD unto me, " Pray not for this people for their good. 12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt-offering and an oblation, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence. 15 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, "yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. and 16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, because of the famine, and the sword; they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them. 17 Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: 2 for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow. a 18 If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into Chap. vi. 20; vii. 21, 22.- - Chap. ix. 16.- Chap. iv. 10. Chap. xxvii. 10. Chap. xxiii. 21, Chapter v. 12, 13.- - Psalm lxxix. 3. Lam. i. 16; ii. 18.————2 Chap. viii. 21. i Isaiah lix. 1. k Exodus xxix. 45, 46; Levit. xxvi. 11, 12. 2 Heb. thy name is called upon us, Dan. ix. 18, 19. Chap. ii. 23, 24, 25. Hosea viii. 13; ix. 9.u n Exodus xxxii. 10; Chap. vii. 16; xi. 14.0 Prov. i. 28; Isa. i. 15; Iviii. 3; Chap. y Chap. ix. 1; xiii. 17; xi. 11; Ezek. viii. 18; Mic. iii. 4; Zech. vii. 13. a Ezek. vii. 15. likely a public fast had been appointed upon occa- brought them into; why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land?—That is, as one who, having no permanent interest in the land, is little concerned for its welfare; and as a wayfaring man, &c.-As a traveller who enters a place to stay only for a night, and never inquires, nor takes any care about the affairs of it. Why shouldest thou be as a man astonished-"As a man void of counsel:" so Hou- Verses 13-16. Ah, Lord God! bigant. Or Or as one in such disorder, through some phets, &c.-See note on chap. iv. 10. Thus saith great emotion of mind, that he is able to do nothing. the Lord-And what he saith he will assuredly As a mighty man, &c.—As a mere man, who, though make good; By the sword and famine shall those mighty, yet in many cases cannot save; or who,|| prophets be consumed-They shall fall first by those through some fear or surprise, is incapacitated to very judgments, with the hopes of an exemption make use of his strength. Yet thou, O Lord, art in from which they have flattered others. And the the midst of us-Of the whole land, according to people shall be cast out in the streets, &c.—The thy declaration, Num. xxxv. 34, I the Lord dwell || people contributed to their own delusions, and reaamong the children of Israel. dily hearkened to such false prophets as confirmed Verses 10-12. Thus saith the Lord, &c.-Here them in their evil ways: God therefore justly God returns an answer to the complaints and ex-|| threatens to punish them, because they were unpostulations of the prophet, contained in the eight || willing to know the truth. preceding verses. They have loved to wander- Verses 17, 18. Therefore thou shalt say this word They have been fond of their idols; and despising unto them-Either, 1st, The word spoken above; the the divine succour, have run after that of strangers, threatenings denounced in the last two verses against and they have persisted in their sinful courses, not- the false prophets and the people, the deceivers and withstanding all counsels. Therefore the Lord doth || the deceived: or, 2d, As the passage is generally in not accept them-He will not accept their own pray- || terpreted, and as our translators have understood it, ers or humiliations, nor thine intercessions on their the words following, namely, the prophet's lamentbehalf, but will punish them according to their ation and prayer. Let mine eyes run down with deserts. When they fast, I will not hear-It is || tears—As if he had said, However insensible you are The prophet renews his supplications B. C. 601. B. C. 601. A. M. 3403. the city, then behold them that are || and the iniquity of our fathers: for A. M. 3403. sick with famine! yea, both the pro- we have sinned against thee. phet and the priest go about into a land that they know not. 4 19 Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul loathed Zion? Why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? dwe looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble! 20 We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, 4 Or, make merchandise against a land, and men acknowledge it not, Chap. v. 13.―b Lam. v. 22. Chap. xv. 18.—d Chap. viii. 15. 21 Do not abhor us; for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: fremember, break not thy covenant with us. trated. We acknowledge our wickedness-The ac- of your own condition, yet God commands me to no healing-Wounded us past recovery; none else bewail those calamities which I foresee are coming || can, and thou wilt not heal us. We looked for peace, upon you. For the virgin daughter of my people || &c.-All our hopes and expectations have been frus-That is as dear to me as a daughter to her father; is broken with a great breach-Much greater than any she has yet sustained. The dissolution of government, or body politic, is called a breach, by way of allusion to the breaking or disjointing the limbs of a human body. The prophet speaks as if he already saw the miseries attending the invasion of the country by the Chaldeans. If I go forth into the field, &c.-Multitudes lie dead in the field, slain with the sword; and in the city multitudes lie dying for want of food: doleful spectacle! Yea both the prophet and the priest-Namely, the false prophets, who flattered the people with their lies, and the wicked priests, who persecuted the true prophets, are now expelled their country, and go about|| into a land they know not--Either as prisoners and captives, whithersoever their conquerors lead them; or, as fugitives and vagabonds, wherever they can find shelter. Some understand it of the true prophets, Ezekiel and Daniel, who were carried to Babylon with the rest. But as the Hebrew word here used, 10, properly signifies, to go about on account of traffic, or, merchandise, the sense of the clause may be, "The prophet and the priest carry on a trade against the land, and acknowledge it not." || That is, they deceive the people with lying divinations for the sake of gain, and when accused of it, || will not own their guilt. Blaney renders it, They go trafficking about the city, meaning, "They go about with their false doctrine and lying predictions, as pedlers do with their wares, seeking their own gain," and take no knowledge-That is, "payus-"Thou hast promised to be our God, and that no regard to the miseries in which their country is involved, but act as if they were totally insensible of them." we should be thy people, chap. xi. 4; that is, That thou wouldst take us under thy protection. We have indeed forfeited all our title to thy promises by our Verses 19-22. Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? sins, yet we beseech thee still to remember the rela-The prophet again returns to God, and expostu- tion we bear to thee." Are there any among the lates with him, humbly imploring mercy for his peo- | vanities of the Gentiles-The vain idols, the imaginple, which shows that he did not understand God's ary beings, which have no existence save in the fanwords to him, (verse 11,) as an absolute prohibition | cies of their worshippers, or the gods made by men's to pray for them. Hath thy soul loathed Zion?-hands; that can give rain? or can the heavens give Which was formerly thy delight, and the place thou showers?-Without thy providence. Are showers didst choose for thy special residence. Why hast || purely owing to natural causes? Dost thou not dithou smitten, &c.-That is, So smitten that there is rect when and where they shall fall? The giving No intercession shall be accepted JEREMIAH. in behalf of this people. rain in its season is an argument for God's providence, the heathen idols, nor the clouds, without God's will, often insisted upon in the Scriptures: see note on being able to give rain. Art not thou he, O Lord chap. v. 24. And the prophet, imploring from God our God?-Namely, that givest it. Therefore we a removal of the drought, argues from the impossi- || will wait upon thee-For this blessing, and for the bility of obtaining relief in any other way, neither || supply of all our other wants. CHAPTER XV. In this chapter, (1,) God replies to the preceding supplications, by declaring that not even the intercession of his favoured servants, Moses and Samuel, should divert him from executing his purpose of vengeance against Judah; which is denounced in terms of great severity, 1-9. (2,) Jeremiah complains to God of his continued struggle with his persecutors, and is assured of special protection while his enemies should be ruined, 10-14. (3,) He complains that notwithstanding his sincerity, fidelity, and diligence, in the discharge of his prophetical office, and his delight in God's word and will, he had very little comfort in his work, 15–18. (4,) Assurances of protection, security, and aid in the discharge of his office are renewed to him, on condition of obedience and fidelity on his part, 19–21. NOTES ON CHAPTER XV. 1 e B. C. 601. 3 And 1 will appoint over them A. M. 3403. four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and 'the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy. 4 And 2 I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of 1Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. 5 For i who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest? 3 their supplications, but to go out of my sanctuary. A strong declaration of determined displeasure. Thus the Lord dismisses them with a severity whereof we have few examples in Scripture. See Ezek. xiv. 14, 16. judgments from this people."-Lowth. Cast them Verse 1. Then said the Lord unto me, &c.-This out of my sight-Declare that they shall be cast out, is the Lord's answer to the fervent prayers of Jere- as that which is in the highest degree odious and miah, contained in the last four verses of the pre-offensive; or tell them to come no more to me with ceding chapter. Though Moses and Samuel stood before me—By prayer or sacrifice to reconcile me to them; yet my mind could not be toward this people -Yet I could not be prevailed with to admit them into favour. "As God had forbidden Jeremiah before to intercede for them, because it would be to no pur- Verses 2-5. If they say unto thee, Whither shall pose; so here he declares, that he would not admit we go forth?—If they ask thee what thou meanest the prayers of any others, though eminent favourites, by going forth, and whither they shall go: thou in their behalf. Moses obtained pardon for the people shalt tell them, Such as are for death to death, &c.— after their sin in making the golden calf, Ex. xxxii. In general, You shall go forth, saith God, to ruin and 34; and again, after their despising the promised destruction; but shall not be all destroyed in one land, Num. xiv. 20. Samuel's intercession prevailed and the same way, but every one shall perish in that for their deliverance out of the hands of the Philis-way which God hath appointed: some shall be detines, 1 Sam. vii. 9. And these two persons are men-stroyed by the pestilence, (for that is here to be untioned together, as remarkably prevalent by their prayers, Psa. xcix. 6, 8. But here God says, that if these very persons were alive, and in that near attendance to him which they formerly enjoyed, (for that is the import of the phrase, To stand before him,) yet even their prayers should not avert his derstood by death, Rev. vi. 8, it being death without visible means,) others shall be destroyed by famine, others by the sword of the enemy, others shall go into captivity; but one way or other the greatest part of you shall be consumed. And I will appoinı over them four kinds-Namely, of destroyers. The God's judgments A. M. 3103. 6 they A. M. 3403. B. C. 601. k Thou hast forsaken me, saith || I will destroy my people, since " the LORD, thou art gone backward: return not from their ways. 8 Their widows are increased to me above the therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; m I am weary with re-sand of the seas: I have brought upon them penting. 5 against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noon-day: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city. Or, 5 Or, against the mother city a young man spoiling, &c., or, against the mother and the young men. had often resolved to punish, but out of his clemency, or upon the mediation of others, had altered his mind, and resolved to spare him; but afterward had met with so many fresh provocations that his patience was quite tired out, and he was determined to bear no longer. I will fan them with a fan-Not a purging fan, to separate the chaff from them, but a scattering fan, to disperse and scatter them to all the winds, as Ezekiel expresses it, Ezek. v. 12. In the gates of the land-He alludes to a man standing in the gate of his thrashing-floor to fan and cleanse his corn. I will deprive them of children-The words, of children, are not in the Hebrew, and are unnecessarily supplied: it may as well be of any, or all their comforts and good things. I will destroy my people-The privilege they claim of being my people shall not protect them while they go on in their sinful courses. sword to slay-And those that are slain by it shall self as an angry prince or parent, that had frequentnot enjoy the common rites of burial, but their car-ly been provoked by a subject or child whom he casses shall be left a prey to the dogs, the birds, and the wild beasts, which last shall both tear their living bodies and their dead carcasses. And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms, &c.-Though the body of the people were removed into Babylon, yet it is more than probable that many of them became voluntary exiles to avoid the miseries which they saw coming upon their country. And, without doubt, the king of Babylon removed them into several kingdoms belonging to his large empire. These, it must be observed, are the very words of Moses, (Deut. xxviii. 25,) where he threatens the Israelites with a general dispersion over the world, which threatening received its completion, in part, by the Babylonish captivity, but more perfectly after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Because of Manasseh--In idolatry and other abominations he exceeded all the kings that preceded him: see 2 Kings|| xxi. 7–11. In his time the public worship of God Verse 8. Their widows are increased above the was wholly suppressed, and idolatry introduced into sand of the seas-A hyperbolical expression. The the very temple; the law of God was likewise quite prophet still speaks of things to come as if present. laid aside, and, in a manner, forgotten, as appears by In Jehoiakim's time we read of no great number of the surprise Hilkiah was in when he found the ori- widows, but they were exceedingly multiplied when ginal copy of the law in the house of the Lord. So the city was besieged and taken in Zedekiah's time. that his sins filled up the measure of the Jews' ini- || I have brought upon them against the mother, &c. quities; and therefore, notwithstanding the reforma--Blaney renders this and the next clause, I have tion wrought afterward by Josiah, the Lord turned brought against their mother a chosen one, spoiling not from the fierceness of his wrath kindled against Judah: see 2 Kings xxiii. 26, and xxiv. 3, 4. It must be observed, however, that it was not merely for his sins, or the sins of his times, that God so dreadfully punished the Jews in the days of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah; but it was also, and especially because they imitated the wicked example which Manasseh had set them, the reformation effected by Josiah being only partial, and of not long continuance. For who shall, or, who will, have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem -Thy sins render thee unworthy of pity, and all that see the calamities brought upon thee will acknowledge them to be just. Who will go aside, &c. || --Who will be so much concerned for thee as to step a little out of his way to inquire after thee; a common instance of respect between persons in any degree acquainted. Rather they that pass by will insult over thy calamities. || Verses 6,7. Thou hast forsaken me, thou art gone backward-God here, by more expressions of the same import with many that we have before met with, declares his steady resolution to destroy them for their apostacy from him; and represents him- || at noon-day; I have caused to fall upon her suddenly an enemy and terrors. By the mother here we are to understand Jerusalem, the mother-city, as she is termed in the margin, against which Nebuchadnezzar, the spoiler, was sent, and who came, not secretly, as a thief by night, but openly, with an army at noon-day. "Nebuchadnezzar might be called a chosen one," says Blaney, "as being selected by God to be the instrument and executioner of his vengeance. In the margin of our Bibles, is rendered a young man; and this also would very properly characterize the same person. For Josephus (Contra Apion, lib. i.) cites from Berosus, the Chaldean historian, a passage to the following purport: that 'Nabopollassar, king of Babylon, hearing that the provinces of Egypt, Colo-Syria, and Phonice had revolted, and being himself infirm through age, sent a part of his forces under his son Nebuchadnezzar, then in the prime of youth, ovre ETL EV nikia, by whom those provinces were again re duced.' This was the expedition said to have been undertaken by him in the third year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, in the course of which, after having |