Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• The threat of Philistine attack 28:3-7
  Samuel's death and the mention of Saul's commendable removal of mediums and spiritists prepare for what follows (cf. Lev. 19:3; Deut. 18:11). Mediums are people who communicate with the dead, and spiritists are those who comm...
• A. The Death of Saul ch. 10
  "Having established the remnant's genealogical link with the Davidic and priestly lines, he [the writer] focused on the groundwork of the Davidic promises. His design was to show how the kingly and priestly concerns came toge...
• Humility rather than sacrifice 66:1-6
  This section introduces judgment into the mood of hope that pervades this section describing Israel's glorious future (65:17-66:24). Oppressors of the godly remnant will not prosper nor will those who depend on externals for ...
• Purpose
  Jeremiah's purpose was to call his hearers to repentance in view of God's judgment on Judah, which would come soon from an army from the north (chs. 2-45). Judgment was coming because God's people had forsaken Yahweh and had ...
• Outline
  I. Introduction ch. 1A. The introduction of Jeremiah 1:1-3B. The call of Jeremiah 1:4-191. The promise of divine enablement 1:4-102. Two confirming visions 1:11-19II. Prophecies about Judah chs. 2-45A. Warnings of judgment on...
• 1. The promise of divine enablement 1:4-10
  1:4 The prophet now began speaking to his readers and telling them what the Lord had said to him. Throughout this book, an indication that the Lord had told Jeremiah something is often the sign of a new pericope, as here (cf....
• A. Warnings of judgment on Judah and Jerusalem chs. 2-25
  Chapters 2-25 contain warnings and appeals to the Judahites in view of their sins and the consequences of those sins.
• Jeremiah's Temple Sermon 7:1-15
  This message demonstrates a structure that is quite typical of many others in the Book of Jeremiah (cf. 11:1-17; 17:19-27; 34:8-22). First there is an explanation of Yahweh's will (word, law; vv. 1-7), then a description of I...
• Obedience as opposed to mere sacrifice 7:21-28
  This seems to be a new message from the Lord. It is a good example of prophetic indictments of Israel's sacrificial institutions (cf. 6:20; 1 Sam. 15:22; Ps. 51:16-17; Isa. 1:4-15; Hos. 6:6; Amos 5:21-24; Mic. 6:6-8).7:21 Yah...
• Astral worship 8:1-3
  "The sermon ends (if these verses, still in prose, should be taken with ch. 7) on a note which takes away the last shreds of comfort for those whose hopes or memories are bound up with Jerusalem."1838:1 When the invasion from...
• A collection of Jeremiah's denunciations of Judah's kings and false prophets chs. 21-23
  This section of the book contains some of Jeremiah's messages concerning Judah's kings (21:1-23:8) and false prophets (23:9-40) that he delivered closer to the time of Jerusalem's invasion than the previous chapters.300Beginn...
• Universal judgment to come 25:30-38
  25:30 Jeremiah was also to announce that God would prepare to judge all the inhabitants of the earth (v. 29). As a lion announces its intent to attack with a roar, so Yahweh would one day announce His attack on earth dwellers...
• B. Controversies concerning false prophets chs. 26-29
  These chapters contrast the true prophet of Yahweh with the false prophets. Distinguishing between them was difficult for Jeremiah's contemporaries, but their essential difference is clear. The true prophets proclaimed the Lo...
• 1. Conflict with the people ch. 26
  This section consists of four parts: a summary of Jeremiah's Temple Sermon (vv. 2-6), the prophet's arrest and trial (vv. 7-16), the elders' plea for his life (vv. 17-19, 24), and the incident involving Uriah and his executio...
• D. Incidents surrounding the fall of Jerusalem chs. 34-45
  The Book of Consolation contained messages of future hope for Judah (chs. 30-33). Now Jeremiah returned to document her present judgment. Chapters 34-45 continue the theme of judgment on Judah and Jerusalem from chapters 2-29...
• Zedekiah's last dealings with Jeremiah ch. 38
  Some scholars regard chapter 38 as a retelling of the event just narrated in chapter 37. There is some precedent for such a practice in this book. There are two accounts of Jeremiah's Temple Sermon (chs. 7 and 26) and perhaps...
• Baruch's despair and consolation ch. 45
  This chapter belongs after chapter 36 chronologically, either after 36:8 or 36:32. It serves as an appendix to the historical incidents recorded there. Perhaps the writer or final editor placed it here to show that Yahweh exe...
• Bibliography
  Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. London: Collier Macmillan Publishers; and New York: Macmillan Publishers Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell. The Archaeology of Palestine. Revis...
• God's preparations to depart from the temple 10:9-22
  "God would not share His dwelling place with other gods,' and the sanctuary had been polluted with idolatry. God's worship center at Shiloh was removed shortly after His glory had departed from it (1 Sam. 4:1-4, 10-11, 19-23;...
• 1. The guilt of Israel's civil rulers 3:1-4
  3:1 This second oracle begins like the first and third ones, with a summons to hear the prophet's message (cf. 1:2; 6:1). The initial "And I said"ties this oracle to the preceding one and provides continuity. Micah asked rhet...
• B. Yahweh's answer about Judah 1:5-11
  Though God had not responded to the prophet's questions previously, He did eventually, and Habakkuk recorded His answer. The form of this revelation is an oracle.1:5 The Lord told Habakkuk and his people (plural "you"in Hebre...
• 1. The setting 13:1-4 (cf. Matt. 24:1-3; Luke 21:5-7)
  13:1 This discourse evidently followed Jesus' departure from the temple on Wednesday with His disciples. The stones that caught the disciple's eye were probably those above the floor of the temple courtyard. Herod the Great h...