Jeremiah 34:1--45:5
spoke <01697> [A.M. 3415. B.C. 589. The word.]
This chapter contains two discourses, one concerning the taking of the city, and Zedekiah's captivity and death, ver. 1-7; and the other containing an invective against the inhabitants of Jerusalem for retaining their Hebrew slaves, ver. 8-22; both of which were delivered in the tenth year of Zedekiah.
Nebuchadnezzar <05019> [when.]
kingdoms <04467> [all the kingdoms.]
consisted ......... from <03027> [of his dominion. Heb. the dominion of his hand.]
go <01980> [Go.]
give ..................... hand <05414> [Behold.]
escape ................................ go <04422 0935> [And thou.]
confront <05869> [and thine.]
answer <06310 01696> [he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth. Heb. his mouth shall speak to thy mouth.]
die <04191> [But thou.]
burn <04955> [and with.]
<08313> [so.]
mourn <05594> [and they.]
attacking Jerusalem <03898 03389> [fought against.]
Lachish <03923> [Lachish.]
fortified <04013> [for.]
made <03772> [had.]
grant <07121> [to proclaim.]
Hebrew <05680> [Hebrew.]
keep ..... enslaved <05647> [serve.]
leaders <08269> [when.]
agreed ....................... complied <08085> [then.]
made <03772> [I made.]
when <03117> [in the.]
Every <07093> [At the.]
sold <04376> [been sold. or, sold himself.]
ancestors <01> [but.]
It appears from this and several other passages, that the sabbatical year had been wholly neglected some centuries before the captivity; and the author of the second book of Chronicles (ch. 36:21) assigns this as a reason for the captivity, "that the land might enjoy her sabbaths." Now, if we reckon the seventy years' captivity as a punishment for this neglect, it will follow that the law on this subject had been disregarded for about 490 years.
Recently .......................... made <03117 03772> [ye.]
Recently <03117> [now. Heb. to-day. in proclaiming.]
made <03772> [ye had.]
granted ........................ claimed .... own <07121 08034> [which is called by my name. Heb. whereupon my name is called.]
turned right around ............. took back <07725> [ye turned.]
did not honor <02490> [polluted.]
forced <03533> [and brought.]
freedom <07121> [behold.]
When they proclaimed liberty to their slaves, God restrained the sword from cutting them off; but now having resumed their authority over them, He proclaimed liberty to these dire judgments to seize upon, and destroy them.
die ... war ... by <02719> [to the sword.]
make <05414> [I will.]
<02189> [to be removed. Heb. for a removing.]
violated .................. passed <05674> [have transgressed.]
cut <03772> [when.]
This was the ancient mode of making a covenant. (See on De 29:12 Jos 9:7.)
leaders <08269> [princes.]
court officials <05631> [the eunuchs.]
hand <03027> [and into.]
dead bodies <05038> [and their.]
Zedekiah <06667> [Zedekiah.]
withdrawn <05927> [which are.]
order <06680> [I will command.]
back <07725> [cause.]
They did return, and reinvested the city; and, after an obstinate defence, took it, plundered it, and burnt it to the ground, taking Zedekiah, his princes, and people, captive.
fight <03898> [shall fight.]
make <05414> [and I will.]
spoke <01697> [A.M. 3397. B.C. 607. The word.]
This discourse was probably delivered in the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign, when the king of Babylon made war against him.
when <03117> [in the.]
temple <01004> [the house.]
one <0259> [into one.]
room .............. room ............... room <03957> [into the chamber.]
one <0376> [a man.]
temple officers <08269> [the princes.]
doorkeepers <08104> [the keeper.]
doorkeepers <05592> [door. Heb. threshold, or vessel.]
Have <08354> [Drink.]
Jonadab <03122> [Jonadab.]
drink ....................... drink <08354> [Ye shall.]
Jonadab, a man of fervent zeal for the pure worship of God, and who lived about three hundred years before this time, (2 Ki 10:15, 16, etc.) had probably practised these rules himself; and having trained up his children to habits of abstemiousness, he enjoined them and their posterity to adhere to them. In these regulations he seems to have had no religious, but merely a prudential view, as is intimated in the reason annexed to them "that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers." And this would be the natural consequence of observing these rules; for their temperate mode of living would very much contribute to preserve health and prolong life; and they would avoid giving umbrage, or exciting the jealousy or envy of the Jews, who might have been provoked, by their engaging and succeeding in the principal business in which they themselves were engaged, agriculture and vine-dressing to expel them their country; by which they would have been deprived of the religious advantages they enjoyed. In 1 Ch 2:55, they are termed scribes, which intimates that they were engaged in some kind of literary employments.
[all.]
[that ye.]
time <03117> [all.]
Nebuchadnezzar <05019> [when.]
get up ... go to <0935> [Come.]
learn <03947> [Will.]
orders <01697> [words.]
over and over again <07925> [rising.]
obeyed ..................... obeyed <08085> [but ye.]
sent ....................................................... gave <07971 05414> [I have.]
<07725> [Return.]
live in <03427> [ye shall dwell.]
pay <05186> [ye have.]
<0559> [Therefore.]
God having, by the conduct of the Rechabites, convicted the Jews of ingratitude and rebellion, He now proceeds to pass sentence against them.
bring <0935> [Behold.]
threatened ............ spoke <01696> [because.]
obeyed <08085> [Because.]
Jonadab <03122> [Jonadab, etc. Heb. There shall not a man be cut off from]
Jonadab the son of Rechab to stand, etc.
serve <05975> [stand.]
scroll <04039> [a roll.]
Write <03789> [write.]
Israel <03478> [against Israel.]
nations <01471> [against all.]
since .......... reign ..... now <03117> [from the days.]
people <01004> [may be.]
hear <08085> [hear.]
<07725> [they may.]
forgive <05545> [that I.]
Baruch ................... Baruch <01263> [Baruch.]
wrote <03789> [wrote.]
Baruch is supposed to have been a disciple of Jeremiah; and being a ready scribe, he was employed by the prophet as his amanuensis.
scroll <04039> [upon.]
Read <07121> [and read.]
told <01697> [the words.]
fast <06685> [upon.]
then <05307> [It may.]
then .... ask .... for mercy <08467 05307> [they will present their supplication. Heb. their supplication shall fall. and will.]
great <01419> [for.]
So <06213> [did.]
Lord ...... scroll ....... Lord <05612 03068> [in the.]
fifth <02549> [A.M. 3398. B.C. 606. in the fifth.]
observe <07121> [they.]
came ........................... fifth <02549 0935> [came.]
read <07121> [Then.]
entrance of the room <03957> [in the chamber.]
Gemariah <01587> [Gemariah.]
Shaphan <08227> [Shaphan.]
royal secretary <05608> [the scribe.]
entrance <06607> [entry. or, door.]
Shaphan <08227> [Shaphan.]
Elishama <0476> [Elishama.]
Elnathan <0494> [Elnathan.]
Gemariah <01587> [Gemariah.]
Hananiah <02608> [Hananiah.]
Nethaniah <05418> [Nethaniah.]
Cushi <03570> [Cushi.]
bring ...................... carrying <03947> [took.]
read .......... read <07121> [and read.]
alarm <06342> [they were.]
<05046> [We.]
<05046> [Tell.]
dictated <07121> [He.]
ink <01773> [with ink.]
{Baddeyo} is rendered by some, after him; but {deyo} (in Chaldee and Syriac {deyootha,} and in Welsh {du,}) certainly denotes ink; whence are derived the Arabic {dawat} and {deweet,} and Persian {deeveet,} an ink-holder; the Syriac {dayowo}, and Persian {div,} the devil. So the Alexandrian copy of the LXX. has [en melani,] and Vulgate {atramento,} "with ink." Perhaps the princes supposed that Baruch had written this roll from memory; and that it was rather to be considered as his composition, than the substance of Jeremiah's prophecies; and they might ask this apparently frivolous question in order to allay the alarms excited by considering it as the word of God. But Baruch, with great simplicity, so answered their question, as to shew that he only acted as Jeremiah's amanuensis, and wrote verbatim what he had dictated.
Jehudi .................... he <03065> [Jehudi.]
Jehudi .................... he <03065> [And Jehudi.]
A warm apartment suited to the season of the year, (December, when snow is often upon the ground in Palestine,) in which was a pan or brazier ({ach,} or {ikhkh,} as it is pronounced in Arabic) of burning charcoal; for we learn from Bp. Pococke, and Dr. Russel, that this was the mode in which the Orientals warmed their apartments.
cut ... off <07167> [he cut.]
alarm <06342> [they.]
tear <07167> [nor rent.]
Elnathan <0494> [Elnathan.]
urged <06293> [made.]
<08085> [but.]
<04429> [Hammelech. or, the king. to take.]
royal ....................... Lord <04428 03068> [but.]
burned <08313> [Thou hast.]
write <03789> [Why.]
King ........................ king <04428> [The king.]
occupy <03427> [He shall.]
dead body <05038> [and his.]
day ..... night <03117 03915> [in the.]
Sir J. Chardin observes, "In the Lower Asia, in particular, the day is always hot; and as soon as the sun is fifteen degrees above the horizon, no cold is felt in the depth of winter itself. On the contrary, in the height of summer the nights are as cold as at Paris in the month of March. It is for this reason that in Persia and Turkey they always make use of furred habits in the country, such only being sufficient to resist the cold of the nights. I have travelled in Arabia, and in Mesopotamia, (the theatre of the adventures of Jacob,) both in winter and in summer, and have found the truth of what the Patriarch said, "That he was scorched with the heat in the day, and stiffened with cold in the night." (Ge 31:40.) This contrariety in the qualities of the air in twenty-four hours is extremely great in some places, and not conceivable by those that have not felt it; one would imagine that he had passed in a moment from the violent heats of summer to the depth of winter. Thus it had pleased God to temper the heat of the sun by the coldness of night, without which the greatest part of the East would be barren, and a desert."
punish <06485> [punish. Heb. visit upon.]
bring <0935> [will bring.]
heed <08085> [but.]
<03947> [took.]
wrote <03789> [who.]
several other <03254> [there.]
scroll .......................... messages <01992 01697> [like words. Heb. words as they.]
Zedekiah <06667> [A.M. 3406-3416. B.C. 598-588. Zedekiah.]
Jeconiah <03659> [Coniah.]
[Jeconiah.]
[Jehoiachin. made.]
officials <05650> [neither.]
prophet <05030> [the prophet. Heb. the hand of the prophet.]
Zephaniah <06846> [Zephaniah.]
pray <06419> [Pray.]
put <05414> [for.]
Pharaoh <06547> [Pharaoh's.]
This was Pharaoh Hophra, or Apries, as he is called by Herodotus, who succeeded his father Psammis on the throne of Egypt, A.M. 3410, B.C. 594, and reigned twenty-five years. Having entered into a confederacy with Zedekiah, (Eze 17:15,) he marched out of Egypt with a great army to his relief; which caused Nebuchadnezzar to raise the siege of Jerusalem to meet him; during which period the transactions detailed here took place.
withdrew <05927> [they.]
<0559> [Thus.]
Pharaoh <06547> [Pharaoh's.]
deceive <05377> [Deceive.]
yourselves <05315> [yourselves. Heb. your souls.]
defeat <05221> [though.]
wounded <0582 01856> [wounded men. Heb. men thrust through.]
get up <06965> [yet.]
forces ......... army <02428> [that.]
withdrawn <05927> [broken. Heb. made to ascend.]
leave <03318> [went.]
territory <0776> [the land.]
divided ... among <02505 08432> [separate himself thence. or, slip away from thence.]
Gate <08179> [in the.]
Hananiah <02608> [Hananiah.]
deserting <05307> [Thou.]
answered <0559> [said.]
lie <08267> [false. Heb. falsehood. or, a lie.]
officials <08269> [the princes.]
put <05414> [put.]
house <01004> [in the.]
prison <01004> [A.M. 3415. B.C. 589. into the dungeon.]
cell <02588> [cabins. or, cells.]
questioned him .... asked him <07592> [asked.]
message <01697> [Is there.]
<05414> [thou shalt.]
Where <0346> [Where.]
prophets <05030> [your.]
grant <06440 05307> [be accepted before. Heb. fall before.]
die <04191> [lest.]
courtyard ...................................... courtyard <02691> [into the.]
ordered <05414> [and that.]
bread ............... bread <03899> [until.]
Jeremiah ...................................... Jeremiah <03414> [Thus.]
Shephatiah <08203> [Shephatiah.]
Jehucal <03116> [Jucal.]
[Jehucal. Pashur.]
[Melchiah.]
[Malchijah.]
Now <08085> [heard.]
stay .................... surrender ............ lives <03427 03318 05315> [He.]
lives <05315> [shall have.]
officials <08269> [the princes.]
<03651> [thus.]
<07965> [welfare. Heb. peace.]
King <04428> [for.]
took <03947> [took.]
cistern ................................. cistern <0953> [into.]
<04428> [Hammelech. or, the king.]
lowered <07971> [and they.]
cistern ................................. cistern <0953> [And in.]
This dungeon, which seems to have belonged to one of Zedekiah's sons, appears to have been a most dreadful place; the horrors of which were probably augmented by the cruelty of the jailor. "The eastern people," observes Sir J. Chardin, "have not different prisons for the different classes of criminals; the judges do not trouble themselves about where the prisoners are confined, or how they are treated, considering it merely as a place of safety; and all that they require of the jailor is, that the prisoner be forthcoming when called for. As to the rest, he is master to do as he pleases; to treat him well or ill; to put him in irons or not; to shut him up close, or hold him in easier restraint; to admit people to him, or to suffer nobody to see him. If the jailor and his servants have large fees, let the person be the greatest rascal in the world, he shall be lodged in the jailor's own apartment, and the best part of it; and on the contrary, if those that have imprisoned a man give the jailor greater presents, or that he has a greater regard for them, he will treat the prisoner with the greatest inhumanity." This adds a double energy to those passages which speak of "the sighing of the prisoner," and to Jeremiah's supplicating that he might not be remanded to the dungeon of Jonathan. (ver. 26; ch. 37:20.)
Ebed Melech <05663> [Ebed-melech.]
An Ethiopian <03569> [Ethiopian.]
court official <05631> [eunuchs.]
royal .............. king <04428> [the king.]
<0582> [these.]
die <04191> [is like to die. Heb. will die. for there]
king <04428> [the king.]
<03027> [with thee. Heb. in thine hand.]
let ... down <07971> [let them.]
Put <07760> [Put.]
pulled <04900> [So.]
Jeremiah ........ Jeremiah <03414> [Jeremiah.]
sent <07971> [sent.]
third <07992> [third. or, principal.]
ask <07592> [I will.]
So .... made .... promise ........ an oath ... promised <07650> [sware.]
<06213> [that made.]
<0582> [of these.]
God who rules over all ... God <0430 06635> [the God of hosts.]
God ....... God ... Israel <0430 03478> [the God of Israel.]
surrender <03318> [If thou.]
surrender <03318> [if thou.]
city <05892> [then.]
afraid <01672> [I.]
torture <05953> [mock.]
obey <08085> [Obey.]
life <05315> [and thy.]
refuse <03986> [if thou.]
what <01697> [this is.]
women <0802> [all.]
saying <0559> [and those.]
Mr. Harmer would render, "and here ({hennah,} or reading {hinneh,} behold,) the women (wont to sing on public occasions) shall say," etc.; observing "that these bitter speeches much better suit the lips of women belonging to the conquering nation, singing before a captive prince, than of his own wives and concubines." This he illustrates by the following extract from Della Valle: When he was at Lar, in Persia, the king of Ormuz was brought thither in triumph; and "this poor unfortunate king entered Lar, with his people, in the morning, music playing, and girls and women singing and dancing before him, according to the custom of Persia, and the people flocking together with a prodigious concourse, and conducting him in a pompous and magnificent manner, particularly with colours displayed, like what the Messenians formerly did to Philopoemen, the general of the Athenians, their prisoner of war, according to the report of Justin."
<0582> [Thy friends. Heb. The men of thy peace.]
misled <05496> [have set.]
feet <07272> [thy feet.]
turned <05472> [they are.]
turned <03318> [they shall.]
city <05892> [shalt cause, etc. Heb. shalt burn, etc.]
told <05046> [and he told.]
what .......... stopped questioning ............ conversation <02790 01697> [left off speaking with him. Heb. were silent from him.]
ninth <08671> [A.M. 3414. B.C. 590. the ninth.]
tenth <06224> [the tenth.]
This was the month Tebeth, (Es 2:16,) which began with the first moon of January; and it was on the 10th of this month that Nebuchadnezzar invested the city.
fourth <07243> [A.M. 3416. B.C. 588. the fourth.]
This was the month Tammuz, which commences with the first moon of July: the siege had lasted just eighteen months.
broke <01234> [was.]
other officers <08269 07611> [all the.]
Nergal-Sharezer .......... Nergal-Sharezer <05371> [Nergalsharezer.]
Nebo-Sarsekim <08310> [Sarsechim.]
These were the principal commanders; but Dr. Blayney thinks that, instead of six persons, we have in reality but three, as the name that follows each is the title of the office. Thus Nergal-Sharezer, who was Samgar-nebo, or keeper, i.e., priest of Nebo; Sarsechim, who was Rab-saris, or chief eunuch; and Nergal-sharezer, who was Rab-mag, or chief magi; as the words {mog} in Persian, {magoos} in Arabic, {magooshai} in Syriac, and [magos <\\See definition 3097\\>,] in Greek, signify; and we learn from Justin and Curtius that the magi attended the king in war.
Zedekiah <06667> [when]
walls <02346> [betwixt.]
[Chaldeans'.]
plains <06160> [in the plains.]
Riblah <07247> [Riblah.]
Hamath <02574> [Hamath.]
sentence <04941 01696> [gave judgment upon him. Heb. spake with him judgments.]
sons put to death ................... put to death <07819 01121> [slew the.]
forced to watch <05869> [before.]
put to death ................ nobles .... put to death <07819 02715> [slew all.]
put out <05786> [he put.]
chains <05178> [chains. Heb. two brasen chains, or fetters.]
burned down <08313> [burned.]
tore <05422> [and brake.]
Nebuzaradan <05018> [Nebuzar-adan.]
captain .... royal guard <02876 07227> [captain of the guard. or, chief marshal. Heb. chief of the executioners, or slaughter-men. and so.]
captive .............. carried <01540> [carried.]
left behind .......... poor <07604 01800> [left of.]
time <03117> [at the same time. Heb. in that day.]
Nebuchadnezzar <05019> [Now.]
Nebuchadnezzar must have frequently heard of Jeremiah's predictions, many of which were now fulfilled, which would dispose him to respect his character and treat him with kindness.
orders <06680> [gave.]
through <03027> [to. Heb. by the hand of.]
look ....... do ....... do <05869 06213> [look well to him. Heb. set thine eyes upon him.]
do anything ...... do <06213 03972> [do him.]
Nebuzaradan <05018> [Nebuzar-adan.]
brought ........................ take <03947> [took.]
over <05414> [committed.]
Ahikam <0296> [Ahikam.]
had ......... confined <06113> [while.]
Ebed-Melech <05663> [Ebed-melech.]
carry out <0935> [Behold.]
<06440> [before thee.]
rescue <05337> [I will.]
<06440> [of whom.]
life <05315> [but.]
trust <0982> [because.]
spoke <01697> [The word.]
This, and the four following chapters, record the events which occurred in Judea from the taking of Jerusalem to the retreat of the remnant of the people to Egypt; and contain several prophecies of Jeremiah concerning them there; which were "the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord." It appears that Jeremiah, after being freed from prison, continued among the Jews, till he was bound, with others of them, and carried to Ramah; where he was set a liberty in the manner related.
after <0310> [after.]
Ramah <07414> [Ramah.]
<0631> [bound.]
chains <0246> [chains. or, manacles.]
Lord <03068> [The Lord.]
sinned <02398> [because.]
turn to leave ........ Go back <07725> [Go back.]
Ahikam <0296> [Ahikam.]
<03212> [or go.]
gave .... food <05414 0737> [gave him.]
food .... present <04864 0737> [victuals and a reward.]
Rather, "victuals, ({aruchah,} a stated allowance, sufficient for the journey,) and a present," {masse„th.}
went <0935> [Then.]
It has been doubted whether Jeremiah acted prudently in this decision, as the event seems to indicate the contrary, and as it was the evident meaning of all his predictions that the Jews should not prosper in their own country till the expiration of seventy years. But he was evidently influenced by the most unbounded love to his country, for whose welfare he had watched, prayed, and lived; and he now chose rather to share her adversities, her sorrows, her wants, her afflictions, and her disgrace, than to be the companion of princes, and to sit at the table of kings. His patriotism was as unbounded as it was sincere: he only ceased to live for country when he ceased to breathe.
Mizpah <04708> [Mizpah.]
[Mizpeh.]
officers <08269> [all the.]
poorer <01803> [the poor.]
So ........ came <0935> [came.]
Ishmael <03458> [even.]
Johanan <03110> [Johanan.]
Jonathan <03129> [Jonathan.]
Netophathite <05200> [Netophathite.]
Maacathite <04602> [Maachathite.]
oath <07650> [sware.]
afraid <03372> [Fear.]
represent <05975> [serve. Heb. stand before.]
harvest <0622> [gather.]
<07019> [summer.]
Judeans <03064> [all the Jews.]
Johanan <03110> [Johanan.]
Johanan and his companions seem to have acted honestly in this affair. They had received intelligence of designs formed against Gedaliah's life, and consequently against the whole new settlement. Ishmael, being a branch of David's family, was probably displeased that another was preferred above him; and the king of the Ammonites, out of hatred to the Jews, employed him to slay Gedaliah. But Gedaliah, conscious of his own integrity and benevolence, took the portrait of others from his own mind; and therefore believed evil of no man, because he felt none towards any in his own breast. He may be reproached for being too credulous and confiding; but this only serves to shew the greatness of his soul; for a little mind is always suspicious, and ready to believe the worst of every person and thing.
son ......... son <01121> [Ammonites.]
Ishmael <03458> [Ishmael.]
kill <05221> [slay thee? Heb. strike thee in soul. believed.]
<03212> [Let.]
kill ............... kill <05221> [wherefore.]
do <06213> [Thou shalt.]
seventh month <02320 07637> [the seventh month.]
This was the month {Tisri,} answering to the new moon of September, the seventh of the sacred, but the first of the civil year; on the third day of which the Jews keep a fast, in commemoration of the death of Gedaliah, to which the prophet Zechariah refers, ch. 8:19; 39:2; 52:6. 2 Ki 25:3, 8, 25. Zec 7:5; 8:19.
Ishmael <03458> [Ishmael.]
Elishama <0476> [Elishama.]
member ........... Zedekiah's <02233 04428> [of the.]
member <02233> [seed.]
eating <0398> [they did.]
killed <05221> [and smote.]
king <04428> [whom.]
murdered <04191> [after.]
arrived ................................ present <0935> [came.]
Shechem <07927> [Shechem.]
Shiloh <07887> [Shiloh.]
Samaria <08111> [Samaria.]
beards <02206> [their beards.]
All these were signs of deep mourning; which, though forbidden on funeral occasions, were customary, and perhaps counted allowable, on seasons of public calamity, and this mourning was probably on account of the destruction of Jerusalem.
temple <01004> [to the.]
cry <01058> [weeping, etc. Heb. in going and weeping.]
slaughtered <07819> [slew.]
kill ............................... kill <04191> [Slay.]
hidden <04301> [treasures.]
These "treasures hid in the field" were doubtless laid up in subterranean pits, similar to the {mattamores} in Barbary, in which, Dr. Shaw informs us, they deposit the grain when winnowed; two or three hundred of them being sometimes together, and the smallest holding four hundred bushels. The same mode of keeping corn prevails in Syria and the Holy Land.
cistern <0953> [the pit.]
This was probably a large reservoir for receiving rain water, which Asa had caused to be made in the midst of the city, in case of a siege.
<03027 01436> [because of Gedaliah. or, near Gedaliah. Heb. by the hand, or the side of Gedaliah. was it.]
<06440> [for fear.]
people ................. rest .... people <07611 05971> [all the.]
royal <04428> [even.]
Nebuzaradan <05018> [whom.]
son ..... son ................. Ammonites <01121> [to the.]
Johanan <03110> [Johanan.]
fight <03898> [to fight.]
large <07227> [the great.]
people <05971> [that when.]
They appear to have been weary of the tyranny of Ishmael, and glad of an opportunity to abandon him.
escape <04422> [escaped.]
eight <0582 08083> [eight men.]
soldiers <01397> [even.]
<03643> [Chimham.]
<03212> [to go.]
As Johanan and the other princes had taken a decided part against Ishmael, they had no sufficient reason to fear that the Chaldeans would revenge on them the murder of Gedaliah; but perhaps Johanan was unwilling to be superseded in the command which he had rightly assumed, and so used his influence to induce the whole company to take refuge in Egypt; and their old attachment to the Egyptians rendered them more ready to concur in this ruinous measure.
were afraid ... what .... might do <03372> [for they.]
Ishmael <06440 03458> [because.]
king <04428> [whom.]
officers ............... people <08269 05971> [all the.]
Jezaniah <03153> [Jezaniah.]
[Jaazaniah.]
every class <06996> [from.]
went <05066> [came.]
grant <05307 06440> [be accepted before thee. Heb. fall before thee.]
pray <06419> [and pray.]
left out <07604> [left.]
Jeremiah <03414> [Jeremiah.]
The princes seem to have wholly neglected Jeremiah, till on this occasion they wanted his sanction to their purpose of going to Egypt. In order to induce him to favour them, they applied to him with one consent, in the most respectful and plausible manner: they used language to prepossess him with a favourable opinion of them, and to move his compassion; and, in words expressing great humility, they entreated his prayers in their behalf, and that he would enquire of the Lord what he would have them to do. The prophet readily acquiesced; and doubted not but that he should receive an answer from God, which he would unreservedly declare to them; and they called the Lord to witness that they would implicitly follow his directions.
pray <06419> [I will pray.]
as <01697> [whatsoever.]
anything <04513> [I will keep.]
Lord .... true ............... Lord <03068 0571> [The Lord be.]
do <06213> [if we.]
<02896> [it be good.]
well <03190> [that it.]
At this time he was waiting for a revelation from God in answer to the enquiries of the people; who probably thus delayed to make known his will, in order to shew them that Jeremiah did not speak of his own mind, but when and as he was directed. The delay was also suited to give time for consideration, and to retard their rash project; and, as it would render them impatient, it tended to detect their hypocrisy, and to shew more clearly their determined rebellion against God.
Johanan <03110> [Johanan.]
said ..... sent .................... says <0559 07971> [unto.]
stay <03427> [abide.]
build <01129> [then.]
sorrow <05162> [for I.]
afraid .......... fear ..... afraid <03372 03373> [afraid.]
save <03467> [for I.]
go <0935> [we will go.]
hear <08085> [nor hear.]
so determined <07760> [If.]
If ye are determined to go into Egypt, the evils which ye dreaded by staying in your own land shall overtake and destroy you there; "and there shall ye die." God turned the policy of the wicked to their own destruction; for while they thought themselves safe in Egypt, there Nebuchadnezzar destroyed both them and the Egyptians.
wars <02719> [that the sword.]
follow <01692> [follow close. Heb. cleave. there ye.]
<0582> [it be with all the men. Heb. all the men be. they shall.]
survive <08300> [none.]
wrath <0639> [As mine.]
The people had witnessed the tremendous effects of the wrath of God, in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem; and had they not been past feeling, this denunciation must have made their ears tingle, and appalled their very souls.
cursed <0423> [ye shall be.]
see <07200> [and ye shall see.]
go <0935> [Go.]
God knew, that such was their miserable propensity to idolatry, that they would adopt the idolatrous worship of Egypt. Add to which, their going thither for protection was in effect refusing to submit to the king of Babylon, to whom God had decreed the rule of Judah and the neighbouring kingdoms.
sure <03045> [know.]
warn ..... now <05749 03117> [admonished you. Heb. testified against you.]
fatal <08582> [For ye.]
God made known to the prophet their dissimulation; which he shunned not to declare to them.
fatal <05315 08582> [dissembled in your hearts. Heb. have used deceit against your souls.]
Pray <06419> [Pray.]
day <03117> [I have.]
obey <08085> [but.]
sure <03045> [know.]
place <04725> [in the.]
go ... live <0935 01481> [to go and to sojourn. or, to go to sojourn.]
finished <03615> [had made.]
things <01697> [all the words.]
Azariah <05838> [Azariah.]
[Jezaniah. Johanan.]
arrogant <02086> [all the.]
telling <01696> [Thou speakest.]
They had no other colour for their rebellion than flatly to deny that God had spoken what the prophet had declared, the constant method of hypocrites and infidels, who pretend that they are not satisfied of the truth of Divine revelation, when the true cause of their unbelief is, that the commands of God contradict their lusts and appetites.
Baruch <01263> [Baruch.]
wants ... hand ....... so that ... will <05414 04616> [to deliver.]
obey <08085> [obeyed.]
stay <03427> [to dwell.]
Instead <03947> [took.]
royal <04428> [the king's.]
off <05315> [every.]
Jeremiah <03414> [Jeremiah.]
went ............. came <0935> [So.]
Tahpanhes <08471> [Tahpanhes.]
[Tahapanhes.]
[Hanes.]
[Tehaphnehes.]
large <01419> [great.]
pavement <04404> [in the brick-kiln.]
<07971> [I will send.]
servant <05650> [my servant.]
royal tent <08237> [his royal.]
attack <05221> [he shall smite.]
die of disease ... die of disease <04194> [such as are for death.]
temples <01004> [in the.]
clean like ...... lice <05844> [array.]
clean like ...... lice <05844> [putteth.]
sacred pillars <04676> [images. Heb. statues, or standing images. Beth-shemesh. or, the house of the sun.]
temples <01004> [and the.]
spoke <01697> [Cir. A.M. 3433. B.C. 571. The word.]
Dahler supposes this discourse to have been delivered in the seventeenth or eighteenth year after the taking of Jerusalem.
Judeans <03064> [concerning.]
Migdol <04024> [Migdol.]
Tahpanhes <08471> [Tahpanhes.]
{Tahpanhes,} rendered [Taphne] and [Taphnai] by the LXX., is no doubt the [Daphnai] of Herodotus, a royal city of Lower Egypt, situated, according to the Itinerary of Antoninus, sixteen miles south from Pelusium, from which it was called Daphn‘ Pelusic‘. Forster says that there is now a place situated in the vicinity of Pelusium called Safnas, which may be a vestige of the ancient name. It appears to have been the very first town in Egypt, in the road from Palestine, that afforded tolerable accommodation for the fugitives. It was at this place that, according to Jerome and several of the ancients, tradition says the faithful Jeremiah was stoned to death by these rebellious wretches, for whose welfare he had watched, prayed, and suffered every kind of indignity and hardship.
[Tehaphnehes. Noph.]
southern <06624> [Pathros.]
[Pathrusim.]
seen <07200> [Ye have.]
ruins <02723> [a desolation.]
wickedness <07451> [of their.]
gods <0430> [gods.]
sent ............. warning <07971> [I sent.]
disgusting <08441> [this.]
people ........ listen <08085> [they.]
sacrificing <06999> [burn.]
anger <02534> [my fury.]
ruins <02723> [wasted.]
yourselves <05315> [against.]
<03772> [to cut.]
child <05768> [child.]
Judah <03063> [Judah. Heb. the midst of Judah. to leave.]
angry <03707> [ye provoke.]
destroyed <03772> [that ye might cut.]
curses <07045> [a curse.]
forgotten <07911> [ye forgotten.]
wicked ..................... by ........ wives by <07451> [wickedness. Heb. wickedness, or punishments, etc. the wickedness of your.]
shown ... contrition <01792> [are not.]
shown ... contrition <01792> [humbled. Heb. contrite.]
revered <03372> [neither.]
determined <07760> [I will.]
see <03947> [I will take.]
every class <06996> [from the.]
curse <0423> [and they shall be.]
remnant <07611> [So.]
It is evident from ver. 28, that some Jews were to escape the general destruction in Egypt, and to return into their own country, though but a few; and the same thing is implied in the latter clause of this verse. But the former part excludes from the number of those who should escape every individual of those who are properly termed "the remnant of Judah;" those who had willingly and rebelliously "set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to dwell there," on a presumption that they knew better than God how to consult their own restoration. The few, then, who were destined to escape, were to be such as had come into the land of Egypt with Johanan by compulsion, or had previously fled thither, or in some other less offensive manner, and chanced to be there when the storm burst upon them.
come <0935> [which are.]
escape ........................... fugitives <06412 06405> [shall escape.]
<05375> [which they.]
long <05315 05375> [have a desire. Heb. lift up there soul. for none.]
wives ............ wives .............. people <0582 0802 05971> [all the.]
listen <08085> [we.]
vowed <01697> [whatsoever.]
Queen ... Heaven <08064 04446> [queen of heaven. or, frame of heaven.]
As the Sun was worshipped, not only under the name of {baal shamayim,} "Lord of heaven," but also by that of {Molech,} or King; it is likely also that the Moon was adored as {melecheth hashshamayim,} "the Queen of heaven." So the Orphic hymn addressed to the Moon begins [Klythi thea BASILEIA,] Hear, goddess Queen. And Homer, in his Hymn to the Moon, addresses her, [Chaire, anassa, thea] All hail, Queen, goddess. In Epiphanius, we find some women of Arabia, towards the end of the fourth century, had set up another queen of heaven, the Virgin Mary, too well known since under that name and character, whom they likewise worshipped as a goddess, by holding stated assemblies every year to her honour, and by offering a cake of bread in her name; whence these heretics were called Collyridians, from the Greek [kollyris,] a cake.
do .................................... did <06213> [as we.]
ancestors <01> [our fathers.]
towns <05892> [in the cities.]
plenty <07646> [then.]
food <03899> [victuals. Heb. bread.]
have been .......... wars <02637> [we have.]
sacrifice <06999> [we burned.]
But <01107> [without.]
husbands <0582> [men. or, husbands.]
streets <02351> [and in.]
Lord <03068> [did.]
could <03201> [could.]
land <0776> [your land.]
sacrificed <06999> [ye have burned.]
followed <01980> [nor walked.]
statutes <02708> [nor in his statutes.]
decrees <05715> [nor in his testimonies.]
disaster <07451> [therefore.]
Listen <08085> [Hear.]
Judah <03063> [all Judah.]
women <0802> [Ye and.]
carry out ..................... Carry ... out <06213> [We will.]
fulfill <06965> [ye will.]
swear <07650> [I have sworn.]
name .................... name <08034> [that my name.]
Lord ................... Lord ................................................. Lord God <03068 0136 03069> [The Lord God.]
see <08245> [will watch.]
<08552> [shall be.]
<04962> [a small.]
know <03045> [shall know.]
[mine, or theirs. Heb. from me or them.]
<0226> [a sign.]
threats <01697> [my words.]
hand .......................... handed <05414> [I will.]
hand .......................... handed <05414> [as I.]
Baruch <01263> [A.M. 3397. B.C. 607. Baruch.]
writing down in <03789> [when.]
fourth <07243> [in the.]
Baruch <01263> [unto.]
hopeless <0188> [Woe.]
added <03254> [added.]
worn out <03021> [I fainted.]
planted <05193> [that which.]
looking ......... look <01245> [seekest.]
looking ......... look <01245> [seek.]
bring <0935> [I will bring.]
life <05315> [thy life.]
