1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible
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| Jeremiah 1:1 | The words of Jeremias, the son of Helcias, of the priests that were in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin. | Helcias, the high priest who discovered the book of the law, (Clement of Alexandria, Strom. i., etc.) though this be uncertain. --- Anathoth, a village to the north of Jerusalem, to which many priests had retired, though it did not belong to them. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 1:2 | The word of the Lord, which came to him in the days of Josias, the son of Amon, king of Juda, in the thirteenth year *of his reign. | Year of the World 3375, Year before Christ 629. |
| Jeremiah 1:3 | And which came to him in the days of Joakim, the son of Josias, king of Juda, unto the end of the eleventh year of Sedecias, the son of Josias, king of Juda, even unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive, in the fifth month. | Joakim. His immediate predecessor and successor, both called Jechonias, (Haydock) are passed over, as their reign was short, (Calmet) only lasting three months each. (Haydock) --- Fifth. Jerusalem was taken on the 9th of the preceding month. But the temple was not burnt, nor the captives sent off till the fifth month, or the 10th of the civil year, Jeremias 39:8., and 52:13., and 4 Kings 25:2. (Calmet) --- Jeremias also prophesied in Egypt, Jeremias 44. (Worthington) --- But this title alludes to his principal predictions. (Menochius) |
| Jeremiah 1:4 | And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 1:5 | Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and made thee a prophet unto the nations. | Knew, with affection, and designed thee for this office from eternity. Many think (Calmet) that Jeremias was purified from original sin before his birth. (St. Augustine) --- He had this privilege, and was also a priest, prophet, virgin, and martyr. (Worthington) --- Yet to sanctify, often means only to set aside, Exodus 13:2., and Ecclesiasticus 49:9. --- Nations, whose overthrow he points out, Jeremias 25:27, 44, etc. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 1:6 | And I said: Ah, ah, ah, Lord God: behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child. | Ah. Hebrew ahah. Septuagint, "thou Being." Protestants, "Then said I: Ah, Lord God." (Haydock) --- He does not imitate a child. He might be above 30 years old, though some say (Calmet) only 14, (Tirinus) or less; yet he finds himself devoid of eloquence, like Moses, Exodus 14:10. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 1:7 | And the Lord said to me: Say not: I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee: and whatsoever I shall command thee, thou shalt speak. | |
| Jeremiah 1:8 | Be not afraid at their presence: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 1:9 | And the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth: *and the Lord said to me: Behold, I have given my words in thy mouth: Isaias 6:7. | Mouth; perhaps (Haydock) with a coal, by means of an angel, (Isaias 6:5.) in a sort of dream. He found himself changed into a new man. |
| Jeremiah 1:10 | Lo, I have set thee this day over the nations, and over the kingdoms, *to root up, and pull down, and to waste, and to destroy, and to build, and to plant. Jeremias 18. | Root up, to announce the fall and restoration of many nations, Ezechiel 4:2. (Calmet) --- Jeremias spoke of the Gentiles, as well as of the Jews. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 1:11 | And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What seest thou, Jeremias? And I said: I see a rod watching. | Watching. Hebrew, "of an almond." Septuagint, "nut-tree." (Haydock) --- The almond-tree flourishes in January, and bears fruit in March. (Theodoret) (Pliny, [Natural History?] 16:25.) --- Thus God will speedily send his scourge from Babylon, to punish his people. (Calmet) ---The sense is the same. (Menochius) --- God's law is outwardly bitter, but the kernel is sweet. (Theodoret) (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 1:12 | And the Lord said to me: Thou hast seen well: for I will watch over my word to perform it. | |
| Jeremiah 1:13 | And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying: What seest thou? And I said: *I see a boiling caldron, and the face thereof from the face of the north. Ezechiel 11:7. | North, whence the wind blows, to make the fire burn more intensely. Assyria lay to the north, and Babylon to the east of Judea; but the troops always penetrated the northern frontier, as they could not pass through the Desert Arabia. The caldron represented Jerusalem, Ezechiel 11:3., and 24:3. |
| Jeremiah 1:14 | And the Lord said to me: *From the north shall an evil break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. Jeremias 4:6. | \f + \fr 1:14-15\ft North. The tributary kings were forced to attend, Judith 2:7., and 3 Kings 20:1. --- About. The princes thus took Sedecias, and sent him to Reblatha, Jeremias 39:3. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 1:15 | For behold I will call together all the families of the kingdoms of the north: saith the Lord: and they shall come, and shall set every one his throne in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and upon all the walls thereof round about, and upon all the cities of Juda. | |
| Jeremiah 1:16 | And I will pronounce my judgements against them, touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have sacrificed to strange gods, and have adored the work of their own hands. | |
| Jeremiah 1:17 | Thou, therefore, gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command thee. Be not afraid at their presence: for I will make thee not to fear their countenance. | Loins. Make haste, and take courage, Job 38:3. (Menochius) |
| Jeremiah 1:18 | *For behold I have made thee this day a fortified city, and a pillar of iron, and a wall of brass, over all the land, to the kings of Juda, to the princes thereof, and to the priests, and to the people of the land. Jeremias 6:27. | |
| Jeremiah 1:19 | And they shall fight against thee, and shall not prevail: for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee. | Prevail. God does not promise peace, but victory. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 2:0 | God expostulates with the Jews for their ingratitude and infidelity. | |
| Jeremiah 2:1 | And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 2:2 | Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying: Thus saith the Lord: I have remembered thee, pitying thy youth, and the love of thy espousals, when thou followedst me in the desert, in a land that is not sown. | Espousals. He speaks ironically. (Theodoret) --- Yet the Israelites at first shewed greater proofs of love than they did afterwards. It is true they often prevaricated, in the wilderness, Exodus 32:1., and Amos 5:25., and Psalm lxxvii., etc. (Calmet) --- The Lord declares his gratuitous love, and then upbraids his people. (Haydock) --- He had caused them to multiply in Egypt, and gratuitously made choice of them. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 2:3 | Israel is holy to the Lord, the first-fruits of his increase: all they that devour him, offend: evils shall come upon them, saith the Lord. | Increase; most desirable, Osee 9:10. God punished those who attempted to injure his people: yet they abandoned his service. |
| Jeremiah 2:4 | Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all ye families of the house of Israel. | |
| Jeremiah 2:5 | Thus saith the Lord: *What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? Micheas 6:3. | Vanity; idols, whom he will not mention, to spare their shame. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 2:6 | And they have not said: Where is the Lord, that made us come up out of the land of Egypt? that led us through the desert, through a land uninhabited and unpassable, through a land of drought, and the image of death, through a land, wherein no man walked, nor any man dwelt? | |
| Jeremiah 2:7 | And I brought you into the land of Carmel, to eat the fruit thereof, and the best things thereof: and when ye entered in, you defiled my land, and made my inheritance an abomination. | Carmel. That is, a fruitful, plentiful land. (Challoner) (Worthington) --- All Palestine is thus designated. (Menochius) |
| Jeremiah 2:8 | The priests did not say: Where is the Lord? and they that held the law knew me not, and the pastors transgressed against me: and the prophets prophesied in Baal, and followed idols. | Priests were silent, or abandoned themselves. --- Pastors; "princes." (Chaldean) Manasses, Amon, etc. --- In Baal, promoting his worship. (Haydock) --- The land was full of false prophets, and none stood up for the Lord. |
| Jeremiah 2:9 | Therefore will I yet contend in judgement with you, saith the Lord, and I will plead with your children. | Children; the Israelites, under Moses, and their posterity transgressed. |
| Jeremiah 2:10 | Pass over to the isles of Cethim, and see: and send into Cedar, and consider diligently: and see if there hath been done any thing like this. | Cethim; Macedon. It here denotes the western nations, as Cedar does those on the east. |
| Jeremiah 2:11 | If a nation hath changed their gods, and indeed they are not gods: but my people have changed their glory into an idol. | Glory; the true God and his ark, Psalm 3:4., and 1 Kings 4:21. |
| Jeremiah 2:12 | Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and ye gates thereof, be very desolate, saith the Lord. | Gates; angels, or the temple. |
| Jeremiah 2:13 | For my people have done two evils: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. | Water. The idols and nations, to which they have had recourse, injure them. (Calmet) --- The Jews did just the reverse to what God commanded. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 2:14 | Is Israel a bondman, or a home-born slave? why then is he become a prey? | Slave. From such, labour and tribute were required, Matthew 17:24., and John 8:33. |
| Jeremiah 2:15 | The lions have roared upon him, and have made a noise, they have made his land a wilderness: his cities are burnt down, and there is none to dwell in them. | Lions; kings of Assyria, etc. The decree for the devastation of Juda had already passed, though it was not put in execution. |
| Jeremiah 2:16 | The children also of Memphis, and of Taphnes have deflowered thee, even to the crown of the head. | Taphnes, 16 miles from Pelusium, in Egypt. The nation proved only detrimental to the Jews, by engaging them in their abominations, instead of affording relief. |
| Jeremiah 2:17 | Hath not this been done to thee, because thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God at that time, when he led thee by the way? | |
| Jeremiah 2:18 | And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the troubled water? And what hast thou to do with the way of the Assyrians, to drink the water of the river? | Troubled. Hebrew shichor, or Nile water, (Josue 13:3.) which was thought as good as wine, and grew better for keeping. (Strabo xvii.) --- Hence the people adored it. (Vitruvius viii.) --- God often reproached the Jews for distrusting in his protection, and seeking aid from the Egyptians, who deceived them. We know not that Josias did so. (Calmet) --- He even opposed them, and lost his life in defending the country, 4 Kings 23:29. (Haydock) --- He was probably obliged to pay tribute to the Assyrians, whom Achaz had called in, 2 Paralipomenon 28:23. These alliances the Lord condemned. |
| Jeremiah 2:19 | Thy own wickedness shall reprove thee, and thy apostacy shall rebuke thee. Know thou, and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing for thee, to have left the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not with thee, saith the Lord, the God of hosts. | |
| Jeremiah 2:20 | Of old time thou hast broken my yoke, thou hast burst my bands, and thou saidst: I will not serve. *For on every high hill, and under every green tree, thou didst prostitute thyself. Jeremias 3:6. | Thou. Septuagint. Yet Hebrew and Chaldean have, "I have permissively broken," or foretold this infidelity. |
| Jeremiah 2:21 | *Yet I planted thee a chosen vineyard, all true seed: how then art thou turned unto me into that which is good for nothing, O strange vineyard? Isaias 5:1.; Matthew 21:33. | Chosen. Hebrew, Sorek, Judges 16:4., and Isaias 5:2., and 16:8. (Calmet) --- God created all things good, planted his Church in justice, and no evil proceeds from Him. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 2:22 | Though thou wash thyself with nitre, and multiply to thyself the herb borith, thou art stained in thy iniquity before me, saith the Lord God. | Borith. An herb used to clean clothes, and take out spots and dirt, (Challoner) like kali, soda, (Calmet) or soap. (Langius.) --- Protestants, "and take thee much soap." (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 2:23 | How canst thou say: I am not polluted, and I have not walked after Baalim? see thy ways in the valley, know what thou hast done: as a swift runner pursuing his course. | Valley of Hinnom, under the very walls of Jerusalem. (Calmet) --- Runner. Hebrew, "dromedary," which takes its name from its swiftness. (Haydock) --- The female camel continues all day with the male, and cannot be approached. (Aristotle; Pliny, [Natural History?] 10:63.) --- Juda is represented as no less libidinous. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 2:24 | A wild ass accustomed to the wilderness in the desire of his heart, snuffed up the wind of his love: none shall turn her away: all that seek her shall not fail: in her monthly filth they shall find her. | Away. The female may easily be found by the poisonous hippo-manes. (Georg. iii.) --- Thus Jerusalem is an impudent prostitute. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 2:25 | Keep thy foot from being bare, and thy throat from thirst. But thou saidst: I have lost all hope, I will not do it: for I have loved strangers, and I will walk after them. | Foot, and the parts which modesty covers. My exhortations are slighted. (Calmet) --- Despair opens the door to every sort of impurity, Ephesians 4:19. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 2:26 | As the thief is confounded when he is taken, so is the house of Israel confounded, they and their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets. | Taken. Juda affected still to be very pious, ver. 23. |
| Jeremiah 2:27 | Saying to a stock: Thou art my father: and to a stone: Thou hast begotten me: *they have turned their back to me, and not their face: and in the time of their affliction they will say: Arise, and deliver us. Jeremias 32:33. | |
| Jeremiah 2:28 | Where are thy gods, whom thou hast made thee? let them arise and deliver thee in the time of thy affliction: *for according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Juda. Jeremias 11:13. | Cities. All were abandoned, Ezechiel 16:24., and Osee 10:1. |
| Jeremiah 2:29 | Why will you contend with me in judgement? you have all forsaken me, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 2:30 | In vain have I struck your children, they have not received correction: your sword hath devoured your prophets, your generation is like a ravaging lion. | Prophets; Zacharias, (2 Paralipomenon 24:21.) Isaias, etc., Matthew 23:34. (Calmet) --- Punishment is designed by God to cause people to repent. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 2:31 | See ye the word of the Lord: Am I become a wilderness to Israel, or a lateward springing land? why then have my people said: We are revolted, we will come to thee no more? | See, or hear. The sword seems to be animated. (Calmet) --- Lateward. Hebrew, "darksome land." Have I not heaped blessings on my people? --- Revolted. Protestants, "Lords." (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 2:32 | Will a virgin forget her ornament, or a bride her stomacher? but my people hath forgotten me days without number. | |
| Jeremiah 2:33 | Why dost thou endeavor to shew thy way good to seek my love, thou who has also taught thy malices to be thy ways. | Thou who. Hebrew, "Therefore have I." (Calmet) --- Protestants, "hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways." (Haydock) --- Thou hast opened a school of vice. |
| Jeremiah 2:34 | And in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor and innocent? not in ditches have I found them, but in all places, which I mentioned before. | Innocent children, immolated to Moloc, or people murdered, whose blood thou hast not concealed, 4 Kings 21:16. |
| Jeremiah 2:35 | And thou hast said: I am without sin, and am innocent: and therefore let thy anger be turned away from me. Behold, I will contend with thee in judgement, because thou hast said: I have not sinned. | |
| Jeremiah 2:36 | How exceedingly base art thou become, going the same ways over again! and thou shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria. | |
| Jeremiah 2:37 | For from thence thou shalt go, and thy hand shall be upon thy head: for the Lord hath destroyed thy trust, and thou shalt have nothing prosperous therein. | Head, like the violated Thamar, 2 Kings 13:19. The king of Egypt was routed, when coming to assist Sedecias, Jeremias 37:3, 10. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 3:0 | God invites the rebel Jews to return to him, with a promise to receive them: he foretells the conversion of the Gentiles. | |
| Jeremiah 3:1 | It is commonly said: If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and marry another man, shall he return to her any more? shall not that woman be polluted, and defiled? but thou hast prostituted thyself to many lovers: nevertheless return to me, saith the Lord, and I will receive thee. | It. Hebrew, "a saying." Septuagint, "If," etc., Deuteronomy 24:1. (Haydock) --- Woman. Hebrew, "land." --- Lovers. Septuagint, "shepherds," (Calmet) seeking aid from idols and foreigners. |
| Jeremiah 3:2 | Lift up thy eyes on high: and see where thou hast not prostituted thyself: thou didst sit in the ways, waiting for them, as a robber in the wilderness: and thou hast polluted the land with thy fornications, and with thy wickedness. | High. Literally, "straight forward." (Haydock) --- On the hills, idolatry and immorality prevailed. --- Ways, where harlots used to sit, Genesis 38:14., and Proverbs 7:9., and 33:27. --- Robber; "Arab," (Chaldean, etc.) or "crow." (Septuagint) (Calmet) --- No sin is so great as to be irremissible to the true penitent. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 3:3 | Therefore, the showers were withholden, and there was no lateward rain: thou hadst a harlot's forehead, thou wouldst not blush. | Rain; about November, Deuteronomy 11:14. This drought happened under Josias, (chap. 5:24.) and was different from that specified, Jeremias 8:13., and 14:1. |
| Jeremiah 3:4 | Therefore, at the least, from this time, call to me: Thou art my father, the guide of my virginity: | Guide. Husband, Proverbs 2:16., and Joel 1:8. |
| Jeremiah 3:5 | Wilt thou be angry for ever, or wilt thou continue until the end? Behold, thou hast spoken, and hast done evil things, and hast been able. | Wilt. Hebrew, "will he," etc. The faithless people will not use this language, but do all the evil possible. |
| Jeremiah 3:6 | And the Lord said to me in the days of king Josias: *Hast thou seen what rebellious Israel hash done? she hath gone out of herself upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and hath played the harlot there. Jeremias 2:20. | Days, before the 18th year. God now pronounces sentence (Calmet) on all. (Haydock) --- Rebellious, a faithless wife. The kingdom of Israel gave way to idolatry first. But the people were less favoured than Juda, which had many prophets and good kings, the temple, etc. Moreover, the misfortunes of Israel did not open the eyes of their brethren. (Calmet) --- Both the ten tribes, and the two tribes (Worthington) which adhered to the line of David, prevaricated. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 3:7 | And when she had done all these things, I said: Return to me, and she did not return. And her treacherous sister, Juda, saw, | |
| Jeremiah 3:8 | That because the rebellious Israel had played the harlot, I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce: yet her treacherous sister, Juda, was not afraid, but went and played the harlot also herself. | |
| Jeremiah 3:9 | And by the facility of her fornication she defiled the land, and played the harlot with stones and with stocks. | |
| Jeremiah 3:10 | And after all this, her treacherous sister, Juda, hath not returned to me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, saith the Lord. | Falsehood. Their reform was only apparent, under Joas, etc. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 3:11 | And the Lord said to me: The rebellious Israel hath justified her soul in comparison of the treacherous Juda. | Soul, and appeared comparatively innocent, ver. 6., and Ezechiel 16:51. (St. Jerome) --- Yet neither of them was excusable. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 3:12 | Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and thou shalt say: Return, O rebellious Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not turn away my face from you: for I am holy, saith the Lord, and I will not be angry for ever. | North. Samaria, or rather Assyria, where the people were captives. --- Face, in anger. |
| Jeremiah 3:13 | But yet, acknowledge thy iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God: and thou hast scattered thy ways to strangers under every green tree, and hast not heard my voice, saith the Lord. | Ways, dividing thy love, and adoring idols with me. |
| Jeremiah 3:14 | Return, O ye revolting children, saith the Lord: for I am your husband: and I will take you, one of a city, and two of a kindred, and will bring you into Sion. | Kindred. Only few Israelites returned under Cyrus. The rest came by degrees, though it was more fully accomplished by the conversion of the Gentiles. |
| Jeremiah 3:15 | And I will give you pastors, according to my own heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine. | Pastors. Zorobabel, etc., but more particularly Christ and his apostles. |
| Jeremiah 3:16 | And when you shall be multiplied, and increase in the land in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more: The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come upon the heart, neither shall they remember it, neither shall it be visited, neither shall that be done any more. | Ark. It was no longer at Jerusalem. The law and its figures cease. |
| Jeremiah 3:17 | At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord: and all the nations shall be gathered together to it, in the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem, and they shall not walk after the perversity of their most wicked heart. | All. Many might embrace the Jewish religion. But the predictions of the prophets on this head, were not verified, till the gospel was preached. (Calmet) --- Then many embraced the faith: several captives also returned to God. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 3:18 | In those days the house of Juda shall go to the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land which I gave to your fathers. | North. Septuagint add, "and from all places" where the Jews were in captivity. (Haydock) --- Many thus returned to their own country, ver. 14. (Calmet) --- Israel had been led into captivity sooner, but all were released at once. (Theodoret) (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 3:19 | But I said: How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a lovely land, the goodly inheritance of the armies of the Gentiles? And I said: Thou shalt call me father, and shalt not cease to walk after me. | Gentiles, which they all covet, or to which they are invited in the Church. (Calmet) --- Me. On these conditions thou shalt be restored. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 3:20 | But as a woman that despiseth her lover, so hath the house of Israel despised me, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 3:21 | A voice was heard in the high ways, weeping and howling of the children of Israel: because they have made their way wicked, they have forgotten the Lord their God. | God. Hence proceed these miseries and lamentations. |
| Jeremiah 3:22 | Return, you rebellious children, and I will heal your rebellions. Behold, we come to thee: for thou art the Lord our God. | |
| Jeremiah 3:23 | In very deed the hills were liars, and the multitude of the mountains: truly, in the Lord our God, is the salvation of Israel. | Liars, unfruitful; and the idols have left us empty. (Calmet) --- They were placed on the hills. (Houbigant) |
| Jeremiah 3:24 | Confusion hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. | Confusion. Thus Baal was styled Boseth, contemptuously, Jeremias 11:13. |
| Jeremiah 3:25 | We shall sleep in our confusion, and our shame shall cover us, because we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers from our youth, even to this day: and we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God. | Shame. We are justly punished with exile, (Calmet) and death. (Menochius) |
| Jeremiah 4:0 | An admonition to sincere repentance, and circumcision of the heart, with threats of grievous punishment to those that persist in sin. | |
| Jeremiah 4:1 | If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return to me: if thou wilt take away thy stumbling-blocks out of my sight, thou shalt not be moved. | Blocks; idols, (Calmet) and other occasions of sin. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 4:2 | And thou shalt swear: As the Lord liveth, in truth, and in judgement, and in justice: and the Gentiles shall bless him, and shall praise him. | Swear, when requisite. (Calmet) --- Thus thou wilt learn to confess one God. (Theodoret) --- If all were upright, oaths would be unnecessary, Matthew 5:34. But as they are not so, (Calmet) this may be a religious act. (Worthington) --- Justice. These three conditions are essential. (Haydock) --- Him; the people, (Calmet) or God. (St. Jerome) --- An oath must attest God, and be used when a thing is true and of moment. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 4:3 | For thus saith the Lord to the men of Juda and Jerusalem: *Break up anew your fallow ground, and sow not upon thorns: Osee 10:12. | Thorns. Your misconduct hinders your advancement. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 4:4 | Be circumcised to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, ye men of Juda, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my indignation come forth like fire, and burn, and there be none that can quench it: because of the wickedness of your thoughts. | Hearts. Understand, and act with purity. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 4:5 | Declare ye in Juda, and make it heard in Jerusalem: speak, and sound with the trumpet in the land: cry aloud, and say: Assemble yourselves, and let us go into strong cities. | Cities. Nabuchodonosor is at hand. |
| Jeremiah 4:6 | Set up the standard in Sion. Strengthen yourselves, stay not, *for I bring evil from the north, and great destruction. Jeremias 1:14. | |
| Jeremiah 4:7 | The lion is come up out of his den, and the robber of nations hath roused himself: he is come forth out of his place, to make thy land desolate: thy cities shall be laid waste, remaining without an inhabitant. | Robber. Nabuchodonosor attacks unjustly, (Calmet) though he be God's scourge. |
| Jeremiah 4:8 | For this, gird yourselves with hair-cloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned away from us. | |
| Jeremiah 4:9 | And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord: That the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes: and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall be amazed | Heart; counsel and vigour. --- Prophets of falsehood. |
| Jeremiah 4:10 | And I said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God, hast thou then deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying: You shall have peace: and behold the sword reacheth even to the soul? | Alas! Protestants, "Then I said: Ah! Lord God, surely thou hast deceived," etc., (Haydock) by permitting the people to follow false prophets, Isaias 61:17., and Psalm 43:19. |
| Jeremiah 4:11 | At that time it shall be said to this people, and to Jerusalem: A burning wind is in the ways that are in the desert of the way of the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse. | Desert of Arabia. It may designate Nechao, (2 Paralipomenon 35:20.) who slew Josias, after whose death all fell to ruin. |
| Jeremiah 4:12 | A full wind from these places shall come to me: and now I will speak my judgments with them. | |
| Jeremiah 4:13 | Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots as a tempest: his horses are swifter than eagles: woe unto us, for we are laid waste. | |
| Jeremiah 4:14 | Wash thy heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that thou mayst be saved: how long shall hurtful thoughts abide in thee? | |
| Jeremiah 4:15 | For a voice of one declaring from Dan, and giving notice of the idol from Mount Ephraim. | Ephraim. At Bethel and Dan the calves were adored. (Calmet) --- But they were now no more. (Haydock) --- The irruption of Nabuchodonosor is announced. He set himself up for a god. |
| Jeremiah 4:16 | Say ye to the nations: Behold, it is heard in Jerusalem, that guards are coming from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Juda. | Guards. The Chaldeans will besiege the city, and prevent provisions from entering, 4 Kings 25:1. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 4:17 | They are set round about her, as keepers of fields: because she hath provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 4:18 | *Thy ways and thy devices have brought these things upon thee: this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it hath touched thy heart. Wisdom 1:3.; Wisdom 1:5. | |
| Jeremiah 4:19 | My bowels, my bowels are in pain, the senses of my heart are troubled within me, I will not hold my peace, for my soul hath heard the sound of the trumpet, the cry of battle. | My. God, (St. Jerome) the people, (Grotius) or rather Jeremias speaks. |
| Jeremiah 4:20 | Destruction upon destruction is called for, and all the earth is laid waste: my tents are destroyed on a sudden, and my pavilions in a moment. | Moment. The cities are destroyed as easily as a tent. |
| Jeremiah 4:21 | How long shall I see men fleeing away, how long shall I hear the sound of the trumpet? | |
| Jeremiah 4:22 | For my foolish people have not known me: they are foolish and senseless children: they are wise to do evils, but to do good they have no knowledge. | Me, practically. They have not honoured me as they ought. (Calmet) --- If they were indeed devoid of sense, they would be excused. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 4:23 | I beheld the earth, and lo it was void, and nothing: and the heavens, and there was no light in them. | Void. Hebrew, "Thohu and bohu," like chaos, Genesis 1:2. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 4:24 | I looked upon the mountains, and behold they trembled: and all the hills were troubled. | |
| Jeremiah 4:25 | I beheld, and lo there was no man: and all the birds of the air were gone. | Gone. Beasts feel the wrath of God, and in a land uninhabited; not even birds will remain, Osee 4:3. (St. Jerome) |
| Jeremiah 4:26 | I looked, and behold Carmel was a wilderness: and all its cities were destroyed at the presence of the Lord, and at the presence of the wrath of his indignation. | Carmel: the beautiful country of Palestine, (Haydock) Jerusalem, (Theodoret) or the mountain so called. |
| Jeremiah 4:27 | For thus saith the Lord: All the land shall be desolate, but yet I will not utterly destroy. | Destroy, when Jechonias was led captive. God allowed the people still eleven years to repent; and he afterwards restored the Jews. (Calmet) --- He will never suffer his church to perish. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 4:28 | The earth shall mourn, and the heavens shall lament from above: because I have spoken, I have purposed, and I have not repented, neither am I turned away from it. | Repented. Only a finite being can do this. God's resolution is here unconditional and fixed. |
| Jeremiah 4:29 | At the voice of the horsemen, and the archer, all the city is fled away: they have entered into thickets, and have climbed up the rocks: all the cities are forsaken, and there dwelleth not a man in them. | |
| Jeremiah 4:30 | But when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? though thou clothest thyself with scarlet, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, and paintest thy eyes with stibic-stone, thou shalt dress thyself out in vain: thy lovers have despised thee, they will seek thy life. | Stone, or antimony, like Jezabel, (4 Kings 9:30.) to darken and enlarge the eye-lids. --- Lovers. Infidel nations of Egypt, etc. |
| Jeremiah 4:31 | For I have heard the voice as of a woman in travail; anguishes, as of a woman in labour of a child. The voice of the daughter of Sion, dying away, spreading her hands: Woe is me, for my soul hath fainted because of them that are slain. | Child. Hebrew and Septuagint, "a first-born," when the pains are most acute. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 5:0 | The judgments of God shall fall upon the Jews for their manifold sins. | |
| Jeremiah 5:1 | Go about, through the streets of Jerusalem, and see, and consider, and seek in the broad places thereof, if you can fins a man that executeth judgement, and seeketh faith: and I will be merciful unto it. | Go, Jeremias, and you who publicly adhere to me. --- Man. Sodom would have been spared for the sake of ten just people, Genesis 18:32. Before the reform of Josias, Jerusalem was strangely corrupted, though these expressions be hyperbolical, and spoken as it were in the heat of debate. Josias, Holda, and others, were living at this time, and renowned for their piety. |
| Jeremiah 5:2 | And though they say: The Lord liveth; this also they will swear falsely. | Falsely. Some may confess my name. But they swear falsely, Jeremias 4:2. (Calmet) --- Unless the requisite conditions be observed, an oath is unlawful. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 5:3 | O Lord, thy eyes are upon truth: thou hast struck them, and they have not grieved: thou hast bruised them, and they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than the rock, and they have refused to return. | Return. The miseries with which, Achaz, etc., were afflicted, produced no amendment. |
| Jeremiah 5:4 | But I said: Perhaps these are poor and foolish, that know not the way of the Lord, the judgement of their God. | Foolish idiots, (Calmet) who have had no means of receiving instruction. (Haydock) --- Such might be more excusable; but when the chiefs offend, the evil is irremediable. |
| Jeremiah 5:5 | I will go therefore to the great men, and I will speak to them: for they have known the way of the Lord, the judgement of their God: and, behold, these have altogether broken the yoke more, and have burst the bonds. | |
| Jeremiah 5:6 | Wherefore a lion out of the wood hath slain them, a wolf in the evening hath spoiled them, a leopard watcheth for their cities: every one that shall go out thence, shall be taken, because their transgressions are multiplied, their rebellions are strengthened. | Lion. Nabuchodonosor. --- Wolf. Cambyses, (Calmet) and leopard. Epiphanes. (Haydock) --- The Chaldeans, Persians and Greeks afflict them. (St. Jerome) --- The first beast may designate Nabuc: the second Nabuzardon: the third, Alexander [the Great?] or Epiphanes. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 5:7 | How can I be merciful to thee? thy children have forsaken me, and swear by them that are not gods: I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery, and rioted in the harlot's house. | How can. I have only the character of judge left. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 5:8 | They are become as amorous horses and stallions: *every one neighed after his neighbour's wife. Ezechiel 22:11. | Stallions. Hebrew mashcim, (Haydock) "stretching out," as others translate, Ezechiel 23:20. (St. Jerome) --- The horse is the most intemperate of all animals but man. (Aristotle, Hist. 6:22.) |
| Jeremiah 5:9 | Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? and shall not my soul take revenge on such a nation? | |
| Jeremiah 5:10 | Scale the walls thereof, and throw them down, but do not utterly destroy: take away the branches thereof, because they are not the Lord's. | Destroy, at the first taking of the city, ver. 18., and Jeremias 4:27. --- Branches. Children of Jechonias, (chap. 22:30.) and the people. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "her battlements," (Haydock) Chaldean, "palaces." |
| Jeremiah 5:11 | For the house of Israel, and the house of Juda, have greatly transgressed against me, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 5:12 | They have denied the Lord, and said, It is not he: and the evil shall not come upon us: we shall not see the sword and famine. | |
| Jeremiah 5:13 | The prophets have spoken in the wind, and there was no word of God in them: these things therefore shall befall them. | Them. The evil shall fall on the head of these impostors. So the wicked deride the prophets (Calmet) impugning the known truth. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 5:14 | Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts: Because you have spoken this word: behold, I will make my words in thy mouth as fire, and this people as wood, and it shall devour them. | Fire. Thou shalt declare their impending ruin. |
| Jeremiah 5:15 | Behold, I will bring upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: a strong nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou shalt not know, nor understand what they say. | Ancient. Nemrod founded the empire of Ninive and of Babylon, Genesis 10:10. Nabopolassar had succeeded to the ancient Assyrian and Chaldean sovereigns. Under his son, Nabuchodonosor, the dominions were much enlarged. --- Say. 4 Kings 18:26. |
| Jeremiah 5:16 | Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all valiant. | |
| Jeremiah 5:17 | And they shall eat up thy corn, and thy bread: they shall devour thy sons, and thy daughters: they shall eat up thy flocks, and thy herds: they shall eat thy vineyards, and thy figs: and with the sword they shall destroy thy strong cities, wherein thou trusteth. | Devour. Hebrew, "destroy." They did not eat human flesh. |
| Jeremiah 5:18 | Nevertheless, in those days, saith the Lord, I will not bring you to utter destruction. | |
| Jeremiah 5:19 | *And if you shall say: Why hath the Lord our God done all these things to us? thou shalt say to them: As you have forsaken me, and served a strange god in your own land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not your own. Jeremias 16:10. | Own. You shall thus know the difference between the masters. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 5:20 | Declare ye this to the house of Jacob, and publish it in Juda, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 5:21 | Hear, O foolish people, and without understanding: who have eyes, and see not: and ears, and hear not. | Understanding. Literally, "heart," Jeremias 4:22. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 5:22 | Will not you then fear me, saith the Lord? and will you not repent at my presence? I have set the sand a bound for the sea, an everlasting ordinance, which it shall not pass over: and the waves thereof shall toss themselves, and shall not prevail: they shall swell, and shall not pass over it. | It. Nature and chance are improper terms. God regulates all, and has established those laws which preserve the world. |
| Jeremiah 5:23 | But the heart of this people is become hard of belief, and provoking, they are revolted and gone away. | |
| Jeremiah 5:24 | And they have not said in their heart: Let us fear the Lord our God, who giveth us the early and the latter rain in due season: who preserveth for us the fulness of the yearly harvest. | Rain, in autumn and in spring, Deuteronomy 11:14. (Calmet) --- Fulness. Hebrew, "the weeks for harvest." (Haydock) --- That of barley began at the Passover, and that of wheat ended before the feast of weeks, (Exodus 34:22., and Leviticus 23:10.; Calmet) or Pentecost. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 5:25 | Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have withholden good things from you. | Away. The rain comes unseasonably. |
| Jeremiah 5:26 | For among my people are found wicked men, that lie in wait as fowlers, setting snares and traps to catch men. | Man. As some tyrants have done, though this implies (Calmet) the eagerness with which the wicked strive to corrupt mankind. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 5:27 | As a net is full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit: therefore are they become great and enriched. | |
| Jeremiah 5:28 | They are grown gross and fat: and have most wickedly transgressed my words. *They have not judged the cause of the widow; they have not managed the cause of the fatherless, they have not judged the judgement of the poor. Isaias 1:23.; Zacharias 7:10. | Of the widow, is not in Hebrew. (Calmet) --- Fatherless. Protestants add, "yet they prosper, and they," etc. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 5:29 | Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? or shall not my soul take revenge on such a nation? | Nation? It is contrary to God's justice not to punish the guilty. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 5:30 | Astonishing and wonderful things have been done in the land. | |
| Jeremiah 5:31 | The prophets prophesied falsehood, and the priests clapped their hands: and my people loved such things: what then shall be done in the end thereof? | Clapped. Hebrew, "came down to, or received in, or domineered by their hands." The priests concurred with these impostors for their own ends. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 6:0 | The evils that threaten Jerusalem. She is invited to return, and walk in the good way, and not to rely on sacrifices without obedience. | |
| Jeremiah 6:1 | Strengthen yourselves, ye sons of Benjamin, in the midst of Jerusalem, and sound the trumpet in Thecua, and set up the standard over Bethacarem: for evil is seen out of the north, and a great destruction. | Strengthen. Hebrew also, "Flee, Benjamites, from the midst," etc. Jerusalem belonged partly to this tribe, which prided itself on its valour. --- Thecua was in the lot of Juda, 15 miles south of Jerusalem. --- North. The Chaldeans approach, Jeremias 1:13. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 6:2 | I have likened the daughter of Sion to a beautiful and delicate woman. | |
| Jeremiah 6:3 | The shepherds shall come to her with their flocks: they have pitched their tents against her round about: every one shall feed them that are under his hand. | Shepherds. So captains are styled, because they feed and govern soldiers. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 6:4 | Prepare ye war against her: arise, and let us go up at mid-day: woe unto us, for the day is declined, for the shadows of the evening are grown longer. | Prepare. Literally, "sanctify." Observe the usual formalities of demanding reparation, offering victims, etc. The Chaldeans thus encourage one another, and will allow themselves no rest day or night, ver. 5. |
| Jeremiah 6:5 | Arise, and let us go up in the night, and destroy her houses. | |
| Jeremiah 6:6 | For thus saith the Lord of hosts: Hew down her trees, cast up a trench about Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited, all oppression is in the midst of her. | |
| Jeremiah 6:7 | As a cistern maketh its water cold, so hath she made her wickedness cold: violence and spoil shall be heard in her, infirmity and stripes are continually before me. | Cold. Hebrew, "come forth." All the citizens imitate her vices. |
| Jeremiah 6:8 | Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a land uninhabited. | Instructed, by afflictions and prosperity, by public and internal admonitions. Willful ignorance is criminal, and drives God away, Jeremias 51:9., and Psalm 80:12. |
| Jeremiah 6:9 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: They shall gather the remains of Israel, as in a vine, even to one cluster: turn back thy hand, as a grape-gatherer into the basket. | Basket. Chaldeans, destroy all. Nabuchodonosor took Joakim twice, and afterwards Jechonias and Sedecias, Jeremias 29:2. |
| Jeremiah 6:10 | To whom shall I speak? and to whom shall I testify, that he may hear? behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot hear: behold, the word of the Lord is become unto them a reproach: and and they will not receive it. | Uncircumcised. Impure and deaf. (Calmet) --- Non vocat impossibilitas supplicio quae de contemptu et infidelitate descendit. (St. Jerome) |
| Jeremiah 6:11 | Therefore am I full of the fury of the Lord, I am weary with holding in: pour it out upon the child abroad, and upon the council of the young men together: for man and woman shall be taken, the ancient, and he that is full of days. | In. Jeremias is indignant. The Lord then orders him to pour, or declare what will ensue. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 6:12 | And their houses shall be turned over to others, with their lands and their wives together: for I will stretch for my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 6:13 | *For from the least of them even to the greatest, all are given to covetousness: and from the prophet even to the priest, all are guilty of deceit. Isaias 56:11.; Jeremias 8:10. | Prophet. Septuagint, "false prophet," Jeremias 4:31. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 6:14 | And they healed the breach of the daughter of my people disgracefully, saying: Peace, peace: and there was no peace. | Disgracefully. They shall be ashamed, when the contrary to what they declared shall come to pass, Jeremias 8:11. |
| Jeremiah 6:15 | They were confounded, because they commmitted abomination: yea, rather they were not confounded with confusion, and they knew not how to blush: wherefore they shall fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall fall down, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 6:16 | Thus saith the Lord: Stand ye on the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, which is the good way, and walk ye in it: *and you shall find refreshment for your souls. And they said: We will not walk. Matthew 11:29. | Paths, of patriarchs, and of Moses. Avoid novelty in religion. (Calmet) --- This advice is very applicable to the present generation. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 6:17 | And I appointed watchmen over you, saying: Hearken ye to the sound of the trumpet. And they said: We will not hearken. | Watchmen. Prophets, Ezechiel 3:17., and 33:2. |
| Jeremiah 6:18 | Therefore, hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what great things I will do to them. | Congregation. Septuagint, "shepherds feeding their flocks have heard." The Chaldeans are apprised of my resolution against Juda. (Calmet) --- After the Jews had been called repeatedly in vain, the Gentiles obey, Matthew 10:5. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 6:19 | Hear, O earth: Behold, I will bring evils upon this people, the fruit of their own thoughts: because they have not heard my words, and they have cast away my law. | |
| Jeremiah 6:20 | *To what purpose do you bring me frankincense from Saba, and the sweet smelling cane from a far country? your holocausts are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me. Isaias 1:11. | To me. For want of proper dispositions; otherwise the offerings of the best things were enjoined, and commendable. The Jews are taught not to depend on external observances, while they neglect the heart. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 6:21 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will bring destruction upon this people, by which fathers and sons together shall fall, neighbour and kinsman shall perish. | |
| Jeremiah 6:22 | Thus saith the Lord: Behold a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall rise up from the ends of the earth. | North. As Babylon lay with respect to Jerusalem, (Worthington) or rather to the east. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 6:23 | They shall lay hold on arrow and shield: they are cruel, and will have no mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea: and they shall mount upon horses, prepared as men for war, against thee, O daughter of Sion. | |
| Jeremiah 6:24 | We have heard the fame thereof, our hands grow feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, as a woman in labor. | |
| Jeremiah 6:25 | Go not out into the fields, nor walk in the highway: for the sword of the enemy, and fear is on every side. | |
| Jeremiah 6:26 | Gird thee with sackcloth, O daughter of my people, and sprinkle thee with ashes: make thee mourning as for an only son, a bitter lamentation, because the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us. | Only son. Let thy grief be extraordinary, Amos 8:10., and Zacharias 12:10. |
| Jeremiah 6:27 | I have set thee for a strong trier among my people: and thou shalt know, and prove their way. | Trier of my people, as of gold in the furnace, Job 22:25. |
| Jeremiah 6:28 | All these princes go out of the way, they walk deceitfully, they are brass and iron: they are all corrupted. | |
| Jeremiah 6:29 | The bellows have failed, the lead is consumed in the fire, the founder hath melted in vain: for their wicked deeds are not consumed. | Bellows, or crucible. --- Lead, which was intermixed to purify the dross (St. Jerome) of gold and silver. But brass and iron could not be thus purified. All would be lost labour. Afflictions do not correct the obstinate. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 6:30 | Call them reprobate silver, for the Lord hath rejected them. | |
| Jeremiah 7:0 | The temple of God shall not protect a sinful people, without a sincere conversion. The Lord will not receive the prayers of the prophet for them; because they are obstinate in their sins. | |
| Jeremiah 7:1 | The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 7:2 | Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord, and proclaim there this word, and say: Hear ye the word of the Lord, all ye men of Juda, that enter in at these gates, to adore the Lord. | Gate, before all the people. This discourse ends [in] Jeremias 13. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 7:3 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: *Make your ways and your doings good: and I will dwell with you in this place. Jeremias 26:13. | Dwell. Hebrew, "make you dwell here." (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 7:4 | Trust not in lying words, saying: The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, it is the temple of the Lord. | Lord. The triple repetition shews the vain confidence of the people, who blindly imagined that the temple would screen them, (Calmet) and that external sacrifices would suffice. But they were rejected with the temple. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 7:5 | For if you will order well your ways, and your doings: if you will execute judgement between a man and his neighbour. | |
| Jeremiah 7:6 | If you oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, and walk not after strange gods to your own hurt: | |
| Jeremiah 7:7 | I will dwell with you in this place: in the land, which I gave to your fathers from the beginning, and for evermore. | Dwell. Hebrew and Septuagint as [in] ver. 3. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 7:8 | Behold, you put your trust in lying words, which shall not profit you: | |
| Jeremiah 7:9 | To steal, to murder, to commit adultery, to swear falsely, to offer to Baalim, and to go after strange gods, which you know not. | Not, which have done you no good, and deserve not to be styled gods. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 7:10 | And you have come, and stood before me in this house, in which my name is called upon, and have said: We are delivered, because we have done all these abominations. | Because. Hebrew also, "although," (Sa; Grotius) "to perform," (Chaldean; Montanus) or "by doing." God must surely approve of our conduct, since we are unmolested. (St. Thomas Aquinas; Lyranus) --- But the Vulgate seems preferable, and the people attribute their success to idols, Jeremias 44:17., and 2 Paralipomenon 28:23. |
| Jeremiah 7:11 | *Is this house then, in which my name hath been called upon, in your eyes become a den of robbers? I, I am he: I have seen it, saith the Lord. Matthew 21:13.; Mark 11:17.; Luke 19:46. | Robbers. Our Saviour alludes to this, Matthew 21:13. --- Seen. Think not to hide yourselves, as in a den. My temple shall not be an asylum for wretches. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 7:12 | Go ye to my place in Silo, where my name dwelt from the beginning: and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel: | Beginning, under Josue. (Haydock) --- The sins of a few priests caused this place to be abandoned, (1 Kings 2:22., and 3:4., and Psalm 77:60.) and shall the crimes of a whole people escape? (Calmet) --- It is true, that place and Jerusalem were once sanctified: but the people being criminal, God retires. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 7:13 | And now, because you have done all these works, saith the Lord: and I have spoken to you rising up early, and speaking, and you have not heard: *and I have called you, and you have not answered: Proverbs 1:24.; Isaias 65:12. | Early. Sparing no opportunity of reclaiming you. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 7:14 | *I will do to this house, in which my name is called upon, and in which you trust, and to the place which I have given you and your fathers, as I did to Silo. 1 Kings 4:2.; 1 Kings 4:10. | |
| Jeremiah 7:15 | And I will cast you away from before my face, as I have cast away all your brethren, the whole seed of Ephraim. | Ephraim. The ten tribes (Worthington) had been led into captivity in the days of Ezechias, the great-grandfather of Josias. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 7:16 | *Therefore do not thou pray for this people, nor take to thee praise and supplication for them, and do not withstand me: for I will not hear thee. Jeremias 11:14.; Jeremias 14:11. | Praise, offered to appease my wrath. (Haydock) --- This admirably shews the force of the saints' intercession, which God does not reject, but rather encourages by such declarations. Abraham and Moses did not leave off praying for the guilty, (Genesis 18:23., and Exodus 32:10.) and the Lord complains that there was none to withhold him, Isaias 64:7., and Ezechiel 22:30. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 7:17 | Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem? | |
| Jeremiah 7:18 | The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to offer libations to strange gods, and to provoke me to anger. | Heaven. That is, the moon, which they worshipped under that name. (Challoner) --- Some understand the sun also and stars, Jeremias 44:17., and Isaias 65:11. All the family contributes to promote this idolatry. |
| Jeremiah 7:19 | Do they provoke me to anger, saith the Lord? is it not themselves, to the confusion of their own countenance? | |
| Jeremiah 7:20 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, my wrath and my indignation is enkindled against this place, upon men and upon beasts, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruits of the land, and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched. | |
| Jeremiah 7:21 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt-offerings to your sacrifices, and eat ye the flesh. | Flesh. I reject your holocausts. Keep them for yourselves. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 7:22 | For I spoke not to your fathers, and I commanded them not, in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt-offerings and sacrifices. | I commanded them not: viz., such sacrifices as the Jews at this time offered without obedience; which was the thing principally commanded: so that in comparison with it, the offering of the holocausts and sacrifices was of small account. (Challoner) --- The observance of the decalogue would suffice. Victims were to teach internal piety, Leviticus 1. (Worthington) --- God "brought them out of Egypt, not for the sake of their sacrifices, but that they might....hear his word." (St. Irenaeus, [Against Heresies] 4:17.) --- This was the principal design. See Matthew 9:13., and Osee 6:6., and 1 Corinthians 1:17. (Maldonat) (Menochius) (Calmet) --- The rules for sacrifices were given after the adoration of the calf, as necessary preservatives against idolatry. (St. Thomas Aquinas, [Summa Theologica] 1:2. q. 102. a. 3.) --- Yet the paschal lamb, etc., had been already commanded. (Calmet) --- Many such absolute expressions imply a condition or comparison. (Gloss.) (Proverbs 8:10.) --- I brought. Several manuscripts read thus more accurately than the Hebrew, "He brought," (Kennicott) which Protestants abandon, (Haydock) though the present reading may stand. (Chappel.) (Crat.) --- Every variation should be noticed, as this and the former verse "seem greatly corrupted; perhaps the Syriac version will be the best guide to their true meaning." (Kennicott) --- Yet the passage is sufficiently intelligible in the Vulgate and Septuagint. |
| Jeremiah 7:23 | But this thing I commanded them, saying: Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people: and walk ye in all the way, that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you. | |
| Jeremiah 7:24 | But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear: but walked in their own will, and in the perversity of their wicked heart: and went backward and not forward, | |
| Jeremiah 7:25 | From the day that their fathers came out of the land of Egypt, even to this day. And I have sent to you all my servants, the prophets, from day to day, rising up early and sending. | |
| Jeremiah 7:26 | And they have not hearkened to me: nor inclined their ear: but have hardened their neck, *and have done worse than their fathers. Jeremias 16:12. | |
| Jeremiah 7:27 | And thou shalt speak to them all these words, but they will not hearken to thee: and thou shalt call them, but they will not answer thee. | Thee. Septuagint omit this verse, which Grabe replaces. The people will be more inexcusable. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 7:28 | And thou shalt say to them: This is a nation which hath not hearkened to the voice of the Lord their God, nor received instruction: faith is lost, and is taken away out of their mouth. | |
| Jeremiah 7:29 | Cut off thy hair, and cast it away: and take up a lamentation on high: for the Lord hath rejected, and forsaken the generation of his wrath, | High. People lamented in such places, Jeremias 9:13., and Judges 11:35. (Calmet) --- Wrath, which he treats with the utmost severity. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 7:30 | Because the children of Juda have done evil in my eyes, saith the Lord. They have set their abominations in the house in which my name is called upon, to pollute it: | Abominations. Hebrew. We have literally, "stumbling-blocks," offendicula. (Haydock) --- Manasses placed idols in the very temple, as the last kings of Juda did, 4 Kings 23:4., and Ezechiel 8:3. |
| Jeremiah 7:31 | And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Ennom, to burn their sons, and their daughters, in the fire: which I commanded not, nor thought on in my heart. | Valley, to the south of the city. Here Moloc was adored, and Josias therefore contaminated the place, 4 Kings 23:10. (Calmet) --- It was very delightful. (St. Jerome) |
| Jeremiah 7:32 | Therefore, behold the days shall come, saith the Lord, and it shall no more be called Topheth, nor the Valley of the son of Ennom: but the Valley of slaughter, and they shall bury in Topheth, because there is no place. | Place, elsewhere. (Haydock) --- This was verified when Nabuchodonosor and Titus besieged the city. (Calmet) --- The latter was quite shocked. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 6:14.) See Jeremias 19., and 31:40. |
| Jeremiah 7:33 | And the carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be none to drive them away. | |
| Jeremiah 7:34 | *And I will cause to cease out of the cities of Juda, and out of the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate. Zacharias 12:13. | Bride. None shall think of marrying, (chap. 16:9., and 25:10.; Calmet) all being filled with lamentation. (Menochius) |
| Jeremiah 8:0 | Other evils that shall fall upon the Jews for their impenitence. | |
| Jeremiah 8:1 | At that time, saith the Lord, they shall cast out the bones of the kings of Juda, and the bones of the princes thereof, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. | Graves. They might suppose that they would find treasures in them, as the tombs of Semiramis, Cyrus, etc., were thus enriched. This inhumanity seems to have taken place before the last siege, Baruch 2:24. (Calmet) Quaeque carent ventis et solibus ossa Quirini Nefas videre dissipabit insoleas.----- (Horace, epod. 16.) --- Cruelty and avarice cause persecutors to act thus. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 8:2 | And they shall spread them abroad to the sun, and the 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 adored: they shall not be gathered, and they shall not be buried: they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth. | |
| Jeremiah 8:3 | And death shall be chosen rather than life, by all that shall remain of this wicked kindred in all places, which are left, to which I have cast them out, saith the Lord of hosts. | |
| Jeremiah 8:4 | And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: Shall not he that falleth, rise again? and he that is turned away, shall he not turn again? | Again. Why then do not the people strive to repent? |
| Jeremiah 8:5 | Why then is this people in Jerusalem turned away with a stubborn revolting? they have laid hold on lying, and have refused to return. | |
| Jeremiah 8:6 | I attended, and hearkened: no man speaketh what is good, there is none that doth penance for his sin, saying: What have I done? They are all turned to their own course, as a horse rushing to the battle. | |
| Jeremiah 8:7 | The kite in the air hath known her time: the turtle, and the swallow, and the stork have observed the time of their coming: but my people have not known the judgment of the Lord. | Stork. These birds retire at the approach of winter to warmer climates. In Poland swallows plunge into marshes, like frogs. If instinct teach them to do so, for their preservation, is it not strange that men should be so inconsiderate? |
| Jeremiah 8:8 | How do you say: We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Indeed, the lying pen of the scribes hath wrought falsehood. | Falsehood. The impostors have deceived you, and they are themselves taken prisoners. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 8:9 | The wise men are confounded, they are dismayed, and taken: for they have cast away the word of the Lord, and there is no wisdom in them. | Them. Those who understand, and do not observe the law, are not wise. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 8:10 | *Therefore will I give their women to strangers, their fields to others for an inheritance: because from the least, even to the greatest, all follow covetousness: from the prophet, even to the priest, all deal deceitfully. Isaias 56:11.; Jeremias 6:13. | Others. Idumeans, etc. Yet most part of the land remained uncultivated. (Calmet) --- The rest, to ver. 13., "they will collect their fruits, says," etc., is supplied by Grabe. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 8:11 | And they healed the breach of the daughter of my people disgracefully, saying: Peace, peace: when there was no peace. | |
| Jeremiah 8:12 | They are confounded, because they have committed abomination: yea, rather, they are not confounded with confusion, and they have not know how to blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall; in the time of their visitation they shall fall, saith the Lord. | They are. Or, "are they?" etc. (St. Jerome) --- No, they are too hardened, Jeremias 6:14. |
| Jeremiah 8:13 | Gathering, I will gather them together, saith the Lord: there is no grape on the vines, and there are no figs on the fig-tree, the leaf is fallen: and I have given them the things that are passed away. | Gather into Jerusalem, to be butchered. (Calmet) --- Away. They are now in the greatest distress. (Haydock) --- This probably happened a little before the last siege, Jeremias 14. |
| Jeremiah 8:14 | Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fenced city, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and hath given us *water of gall to drink: for we have sinned against the Lord. Jeremias 9:15. | Silent, in utter destruction, 1 Kings 2:9. We cannot be in a worse condition. |
| Jeremiah 8:15 | *We looked for peace, and no good came: for a time of healing, and behold fear. Jeremias 14:10. | |
| Jeremiah 8:16 | The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan; all the land was moved at the sound of the neighing of his warriors: and they came and devoured the land, and all that was in it: the city and its inhabitants. | Dan, by which the Chaldeans must pass, Jeremias 4:15. Many have hence inferred that antichrist will be the serpent (ver. 17.) of the tribe of Dan, Genesis 49:17. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 8:17 | For behold I will send among you serpents, basilisks, against which there is no charm: and they shall bite you, saith the Lord. | Charm. The Chaldeans will not be moved to pity (Menochius) by any words. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 8:18 | My sorrow is above sorrow, my heart mourneth within me. | Me. God, Jeremias, the people, or rather Jerusalem bewails her children. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 8:19 | Behold the voice of the daughter of my people, from a far country: Is not the Lord in Sion, or is not her king in her? why then have they provoked me to wrath with their idols, and strange vanities? | Sion. Thus the people complain, (Menochius) or God answers them that they had no reason to have recourse to idols for protection. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 8:20 | The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. | Saved. Our hopes of redress are vanished. We must still pine away for want of food. (Haydock) --- The siege continues, though we had been assured it would shortly be terminated. (Calmet) --- It commenced January 30, the year of the world 3414. Soon after Nabuchodonosor went to meet Pharao, and having defeated him, returned about June, the year of the world 3415, and after 390 days took the city, 27th of July, the year of the world 3416. (Usher) (Chap. 39:2.) (Calmet) (Ezechiel 4:5.) (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 8:21 | For the affliction of the daughter of my people I am afflicted, and made sorrowful, astonishment hath taken hold on me. | 1:Jeremias. (Menochius) --- The prophet continues to speak in the next chapter. |
| Jeremiah 8:22 | Is there no balm in Galaad? or is no physician there? Why then is not the wound of the daughter of my people closed? | Balm, (resina) "turpentine," (Calmet) which was much used. (Dioscor. 1:66.) --- Galaad was famous for the best, Jeremias 46:11., and Genesis 37:25. --- Closed? Have I not sent prophets? But they will not be healed. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 9:0 | The prophet laments the miseries of his people: and their sins, which are the cause of them. He exhorts them to repentance. | |
| Jeremiah 9:1 | Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes? and I will weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people. | To. Hebrew is more expressive. (Calmet) --- "Who will give my head waters, (Haydock) or change it into water, and my eyes into a fountain." (Calmet) --- Protestants, "Oh that my head were waters." (Haydock) --- The miseries of my people are so great, (Calmet) a few tears would not suffice to bewail them. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 9:2 | Who will give me in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men, and I will leave my people, and depart from them? because they are all adulterers, an assembly of transgressors. | Men. Why cannot I retire (Menochius) from this scene of misery, or afford some consolation to the captives? Septuagint, "Who will give me the last station in the desert?" (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 9:3 | And they have bent their tongue, as a bow, for lies, and not for truth: they have strengthened themselves upon the earth, for they have proceeded from evil to evil, and me they have not known, saith the Lord. | Lies. They are bent on deceit (Calmet) and murder, (Haydock) ver. 8., and Psalm 63:4., and 119:2. |
| Jeremiah 9:4 | Let every man take heed of his neighbour, and let him not trust in any brother of his: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every friend will walk deceitfully. | Deceitfully. A man must guard against his relations and domestics, Micheas 7:5., and Matthew 8:35. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 9:5 | And a man shall mock his brother, and they will not speak the truth: for they have taught their tongue to speak lies: they have laboured to commit iniquity. | Iniquity. It is become natural to them. (St. Jerome) --- They cannot lay the blame on the violence of passion. They sin on purpose. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "they have not left off, (6.) in order to be converted. Usury upon usury; fraud upon fraud; they," etc. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 9:6 | Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit: through deceit they have refused to know me, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 9:7 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold I will melt, and try them: for what else shall I do before the daughter of my people? | Try them in the crucible of war, Jeremias 6:27. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 9:8 | *Their tongue is a piercing arrow, it hath spoken deceit: with his mouth one speaketh peace with his friend, and secretly he lieth in wait for him. Psalm 27:3. | |
| Jeremiah 9:9 | Shall I not visit them for these things, saith the Lord? or shall not my soul be revenged on such a nation? | |
| Jeremiah 9:10 | For the mountains I will take up weeping and lamentation, and for the beautiful places of the desert, mourning: because they are burnt up, for that there is not a man that passeth through them: and they have not heard the voice of the owner: from the fowl of the air to the beasts, they are gone away and departed. | Owner. Hebrew mikne, "cattle," or (Haydock) "substance." (St. Jerome) --- Departed. Beasts and birds will not continue long after men cease to cultivate the country. (Theodoret) (Chap. 4:25., and 12:4., and Sophonias 1:3.) |
| Jeremiah 9:11 | And I will make Jerusalem to be heaps of sand, and dens of dragons: and I will make the cities of Juda desolate, for want of an inhabitant. | Sand. The stones were burnt to dust, 2 Esdras 4:2. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 9:12 | Who is the wise man, that may understand this, and to whom the word of the mouth of the Lord may come, that he may declare this, why the land hath perished, and is burnt up like a wilderness, which none passeth through? | |
| Jeremiah 9:13 | And the Lord said: Because they have forsaken my law, which I gave them, and have not heard my voice, and have not walked in it. | |
| Jeremiah 9:14 | But they have gone after the perverseness of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them. | |
| Jeremiah 9:15 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: *Behold I will feed this people with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. Jeremias 23:15. | Gall. Hebrew rosh, "poison," etc., Deuteronomy 29:18. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 9:16 | And I will scatter them among the nations, which they and their fathers have not known: and I will send the sword after them, till they be consumed. | Consumed. Jeremias 44:27. No country shall afford them protection. (Calmet) --- The richer sort were made captives, and most of the people destroyed, but not all, Jeremias 4:27. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 9:17 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, and let them come: and send to them that are wise women, and let them make haste: | Wise, in composing or singing the Naenia, or mournful songs, recording the praises of the deceased. (Calmet) --- "This custom still subsists in Judea: women go about with dishevelled hair and naked breasts, with mournful tunes, exciting all to tears." (St. Jerome) --- Music was also used, Matthew 9:23. Thus feigned tears, at least, would supply the want of real ones. |
| Jeremiah 9:18 | Let them hasten, and take up a lamentation for us: let our eyes shed tears, and our eyelids run down with waters. | |
| Jeremiah 9:19 | For a voice of wailing is heard out of Sion: How are we wasted and greatly confounded? because we have left the land, because our dwellings are cast down. | |
| Jeremiah 9:20 | Hear therefore, ye women, the word of the Lord: and let your ears receive the word of his mouth: and teach your daughters wailing: and every one her neighbour mourning. | |
| Jeremiah 9:21 | For death is come up through our windows, it is entered into our houses, to destroy the children from without, the young men from the streets. | For. This was the song. (Calmet) --- Streets. Death spares none. The least suspecting fall. (Haydock) --- It enters by the windows, if the doors be shut, Joel 2:8. |
| Jeremiah 9:22 | Speak: Thus saith the Lord: Even the carcass of man shall fall as dung upon the face of the country, and as grass behind the back of the mower, and there is none to gather it. | Speak. Our editions of the Septuagint omit this word, though St. Jerome found it in his copies, (Calmet) and in Theodotion, expressed by "death;" while others rendered it, "speak," as the same letters dbr, may have both meanings, according as people may please to pronounce them. (St. Jerome) --- Grabe supplies, "by death. (22.) These things, says the Lord." (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 9:23 | Thus saith the Lord: *Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the strong man glory in his strength, and let not the rich man glory in his riches: 1 Corinthians 1:31.; 2 Corinthians 10:17. | |
| Jeremiah 9:24 | But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, for I am the Lord that exercise mercy, and judgment, and justice in the earth: for these things please me, saith the Lord. | Me. Virtue will save, when riches, etc., will prove useless. (Menochius) --- Phocilides, a pagan, said, (Calmet) "Boast not of wisdom, strength, or riches great. One God is wise, and potent too, and rich." (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 9:25 | Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, and I will visit upon every one that hath the foreskin circumcised. | |
| Jeremiah 9:26 | Upon Egypt, and upon Juda, and upon Edom, and upon the children of Ammon, and upon Moab, and upon all that have their hair polled round, that dwell in the desert: for all the nations are uncircumcised in the flesh, but all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart. | Egypt. the uncircumcised shall be punished as well as Juda, if they transgress. Only the Jewish nation properly observed the right of circumcision generally, or at first. Others imitated them, but with various ceremonies. (Calmet, Diss.) (Ezechiel 31:18., and Judith 14:6.) --- Hyrcan obliged the Idumeans to receive circumcision. (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 13:17.) --- Round. The Arabs, etc., Leviticus 19:27. (Calmet) --- Heart. All then became guilty, Romans 2:25. (Menochius) --- Neither these nations nor Juda was circumcised in heart, and of course were hypocrites. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 10:0 | Neither stars nor idols are to be feared, but the great Creator of all things. The chastisement of Jerusalem for her sins. | |
| Jeremiah 10:1 | Hear ye the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning you, O house of Israel. | |
| Jeremiah 10:2 | Thus saith the Lord: Learn not according to the ways of the Gentiles: and be not afraid of the signs of heaven, which the heathens fear: | Ways. Religious rites, ver. 3. --- Fear. Worship, Leviticus 19:14. --- Signs. They were designed to point out the seasons, Genesis 1:14. (Calmet) --- Heathens thought that they had a divine power. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 10:3 | For the laws of the people are vain: *for the works of the hand of the workman hath cut a tree out of the forest with an axe. Wisdom 13:11.; Wisdom 14:8. | |
| Jeremiah 10:4 | He hath decked it with silver and gold: he hath put it together with nails and hammers, that it may not fall asunder. | Asunder. Isaias 44:8., Baruch 6:3., and Wisdom 13:11. The pagans themselves laughed at such folly. (Calmet) --- If such things were gods, the makers and tools deserved more adoration: Fabri deorum vel parentes numinum, says Prudentius. The vanity of such idols was more easily discerned than that of the stars. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 10:5 | They are framed after the likeness of a palm-tree, and shall not speak: they must be carried to be removed, because they cannot go. Therefore, fear them not, for they can neither do evil nor good. | Tree. The ancient statues were ill-formed, (Diodorus 4.) before Dedalus brought the art to greater perfection, and gave them a living attitude. |
| Jeremiah 10:6 | *There is none like to thee, O Lord; thou art great, and great is thy name in might. Micheas 7:18. | There. Septuagint omit the three following verses; and from ver. 9., all these, etc., to the end of ver. 10., which Grabe inserts in a different character. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 10:7 | *Who shall fear thee, O king of nations? for thine is the glory: among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee. Apocalypse 15:4. | Wise. Manuscript 2 has in the margin "kings," perhaps more correctly. (Kennicott) |
| Jeremiah 10:8 | They shall be all proved together, to be senseless and foolish: the doctrine of their vanity is wood. | Vanity, and shews them clearly to be foolish (Calmet) and wicked. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 10:9 | Silver spread into plates is brought from Tharsis, and gold from Ophaz: the work of the artificer, and of the hand of the coppersmith: violet and purple is their clothing: all these things are the work of artificers. | Ophaz, or Phison, (Genesis 2:11.; Calmet) the coast of Pegu, Faprobana, etc. (Menochius) |
| Jeremiah 10:10 | But the Lord is the true God: he is the living God, and the everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his threatening. | Wrath. God is the true cause of all that terrifies mankind. |
| Jeremiah 10:11 | Thus then shall you say to them: The gods that have not made heaven and earth, let them perish from the earth, and from among those places that are under heaven. | Heaven. This verse is in Chaldean, for the captives to use at Babylon, to defend themselves. It should be in a parenthesis, as it interrupts the discourse. Perhaps it was added during the captivity. |
| Jeremiah 10:12 | *He that maketh the earth by his power, that prepareth the world by his wisdom, and stretcheth out the heavens by his knowledge. Genesis 1:1.; Jeremias 51:15. | |
| Jeremiah 10:13 | At his voice he giveth a multitude of waters in the heaven, and lifteth up the clouds from the ends of the earth: *he maketh lightnings for rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. Psalm 134:7.; Jeremias 51:16. | Voice. Thunder, (Psalm 28:3.) which is usually the forerunner of rain. Lightning is occasioned by the inflamed exhalations of conflicting clouds. |
| Jeremiah 10:14 | Every man is become a fool for knowledge, every artist is confounded in his graven idol: for what he hath cast is false, and there is no spirit in them. | Knowledge. If it were real, he would see the vanity of idols, ver. 8. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 10:15 | They are vain things, and a ridiculous work: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. | |
| Jeremiah 10:16 | The portion of Jacob is not like these: for it is he who formed all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name. | Portion. The Lord. (Haydock) (Psalm 72:6.) --- Rod, to measure, (Psalm 73:2.) or the sceptre and ruler. (Menochius) |
| Jeremiah 10:17 | Gather up thy shame out of the land, thou that dwellest in a siege. | Shame. Idols. See if they will keep thee. Hebrew, "thy merchandise," or most precious effects. |
| Jeremiah 10:18 | For thus saith the Lord: Behold I will cast away far off the inhabitants of the land at this time: and I will afflict them, so that they may be found. | Found by the enemy. Hebrew also, "find" me, being taught by affliction, Jeremias 29:13. (Calmet) --- Entering into sentiments of penance, they shall say, Woe, etc. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 10:19 | Woe is me for my destruction, my wound is very grievous. But I said: Truly this is my own evil, and I will bear it. | |
| Jeremiah 10:20 | My tabernacle is laid waste, all my cords are broken: my children are gone out from me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains. | |
| Jeremiah 10:21 | Because the pastors have done foolishly, and have not sought the Lord: therefore have they not understood, and all their flock is scattered. | |
| Jeremiah 10:22 | Behold the sound of a noise cometh, a great commotion out of the north country: to make the cities of Juda a desert, and a dwelling for dragons. | North. He has announced this conqueror eight times. --- Dragons. Tannim means "huge reptiles," whether of sea or land. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 10:23 | I know, O Lord, that the way of a man is not his: neither is it in a man to walk, and to direct his steps. | The way, etc. Notwithstanding man's free-will, yet he can do no good without God's help, nor evil without his permission. So that, in the present case, all the evils which Nabuchodonosor was about to bring upon Jerusalem, could not have come but by the will of God. (Challoner) (Worthington) --- This prince succeeds by thy order. (Theodoret) --- Yet chastise us as a father, and leave us not to his fury, ver. 24. (Calmet) --- "Let new preachers blush, who say that each one is governed by his own will," (St. Jerome; Jeremias 9:23.) and able to do good without God's grace. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 10:24 | Correct me, O Lord, but yet with judgement: and not in thy fury, lest thou bring me to nothing. | Judgment. Chap 30:11., and Psalm 6:1. Justice is not contrary to mercy. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 10:25 | Pour out thy indignation upon the nations that have not known thee, and upon the provinces that have not called upon thy name: because they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have destroyed his glory. | Glory. This is repeated from Psalm 78:6. (Menochius) --- The prophet supposes that these nations will not repent, and that their sins are more enormous. To see God's people treated with greater severity, might scandalize the weak, while infidels would take occasion to abuse their own impunity. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 11:0 | The prophet proclaims the covenant of God: and denounces evils and to the obstinate transgressors of it. The conspiracy of the Jews against him, a figure of their conspiracy against Christ. | |
| Jeremiah 11:1 | The word that came from the Lord to Jeremias, saying: | The, etc. He continues his discourse, (ver. 15.) or rather addresses the people, when Josias renewed the covenant, 2 Paralipomenon 34:29., Leviticus xxvi., and Deuteronomy xxvii. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 11:2 | Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. | |
| Jeremiah 11:3 | And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Cursed is the man that shall not hearken to the words of this covenant. | |
| Jeremiah 11:4 | Which I commanded your fathers, in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying: Hear ye my voice, and do all things that I command you: and you shall be my people, and I will be your God: | Fathers. God chooses his people for obedience, not for kindred, etc. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 11:5 | That I may accomplish the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. And I answered, and said: Amen, O Lord. | Amen. Septuagint, "So be it." (Haydock) --- Thou hast fulfilled thy engagements. |
| Jeremiah 11:6 | And the Lord said to me: Proclaim aloud all these words in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: Hear ye the words of the covenant, and do them: | Cities, or to those who come thence to the temple, that all may know. |
| Jeremiah 11:7 | For protesting, I conjured your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, even to this day: rising early, I conjured them, and said: Hearken ye to my voice: | For. This and the next verse have not been read by Septuagint; (Calmet) but only "and they did not comply." Grabe supplies the rest. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 11:8 | And they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear: but walked every one in the perverseness of his own wicked heart: and I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did them not. | Brought; or "will bring," seems preferable. What does the history of God's people till the captivity exhibit, but scenes of disorder and of succeeding misery? (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 11:9 | And the Lord said to me: A conspiracy is found among the men of Juda, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. | Conspiracy. They are leagued together to do evil, with all earnestness. (St. Jerome) |
| Jeremiah 11:10 | They are returned to the former iniquities of their fathers, who refused to hear my words: so these likewise have gone after strange gods, to serve them: the house of Israel, and the house of Juda, have made void my covenant, which I made with their fathers. | To them, for a long time. Yet they must not despair, or have recourse to idols, (ver. 12.) or witches, 1 Kings xxviii. |
| Jeremiah 11:11 | Wherefore thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring in evils upon them, which they shall not be able to escape: and they shall cry to me, and I will not hearken to them. | |
| Jeremiah 11:12 | And the cities of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall go, and cry to the gods to whom they offer sacrifice, and they shall not save them in the time of their affliction. | |
| Jeremiah 11:13 | *For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Juda: and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem, thou hast set up altars of confusion, altars to offer sacrifice to Baalim. Jeremias 2:28. | Confusion. Thus he contemptuously denotes Baalim, Jeremias 3:24. (Calmet) --- Various idols were objects of adoration, (Haydock) so that no city or street, perhaps not any house, was pure, Jeremias 7:18., and 44:17., Isaias 65:11., and Ezechiel 16:25. |
| Jeremiah 11:14 | *Therefore do not thou pray for this people, and do not take up praise and prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time of their cry to me, in the time of their affliction. Jeremias 7:16.; Jeremias 14:11. | |
| Jeremiah 11:15 | What is the meaning, that my beloved hath wrought much wickedness in my house? shall the holy flesh take away from thee thy crimes, in which thou hast boasted? | Beloved, dilectus. Hebrew and Septuagint have the feminine. Chaldean, "people." They presumptuously thought that they would be freed from all their abominations, by partaking of the sacrifices. (Calmet) --- But the offerings of such are not accepted. (Menochius) --- The flesh is holy, but is of no service to the obstinate sinner. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 11:16 | The Lord called thy name, a plentiful olive-tree, fair, fruitful, and beautiful: at the noise of a word, a great fire was kindled in it, and the branches thereof are burnt. | Burnt, by lightning. The olive was a most useful and beautiful tree. |
| Jeremiah 11:17 | And the Lord of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee: for the evils of the house of Israel, and of the house of Juda, which they have done to themselves, to provoke me, offering sacrifice to Baalim. | |
| Jeremiah 11:18 | But thou, O Lord, hast shewn me, and I have known: then thou shewedst me their doings. | Shewedst me. He insinuates that something more than what appears must be understood. (Theodoret) --- All Christians explain what follows of Jesus Christ, (St. Jerome; Worthington) whom Jeremias prefigured in his sufferings. (Calmet) --- "Let us follow the rule which shews that all the prophets did most things for a type of our Lord and Saviour; and what was now done by Jeremias, foreshewed what would happen to our Lord." (St. Jerome) |
| Jeremiah 11:19 | And I was as a meek lamb, that is carried to be a victim: and I knew not that they had devised counsels against me, saying: Let us put wood on his bread, and cut him off from the land of the living, and let his name be remembered no more. | Meek: pet lamb. The Arabs still keep one in their houses, 2 Kings 12:3. (Bochart 2:46.) (Calmet) --- Knew. I acted as if I had been ignorant. (Menochius) --- Yet Christ foretold his sufferings, Matthew 20:18., etc. (Worthington) --- Bread. Christ, the bread of life, was nailed to the disgraceful wood. (St. Jerome; St. Gregory, Mor. 3:12.) --- They threaten to beat him, (De Dieu) or to mix a poisonous wood with his food. (Calmet) (Menochius) --- Some Jews had corrupted this text in St. Justin's time. (Du Hamel) |
| Jeremiah 11:20 | *But thou, O Lord of Sabaoth, who judgest justly, and triest the reins and hearts, let me see thy revenge on them: for to thee have I revealed my cause. Jeremias 17:10.; Jeremias 20:12. | Sabaoth. That is, of hosts or armies; a name frequently given to God, in the Scriptures. --- Thy revenge. This was rather a prediction of what was to happen, with an approbation of the divine justice, than an imprecation. (Challoner) --- He speaks of the impenitent, (St. Jerome) and wishes they may be converted. |
| Jeremiah 11:21 | Therefore thus saith the Lord to the men of Anathoth, who seek thy life, and say: Thou shalt not prophesy in the name of the Lord, and thou shalt not die in our hands. | Life. What precedes, was spoken concerning the prophet, though it regarded Christ also in a proper but more elevated sense. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 11:22 | Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold I will visit upon them: and their young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine. | |
| Jeremiah 11:23 | And there shall be no remains of them: for I will bring in evil upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their visitation. | Remains. All these priests shall perish, Psalm 36:28. (Haydock) --- He speaks of the wicked, as a remnant was still left, Jeremias 4., and Isaias 10. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 12:0 | The prosperity of the wicked shall be but for a short time. The desolation of the Jews for their sins. Their return from their captivity. | |
| Jeremiah 12:1 | Thou indeed, O Lord, art just, if I plead with thee, *but yet I will speak what is just to thee: **Why doth the way of the wicked prosper: why is it well with all them that transgress, and do wickedly? Psalm 51:6. --- ** Job 21:7.; Habacuc 1:13. | Is just. Hebrew, "judgment." Septuagint, "I will make my apology to thee." Jeremias had been grievously persecuted by his countrymen: he therefore mentions a subject which has been the source of much perplexity. The success of the wicked is a temptation for weak souls. See Job xxi., Psalm 72:3., and Habacuc 1:13. (Calmet) --- The prophets often speak in their names, not being ignorant or doubtful of the justice of divine providence. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 12:2 | Thou hast planted them, and they have taken root: they prosper and bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins. | Reins. They have thy name in their mouth, but not in their heart, Isaias 29:13., and Matthew 15:8. |
| Jeremiah 12:3 | And thou, O Lord, hast known me; thou hast seen me, and proved my heart with thee: gather them together as sheep for a sacrifice, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. | Gather. God orders his prophet to announce the misery of the wicked. |
| Jeremiah 12:4 | How long shall the land mourn, and the herb of every field wither for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? The beasts and the birds are consumed: because they have said: He shall not see our last end. | Mourn? Is not this a proof of my providence in chastising Juda? This famine is specified [in] Jeremias 8:13., and 14:4. (Calmet) --- Last end. Two letters seem to be transposed in Hebrew, as the Septuagint read "ways." (Kennicott) --- The impious blaspheme as if all were ruled by chance. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 12:5 | If thou hast been wearied with running with footmen, how canst thou contend with horses? and if thou hast been secure in a land of peace, what wilt thou do in the swelling of the Jordan? | Horses. If thou hast been terrified at the threats of thy fellow-citizens, how wilt thou withstand those of Jerusalem? (Menochius) or he speaks to Juda, who would not be able to resist the Chaldeans, since the Philistines, etc., had routed the Jews, though destitute of cavalry. --- Jordan, or the nations of Ammon, etc., on that side. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt," etc. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 12:6 | For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have fought against thee, and have cried after thee with full voice: believe them not when they speak good things to thee. | To thee. Edom, etc., made a league with Sedecias, which they broke. They always bore a hatred to the Jews, though sprung from the same stock, Jeremias 27:1., and Lamentations 4:21. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 12:7 | I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance: I have given my dear soul into the hand of her enemies. | Soul; people, (Haydock) whose punishment was decreed. Say not, therefore, that the wicked always prosper. |
| Jeremiah 12:8 | My inheritance is become to me as a lion in the wood: it hath cried out against me, therefore have I hated it. | |
| Jeremiah 12:9 | Is my inheritance to me as a speckled bird? is it as a bird dyed throughout? come ye, assemble yourselves, all ye beasts of the earth; make haste to devour. | As a. Septuagint, "a den of the hyena:" Alexandrian, "robbers." Grabe inserts, "or a den around it?" (Haydock) --- They have read áuss, "a den," instead of hait, "a bird." Bochart, (III. 11.) however, shews that the latter word denotes various wild beasts, and nearly follows the Septuagint. Though the inheritance be most charming, it shall not pass unpunished. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 12:10 | Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot: they have changed my delightful portion into a desolate wilderness. | Pastors; princes of my people, as well (Haydock) as of the Chaldeans, Jeremias 6:3. |
| Jeremiah 12:11 | They have laid it waste, and it hath mourned for me. With desolation is all the land made desolate: because there is none that considereth in the heart. | Heart, to seek God and the cause of their misfortunes. |
| Jeremiah 12:12 | The spoilers are come upon all the ways of the wilderness, for the sword of the Lord shall devour from one end of the land to the other end thereof: there is no peace for all flesh. | |
| Jeremiah 12:13 | They have sown wheat, and reaped thorns: they have received an inheritance, and it shall not profit them: you shall be ashamed of your fruits, because of the fierce wrath of the Lord. | Fruits. They shall not satisfy your expectations or wants. |
| Jeremiah 12:14 | Thus saith the Lord, against all my wicked neighbours, that touch the inheritance that I have shared out to my people Israel: Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and I will pluck the house of Juda out of the midst of them. | Land. Nabuchodonosor led the Ammonites, etc., into captivity, five years after the Jews. (Josephus, Antiquities 10:11.) (Calmet) --- After the children are chastised, the rod is burnt. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 12:15 | And when I shall have plucked them out, I will return, and have mercy on them: and I will bring them back every man to his inheritance, and every man into his land. | Land; the Jews, as well as their neighbours, Jeremias 49:6. (Menochius) (Isaias 23:15., and Ezechiel 16:55.) |
| Jeremiah 12:16 | And it shall come to pass, if they will be taught, and will learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth; as they have taught my people to swear by Baal: that they shall be built up in the midst of my people. | People. After the captivity, converts were more cherished. Yet the predictions concerning the call of the Gentiles were accomplished only by the preaching of the gospel. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 12:17 | But if they will not hear, I will utterly pluck out and destroy that nation, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 13:0 | Under the figure of a linen girdle is foretold the destruction of the Jews. Their obstinacy in sin brings all miseries upon them. | |
| Jeremiah 13:1 | Thus saith the Lord to me: Go, and get thee a linen girdle, and thou shalt put it about thy loins, and shalt not put it into water. | Girdle, usually worn by women. (St. Jerome) (Exodus 28:42.) --- It denoted the Jews, who became more corrupt during the captivity; (ver. 7, 11.) so that God delivered them out of his pure mercy. Thus He explains this prophetical action. (Calmet) --- Loins. God cherished his people. (Menochius) --- Water. He made choice of them when they were rough and deformed. (St. Jerome) --- Their sins cause their ruin. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 13:2 | And I got a girdle according to the word of the Lord, and put it about my loins. | |
| Jeremiah 13:3 | And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 13:4 | Take the girdle which thou hast got, which is about thy loins, and arise, and go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. | Euphrates, above 150 leagues distant. Some think this was only to be done in spirit: but it is generally supposed that the prophet made this long journey twice. Bochart suggests that Euphrates (Hebrew Peratha) may be put for Ephrata, or Bethlehem, as the first syllable is often cut off. (Calmet) --- Yet a journey to the Euphrates would represent more strikingly the destination of the people; and it would not be difficult for God to convey Jeremias thither in a short time, if requisite, as he sent Habacuc through the air to carry a dinner to Daniel; (xiv. 32.) though this supposition is not here necessary, as the labour to which Jeremias was repeatedly exposed, might shew the people their manifold transgressions and captivities. (Haydock) --- Such prophetic actions make a deeper impression than words, Hebrews 1:The ingratitude of the people is here described, to Jeremias 21. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 13:5 | And I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord had commanded me. | |
| Jeremiah 13:6 | And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said to me: Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from thence the girdle, which I commanded thee to hide there. | |
| Jeremiah 13:7 | And I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle out of the place where I had hid it: and behold, the girdle was rotten, so that it was fit for no use. | |
| Jeremiah 13:8 | And the word of the Lord came to me saying: | |
| Jeremiah 13:9 | Thus saith the Lord: After this manner will I make the pride of Juda, and the great pride of Jerusalem to rot. | Rot. I will bring them low. (Menochius) --- They shall see that all their dependance must be on the divine mercy. |
| Jeremiah 13:10 | This wicked people, that will not hear my words, and that walk in the perverseness of their heart, and have gone after strange gods to serve them, and to adore them: and they shall be as this girdle, which is fit for no use. | |
| Jeremiah 13:11 | For as the girdle sticketh close to the loins of a man, so have I brought close to me all of the house of Israel, and all the house of Juda, saith the Lord: that they might be my people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear. | Glory; that they might serve me for the edification of the world. |
| Jeremiah 13:12 | Thou shalt speak therefore to them this word: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Every bottle shall be filled with wine. And they shall say to thee: Do we not know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? | Bottle, of earthen ware, Jeremias 25:27. (Calmet) --- Every man shall suffer, ver. 13. (Haydock) --- This is another prophetical similitude denoting extreme perplexity. (Worthington) --- Do. They deride the prophet, as if he said nothing worthy of notice. (Menochius) |
| Jeremiah 13:13 | And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings of the race of David that sit upon his throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness. | |
| Jeremiah 13:14 | And I will scatter them every man from his brother, and fathers and sons in like manner, saith the Lord: I will not spare, and I will not pardon: nor will I have mercy, but destroy them. | |
| Jeremiah 13:15 | Hear ye, and give ear: Be not proud, for the Lord hath spoken. | |
| Jeremiah 13:16 | Give ye glory to the Lord your God, before it be dark, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains: you shall look for light, and he will turn it into the shadow of death, and into darkness. | Dark. John 12:35. --- Mountains, beyond the Euphrates, resembling clouds. |
| Jeremiah 13:17 | But if you will not hear this, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride: *weeping it shall weep, and my eyes shall run down the tears, because the flock of the Lord is carried away captive. Lamentations 1:2. | My soul. Jeremias can do no more. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "your soul,...your eyes," etc. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 13:18 | Say to the king, and to the queen: Humble yourselves, sit down: for the crown of your glory is come down from your head. | Queen; Nohesta, mother of Joachim, or to the consort of Sedecias. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "to the princes." (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 13:19 | The cities of the south are shut up, and there is none to open them: all Juda is carried away captive with an entire captivity. | South, belonging to Juda; (Calmet) or Egypt will afford no protection. (Tournemine) (Chap. 37:3, 10.) |
| Jeremiah 13:20 | Lift up your eyes, and see, you that come from the north: where is the flock that is given thee, thy beautiful cattle? | North: ye Chaldeans. (Haydock) --- Hebrew and Septuagint, "see those who come." --- Cattle. O king, what account wilt thou give of the people to the Almighty? (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 13:21 | What wilt thou say when he shall visit thee? for thou hast taught them against thee, and instructed them against thy own head: shall not sorrows lay hold on thee, as a woman in labour? | Head. Achaz called the Assyrians into the country, and Ezechias had shewn his treasures to the Babylonians. Other kings excited God's indignation. |
| Jeremiah 13:22 | And if thou shalt say in thy heart: Why are these things come upon me? *For the greatness of thy iniquity, thy nakedness is discovered, the soles of thy feet are defiled. Jeremias 30:14. | Defiled. Thou art exposed to the brutality of the soldiers. |
| Jeremiah 13:23 | If the Ethiopian can change his skin, or the leopard his spots: you also may do well, when you have learned evil. | Evil. Bad habits are a sort of second nature. I speak in vain. (Calmet) --- Yet God sometimes converts inveterate sinners, who cannot rise of themselves. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 13:24 | And I will scatter them as stubble, which is carried away by the wind in the desert. | |
| Jeremiah 13:25 | This is thy lot, and the portion of thy measure from me, saith the Lord, because thou hast forgotten me, and hast trusted in falsehood. | |
| Jeremiah 13:26 | Wherefore I have also bared my thighs against thy face, and thy shame hath appeared. | Appeared. Thou art treated as a wretched and vile captive. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 13:27 | I have seen thy adulteries, and thy neighing, the wickedness of thy fornication, and thy abominations, upon the hills in the field. Woe to thee, Jerusalem, wilt thou not be made clean after me: how long yet? | Me; to serve me. (Menochius) |
| Jeremiah 14:0 | A grievous famine: and the prophet's prayer on that occasion. Evils denounced to false prophets. The prophet mourns for his people. | |
| Jeremiah 14:1 | The word of the Lord, that came to Jeremias, concerning the words of the drought. | Drought, during the last siege, (ver. 18.; St. Jerome) or after the captivity of Jechonias; (chap. 8:13.) though the famine might happen in the days of Josias, Joel 1:(Calmet) --- This scourge was in punishment of sin, and signified the privation of grace. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 14:2 | Judea hath mourned, and the gates thereof are fallen, and are become obscure on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. | |
| Jeremiah 14:3 | The great ones sent their inferiors to the water, they came to draw, they found no water, they carried back their vessels empty: they were confounded and afflicted, and covered their heads. | Water. Siloe was the only spring near, and it was often dry, (St. Jerome) though it was formerly abundant, (Josephus, Jewish Wars 6:6.) as well as the fountain of Gehon. The city was furnished with cisterns. (Calmet) --- But all was now dry. (Haydock) --- Heads; mourning, 2 Kings 15:30. |
| Jeremiah 14:4 | For the destruction of the land, because there came no rain upon the earth, the husbandmen were confounded, they covered their heads. | |
| Jeremiah 14:5 | Yea, the hind also brought forth in the field, and left it: because there was no grass. | Field. They prefer places frequented by men. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 8:32.) |
| Jeremiah 14:6 | And the wild asses stood upon the rocks, they snuffed up the wind like dragons, their eyes failed, because there was no grass. | Wind, for refreshment. --- Failed, through want, though they be very piercing. |
| Jeremiah 14:7 | If our iniquities have testified against us, O Lord, do thou it for thy name's sake, for our rebellions are many, we have sinned against thee. | Sake. We have the honour to be called thy people. We urge no merit of our own. |
| Jeremiah 14:8 | O expectation of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble: why wilt thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a way-faring man turning in to lodge? | Lodge. The Fathers apply this to our Saviour, in a spiritual sense. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 14:9 | Why wilt thou be as a wandering man, as a mighty man that cannot save? but thou, O Lord, art among us, and thy name is called upon by us, forsake us not. | Wandering. Septuagint, "sleeping;" (Haydock) or as a boaster, who thinks himself strong. (Worthington) --- Upon us. Shall strangers rule over thy people? |
| Jeremiah 14:10 | Thus saith the Lord to this people, that have loved to move their feet, and have not rested, and have not pleased the Lord: He will now remember their iniquities, and visit their sins. | Rested. They are inconstant, fond of novelties, and apply to idols. |
| Jeremiah 14:11 | And the Lord said to me: *Pray not for this people for their good. Jeremias 7:16.; Jeremias 11:14. | Good, that the drought may be removed. (Calmet) See Jeremias 7:16., and 11:14. (Menochius) --- "It is folly to pray for him who has sinned unto death," (St. Jerome; 1 John 5:16.) by final impenitence. (Calmet) --- Sacrifices will not benefit the impenitent. (St. Jerome) |
| Jeremiah 14:12 | When they fast I will not hear their prayers; and if they offer holocausts and victims, I will not receive them: for I will consume them by the sword, and by famine, and by the pestilence. | |
| Jeremiah 14:13 | And I said: Ah, ah, ah, O Lord God: the prophets say to them: *You shall not see the sword, and there shall be no famine among you, but he will give you true peace in this place. Jeremias 5:12.; Jeremias 23:17. | Ah. Hebrew has only one exclamation, or three letters, which Aquila renders, Ah, ah, ah., Jeremias 1:6., and Ezechiel 4:14. (Haydock) --- Jeremias lays the blame on false prophets. (Calmet) --- Yet they afford no excuse to thy followers. Both fall into the ditch. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 14:14 | And the Lord said to me: *The prophets prophesy falsely in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, nor have I spoken to them: they prophesy unto you a lying vision, and divination and deceit, and the seduction of their own heart. Jeremias 29:9. | |
| Jeremiah 14:15 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord, concerning the prophets, that prophesy in my name, whom I did not send, that say: Sword and famine shall not be in this land: By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. | |
| Jeremiah 14:16 | And the people to whom they prophesy, shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, because of the famine and the sword, and there shall be none to bury them: they and their wives, their sons, and their daughters, and I will pour out their own wickedness upon them. | |
| Jeremiah 14:17 | And thou shalt speak this word to them: *Let my eyes shed down tears night and day, and let them not cease because the virgin daughter of my people is afflicted with a great affliction, with an exceedingly grievous evil. Lamentations 1:16.; Lamentations 2:18. | My. Septuagint, "your eyes." Jeremias shews by his tears the future misery. (Calmet) --- Virgin. Though many were sinners, the Church had some just souls. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 14:18 | If I go forth into the fields, behold the slain with the sword: and if I enter into the city, behold them that are consumed with famine. The prophet also, and the priest, are gone into a land which they knew not. | Famine. Under Jechonias many were slain, and the chiefs carried into captivity, 4 Kings 24:12. --- Into. Hebrew, "through the land, and are ignorant." Chaldean, "they apply to their business, to earthly concerns, and care not," Jeremias 5:31. |
| Jeremiah 14:19 | Hast thou utterly cast away Juda, or hath thy soul abhorred Sion? why then hast thou struck us, so that there is no healing for us? *we have looked for peace, and there is no good: and for the time of healing, and behold trouble. Jeremias 8:15. | |
| Jeremiah 14:20 | We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, the iniquities of our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. | |
| Jeremiah 14:21 | Give us not to be a reproach, for thy name's sake, and do not disgrace in us the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us. | Glory; heaven, the temple or Jerusalem. How will infidels blaspheme! |
| Jeremiah 14:22 | Are there any among the graven things of the Gentiles that can send rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou the Lord our God, whom we have looked for? for thou hast made all these things. | Rain. Let not the people have recourse to idols, (Calmet) in despair. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 15:0 | God is deternined to punish the Jews for their sins. The prophet's complaint, and God's promise to him. | |
| Jeremiah 15:1 | And the Lord said to me: If Moses and Samuel shall stand before me, my soul is not towards this people: cast them out from my sight, and let them go forth. | If. The Geneva Bible reads corruptly, "Though Moses...stood," contrary to Hebrew and Greek. (Worthington) --- And Samuel. These two had shewn a particular love for the people, Exodus xxxii., and 2 Kings xii. (Calmet) --- Ezechiel (xiv. 4.) specifies Noe[Noah], Daniel, and Job, who were eminent for sanctity. Daniel was still alive. Yet God will not grant their request; and he forbids his prophet to pray for those who were resolved not to repent, Jeremias 14:11. (Haydock) --- Their punishment was fixed, and God will not remit it at the request either of the living or of the dead. Hence it is evident, that the dead could and did sometimes make intercession, otherwise they would not here be mentioned. To evade this argument, Protestants in the Geneva Bible, suppose God's "meaning to be, that if there were any man living, moved with so great zeal towards the people as were these two, yet he would not grant their request, for so much as he had determined the contrary." Yet surely Jeremias, Daniel, etc., had a similar zeal; and therefore the text speaks of Moses and Samuel in a state of happiness, where their charity is greater than in this life, as St. Jerome, St. Chrysostom (hom. 1. in 1 Thessalonians) and St. Gregory (Mor. 9:12.) explain it. (Worthington) --- Jeremias had been praying earnestly for the people in the temple. But God answers his request with a severity rarely witnessed in Scripture, ordering him to drive the people out, or to announce that they should be thus treated. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 15:2 | And if they shall say unto thee: Whither shall we go forth? thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: *Such as are for death, to death: and such as are for the sword, to the sword: and such as are for famine, to famine: and such as are for captivity, to captivity. Zacharias 11:9. | Death. This Hebrew phrase intimates that some should die by sickness, etc. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 15:3 | And I will visit them with four kinds, saith the Lord: The sword to kill, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. | Kinds of persecutors, the sword, etc. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 15:4 | And I will give them up to the rage of all the kingdoms of the earth: *because of Manasses, the son of Ezechias, the king of Juda, for all that he did in Jerusalem. 4 Kings 21:7.; 4 Kings 21:12. | Rage. Hebrew, "agitation." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "necessities." Protestants, "to be removed into all," etc. (Haydock) This the event verified, Isaias 11:11. --- Manasses. Though he obtained pardon, the people would not imitate his repentance. A dreadful warning for princes! (Calmet) --- "The people generally perish by the fault of their governors." (St. Jerome) |
| Jeremiah 15:5 | For who shall have pity on thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go to pray for thy peace? | Peace. All will abhor thee. (Calmet) --- "The creatures cannot be so clement as the Creator." (St. Jerome) |
| Jeremiah 15:6 | Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward: and I will stretch out my hand against thee, and I will destroy thee: I am weary of intreating thee. | Intreating thee. Hebrew, "of being intreated;" (St. Jerome) or, "of repenting," and suspending the effects of my wrath. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "I will no longer spare them." (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 15:7 | And I will scatter them with a fan in the gates of the land: I have killed and destroyed my people, and yet they are not returned from their ways. | Will, or "have scattered" the ten tribes, and many of Juda, before the last siege. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 15:8 | Their widows are multiplied unto me above the sand of the sea: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young man, a spoiler at noon-day: I have cast a terror on a sudden upon the cities. | Man, or "a spoiler of the young man," (Haydock) so that the widow shall also be deprived of her children. Hebrew, "the young spoiler," Nabuchodonosor. He shall not come like a night thief, to attack the metropolis. |
| Jeremiah 15:9 | *She that hath borne seven is become weak, her soul hath fainted away: **her sun is gone down, while it was yet day: she is confounded, and ashamed: and the residue of them I will give up to the sword in the sight of their enemies, saith the Lord. 1 Kings 2:5.; Amos 8:9. | Seven: many. It is not common for a mother to lose so numerous a family; yet such shall be the misfortune of Jewish parents. The synagogues shall decrease. --- Day. Her prosperity shall end on a sudden. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 15:10 | Woe is me, my mother: why hast thou borne me a man of strife, a man of contention to all the earth? I have not lent on usury, neither hath any man lent to me on usury, yet all curse me. | Strife. Jeremias was under continual persecution, (Menochius) yet ceased not to reprimand the wicked. (Haydock) --- Obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit. (Cicero) --- Usury. Such people are exposed to contention. (Menochius) |
| Jeremiah 15:11 | The Lord saith to me: Assuredly it shall be well with thy remnant, assuredly I shall help thee in the time of affliction, and in the time of tribulation, against the enemy. | Remnant; posterity, (Calmet) or rather possessions, as the prophet never married, Jeremias 16:2. (Haydock) --- God assures him that he shall be protected. (Menochius) --- The Chaldeans treated him with respect, Jeremias 39:2., and 40:1. Sedecias and the people had often recourse to him. Chaldean, "They will come to intreat thee, when the enemy shall straiten them." (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 15:12 | Shall iron be allied with the iron from the north, and the brass? | Iron. Shall the iron (that is, the strength of Juda) stand against the stronger iron of the north, (that is, of Babylon) or enter into an alliance upon equal footing with it? No, certainly; but it must be broken by it. (Challoner) --- Iron is not easily united with brass, though Pliny ([Natural History?] 34:4.) mentions a statue of this nature. Neither iron nor brass can stand against steel, which is meant by the iron from the north. The Jews shall not hurt Jeremias, ver. 20., and Jeremias 1:17. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?" The riches of Juda shall become a prey, ver. 13. (Haydock) --- Stronger kingdoms easily oppress their weak allies. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 15:13 | Thy riches and thy treasures I will give unto spoil for nothing, because of all thy sins, even in all thy borders. | |
| Jeremiah 15:14 | And I will bring thy enemies out of a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in my rage, it shall burn upon you. | Bring. Septuagint, "enslave thee to thy," etc. Chaldean, "thou shalt serve." (Haydock) --- They have read (Calmet) hahabadti. Hebrew has r instead of d, "I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a," etc. (Protestants) (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 15:15 | O Lord, thou knowest, remember me, and visit me, and defend me from them that persecute me, do not defend me in thy patience: know that for thy sake I have suffered reproach. | Patience. That is, let not thy patience and long suffering, which thou usest towards sinners, keep thee from making haste to my assistance. (Challoner) --- He is actuated by a zeal for God's glory. (Calmet) --- He is afraid of his own weakness, and begs to be delivered shortly, Psalm 12:2. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 15:16 | Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy word was to me a joy and gladness of my heart: for thy name is called upon me, O Lord God of hosts. | Eat them. I received them most cordially, (Ezechiel 3:1.; Haydock) as one who is hungry. --- Upon me. I was recognized as the prophet of the Lord. |
| Jeremiah 15:17 | *I sat not in the assembly of jesters, nor did I make a boast of the presence of thy hand: I sat alone, because thou hast filled me with threats. Psalm 1:1.; Psalm 25:4. | Jesters, who deride religion, (Psalm 1:1.) or sport away their time. (Calmet) --- Hand, through vanity. Literally, "and I boast of." (Haydock) --- I rejoiced in suffering, as this prophet. Many (Calmet) supply nor from the former part of the sentence. (Menochius) --- Threats. I could not refrain from admonishing the people of their ways, (Haydock) which I would not countenance by my presence. (Calmet) --- All indeed kept at a distance from me. |
| Jeremiah 15:18 | *Why is my sorrow become perpetual, and my wound desperate, so as to refuse to be healed? it is become to me as the falsehood of deceitful waters that cannot be trusted. Jeremias 30:15. | Trusted. It is not cured as soon as might be expected. (Haydock) --- It continually breaks out again, (Menochius) like a bog not properly drained. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "Thou art become," etc. Chaldean, "break not thy promise, as," etc., Do not reject me when I stand most in need of redress. (Calmet) --- My hopes seem (Haydock) vain. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 15:19 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord: If thou wilt be converted, I will convert thee, and thou shalt stand before my face: and if thou wilt separate the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: they shall be turned to thee, and thou shalt not be turned to them. | Converted, and cease to fear the people; (Calmet) and confide in my precious words, (Haydock) despising the vile threats of the people. (Menochius) --- Mouth; interpreter, Exodus 4:16. Chaldean, "If thou wilt recall the wicked into the way of justice, though shalt fulfill my will." See St. Jerome in Psalm 105:32. --- To thee. Thus Sedecias and the people acted, Jeremias 21:1., and 42:2. (Calmet) --- The prophet must not give way to sinners, but they must be reclaimed. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 15:20 | And I will make thee to this people as a strong wall of brass: and they shall fight against thee, and shall not prevail: for I am with thee to save thee, and to deliver thee, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 15:21 | And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the mighty. | Mighty; Chaldeans. Providence watched over Jeremias, amid all his enemies. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 16:0 | The prophet is forbid to marry. The Jews shall be utterly ruined for their idolatry: but shall at length be released from their captivity, and the Gentiles shall be converted. | |
| Jeremiah 16:1 | And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 16:2 | Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have thee sons, and daughters, in this place. | Place. It was going to be destroyed, and the cares of a family might interrupt the prophet. The Fathers believe that Jeremias never married, (see St. Jerome in Jeremias 23. Isidor.) which was then a rare example. (Calmet) --- He always lived a single life, and not only in time of tribulation. (St. Jerome, contra Jov. 1.) (Worthington) --- The Church enforces this law of God for her sacred ministers, in subdeacons and the higher orders. St. Paul shews the propriety of such a regulation, (1 Corinthians vii.) which innovators deem unnatural and tyrannical. How then could God enforce it once? With his grace we may observe celibacy like Jeremias. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 16:3 | For thus saith the Lord concerning the sons and daughters, that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bore them: and concerning their fathers, of whom they were born in this land: | |
| Jeremiah 16:4 | They shall die by the death of grievous illnesses: they shall not be lamented, and they shall not be buried, they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed with the sword, and with famine: and their carcasses shall be meat for the fowls of the air, and for the beasts of the earth. | Illnesses, denoting God's wrath. (St. Jerome) --- Earth. The privation of sepulture was accounted one of the greatest evils. |
| Jeremiah 16:5 | For thus saith the Lord: Enter not into the house of feasting, neither go thou to mourn, nor to comfort them: because I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord, my mercy and commiserations. | Feasting: usual at burials for all relations. (Calmet) --- This custom reduced many to poverty. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 2:1.) --- Sed caenam funerishaeres Negliget iratus quod rem curtaverit. (Pers. vi.) --- Mourn, if thou shouldst meet a funeral, Luke 7:32. |
| Jeremiah 16:6 | Both the great and the little shall die in this land: they shall not be buried nor lamented, and men shall not cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them. | Cut. Moses prohibited this being done in honour of Adonis, Leviticus 19:27., Deuteronomy 14:1., and Ezechiel 27:31. "The custom of cutting the arms and hair still subsists in Judea," says St. Jerome; and in other countries. (Plut.[Plutarch?] Herodotus 4:71.) |
| Jeremiah 16:7 | And they shall not break bread among them to him that mourneth, to comfort him for the dead: neither shall they give them to drink of the cup, to comfort them for their father and mother. | Cup. Most exquisite things were sent on such occasions. (Buxtorf, Syn. xxxv.) (Proverbs 31:6., Tobias 4:18., and John 11:19.) |
| Jeremiah 16:8 | And do not thou go into the house of feasting, to sit with them, and to eat and drink: | Feasting. Hebrew, "of drinking," in times of joy. |
| Jeremiah 16:9 | For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will take away out of this place, in your sight, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride. | |
| Jeremiah 16:10 | And when thou shalt tell this people all these words, and they shall say to thee: *Wherefore hath the Lord pronounced against us all this great evil? what is our iniquity? and what is our sin, that we have sinned against the Lord our God? Jeremias 5:19. | |
| Jeremiah 16:11 | Thou shalt say to them: Because your fathers forsook me, saith the Lord: and went after strange gods, and served them, and adored them: and they forsook me, and kept not my law. | |
| Jeremiah 16:12 | *And you also have done worse than your fathers: for behold every one of you walketh after the perverseness of his evil heart, so as not to hearken to me. Jeremias 7:26. | Fathers. Hence you are justly partakers of their punishment, Matthew 23:32. (Calmet) --- A continuance in sin brings on severe punishments; after which, God again shews mercy. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 16:13 | So I will cast you forth out of this land, into a land which you know not, nor your fathers: and there you shall serve strange gods day and night, which shall not give you any rest. | Gods. Elohim, "masters," etc., Jeremias 17:4. Chaldean, "idolatrous nations." |
| Jeremiah 16:14 | Therefore, behold the days come, saith the Lord, when it shall be said no more: The Lord liveth, that brought for the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt: | |
| Jeremiah 16:15 | But, The Lord liveth, that brought the children of Israel out of the land of the north, and out of all the lands to which I cast them out: and I will bring them again into their land, which I gave to their fathers. | Fathers. He joins consolation with distressing predictions, and alludes to the redemption of mankind, of which the return of the Jews was the most striking pledge. |
| Jeremiah 16:16 | Behold, I will send many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them: and after this I will send them many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. | Rocks. They shall be found in all their lurking places, Ezechiel 12:12., and Habacuc 1:4. (Calmet) --- The apostles shall save them. (Origen) --- The Medes and Persians shall grant them liberty; or rather Nabuchodonosor shall fish at first, and afterwards hunt or destroy more of the Jews. (Calmet) --- Apostolical men (Worthington) shall be like rocks, (St. Jerome) for the protection of their hearers. |
| Jeremiah 16:17 | For my eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, and their iniquity hath not been hid from my eyes. | |
| Jeremiah 16:18 | And I will repay first their double iniquities, and their sins: because they have defiled my land with the carcasses of their idols, and they have filled my inheritance with their abominations. | Double: enormous. (Haydock) (Chap. 17:18.) --- I will punish them doubly. --- Carcasses. So he styles the victims, or idols, the representations of dead men. |
| Jeremiah 16:19 | O Lord, my might, and my strength, and my refuge in the day of tribulation: to thee the Gentiles shall come from the ends of the earth, and shall say: Surely our fathers have possessed lies, a vanity which hath not profited them. | Them. After the captivity many were converted, Esther viii., and 1 Esdras 6:21. Edom was forced to receive circumcision. But this was nothing in comparison with the crowds which embraced the gospel. |
| Jeremiah 16:20 | Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods? | Make gods. This consideration alone suffices to shew their absurdity. (Calmet) --- "Man must now be merciful to god!" (Tertullian, Apol.) --- No one can make even a man, much less a god. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 16:21 | Therefore, behold I will this once cause them to know, I will shew them my hand and my power: and they shall know that my name is the Lord. | Power, in taking vengeance on idolatry. --- Lord. "He who is;" (Calmet) Jehova. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 17:0 | For their obstinacy in sin the Jews shall be led captive. He is cursed that trusteth in flesh: God alone searcheth the heart, giving to every one as he deserves. The prophet prayeth to be delivered from his enemies: and preacheth up the observance of the sabbath. | |
| Jeremiah 17:1 | The sin of Juda is written with a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond, it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of their altars. | The. Grabe (de Vit. p. 8.) observes that the four first verses were omitted in the Septuagint by some careless transcriber, long before the days of Origen, who restored them from the Hebrew and the other Greek versions. On such occasions his work was very useful; but the marks being soon neglected, great confusion ensued. (St. Jerome) (Kennicott, Dis. ii.) --- Grabe has restored these verses in his edition. (Haydock) --- Eusebius (Dem. x.) and Theodoret acknowledged them; and Nobilius found the first verse thus expressed in many copies, (Calmet) as it is in Grabe: "The sin of Juda is expressed in writing with a finger nail of adamant, cleaving to the breast of," etc. (Haydock) --- Altars, to appear more conspicuously to the latest times. This excited God's indignation. (Calmet) --- These figurative expressions shew the inveterate malice of the people. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 17:2 | When their children shall remember their altars, and their groves, and their green trees upon high mountains, | |
| Jeremiah 17:3 | Sacrificing in the field: I will give thy strength, and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin in all thy borders. | Sin of idolatry, Jeremias 15:13. |
| Jeremiah 17:4 | And thou shalt be left stript of thy inheritance, which I gave thee: and I will make thee serve thy enemies in a land which thou knowest not: because thou hast kindled a fire in my wrath, it shall burn for ever. | Be left. Protestants, "discontinue from thine," etc. (Haydock) --- The land shall have its sabbaths, which thou wouldst not allow. (Chaldean) (Exodus 22:11., and Leviticus 26:34.) |
| Jeremiah 17:5 | Thus saith the Lord: *Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. Isaias 30:2.; Isaias 31:1.; Jeremias 48:7. | Thus. Septuagint continue from the last chapter, "cursed," etc. (Haydock) --- Sedecias had formed alliances with several princes, instead of turning to the Lord, Jeremias 27., and xxxvii. (Calmet) --- Our chief dependence must be on God, not on human policy. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 17:6 | *For he shall be like tamaric in the desert, and he shall not see when good shall come: but he shall dwell in dryness in the desert, in a salt land, and not inhabited. Jeremias 48:6. | Tamaric. A barren shrub, that grows in the driest parts of the wilderness. (Challoner) --- Harhar denotes some sort (Haydock) of "useless wood." (Symmachus) See Jeremias 48:6., and Isaias 17:2. --- Salt, like the environs of Sodom, the fruits of which were bad. |
| Jeremiah 17:7 | Blessed be the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence. | |
| Jeremiah 17:8 | *And he shall be as a tree that is planted by the waters, that spreadeth out its roots towards moisture: and it shall not fear when the heat cometh. And the leaf thereof shall be green, and in the time of drought it shall not be solicitous, neither shall it cease at any time to bring forth fruit. Psalm 1:3. | Fruit. See Psalm 1:3. (Pindar, Nem. viii.) How different from the wicked! (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 17:9 | The heart is perverse above all things, and unsearchable, who can know it? | Perverse. Septuagint, "deep." --- Unsearchable. Septuagint, "man, who shall know him?" (Haydock) --- God alone can search the heart by his own power. He enables saints to do it by the light of glory, or of prophecy; as Eliseus and St. Peter knew secret transactions. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 17:10 | I am the Lord *who search the heart, and prove the reins: who give to every one according to his way, and according to the fruit of his devices. 1 Kings 16:7.; Psalm 7:10.; Apocalypse 2:23. | |
| Jeremiah 17:11 | As the partridge hath hatched eggs which she did not lay: so is he that hath gathered riches, and not by right: in the midst of his days he shall leave them, and in his latter end he shall be a fool. | Partridge. Hebrew kore, (Haydock) may mean the "coucou." The kra lays many eggs, all of which she does not hatch. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not," etc. (Haydock) --- It is rare that all produce birds; so the unjust do not succeed (Calmet) in the end. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 17:12 | A high and glorious throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctification: | Throne. The temple. We may also read "O high," etc., Jeremias 14:21. |
| Jeremiah 17:13 | O Lord, the hope of Israel: all that forsake thee, shall be confounded: they that depart from thee, shall be written in the earth: because they have forsaken the Lord, the vein of living waters. | Earth, where alone their portion shall be, (Apocalypse 3:5,) or they shall be forgotten. It is a proverbial expression, like that of Catullus: Dixit: sed mulier cupido quod dixit amanti In vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua. --- Living, which never fail, unlike those of the wicked, Jeremias 2:13. |
| Jeremiah 17:14 | Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed: save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise. | |
| Jeremiah 17:15 | Behold, they say to me: Where is the word of the Lord? let it come. | Come. We have several instances of such impious sarcasms, Isaias 28:10., and 34:13., Amos 2:12., and Micheas 2:6. (Calmet) --- We fear not the Chaldeans. (Menochius) |
| Jeremiah 17:16 | And I am not troubled, following thee for my pastor, and I have not desired the day of man, thou knowest. That which went out of my lips, hath been right in thy sight. | Troubled. Hebrew, "in haste to be a pastor after thee." Chaldean, "I delay not, at thy command, to announce thy truths to them," Jeremias 1:6. Jeremias was aware of the dangers attending his office, yet not dismayed. --- Day: approbation, (1 Corinthians 4:3.) or advantages of the world. (Calmet) --- Of man. Hebrew also "of the wretched:" anush. I wished rather for the people's welfare, (Haydock) and sought not their ruin. (Chaldean) (Theodoret) |
| Jeremiah 17:17 | Be not thou a terror unto me, thou art my hope in the day of affliction. | |
| Jeremiah 17:18 | Let them be confounded that persecute me, and let not me be confounded: let them be afraid, and let not me be afraid: bring upon them the day of affliction, and with a double destruction, destroy them. | Let them be confounded, etc. Such expressions as these in the writings of the prophets, are not to be understood as imprecations proceeding from malice or desire of revenge, but as prophetic predictions of evils that were about to fall upon impenitent sinners, and approbations of the ways of the divine justice. (Challoner) --- The prophet has already prevented this objection, ver. 16. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 17:19 | Thus saith the Lord to me: Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Juda come in, and go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem: | Gate of the palace, or that by which the kings entered the temple, on the west. The time when this admonition was given is not ascertained. |
| Jeremiah 17:20 | And thou shalt say to them: Hear the word of the Lord, ye kings of Juda, and all Juda, and all the inhabitant of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates. | |
| Jeremiah 17:21 | Thus saith the Lord: Take heed to your souls, and carry no burdens on the sabbath-day: and bring them not in by the gates of Jerusalem. | Souls. Those who broke the sabbath were to die, Exodus 30:15., and Numbers 15:32. --- Burdens, or servile work. (Calmet) --- The Jews trifle in deciding what is a burden. (Origen, prin. 4:2.) --- Sabbath often denotes the observance of the whole law. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 17:22 | And do not bring burdens out of your houses on the sabbath-day, neither do ye any work: sanctify the sabbath-day, as I commanded your fathers. | |
| Jeremiah 17:23 | But they did not hear, nor inclined their ear: but hardened their neck, that they might not hear me, and might not receive instruction. | |
| Jeremiah 17:24 | And it shall come to pass: if you will hearken to me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burdens by the gates of this city on the sabbath-day: and if you will sanctify the sabbath-day, to do no work therein: | |
| Jeremiah 17:25 | Then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes, sitting upon the throne of David, and riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall be inhabited for ever. | David. I will observe my covenant, 2 Kings 7:12. --- Horses: in prosperity, (Menochius) provided this law, as well as all the rest, be observed. (Haydock) --- Such temporal rewards were commonly proposed under the law, as spiritual ones are now. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 17:26 | And they shall come from the cities of Juda, and from the places round about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plains, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing holocausts, and victims, and sacrifices, and frankincense, and they shall bring in an offering into the house of the Lord. | Sacrifices. Hebrew mincha, (Haydock) "offerings" of flour, wine, etc. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 17:27 | But if you will not hearken to me, to sanctify the sabbath-day, and not to carry burdens, and not to bring them in by the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath-day: I will kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the houses of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched. | Fire, by means of Nabuzardan. (Menochius) --- The city shall be entirely destroyed. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 18:0 | As clay in the hand of the potter, so is Israel in God's hand. He pardoneth penitents, and punisheth the obstinate. They conspire against Jeremias, for which he denounceth to them the miseries that hang over them. | |
| Jeremiah 18:1 | The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 18:2 | Arise, and go down into the potter's house, and there thou shalt hear my words. | Potter's. Thus God would shew his dominion over all, Romans 9:21. |
| Jeremiah 18:3 | And I went down into the potter's house, and behold he was doing a work on the wheel. | Wheel. Hebrew, "stones." Septuagint, "seats;" or "wheel." (Chaldean) (Exodus 1:16.) See Ecclesiasticus 38:32. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 18:4 | And the vessel was broken which he was making of clay with his hands: and turning, he made another vessel, as it seemed good in his eyes to make it. | Broken. So Providence ordered it. (St. Jerome) --- How should this idea humble man! (Calmet) --- A potter may mould afresh the clay as long as it is soft, but God can change the hardest heart. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 18:5 | Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 18:6 | *Cannot I do with you, as this potter, O house of Israel, saith the Lord? behold as clay is in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. Isaias 45:9.; Romans 9:20. | |
| Jeremiah 18:7 | I will suddenly speak against a nation, and against a kingdom, *to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy it. Jeremias 1:10. | |
| Jeremiah 18:8 | If that nation against which I have spoken, shall repent of their evil, I also will repent of the evil that I have thought to do to them. | Shall repent, having free-will, though prevented by grace. (St. Jerome) |
| Jeremiah 18:9 | And I will suddenly speak of a nation and of a kingdom, to build up and plant it. | |
| Jeremiah 18:10 | If it shall do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice: I will repent of the good that I have spoken to do unto it. | |
| Jeremiah 18:11 | Now, therefore, tell the men of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: *let every man of you return from his evil way, and make ye your ways and your doings good. 4 Kings 17:13.; Jeremias 25:5.; Jeremias 35:15.; Jonas 3:9. | |
| Jeremiah 18:12 | And they said: We have no hopes: for we will go after our own thoughts, and we will do every one according to the perverseness of his evil heart. | Hopes. Jeremias 2:25. Septuagint, "we are valiant men." (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 18:13 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord: Ask among the nations: Who hath heard such horrible things, as the virgin of Israel hath done to excess? | Virgin. The disorders of Israel are thus enhanced. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 18:14 | Shall now the snow of Libanus fail from the rock of the field? or can the cold waters that gush out and run down, be taken away? | Snow. It continues on Libanus seven or eight months, (La Roque quoted. Univ. Hist. 2:p. 363) or all the year; (Tacitus, Hist. 5:6.) and hence the mountain is justly denominated "white," as the Alps and Albion are from albon. (Bochart; Parkhurst, p. 155.) (Haydock) --- Away. Yet my people abandon me, to serve idols! Hebrew may have many other senses to the same purpose. Septuagint, "Shall the mountain springs fail, or snow from Libanus? Shall a stream forcibly driven by the wind, turn aside?" (Haydock) --- The laws of nature are observed by inanimate things, and shall my people be so foolish as to follow mere vanity. |
| Jeremiah 18:15 | Because my people have forgotten me, sacrificing in vain, and stumbling in their ways, in ancient paths, to walk by them in a way not trodden: | Ancient; followed by the patriarchs, Jeremias 6:16. |
| Jeremiah 18:16 | *That their land might be given up to desolation, and to a perpetual hissing: every one that shall pass by it, shall be astonished, and wag his head. Jeremias 19:8.; Jeremias 49:3.; Jeremias 50:13. | Head, through contempt (Calmet) and pity, Lamentations 2:15. |
| Jeremiah 18:17 | As a burning wind will I scatter them before the enemy: I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their destruction. | Burning. Hebrew kadim, "eastern," (Haydock) coming from Desert Arabia, Exodus 10:13. (Calmet) --- Back. Thus the Lord now treats the synagogue. (St. Jerome) |
| Jeremiah 18:18 | And they said: Come, and let us invent devices against Jeremias: for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet: come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us give no heed to all his words. | Prophet. Jeremias will not cease to upbraid us with our transgressions; or we have guides as good as him, and we shall not be left destitute, as he would intimate. --- Tongue, detraction; or make him suffer for what he says. In all the transactions of this prophet, Christ was foreshewn; (Calmet) and here, particularly, the Jews demand the crucifixion. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 18:19 | Give heed to me, O Lord, and hear the voice of my adversaries. | |
| Jeremiah 18:20 | Shall evil be rendered for good, because they have digged a pit for my soul? Remember that I have stood in thy sight, to speak good for them, and to turn away thy indignation from them. | Remember, etc. This is spoken in the person of Christ, persecuted by the Jews, and prophetically denouncing the evils that should fall upon them in punishment of their crimes. (Challoner) --- Jeremias had prayed earnestly for the people, Jeremias 14:17. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 18:21 | Therefore, deliver up their children to famine, and bring them into the hands of the sword: let their wives be bereaved of children, and widows: and let their husbands be slain by death: let their young men be stabbed with the sword in battle. | Therefore. He foretells of the event, and approves of the chastisement of the impenitent, (Calmet) whose "impurity might be a bad precedent for others.["] (St. Jerome) See Jeremias 17:18. |
| Jeremiah 18:22 | Let a cry be heard out of their houses: for thou shalt bring the robber upon them suddenly: because they have digged a pit to take me, and have hid snares for my feet. | For. Protestants, "when." (Haydock) --- Robber. So Nabuchodonosor and all professional conquerors are styled. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 18:23 | But thou, O Lord, knowest all their counsel against me unto death: forgive not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from thy sight: let them be overthrown before thy eyes, in the time of thy wrath do thou destroy them. | Destroy. Hebrew, "with them." Use them as vessels of ignominy: abutere. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 19:0 | Under the type of breaking a potter's vessel, the prophet foresheweth the desolation of the Jews for their sins. | |
| Jeremiah 19:1 | Thus saith the Lord: Go, and take a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests: | Priests. They were to furnish the vessel, and accompany the prophets, ver. 10. Septuagint, "and thou shalt take some of," etc. (Haydock) --- Words and actions together instruct most powerfully. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 19:2 | And go forth into the valley of the son of Ennom, which is by the entry of the earthen gate: and there thou shalt proclaim the words that I shall tell thee. | Gate, which must have been to the south-east of Jerusalem, leading to the valley. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "Charseith gate." (Haydock) --- Here the common people were buried, after the reign of Josias, who contaminated the place where the idol Moloc had been adored. |
| Jeremiah 19:3 | And thou shalt say: Hear the word of the Lord, O ye kings of Juda, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold I will bring an affliction upon this place: so that whosoever shall hear it, his ears shall tingle: | Tingle, as if he had heard a sudden noise or clap of thunder. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 19:4 | Because they have forsaken me, and have profaned this place: and have sacrificed therein to strange gods, whom neither they nor their fathers knew, nor the kings of Juda: and they have filled this place with the blood of innocents. | Profaned. Literally, "rendered strange." (Haydock) --- I have no farther regard for it. --- Innocents: their own children, ver. 5., and Jeremias 7:31. |
| Jeremiah 19:5 | And they have built the high places of Baalim, to burn their children with fire for a holocaust to Baalim: which I did not command, nor speak of, neither did it once come into my mind. | Mind. Perhaps the people stupidly thought thus to honour him; but God pointedly condemns such sacrifices. |
| Jeremiah 19:6 | Therefore, behold the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor the valley of the son of Ennom, but the valley of slaughter. | Valley. Septuagint, "burial-place of slaughter," ver. 2. Here the Chaldeans slew many. |
| Jeremiah 19:7 | And I will defeat the counsel of Juda, and of Jerusalem, in this place: and I will destroy them with the sword in the sight of their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and I will give their carcasses to be meat for the fowls of the air, and for the beasts of the earth. | |
| Jeremiah 19:8 | *And I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing: every one that shall pass by it, shall be astonished, and shall hiss, because of all the plagues thereof. Jeremias 18:16.; Jeremias 49:13.; Jeremias 50:13. | |
| Jeremiah 19:9 | And I will feed them with the flesh of their sons, and with the flesh of their daughters: and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege, and in the distress wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them. | Sons, to punish them for their cruel sacrifices. (St. Jerome) --- This was verified under Sedecias, Lamentations 2:10., and 4:10., and Ezechiel 5:10. |
| Jeremiah 19:10 | And thou shalt break the bottle in the sight of the men that shall go with thee. | |
| Jeremiah 19:11 | And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Even so will I break this people, and this city, as the potter's vessel is broken, which cannot be made whole again: and they shall be buried in Topheth, because there is no other place to bury in. | Again. The captives indeed returned, so that this must not be urged too much. (Calmet) --- Yet the Romans strictly fulfilled this prophecy, (St. Jerome; Sanctius) and the city was built in another place, and styled Aelia. (Haydock) --- God can perform what is impossible to man, Jeremias 18:3., and Matthew xix. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 19:12 | Thus will I do to this place, saith the Lord, and to the inhabitants thereof: and I will make this city as Topheth. | |
| Jeremiah 19:13 | And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Juda, shall be unclean as the place of Topheth: all the houses, upon whose roofs they have sacrificed to all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink-offerings to strange gods. | Topheth. This sentence was not in St. Jerome's Hebrew copy, but in the Septuagint (Calmet) with some variations: (Haydock) "All the houses of the kings of Juda, like the place of Topheth," is added by the Septuagint. (St. Jerome) --- In Grabe they agree with the present Hebrew and Chaldean only rendering, "shall be as a place in ruin, for the defilements in all," etc. (Haydock) --- Of heaven: the moon, etc., 4 Kings 23:12. Josias could not entirely root out this impiety, Jeremias 32:29. His wicked son Joachaz or Sellum, was probably now on the throne, when the prophet went to the potter, etc., Jeremias 18 -- Jeremias 21. |
| Jeremiah 19:14 | Then Jeremias came from Topheth, whither the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the court of the house of the Lord, and said to all people: | People. Many still resorted to the temple. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 19:15 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold I will bring in upon this city, and upon all the cities thereof, all the evils that I have spoken against it: because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words. | |
| Jeremiah 20:0 | The prophet is persecuted: he denounces captivity to his persecutors, and bemoans himself. | |
| Jeremiah 20:1 | Now Phassur, the son of Emmer, the priest, who was appointed chief in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremias prophesying these words. | Son, or descendant. His father was Melchia, Jeremias 21:1., and 1 Paralipomenon 9:12. (Calmet) --- Chief: high priest, (Theodoret) or rather a chief officer, (chap. 29:25.) or prince, (Matthew 26:27.; Tolet.; Grotius) whose duty it was to take up impostors. He treated Jeremias in this light. (Calmet) --- See Luke 22:52. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 20:2 | And Phassur struck Jeremias, the prophet, and put him in the stocks, that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, in the house of the Lord. | Struck, or seized. (Grotius) --- Upper gate, nearer the temple. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 20:3 | And when it was light the next day, Phassur brought Jeremias out of the stocks. And Jeremias said to him: The Lord hath not called thy name Phassur, but fear on every side. | Phassur. This name signifies, increase and principality; and therefore is here changed to Magor-Missabib, or "fear on every side," to denote the evils that should come upon him in punishment of his opposing the word of God. (Challoner) --- Aquila renders Posseur, "a stranger," and St. Jerome, "blackness of visage." (Haydock) --- It may also mean, "one who causes paleness." (Calmet) --- Mogur may signify "fear or distress." Septuagint and Syriac, "an exile." (Haydock) --- He deserved to be thus treated, ver. 6. (Calmet) --- He would be terrified by many enemies. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 20:4 | For thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will deliver thee up to fear, thee and all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thy eyes shall see it, and I will give all Juda into the hand of the king of Babylon: and he shall carry them away to Babylon, and shall strike them with the sword. | |
| Jeremiah 20:5 | And I will give all the substance of this city, and all its labour, and every precious thing thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Juda will I give into the hands of their enemies: and they shall pillage them, and take them away, and carry them to Babylon. | |
| Jeremiah 20:6 | But thou, Phassur, and all that dwell in thy house, shall go into captivity, and thou shalt go to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and there thou shalt be buried, thou and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied a lie. | Lie. He was therefore a false prophet, and vexed that Jeremias should contradict him. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 20:7 | Thou hast deceived me, O Lord, and I am deceived: thou hast been stronger than I, and thou hast prevailed. I am become a laughing-stock all the day, all scoff at me. | Thou hast deceived, etc. The meaning of the prophet is not to charge God with any untruth; but what he calls deceiving, was only the concealing from him, when he accepted of the prophetical commission, the greatness of the evils which the execution of that commission was to bring upon him. (Challoner) --- Hebrew, "thou hast enticed me," when I declined the office. (Tirinus) --- God never promised that he should suffer no persecution. (Haydock) --- Jeremias might also have supposed that he was to be sent to the Gentiles, Jeremias 1:5. (St. Jerome in chap 25:18.) --- The oriental languages are much more lofty than ours, and express common things in the strongest manner. (Calmet) --- We may perceive the different emotions of fear and joy (Du Hamel) with which the prophet was actuated, like St. Paul, and our Saviour himself. The saints evince the weakness of man and the power of divine grace. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "If thou, Lord, hast deceived me, I am," etc. (Tournemine) |
| Jeremiah 20:8 | For I am speaking now this long time, crying out against iniquity, and I often proclaim devastation: and the word of the Lord is made a reproach to me, and a derision all the day. | Day. They keep asking where are these enemies from the north, the plagues? etc. (Calmet) --- He is sorry to see the word of God despised, (Theodoret) and is guilty of a venial pusillanimity, concluding that his words had no good effect. (Menochius) |
| Jeremiah 20:9 | Then I said: I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name: and there came in my heart as a burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I was wearied, not being able to bear it. | And there, or "for," etc. I was grieved continually. (Sanctius) --- I could not however refrain from speaking, Acts 17:16., and 1 Corinthians 9:16., and Job 32:18. |
| Jeremiah 20:10 | For I heard the reproaches of many, and terror on every side: Persecute him, and let us persecute him: from all the men, that were my familiars, and continued at my side: if by any means he may be deceived, and we may prevail against him, and be revenged on him. | Side, seeking an opportunity to ruin me, as the Pharisees did our Saviour, Psalm 40:10. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "familiars watched for my halting, saying, peradventure he," etc. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 20:11 | But the Lord is with me as a strong warrior: therefore, they that persecute me, shall fall, and shall be weak: they shall be greatly confounded, *because they have not understood the everlasting reproach, which never shall be effaced. Jeremias 23:40. | |
| Jeremiah 20:12 | And thou, O Lord of hosts, *prover of the just, who seest the reins and the heart: let me see, I beseech thee, thy vengeance on them: for to thee I have laid open my cause. Jeremias 11:20.; Jeremias 17:10. | Let me see, etc. This prayer proceeded not from hatred or ill-will, but zeal of justice. (Challoner) --- He expresses in a human manner a future punishment. |
| Jeremiah 20:13 | Sing ye to the Lord, praise the Lord: because he hath delivered the soul of the poor out of the hand of the wicked. | Sing. God having shewn that his prayer should be heard, he gives thanks, (Calmet) and thus shews that what he is going to say proceeds not from impatience. (Theodoret) |
| Jeremiah 20:14 | *Cursed be the day, wherein I was born: let not the day in which my mother bore me, be blessed. Job 3:2. | Cursed, etc. In these and the following words of the prophet, there is a certain figure of speech to express with more energy the greatness of the evils to which his birth had exposed him. (Challoner) --- The wicked would deem the day of his birth cursed, or unlucky. (Menochius) --- Jeremias was now in prison, (Grotius) and people in pain express themselves forcibly, particularly in the East, ver. 7., and Job 3:2. (Calmet) --- Perhaps no man had announced the tidings of his birth, or he might be no longer living to feel the effects of a curse: as the day was certainly irrevocably past. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 20:15 | Cursed be the man that brought the tidings to my father, saying: A man-child is born to thee: and made him greatly rejoice. | |
| Jeremiah 20:16 | Let that man be as the cities that the Lord hath overthrown, and hath not repented: let him hear a cry in the morning, and howling at noon-tide: | Repented, his decree for the ruin of Sodom being fixed. --- Noon. This is more extraordinary than at midnight. Let him always be terrified with dismal sounds. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 20:17 | Who slew me not from the womb, that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb an everlasting conception. | Who. Septuagint, "because he (the Lord.; Du Hamel; Tirinus) slew me not in my mother's womb." (Haydock) --- Syriac, Grotius, etc., explain the Hebrew in the same sense, though it may also agree with the Vulgate, from the womb, or as soon as I was born. O that I had never seen the light! (Calmet) --- He abstracts from the effects of original sin. (Tirinus) --- It is better not to exist than to be in constant misery, Matthew xxvi. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) --- The prophet bewailed the abuse which was made of God's word, by unbelievers, ver. 8. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 20:18 | Why came I out of the womb, to see labour and sorrow, and that my days should be spent in confusion? | |
| Jeremiah 21:0 | The prophet's answer to the messengers of Sedecias, when Jerusalem was besieged. | |
| Jeremiah 21:1 | The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, when king Sedecias sent unto him Phassur, the son of Melchias, and Sophonias, the son of Maasias, the priest, saying: | Sent, after Nabuchodonosor had returned from Egypt. (The year of the world 3415.) This consultation should be placed after Jeremias 37. (Calmet) --- Phassur, specified above, and Jeremias 38:1., (Calmet) or a different person. (St. Jerome) (Piscator) --- Sophonias, the second priest, (chap. 37:3., and 52:24.) of the 24th class, (1 Paralipomenon 24:18.) who was slain at Reblatha. (Calmet) --- Jeremias threatens the great ones to Jeremias 29. and is persecuted. He spoke this when Nabuchodonosor invaded the country. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 21:2 | Enquire of the Lord for us, for Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, maketh war against us: if so be, the Lord will deal with us according to all his wonderful works, that he may depart from us. | |
| Jeremiah 21:3 | And Jeremias said to them: Thus shall you say to Sedecias: | |
| Jeremiah 21:4 | Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon, and the Chaldeans, that besiege you round about the walls: and I will gather them together in the midst of this city. | City. The people shall turn their arms against each other; or rather the Chaldeans shall use their weapons to destroy them. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 21:5 | And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand, and with a strong arm, and in fury, and in indignation, and in great wrath. | |
| Jeremiah 21:6 | And I will strike the inhabitants of this city: men and beasts shall die of a great pestilence. | Pestilence. Septuagint, "death;" the sword, and various diseases. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 21:7 | And, after this, saith the Lord, I will give Sedecias, the king of Juda, and his servants, and his people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, and the sword, and the famine, into the hand of Nabuchodonosor, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword, and he shall not be moved to pity, nor spare them, nor shew mercy on them. | To them. This was verified, Jeremias 52., and 4 Kings xxiv. |
| Jeremiah 21:8 | And to this people thou shalt say: Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. | Death; the former if they submit, the latter if they fight, ver. 9. (Calmet) --- God's grace is ever ready, that sinners may be converted. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 21:9 | *He that shall abide in this city, shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that shall go out, and flee over to the Chaldeans, that besiege you, shall live, and his life shall be to him as a spoil. Jeremias 38:2. | Spoil. He shall be happy to escape naked, Jeremias 38:3. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 21:10 | For I have set my face against this city, for evil, and not for good, saith the Lord: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. | |
| Jeremiah 21:11 | And to the house of the king of Juda: Hear ye the word of the Lord, | |
| Jeremiah 21:12 | O house of David, thus saith the Lord: *Judge ye judgement in the morning, and deliver him that is oppressed by violence out of the hand of the oppressor: lest my indignation go forth like a fire, and be kindled, and there be none to quench it, because of the evil of your ways. Jeremias 22:3. | |
| Jeremiah 21:13 | Behold, I come to thee that dwelleth in a valley, upon a rock, above a plain, saith the Lord: and you say: Who shall strike us? and who shall enter into our houses? | Valley. He speaks to Jerusalem, confiding in the strength of her situation, upon rocks, surrounded with a deep valley. (Challoner) --- Literally, "valley, solid and in a plain." (Haydock) --- Isaias (xxii. 1.) styles it ironically, "the valley of vision." (Calmet) --- Jerusalem was situated on many rocks. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 6:6.) |
| Jeremiah 21:14 | But I will visit upon you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the Lord: and I will kindle a fire in the forests thereof: and it shall devour all things round about it. | Doings. Hebrew, "studies." So "Your studious pursuits" occurs, ver. 12, in many Hebrew manuscripts, though the printed copy have, "their;" and "spoiled" for apprised. (Kennicott) --- Forest, the temple, which is called Libanus, (Zacharias 11:21.) and the houses built of cedar-wood, (4 Kings 25:9.; Calmet) particularly the royal palace of the forest, 3 Kings vii. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 22:0 | An exhortation both to king and people to return to God. The sentence of God upon Joachaz, Joakim, and Jechonias. | |
| Jeremiah 22:1 | Thus saith the Lord: Go down to the house of the king of Juda, and there thou shalt speak this word. | Go. The contents of this chapter are of a more ancient date than those of the foregoing chapter; for the order of time is not always observed in the writings of the prophets. (Challoner) (Worthington) --- King Joakim, who succeeded Sellum, the year of the world 3394. (Usher) |
| Jeremiah 22:2 | And thou shalt say: Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Juda, that sittest upon the throne of David: thou and thy servants, and thy people, who enter in by these gates. | |
| Jeremiah 22:3 | Thus saith the Lord: *Execute judgement and justice, and deliver him that is oppressed out of the hand of the oppressor: and afflict not the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, nor oppress them unjustly: and shed not innocent blood in this place. Jeremias 21:12. | |
| Jeremiah 22:4 | For if you will do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in, by the gates of this house, kings of the race of David sitting upon his throne, and riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants, and their people. | |
| Jeremiah 22:5 | But if you will not hearken to these words: I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. | Myself, having none greater, Hebrews 6:13. Oaths evince the insincerity of men, who distrust each other; but when God condescends to use them, it shews men's incredulity. --- House, the temple, or rather the palace, where the king was sitting at the gate, ver. 2. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 22:6 | For thus saith the Lord to the house of the king of Juda: Thou art to me Galaad, the head of Libanus: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities not habitable. | Galaad, the head of Libanus. By Galaad, a rich and fruitful country, is here signified the royal palace of the kings of the house of David; by Libanus, a high mountain abounding in cedar-trees, the populous city of Jerusalem. (Challoner) (Worthington) (Theodoret) --- Both mountains are connected. (St. Jerome) (Strabo xvi.) --- Yet the proper Galaad was at some distance, and on the side of Ammon very barren. The palaces had arisen from a miserable state to resemble Libanus. They shall surely be destroyed. (Calmet) --- The advantageous situation of Jerusalem should not protect it, no more than it had done Galaad, 4 Kings 15:29. (Junius; Grotius) |
| Jeremiah 22:7 | And I will prepare against thee the destroyer and his weapons: and they shall cut down thy chosen cedars, and shall cast them headlong into the fire. | Prepare. Literally, sanctify; (Challoner) as various religious ceremonies were used before the declaration of war, and to know what would be the success. (Calmet) --- The Chaldeans were destined to execute God's decrees. (St. Jerome) --- Cedars; fine buildings, (ver. 14.; Calmet) and chiefs. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 22:8 | And many nations shall pass by this city: and they shall say every man to his neighbour: *Why hath the Lord done so to this great city? Deuteronomy 29:24.; 3 Kings 9:8. | |
| Jeremiah 22:9 | And they shall answer: Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and have adored strange gods, and served them. | |
| Jeremiah 22:10 | Weep not for him that is dead, nor bemoan him with your tears: lament him that goeth away, for he shall return no more, nor see his native country. | Dead. He means the good king Josias, who by death was taken away, so as not to see the miseries of his country. --- Away. Sellum, alias Joachaz, who was carried captive into Egypt, (Challoner) ver. 12., and 4 Kings 23:33. (Calmet) --- He was the fourth son of Josias, (1 Paralipomenon 3:15.) and had probably the title of king after the death of Sedecias. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 22:11 | For thus saith the Lord to Sellum, the son of Josias, the king of Juda, who reigned instead of his father, who went forth out of this place: He shall return hither no more: | |
| Jeremiah 22:12 | But in the place, to which I have removed him, there shall he die, and he shall not see this land any more. | |
| Jeremiah 22:13 | Woe to him that buildeth up his house by injustice, and his chambers not in judgement: that will oppress his friend without cause, and will not pay him his wages. | Friend. Joakim forced his subjects to work for him for nothing. |
| Jeremiah 22:14 | Who saith: I will build me a wide house, and large chambers: who openeth to himself windows, and maketh roofs of cedar, and painteth them with vermilion. | Wide. Hebrew, "measured;" large, and well-proportioned. --- Vermilion, (cynopide.) This colour was invented in the town of Pontus, and was used for statues, etc. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 33:6., and 35:6.) (Wisdom 13:14.) (Calmet) --- Hebrew shashar (Haydock) may mean indigo. (Junius) (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 22:15 | Shalt thou reign, because thou comparest thyself to the cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and it was then well with him? | Cedar; Josias. (Calmet) --- Shall thy magnificent palaces secure thy empire? (Haydock) --- Him. Obey the Lord, in like manner, that thou mayst prosper. |
| Jeremiah 22:16 | He judged the cause of the poor and needy for his own good: was it not, therefore, because he knew me, saith the Lord? | |
| Jeremiah 22:17 | But thy eyes and thy heart are set upon covetousness, and upon shedding innocent blood, and upon oppression, and running after evil works. | |
| Jeremiah 22:18 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord concerning Joakim, the son of Josias, king of Juda: They shall not mourn for him, Alas! my brother, and alas! sister: they shall not lament for him, Alas! my lord, or, alas! the noble one. | Sister. They shall not condole with his consort. |
| Jeremiah 22:19 | He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, rotten and cast forth *without the gates of Jerusalem. Jeremias 36:30. | Jerusalem. Jeremias 36:30. He died indeed with or like his fathers, 4 Kings 24:6. But it is not said that he was buried. (St. Jerome) --- The Chaldeans designed to send him to Babylon, (2 Paralipomenon 36:6.) but slew him on the road, (Usher, the year of the world 3405) or treated his corpse ignominiously after his arrival. (Grotius) |
| Jeremiah 22:20 | Go up to Libanus, and cry: and lift up thy voice in Basan, and cry to them that pass by, for all thy lovers are destroyed. | Go; Jerusalem. The verbs are feminine. --- Lovers; citizens, or Egyptians, etc., Jeremias 27:2. |
| Jeremiah 22:21 | I spoke to thee in thy properity: and thou saidst: I will not hear: this hath been thy way from thy youth, because thou hast not heard my voice. | |
| Jeremiah 22:22 | The wind shall feed all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: and then shalt thou be confounded, and ashamed of all thy wickedness. | Pastors, or princes, whose expectations of aid will be frustrated, Osee 12:1. Chaldean, "Thy leaders shall be scattered to all the winds." |
| Jeremiah 22:23 | Thou that sittest in Libanus, and makest thy nest in the cedars, how hast thou mourned when sorrows came upon thee, as the pains of a woman in labour? | |
| Jeremiah 22:24 | As I live, saith the Lord, if Jechonias, the son of Joakim, the king of Juda, were a ring on my right hand, I would pluck him thence. | Jechonias: Joachin, (4 Kings 24:6.; Worthington) or Chenias, who did not take warning by his predecessor's misfortune. --- Ring, or seal, if he were most dear to me, the prime minister of the greatest monarch, Aggeus 2:24. (Calmet) --- Alexander the Great gave his ring to Perdiccas, designating him his successor, or regent. (Curt. x.) |
| Jeremiah 22:25 | And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, and into the hand of Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. | |
| Jeremiah 22:26 | And I will send thee, and thy mother that bore thee, into a strange country, in which you were not born, and there you shall die: | Mother; Nohesta, (4 Kings 24:8.) who perverted, (Calmet) or did not correct him in his youth. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 22:27 | And they shall not return into the land, whereunto they lift up their mind to return thither. | Mind; ardently desiring and expecting to be liberated. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 22:28 | Is this man, Jechonias, an earthen and a broken vessel? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? why are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? | Jechonias. Protestants, "Koniah, a despised broken idol? is he," etc. Alexandrian Septuagint, "Jechonias has been dishonoured as a vessel, or which there is no need, for he hath been snatched and cast," etc. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 22:29 | O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 22:30 | Thus saith the Lord: Write this man barren, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for there shall not be a man of his seed that shall sit upon the throne of David, and have power any more in Juda. | Write this man barren. That is childless: not that he had no children, but that his children should never sit on the throne of Juda, (Challoner) ver. 28., Matthew 1:12., and Ezechiel 17:24. Zorobabel was of his seed, yet he never obtained the title or sovereign power of a king. The Machabees were of a different family. (St. Jerome) --- Joachin, or Jechonias, was restored indeed to some favour, (4 Kings 25:27.) but not to the kingdom, no more than any of his posterity, till Christ. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 23:0 | God reproves evil governors; and promises to send good pastors; and Christ himself the prince of the pastors. He inveighs against false prophets preaching without being sent. | |
| Jeremiah 23:1 | Woe *to the pastors, that destroy and tear the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord. Ezechiel 13:3.; Ezechiel 34:2. | Pastors. Successors of Josias (Calmet) and false prophets. (Menochius) |
| Jeremiah 23:2 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, to the pastors that feed my people: You have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit upon you for the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 23:3 | And I will gather together the remnant of my flock, out of all the lands into which I have cast them out: and I will make them return to their own fields, and they shall increase and be multiplied. | Multiplied. The prophets subjoin tidings of peace to such as might cause affliction. (Theodoret) |
| Jeremiah 23:4 | *And I will set up pastors over them, and they shall feed them: they shall fear no more, and they shall not be dismayed: and none shall be wanting of their number, saith the Lord. Jeremias 3:15. | \f + \fr 23:4-5\ft Pastors; Zorobabel, etc., as figures of Christ, and of the pastors of his Church. --- No more, as much as formerly. So many expressions must be understood. --- Branch. Septuagint, "orient." --- Reign. Zorobabel was not chief governor, (Calmet) though at the head of his tribe. (Haydock) --- The kingdom of Christ was not of this world, John 18:36. (Calmet) --- He alone imparts justice to others. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 23:5 | *Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, and I will raise up to David a just branch: and a king shall reign, and shall be wise: and shall execute judgement and justice in the earth. Isaias 4:2.; Isaias 40:11.; Isaias 45:8.; Jeremias 33:14.; Ezechiel 34:23-24.; Daniel 9:24.; John 1:45. | |
| Jeremiah 23:6 | In those *days shall Juda be saved, and Israel shall dwell confidently: and this is the name that they shall call him: the Lord, our just one. Deuteronomy 33:28. | Saved: less disturbed. The world shall be redeemed, Luke 2:14., and Ephesians 2:14. --- Just. Hebrew, "Justice," by whom we are made just. He is the true God, Colossians 2:9, 14. No man could bear this title: and Grotius insidiously attempts to apply it to the Jews, though the Chaldean, etc., clearly speak of the Messias. He [Grotius] must be read with great caution. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "This is his name, which the Lord will call him, Josedech. In the prophets. (9.) My," etc. (Haydock) --- Josedech means "the Lord justice." (Calmet) --- Symmachus, "Lord, justify us." |
| Jeremiah 23:7 | Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, and they shall say no more: The Lord liveth, who brought up the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt: | |
| Jeremiah 23:8 | But, *the Lord liveth, who hath brought out, and brought hither the seed of the house of Israel, from the land of the north, and out of all the lands, to which I had cast them forth: and they shall dwell in their own land. Jeremias 16:14. | Land. The deliverance from Egypt and Babylon were emblems of man's redemption, which was accomplished by far greater miracles. |
| Jeremiah 23:9 | To the prophets: My heart is broken within me, all my bones tremble: I am become as a drunken man, and as a man full of wine, at the presence of the Lord, and at the presence of his holy words. | Prophets of falsehood. He directs his discourse to them, and afterwards to the priests, being filled with amazement at their impending ruin. |
| Jeremiah 23:10 | Because the land is full of adulterers, because the land hath mourned by reason of cursing, the fields of the desert are dried up: and their course is become evil, and their strength unlike. | Adulterers; impostors or idolaters. --- Cursing of the Lord, or the abuse of his sacred name. (Calmet) --- Unlike. Hebrew, "not right." (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 23:11 | For the prophet and the priest are defiled: and in my house I have found their wickedness, saith the Lord. | Defiled. Hebrew, "hypocrites." My priests retain the appearance of religion, to join with impostors in deluding the people. |
| Jeremiah 23:12 | Therefore their way shall be as a slippery way in the dark: for they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evils upon them, the year of their visitation, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 23:13 | And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: they prophesied in Baal, and deceived my people Israel. | |
| Jeremiah 23:14 | And I have seen the likeness of adulterers, and the way of lying in the peophets of Jerusalem: and they strengthened the hands of the wicked, that no man should return from his evil doings: that are all become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrha. | Jerusalem. These were far worse, as they pretended to be inspired by God, whereas those of Samaria publicly adhered to Baal; so that the people must have been foolish to have been deceived by them. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 23:15 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, to the prophets: *Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and will give them gall to drink: for, from the prophets of Jerusalem, corruption is gone forth into all the land. Jeremias 9:15. | Gall, or something mortally bitter, Jeremias 9:15. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 23:16 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: *Hearken not to the words of the prophets that prophesy to you, and deceive you: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. Jeremias 27:9.; Jeremias 29:8. | Own. To rely on private judgment, and not on the Church, is a mark of falsehood. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 23:17 | They say to them that blaspheme me: The Lord hath said: *You shall have peace: and to every one that walketh in the perverseness of his own heart, they have said: No evil shall come to you. Jeremias 5:12.; Jeremias 14:13. | Blaspheme. Hebrew, "despise;" or Septuagint, "reject disdainfully the word of the Lord, you," etc., Jeremias 6:14., and 8:11. |
| Jeremiah 23:18 | For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath seen and heard his word? Who hath considered his word and heard it? | Counsel. Hebrew, "secret." Which of you is acquainted with his designs? I will inform you, that your perdition is at hand, ver. 20. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 23:19 | *Behold the whirlwind of the Lord's indignation shall come forth, and a tempest shall break out and come upon the head of the wicked. Jeremias 30:14. | |
| Jeremiah 23:20 | The wrath of the Lord shall not return till he execute it, and till he accomplish the thought of his heart: in the latter days you shall understand his counsel. | |
| Jeremiah 23:21 | *I did not send prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. Jeremias 27:15.; Jeremias 29:9. | Not send. The want of mission proves a prophet or preacher to be false. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 23:22 | If they stood in my counsel, and had made my words known to my people, I should have turned them from their evil way and from their wicked doings. | I should. Some copies read avertissent, "they would have turned," conformably with the Hebrew, etc., and we should suspect that this was a mistake of the transcriber, if St. Jerome did not agree with the Vulgate in his commentary, (Calmet) though not in express terms: (Haydock) "I also should not have abandoned them to impurity....Let us behold how heretics, having once given way to despair,...seek the gratification of their sensual appetite." (St. Jerome) |
| Jeremiah 23:23 | Am I, think ye, a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? | Off? Can you so easily penetrate my designs, or escape my fury? Am I like your idols of yesterday? Septuagint and Theodotion, "I am a God at hand," etc., which agrees with the sequel. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 23:24 | Shall a man be hid in secret places, and I not see him, saith the Lord? do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord? | |
| Jeremiah 23:25 | I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, and say: I have dreamed, I have dreamed. | |
| Jeremiah 23:26 | How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies, and that prophesy the delusions of their own heart. | |
| Jeremiah 23:27 | Who seek to make my people forget my name through their dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbour: as their fathers forgot my name for Baal. | Dreams, as if God had favoured them with his revelations. (Haydock) --- Fathers; the false prophets of Baal, whom these imitate. |
| Jeremiah 23:28 | The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream: and he that hath my word, let him speak my word with truth: what hath the chaff to do with the wheat, saith the Lord? | Dream, to those who are really sent by God, (Calmet) and recognized, 1 Corinthians 14:29. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 23:29 | Are not my words as a fire, saith the Lord: and as a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? | Pieces? True prophets will have a zeal fo the conversion of souls, Jeremias 20:9., and Hebrews 4:12. |
| Jeremiah 23:30 | Therefore behold I am against the prophets, saith the Lord: who steal my words every one from his neighbour. | Neighbour, causing those whom I have sent to be disregarded. |
| Jeremiah 23:31 | Behold I am against the prophets, saith the Lord: who use their tongues, and say: The Lord saith it. | Use. Hebrew also, "sharpen, or render smooth," and insinuating, Psalm 49:16. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 23:32 | Behold I am against the prophets that have lying dreams, saith the Lord: and tell them, and cause my people to err by their lying, and by their wonders: when I sent them not, nor commanded them, who have not profited this people at all, saith the Lord. | Wonders. Protestants, "lightness." Septuagint, "frauds," or pretended miracles. (Haydock) --- False prophets cannot work true miracles: but it is more difficult to distinguish these than the former mark of being lawfully sent, ver. 21. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 23:33 | If therefore this people, or the prophet, or the priest, shall ask thee, saying: What is the burden of the Lord? thou shalt say to them: You are the burden: for I will cast you away, saith the Lord. | Burden, Massa, (Haydock) denotes a weight, or sometimes a prediction. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 23:34 | And, as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say: The burden of the Lord: I will visit upon that man, and upon his house. | Burden of the Lord. This expression is here rejected and disallowed, at least for those times: because it was then used in mockery and contempt by the false prophets, and unbelieving people, who ridiculed the repeated threats of Jeremias under the name of his burdens. (Challoner) |
| Jeremiah 23:35 | Thus shall you say every one to his neighbour, and to his brother: What hath the Lord answered? and what hath the Lord spoken? | Answered. I will make you alter your language by chastisements. |
| Jeremiah 23:36 | And the burden of the Lord shall be mentioned no more, for every man's word shall be his burden: for you have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts, our God. | |
| Jeremiah 23:37 | Thus shalt thou say to the prophet: What hath the Lord answered thee? and what hath the Lord spoken? | |
| Jeremiah 23:38 | But if you shall say: The burden of the Lord: therefore, thus saith the Lord: Because you have said this word: The burden of the Lord: and I have sent to you, saying: Say not the burden of the Lord: | |
| Jeremiah 23:39 | Therefore, behold I will take you away, carrying you, and will forsake you, and the city which I gave to you, and to your fathers, out of my presence. | Take. Hebrew of the Masorets, (Calmet) "I, even I, will utterly forget (Protestants; Haydock) or abandon you." (Chaldean) But the sense of the Septuagint and Vulgate seems preferable. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 23:40 | *And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame which shall never be forgotten. Jeremias 20:11. | |
| Jeremiah 24:0 | Under the type of good and bad figs, he foretells the restoration of the Jews that had been carried away captive with Jechonias, and the desolation of those that were left behind. | |
| Jeremiah 24:1 | The Lord shewed me: and behold two baskets full of figs, set before the temple of the Lord, after that *Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, had carried away Jechonias, the son of Joakim, the king of Juda, and his chief men, and the craftsmen, and engravers of Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. | Year of the World 3405, Year before Christ 599. Engravers. Hebrew, "those who enclose," (4 Kings 24:14.; 1 Kings 13:19.) |
| Jeremiah 24:2 | One basket had very good figs, like the figs of the first season: and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, because they were bad. | Season. Appearing in autumn and ripe in spring, (Micheas 7:1.) (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 24:3 | And the Lord said to me: What seest thou, Jeremias? And I said: Figs, the good figs, very good: and the bad figs, very bad, which cannot be eaten, because they are bad. | |
| Jeremiah 24:4 | And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 24:5 | Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Juda, whom I have sent forth out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for their good. | Regard. Literally, "know," with love, (Psalm 1:6.) (Haydock) --- Jechonias was treated with honour, (4 Kings 25:27.) as well as Daniel and Zorobabel, of the same family. (Daniel 2:48.; Jeremiah 29:5.) The captives, under Sedecias, were much more abused. (Jeremiah 28:8.; Jeremiah 29:17.) (Calmet) --- This is the literal sense; the mystical shews that the good shall be rewarded. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 24:6 | And I will set my eyes upon them to be pacified, and I will bring them again into this land: and I will build them up, and not pull them down: and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. | Up, till the Messias appear, and the true Israel of God, his disciples, to whom the promises chiefly pertain. They will continue for ever. If this answer does not give satisfaction, as it ought, we may say that the Jews did not comply with the condition, and were therefore abandoned to the Romans. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 24:7 | And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: *and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: because they shall return to me with their whole heart. Jeremias 7:23.; Jeremias 18:6. | |
| Jeremiah 24:8 | *And as the very bad figs, that cannot be eaten, because they are bad: thus saith the Lord: So will I give Sedecias, the king of Juda, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that have remained in this city, and that dwell in the land of Egypt. Jeremias 29:17. | Egypt, to which they fled contrary to the prophet's advice, (4 Kings 25:26.) |
| Jeremiah 24:9 | And I will deliver them up to vexation, and affliction, to all the kingdoms of the earth: to be a reproach, and a bye-word, and a proverb, and to be a curse in all places to which I have cast them out. | |
| Jeremiah 24:10 | And I will send among them the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence: till they be consumed out of the land which I gave to them, and their fathers. | |
| Jeremiah 25:0 | The prophet foretells the seventy years captivity: and, after that, the destruction of Babylon, and other nations. | |
| Jeremiah 25:1 | The word that came to Jeremias concerning all the people of Juda, in the *fourth year of Joakim, the son of Josias, king of Juda, (the same is the first year of Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon.) | Year of the World 3397, Year before Christ 607. Babylon, when he was associated by Nabopolassar, three years before his death, the year of the world 3397. This year Joakim was taken to be conducted to Babylon, though he was afterwards permitted to remain on very hard conditions, while the sacred vessels, Daniel, etc., were taken away, and the 70 years of captivity commenced. They ended in the first of Cyrus, the year 3468. (Usher) --- This chapter should be placed before the 24th and after the 26th. (Calmet) --- The prophets did not observe the order of time, Jeremias 21. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 25:2 | Which Jeremias, the prophet, spoke to all the people of Juda, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 25:3 | From the thirteenth year of Josias, the son of Ammon, king of Juda, until this day: this is the three and twentieth year, the word of the Lord hath come to me, and I have spoken to you rising before day, and speaking, and you have not hearkened. | Josias. He prophesied nineteen years under him, and three under his successors. |
| Jeremiah 25:4 | And the Lord hath sent to you all his servants, the prophets, rising early, and sending, and you have not hearkened, nor inclined your ears to hear. | All. We know of Joel, Habacuc, Sophonias, and Holda. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 25:5 | When he said: *Return ye, every one, from his evil way, and from your wicked devices, and you shall dwell in the land which the Lord hath given to you, and to your fathers, for ever and ever. 4 Kings 17:13.; Jeremias 18:11.; Jeremias 35:15. | |
| Jeremiah 25:6 | And go not after strange gods to serve them, and adore them: nor provoke me to wrath by the works of your hands, and I will not afflict you. | |
| Jeremiah 25:7 | And you have not heard me, saith the Lord, that you might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, to your own hurt. | |
| Jeremiah 25:8 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts: Because you have not heard my words: | |
| Jeremiah 25:9 | Behold, I will send and take all the kindreds of the north, saith the Lord, and Nabuchodonosor, the king of Babylon, my servant: and I will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all the nations that are round about it: and I will destroy them, and make them an astonishment and a hissing, and perpetual desolations. | My servant. So this wicked king is here called; because God made him his instrument in punishing the sins of his people. (Challoner) (Worthington) --- He thought himself more than man, but he was only the rod destined for the fire. |
| Jeremiah 25:10 | And I will take away from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the mill, and the light of the lamp. | Sound, or songs of women turning the mill, Matthew 24:41. (Calmet) --- Lamp, or illuminations, on account of some victory, (Haydock) or festival. (Pers. 5:180.) The Jews "light a lamp for the sabbaths," (Seneca, Ep. xcv.) before they commence. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 25:11 | *And all this land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment: and all these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 2 Paralipomenon 36:22.; 1 Esdras 1:1.; Jeremias 26:6.; Jeremias 29:10.; Daniel 9:2. | Years. Ver. 1. The neighbouring nations were also involved in this calamity, and were to be sent back by Cyrus. (Calmet) --- Another period of 70 years is specified, (chap. 29:10.) during which the city and temple should remain in ruins, till the second of Hystaspes, the year of the world 3485. (Usher) --- This system is not without difficulties. The present prediction seems rather to refer to the desolation, (Vatable; Aggeus 1:2.) as appears from Zacharias 1:12., or the prophet speaks of the same event in both places, dating from the year preceding the capture of Jerusalem, (the year 3415), till Darius gave entire liberty to the Jews, the year 3485. We differ from Usher in the years allotted to Cyrus, who began to restore the Jews, 1 Esdras 1:5. (Calmet) --- These 70 years are dated from the 11th of Sedecias. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 25:12 | And when the seventy years shall be expired, I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans: and I will make it perpetual desolations. | Punish. Literally, visit upon. (Challoner) --- Cyrus overturned the monarchy, and the city was ruined by degrees, Isaias xiii., and xiv., and 21:1., and Ezechiel 1:5. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 25:13 | And I will bring upon the land all my words, that I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book, all that Jeremias hath prophesied against all nations: | |
| Jeremiah 25:14 | For they have served them, whereas they were many nations, and great kings: and I will repay them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their hands. | Kings. They perfidiously joined the Chaldeans, after making a league with Sedecias, Jeremias 27:3. This is condemned, (Calmet) and not precisely their submitting to Nabuchodonosor, Jeremias 28:8. Their league with Juda was indeed wrong; but the infringement of it was another crime. Septuagint is here much transposed almost to the end. See Grabe. (Haydock) --- Jeremias had prophesied against the nations, though his words are given, Jeremias 46. |
| Jeremiah 25:15 | For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take the cup of wine of this fury at my hand: and thou shalt make all nations to drink thereof, unto which I shall send thee. | Fury. Chastisement, Isaias 51:17. --- All, who might be then at Jerusalem. Sanctius thinks Jeremias travelled into all these countries: most believe it was only done in vision. He might write to them. (Calmet) --- The cup metaphorically denotes God's wrath, Psalm 74:9. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 25:16 | And they shall drink, and be troubled, and be mad because of the sword, which I shall send among them. | |
| Jeremiah 25:17 | And I took the cup at the hand of the Lord, and I presented it to all the nations to drink of it, to which the Lord sent me: | |
| Jeremiah 25:18 | To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Juda, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof: to make them a desolation, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a curse, as it is at this day. | As, etc. He probably inserted this (Haydock) after the event, (Vatable) or the country was much distressed even under Sedecias. |
| Jeremiah 25:19 | Pharao, the king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people, | Pharao, who was defeated (Ezechiel 30:25.) coming to assist Juda, (chap. 37.) and again plundered after the taking of Tyre, Ezechiel 29:18. |
| Jeremiah 25:20 | And all in general: all the kings of the land of Ausitis, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ascalon, and Gaza, and Accaron, and the remnant of Azotus. | In. Hebrew, "the mixed multitude," (Exodus 12:38.; Calmet) or "Arabs." (Grotius) --- Ausitis, near Palmyra, Job 1:1. --- Azotus, taken by the Egyptians, and afterwards by the Chaldeans, Jeremias 47:2. |
| Jeremiah 25:21 | And Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon. | Ammon. The details are given in Jeremias 48.; Jeremias 49.; Ezechiel 25. -- Ezechiel 34.; Abdias 1:1 and Sophonias 1:1. |
| Jeremiah 25:22 | And all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon: and the kings of the land of the islands that are beyond the sea. | Kings. Ithobaal (Josephus, Antiquities 10:11.) had many governors under him. Nabuchodonosor besieged Tyre for 13 years, Ezechiel 26., etc. --- Sea, or Gibraltar. See Jos. sup. 5:22.[Josephus, Antiquities 10:22.?] (Haydock) He had navies on the Mediterranean, Ezechiel 30:9. |
| Jeremiah 25:23 | And Dedan, and Thema, and Buz, and all that have their hair cut round. | Buz. Scenite Arabs, who cut off the hair of the eyebrows, Jeremias 9:26. These Saracens left the hair below the ears long, as the Polonians and Hungarians do. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 25:24 | And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the west, that dwell in the desert. | |
| Jeremiah 25:25 | And all the kings of Zambri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Medes: | \f + \fr 25:25-26\ft Zambri, sprung from Cethura, and dwelling in Arabia, (Calmet) or Persia, (St. Jerome) where Pliny ([Natural History?] 6:28.) places the Zamarenians. --- Elam. Persians, (Haydock) by the sword of Alexander [the Great?], (St. Jerome) or Cyrus subdued those who were subject to the Medes, and united the two nations. --- North. Armenia, etc., subdued by Cyrus and by Alexander. --- Brother. When Cyrus stood up for the Persians. All shall drink, as at a feast, (Calmet) of this bitter wine. --- Face, and forming the empire of Babylon. (Haydock) --- Sesac. That is Babel, or Babylon; which after bringing all these people under her yoke, should quickly fall and be destroyed herself. (Challoner) --- The Chaldeans are not expressed, to avoid their resentment. The sh in sheshac, is at the same distance from the end as b in Babel is from the beginning of the alphabet. See St. Jerome. (Haydock) (2 Timothy 4:17.) --- Yet they are not elsewhere spared, Jeremias 49., etc. Sesac was probably the idol, "anais or the moon." (Calmet) --- The Sacean feasts were very dissolute, like the saturnalia at Rome. (Dio. Chrys.[St. Chrysostom?] iv.; Strabo xi.) (Calmet) --- Cyrus took Babylon after he had conquered the rest of Asia, and then seizing Nabonides at Borsippe, which was sacred to Anais, "the moon," (Calmet) or Diana, (Strabo xv.) suffered him to die in peace. (Berosus in Josephus, contra Apion 1.) --- Thus fell the king of Sesac, an idol worshipped both at Borsippe and at Babylon. |
| Jeremiah 25:26 | And all the kings of the north, far and near, every one against his brother: and all the kingdoms of the earth, which are upon the face thereof: and the king of Sesac shall drink after them. | |
| Jeremiah 25:27 | And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink ye, and be drunken, and vomit: and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword, which I shall send among you. | |
| Jeremiah 25:28 | And if they refuse to take the cup at thy hand to drink, thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Drinking you shall drink: | |
| Jeremiah 25:29 | *For behold I begin to bring evil on the city wherein my name is called upon, and shall you be as innocent, and escape free? you shall not escape free: for I will call for the sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts. 1 Peter 4:17. | City. Jerusalem first fell a prey. |
| Jeremiah 25:30 | And thou shalt prophesy unto them all these words, and thou shalt say to them: *The Lord shall roar from on high, and shall utter his voice from his holy habitation: roaring he shall roar upon the place of his beauty: the shout as it were of them that tread grapes shall be given out against all the inhabitants of the earth. Joel 3:16.; Amos 1:2. | Beauty. The temple, which was like the palace (Calmet) of the great king. (Haydock) --- Grapes. Great feasting was then customary. The soldiers rushing to battle, "answer" the Lord. (Septuagint) (Calmet) --- People encouraged one another by songs under the labour of the vine-press, as those in distress must do. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 25:31 | The noise is come even to the ends of the earth: for the Lord entereth into judgement with the nations: he entereth into judgement with all flesh; the wicked I have delivered up to the sword, saith the Lord. | Flesh. He will justify his conduct, particularly at the last day. |
| Jeremiah 25:32 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation: and a great whirlwind shall go forth from the ends of the earth. | To nation. Jerusalem, Tyre, Syria, desert Arabia, Ammon, Idumea, and Egypt, shall fall one after another. Thus Cyrus will attack the Medes, Asia, and Babylon. |
| Jeremiah 25:33 | And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end thereof: they shall not be lamented, and they shall not be gathered up, nor buried: they shall lie as dung upon the face of the earth. | |
| Jeremiah 25:34 | Howl, ye shepherds, and cry: and sprinkle yourselves with ashes, ye leaders of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and your dispersion are accomplished, and you shall fall like precious vessels. | Leaders. Septuagint, "rams." He addresses the princes. --- Vessels. Septuagint, "chosen rams," fattened for slaughter. |
| Jeremiah 25:35 | And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the leaders of the flock to save themselves. | |
| Jeremiah 25:36 | A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the principal of the flock: because the Lord hath wasted their pastures. | |
| Jeremiah 25:37 | And the fields of peace have been silent, because of the fierce anger of the Lord. | Silent. The places where you fed your flocks so delightfully, are laid waste. |
| Jeremiah 25:38 | He has forsaken his covert as the lion, for their land is laid waste because of the wrath of the dove, and because of the fierce anger of the Lord. | The dove. This is commonly understood of Nabuchodonosor, whose military standard, they say, was a dove. But the Hebrew word Jonah, which is here rendered a dove, may also signify a waster or oppressor, which name better agrees to that unmerciful prince; or by comparison, as a dove's flight is the swiftest, so would their destruction come upon them. (Challoner) --- Septuagint, "waste or impassible before the great sword,["] chap 4:7. (Haydock) --- While God, like a lion, protected his people, none durst invade them. (Menochius) --- What is said respecting the Babylonian standards is very dubious, (Grotius; Calmet) as the same expression is applied to the Persians, (chap. 50:16.; Menochius) though it may there also be understood of the Chaldeans. (Haydock) --- God is like a dove, yet terrible. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 26:0 | The prophet is apprehended and accused by the priests: but discharged by the princes. | |
| Jeremiah 26:1 | In *the beginning of the reign of Joakim, the son of Josias, king of Juda, came this word from the Lord, saying: | Year of the World 3395, Year before Christ 609. Beginning, after Joakim had reigned some time, ver. 21. |
| Jeremiah 26:2 | Thus saith the Lord: Stand in the court of the house of the Lord, and speak to all the cities of Juda, out of which they come, to adore in the house of the Lord, all the words which I have commanded thee to speak unto them: leave not out one word. | Word. This example all pastors should follow, in the midst of dangers. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 26:3 | If so be they will hearken, and be converted every one from his evil way; that I may repent me of the evil that I think to do unto them for the wickedness of their doings. | If. God is not ignorant, (Calmet) but he preserves man's free-will. (St. Jerome) --- He threatens conditionally, if people persist in evil. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 26:4 | And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: If you will not hearken to me to walk in my law, which I have given to you, | |
| Jeremiah 26:5 | To give ear to the words of my servants, the prophets, whom I sent to you rising up early, and sending, and you have not hearkened: | |
| Jeremiah 26:6 | *I will make this house like Silo: **and I will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth. 1 Kings 4:2.; 1 Kings 4:10.; Jeremias 7:22. | Silo. Jeremias 7:12. (Calmet) --- Curse. No greater punishment could be threatened or endured in this world. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 26:7 | And the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, heard Jeremias speaking these words in the house of the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 26:8 | And when Jeremias made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people: the priests, and the prophets, and all the people laid hold of him, saying: Let him be put to death. | Death. The pretext was plausible, as God seemed to have promised the temple an eternal duration, 3 Kings 9:3. The Jews accused Christ of the like crime, Matthew 26:61. Such questions were brought before the sanhedrim and priests, Jeremias 26:57. But the latter are here (Calmet) the chief accusers with "the false prophets." (Septuagint) (Haydock) --- The princes, moved by the elders, (ver. 17.) acquit the prophet, (Calmet) at the persuasion of Ahicam, ver. 24. Several priests would probably judge along with the other princes, as the examination of impostors belonged chiefly to their tribunal. (Haydock) --- All is often used for most part. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 26:9 | Why hath he prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying: This house shall be like Silo: and this city shall be made desolate, without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered together against Jeremias, in the house of the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 26:10 | And the princes of Juda heard these words: and they went up from the king's house into the house of the Lord, and sat in the entry of the new gate of the house of the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 26:11 | And the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes, and to all the people, saying: The judgement of death is for this man: because he hath prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears. | |
| Jeremiah 26:12 | Then Jeremias spoke to all the princes, and to all the people, saying: *The Lord sent me to prophesy concerning this house, and concerning this city, all the words you have heard. Jeremias 25:11. | |
| Jeremiah 26:13 | *Now, therefore, amend your ways, and your doings, and hearken to the voice of the Lord your God: and the Lord will repent of the evil that he hath spoken against you. Jeremias 7:3. | |
| Jeremiah 26:14 | But, as for me, behold I am in your hands: do with me what is good and right in your eyes: | |
| Jeremiah 26:15 | But know ye, and understand, that if you put me to death, you will shed innocent blood against your ownselves, and against this city, and the inhabitants thereof. For, in truth, the Lord sent me to you, to speak all these words in your hearing. | Sent me. This was a complete justification. (Calmet) --- None could deny but Jeremias had all the characters of a true prophet, ver. 16. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 26:16 | Then the princes, and all the people said to the priests, and to the prophets: There is no judgement of death for this man: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God. | All. The populace easily changes either for better or for worse. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 26:17 | And some of the ancients of the land rose up: and they spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying: | Ancients. They declare what happened about 100 years before, respecting Micheas 3:12. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 26:18 | Micheas, of Morasthi, was a prophet, in the days of Ezechias, king of Juda, and he spoke to all the people of Juda, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: *Sion shall be ploughed like a field, and Jerusalem shall be a heap of stones: and the mountain of the house the high places of woods. Micheas 3:12. | Mountain. Sion, on which the house of the Lord was built. Conquerors have sometimes ploughed up cities. (Calmet) --- Jam seges est ubi Troja fuit. (Ovid, ep. i.) |
| Jeremiah 26:19 | Did Ezechias, king of Juda, and all Juda, condemn him to death? did they not fear the Lord, and beseech the face of the Lord: and the Lord repented of the evil that they had spoken against them? therefore, we are doing a great evil against our souls. | |
| Jeremiah 26:20 | There was also a man that prophesied in the name of the Lord, Urias, the son of Semei, of Cariathiarim, and he prophesied against this city, and against this land, according to all the words of Jeremias. | There was. The adversaries make this reply, or the others contrast the conduct of Joakim with the piety of Ezechias. |
| Jeremiah 26:21 | And king Joakim, and all his men in power, and his princes, heard these words: and the king sought to put him to death. And Urias heard it, and was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt. | |
| Jeremiah 26:22 | And king Joakim sent men into Egypt, Elnathan, the son of Achobor, and men with him into Egypt. | |
| Jeremiah 26:23 | And they brought Urias out of Egypt: and brought him to king Joakim, and he slew him with the sword: and he cast his dead body into the graves of the common people. | Egypt, as a seditious person....Joakim was tributary to Pharao. |
| Jeremiah 26:24 | So the hand of Ahicam, the son of Saphan, was with Jeremias, that he should not be delivered into the hands of the people, to put him to death. | Ahicam. A man employed under Josias, (4 Kings 22:12.) and father of Godolias, who was also the protector of Jeremias, Jeremias 39:14., and 4 Kings 25:22. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 27:0 | The prophet sends chains to divers kings, signifying that they must bend their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon. The vessels of their temple shall not be brought back till all the rest are carried away. | |
| Jeremiah 27:1 | In *the beginning of the reign of Joakim, the son of Josias, king of Juda, this word came to Jeremias, from the Lord, saying: | Year of the World 3395, Year before Christ 609. Joakim. This revelation was made to the prophet in the beginning of the reign of Joakim: but the bands were not sent, to the princes here named, before the reign of Sedecias, ver. 3. (Challoner) --- He wore them six or seven years. (Vatable) (Tirinus) --- But this is uncertain. Septuagint omit this title. Syriac, Arabic, etc., read "Sedecias." (Calmet) --- As far as Juda may belong to the last chapter. St. Jerome includes the whole verse. (Haydock) --- It seems to be rather a fresh prophecy, or the title may be spurious, like many in the Psalms. See Jeremias 26:1., and 28:1., and Isaias 21:13. |
| Jeremiah 27:2 | Thus saith the Lord, to me: Make thee bands, and chains: and thou shalt put them on thy neck. | Chains. Hebrew, "a yoke and pole," (Calmet) or piece of wood for the necks of slaves. (St. Jerome) --- Thus would the servitude of these nations be clearly represented. (Haydock) --- Bands and chains were proper signs, as they were used to bind captives. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 27:3 | And thou shalt send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon: by the hand of the messengers that are come to Jerusalem, to Sedecias, the king of Juda. | Edom. Thus he exercises the function of prophet among the nations, Jeremias 1:5. These had come to compliment Sedecias, or rather to form a league. |
| Jeremiah 27:4 | And thou shalt command them to speak to their masters: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Thus shall you say to your masters: | |
| Jeremiah 27:5 | I made the earth, and the men, and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power, and by my stretched out arm: and I have given it to whom it seemed good in my eyes. | Eyes. God disposes of all princes, etc. His prophets speak boldly. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 27:6 | And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, my servant: moreover also the beasts of the field I have given him to serve him. | Beasts. The property of those people, or the most barbarous nations. (St. Jerome) --- Hangmen and executioners may in the same sense be styled God's servants. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 27:7 | And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son: till the time come for his land and himself: and many nations and great kings shall serve him. | His son; viz., Evilmerodach, and his son's son, viz., Nabonydus, or Nabonadius, the Baltassar of Daniel, (chap. 5.) and the last of the Chaldean kings. (Challoner) --- Come. It will not be long before this rod is cast into the fire, the usual fate of those who execute God's vengeance. |
| Jeremiah 27:8 | But the nation and kingdom that will not serve Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, and whosoever will not bend his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon: I will visit upon that nation with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, saith the Lord: till I consume them by his hand. | |
| Jeremiah 27:9 | *Therefore, hearken not to your prophets and diviners, and dreamers, and soothsayers, and sorcerers, that say to you: You shall not serve the king Babylon. Jeremias 23:16.; Jeremias 29:8. | Prophets, who deluded the Jews, as diviners did the Gentiles. |
| Jeremiah 27:10 | For they prophesy lies to you: to remove you far from your country, and cast you out, and to make you perish. | To remove. Hebrew, "that I may," etc. This will be the effect, though contrary to their intention. |
| Jeremiah 27:11 | But the nation that shall bend down their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and shall serve him: I will let them remain in their own land, saith the Lord: and they shall till it, and dwell in it. | In it. None complied, and though the Idumeans, etc., joined the Chaldeans against Juda, they were punished (Calmet) for their former league, ver. 3. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 27:12 | And I spoke to Sedecias, the king of Juda, according to all these words, saying: Bend down your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, and his people, and you shall live. | |
| Jeremiah 27:13 | Why will you die, thou and thy people by the sword, and by famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord hath spoke against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? | |
| Jeremiah 27:14 | Hearken not to the words of the prophets, that say to you: You shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they tell you a lie. | |
| Jeremiah 27:15 | *For I have not sent them, saith the Lord: and they prophesy in my name falsely: to drive you out, and that you may perish, both you and the prophets, that prophesy to you. Jeremias 14:14.; Jeremias 23:21.; Jeremias 29:9. | |
| Jeremiah 27:16 | I spoke also to the priests, and to this people, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Hearken not to the words of your prophets, that prophesy to you, saying: Behold, the vessels of the Lord shall now in a short time be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you. | Time. Hananias specified two years, (chap. 28:3.) which proved false. Some "silver vessels," (Baruch 1:8.) and not those of gold, it seems, (Calmet) or not all, (Haydock) were restored at the request of Saraias, Jeremias 51:59. |
| Jeremiah 27:17 | Therefore, hearken not to them, but serve the king of Babylon, that you may live. Why should this city be given up to desolation? | |
| Jeremiah 27:18 | But if they be prophets, and the word of the Lord be in them: let them interpose themselves before the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which were left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Juda, and in Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon. | Hosts. If they prevail, account me a false prophet. (Calmet) --- The things taken shall not be soon restored; but more shall be conveyed away. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 27:19 | For thus saith the Lord of hosts *to the pillars, and to the sea, and to the bases, and to the rest of the vessels that remain in this city: 4 Kings 25:13. | To thee. Hebrew also, "concerning," as [in] ver. 21., (Haydock) though (Calmet) inanimate things are often spoken to. (St. Jerome) |
| Jeremiah 27:20 | Which Nabuchodonosor, the king of Babylon, did not take, when he carried away Jechonias, the son of Joakim, the king of Juda, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the great men of Juda and Jerusalem. | |
| Jeremiah 27:21 | For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Juda and Jerusalem: | |
| Jeremiah 27:22 | They shall be carried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day of their visitation, saith the Lord: and I will cause them to be brought, and to be restored in this place. | |
| Jeremiah 28:0 | The false prophecy of Hananias: he dies that same year as Jeremias foretold. | |
| Jeremiah 28:1 | And it came to pass in that year, in the beginning of the reign of Sedecias, king of Juda, in the fourth year, *in the fifth month, that Hananias, the son of Azur, a prophet, of Gabaon, spoke to me, in the house of the Lord, before the priests, and all the people, saying: | Year of the World 3408, Year before Christ 596. Juda. So far Sanctius joins with the former chapter, improperly. In the 4th year, seems rather an interpolation; though the Septuagint omit in the beginning, etc., to reconcile the passage; and others date the 4th year from the last sabbatical one, which is quite unusual. See Jeremias 27:1. (Calmet) --- Sedecias reigned 11 years, so that the 4th might be said to be the beginning. (Worthington) --- Prophet. Septuagint, "false prophet," to explain the meaning: the original denotes any prophet. (St. Jerome) (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 28:2 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. | |
| Jeremiah 28:3 | As yet, two years of days, and I will cause all the vessels of the house of the Lord to be brought back into this place, which Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon. | Years. Some were brought back in the 4th of Sedecias; (chap. 27:16.; Haydock) so that this must be false, whether he spoke in the 1st or 4th year of his reign. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 28:4 | And I will bring back to this place, Jechonias, the son of Joakim, king of Juda, and all the captives of Juda, that are gone to Babylon, saith the Lord: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. | |
| Jeremiah 28:5 | And Jeremias, the prophet, said to Hananias, the prophet, in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the Lord: | |
| Jeremiah 28:6 | And Jeremias, the prophet, said: Amen, the Lord do so: the Lord perform thy words, which thou hast prophesied: that the vessels may be brought again into the house of the Lord, and all the captives may return out of Babylon to this place. | Do. Hebrew also, "will do." He speaks ironically; or shews that he wishes not the misfortune of his countrymen. (Calmet) --- He approves of the good thing, but warns his people that it is falsely promised. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 28:7 | Nevertheless, hear this word, that I speak in thy ears, and in the ears of all the people: | |
| Jeremiah 28:8 | The prophets that have been before me, and before thee from the beginning, and have prophesied concerning many countries, and concerning great kingdoms, of war, and of affliction, and of famine. | |
| Jeremiah 28:9 | The prophet that prophesied peace: when his word shall come to pass, the prophet shall be known, whom the Lord hath sent in truth. | Truth. This criterion was given by Moses; and another was assigned in case the prophet attempted to introduce idolatry, which was not here the case, Deuteronomy xiii., and 18:20. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 28:10 | And Hananias, the prophet, took the chain from the neck of Jeremias, the prophet, and broke it. | Chain, or wooden yoke, Jeremias 27:2. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 28:11 | And Hananias spoke in the presence of all the people, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Even so will I break the yoke of Nabuchodonosor, the king of Babylon, after two full years, from off the neck of all the nations. | |
| Jeremiah 28:12 | And Jeremias, the prophet, went his way. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, after that Hananias, the prophet, had broken the chain from off the neck of Jeremias, the prophet, saying: | Way, mildly. God inspired him what to say soon after. |
| Jeremiah 28:13 | Go, and tell Hananias: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast broken chains of wood, and thou shalt make for them chains of iron. | Iron. Deuteronomy 28:48. The rashness of Hananias brought a heavier punishment on his admirers, which is the lot of all who follow heresiarchs. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 28:14 | For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, to serve Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, and they shall serve him: moreover also I have given him the beasts of the earth. | |
| Jeremiah 28:15 | And Jeremias, the prophet, said to Hananias, the prophet: Hear now, Hananias: the Lord hath not sent thee, and thou hast made this people to trust in a lie. | |
| Jeremiah 28:16 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord: Behold I will send thee away from off the face of the earth: this year shalt thou die: for thou hast spoken against the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 28:17 | And Hananias, the prophet, died in that year, in the seventh month. | Seventh month. He had spoken in the 5th of the sacred year, ver. 1. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 29:0 | Jeremias writeth to the captives in Babylon, exhorting them to be easy there, and not to hearken to false prophets. That they shall be delivered after seventy years. But those that remain in Jerusalem shall perish by the sword, famine, and pestilence. And that Achab, Sedecias, and Semeias, false prophets, shall die miserably. | |
| Jeremiah 29:1 | Now *these are the words of the letter which Jeremias, the prophet, sent from Jerusalem, to the residue of the ancients that were carried into captivity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nabuchodonosor had carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: | Year of the World 3405, Year before Christ 599. Letter. Literally, "book." (Haydock) --- It was probably sent at the beginning of the reign of Sedecias by his ambassadors, and is different from that sent by Baruch 1. and Jeremias 52:28. --- Prophets. Chaldean, "scribes." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "false prophets," ver. 8. (Haydock) --- Daniel had begun to prophesy, the year of the world 3402. Ezechiel commenced only five years after the captivity of Jechonias. One prophet frequently instructs another, as Nathan did David, Daniel 9:2., and 1 Peter 1:11. (Calmet) --- Jeremias declares that the captivity would continue long. He comforts and rebukes to Jeremias 40. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 29:2 | After that Jechonias, the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, and the princes of Juda, and of Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the engravers, were departed out of Jerusalem : | Queen. Nohesta. --- Eunuchs. Real, (Hebrew) or "Grandee." (Chaldean) --- Engravers. Jeremias 24:2. |
| Jeremiah 29:3 | By the hand of Elasa, the son of Saphan, and Gamarias, the son of Helcias, whom Sedecias, king of Juda, sent to Babylon, to Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, saying: | Gamarias, the son of Saphan, is different. These two are unknown. |
| Jeremiah 29:4 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: | |
| Jeremiah 29:5 | Build ye houses, and dwell in them: and plant orchards, and eat the fruit of them. | Build. Establish yourselves, as you must remain a long time in captivity. We are exhorted not to be attached to the things of the world, to remind us that we shall not live long, Jeremias 16:2., and 35:7., and 1 Corinthians 7:29. |
| Jeremiah 29:6 | Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters: and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, and let them bear sons and daughters: and be ye multiplied there, and be not few in number. | |
| Jeremiah 29:7 | And seek the peace of the city, to which I have caused you to be carried away captives; and pray to the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall be your peace. | Peace. We must submit to the magistrates, where we reside, Baruch 1:11., and 1 Timothy 2:1. |
| Jeremiah 29:8 | For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: *Let not your prophets that are in the midst of you, and your diviners, deceive you: and give no heed to your dreams which you dream: Jeremias 14:14.; Jeremias 23:16.; Jeremias 27:15. | Prophets. There were many false ones, ver. 21., and Ezechiel xiii. --- Dreams. The prophets, or people. They are vain. |
| Jeremiah 29:9 | For they prophesy falsely to you in my name: and I have not sent them, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 29:10 | *For thus saith the Lord: When the seventy years shall begin to be accomplished in Babylon, I will visit you: and I will perform my good word in your favour, to bring you again to this place. Jeremias 25:12.; 2 Paralipomenon 36:21.; 1 Esdras 1:1.; Daniel 9:2. | Seventy. Dating from the 4th of Joakim to the 1st of Cyrus, the year of the world 3468. (Calmet) See Jeremias. 25:1, 11. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 29:11 | For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of affliction, to give you an end and patience. | An end. Septuagint, "these things." This version is much abridged. From ver. 15., to 21., is omitted in St. Jerome's and the Roman edition; but not in the Complutensian or Theodoret. (Calmet) --- Grabe inserts what is wanting, and places the 15th at the end of our 20th verse. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 29:12 | And you shall call upon me, and you shall go: and you shall pray to me, and I will hear you. | |
| Jeremiah 29:13 | You shall seek me, and shall find me: when you shall seek me with all your heart. | |
| Jeremiah 29:14 | And I will be found by you, saith the Lord: and I will bring back your captivity, and I will gather you out of all nations, and from all the places to which I have driven you out, saith the Lord: and I will bring you back from the place to which I caused you to be carried away captive. | |
| Jeremiah 29:15 | Because you have said: The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon: | Said. Expressing your confidence in Providence; or rather, if we join this with what follows, he rebukes them for trusting in false prophets, who represented their condition as worse than that of their brethren, who were left behind; whereas it was really better, ver. 17., and Jeremias 24:2, 8. (Calmet) --- The deluded people supposed that the false prophets had been sent by God. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 29:16 | For thus saith the Lord to the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and to all the people that dwell in this city, to your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity. | |
| Jeremiah 29:17 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: *Behold, I will send upon them the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence: and I will make them like bad figs that cannot be eaten, because they are very bad. Jeremias 24:9-10. | |
| Jeremiah 29:18 | And I will persecute them with the sword, and with famine, and with the pestilence: and I will give them up unto affliction to all the kingdoms of the earth: to be a curse, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach to all the nations to which I have driven them out: | |
| Jeremiah 29:19 | Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord: which I sent to them by my servants, the prophets, rising by night, and sending: and you have not heard, saith the Lord. | By night, or "early," de nocte, as soon as the night was over. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 29:20 | Hear ye, therefore, the word of the Lord, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent out from Jerusalem to Babylon. | |
| Jeremiah 29:21 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to Achab, the son of Colias, and to Sedecias, the son of Maasias, who prophesy unto you in my name, falsely: Behold I will deliver them up into the hands of Nabuchodonosor, the king of Babylon: and he shall kill them before your eyes. | |
| Jeremiah 29:22 | And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Juda, that are in Babylon, saying: The Lord make thee like Sedecias, and like Achab, whom the king of Babylon fried in the fire: | Curse. Ver. 18. The malediction which has befallen the Jews, "overtake thee." (Worthington) --- Fire, in frying-pans, (see 2 Machabees 7:5.) or cauldrons of boiling oil. This death shews that these were not the infamous judges who tempted Susanna, (Calmet) as the Jews quoted by (Haydock) St. Jerome, Salien, etc., would infer from ver. 23., and Daniel 13:57. They were stoned to death by the people, ibid. lxii.[Daniel 13:62.] (Calmet) --- Yet the king might order their dead bodies to be cut in two and burnt, to express his horror of their wicked conduct, Daniel 13:55, 59. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 29:23 | Because they have acted folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with the wives of their friends, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I commanded them not: I am the judge, and the witness, saith the Lord. | Folly. A crime, Judges 19:23., and 2 Kings 13:12. --- Witness, the sovereign truth. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 29:24 | And to Semeias, the Nehelamite, thou shalt say: | And. God orders his prophet what to say, to an accusation sent from Babylon, in consequence of the former letter, ver. 5, 28. (Haydock) --- Nehelamite, "torrent," (St. Jerome) or "dreamer." We know of no place of this name. |
| Jeremiah 29:25 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because thou hast sent letters in thy name to all the people that are in Jerusalem, and to Sophonias, the son of Maasias, the priest, and to all the priests, saying: | The second priest, (4 Kings 25:18.) a chief officer of the temple, Jeremias 21:1. |
| Jeremiah 29:26 | The Lord hath made thee priest in stead of Joiada, the priest, that thou shouldst be ruler in the house of the Lord, over every man that raveth and prophesieth, to put him in the stocks, and into prison. | Joiada, whose zeal had been conspicuous long before, under Joas, in persuading him to destroy the false prophets, 4 Kings 11:17. Sophonias is exhorted to imitate him, by treating Jeremias in like manner. (Calmet) --- Thou. Hebrew, "ye should be officers." (Protestants) (Haydock) --- There were many chief priests. --- Raveth. Hebrew, "is possessed, and counterfeits the prophet." Such were to be slain, being confined till sentence had been passed, Deuteronomy 18:20. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 29:27 | And now why hast thou not rebuked Jeremias, the Anathothite, who prophesieth to you? | |
| Jeremiah 29:28 | For he hath also sent to us, in Babylon, saying: It is a long time: Build ye houses, and dwell in them: and plant gardens, and eat the fruits of them. | Time, before you will return. (Haydock) --- Sophonias read the letter, approving of its contents, (St. Jerome) though this is not certain. He took no violent steps against Jeremias, as Phassur had done. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 29:29 | So Sophonias, the priest, read this letter, in the hearing of Jeremias, the prophet. | |
| Jeremiah 29:30 | And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 29:31 | Send to all them of the captivity, saying: Thus saith the Lord to Semeias, the Nehelamite: Because Semeias hath prophesied to you, and I sent him not: and hath caused you to trust in a lie: | |
| Jeremiah 29:32 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will visit upon Semeias, the Nehelamite, and upon his seed: he shall not have a man to sit in the midst of this people, and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, saith the Lord: because he hath spoken treason against the Lord. | Sit, in an honourable station, or they shall all die. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 30:0 | God will deliver his people from their captivity: Christ shall be their king: and his Church shall be glorious for ever. | |
| Jeremiah 30:1 | This *is the word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying: | Year of the World 3406, Year before Christ 598. |
| Jeremiah 30:2 | Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, saying: Write thee all the words that I have spoken to thee, in a book. | Book. This was spoken in the reign of Sedecias, for the people's conviction. The prophet had received orders to write in the 4th year of Joakim, Jeremias 36:1. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 30:3 | For behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Juda, saith the Lord: and I will cause them to return to the land which I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. | Come. Some in St. Jerome explain this and the following chapter of the end of the world, when all shall confess Christ. Others refer them to the preaching of the gospel alone. (Estius) (Tirinus) --- But the return from captivity is specified, as prefiguring that event. (St. Thomas Aquinas, etc.) (Calmet) --- It is probable that many of the ten tribes returned to Samaria, Jeremias 31.; Ezechiel 33. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 30:4 | And these are the words that the Lord hath spoken to Israel and to Juda: | To Juda. All the race of Abraham are concerned. The kingdom was no longer divided. |
| Jeremiah 30:5 | For thus saith the Lord: We have heard a voice of terror: there is fear, and no peace. | We. Jeremias is ordered to express the alarms of the captives, at the news of the destruction of Jerusalem, or rather of the Chaldean empire, by Cyrus. They were naturally afraid that they would also suffer. |
| Jeremiah 30:6 | Ask ye, and see if a man bear children ? why then have I seen every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman in labour, and all faces are turned yellow? | Bear. Literally, "beet," generat. But it has here the former signification, (Haydock) pariat. (Vatable) --- Yellow. The Babylonians are in great anxiety. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 30:7 | *Alas, for that day is great, neither is there the like to it: and it is the time of tribulation to Jacob, but he shall be saved out of it. Joel 2:11.; Amos 5:18.; Sophonias 1:15. | Great, and terrible for this city, the outer walls of which shall be demolished, (Beros.; Calmet) and all its glory perish. (Haydock) --- Of it. Cyrus liberated the Jews, 1 Esdras i. |
| Jeremiah 30:8 | And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst his bands: and strangers shall no more rule over him: | Strangers. Idols. The people were not so prone to worship them. Yet the Jews were almost constantly subject to foreigners (Calmet) despectissima pars servientium, Macedonibus invalidis....sibi ipsis reges imposuere. (Tacitus, Hist. 5.) --- Christ granted a more perfect liberty to the faithful, John 8:33. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 30:9 | But they shall serve the Lord, their God, and David, their king, whom I will raise up to them. | David. That is, Christ, of the house of David. (Challoner) (Ezechiel 37:24., and Osee 3:5.) --- Grotius and some modern Jews, in opposition to their ancestors, (Chaldean; Kimchi, etc.) and to all Christians, would understand Zorobabel, though he was never possessed of the title or authority of king. (Calmet) --- The prophecy may allude to him, but it is fulfilled only in Christ. (Theodoret) |
| Jeremiah 30:10 | *Therefore, fear thou not, my servant Jacob, saith the Lord, neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from a country afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity: and Jacob shall return, and be at rest, and abound with all good things, and there shall be none whom he may fear: Isaias 43:1.; Isaias 44:2.; Luke 1:70. | |
| Jeremiah 30:11 | For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: for I will utterly consume all the nations among which I have scattered thee: but I will not utterly consume thee: but I will chastise thee in judgment, that thou mayst not seem to thyself innocent. | Nations, which are now no more. Grabe supplies ver. 10, 11, 15., and 22. (Haydock) --- Judgment, like a father, (Calmet) though the chastisement may seem cruel, ver. 14. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "with justice, but I will not deny thee for ever." Chaldean, "utterly." (Calmet) --- Only the Church is preserved continually. All other kingdoms change. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 30:12 | For thus saith the Lord: Thy bruise is incurable, thy wound is very grievous. | |
| Jeremiah 30:13 | There is none to judge thy judgment to bind it up : thou hast no healing medicines. | Up. There is none to judge thy cause, or to be thy physician. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 30:14 | All thy lovers have forgotten thee, and will not seek after thee: *for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with a cruel chastisement: by reason of the multitude of thy iniquities, thy sins are hardened. Jeremias 23:19. | Lovers. Nations which had seduced thee to worship their idols. (Haydock) --- Enemy. This judgment (ver. 11.) was requisite. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 30:15 | Why criest thou for thy affliction? thy sorrow is incurable: for the multitude of thy iniquity, and for thy hardened sins, I have done these things to thee. | |
| Jeremiah 30:16 | Therefore, all they that devour thee, shall be devoured: and all thy enemies shall be carried into captivity: and they that waste thee shall be wasted; and all that prey upon thee, will I give for a prey. | Prey. The Romans utterly overturned the Macedonian empire, (Haydock) as the former had done the Persian, and they the Chaldean monarchy, which has risen on the ruins of the Assyrian empire. But the Jews rise as it were from their ashes. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 30:17 | For I will close up thy scar, and will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord. Because they have called thee, O Sion, an outcast: This is she that had none to seek after her. | Close. Septuagint, "remove the healing plaster from thy painful wound." (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 30:18 | Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I bring back the captivity of the pavilions of Jacob, and will have pity on his houses, and the city shall be built in her place, and the temple shall be found according to the order thereof. | Temple. After 70 years, it was rebuilt. The Church was founded on a rock. [Matthew 16:18.] (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 30:19 | And out of them shall come forth praise, and the voice of them that play: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be made few: and I will glorify them, and they shall not be lessened. | Play, or laugh. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "make merry," Jeremias 31:4. --- Lessened. The Jews were as numerous in our Saviour's time (Haydock) as ever they had been. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 30:20 | And their children shall be as from the beginning, and their assembly shall be permanent before me: and I will visit against all that afflict them. | |
| Jeremiah 30:21 | And their leader shall be of themselves: and their prince shall come forth from the midst of them: and I will bring him near, and he shall come to me: for who is this that setteth his heart to approach to me, saith the Lord? | Leader. Zorobabel, the figure (Theodoret) of Christ, who is here meant. (Calmet) --- He springs from Jacob. (Worthington) --- The sceptre was not taken away till his coming, Genesis xlix. (Haydock) --- Who. Cyrus alludes to this passage in his decree, 1 Esdras 1:(Calmet) --- The prediction is fully verified in Christians. (St. Jerome) --- Christ is near to God, being one, John xiv. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 30:22 | And you shall be my people: and I will be your God. | |
| Jeremiah 30:23 | Behold the whirlwind of the Lord, his fury going forth, a violent storm, it shall rest upon the head of the wicked. | Wicked, at Jerusalem, or rather the Chaldeans; and the Jews, who crucified their Messias. (St. Jerome, etc.) (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 30:24 | The Lord will not turn away the wrath of his indignation, till he hath executed and performed the thought of his heart: in the latter days you shall understand these things. | |
| Jeremiah 31:0 | The restoration of Israel. Rachel shall cease from mourning. The new covenant. The Church shall never fail. | |
| Jeremiah 31:1 | At that time, *saith the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. | Year of the World 3406. Israel. The ten tribes returned as well as Juda, etc. (Calmet) --- They were more ready to receive Christ than the other two tribes, Matthew xiii., etc. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 31:2 | Thus saith the Lord: The people that were left and escaped from the sword, found grace in the desert: Israel shall go to his rest. | Desert. From which the former inhabitants had been driven, (4 Kings 17:6, 24.; Calmet) or, as those under Moses were favoured, (Haydock) so shall the captives. (Grotius) --- Septuagint, "I found him warm," (thermon, means also a lupin, which has misled the old Latin interpreters. St. Jerome) murdered "in the desert, with those slain by the sword. Go, and destroy not Israel." (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 31:3 | The Lord hath appeared from afar to me. Yea, I have loved thee with everlasting love: therefore have I drawn thee, taking pity on thee. | Afar. He has seemed to despise me, (St. Jerome) or he has spoken to my ancestors. (Calmet) --- Chaldean, He has "manifested himself long ago to our fathers. Prophet, tell them I have," etc., Psalm 35:11., and 108:11. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 31:4 | And I will build thee again, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy timbrels, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. | |
| Jeremiah 31:5 | Thou shalt yet plant vineyards in the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and they shall not gather the vintage before the time: | Samaria. Its wine was famous, Judges 9:27. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 3:2.) --- Time, three years being elapsed, Leviticus 19:35. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "plant, and shall eat (marginal note, profane) them as common things." They shall not be too greedy, (Haydock) but shall have leisure to enjoy the fruits of their labour. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 31:6 | For there shall be a day, in which the watchmen on Mount Ephraim, shall cry: *Arise, and let us go up to Sion, to the Lord our God. Isaias 2:3.; Micheas 4:2. | Watchmen. Some were stationed on eminences to observe the first appearances of the moon, (Calmet) which was a sort of festival. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 31:7 | For thus saith the Lord: Rejoice ye in the joy of Jacob, and neigh before the head of the Gentiles: shout ye, and sing, and say: Save, O Lord, thy people, the remnant of Israel. | Head. Rejoice over Babylon. --- Save. Hebrew Hoshang, "I beg," was usually added; and this acclamation is used by the Church. |
| Jeremiah 31:8 | Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and will gather them from the ends of the earth: and among them shall be the blind and the lame, the woman with child, and she that is bringing forth together, a great company of them returning hither. | Together. All shall hasten, and there shall be no impediment, Isaias 35:5. |
| Jeremiah 31:9 | They shall come with weeping: and I will bring them back in mercy: and I will bring them through the torrents of waters in a right way, and they shall not stumble in it: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born. | Shall, or "came" into captivity, Baruch 6:6., Psalm 125:6., and Isaias 66:20. --- Way. They shall find every accommodation, and plenty of water, Isaias 35:7., and 49:10. --- Born. Chaldean, "beloved." I will treat the ten tribes as well as Juda. Christ inebriates his disciples with his graces. (Calmet) --- Ephraim shall be treated with all the love and attention shewn to the first-born. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 31:10 | Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the islands that are afar off, and say: He that scattered Israel will gather him: and he will keep him as the shepherd doth his flock. | |
| Jeremiah 31:11 | For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and delivered him out of the hand of one that was mightier than he. | |
| Jeremiah 31:12 | And they shall come, and shall give praise in Mount Sion: and they shall flow together to the good things of the Lord, for the corn, and wine, and oil, and the increase of cattle and herds, and their soul shall be as a watered garden, and they shall be hungry no more. | Sion. There shall be no farther schism or idolatry among them. --- No more, if they prove faithful. This was not the case. |
| Jeremiah 31:13 | Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, the young men and old men together: and I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them joyful after their sorrow. | |
| Jeremiah 31:14 | And I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness: and my people shall be filled with my good things, saith the Lord. | Fatness. Abundant crops secured them more plentiful tythes[tithes], as long as the people preserved their religion. (Haydock) --- No nation had more priests, or better provided for. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 31:15 | Thus saith the Lord: *A voice was heard on high of lamentation, of mourning, and weeping of Rachel, weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted for them, because they are not. Matthew 2:18. | High. Literally, "high places." Hebrew Rama. (Haydock) --- There was a city of this name near Bethlehem, where Rachel was buried. Benjamin was her son, and was conducted by this road to Babylon. (Chaldean) (Grotius) (Tirinus) --- Ephraim and Manasses were also her grandchildren, and she may bewail their captivity by personification. St. Matthew 2:18. shews that this prediction was more fully accomplished when the innocents were slain. The same passage may allude to different events. (Calmet) --- All the people of God, both of the ten and of the two tribes, bewailed their captivity, and the mothers lamented for those slain near Bethlehem. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 31:16 | Thus saith the Lord: Let thy voice cease from weeping, and thy eyes from tears: for there is a reward for thy work, saith the Lord: and they shall return out of the land of the enemy. | Reward. A time fixed for thy tears being dried up, Isaias 16:14., and 40:10. |
| Jeremiah 31:17 | And here is hope for thy last end, saith the Lord: and the children shall return to their own borders. | |
| Jeremiah 31:18 | Hearing, I heard Ephraim, when he went into captivity: thou hast chastised me, and I was instructed as a young bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Convert me, and I shall be converted: for thou art the Lord my God. | I was. Chaldean, Theodoret, and St. Chrysostom have "not." But chastisement produced a salutary effect upon the ten tribes, Osee 6:1., and 14:3. --- Convert. Bring me back from captivity and from my evil ways. This must be attributed to grace. (Calmet) --- We cannot repent without it. (St. Jerome) --- Da quod jubes. (St. Augustine, Confessions 10:19, 31, and 37.) --- God's grace is the principal cause of justification. Man's co-operation is the secondary cause. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 31:19 | For, after thou didst convert me, I did penance: and, after thou didst shew unto me, I struck my thigh: I am confounded and ashamed, because I have borne the reproach of my youth. | Thigh, through grief. Femur moerenti plangere dextra. (Ovid, Metam. xi.) --- Cyrus struck his thigh, mounted his horse, and went to attend the funeral of Abradates. (Xenophon vii.) --- So did Achilles for Patroclus. (Homer, Iliad xvi.) --- Youth, being seduced by Jeroboam. |
| Jeremiah 31:20 | Surely Ephraim is an honourable son to me, surely he is a tender child: for, since I spoke of him, I will still remember him. Therefore are my bowels troubled for him: pitying, I will pity him, saith the Lord. | I spoke. Hebrew, "my word is in him," and he is docile to my instructions. |
| Jeremiah 31:21 | Set thee up a watch-tower, make to thee bitterness: direct thy heart into the right way, wherein thou hast walked: return, O virgin of Israel, return to these thy cities. | Tower, to bewail thy past follies; or signals to know the way, or tombs for thy beloved. |
| Jeremiah 31:22 | How long wilt thou be dissolute in deliciousness, O wandering daughter? for the Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth: a woman shall compass a man. | Daughter. Bury thy dead, and delay thy return no longer. The Israelites did not soon make use of the leave granted by Cyrus. (Calmet) --- Man. Hebrew, "a hero." (Tirinus) --- The fathers generally explain this of the incarnation. (Calmet) --- Christ had the perfect use of reason in the virgin's womb. (Haydock) --- He was the brightness of his Father's glory, Hebrew 1:3. Even some ancient Jews apply this to the Messias. (Galatin. 7:14.) But the moderns understand that women would offer themselves in marriage; the times would be so happy. This was not so unusual in countries where polygamy prevailed, Ruth 3:9., Isaias 4:1., and Canticle of Canticles 8:1. (Calmet) --- Hence this is hardly the meaning; for God promises something new. (Haydock) --- "The Lord hath created a new thing in a woman." (Aquila) --- Symmachus agrees nearly with the Septuagint, "because the Lord has created thee by salvation a new plantation. Men shall go about in thy salvation." This "might be explained, if it were not sacrilegious to argue respecting God's word by human sense," says St. Jerome; though this censure of "the Vulgate" (Septuagint) seems rather harsh. He complains here of his copy. Theodoret explains it of the apostles going through the world to spread the gospel. (Haydock) --- Behold whence thy happiness must come, (Menochius) O thou who hast so long proved faithless, going astray after many lovers. (Haydock) --- Christ, in his mother's womb, was in stature small, but a perfect man (Worthington) in the use of reason, etc. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 31:23 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: As yet shall they say this word in the land of Juda, and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring back their captivity: The Lord bless thee, the beauty of justice, the holy mountain. | Bless thee. Thus the captives speak in rapture at their return. |
| Jeremiah 31:24 | And Juda and all his cities shall dwell therein together: the husbandmen, and they that drive the flocks. | Together. Jerusalem shall be large enough to contain all, at the great festivals. |
| Jeremiah 31:25 | For I have inebriated the weary soul: and I have filled every hungry soul. | |
| Jeremiah 31:26 | Upon this I was as it were awaked out of a sleep, and I saw, and my sleep was sweet to me. | To me. Thus Jeremias concludes his prediction with joy. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 31:27 | Behold, the days come, saith the Lord: and I will sow the house of Israel, and the house of Juda, with the seed of men, and with the seed of beasts. | Men. They shall increase exceedingly by my blessing. (Haydock) --- Beasts were the source of their riches. Hence pecunia is derived from pecus. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 31:28 | And, as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to throw down, and to scatter, and destroy, and afflict; so will I watch over them, to build up, and to plant them, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 31:29 | In those days they shall say no more: *The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the teeth of the children are set on edge. Ezechiel 18:2. | Edge. Such observations had been too often made, Ezechiel 18:12. (Haydock) --- Henceforward you shall not suffer for the faults of Achab, Manasses, etc. Each one shall bear his own burden. The captivity has been like a deluge, cleaning all away. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 31:30 | But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man that shall eat the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge. | |
| Jeremiah 31:31 | *Behold, the days shall come, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Juda: Hebrews 8:8. | Covenant. That made with the captives was not such. Their covenant is grown old, and at an end, as St. Paul shews, Hebrews 8:8. They were not indeed divided, as they had been, Ezechiel 37:16. |
| Jeremiah 31:32 | Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; the covenant which they made void, and I had dominion over them, saith the Lord. | Dominion. As a husband, (Hebrew; Calmet) or "Lord." (Haydock) --- "I despised them." (Septuagint) (Hebrews viii.) |
| Jeremiah 31:33 | But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord: *I will give my law in their bowels, and I will write it in their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Hebrews 10:16. | Heart. They were more docile after their return: yet still their service was very imperfect and forced. How many false traditions were received, at the coming of Christ! This of course, regards his disciples. |
| Jeremiah 31:34 | And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying: Know the Lord; for all shall know me from the least of them even to the greatest, saith the Lord: *for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Acts 10:43. | Lord. Christ himself came to instruct mankind. The true God was better known than ever, even by the illiterate. Yet God requires us to have recourse to men, in order to know his truths, as St. Paul was sent to Hananias, and the eunuch to Philip. [Acts viii., and ix.] (Haydock) --- The apostles were enlightened by the Holy Ghost, (John 6:45.; St. Augustine, de Spir.; Calmet) who still guides the flock by his pastors. The private spirit is too fanatical and delusive. (Haydock) --- The most ignorant shall easily become acquainted with the truths of salvation. External preaching is requisite, though of little use unless grace touch the mind and the heart. (Tirinus) --- All will hear successively, (Haydock) or embrace the gospel at the same time, for several years before the last day. (Houbigant, pref. in Prop. 356) (Isaias 11:9., and 45:23., and Sophonias 3:9., etc.) (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 31:35 | Thus saith the Lord, who giveth the sun for the light of the day, the order of the moon and of the stars, for the light of the night; who stirreth up the sea, and the waves thereof roar, the Lord of hosts is his name. | |
| Jeremiah 31:36 | If these ordinances shall fail before me, saith the Lord; then also the seed of Israel shall fail, so as not to be a nation before me for ever. | Ever. Like the Chanaanites and Ephraim during the captivity, Isaias 7:8. God restored the latter. Yet they are again dispersed from above 17 centuries, so that this perpetuity, which shall equal the world's duration, belongs to the Church. (Calmet) --- Israel remains, not in the incredulous Jews, but in those who with the apostles embraced and propagated the faith of Christ. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 31:37 | Thus saith the Lord: If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath; I also will cast away all the seed of Israel, for all that they have done, saith the Lord. | Out, experimentally, and not by philosophical hypotheses, which were little known in the days of Jeremias. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "if it be made lower." (Haydock) --- This is impossible; so it is that I should abandon Israel. (Theodoret) --- All was not faithless. (Calmet) --- The Israel of God embraced the gospel. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 31:38 | Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to the Lord, from the tower of Hanameel, even to the gate of the corner. | Come, is only in the margin of the Hebrew, but is found properly in some manuscripts. (Kennicott) --- Corner. On the south, opposite to the former, 2 Esdras 3:1. |
| Jeremiah 31:39 | And the measuring line shall go out farther in his sight upon the hill Gareb; and it shall compass Goatha, | |
| Jeremiah 31:40 | And the whole valley of dead bodies, and of ashes, and all the country of death, even to the torrent Cedron, and the corner of the horse-gate towards the east, the Holy of the Lord: it shall not be plucked up, and it shall not be destroyed any more for ever. | Valley of Hinnom, or Topheth, (chap. 7:32., and 19:6.) where Cedron flowed, Zacharias 14:4. (Calmet) --- The city was much enlarged on this side, under the Machabees. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 6:6.) --- Ever. Yet the temple was utterly destroyed by the Romans, so that we must explain this of the Catholic Church, founded on a rock, and proof against the gates of hell, and all the malice of heretics and persecutors, Matthew 16:18. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 32:0 | Jeremias, by God's commandment, purchases a field of his kinsman: and prophesies the return of the people out of captivity: and the everlasting covenant God will make with his Church. | |
| Jeremiah 32:1 | The *word that came to Jeremias, from the Lord, in the tenth year of Sedecias, king of Juda; the same is the eighteenth year of Nabuchodonosor. | Year of the World 3415, Year before Christ 589. Tenth. The city had been besieged about a year, (chap. 39:1.) and the prophet continued to admonish the king and people of their fate, Jeremias 34. (Calmet) --- He bought land, to shew that they should one day return. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 32:2 | At that time the army of the king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem; and Jeremias, the prophet, was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the house of the king of Juda. | Court, at large, so that people might come to him freely. He was not chained or in prison, as (chap. 37:15.; Jeremias 38:6-13.) (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 32:3 | For Sedecias, king of Juda, had shut him up, saying: Why dost thou prophesy, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it? | |
| Jeremiah 32:4 | And Sedecias, king of Juda, shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans; but he shall be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon; and he shall speak to him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall see his eyes. | Eyes. They were afterwards put out at Reblatha, (Haydock) so that he could not see Babylon, Ezechiel 12:13. (Worthington) --- Sedecias was imprisoned, and buried there by the Jews, Jeremias 34:5, 12. |
| Jeremiah 32:5 | And he shall lead Sedecias to Babylon; and he shall be there till I visit him, saith the Lord. But if you will fight against the Chaldeans, you shall have no success. | |
| Jeremiah 32:6 | And Jeremias said: The word of the Lord came to me, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 32:7 | Behold, Hanameel, the son of Sellem, thy cousin, shall come to thee, saying: Buy thee my field, which is in Anathoth, for it is thy right to buy it, being next akin. | Next. Priests could sell only to their fellow priests, Leviticus 25:34. (St. Jerome) --- Others might dispose of their landed property to any, until the year of jubilee. The nearest relation had the first offer, but he was not obliged to purchase. Jeremias now consented, to shew that the people should return to possess the land, though it was now in the enemy's hands. (Calmet) --- Thus a Roman purchased the land on which Hannibal was encamped, despising his power and threats. (V. Max. 3:8.; Livy xxvi.) (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 32:8 | And Hanameel, my uncle's son, came to me, according to the word of the Lord, to the entry of the prison, and said me: Buy my field, which is in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is thine, and thou art next of kin to possess it. And I understood that this was the word of the Lord. | Came into the city clandestinely; or rather he entered before the siege. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 32:9 | And I bought the field of Hanameel, my uncle's son, that is in Anathoth: and I weighed him the money, seven staters, and ten pieces of silver. | Silver. Hebrew, "seventeen sicles of silver." (Haydock) --- Coin was not yet used. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 32:10 | And I wrote it in a book and sealed it, and took witnesses; and I weighed him the money in the balances. | |
| Jeremiah 32:11 | And I took the deed of the purchase, that was sealed, and the stipulations, and the ratifications, with the seals, that were on the outside. | Outside. "There was another copy left open for inspection, (ver. 14.) which custom still prevails," says St. Jerome. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 32:12 | And I gave the deed of the purchase to Baruch, the son of Neri, the son of Maasias, in the sight of Hanameel, my uncle's son, in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, and before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison. | |
| Jeremiah 32:13 | And I charged Baruch before them, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 32:14 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these writings, this deed of the purchase that is sealed up, and this deed that is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days. | Days, safe from dampness, etc. Thus Origen found a version of the Bible preserved at Jericho. (Calmet) --- After the captivity, the owners shall claim their land. |
| Jeremiah 32:15 | For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses, and fields, and vineyards, shall be possessed again in this land. | |
| Jeremiah 32:16 | And, after I had delivered the deed of purchase to Baruch, the son of Neri, I prayed to the Lord, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 32:17 | Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God, behold thou hast made heaven and earth by thy great power, and thy stretched out arm; no word shall be hard to thee. | Alas. Hebrew ahah, ah! only once. Septuagint, "O, thou Being, Lord God." (Haydock) --- Hard. Hebrew also, "hidden, wonderful," etc. (Calmet) --- "When the gods perform, nothing appears incredible." (Pindar, Pyt. x.) See ver. 27., and Luke 1:37. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 32:18 | *Thou shewest mercy unto thousands, and returnest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them; O most mighty, great, and powerful, the Lord of hosts is thy name. Exodus 34:7. | After them, to the third and fourth generation, Exodus 34:7. His mercy is more exalted. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 32:19 | Great in counsel, and incomprehensible in thought; whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the children of Adam, to render unto every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his devices. | |
| Jeremiah 32:20 | Who hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even until this day, and in Israel, and amongst men, and hast made thee a name as at this day. | Day. We remember thy ancient miracles, and witness others. |
| Jeremiah 32:21 | And hast brought forth thy people Israel, out of the land of Egypt, with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and a stretched out arm, and with great terror. | |
| Jeremiah 32:22 | And hast given them this land which thou didst swear to their fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey. | |
| Jeremiah 32:23 | And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, and they walked not in thy law: and they did not any of those things that thou didst command them to do, and all these evils are come upon them. | Any of. Literally, "all those," which seems better, as he who offends in one, becomes guilty of all; and the Jews certainly had observed some precepts, though they did not persevere unto the end. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 32:24 | Behold works are built up against the city to take it: and the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans, who fight against it, by the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken, is all come to pass, as thou thyself seest. | By. Literally, "at the presence of the sword," or by its force, Psalm 59:6. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 32:25 | And sayest thou to me, O Lord God: Buy a field for money, and take witnesses, whereas the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans? | Is given, in the eternal decrees, ver. 28. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 32:26 | And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 32:27 | Behold I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: shall any thing be hard for me? | |
| Jeremiah 32:28 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will deliver this city into the hands of the Chaldeans, and into the hands of the king of Babylon, and they shall take it. | |
| Jeremiah 32:29 | And the Chaldeans that fight against this city, shall come and set it on fire, and burn it, with the houses upon whose roofs they offered sacrifice to Baal, and poured out drink-offerings to strange gods, to provoke me to wrath. | Baal, the sun, etc., Jeremias 19:13., Sophonias 1:5., and 4 Kings 23:12. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 32:30 | For the children of Israel, and the children of Juda, have continually done evil in my eyes from their youth: the children of Israel, who even till now provoke me with the work of their hands, saith the Lord. | Continually, (Symmachus) "moreover," (Aquila) or "alone," (Septuagint and Theodoret) ver. 23. (Haydock) --- The Jews had rebelled in the desert. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 32:31 | For this city hath been to me a provocation and indignation from the day that they built it, until this day, in which it shall be taken out of my sight. | Built it. The Jebusites polluted it. David himself offended, as well as Solomon, and under all the kings many crimes were committed, (Calmet) which is always the case in large cities. These general terms only denote a great corruption, tough some would be virtuous. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 32:32 | Because of all the evil of the children of Israel, and of the children of Juda, which they have done, provoking me to wrath, they and their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, the men of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. | |
| Jeremiah 32:33 | And they have turned their backs to me, and not their faces: when I taught them early in the morning, and instructed them, and they would not hearken to receive instruction. | |
| Jeremiah 32:34 | *And they have set their idols in the house, in which my name is called upon, to defile it. 4 Kings 21:4. | It, under Achaz, Manasses, and perhaps the last kings of Juda, Ezechiel 8:9. |
| Jeremiah 32:35 | And they have built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Ennom, to consecrate their sons and their daughters to Moloch: which I commanded them not, neither entered it into my heart, that they should do this abomination, and cause Juda to sin. | Consecrate. Hebrew, "make them pass" through or into the fire, to be consumed in honour of Moloc, 4 Kings 21:6. --- Heart. They perhaps meant to imitate Abraham, Jeremias 7:31. |
| Jeremiah 32:36 | And now, therefore, thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, to this city, whereof you say that it shall be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence : | |
| Jeremiah 32:37 | Behold I will gather them together out of all the lands to which I have cast them out, in my anger, and in my wrath, and in my great indignation: and I will bring them again into this place, and will cause them to dwell securely. | Lands. What is here said must be understood of the captives, yet in such a manner that Christians are more particularly designated, for the Jews never enjoyed such perfect security, nor followed one way, nor enjoyed the eternal covenant, (ver. 39, 40., and Jeremias 31:31.; Calmet) except those who embraced the true faith of Christ. At all times one religion alone can be pleasing to God, (ver. 39.) and those who were saved under the old law, must have believed in a Redeemer to come, as we must do in one already past. (Haydock) --- God would not suffer true believers to become extinct under the old law; much less will he since Christ's coming. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 32:38 | And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. | |
| Jeremiah 32:39 | And I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me all days: and that it may be well with them, and with their children after them. | |
| Jeremiah 32:40 | And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, and will not cease to do them good: and I will give my fear in their heart, that they may not revolt from me. | |
| Jeremiah 32:41 | And I will rejoice over them, when I shall do them good: and I will plant them in this land in truth, with my whole heart, and with all my soul. | Truth, like a tree which shall not be eradicated. |
| Jeremiah 32:42 | For thus saith the Lord: As I have brought upon this people all this great evil: so will I bring upon them all the good that I now speak to them. | |
| Jeremiah 32:43 | And fields shall be purchased in this land: whereof you say that it is desolate, because there remaineth neither man nor beast, and it is given into the hands of the Chaldeans. | |
| Jeremiah 32:44 | Fields shall be bought for money, and deeds shall be written and sealed, and witnesses shall be taken, in the land of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem, in the cities of Juda, and in the cities on the mountains, and in the cities of the plains, and in the cities that are towards the south: for I will bring back their captivity, saith the Lord. | Juda, and in. A farther description of these cities is given, situated about the capital, Hebron, Sephala, (the plain) near Gaza, (Calmet) and the Negeb or south country, (Haydock) towards Arabia. Here the excellent commentary of St. Jerome ends, to our great loss. (Calmet) --- It was perhaps his last work, undertaken after the twelve minor and the other three great prophets. He never wrote on Baruch, on the epistle of Jeremias, the Greek parts of Daniel, etc., as the Jews did not allow them to be canonical, and the point was not then decided. The Church styles St. Jerome "the greatest doctor in expounding the sacred Scriptures," as he translated and illustrated the greatest part of them; (Haydock) and indeed he seems to have been the best qualified for the undertaking, of all the fathers. (Du Pin) --- Hence we may lament the more that we have not all his works in their genuine purity and perfection, as even the latest editions are very faulty, and proceed upon a plan which the learned do not approve. See A. Butler, Kennicott, etc. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 33:0 | God promises reduction from captivity, and other blessings: especially the coming of Christ, whose reign in his Church shall be glorious and perpetual. | |
| Jeremiah 33:1 | And *the word of the Lord came to Jeremias the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying: | Year of the World 3414, Year before Christ 590. Time. Soon after the former. (Calmet) --- He was comforted in prison by two visions, shewing that the Church should not perish for the sins of many. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 33:2 | Thus saith the Lord, who will do, and will form it, and prepare it, the Lord is his name. | Thus. Hebrew uses the feminine for the neuter. Septuagint, "forming the earth," etc. |
| Jeremiah 33:3 | Cry to me, and I will hear thee: and I will shew thee great things, and sure things, which thou knowest not. | Cry. The prophetic spirit was sometimes granted to earnest prayer, Daniel 9:2., and 10:3. |
| Jeremiah 33:4 | For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, to the houses of this city, and to the houses of the king of Juda, which are destroyed, and to the bulwarks, and to the sword, | To. "Concerning the houses....and the sword of them," who would not obey God, thus bringing on their own destruction. |
| Jeremiah 33:5 | Of them that come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of the men whom I have slain in my wrath, and in my indignation, hiding my face from this city because of all their wickedness. | |
| Jeremiah 33:6 | Behold I will close their wounds and give them health, and I will cure them: and I will reveal to them the prayer of peace and truth. | Their. The houses, wounds, or breaches. (Hebrew and Septuagint) (Calmet) --- Peace. That is, the peace and welfare which they pray for. (Challoner) --- I will teach them how to pray for a durable peace. |
| Jeremiah 33:7 | And I will bring back the captivity of Juda, and the captivity of Jerusalem: and I will build them as from the beginning. | |
| Jeremiah 33:8 | And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me: and I will forgive all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned against me, and despised me. | Iniquity, by means of the captivity, which shall be a sort of baptism, Jeremias 31:29. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 33:9 | And it shall be to me a name, and a joy, and a praise, and a gladness before all the nations of the earth, that shall hear of all the good things which I will do to them: and they shall fear and be troubled for all the good things, and for all the peace that I will make for them. | And it. Jerusalem, as figure of the Church. (Menochius) --- Fear, worship, and desist from persecuting God in his saints, (Haydock) whom he so highly favours. |
| Jeremiah 33:10 | Thus saith the Lord: There shall be heard again in this place, (which you say is desolate, because there is neither man nor beast: in the cities of Juda, and without Jerusalem, which are desolate without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast) | |
| Jeremiah 33:11 | The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say: Give ye glory to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring their vows into the house of the Lord: for I will bring back the captivity of the land as at the first, saith the Lord. | Vows. Promised victims of thanksgiving. (Calmet) --- First, when they were settled in it under Josue. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 33:12 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: There shall be again in this place, that is desolate without man, and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, an habitation of shepherds, causing their flocks to lie down. | |
| Jeremiah 33:13 | And in the cities on the mountains, and in the cities of the plains, and in the cities that are towards the south: and in the land of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Juda shall the flocks pass again under the hand of him that numbereth them, saith the Lord. | Mountains. Jeremias 32:44. --- Numbereth them, they come into the fold. (Calmet) --- Chaldean, "my people shall be instructed, and formed by the hand of the Messias." Grabe supplies what follows to the end of the chapter. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 33:14 | Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform the good word that I have spoken to the house of Israel, and to the house of Juda. | |
| Jeremiah 33:15 | In those days, and at that time, I will make the bud of justice to spring forth unto David, and he shall do judgment and justice in the earth. | Bud, or orient, Christ, (Calmet) of whom Zorobabel was a figure. (Theodoret) All cannot be verified of the latter, ver. 16. (Calmet) --- The Jews themselves explain this of the Messias. (Calov.) --- It evidently refer to him, as he was born of David, whose posterity should continue till Christ, the founder of an eternal kingdom. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 33:16 | In those days shall Juda be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell securely: and this is the name that they shall call him, The Lord our just one. | Him. (Septuagint, Chaldean, etc.) The Hebrew has "her" Jerusalem, or the Church, which receives all its beauty from Christ. (Calmet) --- See Jeremias 23:5., where all read him. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 33:17 | For thus saith the Lord: There shall not be cut off from David a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel. | David. This was verified in Christ, who is of the house of David; and whose kingdom in his Church shall have no end. (Challoner) --- The tribe of Juda continued most eminent till his coming. But there was no king till Hyrcan, and he was of another tribe. The priests governed after Nehemias, till Herod was appointed by the Romans. This must therefore be explained of Christ's eternal kingdom, Genesis xlix. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 33:18 | Neither shall there be cut off from the priests and Levites a man before my face, to offer holocausts, and to burn sacrifice, and to kill victims continually. | Priests. This promise relates to the Christian priesthood; which shall also continue for ever: the functions of which (more especially the great sacrifice of the altar) are here expressed, by the name of holocausts, and other offerings of the law, which were so many figures of the Christian sacrifice. (Challoner) --- The Levitical sacrifices have ceased for 17 centuries. But Christ will officiate by his ministers till the end of time. (Calmet) --- St. Hypolitus and all the fathers agree that the blessed Eucharist is the complement of all the ancient sacrifices. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 33:19 | And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 33:20 | Thus saith the Lord: If my covenant with the day can be made void, and my covenant with the night, that there should not be day and night in their season: | |
| Jeremiah 33:21 | My covenant also with David, my servant, may be made void, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites and priests, my ministers. | Ministers. The promise in not conditional, but as unchangeable as the course of the seasons. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 33:22 | As the stars of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea be measured: so will I multiply the seed of David, my servant, and the Levites, my ministers. | |
| Jeremiah 33:23 | And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 33:24 | Hast thou not seen what this people hath spoken, saying: The two families which the Lord had chosen, are cast off: and they have despised my people, so that it is no more a nation before them? | Families of kings and priests, (Challoner) or the two kingdoms of Israel and Juda. The people complained that God had broken his word, (Calmet) so heretics assert that he has abandoned his Church for above 800 years. Providence watched in a particular manner over the families of Aaron and David, which enjoyed peculiar privileges, (Haydock) or blessings. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 33:25 | Thus saith the Lord: If I have not set my covenant between day and night, and laws to heaven and earth: | |
| Jeremiah 33:26 | Surely I will also cast off the seed of Jacob, and of David, my servant, so as not to take any of his seed to be rulers of the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will bring back their captivity, and will have mercy on them. | |
| Jeremiah 34:0 | The prophet foretells that Sedecias shall fall into the hands of Nabuchodnonosor: God's sentence upon the princes and people that had broken his covenant. | |
| Jeremiah 34:1 | The *word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, (when Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth, that were under the power of his hand, and all the people fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof) saying: | Year of the World 3414, Year before Christ 590. Came, in the 11th year of Sedecias, before the Chaldeans returned to their siege, Jeremias 37:4. |
| Jeremiah 34:2 | Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Go, and speak to Sedecias, king of Juda, and say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will deliver this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. | |
| Jeremiah 34:3 | And thou shalt not escape out of his hand; but thou shalt surely be taken, and thou shalt be delivered into his hand: and thy eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak with thy mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon. | Go to, yet shall not see Babylon, (Ezechiel 12:13.) his eyes being put out, Jeremias 32:4. (Calmet) See 4 Kings 25:7. (Worthington) --- Paine objects this as a false prophecy, though it was verified so terribly. Daniel, etc., would not neglect to bury the king. (Watson) |
| Jeremiah 34:4 | Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Sedecias, king of Juda: Thus saith the Lord to thee: Thou shalt not die by the sword. | |
| Jeremiah 34:5 | But thou shalt die in peace, and according to the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings that were before thee, so shall they burn thee: and they shall mourn for thee, saying: Alas, Lord: for I have spoken the word, saith the Lord. | Peace. That is, by a natural death. (Challoner) --- Burn thee, like Asa; (2 Paralipomenon 16:14.; Calmet) or aromatical spices were only burnt over their dead bodies, which were also embalmed. (Sanctius; Vatable, etc.) --- Tostat says that Sedecias was intoxicated, for sport, (Habacuc 2:15.) and died of grief in prison, Jeremias 52:11. (Calmet) --- The king of Babylon would probably not refuse him a decent burial. (Watson, Let. vi.) |
| Jeremiah 34:6 | And Jeremias, the prophet, spoke all these words to Sedecias, the king of Juda, in Jerusalem. | |
| Jeremiah 34:7 | And the army of the king of Babylon fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Juda that were left, against Lachis, and against Azecha: for these remained of the cities of Juda, fenced cities. | Lachis, near Hebron. Detachments were sent to different places. |
| Jeremiah 34:8 | The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, after that king Sedecias had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem, making a proclamation: | |
| Jeremiah 34:9 | That every man should let his man-servant, and every man his maid-servant, being a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, go free: and that they should not lord it over them; to wit, over the Jews, their brethren. | Brethren. The sabbatical year happened in the 9th of Sedecias, when the Chaldeans approaching, caused him to shew some signs of religion. But when they departed to meet the Egyptians, the people repented of what they had done well. (Calmet) --- Such a relapse offends God more than the former sins, as our Saviour shews by a parable, Matthew xviii. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 34:10 | And all the princes, and all the people, who entered into the covenant, heard that every man should let his man-servant, and every man his maid-servant go free, and should no more have dominion over them: and they obeyed, and let them go free. | |
| Jeremiah 34:11 | But afterwards they turned: and brought back again their servants and their handmaids, whom they had let go free, and brought them into subjection as men-servants and maid-servants. | |
| Jeremiah 34:12 | And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 34:13 | Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 34:14 | *At the end of seven years, let ye go every man, his brother, being a Hebrew, who hath been sold to thee, so he shall serve thee six years: and thou shalt let him go free from thee: and your fathers did not hearken to me, nor did they incline their ear. Exodus 21:2.; Deuteronomy 15:12. | End, or commencement. (Glass.; Gram. 3:6.) (Exodus 21:2., Deuteronomy 15:12., and Luke 2:21.) (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 34:15 | And you turned to-day, and did that which was right in my eyes, in proclaiming liberty every one to his brother: and you made a covenant in my sight, in the house upon which my name is invocated. | |
| Jeremiah 34:16 | And you are fallen back, and have defiled my name: and you have brought back again every man his man-servant, and every man his maid-servant, whom you had let go free, and set at liberty: and you have brought them into subjection to be your servants and handmaids. | And set. Hebrew, "to their own soul," to do as they pleased. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 34:17 | Therefore thus saith the Lord: You have not hearkened to me, in proclaiming liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his friend: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine: and I will cause you to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth. | For you. I acknowledge you no longer as my servant. I will let loose the sword, etc., against you. |
| Jeremiah 34:18 | And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, and have not performed the words of the covenant, which they agreed to in my presence, when they cut the calf in two *and passed between the parts thereof: Genesis 15:20. | Parts. This was done to signify that if they transgressed, they consented to be slain, Genesis 15:9, 17. It seems Sedecias and his subjects had solemnly ratified the covenant made at Sinai, being impressed with fear of the enemy. |
| Jeremiah 34:19 | The princes of Juda, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land, that passed between the parts of the calf: | Eunuchs, chief officers. One was at the head of the army, 4 Kings 25:19. |
| Jeremiah 34:20 | And I will give them into the hands of their enemies, and into the hands of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat to the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the earth. | |
| Jeremiah 34:21 | And Sedecias, the king of Juda, and his princes, I will give into the hands of their enemies, and into the hands of them that seek their lives, and into the hands of the armies of the king of Babylon, which are gone from you. | From you, to attack Egypt. Afterwards the various detachments came and took Jerusalem. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 34:22 | Behold I will command, saith the Lord, and I will bring them again to this city, and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Juda a desolation, without an inhabitant. | Command. He did not approve of their cruelty, but used them as scourges. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 35:0 | The obedience of the Rechabites condemns the disobedience of the Jews. The reward of the Rechabites. | |
| Jeremiah 35:1 | The *word that came to Jeremias from the Lord in the days of Joakim, the son of Josias, king of Juda, saying: | Year of the World 3398, Year before Christ 606. Joakim, when Nabuchodonosor besieged him again in his 7th year. The Rechabites then pitched their tents in Jerusalem, ver. 11. (Calmet) --- Here we behold a figure of religious orders in the Church, as well as in the Nazarites and disciples of the prophets, Numbers vi., and 4 Kings 1:They observed certain rules for acquiring greater perfection, and refrained from many things which were otherwise lawful. Thus various religious orders, both of men and of women, have flourished in the Church, and though they have different names and regulations, yet they are not sects, as heretics would pretend, but all follow the same faith, use the same sacraments, and are a great ornament to the Catholic Church by their profession of the three essential vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, in imitation of the apostles, Matthew 19:12. --- Joakim. This happened before the preceding prophecies. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 35:2 | Go to the house of the Rechabites: and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers of the treasures, and thou shalt give them wine to drink. | Rechabites. These were of the race of Jethro, father-in-law to Moses. (Challoner) --- All the Hebrew and Latin doctors agree that the Rechabites were strangers, ver. 7, 19. (Worthington) --- Treasures of corn, wine, etc. Jeremias, as a priest, had free access. |
| Jeremiah 35:3 | And I took Jezonias, the son of Jeremias, the son of Habsanias, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites. | |
| Jeremiah 35:4 | And I brought them into the house of the Lord, to the treasure-house of the sons of Hanan, the son of Jegedelias, the man of God, which was by the treasure-house of the princes, above the treasure of Maasias, the son of Sellum, who was keeper of the entry. | Of God. Prophets are generally thus designated, 4 Kings 4:7. We know nothing more of this holy man. --- Princes of the priests; or where princes made their offerings, or assembled to judge, Jeremias 26:10. --- Entry. He was not removeable like the other Levites, 1 Paralipomenon 9:19, 34. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 35:5 | And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups: and I said to them: Drink ye wine. | Wine. This was not an exhortation, but a trial. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 35:6 | And they answered : We will not drink wine; because Jonadab, the son of Rechab, *our father, commanded us, saying: You shall drink no wine, neither you, nor your children, for ever: 4 Kings 10:15. | Jonadab. A man much esteemed by Jehu, 4 Kings 10:15. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 35:7 | Neither shall ye build houses, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyards, nor have any: but you shall dwell in tents all your days, that you may live many days upon the face of the earth, in which you are strangers. | Days. The reward of dutiful children, Exodus 20:12. These are models of those Christians who follow the rule of some virtuous person, in order to be at a greater distance from any transgression of the law, and to observe it with more perfection. (Calmet) --- "If a father could lay such an injunction on his descendants, and they receive commendation for observing it, why may not the fathers of the Church enjoin things which are not of themselves necessary, but....useful to avoid the occasions of evil, or to advance in virtue?" says Grotius, a Protestant, after St. Jerome, (Ad Paulin.) St. Augustine, in Psalm lxx., etc.) (Haydock) Jonadab exhorted, and prescribed this rule, but it was not properly a command, being too arduous. (Tirinus) |
| Jeremiah 35:8 | Therefore we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father, in all things that he commanded us, so as to drink no wine all our days: neither we, nor our wives, nor our sons, nor our daughters: | |
| Jeremiah 35:9 | Nor to build houses to dwell in, nor to have vineyard, or field, or seed: | |
| Jeremiah 35:10 | But we have dwelt in tents, and have been obedient according to all that Jonadab, our father, commanded us. | |
| Jeremiah 35:11 | But when Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, came up to our land, we said: Come, let us go into Jerusalem, from the face of the army of the Chaldeans, and from the face of the army of Syria: and we have remained in Jerusalem. | Syria. 4 Kings 24:2. The mention of these shews that this was the second siege, when Joakim was slain, and many led into captivity, (chap. 52:28.) with these Rechabites. (Calmet) --- They lived under tents, but in case of necessity entered the city, ver. 10. If they observe works of supererogation, all must surely keep God's law. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 35:12 | And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 35:13 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go, and say to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Will you not receive instruction, to obey my words, saith the Lord ? | |
| Jeremiah 35:14 | The words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, by which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, have prevailed: and they have drunk none to this day, because they have obeyed the commandment of their father: but I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, and you have not obeyed me. | Me. What a contrast! (Haydock) --- This was only a counsel, mine a law! (Tirinus) |
| Jeremiah 35:15 | And I have sent to you all my servants, the prophets, rising early, and sending and saying: *Return ye every man from his wicked way, and make your ways good: and follow not strange gods, nor worship them, and you shall dwell in the land which I gave you and your fathers: and you have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened to me. Jeremias 18:11.; Jeremias 25:5. | |
| Jeremiah 35:16 | So the sons of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have constantly kept the commandment of their father, which he commanded them: but this people hath not obeyed me. | |
| Jeremiah 35:17 | Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold I will bring upon Juda, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them, and they have not heard: I have called to them, and they have not answered me. | |
| Jeremiah 35:18 | And Jeremias said to the house of the Rechabites: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab, your father, and have kept all his precepts, and have done all that he commanded you: | |
| Jeremiah 35:19 | Therefore thus saith the Lord of host, the God of Israel: There shall not be wanting a man of the race of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, standing before me for ever. | Before me, in an honourable situation (1 Paralipomenon 2:55.) about the temple. It was not requisite that they should be Levites. (Calmet) --- For ever. Their reward shall be eternal bliss. (Haydock) --- This they sought for, as they were strangers of Madian in the country, ver. 7. (Menochius) |
| Jeremiah 36:0 | Jeremias sends Baruch to read his prophecies in the temple: the book is brought to king Joakim, who burns it. The prophet denounces his judgment, and causes Baruch to write a new copy. | |
| Jeremiah 36:1 | And it came to pass *in the fourth year of Joakim, the son of Josias, king of Juda, that this word came to Jeremias by the Lord, saying: | Year of the World 3398, Year before Christ 606. Fourth, towards the conclusion, after the siege was raised, ver. 6, 9. |
| Jeremiah 36:2 | Take thee a roll of a book, and thou shalt write in it all the words that I have spoken to thee against Israel and Juda, and against all the nations from the day that I spoke to thee, from the days of Josias even to this day. | Write. He had already prophesied 22 years. Now he was more frequently ordered to write. (Calmet) --- He executed the order by the hand of Baruch, ver. 4. |
| Jeremiah 36:3 | If so be, when the house of Juda shall hear all the evils that I purpose to do unto them, that they may return every man from his wicked way: and I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin. | If. This indicates free-will. (Haydock) --- God makes this last effort, that the hearing of so many separate prophecies together might make a deeper impression. |
| Jeremiah 36:4 | So Jeremias called Baruch, the son of Nerias: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremias, all the words of the Lord, which he spoke to him, upon the roll of a book. | Book. This was afterwards burnt. What he wrote a second time has not come down to us, in the same order. Jeremias made use of his memory, which was directed by the Holy Spirit. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 36:5 | And Jeremias commanded Baruch, saying: I am shut up, and cannot go into the house of the Lord. | Shut up. Not that the prophet was now in prison; for the contrary appears from ver. 19., but that he kept himself shut up, by reason of the persecutions he had lately met with. See Jeremias 26. (Challoner) --- If he had been confined, as Grotius asserts, the king would easily have found him. (Calmet) --- He and Baruch retired to some secret place, as most priests (Worthington) did formerly in England, (Haydock) that they might better exercise their functions than they could do in the hands of the persecutors. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 36:6 | Go thou in, therefore, and read out of the volume which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the Lord, in the hearing of all the people in the house of the Lord, on the fasting day; and, also, thou shalt read them in the hearing of all Juda, that come out of their cities: | Read. This may sometimes have as good an effect as preaching without a book. (Haydock) --- Fasting day of expiation, (Usher, the year of the world 3398) or rather on (Haydock) the day prescribed in the 9th month, ver. 9. (Lyranus) (Tirinus) |
| Jeremiah 36:7 | If so be, they may present their supplication before the Lord, and may return every one from his wicked way; for great is the wrath and indignation which the Lord hath pronounced against this people. | They. Literally, "their supplication may fall prostrate before," etc. (Haydock) --- It is personified. So Homer represents (Calmet) "supplications," as daughters of Jupiter, lame, and with eyes averted, (Iliad ix.) to shew how we ought to pray. Jeremias finds means to instruct the people: the word of God is not bound, 2 Timothy 2:9. (Calmet) --- As many refused to hear his discourses, God ordered him to write what might be a perpetual warning and reproach, or testimony against them. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 36:8 | And Baruch, the son of Nerias, did according to all that Jeremias, the prophet, had commanded him, reading out of the volume the words of the Lord, in the house of the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 36:9 | And it came to pass in the fifth year of Joakim, the son of Josias, king of Juda, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that were come together out of the cities of Juda to Jerusalem. | Fast. Probably on account of the catastrophe the second year, Daniel 1:2. Many such were afterwards appointed, Zacharias 7:3., and 8:19. All came to Jerusalem on such occasions. |
| Jeremiah 36:10 | And Baruch read out of the volume the words of Jeremias, in the house of the Lord, in the treasury of Gamarias, the son of Saphan the scribe, in the upper court, in the entry of the new gate of the house of the Lord, in the hearing of all the people. | Gate, on the east, (2 Paralipomenon 20:5.) leading to the court of the priests. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 36:11 | And when Micheas, the son of Gamarias, the son of Saphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the Lord, | |
| Jeremiah 36:12 | He went down into the king's house, to the secretary's chamber; and behold all the princes sat there; Elisama, the scribe, and Dalaias, the son of Semeias, and Elnathan, the son of Achobor, and Gamarias, the son of Saphan, and Sedecias, the son of Hananias, and all the princes. | |
| Jeremiah 36:13 | And Micheas told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read out of the volume in the hearing of the people. | |
| Jeremiah 36:14 | Therefore all the princes sent Judi, the son of Nathanias, the son of Selemias, the son of Chusi, to Baruch, saying: Take in thy hand the volume in which thou hast read in the hearing of the people, and come. So Baruch, the son of Nerias, took the volume in his hand, and came to them. | |
| Jeremiah 36:15 | And they said to him: Sit down and read these things in our hearing. And Baruch read in their hearing. | |
| Jeremiah 36:16 | And when they had heard all the words, they looked upon one another with astonishment, and they said to Baruch: We must tell the king all these words. | |
| Jeremiah 36:17 | And they asked him, saying: Tell us how didst thou write all these words from his mouth. | |
| Jeremiah 36:18 | And Baruch said to them: With his mouth he pronounced all these words as if he were reading to me: and I wrote in a volume with ink. | Reading. No study was requisite. (Haydock) --- Ink. It formerly resembled that used by printers, (Calmet) being composed of soot and gum. (Vitruvius 7:10.) |
| Jeremiah 36:19 | And the princes said to Baruch: Go, and hide thee, both thou and Jeremias, and let no man know where you are. | Are. Thus they provide for the safety of the prophets, and perform their duty to the king. |
| Jeremiah 36:20 | And they went in to the king, into the court; but they laid up the volume in the chamber of Elisama, the scribe; and they told all the words in the hearing of the king. | |
| Jeremiah 36:21 | And the king sent Judi that he should take the volume: who, bringing it out of the chamber of Elisama, the scribe, read it in the hearing of the king, and of all the princes that stood about the king. | Read it. This was the third time. It was in vain afterwards to destroy the book. |
| Jeremiah 36:22 | Now the king sat in the winter-house, In the ninth month; and there was a hearth before him, full of burning coals. | Winter-house. He was very magnificent, and had other apartments for summer. Though the climate was warm, fires would be useful in November. --- Hearth. There was no chimney used, and the smoke went out by the door, or by holes at the top of the room, as we see in some old monasteries. (Calmet) --- Charcoal was probably used, Baruch 6:42. |
| Jeremiah 36:23 | And when Judi had read three or four pages, he cut it with the penknife, and he cast it into the fire that was upon the hearth, till all the volume was consumed with the fire that was on the hearth. | Pages. Perhaps what was written on so many skins, (Haydock) or sheets of paper, pasted together, and rolled up; or there might be some marks to shew the different subjects, like the sections used in the synagogue, (Calmet) or our chapters; though we are assured that all was formerly written without any separation even of letters. Protestants have "leaves." (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "doors." (Calmet) The secretary cut and burnt the leaves by the king's order, ver. 25. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 36:24 | And the king, and all his servants that heard all these words, were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments. | Afraid. They saw all without any concern, not believing that God spoke to them. They did not imitate Josias, 2 Paralipomenon 34:19. |
| Jeremiah 36:25 | But yet Elnathan, and Dalaias, and Gamarias spoke to the king, not to burn the book; and he heard them not. | |
| Jeremiah 36:26 | And the king commanded Jeremiel, the son of Amelech, and Saraias, the son of Ezriel, and Selemias, the son of Abdeel, to take up Baruch, the scribe, and Jeremias, the prophet: but the Lord hid them. | Hid them, and prevented any one from betraying them. (Calmet) --- He did not remove them to a place different from what they had chosen by his direction. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 36:27 | And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, the prophet, after that the king had burnt the volume, and the words that Baruch had written from the mouth of Jeremias, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 36:28 | Take thee again another volume: and write in it all the former words that were in the first volume, which Joakim, the king of Juda, hath burnt. | |
| Jeremiah 36:29 | And thou shalt say to Joakim, the king of Juda: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast burnt that volume, saying: Why hast thou written therein, and said: The king of Babylon shall come speedily, and shall lay waste this land; and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast? | |
| Jeremiah 36:30 | Therefore thus saith the Lord against Joakim, the king of Juda: He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David; and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day, and to the frost by night. | None, etc. Because his son, Joachin or Jechonias, within three months after the death of his father, was carried away to Babylon, so that his reign is not worthy to be taken notice of. (Challoner) (Theodoret) (Worthington) --- He was subject to the Chaldeans; his uncle took his place. Joakim had the burial of an ass, Jeremias 12:18. (Calmet) --- None of the following princes enjoyed the glory or power of the ancient king. (St. Thomas Aquinas, [Summa Theologiae] p. 3. qu. 31. a. 2.) (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 36:31 | And I will punish him, and his seed: and his servants for their iniquities, and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Juda, all the evil that I have pronounced against them: but they have not heard. | |
| Jeremiah 36:32 | And Jeremias took another volume, and gave it to Baruch, the son of Nerias, the scribe; who wrote in it, from the mouth of Jeremias, all the words of the book which Joakim, the king of Juda, had burnt with fire; and there were added besides, many more words than had been before. | Before. We cannot tell what. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "many like words." (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 37:0 | Jeremias prophesies that the Chaldeans, who had departed from Jerusalem, would return and burn the city. He is cast into prison. His conference with Sedecias. | |
| Jeremiah 37:1 | Now king Sedecias, the *son of Josias, reigned instead of Jechonias, the son of Joakim; whom Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, made king in the land of Juda. 4 Kings 24:17.; Jeremias 52:1. | Sedecias. He was less impious than his two predecessors; but too weak to do good. |
| Jeremiah 37:2 | *But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did obey the words of the Lord, that he spoke in the hand of Jeremias, the prophet. 2 Paralipomenon 36:15. | |
| Jeremiah 37:3 | And *king Sedecias sent Juchal, the son of Selemias, and Sophonias, the son of Maasias, the priest, to Jeremias, the prophet, saying: Pray to the Lord, our God, for us. | Year of the World 3414, Year before Christ 590. Pray, or consult. He wished to know whether the Chaldeans would return. (Calmet) --- He feared, yet ill-treated the prophet, as Herod did John the Baptist. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 37:4 | Now Jeremias walked freely in the midst of the people; for they had not as yet cast him into prison. And the army of Pharao was come out of Egypt: and the Chaldeans, that besieged Jerusalem, hearing these tidings, departed from Jerusalem. | |
| Jeremiah 37:5 | And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias the prophet, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 37:6 | Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Juda, who sent you to inquire of me: Behold the army of Pharao, which is come forth to help you, shall return into their own land, into Egypt. | Return, routed, Jeremias 46:15. His army was small, Ezechiel 17:17., and 30:21. This king Ephree, (chap. 44:30.) or Apries, had succeeded Psammis, after an interregnum of ten years' continuance. (Herodotus 2:161.) --- He foresaw that his own dominions would be invaded, after Jerusalem, the key, was taken. The other allies of Juda perfidiously sat still, or joined the Chaldeans. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 37:7 | And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire. | |
| Jeremiah 37:8 | Thus saith the Lord: Deceive not your souls, saying: The Chaldeans shall surely depart and go away from us: for they shall not go away. | Away. They departed indeed, but for a short time. |
| Jeremiah 37:9 | But if you should even beat all the army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there should be left of them some wounded men; they shall rise up, every man from his tent, and burn this city with fire. | Tent. So easy it is for God to destroy by few as well as by many! (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 37:10 | Now, when the army of the Chaldeans was gone away from Jerusalem, because of Pharao's army, | |
| Jeremiah 37:11 | Jeremias went forth out of Jerusalem, to go into the land of Benjamin, and to divide a possession there in the presence of the citizens. | Possession, lately purchased, Jeremias 32. (Lyranus) --- Yet some think this had not yet taken place. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "to buy provisions among." Hebrew, "to slip away thence in the midst of the people." (Haydock) --- He wished to escape the fury of his enemies at Jerusalem. (Calmet) --- It is an old device of persecutors to lay false charges on the innocent, as Julian and the Arians did. (Hist. Tripart. 6:27.) (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 37:12 | And when he was come to the gate of Benjamin, the captain of the gate, who was there in his turn, was one named Jerias, the son of Selemias, the son of Hananias: and he took hold of Jeremias, the prophet, saying: Thou art fleeing to the Chaldeans. | |
| Jeremiah 37:13 | And Jeremias answered: It is not so; I am not fleeing to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Jerias took Jeremias, and brought him to the princes. | |
| Jeremiah 37:14 | Wherefore the princes were angry with Jeremias: and they beat him, and cast him into the prison that was in the house of Jonathan, the scribe; for he was chief over the prison. | Beat him, as a traitor and fugitive. --- Prison, very deep, ver. 19. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 37:15 | So Jeremias went into the house of the prison, and into the dungeon: and Jeremias remained there many days. | Prison. Literally, "lake or pit," (Haydock) such as was used to keep wine. Thus God tries his chosen friends, according to their strength! |
| Jeremiah 37:16 | Then Sedecias, the king, sending, took him: and asked him secretly in his house, and said: Is there, thinkest thou, any word from the Lord? And Jeremias said: There is. And he said: Thou shalt be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon. | |
| Jeremiah 37:17 | And Jeremias said to king Sedecias: In what have I offended against thee, or thy servants, or thy people, that thou hast cast me into prison? | |
| Jeremiah 37:18 | Where are your prophets that prophesied to you, and said: The king of Babylon shall not come against you, and against this land? | Prophets. He insults over these impostors, and speaks boldly. The Chaldeans were now returned, Jeremias 38. |
| Jeremiah 37:19 | Now therefore hear, I beseech thee, my lord the king; let my petition be accepted in thy sight; and send me not back into the house of Jonathan, the scribe, lest I die there. | Be. Hebrew, "fall prostrate," Jeremias 36:7. |
| Jeremiah 37:20 | Then king Sedecias commanded that Jeremias should be committed into the entry of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread, beside broth, till all the bread in the city was spent: and Jeremias remained in the entry of the prison. | Entry, where he had been already, Jeremias 32:1., and 34:1, 7. --- Piece. Roll, sufficient for a day's maintenance. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "a piece of bread (Septuagint, a loaf) out of the baker's street." (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 38:0 | The prophet, at the instance of the great men, is cast into a filthy dungeon: his is drawn out by Abdemelech, and has another conference with the king. | |
| Jeremiah 38:1 | Now *Saphatias, the son of Mathan, and Gedelias, the son of Phassur, and Juchal, the son of Selemias, and Phassur, the son of Melchias, heard the words that Jeremias spoke to all the people, saying: | Year of the World 3415, Year before Christ 589. And Phassur, the violent priest, Jeremias 20:1. --- People, who might come to the entry of the prison. |
| Jeremiah 38:2 | Thus saith the Lord: *Whosoever shall remain in this city, shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence: but he that shall go forth to the Chaldeans, shall live, and his life shall be safe, and he shall live. Jeremias 21:9. | Safe. Hebrew, "a booty," Jeremias 21:9. --- Septuagint, "like a thing found." (Calmet) --- The Hebrew idiom implies that he shall most surely live. Voluntary offerings prevent eternal misery. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 38:3 | Thus saith the Lord: This city shall surely be delivered into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it. | |
| Jeremiah 38:4 | And the princes said to the king: We beseech thee that this man may be put to death: for on purpose he weakeneth the hands of the men of war, that remain in this city, and the hands of the people, speaking to them according to these words: for this man seeketh not peace to this people, but evil. | |
| Jeremiah 38:5 | And king Sedecias said: Behold he is in your hands: for it is not lawful for the king to deny you any thing. | Lawful. This is a compliment, or Sedecias complains indirectly that they had only left him the name of king. He grieved at the treatment of the prophet. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 38:6 | Then they took Jeremias, and cast him into the dungeon of Melchias, the son of Amelech, which was in the entry of the prison: and they let down Jeremias by ropes into the dungeon, wherein there was no water, but mire. And Jeremias sunk into the mire. | Mire, up to the neck; so that he would soon have been smothered. (Josephus, Antiquities 10:10.) |
| Jeremiah 38:7 | Now Abdemelech, the Ethiopian, an eunuch that was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremias in the dungeon: but the king was sitting in the gate of Benjamin. | Eunuch. Officer over 30, ver. 10. (Haydock) --- He was afterwards rewarded, Jeremias 39:15. (Calmet) --- God moves some to pity the distressed, till he recompense their patience. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 38:8 | And Abdemelech went out of the king's house, and spoke to the king, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 38:9 | My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done against Jeremias, the prophet, casting him into the dungeon to die there with hunger, for there is no more bread in the city. | City. It was useless, therefore, to add the torment of the dungeon, since he must soon have perished. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 38:10 | Then the king commanded Abdemelech, the Ethiopian, saying: Take from hence thirty men with thee, and draw up Jeremias, the prophet, out of the dungeon, before he die. | |
| Jeremiah 38:11 | So Abdemelech, taking the men with him, went into the king's house that was under the storehouse; and he took from thence old rags, and old rotten things, and he let them down by cords to Jeremias, into the dungeon. | |
| Jeremiah 38:12 | And Abdemelech, the Ethiopian, said to Jeremias: Put these old rags, and these rent and rotten things, under thy arms, and upon the cords: and Jeremias did so. | Arms. He was probably naked. (Sanctius) |
| Jeremiah 38:13 | And they drew up Jeremias with the cords, and brought him forth out of the dungeon. And Jeremias remained in the entry of the prison. | |
| Jeremiah 38:14 | And king Sedecias sent, and took Jeremias, the prophet, to him to the third gate, that was in the house of the Lord: and the king said to Jeremias: I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me. | Third, or officers of the guard's gate, leading from the palace to the temple, 4 Kings 11:19. (Calmet) --- Hebrew hashelishi; (Haydock) the third denotes also an officer of the army. |
| Jeremiah 38:15 | Then Jeremias said to Sedecias: If I shall declare it to thee, wilt thou not put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, thou wilt not hearken to me. | |
| Jeremiah 38:16 | Then king Sedecias swore to Jeremias, in private, saying: As the Lord liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, nor will I deliver thee into the hands of these men that seek thy life. | |
| Jeremiah 38:17 | And Jeremias said to Sedecias: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If thou wilt take a resolution and go out to the princes of the king of Babylon, thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burnt with fire; and thou shalt be safe, and thy house. | King. He was at Reblatha. Though an usurper, he had claims upon Sedecias, whom he had appointed ruler, on his swearing to be faithful and to pay tribute. The prophet's advice was just. (Calmet) --- Even conditional prophecies are certain, and the king would have been treated differently if he had complied. But on his refusal, great misery ensued. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 38:18 | But if thou wilt not go out to the princes of the king of Babylon, this city shall be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire; and thou shalt not escape out of their hands. | |
| Jeremiah 38:19 | And king Sedecias said to Jeremias: I am afraid, because of the Jews that are fled over to the Chaldeans: lest I should be delivered into their hands, and they should abuse me. | Jews. Traitors, whom Sedecias had perhaps treated ill. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 38:20 | But Jeremias answered: They shall not deliver thee; hearken, I beseech thee, to the word of the Lord, which I speak to thee, and it shall be well with thee, and thy soul shall live. | |
| Jeremiah 38:21 | But if thou wilt not go forth, this is the word which the Lord hath shewn me: | |
| Jeremiah 38:22 | Behold, all the women that are left in the house of the king of Juda, shall be brought out to the princes of the king of Babylon: and they shall say: Thy men of peace have deceived thee, and have prevailed against thee, they have plunged thy feet in the mire, and in a slippery place, and they have departed from thee. | Say. At parting, bewailing thy blindness, which has entailed misery upon all. (Haydock) --- Of peace. That is, thy false friends, promising thee peace and happiness, and by their evil counsels involving thee in misery. (Challoner) --- Mire. He alludes to his own treatment, (Calmet) which he had received from these false counsellors or princes, ver. 4. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 38:23 | And all thy wives, and thy children, shall be brought out to the Chaldeans; and thou shalt not escape their hands, but thou shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon; and he shall burn this city with fire. | |
| Jeremiah 38:24 | Then Sedecias said to Jeremias: Let no man know these words, and thou shalt not die. | |
| Jeremiah 38:25 | But if the princes shall hear that I have spoken with thee, and shall come to thee, and say to thee: Tell us what thou hast said to the king, hide it not from us, and we will not kill thee: and also what the king said to thee: | |
| Jeremiah 38:26 | Thou shalt say to them: I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not command me to be carried back into the house of Jonathan, to die there. | There. This he had actually done, Jeremias 37:19. He perhaps renewed the petition, at this interview, to satisfy the king. (Haydock) --- We may conceal the truth, but must never speak what is false. (Calmet) --- "In a matter, says Puffendorf, which I am not obliged to declare to another, if I cannot with safety conceal the whole, I may fairly discover no more than a part." Who can require a privy counsellor to reveal the king's secret? Yet Paine accuses the prophet of duplicity! (Watson) |
| Jeremiah 38:27 | So all the princes came to Jeremias, and asked him: and he spoke to them according to all the words that the king had commanded him: and they left him: for nothing had been heard. | |
| Jeremiah 38:28 | But Jeremias remained in the entry of the prison, until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and it came to pass that Jerusalem was taken. | |
| Jeremiah 39:0 | After two years' siege, Jerusalem is taken. Sedecias is carried before Nabuchodonosor, who kills his sons in his sight, and then puts out his eyes. Jeremias is set at liberty. | |
| Jeremiah 39:1 | In the ninth year *of Sedecias, king of Juda, in the tenth month, came Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, and all his army to Jerusalem, and they besieged it. Jeremias 5:21.[?] | Year of the World 3414.; 4 Kings xxv. |
| Jeremiah 39:2 | And in the *eleventh year of Sedecias, in the fourth month, the fifth day of the month, the city was opened. | Year of the World 3416, Year before Christ 588. Fifth. The parallel passages and other editions read ninth. Some pretend that (Calmet) the city was taken on the 5th of the 4th month, and after being pillaged was burnt on the 7th (4 Kings 24:8.) or 10th of the 5th month, Jeremias 52:12. (Sanctius; Cornelius a Lapide) --- But the city was taken on the 9th of the 4th month, and Nabuzardan entered on the 7th of the 5th month, and burnt it and the temple on the 10th. (Salien, etc.) (Calmet) --- From the beginning of the siege (the year of the world 3414) to the end (the year 3416.; Usher), two years and a half elapsed. It was interrupted a short time. Two fasts are still observed by the Jews to deplore these events, Zacharias 7:3., and 8:19. |
| Jeremiah 39:3 | And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate: Neregel, Sereser, Semegarnabu, Sarsachim, Rabsares, Neregel, Sereser, Rebmag, and all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon. | Neregel, Sereser. Perhaps Nabuzardan should be read, (ver. 13.; Haydock) or these names are mentioned twice, probably by mistake of transcribers. The former was an idol; (4 Kings 17:30.) the latter word means "treasurer." (Calmet) --- (Protestants) Nergal-Sharezer seems to be one person, as in Septuagint, or "treasurer of Nergel." (Haydock) --- Samgar-nebu, was "prefect of the temple of Nabo." --- Sarsachim, "prince of the sacae, or Scythians." --- Rabsares, "master of the eunuchs," or officers within the palace. Such a one was employed by Sennacherib, 4 Kings 18:17. --- Rebmag, "chief of the magi," (Calmet) or "master of the camp." (Junius) --- These entered the first wall, chap 1:15., and Isaias 22:7. |
| Jeremiah 39:4 | And when Sedecias, the king of Juda, and all the men of war, saw them, they fled: and they went forth in the night out of the city, by the way of the king's garden, and by the gate that was between the two walls, and they went out to the way of the desert. | Walls. This gate had not yet been seized, (Calmet) leading to Jericho, ver. 5. (Haydock) (Ezechiel 12:4.) --- Roman Septuagint passes over the next 12 verses, which seem to be taken from 4 Kings 25:4. (Calmet) --- Grabe supplies ver. 4. to 13., inclusively. "And they sent," etc., which is well connected with ver. 3. --- The possession of one gate would let all the army enter: whereupon Sedecias fled by a postern gate. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 39:5 | But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them; and they took Sedecias in the plain of the desert of Jericho; and when they had taken him, they brought him to Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, to Reblatha, which is in the land of Emath: and he gave judgment upon him. | In the land, or environs of Emesa, in Syria. (Theodoret) --- Judgment. Reproaching him with perfidy and ingratitude. (Worthington) --- He slew the nobles, as his accomplices. |
| Jeremiah 39:6 | And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Sedecias, in Reblatha, before his eyes: and the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Juda. | |
| Jeremiah 39:7 | He also put out the eyes of Sedecias, and bound him with fetters, to be carried to Babylon. | |
| Jeremiah 39:8 | And the Chaldeans burnt the king's house, and the houses of the people, with fire; and they threw down the wall of Jerusalem. | |
| Jeremiah 39:9 | And Nabuzardan, the general of the army, carried away captive to Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and the fugitives that had gone over to him, and the rest of the people that remained. | Army. Hebrew, "slayers," denoting soldiers, cooks, and sacrificers, Genesis 37:36. --- Remained, having escaped the sword, etc. They had been spared when Joakim and Jechonias were taken. |
| Jeremiah 39:10 | But Nabuzardan, the general, left some of the poor people, that had nothing at all in the land of Juda, and he gave them vineyards and cisterns at that time. | Cisterns, and fields, 4 Kings 25:12. They were thus attached to the Chaldeans. |
| Jeremiah 39:11 | Now Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, had given charge to Nabuzardan, the general, concerning Jeremias, saying: | Had given, after the prisoners had got to Rama, Jeremias 40:1. |
| Jeremiah 39:12 | Take him, and set thy eyes upon him, and do him no harm; but as he hath a mind, so do with him. | |
| Jeremiah 39:13 | Therefore Nabuzardan, the general, sent; and Nabusezban, and Rabsares, and Neregel, and Sereser, and Rebmag, and all the nobles of the king of Babylon, | Nabusezban perhaps stand for Semegar, Nabu, and Sarsachim. The other four officers occur [in] ver. 3. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 39:14 | Sent, and took Jeremias out of the court of the prison, and committed him to Godolias, the son of Ahicam, the son of Saphan, that he might go home and dwell among the people. | Godolias. The Jews say he had gone over to assist the Chaldeans. (Tirinus) |
| Jeremiah 39:15 | But the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, when he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying: Go, and tell Abdemelech, the Ethiopian, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 39:16 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring my words upon this city unto evil, and not unto good: and they shall be accomplished in thy sight, in that day. | |
| Jeremiah 39:17 | And I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord; and thou shalt not be given into the hands of the men whom thou fearest: | |
| Jeremiah 39:18 | But delivering, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword; but thy life shall be saved for thee, because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord. | Saved. Hebrew, "a booty," Jeremias 21:9. Thus God rewards what is done to his servants, Matthew 25:40. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 40:0 | Jeremias remains with Godolias, the governor; who receives all the Jews that resort to him. | |
| Jeremiah 40:1 | The *word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, after that Nabuzardan, the general, had let him go from Rama, when he had taken him, being bound with chains, among all them that were carried away from Jerusalem and Juda, and were carried to Babylon. | Year of the World 3416. Word. This happened to Jeremias; (Raban) or the prophet rather interrupts what he was about to say, to let the reader know the state of affairs, when he was consulted about the journey into Egypt, Jeremias 42:9. --- Rama; probably in Benjamin, near Bethel, Judges 19:12. (Calmet) --- In this last part, Jeremias foretells what would befall the Jews in Egypt, and other nations. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 40:2 | And the general of the army taking Jeremias, said to him: The Lord, thy God, hath pronounced this evil upon this place. | |
| Jeremiah 40:3 | And he hath brought it: and the Lord hath done as he hath said: because you have sinned against the Lord, and have not hearkened to his voice, and this word is come upon you. | You, people of Juda. (Haydock) --- This pagan acknowledges that God had punished his people, (chap. 18:16.; Calmet) as Titus did at the last siege. (Josephus) (Haydock) --- He acknowledges the justice of God. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 40:4 | Now then, behold I have loosed thee this day from the chains which were upon thy hands: if it please thee to come with me to Babylon, come: and I will set my eyes upon thee: but if it do not please thee to come with me to Babylon, stay here: behold all the land is before thee, as thou shalt choose, and whither it shall please thee to go, thither go. | Eyes, with all kindness, Jeremias 39:12. (Haydock) --- Before thee. Thou hast liberty to choose, Genesis 13:9., and 20:15., and 24:51. |
| Jeremiah 40:5 | And come not with me: but dwell with Godolias, the son of Ahicam, the son of Saphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Juda: dwell, therefore, with him in the midst of the people: or whithersoever it shall please thee to go, go. And the general of the army gave him victuals and presents, and let him go. | And. Hebrew, "And as he (the people, or Godolias) will not return, dwell;" or, "He had not yet answered, when the general said: Return to Godolias." He perceived that the prophet was not desirous of going to Babylon; and he insinuated that such a step would not be for his advantage, as the captives would not return. --- Presents. He had been plundered like the rest. |
| Jeremiah 40:6 | And Jeremias went to Godolias, the son of Ahicam, to Masphath: and dwelt with him in the midst of the people, that were left in the land. | Masphath; because it was near Jerusalem, and an ancient place of devotion. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 40:7 | And when all the captains of the army that were scattered through the countries, they and their companions, had heard that the king of Babylon had made Godolias, the son of Ahicam, governor of the country, and that he had committed unto him men and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, them that had not been carried away captive to Babylon: | Captains, who had fled from Sedecias, and effected their escape. (Josephus, Antiquities 10:11.) |
| Jeremiah 40:8 | They came to Godolias, to Masphath: and Ismahel, the son of Nathanias, and Johanan, and Jonathan, the sons of Caree, and Sareas, the son of Thanehumeth, and the children of Ophi, that were of Netophathi, and Jezonias, the son of Maachati, they and their men. | |
| Jeremiah 40:9 | *And Godolias, the son of Ahicam, the son of Saphan, swore to them, and to their companions, saying: Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. 4 Kings 25:24. | With you. They might naturally suspect Godolias, and think that the Chaldeans would seize them as soon as they should know of their escape. |
| Jeremiah 40:10 | Behold, I dwell in Masphath, that I may answer the commandment of the Chaldeans that are sent to us; but as for you, gather ye the vintage, and the harvest, and the oil, and lay it up in your vessels, and abide in your cities which you hold. | Answer. Hebrew, "stand before," as minister (Haydock) for the Chaldeans. You need not be jealous of my power; and I can answer that they will not hurt you, provided you continue quiet. (Calmet) --- He promises to act in behalf of the people, as a governor ought to do. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 40:11 | Moreover, all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and in all the countries, when they heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judea, and that he had made Godolias, the son of Ahicam, the son of Saphan ruler over them: | Countries. They had fled to avoid the taxes, etc., but found no redress, Lamentations 1:3. |
| Jeremiah 40:12 | All the Jews, I say, returned out of all the places to which they had fled, and they came into the land of Juda, to Godolias, to Masphath; and they gathered wine, and a very great harvest. | |
| Jeremiah 40:13 | Then Johanan, the son of Caree, and all the captains of the army, that had been scattered about the countries, came to Godolias, to Masphath. | Came, having discovered the design of Ismahel, whose ambition prompted him to murder the governor, that he might reign: as he was of the royal family, Jeremias 41:1. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 40:14 | And they said to him: Know that Baalis, the king of the children of Ammon, hath sent Ismahel, the son of Nathanias, to kill thee. And Godolias, the son of Ahicam, believed them not. | Baalis. Queen. (Grotius) --- The Ammonites sought the entire ruin of the Jews. |
| Jeremiah 40:15 | But Johanan, the son of Caree, spoke to Godolias privately in Masphath, saying: I will go, and I will kill Ismahel, the son of Nathanias, and no man shall know it, lest he kill thee, and all the Jews be scattered, that are gathered unto thee, and the remnant of Juda perish. | |
| Jeremiah 40:16 | And Godolias, the son of Ahicam, said to Johanan, the son of Caree: Do not this thing: for what thou sayest of Ismahel is false. | Do not. He did right in forbidding this assassination, which could never be authorized, even to prevent a similar crime. Godolias should have taken precautions: but he was too open, (Calmet) like Eumenes. (Grotius) |
| Jeremiah 41:0 | Godolias is slain: the Jews that were with him are apprehensive of the Chaldeans. | |
| Jeremiah 41:1 | And *it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ismahel, the son of Nathanias, the son of Elisama, of the royal blood, and the nobles of the king, and ten men with him, came to Godolias, the son of Ahicam, into Masphath: and they eat bread there together in Masphath. | Year of the World 3417, Year before Christ 587. Month; Tisri, the third of which is still observed as a fast by the Jews. (Calmet) --- Godolias had given a supper to the traitors, and had drunk plentifully. They set upon him while he and the people were retired to rest. (Josephus, Antiquities 10:11.) --- This happened two months after the burning of Jerusalem, Jeremias 29:2. Nabuchodonosor soon after punished this perfidy of the Ammonites. (Calmet) --- Bread: feasted. (Haydock) --- Such tragedies are usually performed with the show of friendship. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 41:2 | And Ismahel, the son of Nathanias, arose, and the ten men that were with him, and they struck Godolias, the son of Ahicam, the son of Saphan, with the sword, and slew him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land. | |
| Jeremiah 41:3 | Ismahel slew also all the Jews that were with Godolias in Masphath, and the Chaldeans that were found there, and the soldiers. | |
| Jeremiah 41:4 | And on the second day after he had killed Godolias, no man yet knowing it, | Second, or next day. All had been slain in the night but some captives. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 41:5 | There came some from Sichem, and from Silo, and from Samaria, fourscore men, with their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and mourning: and they had offerings and incense in their hand, to offer in the house of the Lord. | Rent, as people mourning. Literally, "dirty." Hebrew and Septuagint, "cut." (Haydock) (Chap. 16:6., and Leviticus 19:28.) --- Lord, at Masphath, where people performed their devotions, as well as they could, Judges 20:1., and 1 Machabees 3:46.) Jeremias had probably ordered an altar to be erected, as Samuel had done, 1 Kings 7:6. (Calmet) --- Others think that these people went thither for a priest, to offer what they had brought on the altar of Jerusalem, Baruch 1:10. (Tirinus) --- Masphath lay to the south. (Calmet) --- It seems many of the people about Samaria were true believers, and even more affected at the destruction of the temple. (Haydock) --- Their city had been demolished by Salmanasar (Calmet) long before, and many fresh inhabitants introduced, who adhered to idols. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 41:6 | And Ismahel, the son of Nathanias, went forth from Masphath to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and when he had met them, he said to them: Come to Godolias, the son of Ahicam. | He. Septuagint, "they." Yet Hebrew intimates that Ismahel feigned tears. (Calmet) --- He did not weep sincerely. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 41:7 | And when they were come to the midst of the city, Ismahel, the son of Nathanias, slew them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he and the men that were with him. | Into. Literally, "slew them about the," etc. (Haydock) --- The pit was not full of water, but had been intended by Asa for a reservoir, (ver. 9., and 3 Kings 15:20.; Calmet) when he built Maspha. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 41:8 | But ten men were found among them, that said to Ismahel : Kill us not; for we have stores in the field, of wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey. And he forbore, and slew them not with their brethren. | Field. It was usual to cover them up carefully. (Chardin.) --- Avarice sometimes will set bounds to cruelty, when nothing else will. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 41:9 | And the pit into which Ismahel cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he slew, because of Godolias, is the same that king Asa made, for fear of Baasa, the king of Israel: the same did Ismahel, the son of Nathanias fill, with them that were slain. | |
| Jeremiah 41:10 | Then Ismahel carried away captive all the remnant of the people that were in Masphath: the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Masphath; whom Nabuzardan, the general of the army, had committed to Godolias, the son of Ahicam. And Ismahel, the son of Nathanias, took them, and he departed, to go over to the children of Ammon. | King's; Sedecias, (Calmet) or some of his predecessors, as all the women were taken, (chap. 38:22, 23.) unless those had escaped before. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 41:11 | But Johanan, the son of Caree, and all the captains of the fighting men that were with him, heard of the evil that Ismahel, the son of Nathanias, had done. | Johanan. He and the rest of the fugitives thus shewed that they were clea[][clear?]. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 41:12 | And taking all the men, they went out to fight against Ismahel, the son of Nathanias, and they found him by the great waters that are in Gabaon. | Gabaon, famous for the battle of Abner, 2 Kings 2:13. |
| Jeremiah 41:13 | And when all the people that were with Ismahel, had seen Johanan, the son of Caree, and all the captains of the fighting men that were with him, they rejoiced. | |
| Jeremiah 41:14 | And all the people whom Ismahel had taken, went back to Masphath: and they returned and went to Johanan, the son of Caree. | |
| Jeremiah 41:15 | But Ismahel, the son of Nathanias, fled with eight men, from the face of Johanan, and went to the children of Ammon. | Eight. He had brought ten, ver. 1. |
| Jeremiah 41:16 | Then Johanan, the son of Caree, and all the captains of the soldiers that were with him, took all the remnant of the people whom they had recovered from Ismahel, the son of Nathanias, from Masphath, after that he had slain Godolias, the son of Ahicam: valiant men for war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gabaon: | Eunuchs; officers of Sedecias, who had escaped, Jeremias 40:9. |
| Jeremiah 41:17 | And they departed, and sat as sojourners in Chamaam, which is near Bethlehem: in order to go forward, and enter into Egypt, | As. Hebrew, "at the station or inn of Chamaam," the son of Berzellai. (Chaldean) Perhaps our Saviour was born in this (Calmet) "inn," (Eusebius, Dem. 7:4.) which was then deserted. (Haydock) --- Egypt. These poor wretches find no repose. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 41:18 | From the face of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ismahel, the son of Nathanias, had slain Godolias, the son of Ahicam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor in the land of Juda. | |
| Jeremiah 42:0 | Jeremias assures the remnant of the people, that if they will stay in Juda, they shall be safe: but if they go down into Egypt, they shall perish. | |
| Jeremiah 42:1 | Then *all the captains of the warriors, and Johanan, the son of Caree, and Jezonias, the son of Osaias, and the rest of the people, from the least to the greatest, came near: | Year of the World 3417. |
| Jeremiah 42:2 | And they said to Jeremias, the prophet: Let our supplication fall before thee: and pray thou for us to the Lord, thy God, for all this remnant, for we are left but a few of many, as thy eyes do behold us. | Pray; consult, ver. 4., and Jeremias 37:3. (Haydock) --- Few; comparatively, though there was a great number, Jeremias 43:5. |
| Jeremiah 42:3 | And let the Lord, thy God, shew us the way by which we may walk, and the thing that we must do. | |
| Jeremiah 42:4 | And Jeremias, the prophet, said to them: I have heard you: behold I will pray to the Lord, your God, according to your words: and whatsoever thing he shall answer me, I will declare it to you: and I will hide nothing from you. | |
| Jeremiah 42:5 | And they said to Jeremias: The Lord be witness between us of truth and faithfulness, if we do not according to every thing for which the Lord, thy God, shall send thee to us. | Witness. Jeremias knew their fickle temper. They will obey, only if God comply with their desires. (Calmet) --- They began with piety, but soon refused to obey the directions given, Jeremias 43:2. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 42:6 | Whether it be good or evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord, our God, to whom we send thee: that it may be well with us when we shall hearken to the voice of the Lord, our God. | Good or evil. That is, agreeable or disagreeable. (Challoner) --- It would have been well for them if they had been sincere, (ver. 10.; Haydock) and determined to comply whether the prophet announced prosperity or the reverse. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 42:7 | Now, after ten days, the word of the Lord came to Jeremias. | Days. The Spirit breathes where he will, and the prophets must wait his good time. Jeremias prayed for ten days in that place. He now resumes his discourse, Jeremias 40:1. |
| Jeremiah 42:8 | And he called Johanan, the son of Caree, and all the captains of the fighting men that were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest. | |
| Jeremiah 42:9 | And he said to them: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me, to present your supplications before him: | |
| Jeremiah 42:10 | If you will be quiet and remain in this land, I will build you up, and not pull you down: I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for now I am appeased for the evil that I have done to you. | Appeased. Hebrew, "comforted." Septuagint, "at rest." I forget (Calmet) or pardon (Haydock) the past. |
| Jeremiah 42:11 | Fear not, because of the king of Babylon, of whom you are greatly afraid: fear him not, saith the Lord; for I am with you, to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. | |
| Jeremiah 42:12 | And I will shew mercies to you, and will take pity on you, and will cause you to dwell in your own land. | And will. Hebrew, "and he will." The king will take pity on you. --- Dwell. Septuagint, "return;" which is less correct. |
| Jeremiah 42:13 | But if you say: We will not dwell in this land, neither will we hearken to the voice of the Lord our God, | |
| Jeremiah 42:14 | Saying: No, but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor suffer hunger: and there we will dwell. | |
| Jeremiah 42:15 | For this now hear the word of the Lord, ye remnant of Juda: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to go into Egypt, and enter in to dwell there: | Faces; obstinately, ver. 17., and Jeremias 44:12. |
| Jeremiah 42:16 | The sword which you fear, shall overtake you there, in the land of Egypt: and the famine, whereof you are afraid, shall cleave to you in Egypt, and there you shall die. | |
| Jeremiah 42:17 | And all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt, to dwell there, shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence: none of them shall remain, nor escape from the face of the evil that I will bring upon them. | |
| Jeremiah 42:18 | For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: As my anger and my indignation hath been kindled against the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my indignation be kindled against you, when you shall enter into Egypt, and you shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more. | Kindled. Hebrew, "hath dropped," 2 Paralipomenon 12:7. --- Curse. People can wish no greater misery to their enemies. (Calmet) --- They shall be execrated, Isaias 65:15. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 42:19 | This is the word of the Lord concerning you, O ye remnant of Juda: Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have adjured you this day. | |
| Jeremiah 42:20 | For you have deceived your own souls; for you sent me to the Lord our God, saying: Pray for us to the Lord our God, and according to all that the Lord our God shall say to thee, so declare unto us, and we will do it. | Deceived. Septuagint, "done ill in your souls." Your intention was bad. You thought that I should speak conformably to your wishes. (Calmet) --- He saw by the prophetic light, or by their deportment, that they were bent on going. (Haydock) --- They were doubly guilty in neither observing their promise nor obeying God's decree. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 42:21 | And now I have declared it to you this day, and you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, with regard to all the things for which he hath sent me to you. | |
| Jeremiah 42:22 | Now, therefore, know certainly that you shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence in the place to which you desire to go to dwell there. | |
| Jeremiah 43:0 | The Jews, contrary to the orders of God, by the prophet, go into Egypt, carrying Jeremias with them. He foretells the devastation of that land by the king of Babylon. | |
| Jeremiah 43:1 | And *it came to pass, that when Jeremias had made an end of speaking to the people all the words of the Lord their God, for which the Lord their God had sent him to them, all these words: | Year of the World 3417. |
| Jeremiah 43:2 | Azarias, the son of Osaias, and Johanan, the son of Caree, and all the proud men, made answer, saying, to Jeremias: Thou tellest a lie; the Lord our God hath not sent thee, saying: Go not into Egypt, to dwell there. | Proud and headstrong. (Calmet) --- Sinful people easily become worse. They are guilty of calumny, and comply not with their promise, Jeremias 42:5. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 43:3 | But Baruch, the son of Nerias, setteth thee on against us, to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, to kill us, and to cause us to be carried away captives to Babylon. | Baruch. He had been at Babylon, and was liberated with Jeremias, always speaking with moderation of the king of Babylon, and exhorting the people to submission. This was enough to make the populace suspect. They are incapable of reasoning. |
| Jeremiah 43:4 | So Johanan, the son of Caree, and all the captains of the soldiers, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Juda. | |
| Jeremiah 43:5 | But Johanan, the son of Caree, and all the captains of the soldiers, took all the remnant of Juda, that were returned out of all nations, to which they had before been scattered, to dwell in the land of Juda: | |
| Jeremiah 43:6 | Men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters, and every soul, which Nabuzardan, the general, had left with Godolias, the son of Ahicam, the son of Saphan, and Jeremias, the prophet, and Baruch, the son of Nerias. | And Baruch, by compulsion. (Worthington) (Calmet) --- Hence God did not cease to speak by their mouth. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 43:7 | And they went into the land of Egypt, for they obeyed not the voice of the Lord: and they came as far as Taphnis. | |
| Jeremiah 43:8 | And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, in Taphnis, saying: | Taphnis, or Daphnae Pelusiae, sixteen miles from Pelusium, (Antonin.) the Hanes of Isaias, (xxx. 4.) and key of Egypt. It was a royal city. |
| Jeremiah 43:9 | Take great stones in thy hand, and thou shalt hide them in the vault that is under the brick wall at the gate of Pharao's house in Taphnis: in the sight of the men of Juda. | Wall; kiln, or court. (Hebrew) Justice was administered at the gate, and the magnificent throne of Solomon was placed in the court or porch, 3 Kings 10:18. (Calmet) --- The prophet preaches by facts, laying great stones in the chief city, Jeremias 19:10. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 43:10 | And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send, and take Nabuchodonosor, the king of Babylon, my servant; and I will set his throne over these stones which I have hid, and he shall set his throne over them. | Servant. The greatest monarchs only execute God's decrees. |
| Jeremiah 43:11 | And he shall come and strike the land of Egypt: such as are for death, to death; and such as are for captivity, to captivity; and such as are for the sword, to the sword. | |
| Jeremiah 43:12 | And he shall kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them, and he shall carry them away captives; and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace. | Temples. Hebrew also, "the palaces of the princes," as temples occur below. --- Captives. The idols share the fate of their votaries, Jeremias 48:7. --- Array; or Hebrew, "cover with soldiers the land." Septuagint, "he shall cleanse (Calmet) or destroy." (Bochart) |
| Jeremiah 43:13 | And he shall break the statues of the house of the sun, that are in the land of Egypt; and the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire. | Sun. Septuagint, "of Heliopolis," where the largest temple of the sun was seen. Egypt was famous for its obelisks, erected by Pheron, successor of Sesostris. Some have been removed to Rome. --- Fire. History does not specify the particulars: but we may judge how the conqueror would treat these temples, etc., from what Xerxes and Ochus did afterwards. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 44:0 | The prophet's admonition to the Jews, in Egypt, against idolatry, is not regarded: he denounces to them their destruction. | |
| Jeremiah 44:1 | The word that came to Jeremias, concerning all the Jews that dwelt in the land of Egypt, dwelling in Magdal, and in Taphnis, and in Memphis, and in the land of Phatures, saying: | Magdal, the third station of the Israelites, (Exodus 14:2.) or another "tower" twelve miles from Pelusium, Jeremias 46:14. --- Memphis, the capital of Nome, near the western banks of the Nile, and famous for its pyramids, which are standing, though the town be no more, Jeremias 46:19. --- Phatures; perhaps in higher Egypt. Jeremias might go or send to these cities, this his last prediction, (Calmet) to reclaim his countrymen from idolatry. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 44:2 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all this evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Juda; and behold they are desolate this day, and there is not an inhabitant in them: | Inhabitant: or the number is exceedingly small. (Calmet) --- All the Jews had retired. (Haydock) --- It would be well if people would reflect, how those who have given way to heresy and infidelity have been treated. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 44:3 | Because of the wickedness which they have committed, to provoke me to wrath, and to go and offer sacrifice, and worship other gods, which neither they, nor you, nor your fathers knew. | |
| Jeremiah 44:4 | And I sent to you all my servants, the prophets, rising early, and sending, and saying: Do not commit this abominable thing, which I hate. | |
| Jeremiah 44:5 | But they heard not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their evil ways, and not to sacrifice to strange gods. | |
| Jeremiah 44:6 | Wherefore my indignation and my fury was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem: and they are turned to desolation and waste, as at this day. | Forth, drop by drop, Jeremias 42:18. I have repeatedly warned them by punishments. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 44:7 | And now thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil against your own souls, that there should die of you man and woman, child and suckling, out of the midst of Juda, and no remnant should be left you: | |
| Jeremiah 44:8 | In that you provoke me to wrath with the works of your hands, by sacrificing to other gods, in the land of Egypt, into which you are come to dwell there: and that you should perish, and be a curse, and a reproach to all the nations of the earth? | Gods. Their blindness and malice was inconceivable. They attribute their past miseries to the neglect of worshipping the moon! ver. 18. They may be compared to a mixture of iron and brass, which is put through the crucible in vain, Jeremias 6:29., and Ezechiel 22:18. |
| Jeremiah 44:9 | Have you forgotten the evils of your fathers, and the evils of the kings of Juda, and the evils of their wives, and your evils, and the evils of your wives, that they have done in the land of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem? | |
| Jeremiah 44:10 | They are not cleansed even to this day; neither have they feared, nor walked in the law of the Lord, nor in my commandments, which I set before you and your fathers. | |
| Jeremiah 44:11 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: *Behold, I will set my face upon you for evil; and I will destroy all Juda. Amos 9:4. | Face, to punish grievously, Ezechiel 4:3., and 20:35. (Calmet) --- All did not perish, but the far greatest part, ver. 14, 28. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 44:12 | And I will take the remnant of Juda that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt, and to dwell there: and they shall be all consumed in the land of Egypt: they shall fall by the sword, and by the famine: and they shall be consumed, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword, and by the famine shall they die: and they shall be for an execration, and for a wonder, and for a curse, and for a reproach. | |
| Jeremiah 44:13 | And I will visit them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have visited Jerusalem by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence. | |
| Jeremiah 44:14 | And there shall be none that shall escape, and remain, of the remnant of the Jews that are gone to sojourn in the land of Egypt: and that shall return into the land of Juda, to which they have a desire to return, to dwell there: there shall none return but they that shall flee. | Desire and expectation, Jeremias 22:27. They meant to return as soon as the Chaldeans had left the country: but their hopes were vain. The enemy would fall upon Egypt, after he had taken Tyre and the neighbouring provinces; and those who had not abandoned that country in time, would perish, ver. 12, 26. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 44:15 | Then all the men that knew that their wives sacrificed to other gods: and all the women, of whom there stood by a great multitude, and all the people of them that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Phatures, answered Jeremias, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 44:16 | As for the word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken to thee: | |
| Jeremiah 44:17 | But we will certainly do every word that shall proceed out of our own mouth, to sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings to her, as we and our fathers have done, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem: and we were filled with bread, and it was well with us, and we saw no evil. | The queen of heaven; the moon, which they worshipped under this name, (Challoner) as also under that of the Celestial Venus, (Theodoret) Diana, and Isis. It seems the Jews had engaged by vow (ver. 27.) to restore her worship. (Calmet) --- The women more particularly adored the moon: yet all were guilty, Jeremias 7:18., and 4 Kings 23:5. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 44:18 | But since we left off to offer sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings to her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword, and by famine. | Famine. They think nothing of the transgression of the law, etc., ver. 23. Could obduracy and blindness go greater lengths? (1 Machabees 1:12.) |
| Jeremiah 44:19 | And if we offer sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and pour out drink-offerings to her: did we make cakes to worship her, to pour out drink-offerings to her, without our husbands? | Worship. Hebrew, "to represent." The cakes had a crescent on them. (Calmet) See Hesychius in selenai. --- Husbands. The women are most zealous. But all partook of this idolatry, Jeremias 7:18. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 44:20 | And Jeremias spoke to all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying: | |
| Jeremiah 44:21 | Was it not the sacrifice that you offered in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, which the Lord hath remembered, and hath it not entered into his heart? | Heart, or mind to punish you for idolatry. Sacrifice could be offered to the Lord only in his temple. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 44:22 | So that the Lord could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed: therefore your land is become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day. | |
| Jeremiah 44:23 | Because you have sacrificed to idols, and have sinned against the Lord: and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have not walked in his law, and in his commandments, and in his testimonies: therefore are these evils come upon you, as at this day. | |
| Jeremiah 44:24 | And Jeremias said to all the people, and to all the women: Hear ye the word of the Lord, all Juda, you that dwell in the land of Egypt: | |
| Jeremiah 44:25 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: You and your wives have spoken with your mouth, and fulfilled with your hands, saying: Let us perform our vows which we have made, to offer sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings to her: you have fulfilled your vows, and have performed them indeed. | |
| Jeremiah 44:26 | Therefore, hear ye the word of the Lord, all Juda, you that dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold I have sworn by my great name, saith the Lord: that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Juda, in the land of Egypt, saying: The Lord God liveth. | Liveth. They swore by his name as well as by that of idols. God could not abide such company. (Calmet) --- Not one of these obstinate Jews shall be spared, ver. 14. Others, like Jeremias, the Septuagint [translators], and the holy family[Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph], no doubt called upon the Lord in the land of Egypt. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 44:27 | Behold I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Juda that are in the land of Egypt, shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine, till there be an end of them. | |
| Jeremiah 44:28 | And a few men that shall flee from the sword, shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Juda: and all the remnant of Juda that are gone into the land of Egypt, to dwell there, shall know, whose word shall stand, mine, or theirs. | |
| Jeremiah 44:29 | And this shall be a sign to you, saith the Lord, that I will punish you in this place: that you may know that my words shall be accomplished indeed against you for evil. | |
| Jeremiah 44:30 | Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will deliver Pharao Ephree, king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life: as I delivered Sedecias, king of Juda, into the hand of Nabuchodonosor, the king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life. | Enemies. Herodotus (II. 161, 169.) informs us that Apries reigned fortunately twenty-five years, when he lost many of his men fighting against the Cyreneans, and was dethroned by Amasis, and strangled by his subjects. Usher (the year of the world 3433) suspects that Amasis was assisted and confirmed by Nabuchodonosor, and he might thus fulfill the prophecies, Jeremias 43:11., etc., and Ezechiel xxix., etc. Josephus (Antiquities 10:11.) and Berosus (contra Apion i.) assert, that Nabuchodonosor defeated and slew the king of Egypt, though Herodotus is silent on this subject, his account being communicated by the Egyptian priests, and full of fables. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 45:0 | The prophet comforts Baruch in his affliction. | |
| Jeremiah 45:1 | The word that Jeremias, the prophet, spoke to Baruch, the son of Nerias, when he had written there words in a book, out of the mouth of Jeremias, in the fourth year of Joakim, the son of Josias, king of Juda, saying: | Book, which Joakim burnt, and sought the life of the prophets, Jeremias 36. (Calmet) --- Baruch apprised of the general distress, weeps for it, and his life is spared. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 45:2 | Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, to thee, Baruch: | |
| Jeremiah 45:3 | Thou hast said: Woe is me, wretch that I am, for the Lord hath added sorrow to my sorrow; I am wearied with my groans, and I find no rest. | |
| Jeremiah 45:4 | Thus saith the Lord: Thus shalt thou say to him: Behold, them whom I have built, I do destroy; and them whom I have planted, I do pluck up, and all this land. | |
| Jeremiah 45:5 | And dost thou seek great things for thyself ? Seek not; for behold I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord: but I will give thee thy life, and save thee in all places whithersoever thou shalt go. | Great: the spirit of prophecy; (Rabbins) or rather to be exempted from suffering, while all the neighbouring nations were perishing. (Calmet) --- And save. Literally, "for salvation." Hebrew, "booty." (Haydock) --- He seems to have been set at liberty with his master, Jeremias 40:1. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 46:0 | A prophecy against Egypt. The Jews shall return from captivity. | |
| Jeremiah 46:1 | The word of the Lord, that came to Jeremias, the prophet, against the Gentiles, | Gentiles, to whom Jeremias was sent, Jeremias 1:5. What follows regards them, (Calmet) if we except the last chapter. (Haydock) --- It was thought proper to place these predictions here, though out of their chronological order, to which the Septuagint have more adhered, placing them after Jeremias 25. (Calmet) --- The punishment of the chief enemies of the Jews is foretold. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 46:2 | Against Egypt, against the army of Pharao Nechao, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates, in Charcamis, whom Nabuchodonosor, the king of Babylon, defeated, in the fourth year *of Joakim, the son of Josias, king of Juda. | Year of the World 3397, Year before Christ 607. Nechao. He slew Josias, and took all as far as Charcamis, 4 Kings xxiii. Four years after Nabopolasser associated his son, and sent him to conquer these countries, which he effected, 4 Kings 24:7. (Josephus) |
| Jeremiah 46:3 | Prepare ye the shield and buckler, and go forth to battle. | Prepare Egyptians, the enemy is at hand. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 46:4 | Harness the horses, and get up, ye horsemen; stand forth with helmets, furbish the spears, put on coats of mail. | |
| Jeremiah 46:5 | What then? I have seen them dismayed, and turning their backs, their valiant ones slain: they fled apace, and they looked not back: terror was round about, saith the Lord. | Seen. The prophets usually speak as if things were already past. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 46:6 | Let not the swift flee away, nor the strong think to escape: they are overthrown, and fallen down, towards the north, by the river Euphrates. | Away. It will be in vain. (Calmet) --- Nechao went to defend Charcamis, but lost "many myriads in the battle," and all the country "as far as Pelusium, except Judea." (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 10:7.) |
| Jeremiah 46:7 | Who is this that cometh up as a flood: and his streams swell like those of rivers? | Rivers. He alludes to the Nile. The king of Egypt had a numerous army. |
| Jeremiah 46:8 | Egypt riseth up like a flood, and the waves thereof shall be moved as rivers, and he shall say: I will go up, and will cover the earth: I will destroy the city and its inhabitants. | City; Babylon, and every fort which shall oppose my progress. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 46:9 | Get ye up on horses, and glory in chariots, and let the valiant men come forth, the Ethiopians, and the Lybians, that hold the shield, and the Lydians that take, and shoot arrows. | Men. Soldiers formed one of the principal classes among the Egyptians. (Herodotus 2:164.) --- Ethiopians. Hebrew, "Cush," in Lower Egypt, on the Red Sea. --- Lybians. Hebrew, "Phut, another son of Cham, inhabiting the Nome Phtenethu," Ezechiel 30:5., and Nahum 3:2. --- Lydians. Their situation is not known. |
| Jeremiah 46:10 | For this is the day of the Lord, the God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may revenge himself of his enemies: the sword shall devour, and shall be filled, and shall be drunk with their blood: for there is a sacrifice of the Lord God of hosts in the north country, by the river Euphrates. | Devour. It seems animated, and eager to slay the victim, Ezechiel 39:17. |
| Jeremiah 46:11 | Go up into Galaad, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain dost thou multiply medicines, there shall be no cure for thee. | Of Egypt; or ye Egyptians, who have been wounded. The balm (Haydock) or resina of Galaad was then very famous, Genesis 37:25. (Calmet) --- Egypt thought itself invulnerable, and is derided. Its cure was hopeless, ver. 16. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 46:12 | The nations have heard of thy disgrace, and thy howling hath filled the land: for the strong hath stumbled against the strong, and both are fallen together. | |
| Jeremiah 46:13 | The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremias, the prophet, how Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, should come and strike the land of Egypt: | Egypt, under Apries, about thirty-five years after the former expedition, Jeremias 44:30., and Ezechiel xxix., and xxxi. This country was invaded the last, ver. 14. |
| Jeremiah 46:14 | Declare ye to Egypt, and publish in Magdal, *and let it be known in Memphis, and in Taphnis: say ye: Stand up, and prepare thyself: for the sword shall devour all round about thee. Jeremias 44:1. | |
| Jeremiah 46:15 | Why are thy valiant men come to nothing? they stood not: because the Lord hath overthrown them, | Men. Literally, "man." Hebrew abir, (Haydock) where Apis has been perhaps formed. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "Why has Apis (Complutensian omits this word) fled from thee? thy calf, thy chosen one has not remained." (Haydock) --- He derides the chief idol of Egypt; or he alludes to those who fell at Charcamis, or rather who fled after they had come out to assist Sedecias, Jeremias 37:5., and Ezechiel 30:21. |
| Jeremiah 46:16 | He hath multiplied them that fall, and one hath fallen upon another, and they shall say: Arise, and let us return to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the sword of the dove. | Dove. Hebrew also, "of the destroyer." Septuagint, "Greeks," or Ionians. (Calmet) --- See Jeremias 25:35. (Challoner) --- Nebuchodonosor came with expedition, or had a dove on his standards. (Menochius) |
| Jeremiah 46:17 | Call ye the name of Pharao, king of Egypt, a tumult time hath brought. | Pharao. Septuagint add, "Nechao." But Apries seems rather to be meant. (Calmet) --- A. Hebrew shaon hehebir hamohed. Protestants, "is but a noise, he hath passed the time appointed;" (Haydock) or, "the height which the crowd (or God, who raised) hath displaced." (Calmet) --- Septuagint retain the original: but the middle word varies in their copies. (Haydock) --- All the boasts of Pharao ended in smoke. He lost the proper opportunity, and caused his own kingdom to be laid waste. Syriac, "the disturber, who deranges the times." (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 46:18 | As I live (saith the king, whose name is the Lord of hosts) as Thabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come. | He, the destroyer; (ver. 16.) or "it," my word (Haydock) shall surely stand as long as the mountains, (Calmet) yea, longer than heaven and earth. (Haydock) --- My decrees shall be put in execution in spite of the efforts of man. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 46:19 | Furnish thyself to go into captivity, thou daughter inhabitant of Egypt: for Memphis shall be made desolate, and shall be forsaken and uninhabited. | Furnish. Literally, "make thyself vessels of captivity," or pack up what thou mayst want there. (Haydock) (Ezechiel 12:3., and 29:11.) --- Many returned under Cyrus, ver. 26. |
| Jeremiah 46:20 | Egypt is like a fair and beautiful heifer: there shall come from the north one that shall goad her. | Goad her. Nabuchodonosor shall subdue the country. |
| Jeremiah 46:21 | Her hirelings also that lived in the midst of her, like fatted calves are turned back, and are fled away together, and they could not stand: for the day of their slaughter is come upon them, the time of their visitation. | Hirelings. Apries had thirty thousand Carians, etc., who were defeated by Amasis. (Herodotus 2:163.) |
| Jeremiah 46:22 | Her voice shall sound like brass, for they shall hasten with an army, and with axes they shall come against her, as hewers of wood. | Brass. Septuagint, "hissing serpent;" lamenting in secret, Isaias 29:4. --- Wood. Battle-axes were then used. Great cities and monarchs shall fall, Zacharias 11:2., and Ezechiel 31:3. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 46:23 | They have cut down her forest, saith the Lord, which cannot be counted: they are multiplied above locusts, and are without number. | Above, or "more than locusts," (Haydock) which destroy all herbs where they light. |
| Jeremiah 46:24 | The daughter of Egypt is confounded, and delivered into the hand of the people of the north. | |
| Jeremiah 46:25 | The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, hath said: Behold, I will visit upon the tumult of Alexandria, and upon Pharao, and upon Egypt, and upon her gods, and upon her kings, and upon Pharao, upon them that trust in him. | Visit upon. That is, punish. --- Alexandria. In the Hebrew No; which was the ancient name of the city, to which Alexander [the Great] gave afterwards the name of Alexandria; (Challoner) or this city was built near Rachotes, the harbour. "Ammon of No" was rather Diospolis, (Ezechiel 30:14.; Septuagint) in the [Nile] Delta, north of Busiris. Ammon was the chief god adored at No, Nahum 3:8. Alexandrian Septuagint, "I will revenge myself on Ammon, her son, on Egypt, or Pharao, and on them." (Haydock) --- Ammon was of their invention, and for this the people were justly punished. It means also, "a multitude." --- Kings. Jeremias 42:12. Apries was slain, (chap. 44:33.; Calmet) and his two successors perished miserably by sentence of Cambyses. (Herodotus 3:14, 16.) |
| Jeremiah 46:26 | And I will deliver them into the hand of them that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterwards it shall be inhabited *as in the days of old, saith the Lord. Ezechiel 29:13. | Afterwards, forty years being expired (Ezechiel 29:14.) from the time when Apries made his unsuccessful attack on Cyrene, and his subjects revolted. |
| Jeremiah 46:27 | *And thou, my servant, Jacob, fear not and be not thou dismayed, O Israel: for behold I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed out of the land of thy captivity: and Jacob shall return, and be at rest, and prosper: and there shall be none to terrify him. Isaias 43:1.; Isaias 44:2. | Off from all countries, (Calmet) particularly from Egypt; (Haydock) on occasion of which country's deliverance, that of Jacob is foretold. (Calmet) --- If God would bring the Egyptians back, much more would he deliver the Jews. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 46:28 | And thou, my servant, Jacob, fear not, saith the Lord: because I am with thee, for I will consume all the nations to which I have cast thee out: but thee I will not consume, but I will correct thee in judgment, neither will I spare thee, as if thou wert innocent. | Nations of Assyria, Chaldea, etc., Jeremias 30:11. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 47:0 | A prophecy of the desolation of the Philistines, of Tyre, Sidon, Gaza, and Ascalon. | |
| Jeremiah 47:1 | The word of the Lord that came to Jeremias, the prophet, against the people of Palestine, before Pharao took Gaza: | Gaza, going or returning from Charcamis. Apries also attacked Tyre, and would of course invade the Philistines. They had assisted the Tyrians against Nabuchodonosor, who therefore made incursions into their territory, and into that of Ammon, etc., while the main part of his army besieged Tyre for thirteen years. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 47:2 | Thus saith the Lord: Behold there come up waters out of the north, and they shall be as an overflowing torrent, and they shall cover the land, and all that is therein, the city, and the inhabitants thereof: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl, | |
| Jeremiah 47:3 | At the noise of the marching of arms, and of his soldiers, at the rushing of his chariots, and the multitude of his wheels. The fathers have not looked back to the children, for feebleness of hands, | Marching. Literally, "pomp," (Haydock) or warlike apparatus. (Haydock) --- Protestants, "stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at," etc. (Haydock) --- Children. Fear makes one forget the nearest relations, while each one provides for himself, Jeremias 9:4., Micheas 7:5., and Matthew 10:35. |
| Jeremiah 47:4 | Because of the coming of the day, in which all the Philistines shall be laid waste, and Tyre, and Sidon shall be destroyed, with all the rest of their helpers. For the Lord hath wasted the Philistines, *the remnant of the isle of Cappadocia. Deuteronomy 2:23.; Amos 9:7. | Tyre. See Jeremias 47:4., and Ezechiel xxvi., etc. --- Sidon. It had rejoiced at the downfall of its rival, (Isaias 23:4.) and of the Jews, Joel 3:4., and Ezechiel 28:24. Artax Ochus punished it severely; (Calmet) and its own king, Tenner, betrayed his subjects, who were slain by the Persians, or burnt themselves in the conflagration of the city. (Diodorus, Olym. 177. a. 2.) --- Helpers; Philistines, who came originally from the isle of Caphtor, or Crete. --- Cappadocia was not an island, or near the sea, (Calmet) but at a distance from the Jews. (Sanctius) |
| Jeremiah 47:5 | Baldness is come upon Gaza: Ascalon hath held her peace, with the remnant of their valley: how long shalt thou cut thyself? | Baldness, the sign of mourning, (Calmet) or captivity. (Haydock) --- Peace. Hebrew, "shall be destroyed." Septuagint, "cast away." She has afforded no assistance to Gaza. (Haydock) --- Valley, along the Mediterranean. (Calmet) --- Literally, "And ye remnants of their valley, how?" etc. --- Cut, in despair or grief, Jeremias 41:5. Septuagint, "Remnants of the Enakeim, (giants) how long wilt thou make incisions?" (Haydock) --- The race of Enack dwelt in those parts; though ánkim seems to have been mistaken for ankom. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 47:6 | O thou sword of the Lord, how long wilt thou not be quiet? Go into thy scabbard, rest and be still. | Sword. He is moved with pity to see so much carnage, but reflects that such is the will of God. Nabuchodonosor was his sword or scourge. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 47:7 | How shall it be quiet, when the Lord hath given it a charge against Ascalon, and against the countries thereof by the sea side, and there hath made an appointment for it. | |
| Jeremiah 48:0 | A prophecy of the desolation of Moab, for their pride: but their captivity shall at last be released. | |
| Jeremiah 48:1 | Against *Moab thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Woe to Nabo, for it is laid waste, and confounded: Cariathaim is taken: the strong city is confounded, and hath trembled. Jeremias 27.; Ezechiel 25. | Moab. This people broke their covenant with Sedecias, yet were punished for having entered into it, five years after the taking of Jerusalem. (Josephus) (St. Jerome, in Jeremias 25:32.) --- The same war is described by Ezechiel (xxv. 8.) and Sophonias, 2:8. Many words of Isaias (xv., and xvi., and xxiv.) are adopted, though he speaks of what happened under Ezechias. --- Nabo, a town at the foot of that mountain, where Moses died, Deuteronomy xxxiv. It might have been famous for some pretended "oracle," Isaias 15:2., and 46:1. This chief city, with the rest, shall be destroyed. (Worthington) --- Cariathaim. This city, and most of the others, were repossessed by Moab after the Israelites were led into captivity. (Calmet) --- City. Hebrew Hammisgab, a fortress. (Vatable) |
| Jeremiah 48:2 | There is no more rejoicing in Moab over Hesebon: they have devised evil. Come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Therefore, shalt thou in silence hold thy peace, and the sword shall follow thee. | Hesebon, at the foot of Phasga, and one of the strongest cities. --- Shalt. Hebrew, "shall Medemena hold her peace." (Calmet) --- "Thou shalt be cut down, O madmen." (Haydock) --- It signifies "silence." Thou silent city, thou shalt be reduced to a mournful silence or destruction. |
| Jeremiah 48:3 | A voice of crying from Oronaim: waste and great destruction. | |
| Jeremiah 48:4 | Moab is destroyed; proclaim a cry for her little ones. | Little ones. Hebrew, "to Segor," ver. 34., and Isaias 15:5. (Calmet) --- Chaldean, "princes" of the second rank. (Vatable) |
| Jeremiah 48:5 | For by the ascent of Luith shall the mourner go up with weeping; for in the descent of Oronaim, the enemies have heard a howling of destruction: | |
| Jeremiah 48:6 | Flee, save your lives; and be *as heath in the wilderness. Jeremias 17:6. | Heath, or tamarick, Jeremias 17:6. Hebrew Haroher. |
| Jeremiah 48:7 | For because thou hast trusted in thy bulwarks, and in thy treasures, thou also shalt be taken; and Chamos shall go into captivity, his priests, and his princes together. | Bulwarks. Hebrew, "works," or possessions of corn, cattle, etc. (Calmet) --- Chamos, the idol of the Moabites. (Challoner) --- He was esteemed the king of the country, as the devil is the ape of God. The prophets often deride the imbecility of these idols, Jeremias 43., and xi. The chief idol of Moab shall fall, to shew the vanity of trusting in idols. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 48:8 | And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape; and the valleys shall perish, and the plains shall be destroyed, for the Lord hath spoken: | Spoiler, or "thief," (praedo) a title which Nabuchodonosor deserved, on account of his unjust conquests. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 48:9 | Give a flower to Moab, for in its flower it shall go out; and the cities thereof shall be desolate, and uninhabited. | Flower: an usual ceremony at funerals. (Cornelius a Lapide) (Menochius) --- Manibus date lilia plenis. (Virgil, Aeneid vi.) --- Hebrew, "wings." Protestants, "signs." Septuagint, (Haydock) "that they may know how to return." Let Moab flee. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 48:10 | Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully; and cursed be he that withholdeth his sword from blood. | Deceitfully. In the Greek, negligently. The work of God here spoken of, is the punishment of the Moabites. (Challoner) --- Woe to those who spare those whom God orders to be destroyed, as Saul and Achab did, 1 Kings 15:8, 23., and 3 Kings 20:32, 42. The zeal of the Levites, Phinees, etc., is rewarded, Exodus 32:27., and Numbers 20:8. |
| Jeremiah 48:11 | Moab hath been fruitful from his youth, and hath rested upon his lees; and hath not been poured out from vessel to vessel, nor hath gone into captivity: therefore his taste hath remained in him, and his scent is not changed. | Fruitful as a vine. --- Lees. The wine has not been disturbed. It was customary to keep it first in pits, (Mark 12:1., and Isaias 5:1.) and afterwards in large earthen vessels. Vina bibes Tauro diffusa: "Thou shalt drink wine bottled off in the consulship of Taurus." (Horace 1:ep. 5.) --- If the wine was weak, the vessels were put under ground. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 14:21.) --- The better sort was arranged in order, (ver. 12.) in some clean apartment, Canticle of Canticles 2:4. (Homer, Odyssey B. 237.) --- Changed. He alludes to the wine. (Haydock) --- Moab has enjoyed a long peace and prosperity. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 48:12 | Therefore, behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will send him men that shall order and overturn his bottles, and they shall cast him down, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles one against another. | |
| Jeremiah 48:13 | And Moab shall be ashamed of Chamos, *as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, in which they trusted. 3 Kings 12:29. | Of Bethel. That is, of their golden calves, which they worshipped in Bethel. (Challoner) --- Chamos and the golden calves were both taken away, Osee 8:5. (Calmet) --- The ten tribes had foolishly trusted in the latter, 3 Kings xii. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 48:14 | *How do you say: We are valiant, and stout men in battle? Isaias 16:6. | |
| Jeremiah 48:15 | Moab is laid waste, and they have cast down her cities; and her choice young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the king, whose name is the Lord of hosts. | |
| Jeremiah 48:16 | The destruction of Moab is near to come: the calamity thereof shall come on exceeding swiftly. | Swiftly; about twenty-three years from the fourth of Joakim. |
| Jeremiah 48:17 | Comfort him, all you that are round about him; and all you that know his name, say: How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod? | His name, as particular friends, Exodus 33:12, 17. People in the East had a secret name, which they disclosed to very few, to prevent incantations. --- Rod. This nation was exceedingly vain, ver. 29. |
| Jeremiah 48:18 | Come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst, O dwelling of the daughter of Dibon; because the spoiler of Moab is come up to thee, he hath destroyed thy bulwarks. | Thirst. Dibon was well supplied with water, Isaias 15:9. |
| Jeremiah 48:19 | Stand in the way, and look out, O habitation of Aroer: enquire of him that fleeth, and say to him that hath escaped: What Is done? | |
| Jeremiah 48:20 | Moab is confounded, because he is overthrown: howl ye, and cry, tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is wasted. | Arnon, on which river Aroer stood. |
| Jeremiah 48:21 | And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Helon, and upon Jasa, and upon Mephaath; | |
| Jeremiah 48:22 | And upon Dibon, and upon Nabo, and upon the house of Deblathaim; | |
| Jeremiah 48:23 | And upon Cariathaim, and upon Bethgamul, and upon Bethmaon; | |
| Jeremiah 48:24 | And upon Carioth, and upon Bosra, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near. | |
| Jeremiah 48:25 | The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 48:26 | Make him drunk, because he lifted up himself against the Lord; and Moab shall dash his hand in his own vomit, and he also shall be in derision. | Drunk with the wine of God's wrath. --- Dash. Hebrew, "roll in," or "they shall clap hands over Moab, in," etc. |
| Jeremiah 48:27 | For Israel hath been a derision unto thee: as though thou hadst found him amongst thieves: for thy words, therefore, which thou hast spoken against him, thou shalt be led away captive. | Thieves. Jeremias 2:26. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "was he found among thieves? for since thou speakest of him, thou skippest for joy." (Haydock) --- Chaldean agrees with the Vulgate, which is clearer. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "hath he been found stealing from thee, since thou hast fought against him?" Grabe subjoins, "Thou shalt go into banishment.["] (Haydock) --- As Moab was related to Israel, his derision was the more criminal, and more grievously punished. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 48:28 | Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, you that dwell in Moab; and be ye Iike the dove, that maketh her nest in the mouth of the hole in the highest place. | Place. Seek for shelter in the caverns and highest mountains. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 48:29 | *We have heard the pride of Moab; he is exceedingly proud; his haughtiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the loftiness of his heart. Isaias 16:6. | |
| Jeremiah 48:30 | I know, saith the Lord, his boasting: and that the strength thereof is not according to it, neither hath it endeavoured to do according as it was able. | Able. He hath attempted too much. |
| Jeremiah 48:31 | Therefore will I lament for Moab, and I will cry out to all Moab, for the men of the brick wall that mourn. | Brick wall. Hebrew Kir-cheres, (Isaias 16:7.; Calmet) "the city of the sun;" (Grotius) Ar, the capital. The prophet joins in the mournful canticle, as was usual, Luke 7:32. (Calmet) --- Those who boast of more than they have, are compared to an earthen wall. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 48:32 | O vineyard of Sabama, I will weep for thee, with the mourning of Jazer; thy branches are gone over the sea, they are come even to the sea of Jazer: the robber hath rushed in upon thy harvest, and thy vintage. | Jazer, or "more than for Jazer;" about six leagues to the north of Sebama, which had a rivulet communicating with the sea of Jazer. |
| Jeremiah 48:33 | *Joy and gladness is taken away from Carmel, and from the land of Moab, and I have taken away the wine out of the presses: the treader of the grapes shall not sing the accustomed cheerful tune. Isaias 16:10. | Carmel, which here denotes any fruitful vineyard or place. --- The, etc. Protestants, "none shall tread with shouting, their shouting shall be no shouting." Hebrew hedad, "the cry" of the people in the vintage. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 48:34 | From the cry of Hesebon, even to Eleale, and to Jasa, they have uttered their voice; from Segor to Oronaim, as a heifer of three years old; the waters also of Nemrin shall be very bad. | As a. Literally, "the heifer;" a title of Oronaim, which was proud and ungovernable. (Haydock) --- Hebrew also, "from Agelah to Salisa; the," etc. --- Bad; abandoned, Isaias 15:6. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 48:35 | And I will take away from Moab, saith the Lord, him that offereth in the high places, and that sacrificeth to his gods. | |
| Jeremiah 48:36 | Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like pipes; and my heart a sound like pipes for the men of the brick wall; because he hath done more than he could, therefore they have perished. | Pipes. Hebrew chalilim, (Haydock) lyre or flutes. Such were used at funerals of children; (Matthew 9:23.) trumpets sounded for men. (Servius) --- Could; opposing the conqueror of Asia, ver. 30, 31. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "the riches that he hath gotten is perished." |
| Jeremiah 48:37 | *For every head shall be bald, and every beard shall be shaven: all hands shall be tied together, and upon every back there shall be haircloth. Isaias 15:2.; Ezechiel 7:18. | Shaven, or "clipt," (Protestants; Haydock) as in mourning. --- Tied. Hebrew, "cut," Jeremias 16:6. (Calmet) --- Such signs of mourning were usual in those countries. The Romans let their hair grow. (Cicero, pro Sestio.) (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 48:38 | Upon all the house-tops of Moab, and in the streets thereof general mourning; because I have broken Moab as an useless vessel, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 48:39 | How is it overthrown, and they have howled? How hath Moab bowed down the neck, and is confounded? And Moab shall be a derision, and an example to all round about him. | Bowed. Septuagint and Chaldean, "turned his back." |
| Jeremiah 48:40 | Thus saith the Lord: Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall stretch forth his wings to Moab. | |
| Jeremiah 48:41 | Carioth is taken, and the strong holds are won: and the heart of the valiant men of Moab, in that day, shall be as the heart of a woman in labour. | Carioth, probably Kir Hares, which the eagle of Babylon seized. Roman Septuagint omits verse 40. (Calmet) --- Grabe supplies, Behold, etc., and here, the heart, etc. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 48:42 | And Moab shall cease to be a people: because he hath gloried against the Lord. | Cease for a time, till he regain his liberty under Cyrus, ver. 47. |
| Jeremiah 48:43 | Fear, and the pit, and the snare come upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the Lord. | Fear. It was customary to hand feathers near a wood, to frighten the prey into pits or nets, Isaias 24:17. (Sanctius) |
| Jeremiah 48:44 | *He that shall flee from the fear, shall fall into the pit; and he that shall get up out of the pit, shall be taken in the snare; for I will bring upon Moab the year of their visitation, saith the Lord. Isaias 24:18. | |
| Jeremiah 48:45 | They that fled from the snare stood in the shadow of Hesebon, but there came a fire out of Hesebon, and a flame out of the midst of Seon, and it shall devour part of Moab, and the crown of the head of the children of tumult. | There....saith, etc., to the end of the chapter is supplied by Grabe. His copy subjoins, "What Jeremias prophesied against all nations. Thus," etc., Jeremias 25:15. (Haydock) Hesebon, expecting shelter. But internal broils ruined them. --- There, etc., to [verse] 47., is borrowed from Numbers 21:27.[28, 29.?] Sehon had taken Hesebon from Moab. --- Part. Moses has "Ar, of Moab, and the inhabitants of the heights of Arnon." [Numbers 21:28.] (Calmet) --- Tumult. Hebrew shaon, (Haydock) means also pride, in which sense Balaam uses Seth, Numbers 24:17. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 48:46 | Woe to thee, Moab, thou hast perished, O people of Chamos; for thy sons, and thy daughters are taken captives. | |
| Jeremiah 48:47 | And I will bring back the captivity of Moab in the last days, saith the Lord. Hitherto the judgments of Moab. | Days. When they, Elam and the other Gentiles, shall be converted to the faith of Christ. We read of no other bringing back, (Worthington) though it might take place. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 49:0 | The like desolation of Ammon, of Idumea, of the Syrians, of the Agarenes, and of the Elamites. | |
| Jeremiah 49:1 | Against *the children of Ammon. Thus saith the Lord: Hath Israel no sons? or hath he no heir? Why then hath Melchom inherited Gad: and his people dwelt in his cities? Jeremias 27.; Ezechiel 25. | Melchom, the idol of the Ammonites. (Challoner) --- Gad, to whom a part of their country was assigned. After the captivity of this tribe, the Ammonites seized the country, regardless of God's appointment. They joined the Chaldeans afterwards; but the latter could not depend upon them, and sent them into captivity, to revenge the death of Godolias, Jeremias 41:2., Sophonias 2:8., and Ezechiel 25:3. (Calmet) --- They had taken the country as their right, as if all Israel had perished; which God resents. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 49:2 | Therefore, behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will cause the noise of war to be heard in Rabbath, of the children of Ammon, and it shall be destroyed into a heap, and her daughters shall be burnt with fire, and Israel shall possess them that have possessed him, saith the Lord. | Rabbath; called Amana, Astarte, and Philadelphia, by Stephanus. --- Possess; returning first from captivity, and subduing the cities of Ammon, under Hyrcan, 1 Machabees 5:6. |
| Jeremiah 49:3 | Howl, O Hesebon, for Hai is wasted. Cry, ye daughters of Rabbath; gird yourselves with haircloth; mourn, and go about by the hedges; for Melchom shall be carried into captivity, his priests and his princes together. | Hai, or Je-abarim. Both these cities pertained also to Moab. --- Hedges. Hebrew Gederoth, may be the city Gadara. --- Melchom, or Moloc, who claimed dominion over this people. If they had used their reason, they must have seen that he was no god, since the Lord disposed of him as he pleased so long before. |
| Jeremiah 49:4 | Why gloriest thou in the valleys? thy valley hath flowed away, O delicate daughter, that hast trusted in thy treasures, and hast said: Who shall come to me? | Delicate. Hebrew, "rebel or dissolute." Septuagint, "impudent." |
| Jeremiah 49:5 | Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord God of hosts, from all that are round about thee; and you shall be scattered every one out of one another's sight, neither shall there be any to gather together them that flee. | |
| Jeremiah 49:6 | And afterwards I will cause the captives of the children of Ammon to return, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 49:7 | Against Edom.* Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Is wisdom no more in Theman? counsel is perished from her children: their wisdom is become unprofitable. | Year of the World 3417. Edom. This nation was involved in the common ruin, for its barbarity towards God's people, Abdias x., Psalm 136:7., and Ezechiel 25:12. --- Theman, renowned formerly for wisdom, Job 2:11. Yet at the approach of danger, all were confounded. (Calmet) --- They were only worldly wise. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 49:8 | Flee, and turn your backs, go down into the deep hole, ye inhabitants of Dedan; for I have brought the destruction of Esau upon him, the time of his visitation. | Hole. The territory of Edom, from Eleutheropolis to Elath, is full of such. (St. Jerome, in Abdias) --- Dedan lies south of the Dead Sea. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 49:9 | If grape-gatherers had come to thee, would they not have left a bunch? if thieves in the night, they would have taken what was enough for them. | |
| Jeremiah 49:10 | But I have made Esau bare, I have revealed his secrets, and he cannot be hid: his seed is laid waste, and his brethren and his neighbours, and he shall not be. | Secrets, or lurking holes, ver. 8. (Haydock) --- God permits the Chaldeans to plunder all. --- Brethren; Israelites. --- Neighbours; Moab, etc. |
| Jeremiah 49:11 | Leave thy fatherless children: I will make them live; and thy widows shall hope in thee. | |
| Jeremiah 49:12 | For thus saith the Lord: Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup, shall certainly drink; and shalt thou come off as innocent? thou shalt not come off as innocent, but drinking thou shalt drink. | Was not so much. There were some faithful Jews, Jeremias 25:28. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 49:13 | For I have sworn by myself, saith the Lord, that Bosra shall become a desolation: and a reproach, and a desert, and a curse, and all her cities shall be everlasting wastes. | Bosra, different from that of Ammon; (chap. 48:24.; Cellar. 3:14.) though this may be doubtful. Could such a city be unknown? |
| Jeremiah 49:14 | *I have heard a rumour from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent to the nations: Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and let us rise up to battle. Abdias 1:1. | Ambassador; Jeremias: or rather this is a personification of the passions, which would sufficiently prompt the Chaldeans. (Calmet) --- A good angel might urge them to execute the divine decrees. (Theodoret) --- The greatest armies are thus made use of by Providence, without approving of their malicious designs. |
| Jeremiah 49:15 | For behold I have made thee a little one among the nations, despicable among men. | Little. Edom was scarcely known, except in sacred history; and it was forced to receive circumcision by the Machabees. |
| Jeremiah 49:16 | Thy arrogancy hath deceived thee, and the pride of thy heart; O thou that dwellest in the clifts of the rock, and endeavourest to lay hold on the height of the hill; *but though thou shouldst make thy nest as high as an eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord. Abdias 1:4. | Hill. The mountains were numerous, and full of caverns, ver. 8. |
| Jeremiah 49:17 | And Edom shall be desolate: every one that shall pass by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all its plagues. | Desolate. The few who survived left their ancient territories, which are now a desert, like most of Stony Arabia. (Calmet) --- Hiss, out of contempt. The punishment was so great as to excite surprise. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 49:18 | *As Sodom was overthrown and Gomorrha, and the neighbours thereof, saith the Lord: there shall not a man dwell there, and there shall no son of man inhabit it. Genesis 19:20. | |
| Jeremiah 49:19 | Behold one shall come up as a lion from the swelling of the Jordan, against the strong and beautiful: for I will make him run suddenly upon her: and who shall be the chosen one whom I may appoint over her? for who is like to me? and who shall abide me? *and who is that shepherd that can withstand my countenance? Job 41:1. | Swelling. Literally, "pride;" (Haydock) or those banks which the Jordan reaches, when it overflows. They are lined with woods, from which lions rush to devour the sheep. (Calmet) --- Strong "one's dwelling." (Hebrew) (Haydock) (Zacharias 11:3.) --- Over her. What sort of men come to the attack? or, who shall dare to resist them? (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 49:20 | Therefore, hear ye the counsel of the Lord, which he hath taken concerning Edom: and his thoughts, which he hath thought concerning the inhabitants of Theman: surely the little ones of the flock shall cast them down, of a truth they shall destroy them with their habitation. | Little. Chaldean, "chiefs of the people." Tsáir (Haydock) is supposed to have this sense, Micheas 5:2. (Calmet) --- But the weakest of the Chaldeans will be an overmatch for Edom. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 49:21 | The earth is moved at the noise of their fall: the cry of their voice is heard in the Red Sea. | |
| Jeremiah 49:22 | Behold he shall come up as an eagle, and fly: and he shall spread his wings over Bosra: and in that day the heart of the valiant ones of Edom shall be as the heart of a woman in labour. | |
| Jeremiah 49:23 | Against Damascus. Emath is confounded, and Arphad: for they have heard very bad tidings, they are troubled as in the sea: through care they could not rest. | Damascus, the capital of Syria, Isaias 7:8. (Worthington) --- It was punished at the same time as the rest. (Josephus) --- Arphad; Arad, an island near Tyre, or Raphanae. (Theodoret) --- Syriac, "Rephad....they are troubled from the sea." Nabuchodonosor left Tyre to invade them. (Calmet) --- As in. The islands of the Mediterranean tremble for themselves, and all Syria is afraid, hearing of the fall of so many cities and nations. |
| Jeremiah 49:24 | Damascus is undone, she is put to flight, trembling hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her as a woman in labour. | |
| Jeremiah 49:25 | How have they forsaken the city of renown, the city of joy? | They. Hebrew, Septuagint, and Chaldean add, "not." Why have they not spared this beautiful city? or, why have not its citizens given it up, to prevent its entire demolition? |
| Jeremiah 49:26 | Therefore, her young men shall fall in her streets: and all the men of war shall be silent in that day, saith the Lord of hosts. | |
| Jeremiah 49:27 | And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the strong holds of Benadad. | Benadad. So the kings were usually styled, 3 Kings 15:8. Septuagint, "the son of Ader." |
| Jeremiah 49:28 | Against Cedar, and against the kingdoms of Asor, which Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, destroyed. Thus saith the Lord: Arise, and go ye up to Cedar, and waste the children of the east. | Cedar and Asor were parts of Arabia; which, with Moab, Ammon, Edom, etc., were all brought under the yoke of Nabuchodonosor. (Challoner) --- We know nothing of the situation of Asor, which means "a court." (Calmet) --- It might be the flying camp (Theodoret) of the Saracens, (St. Jerome, in Isaias 21:16.) who dwelt under tents like the hordes of Tartars, the Ethiopian emperor, and the mogul. Yet this seems to have been a fixed habitation, ver. 30, 33. --- East; the Desert Arabia, ver. 32. (Calmet) --- Cedar was the son of Ismael, and Asor the chief city of the Agarens. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 49:29 | They shall take their tents, and their flocks: and shall carry off for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels: and they shall call fear upon them round about. | About. The enemy shall terrify them, and plunder all their riches. |
| Jeremiah 49:30 | Flee ye, get away speedily, sit in deep holes, you that inhabit Asor, saith the Lord: for Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived designs against you. | |
| Jeremiah 49:31 | Arise, and go up to a nation that is at ease, and that dwelleth securely, saith the Lord: they have neither gates, nor bars: they dwell alone. | Alone. We need not fear any resistance. They have no allies. (Calmet) --- The ancient Suevi, of Germany, laid waste the surrounding countries, that they might appear more terrible. (Cesar iv., and vi.) |
| Jeremiah 49:32 | And their camels shall be for a spoil, and the multitude of their cattle for a booty: and I will scatter into every wind them that have their hair cut round, and I will bring destruction upon them from all their confines, saith the Lord. | Wind; throughout the world. --- Round. Jeremias 9:26. (Calmet) --- This the Arabs did, in imitation of Bacchus. (Herodotus 3:8.) |
| Jeremiah 49:33 | And Asor shall be a habitation for dragons, desolate for ever: no man shall abide there, nor son of man inhabit it. | |
| Jeremiah 49:34 | The word of the Lord that came to Jeremias, the prophet, against Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Sedecias, king of Juda, saying: | Elam. A part of Persia. (Challoner) --- The Elamites had besieged Jerusalem, under Manasses, (Calmet) and are therefore punished. (Worthington) --- They were subject to Aseradon: Nabuchodonosor subdued them after the other nations, ver. 36. Cyrus set his countrymen at liberty, (Calmet) and thus began his conquests. (Haydock) --- Pagan historians assert, at random, that they were before subject to the Medes. |
| Jeremiah 49:35 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold I will break the bow of Elam, and their chief strength. | |
| Jeremiah 49:36 | And I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven: and I will scatter them into all these winds: and there shall be no nation to which the fugitives of Elam shall not come. | |
| Jeremiah 49:37 | And I will cause Elam to be afraid before their enemies, and in the sight of them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, my fierce wrath, saith the Lord: and will send the sword after them, till I consume them. | |
| Jeremiah 49:38 | And I will set my throne in Elam, and destroy kings and princes from thence, saith the Lord. | Thence. Daniel 8:2. governed at Susa, the capital of Elam, for Baltassar. |
| Jeremiah 49:39 | But in the latter days I will cause the captives of Elam to return, saith the Lord. | Return. They joined the standards of Cyrus, and became masters of the East. (Calmet) --- This and similar texts are understood of the conversion of the Gentiles, Acts 2:7. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 50:0 | Babylon, which hath afflicted the Israelites, after their restoration, shall be utterly destroyed. | |
| Jeremiah 50:1 | The word *that the Lord hath spoken against Babylon, and against the land of the Chaldeans, in the hand of Jeremias the prophet. | Year of the World 3409, Year before Christ 595. Prophet. He had spoken against them in the fourth year of Joachim, and now is more explicit in the fourth of Sedecias, (chap. 51:60.) sending his predictions to be read, and then thrown into the Euphrates. The fall of Babylon was gradual. It was in consequence of her pride and cruelty, ver. 11, 17, 23, 29., and Isaias 47:6. (Calmet) --- It had shewn the greatest enmity to the Jews, and was at last overthrown by the Medes and Persians. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 50:2 | Declare ye among the nations, and publish it, lift up a standard: proclaim, and conceal it not: say: Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is overthrown, their graven things are confounded, their idols are overthrown. | Declare. This is grand. Let all the captives publish these tidings. (Calmet) --- Bel, etc. Bel and Merodach were worshipped for gods by the men of Babylon. (Challoner) --- Merodach might be an ancient king deified. (Calmet) --- These greatest of their idols could neither save the people nor themselves. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 50:3 | For a nation is come up against her out of the north, which shall make her land desolate: and there shall be none to dwell therein, from man even to beast: yea, they are removed, and gone away. | A nation, etc., viz., the Medes, (Challoner) under Darius, (Daniel 5:31.; Theodoret; Grotius) or rather under Cyrus, who came upon Babylon from the north, after conquering Asia; though he was born to the east of that city, Isaias 61:2, 25. He was a Mede by his mother, and ruler of that nation. He gave liberty to the Jews, as the prophet inculcates ten times. --- Desolate. Herodotus, Xenophon, etc., say not that Cyrus demolished any part of the city; but Berosus informs us that he took it without opposition, and levelled the outer walls. Hystaspes did more damage. (Herodotus 3:150.) |
| Jeremiah 50:4 | In these days, and at that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Juda together: going and weeping, they shall make haste, and shall seek the Lord their God. | Weeping for joy and compunction. Israel returns, as well as Juda. (Calmet) --- Thus Joseph wept when he beheld his brethren, Genesis 42:24. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 50:5 | They shall ask the way to Sion, their faces are hitherward. They shall come, and shall be joined to the Lord by an everlasting covenant, which shall never be forgotten. | Covenant. They renewed the old one under Nehemias, and never publicly broke it, as they had done. Yet the covenant of Christ is more properly meant. |
| Jeremiah 50:6 | My people have been a lost flock, their shepherds have caused them to go astray, and have made them wander in the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting-place. | Shepherds; kings, (Calmet) and false prophets. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 50:7 | All that found them, have devoured them: and their enemies said: We have not sinned in so doing: because they have sinned against the Lord, the beauty of justice, and against the Lord, the hope of their fathers. | Not sinned: the Jews were such notorious offenders. But in what had they injured the Chaldeans? --- Beauty. Hebrew, "dwelling or fold." |
| Jeremiah 50:8 | Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans: and be ye as kids at the head of the flock. | Kids; rams. This comparison was not ignoble. Go boldly out of the city, before it be besieged. |
| Jeremiah 50:9 | For behold I raise up, and will bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north: and they shall be prepared against her, and from thence she shall be taken: their arrows, like those of a mighty man, a destroyer, shall not return in vain. | Nations. Cyrus had Armenians, etc., in his army. (Calmet) --- Thence, by the bed of the Euphrates, the waters of which were mostly let out into the marshes. Thus the city was taken, while the people were feasting. (Herodotus 1:191.) --- Aristotle (Pol. 3:3.) says, three days passed before all the citizens were apprised of its fate, it was so extensive: but this is incredible. If we follow the account of Berosus, Cyrus routed Nabonides, who fled to Borsippe, while he took Babylon and demolished the outer walls. (Josephus, contra Apion i.) (Calmet) --- North, with respect to Babylon. (Worthington) --- The Persians lay rather to the south, and to the east of Palestine, (Haydock) if our maps be accurate. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 50:10 | And Chaldea shall be made a prey: all that waste her shall be filled, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 50:11 | Because you rejoice, and speak great things, pillaging my inheritance: because you are spread abroad as calves upon the grass, and have bellowed as bulls. | Bulls. You have rioted in Juda, and treated my people cruelly. (Haydock) --- In Hebrew four verbs have improperly i for v; but [in] Jeremias 51:34., v supplants i five times. (Kennicott) |
| Jeremiah 50:12 | Your mother is confounded exceedingly, and she that bore you is made even with the dust: behold she shall be the last among the nations, a wilderness unpassable, and dry. | Dust, like a suppliant, Isaias 47:1. (Calmet) --- Dry. The country shall be equally unfruitful. The waters of the Euphrates being let off, gave a passage to the enemy, ver. 9. (Haydock) --- Babylon soon lost its splendour. (Calmet) --- Vologeses completed its ruin. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 6:26.) --- It ceased to be the metropolis or mother city. (Haydock) --- The whole country was laid waste. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 50:13 | Because of the wrath of the Lord, it shall not be inhabited, but shall be wholly desolate: every one that shall pass by Babylon, shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. | |
| Jeremiah 50:14 | Prepare yourselves against Babylon, round about, all you that bend the bow: fight against her, spare not arrows: because she hath sinned against the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 50:15 | Shout against her, she hath everywhere given her hand, her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down, for it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take vengeance upon her: as she hath done, so do to her. | Hand, to form leagues; or she faints, (Septuagint) and submits, Lamentations 5:6. |
| Jeremiah 50:16 | Destroy the sower out of Babylon, and him that holdeth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the sword of the dove every man shall return to his people, and every one shall flee to his own land. | Harvest. Such were usually unmolested. (Calmet) --- Babylon was so large, that people sowed corn within the walls. (Curt. v.) --- The environs were well cultivated. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 18:17.) --- Dove, or the destroyer; for the Hebrew word signifies either the one or the other. (Challoner) (Chap. 25:38., and 46:16.) --- Literally, "from before the sword of the dove." The power of Babylon is no more. (Haydock) --- The king is compared to a dove, for his swiftness; or God is meek, though terrible. (Worthington) --- Land. The other nations were set free as well as the Jews. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 50:17 | Israel is a scattered flock, the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria devoured him: and last this Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, hath broken his bones. | Bones. He completely ruined the nation, which the Assyrians had left. (Haydock) --- They led the ten tribes away, and the Chaldeans took the rest, 4 Kings xviii., and xxv. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 50:18 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold I will visit the king of Babylon and his land, as I have visited the king of Assyria. | Assyria. This monarchy was subdued by Nabopolasser. |
| Jeremiah 50:19 | And I will bring Israel again to his habitation: and he shall feed on Carmel, and Basan, and his soul shall be satisfied in Mount Ephraim, and Galaad. | Israel; the ten tribes, whose country is specified. |
| Jeremiah 50:20 | In those days, and at that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none: and the sin of Juda, and there shall none be found: for I will be merciful to them, whom I shall leave. | None. Idolatry shall not be re-established. |
| Jeremiah 50:21 | Go up against the land of the rulers, and punish the inhabitants thereof, waste, and destroy all behind them, saith the Lord: and do according to all that I have commanded thee. | Rulers: the most potent empire of Babylon. --- All. Hebrew, "anathematize them and their posterity." |
| Jeremiah 50:22 | A noise of war in the land, and a great destruction. | |
| Jeremiah 50:23 | How is the hammer of the whole earth broken, and destroyed? how is Babylon turned into a desert among the nations? | Hammer. The violent injustice of the Chaldeans is thus entitled. |
| Jeremiah 50:24 | I have caused thee to fall into a snare, and thou art taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware of it: thou art found and caught, because thou hast provoked the Lord. | Aware. Men seemed to rise out of the earth, ver. 9. |
| Jeremiah 50:25 | The Lord hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his wrath : for the Lord, the God of hosts, hath a work to be done in the land of the Chaldeans. | Armoury. Fire and war are the Lord's weapons, Job 38:22. --- Work: punishment, Jeremias 48:10. |
| Jeremiah 50:26 | Come ye against her from the uttermost borders: open, that they may go forth that shall tread her down: take the stones out of the way, and make heaps, and destroy her: and let nothing of her be left. | That. Hebrew, "her granaries; trample on her as on heaps of corn, destroy," etc. He alludes to the custom of oxen trampling out the corn, Jeremias 51:33. |
| Jeremiah 50:27 | Destroy all her valiant men, let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them, for their day is come, the time of their visitation. | |
| Jeremiah 50:28 | The voice of them that flee, and of them that have escaped out of the land of Babylon: to declare in Sion the revenge of the Lord, our God, the revenge of his temple. | Voice. I hear the captives proclaiming this at their return. |
| Jeremiah 50:29 | Declare to many against Babylon, to all that bend the bow: stand together against her round about, and let none escape: pay her according to her work: *according to all that she hath done, do ye to her: for she hath lifted up herself against the Lord, against the holy One of Israel. Jeremias 51:49. | |
| Jeremiah 50:30 | Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets: and all her men of war shall hold their peace in that day, saith the Lord. | Peace, in the grave; (Calmet) or shall submit quietly, 1 Machabees 1:3. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 50:31 | Behold I come against thee, O proud one, saith the Lord, the God of hosts: for thy day is come, the time of thy visitation. | Proud. So the Chaldeans are often styled in the Psalms. (Calmet) --- The prophet addresses Nabuchodonosor, or rather Baltassar, (Menochius) under whom the city was taken, (Josephus, etc.) by Darius and Cyrus. He may be the Nabonides of Berosus, the question is so much perplexed. Yet "we are convinced that Darius reigned at Babylon before Cyrus, and took the city after the death of Baltassar." (Calmet) --- Most commentators are of a different opinion. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 50:32 | And the proud one shall fall, he shall fall down, and there shall be none to lift him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him. | |
| Jeremiah 50:33 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: The children of Israel, and the children of Juda are oppressed together: all that have taken them captives, hold them fast, they will not let them go. | Israel. Samaria had been destroyed forty-four years before the fourth of Joakim, from which period many of Juda had been captives seventy years, till Cyrus became their deliverer, and chastised the Chaldeans. (Calmet) --- Both kingdoms had been oppressed by a strong hand, till a stronger, even God himself, delivered them. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 50:34 | Their Redeemer is strong, the Lord of hosts is his name, he will defend their cause in judgment, to terrify the land, and to disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. | Name. He gives victory to Cyrus. Thus the Lord directs all for the sake of his elect, and laughs at the vain projects of men. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 50:35 | A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men. | Wise men. They were styled Chaldeans, and inhabited a certain part of the city, being employed in astronomical and mathematical observations. They disapproved of those who cast nativities. (Strabo xvi.) |
| Jeremiah 50:36 | A sword upon her diviners, and they shall be foolish: a sword upon her valiant ones, and they shall be dismayed. | Diviners. Hebrew, "impostors." They were nowhere more plentiful, Daniel 1:20. Fortune-tellers were consulted on every occasion. The eastern nations are still much addicted to this superstition. |
| Jeremiah 50:37 | A sword upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the people that are in the midst of her: and they shall become as women: a sword upon her treasures, and they shall be made a spoil. | |
| Jeremiah 50:38 | A drought upon her waters, and they shall be dried up: because it is a land of idols, and they glory in monstrous things. | Drought. Cyrus almost drained the Euphrates, Jeremias 51:42., and Isaias xxi. --- Things, fit to terrify children, Baruch 6:14. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "they are made upon their idols." (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 50:39 | Therefore shall dragons dwell there with the fig-fauns: and ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever, neither shall it be built up from generation to generation. | Fig-fauns. Monsters of the desert, or demons in monstrous shapes; such as the ancients called fauns and satyrs: and as they imagined them to live upon wild figs, they called them fauni-ficarii, or fig-fauns. (Challoner) --- Maldonat reads sicariis, "ruffians." Sixtus V and St. Jerome, (in Isaias 13:21.) have fatuis, "foolish wild men." Hebrew, "the Tsiim with the iim shall dwell there, and the daughters of the Yahana (Haydock; swans) shall there reside," or "fishermen among the rushes shall dwell," etc. --- Ever. Its situation is unknown. There is still a town of the same name, but not in the same place. |
| Jeremiah 50:40 | *As the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha, and their neighbour cities, saith the Lord: no man shall dwell there, neither shall the son of man inhabit it. Genesis 19:24. | |
| Jeremiah 50:41 | Behold a people cometh from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall rise from the ends of the earth. | |
| Jeremiah 50:42 | They shall take the bow and the shield: they are cruel and unmerciful: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses: like a man prepared for battle against thee, O daughter of Babylon. | Cruel. The Medes will not spare for money, ver. 3., and Isaias 13:7. |
| Jeremiah 50:43 | The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands are grown feeble: anguish hath taken hold of him, pangs as a woman in labour. | King. Baltassar, (though he was succeeded by Darius) or Nabonides, ver. 31. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 50:44 | *Behold he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of the Jordan to the strong and beautiful: for I will make him run suddenly upon her: and who shall be the chosen one whom I may appoint over her? for who is like to me? and who shall bear up against me? **and who is that shepherd that can withstand my countenance? Jeremias 49:19. --- ** Job 41:1. | And beautiful. Hebrew, "habitation." (Haydock) --- He will rush into the fold, Jeremias 49:19. (Calmet) --- The king of Babylon had ruined many. Others shall destroy him, rushing on like the Jordan. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 50:45 | Therefore, hear ye the counsel of the Lord, which he hath taken against Babylon: and his thoughts which he hath thought against the land of the Chaldeans: surely the little ones of the flocks shall pull them down, of a truth their habitation shall be destroyed with them. | |
| Jeremiah 50:46 | At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard amongst the nations. | |
| Jeremiah 51:0 | The miseries that shall fall upon Babylon, from the Medes: the destruction of her idols. | |
| Jeremiah 51:1 | Thus saith the Lord: *Behold I will raise up as it were a pestilential wind against Babylon, and against the inhabitants thereof, who have lifted up their heart against me. | Year of the World 3409. Thereof. Hebrew leb kamai, "of the heart, rising up against me." (Haydock) --- Many take Leb-kamai to be the enigmatical name of the Chaldeans, by a secret combination of letters, (Kimchi; Grotius) as if they were not clearly designated in the sequel. (Calmet) --- The prophet expresses more pointedly what he had declared in the preceding chapter. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 51:2 | And I will send to Babylon fanners, and they shall fan her, and shall destroy her land: for they are come upon her on every side in the day of her affliction. | Fan her. After the corn was trodden out, it was heaved into the wind. This custom would insinuate the distress and captivity of the Chaldeans. Septuagint, "I will send....scoffers, and they shall treat her with scorn, kathubriousin. (Haydock) --- They have read (Calmet) zedim for zarim. |
| Jeremiah 51:3 | Let not him that bendeth, bend his bow, and let not him go up that is armed with a coat of mail: spare not her young men, destroy all her army. | Mail. There will be little or no resistance made, Jeremias 50:3. (Haydock) --- The Persians denounce destruction to all taken in arms; or, according to Septuagint and Syriac they exhort each other to fight. (Calmet) --- "Let him," etc. (Haydock) --- Hebrew of the Masorets, "you who bend....spare not." (Calmet) --- Protestants, "against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow," etc. (Haydock) --- Hebrew is printed ne tendat tendat tendans. The second word is properly omitted in some manuscripts. Thus (1 Chronicles 24:6.) we read taken taken, achuz having been put erroneously for achad, one. (Kennicott) |
| Jeremiah 51:4 | And the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and the wounded in the regions thereof. | |
| Jeremiah 51:5 | For Israel and Juda have not been forsaken by their God, the Lord of hosts: but their land hath been filled with sin against the holy One of Israel. | Forsaken, as a widow, viduatus. (Haydock) --- God still considers the nation as his spouse. --- Their land. That of the Chaldeans, (Calmet) or of the Jews. (Theodoret) --- Sin, or punishment. |
| Jeremiah 51:6 | Flee ye from the midst of Babylon, and let every one save his own life: be not silent upon her iniquity: for it is the time of revenge from the Lord, he will render unto her what she hath deserved. | Silent. Jews proclaim that Babylon is justly punished, (Calmet) lest you partake in her crimes, Apocalypse 18:4. Protestants, "be not cut off in her," etc. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 51:7 | Babylon hath been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, that made all the earth drunk: the nations have drunk of her wine, and therefore they have staggered. | Cup. She has exercised the vengeance of the Lord on Juda, Egypt, etc. |
| Jeremiah 51:8 | *Babylon is suddenly fallen, and destroyed: howl for her, take balm for her pain, if so she may be healed. Isaias 21:9.; Apocalypse 14:8. | Suddenly. She has not lost many battles; but is fallen at once from being the greatest city of the East. |
| Jeremiah 51:9 | We would have cured Babylon, but she is not healed: let us forsake her, and let us go every man to his own land: because her judgment hath reached even to the heavens, and is lifted up to the clouds. | We. The guardian angels, or Jews reply. Miracles are lost on her. --- Heavens. Her crimes call for punishment, Genesis 18:21., and Jonas 1:2. |
| Jeremiah 51:10 | The Lord hath brought forth our justices: come, and let us declare in Sion the work of the Lord our God. | Justices. We had not injured the Chaldeans, though we had offended God. |
| Jeremiah 51:11 | Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers: the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: and his mind is against Babylon, to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple. | Sharpen. He addresses ironically the citizens of Babylon. --- Medes. Thus the subjects of the Persian monarchs are commonly styled. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 51:12 | Upon the walls of Babylon set up the standard, strengthen the watch: set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the Lord hath both purposed, and done all that he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. | Standard. Call together thy subjects and allies. (Haydock) --- This must be explained of Babylon. (Menochius) --- Yet all will be in vain, ver. 11. (Haydock) --- Ambushes. Herein the valour and genius of heroes was most displayed, Josue 8:2. (Homer) |
| Jeremiah 51:13 | O thou that dwellest upon many waters, rich in treasures, thy end is come for thy entire destruction. | Waters. Not far from the Tigris, and divided into two parts by the Euphrates. (Calmet) --- Entire, being cut up by the roots, pedalis, (Lyranus) or according to the measure of thy crimes. (Delrio) (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "thy end is truly come into thy bowels." (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 51:14 | *The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying: I will fill thee with men as with locusts, and they shall lift up a joyful shout against thee. Amos 6:8. | Himself. Septuagint, "his hand" lifted up, or by his power. --- Locusts. Their ravages were equally dreaded, Joel 2:4., and Judges 6:5. |
| Jeremiah 51:15 | *He that made the earth by his power, that hath prepared the world by his wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. Genesis 1:1. | |
| Jeremiah 51:16 | When he uttereth his voice the waters are multiplied in heaven: he lifteth up the clouds from the ends of the earth; he hath turned lightning into rain; and hath brought forth the wind out of his treasures. | Rain. Thunder and lightning are usually followed by showers. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 51:17 | Every man is become foolish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by his idol, for what he hath cast is a lie, and there is no breath in them. | Every man, etc. That is, every maker of idols, however he boasts of his knowledge and skill, does but shew himself a fool in pretending to make a god. (Challoner) (Wisdom 14:18.) --- By his, or "by default of knowledge;" (a scientia. Haydock) as the Hebrew may also mean. The Babylonians were so confounded, they knew not what to do. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "Every man is brutish by his knowledge." Marginal note, or "is more brutish than to know," Jeremias 10:14. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 51:18 | They are vain works, and worthy to be laughed at; in the time of their visitation, they shall perish. | |
| Jeremiah 51:19 | The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he that made all things, he it is, and Israel is the sceptre of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name. | |
| Jeremiah 51:20 | Thou dashest together for me the weapons of war, and with thee I will dash nations together, and with thee I will destroy kingdoms: | Thou, Cyrus, (Grotius) or more commonly the Chaldeans are understood. |
| Jeremiah 51:21 | And with thee I will break in pieces the horse, and his rider: and with thee I will break in pieces the chariot, and him that getteth up into it. | |
| Jeremiah 51:22 | And with thee I will break in pieces man and woman, and with thee I will break in pieces the old man and the child, and with thee I will break in pieces the young man and the virgin: | |
| Jeremiah 51:23 | And with thee I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock, and with thee I will break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen, and with thee I will break in pieces captains and rulers. | |
| Jeremiah 51:24 | And I will render to Babylon, and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea, all their evil that they have done in Sion, before your eyes, saith the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 51:25 | Behold I come against thee, thou destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which corruptest the whole earth: and I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and will roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. | Mountain. So Babylon is styled in derision. See Jeremias 21:13., and Isaias 1:10., and 20:6., and 22:1. The city stood on a plain. Some think that its palace and walls are designated. --- Burnt; unfruitful. This happened long after Cyrus, though it then ceased to be the capital, and became only a shadow of its former greatness. |
| Jeremiah 51:26 | And they shall not take of thee a stone for the corner, nor a stone for foundations, but thou shalt be destroyed for ever, saith the Lord. | Corner. No king or conqueror shall spring thence. Alexander [the Great] thought of making it the seat of his empire, but was prevented by death. (Strabo xv.) |
| Jeremiah 51:27 | Set ye up a standard in the land; sound with a trumpet among the nations; prepare the nations against her; call together against her the kings of Ararat, Menni, and Ascenez: number Taphsar against her; bring the horse as the stinging locust. | Prepare. Literally, "sanctify." (Haydock) --- Call together all nations to fight against Babylon. (Worthington) --- Many religious ceremonies were used. --- Ararat, where the ark rested, (Genesis 8:4.) near the Araxes, (St. Jerome, in Isaias xxxvii.) or in the Gordyean mountains, in Armenia, where the Menni dwelt. --- Ascenez, or Ascantes, (Calmet) near the Tanais. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 6:7.) --- Taphsar, "the prince," Nahum 3:17. (Pagnin) "Warriors." (Chaldean) "Machines" (Septuagint) --- Caterpillar, or "locust," (bruchum. Haydock) which resembles more a body of cavalry. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "Push forward the cavalry against her, as a multitude of locusts." (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 51:28 | Prepare the nations against her, the kings of Media, their captains, and all the rulers, and all the land of their dominion. | Prepare; "sanctify." (Haydock) --- Media. Cyrus, ver. 11. --- Captains: generals. (Calmet) --- Rulers. Literally, "magistrates." (Haydock) --- Hebrew Seganim, a title used once by Isaias, and frequently by those who wrote after the Assyrians (Calmet) commenced their invasion. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 51:29 | And the land shall be in a commotion, and shall be troubled; for the design of the Lord against Babylon shall awake, to make the land of Babylon desert and uninhabitable. | |
| Jeremiah 51:30 | The valiant men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they have dwelt in holds: their strength hath failed, and they are become as women; her dwelling places are burnt, her bars are broken. | Bars, fastening the gates. (Calmet) --- Those who entered by the channel of the river, would seize the gates to let their companions enter. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 51:31 | One running post shall meet another, and messenger shall meet messenger, to tell the king of Babylon that his city is taken from one end to the other: | King, feasting in his palace, (Herodotus 1:191.) or at Borsippe. (Berosus) He sent to make inquiries, (Calmet) or his subjects hastened to convey the doleful tidings, and thus met each other. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 51:32 | And that the fords are taken, and the marshes are burnt with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. | Fords. Thus the enemy entered. --- Marches. Hebrew, "sedges," which grew to the size of trees, and were burnt when the waters of the river and lakes were drained. Herodotus (I. 185, 178.) specifies a lake four hundred and twenty stadia square, and says the ditches round the city were full of water. |
| Jeremiah 51:33 | For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a thrashing-floor; this is the time of her thrashing: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come. | Threshing, performed by oxen treading, and by rollers, etc., Judges 8:16., and 2 Kings 12:31. --- Little; about fifty-six years. |
| Jeremiah 51:34 | Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, hath eaten me up, he hath devoured me; he hath made me as an empty vessel; he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicate meats, and he hath cast me out. | Dragon, or huge fish, which swallows without chewing. Sion is here venting her complaint, Psalm 136:8. (Calmet) --- She shews that Babylon is justly punished for her cruelty towards God's people. (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 51:35 | The wrong done to me, and my flesh, be upon Babylon, saith the habitation of Sion; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, saith Jerusalem. | |
| Jeremiah 51:36 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will judge thy cause, and will take vengeance for thee, and I will make her sea desolate, *and will dry up her spring. Jeremias 50:38. | Spring; commerce, the source of her riches; or rather the waters shall be brought out of their usual channels. For many ages (Calmet) the Euphrates has been lost in sands, and reaches not the Persian Gulf. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 7:27.) (Cellar. 3:16.) |
| Jeremiah 51:37 | And Babylon shall be reduced to heaps, a dwelling-place for dragons, an astonishment and a hissing, because there is no inhabitant. | Dragons. This has been the case for above sixteen centuries, Jeremias 50:31., and Isaias 13:21. |
| Jeremiah 51:38 | They shall roar together like lions, they shall shake their manes like young lions. | Roar. They shall retain their haughty air and threaten others, when they themselves shall fall (Calmet) in the midst of their feasting, Daniel 5:30. (Xenophon vii.) |
| Jeremiah 51:39 | In their heat I will set them drink; and I will make them drunk, *that they may slumber, and sleep an everlasting sleep, and awake no more, saith the Lord. Jeremias 51:57. | |
| Jeremiah 51:40 | I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, and like rams with kids. | |
| Jeremiah 51:41 | How is Sesach taken, and the renowned one of all the earth surprised? How is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations? | Sesach, the city which worshipped the moon, (chap. 25:26.) Bel, (chap. 50:2.) etc. |
| Jeremiah 51:42 | The sea is come up over Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. | Sea: numerous armies of Cyrus, or the waters of the Euphrates let loose. (Calmet) --- In the days of Alexander [the Great], many tombs of the kings were inundated. (Strabo xv.) |
| Jeremiah 51:43 | Her cities are become an astonishment, a land uninhabited and desolate, a land wherein none can dwell, nor son of man pass through it. | |
| Jeremiah 51:44 | And I will visit against Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he had swallowed down: and the nations shall no more flow together to him, for the wall also of Babylon shall fall. | Down. His priests pretended that he eat, (Daniel 14:11.) and a woman of their choice slept in the most retired part of the temple. (Herodotus 1:181.) --- The prophet derides this notion. The idol, or rather his votaries, (Haydock) shall be forced to let go the Israelites. (Calmet) --- Fall, by means of Cyrus and of Darius, Jeremias 50:3. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 51:45 | Go out of the midst of her, my people; that every man may save his life from the fierce wrath of the Lord. | |
| Jeremiah 51:46 | And lest your hearts faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land: and a rumour shall come in one year, and after this year another rumour: and iniquity in the land, and ruler upon ruler. | Faint. You may apprehend that your miseries will increase in the midst of such confusion; but no, Baltassar, the last of your oppressor's race, shall be assassinated by Neriglissor, who will be succeeded by Laborosoarchod and Nabonides. This last shall yield to Cyrus, who will grant you liberty. Baltassar reigned two years, Neriglissor four, his ill-tempered infant son nine months, when his followers murdered him, and gave the crown to a Babylonian called Nabonides, who kept it seventeen years, till Cyrus took him prisoner. This we learn from Berosus, quoted by Josephus, contra Apion 1:On the other hand Daniel makes Darius, the Mede, succeed Baltassar, and after him Cyrus reigned. To these changes and continual alarms the prophet alludes. |
| Jeremiah 51:47 | Therefore, behold the days come, and I will visit the idols of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. | Idols; Bel, etc., ver. 41. --- Slain. Hebrew, "dancers." The people were feasting. (Calmet) --- It means also "slain," (Protestants) or "soldiers." |
| Jeremiah 51:48 | And the heavens and the earth, and all things that are in them shall give praise for Babylon: for spoilers shall come to her from the north, saith the Lord. | Praise, for the just punishment. (Haydock) --- The crimes were public. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 51:49 | And as Babylon caused that there should fall slain in Israel; so of Babylon there shall fall slain in all the earth. | |
| Jeremiah 51:50 | You that have escaped the sword, come away, stand not still; remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. | Mind. Offer sacrifices of thanks on Sion, (Haydock) both Jews and other nations. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 51:51 | We are confounded, because we have heard reproach; shame hath covered our faces; because strangers are come upon the sanctuary of the house of the Lord. | We. The Jews answer: we are ashamed when we think of these places. (Menochius) |
| Jeremiah 51:52 | Therefore, behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will visit her graven things, and in all her land the wounded shall groan. | |
| Jeremiah 51:53 | If Babylon should mount up to heaven, and establish her strength on high; from me there should come spoilers upon her, saith the Lord. | High. Her fortifications and ditches will prove fruitless, Jeremias 48:7, 18. |
| Jeremiah 51:54 | The noise of a cry from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans: | |
| Jeremiah 51:55 | Because the Lord hath laid Babylon waste, and destroyed out of her the great voice; and their wave shall roar like many waters; their voice hath made a noise: | Great voice, or boasting and songs of joy, usual at public meetings. --- Noise. They groan under affliction. |
| Jeremiah 51:56 | Because the spoiler is come upon her, that is, upon Babylon, and her valiant men are taken, and their bow is weakened, because the Lord, who is a strong revenger, will surely repay. | |
| Jeremiah 51:57 | And I will make her princes drunk, and her wise men, and her captains, and her rulers, and her valiant men; and they shall sleep an everlasting sleep, and shall awake no more, saith the king, whose name is Lord of hosts. | Drunk, with the wine of fury, ver. 39., and Jeremias 25:26. |
| Jeremiah 51:58 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: That broad wall of Babylon shall be utterly broken down, and her high gates shall be burnt with fire, and the labours of the people shall come to nothing, and of the nations shall go to the fire and shall perish. | Broad wall. The pagan historians agree not in the dimensions, but allow it was excessively broad and lofty. (Calmet) --- Six chariots might go abreast. It was 360 stadia long, (Ctesias); or 480 (Herodotus 1:178.) that is above 23 leagues, allowing 2,500 paces for each. This author says the breadth was fifty cubits of the king, three inches larger than the common one, or about twenty-one inches. Pliny ([Natural History?] 6:26.) improperly applies this to Roman feet, and says the walls were two hundred feet high; while Herodotus assigns so many cubits. (Calmet) --- There were three different walls. (Curt. v.) --- Cyrus demolished the outer one. (Berosus) --- What remained, (Calmet) with the hundred brazen gates, Darius treated in like manner. (Herodotus 1:179., and 3:159.) --- Thus was the prediction fulfilled, and the works of so many captive nations brought to nothing. It is asserted that 200,000 (Calmet) daily finished a stadium, (Curt. v.) or 125 paces. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 51:59 | The word that Jeremias, the prophet, commanded Saraias, the son of Nerias, the son of Naasias, when he went with king Sedecias, to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign: now Saraias was chief over the prophecy. | With. Hebrew also, (Calmet) "on behalf of." (Protestant marginal note) (Haydock) --- It is no where else asserted that Sedecias went in person, and Septuagint, Chaldean, etc., explain it in this manner. Baruch accompanied his brother Saraias, and probably took the letter, Baruch 1:2. Saraias went to petition for the sacred vessels. --- Prophecy, or of the embassy to speak (Calmet) in the king's name. Hebrew menucha, was a caution of Benjamin. It means, "rest;" whence some have inferred that he was chamberlain, (Canticle of Canticles 3:8.) or a favourite. Most translate, "chief of the presents," Septuagint and Chaldean, as if they they had read mincha, which he carried as a tribute to Babylon. Jeremias gave him charge of the parcel, perhaps before Baruch had determined to go. |
| Jeremiah 51:60 | And Jeremias wrote in one book all the evil that was to come upon Babylon: all these words that are written against Babylon. | |
| Jeremiah 51:61 | And Jeremias said to Saraias: When thou shalt come into Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words, | |
| Jeremiah 51:62 | Thou shalt say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place to destroy it; so that there should be neither man nor beast to dwell therein, and that it should be desolate for ever. | |
| Jeremiah 51:63 | And when thou shalt have made an end of reading this book, thou shalt tie a stone to it, and shalt throw it into the midst of the Euphrates: | |
| Jeremiah 51:64 | And thou shalt say: Thus shall Babylon sink, and she shall not rise up from the affliction that I will bring upon her, and she shall be utterly destroyed. Thus far are the words of Jeremias. | Sink. The angel did the like; (Apocalypse 18:21.; Calmet) and the Phoceans, leaving their country, swore that they would return no more till a piece of red hot iron, which they threw into the sea, should swim. (Herodotus 1:165.) --- Thus, etc., was added by the compiler. Septuagint omit the sentence, as what relates to Babylon is placed [in] Jeremias 28. in their copies. (Calmet) --- Yet Grabe puts it in a different character. (Haydock) --- Jeremias wrote a great deal, after the 4th year of Sedecias, ver. 59. (Calmet) --- He here finished his predictions against Babylon. (Worthington) --- This does not mean that he did not write the next chapter, (Menochius) as Cappel allows, (Houbigant) though this may still be doubted. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 52:0 | A recapitulation of the reign of Sedecias, and the destruction of Jerusalem. The number of the captives. | |
| Jeremiah 52:1 | Sedecias *was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Amital, the daughter of Jeremias, of Lobna. 4 Kings 24:18.; 2 Paralipomenon 36:11. | Year of the World 3414, Year before Christ 590. Sedecias. This is purely historical, taken from 4 Kings 24:18., etc. Many doubt with reason the Jeremias inserted it, as he could not well be alive at the time when Joakim was honoured, ver. 31. If he had written both this and the Book of Kings, the variations which we here discover would not be seen. It seems, therefore, that Esdras or some other has inserted it, to explain the fall of Jerusalem and the lamentations; as a similar addition has been made to Isaias, Jeremias 36., etc. See Grotius. (Calmet) --- The history occurs more at large, Paralipomenon ultra.[last chapter?] (Worthington) |
| Jeremiah 52:2 | And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that Joakim had done. | |
| Jeremiah 52:3 | For the wrath of the Lord was against Jerusalem, and against Juda, till he cast them out from his presence; and Sedecias revolted from the king of Babylon. | Revolted, breaking his oath, which greatly offended God. |
| Jeremiah 52:4 | *And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, the tenth day of the month, that Nabuchodonosor, the king of Babylon, came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and they besieged it, and built forts against it round about. 4 Kings 25:1.; Jeremias 39:1. | |
| Jeremiah 52:5 | And the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Sedecias. | |
| Jeremiah 52:6 | And in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a famine overpowered the city; and there was no food for the people of the land. | |
| Jeremiah 52:7 | And the city was broken up, and the men of war fled, and went out of the city in the night by the way of the gate that is between the two walls, and leadeth to the king's garden, (the Chaldeans besieging the city round about) and they went by the way that leadeth to the wilderness. | |
| Jeremiah 52:8 | But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king; and they overtook Sedecias in the desert which is near Jericho: and all his companions were scattered from him. | |
| Jeremiah 52:9 | And when they had taken the king, they carried him to the king of Babylon, to Reblatha, which is in the land of Emath; and he gave judgment upon him. | |
| Jeremiah 52:10 | And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Sedecias before his eyes; and he slew all the princes of Juda, in Reblatha. | |
| Jeremiah 52:11 | And he put out the eyes of Sedecias, and bound him with fetters, and the king of Babylon brought him into Babylon, and he put him in prison till the day of his death. | |
| Jeremiah 52:12 | And in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, the same is the nineteenth year of Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, came Nabuzardan, the general of the army, who stood before the king of Babylon, in Jerusalem. | Tenth: 4 Kings seventh, on which day Nabuzardan set out from Reblatha, according to some. But it was above sixty leagues, or hours journey, distant. (Calmet) --- He entered the city on the 7th, and put his orders in execution on the 10th. (Usher) --- Nothing of the king's imprisonment, or of the city poor occurs, 4 Kings. |
| Jeremiah 52:13 | And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great house he burnt with fire. | |
| Jeremiah 52:14 | And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the general, broke down all the wall of Jerusalem, round about. | |
| Jeremiah 52:15 | But Nabuzardan, the general, carried away captives some of the poor people, and of the rest of the common sort, who remained in the city, and of the fugitives that were fled over to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude. | Poor. He took those of the city, and left the poor of the country, ver. 16. (Calmet) --- Alexandrian Septuagint omits this verse, which Grabe inserts: 16. "And the rest of the people, the chief cook or general, left for," etc. (Haydock) |
| Jeremiah 52:16 | But of the poor of the land, Nabuzardan, the general, left some for vine-dressers, and for husbandmen. | |
| Jeremiah 52:17 | The Chaldeans also broke in pieces the brazen pillars that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the sea of brass that was in the house of the Lord: and they carried all the brass of them to Babylon. | |
| Jeremiah 52:18 | And they took the cauldrons, and the flesh-hooks, and the psalteries, and the bowls, and the little mortars, and all the brazen vessels that had been used in the ministry: and | |
| Jeremiah 52:19 | The general took away the pitchers, and the censers, and the pots, and the basins, and the candlesticks, and the mortars, and the cups; as many as were of gold, in gold; and as many as were of silver, in silver: | |
| Jeremiah 52:20 | And the two pillars, and one sea, and twelve oxen of brass that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the Lord: there was no weight of the brass of all these vessels. | Under the sea the bases, (Haydock) or bowls, which, etc. |
| Jeremiah 52:21 | And concerning the pillars, one pillar was eighteen cubits high, and a cord of twelve cubits compassed it about; but the thickness thereof was four fingers, and it was hollow within. | |
| Jeremiah 52:22 | And chaptrels of brass were upon both: and the height of one chaptrel was five cubits; and net-work, and pomegranates were upon the chaptrels round about, all of brass. The same of the second pillar, and the pomegranates. | |
| Jeremiah 52:23 | And there were ninety-six pomegranates hanging down; and the pomegranates, being a hundred in all, were compassed with net-work. | Hundred; four next the wall were not seen, or were fixed to the chaptrels. |
| Jeremiah 52:24 | And the general took Saraias the chief priest, and Sophonias, the second priest, and the three keepers of the entry. | Second in dignity to the high priest, a chief officer of the temple. |
| Jeremiah 52:25 | He also took out of the city, one eunuch, that was chief over the men of war; and seven men of them that were near the king's person, that were found in the city; and a scribe, an officer of the army, who exercised the young soldiers; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city. | Seven: 4 Kings has five. But this seems more correct, as seven were commonly employed, Esther 1:10., and Tobias 12:15. (Calmet) --- Two might be taken later. (Haydock) --- A scribe. St. Jerome has Sopher, (4 Kings) as if it were a proper name, and not an office. |
| Jeremiah 52:26 | And Nabuzardan, the general, took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon, to Reblatha. | |
| Jeremiah 52:27 | And the king of Babylon struck them, and put them to death, in Reblatha, in the land of Emath: and Juda was carried away captive out of his land. | |
| Jeremiah 52:28 | This is the people whom Nabuchodonosor carried away captive: In the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Jews. | Seventh year of Nabuchodonosor, and last of Joakim, 4 Kings. Roman Septuagint omits this and the next verse, which are found in Theodoret and the Complutensian edition. (Calmet) --- Grabe supplies all from, And Juda, ver 27, to 31. (Haydock) --- Zuinglius observes that the Septuagint have not a fragment of it, and that it has been added by some one to hide the ignominy of the Jews. It is interpolated in the Arabic of the Lond. Polyglot, and seems contrary to the true history, 4 Kings 24:14. (Kennicott, Diss. 2.) |
| Jeremiah 52:29 | In the eighteenth year of Nabuchodonosor, eight hundred and thirty-two souls from Jerusalem. | |
| Jeremiah 52:30 | In the three and twentieth year of Nabuchodonosor, Nabuzardan, the general, carried away of the Jews, seven hundred and forty-five souls. So all the souls were four thousand six hundred. | |
| Jeremiah 52:31 | And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth *year of the captivity of Joachin, king of Juda, in the twelfth month, the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach, king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Joachin, king of Juda, and brought him forth out of prison. 4 Kings 25:27.; | Year of the World 3442, Year before Christ 562. Joachin. He had been thrown into prison when 18 years old, and continued there 37 years. It is not probable that Jeremias wrote this. Evilmerodach had also been the same in prison. --- Five: 4 Kings has seven. Probably Nabuchodonosor died on the 25th, and his son then resolved to liberate Joachin; which he did on the 27th. |
| Jeremiah 52:32 | And he spoke kindly to him, and he set his throne above the thrones of the kings that were with him in Babylon. | Kings, who had been conquered, and kept at court for parade. (Calmet) |
| Jeremiah 52:33 | And he changed his prison-garments, and he eat bread before him always all the days of his life. | |
| Jeremiah 52:34 | And for his diet a continual provision was allowed him by the king of Babylon, every day a portion, until the day of his death, all the days of his life. |