THE GIFT OF Wilfred on. Bamca. Cornell University Library BS1525 .D7S Book of the prophet Jeremiah : a revised olin 3 1924 029 306 061 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029306061 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH A REVISED TRANSLATION WrTH INTRODUCTIONS AND SHORT EXPLANATIONS By the Rev, S. R. DRIVER, D.D. Regim Professor of Hebrew, and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, Hon. LiU. D. Dublin and Cambridge, Hon. D.D. Glasgow and Aberdeen, Fellow of the British Academy NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 153-157 FIFTH AVENUE 1906 PREFACE The aim of the present volume is to assist an ordinary educated reader to read the Book of Jeremiah inteUigently, and to understand the gist and scope of its different parts. For this purpose I have given a revised translation of the Book, in the general style of the Authorized Version, as clear and exact as English idiom would permit ; the text has been divided into paragraphs, with headings prefixed to each, summarizing the argu- ment or narrative which follows ; and a minimum of short notes has been added sometimes illustrating from other passages the terms used, more frequently explaining briefly historical or other allusions, difficult passages (so far as this was possible), technical expressions, and other things not hkely to be familiar to any but special students. It is from being unacquainted with things such as these, that the writings of the prophets are, it is to be feared, found by many readers to be frequently vi PREFACE difficult to understand, and consequently unattract- ive. A few words are, however, often aU that is required to remove the obscurity, and render them intelligible. It is especially of importance, if the prophets' writuigs are to be properly understood, that attention should be paid to the history and circumstances of the age which gave them birth. For the prophets, however far they rose above the mass of then- contemporaries in spirituaUty and moral force, were essentially, one and aU, the children of their time : they spoke out of, and to, the circumstances of their own time ; it was the aim of their hfe to guide, to reform, or to encourage, as the case might be, their countrymen among whom they lived ; and their writings reflect throughout the impression which the movements and circumstances of their own age made upon them. I have accordingly made it my endeavour to acquaint the reader, at least in outUne, with the history and circumstances of Jeremiah's age ; and to help him to understand, wherever this was possible, the bearing of his various prophecies upon the events or circumstances which called them forth. Although, however, the volume is intended primarily for readers unacquainted with Hebrew, I have not been forgetful of the needs of Hebrew students ; and both the translation, and also the PREFACE Vll explanatory notes upon some of the renderings at the end of the volume, will, I hope, be found inter- esting and useful by them. A detailed discussion of exegetical or other difficulties (except in so far as some of them form the subject of the notes just referred to), as also of the deeper literary problems presented by the Book of Jeremiah, I have con- sidered to lie beyond the scope of the present volume." S. R. DRIVER. Aug. 25, 1906. » A large part of the volume, viz. the translation of most of chaps, ii.-xxv., xxx.-xxxi., xlvi.-xlix., with the notes, appeared originally, it should be stated, in a series of papers in the Expositor, between Nov. 1902 and Aug. 1904. CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION :— § 1. Aim and plan op the pbesent translation xv § 2. Otttlini! op Jeremiah's life and times . xxvii § 3. Some litbbary PEATtrEES op the Book op Jeremiah ....... xli PRINCIPAL ABBREVIATIONS EMPLOYED . . UU CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE Ivi THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH: TRANSLATION AND NOTES :— Jeremiah's call (oh. i.) . . . . . 1 Condition and pbospectts op Jtjdah under Josiah (ohs. ii.-vi.) ... ... 5 Jttdah's persistent disregard op Yahweh, and coming doom (vii.-ix. 26, x. 17-25). 40-58, 62-64 Israel not to dread the gods op the heathen (x. 1-16) . 58-62 Obedience to Yahweh inculcated ; the conse- quences op the people's rbtubn to the sins op ix J X CONTENTS PAGE THEm FOREFATHEES ; THE PLOT OF THE MEN OF Anathoth AGAEsrsT Jbbemiah's life, and the prophet's complaint at theib escape from justice (xi. 1-xii. 6) 65 Lamentation on the desolation of Judah by its NEIGHBOURS (xii. 7-17) ..... 73 JtJDAH'S TTNWOETHINESS, and approaching DOOM, TAUGHT BY THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MARRED WAIST- CLOTH, AND THE PARABLE OF THE FILLED WINE-JAR (ch. xiii.) 76 A DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE PROPHET AND YAHWEH, ARISING OUT OF A DROUGHT, ON ( 1 ) THE FUTURE FATE OF JUDAH, AND (2) THE PBOPHET'S PERSONAL TRIALS (ohs. xiv.-xv.) ...... 82 Further predictions of coming disaster (xvi. 1-xvii. 18) 93 An exhortation to observe the Sabbath (xvii. 19-27) . 103 A lesson from the potter. Jeremiah's predic- tions of misfortune lead to plots being formed against his life (ch. xviii) .... 106 The lesson of the broken cruse, and its conse- quences TO Jeremiah (chs. xix.-xx.) . .112 Jere miah declares to Zedekiah the issue of THE SEIGE OF 'JERUSALEM BY THE ChALDAEANS ; (oh. xxi.) J2J CONTENTS xi PAGE Jeeemiah's judgement ok the kestgs and prophets OF HIS time : — On the kinqs (xxii. 1-xxui. 8) . . . 126 On the pbophets (xxiii. 9-40) . . . 134 The vision of the two baskets op figs (oh. xxiv) 142 The Babylonian supebmacy fobbtold (oh. xxv.) 145 Jeebmiah, wabning the people that the Temple IS likely to share the fate of Shiloh, escapes NABROVPLY WITH HIS LIFE (ch. XXvi.) . .155 No prospect of a speedy end op the Babylonian supremacy (ohs. xxvii.-xxix.) : — The yoke of the king of Babylon not yet to BE BROKEN (ch. XXVii.) .... 161 No HOPE OP AN immediate RESTORATION OF THE SACRED VESSELS (oh. xxviii.) . . .166 Jeremiah's letter to the exiles in Babylonia, bidding them dwell contentedly in their new home, and not listen to the prophets who deluded them v7ith hopes of a speedy RETURN TO JUDAH (oh. Xxix.) . . . 169 Prophecies and promises of restoration (chs. xxx.-xxxiii.) . . . . . . .177 The people rebuked by Jeremiah fob havesto pro- mised TO emancipate their Hebrew slaves, and THEN refusing TO DO SO (oh. xxxiv). . . 209 A lesson peom the Rectta bites (ch. xxxv.) . . 215 xii CONTENTS PAGE How Jebemiah's pbophecies were first committed TO WKiTiNQ (ch. xxxvi.) . . . . .219 Incidents in Jebemiah's life dtteino the siege of Jebttsaiem by the Chaxdaeans (xxxvii. l-xxxviii. 28a) . 227 The CAPT0EE OF JeBTTSAUEM by the CHAIiDAEANS, AND THE FAVOtTB SHEWN TO JeREMIAH AFTBBWABDS (xxxviii. 286-xxxix.) . ... 238 Events in Jeremiah's life after the fali ^of JerttsaIiEM (oha. xl.-xliv.): — GeDALIAH MADE GOVBENOR of JUDAH ; JbREMIAH AND other Jews join htm at Mizpah ; his ASSASSINATION BY ISHMAEL (chs. xl.-xli.) . 243 Jebemtah oompet.t.kd by the othee Jews to ACCOMPANY them 'INTO EGYPT ; HIS PREDICTION of the invasion of Egypt by Nebuohad- nezzab (ohs. xlii.-xliii.) .... 252 He bebukes the Jews besident in Egypt for thbib^dolateies, and threatens them with disaster (ch. xliv.) ..... 259 Jeremiah's prophecy to Baetjch (ch. xlv. ) . . 267 Prophecies against the nations (ohs. xlvi.-li.) : On Egypt (xlvi. 2-26) 269 On the Philistines (ch. xlvii.) . . 278 On Moab (ch. xlviii.) 280 On the Ammonites (xlix. 1-6) . 291 CONTENTS xiii PAGE 293 On Edom (xlix. 7-22) .... On Damasctjs (xlix. 23-27) . . . .297 On Kedab and Hazob (xlix. 28-33) . . 299 On Elam (xlix. 34-39) .... 300 On Babylon (1. 1-li. 58) ... . 301 The message sent by Jbeemiah to Babylon in IN TKE 4lH YEAE OF Zedekiah (li. 59-64) 326 The capttjbe of Jebusalem by the Chaldaeans, and exile of its inhabitants (oh. lii.) . . 328 NOTES EXPLANATORY OF SOME OF THE RENDER- INGS ADOPTED 336 GLOSSARY OF ARCHAISMS IN THE REVISED VER- SION OF JEREMIAH 371 INDEX 377 INTRODUCTION § 1. Aim and plan of the present translation. An ideal translation of the Bible should possess, I suppose, four leading characteristics : it should be idiomatic, dignified, accurate, and clear. There are English versions of the Old Testament which possess undeniably the first two of these characteristics : there is none, unhappily (except for particular books), which possesses, as completely as it should do, the last two. Hence, unquestionable as is the superiority of the Revised Version to the Authorized Version, and greatly as it is to be desired that it may before long come generally to supersede it in the pubhc services of the Church, there stiQ seems room for a version which, even though made by a private hand, may nevertheless reproduce, more exactly than was found possible in the Revised Version, but at the same time without doing any violence to the EngHsh language, and in the same general literary style with which Enghsh Bible-readers have long been familiar, the meaning and force of the original. In such a version, the first two characteristics mentioned above, idiom and dignity, would be naturally xvi INTRODUCTION secured by adhering as closely as possible to the lan- guage of the Authorized Version ; in fact, this would be deviated from only when it was necessary in the interests of the third and fourth of the same characteris- tics, accuracy and clearness. By accuracy, I mean the representation of the force of the original as faithfully as grammar, and philology, and the study of the same word as it occurs in other passages, enable us to ascer- tain it, but without any such attempt to reproduce grammatical or lexical minutiae as would result in unnatural English, or amount to pedantry. By clear- ness, I mean consistency and inteUigibility in the sequence of tenses, the avoidance of ambiguous expres- sions, and especially the avoidance of words which, however familiar in the seventeenth century, are now either unknown, or have so changed their meaning as to be by the great majority of readers misunderstood.' The Bible, it is surely not a paradox to hold, should be accessible to English readers in a translation — ^not in- deed * modernized ' (in the sense in which this term is commonly understood), but — clear and accurate, and » See the notes at the end of the volume on ii. 9, 32, and elsewhere. ' Strange ' and ' stranger ' are, for instance, often used, even in the Revised Version, in the sense of foreign, foreigner — a sense which 'practically no one now would think of attributing to them. There are also many other words retained in the Revised Version, which are probably either not under- stood, or wrongly understood, by most readers. In the books of the O.T. edited by him, the present writer has usually made a point of explaining the archaisms occurring in the English version used : see the Indices to his editions of Genesis, the last six Minor Prophets, and Daniel, and the Glossaries at the end of his Parallel Psalter (PBV.), Job, and the present volume. PRINCIPLES OF TRANSLATION xvii free from needless and misleading archaisms." In the present volume an endeavour has been made to produce a translation of the Book of Jeremiah which may possess the four literary characteristics which have been thus indicated. " A mere translation of a Biblical book, however, be it ever so exact, is not sufficient. Passages not unfre- quently occur, especially in the poetical and prophetical books, which, sometimes from the nature of the allusions contained in them, sometimes from abrupt changes in the speakers, or in the line of thought, and sometimes also from other causes, an average reader finds it difficult to understand. It appears to me, it is true, that a plain and clear rendering of the Hebrew does much in many cases to alleviate this difficulty. At the same time, there remain undoubtedly passages where it does not remove it entirely ; and where, for instance, brief headings, indicating the line of thought in the following paragraph, the use of inverted commas showing where words spoken begin and end, and a minimum of explanatory notes, referring to parallel passages, or otherwise explaining allusions, the sense of which is not fairly apparent, would be of great assistance to the reader. In the present volume, I have accordingly added helps of this kind. Inverted » The right principle for dealing with archaisms was surely laid down once for aU by the late Bp. Lightfoot, in his admirable Essay on a Fresh Bevision of the English New Testament (1872), p. 171 : * So long as an archaism is intelligible, let it by all means be retained. If it is misleading, or ambiguous, or inarticulate, the time for removing it has come ' (corap. the illustrations, pp. 119 f., 170-9). xviii INTRODUCTION commas are the more necessary — and indeed, if tho poetical parts of the Old Testament are to be properly understood, almost indispensable — on account of the practice of Hebrew poets to place words, in a manner unfamiHar to English readers, in the mouth of a speaker or speakers not expressly named ; and I have accord- ingly employed them regularly, except in the one constantly recurring case of words spoken by Yahweh to the prophet, in which they did not appear to me to be required. In other respects, the following are the main prin- ciples of translation which I have adopted. ItaJics have been used, not as they are used in AV., RV., to represent words not in the original, but, as in ordinary Enghsh books, for the sake of emphasis — especially to mark pronouns, the emphasis on which is sometimes important, though it would rarely be suspected, without some such mechanical help, by an English reader.* Words not in the original are enclosed ip • Italics have not however been used where the pron. is sufficiently emphasized by its position before a stop, as iv. 22 (' me ' ), V. 4, xii. 3 (' thou '), or unusual place, as xv. 6 (' me ' )> XXX. 14 ('thee'). The emphasis on pronouns is indicated in Hebrew sometimes by their being expressed separately (as Jer. iii. 19, xxvii. 5, xxxvi. 29), sometimes by their position (as Jer. iv. 17, v. 22, XXX. 14, Isa. Ivii. 11). In general, however, attention should always be paid to the order of worda in a Hebrew sentence. The order cannot always be reproduced in English (for what is easy and idiomatic in one language may be stifi and unnatural in another), but in the Hebrew expression and emphasis are conveyed by it ; and where, by means consistent with English idiom, it is possible to express the effect in a translation, it is worth while making an endeavour to do so. PRINCIPLES OF TRANSLATION xix parentheses, except where the words in question are added merely for the sake of English usage, and where, therefore, marks of parenthesis appeared to me to be a needless disfigurement of ,the text." Inversions of order (as the object before a verb) have been employed, in agreement with the Hebrew, somewhat more freely than in the Authorized Version ; they are justified by the usage of King James' translators, and appear to me not only to be needed sometimes to give a word its proper emphasis," but also to impart freshness and variety, not less than a certain dignity of movement, to the style. Archaisms not likely to be understood I have naturally eschewed, except in a few cases in which, with an explanatory note, their retention seemed free from objection." Care has been taken to avoid renderings which, whatever their other merits, did not seem to me to be consonant with Enghsh usage, or to read naturally and smoothly. Thus no attempt has been made to reproduce needlessly Uteral renderings of * I have, in particular, dispensed with them in the case o£ ■ even,' used often to introduce a word or words in apposition, in a sentence which would otherwise in our idiom read baldly (see e.g. viii. 17, xxxvi. 12). So 'to wit,' xxv. 18, 'namely,' xxvi. 22. Occasionally also an ' and ' not in the Heb. has been treated similarly (as xvii. 10, xx. 11). In explanatory additions, however, I have thought it better to employ the parentheses, as xxv. 30 ' tread (the grapes)', xxv. 31 ' the din (of battle)', XXX. 21 '(else)'. The same marks are, naturally, also used to indicate what is a real parenthesis in the Hebrew (as xxix. 2) ; but the cases are so different that I do not think any reader can confuse them. " Cf. the note on p 343. " See ii. 12 (' lye') ; vii. 33 (' fray ' : ' frighten, is not a very dignified word, and ' disturb ' is hardly strong enough). XX INTRODUCTION the Hebrew : where it seemed desirable for any reason to state it, the hteral meaning of the Hebrew has been appended in a footnote. Only one idiom, the use of the participle, especially with ' behold,' of an event in process of being brought about, used in particular of the imminent future (or of the future conceived and pic- tured as imminent), is so frequent that to have never reproduced it would have been to obliterate a mode of thought characteristic of Hebrew prophecy. I have accordingly expressed it, where possible, by the English participle (as v. 15) ; but I found that this could not be done uniformly, as there were many passages in which the participle did not read well. Modernisms, whether of style or expression, have been sedulously excluded : they are quite unnecessary, in a translation of the Bible, for the sake of securing either clearness or intelligibihty. A word not in use in 1611 may occasionally have to be employed; but it need not necessarily be one with a modern flavour : something depends upon the character and associations of the word. Words which are at all of a technical char- acter, Lf misunderstanding and confusion are to be avoided, should be represented consistently by the same EngUsh equivalent ;" in passages where idiom or usage * For examples of the confusion arising from the neglect to do this, sometimes even in the Revised Version, and in words of some importance, see in Hastings' Diet, of the Bible the articles on Creeping things (notice especially the confusion in Lev. xi.), Offering, Plain, River, Stranger, Vale, Weights and Measures (note at end) ; and the note on sprinkle in the Speaker's Com- mentary on Leviticus, p. 4996, or (more briefly) in the writer's note on Zeoh. ix. 15 in the Century Bible. PRINCIPLES OF TRANSLATION xxi did not readily permit this, the usual English equivalent has been given in a footnote (asx. 8). The Tetragram- maton, being a fersonal name, is not properly repre, sented by ' the Lord ' : as the common vocaUzatioi^ ' Jehovah ' is philologicaUy indefensible — besides being unknown before a.d. 1518 (or thereabouts), so that it cannot even claim antiquity in its favour — the vocalization ' Yahweh,' now usual among scholars, haS; been employed. There is no reason for supposing that either Jeremiah or his contemporaries expressed the sacred name by a paraphrase ; and Lf its ancient pronunciation was not actually ' Yahweh,' it must have been something extremely Uke it/ Hebrew words hav& been cited occasionally in the footnotes (usually for the. purpose of showing the shghtness of a textual change, suggested), but not, it is hoped, in a way that wiH interrupt or perplex a reader. In difficult and uncertaii\ passages, upon the interpretation of which different views may reasonably be held, it seems to me proper ta give the alternative rendering on the margin : on the. other hand, alternative renderings, which possess only- an antiquarian interest, I have excluded as unnecessary, and likely only to involve a reader in uncertainty. The Book of Jeremiah contains examples of more than, one style of Uterary composition. It contains narra-. tives written in ordinary prose (as ch. xxxvi.), pro-, phetical discourses written in an elevated, oratorical, prose, resembling generally the discourses of Deute-. » The apocopated form -yahu at the end of many propeis names (in the Heb.) strongly supports 'Yahweh' as the proj. nunciation of the unapocopated name. xxii INTRODUCTION ronomy (as most of ch. vii., oh. xix., xx. 4r-6, xxi. 4-10, etc.), and also passages written — as, in fact, the dis- courses of the prophets were most commonly written — in a style approximating more or less to the rhythmical form of Hebrew poetry, in lines more or less parallel in thought, "^'and similar in articulation and length. The hues separating passages written in the second and third of these styles are not always clearly marked : the elevated prophetical oratory often falls into clauses parallel in thought, and sometimes, as the emotion becomes stronger, rises into the distinctive rhythmical movement of poetry. Under these circumstances, I have naturally had to consider the question how far the poetical form of the original should be represented in the translation. The tendency of Jeremiah to cast his prophecies into the rhythmical forms of Hebrew poetry is, of course, patent and undeniable : nevertheless, inasmuch as the form is seldom as complete as in the distinctively poetical parts of the Old Testament (Psalms, Job, Proverbs ; Gen. xlix., Deut. xxxii., etc.), or as capable of being represented satisfactorily in English, and moreover can often only be made complete by alterations of the text which I was not prepared to introduce, I decided to make no attempt to do this, except in a few very clear cases, where the rhythmical measure was particularly apparent, and where it did appear to be an advantage to have the poetical structure of the passage exhibited typographically. In other cases I have trusted to the semi-poetical form or charac- ter of a passage, and to the feeling which finds expression in it by the repetition of a thought in parallel clauses. FORMS OF HEBREW POETRY xxiii being sufficiently apparent to the reader without further assistance. It also seems to me that to break up the text of Jeremiah too freely into parallel lines, by unduly interrupting the continuous flow which is characteristic of his prophecies — as indeed of the prophets' oratory in general — somewhat alters the effect which the whole is intended to produce. On the manner in which, in ordinary cases, the lines of the original are represented in the translation, nothing need be said. But a word of explanation may be needed with reference to the form adoptedin ii. 2, 3, 15, vii. 29, ix. 21, 22, xiii. 18, 19, xxii. 6, 7, xlviii. 17-19. In ordi- nary Hebrew poetry, the second hne of a distich is usually of approximately the same length as the first, and consequently balances it ; it also, as a rule, rein- forces the first, whether by way of synonymous paralleUsm, as — Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron ; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel ; or by way of contrast (' antithetic paraUeUsm '), as — A false balance is Yahweh's abomination. But a just weight is his delight ; or by way of supplement (' synthetic paralleUsm '), as — When God arose to judgement. To save all the meek of the earth ; but in the passages quoted, the second line in the Hebrew — and often, though not always, in the EngUsh as well — does not balance the first, but is decidedly shorter ; and instead of reinforcing the first, is neither parallel, nor antithetic, to it in thought : it echoes it xxiv INTRODUCTION imperfectly ; the first line seems, as it were, to die away in the second, and a plaintive, melancholy cadenco is thus produced. As Budde wds the first to shew, this measure is in fact the rhythm characteristic of the Hebrew 'Iklndh ' or elegy (cf . the note on is. 10, p. 353) ; the first four chapters of the Lamentations are written in it, and it also recurs in passages of the prophets written in an elegiac strain. Here are three examples from the Lamentations (iii. 1-3) : — I am the man that hath seen affliction, by the rod of his wrath : Me hath he led, and caused to go, in darkness and not in light : Surely against me he tumeth his hand aU the day. And here is an example from Amos (v. 2) : — Fallen, no more to rise, is the virgin of Israel : She lieth forsaken upon her land, there is none to raise her up. I have not however, in Jeremiah, represented the elegiac measure of the original typographically in all the cases in which this might have been done. Naturally, I have not been able to adhere throughout to the Massoretic text. That this text does not repre- sent throughout the autographs of the Biblical writers, that more original readings are often preserved by the ancient Versions, particularly by the Septuagint,* and that sometimes it is even necessary to emend it by » The ancient Versions were made from Hebrew MSS. older by many centuries than any of the Hebrew Bible now extant. TREATMENT OF TEXT xxv conjecture, are positions now so generally accepted by scholars, that there is no occasion to support them here by further argument. It need only perhaps be re- marked, for the information of unlearned readers, that the Hebrew characters, especially in ancient times, when they were written without the so-called matres lectionis, when the divisions between words were often indistinctly marked, and when there were no vowel- points to fix the meaning of individual words, were particularly Uable to corruption or confusion.* In the application of these principles there is indeed, and probably always will be, differences of opinion : scholars approach the problem from different points of view, and with different prepossessions, and cannot therefore be expected to agree uniformly in their results : the principle which, I venture to think, will most generally commend itself is that of giving the Hebrew text the general preference, and of deviating The oldest dated Hebrew MS. of any part of the O.T. dates from A.D. 916 ; and most of the MSS. used by the translators of the Septuagint must have been at least llOO/years older. ^ The ancient Versions, especially the Septuagint, furnish abundant examples of various readings arising from the causes indicated. The MSS. used for them seem indeed to have been often either badly written themselves, or imperfectly read, or understood, by the translators ; and hence most of the various readings presupposed by them are inferior to those of the existing Hebrew text. At the same time, in a. considerable minority of instances they are unquestionably better, and give a passage the sense or lucidity which it previously lacked. MSS., in other respects apparently imperfect, thus preserved good read- ings. Among the ancient Versions the Septuagint differs most from the existing Hebrew text, the Targums deviate from it least. xxvi INTRODUCTION from it only where the grounds are cogent, and the advantage gained is unmistakable and clear. In the translation which follows, where the reading adopted implies any deviation from the Massoretic text, the reader has always been apprised of the fact : some readings of the Versions, which, though worthy of note, and very possibly original, I nevertheless, for one reason or another, hesitated to take definitely into the text, I have mentioned in the footnotes. It ought only perhaps to be added, to preclude misconception, that the emendations which have been either mentioned or adopted postulate no great or improbable textual changes : the time does not seem to me to be at present ripe for accepting the more considerable and numerous alterations proposed now by some scholars with the object of restoring the poetical parts of Jeremiah (as of other prophets) to their presumed original metrical uniformity." " We do not know that the Hebrew poets always adopted lines which in the same context were of perfect metrical or rhythmical uniformity : it is an assumption, which the text of the O.T., as it stands, contradicts. If lines of such metrical or rhythmical uniformity in most cases already existed, and in other cases could be obtained by merely slight textual changes, the assumption would no doubt be a probable one : but when the desired uniformity can be obtained only by frequent, and sometimes extensive, alterations and excisions, the legitimacy of the process becomes questionable. However attractive a succession of metrically uniform lines may be, it deserves con- sideration, therefore, whether it may not have been felt by the prophets that an approximate metrical uniformity secured sufficiently that rhythmically articulated expression of thought and feeling, which was the essential form of Hebrew poetry. Those interested in the subject should consult further Budde's TIMES OF JEREMIAH xxvii § 2. Outline of JeremiaKs life and times. Jeremiah was the prophet of the decUne and fall of the kingdom of Judah. He was called to be a prophet in the 13th year of Josiah (B.C. 626) ; and we lose sight of him in Egypt, whither he was carried against his will, shortly after the fall of Jerusalem (b.c. 586), rather more than forty years afterwards. He was sprung from a little community of priests settled at Anathoth (i. 1 ; cf . 1 Kings ii. 26), three miles N.N.E. of Jerusalem, where his family owned land (xxxii. 7). It will conduce, perhaps, to clearness, especially as the prophecies and narratives contained in his book are not arranged in chronological order, if his life be divided into periods, and an endeavour made to shew how the prophecies belonging to each are related to the events or circum- stance of it. (1) Of Jeremiah's personal life between 626 and the end of the reign of Josiah (608) no particulars are known : but chapters ii.-vi. (cf. iii. 6), not less than ch. i., no doubt belong to this period (626-c. 620), and exhibit the light in which he then viewed the condition and prospects of his people : the nation is corrupt ; no offer of forgiveness moves it ; the foe is at the door, and will complete its work. The 18th year of Josiah (B.C. 621), five years after his call, the reader may be art. Poetry (Hebrew) in Hastings' Diet, of the Bible, and W. F. Cobb, A Criticism of Systems of Hebrew Metre (Oxford, 1905). For endeavours to restore the supposed original metrical fojm of the poetical parts of Jeremiah, see the Commentaries of Duhm and Cornill, Erbt, Jeremia und seine Zeit (1902), and Giesebreoht'a Jeremias Metrik am Texte dargestellt (1905). xxviii INTRODUCTION reminded, was the memorable year in which the ' Book of the Law,' i.e. Deuteronomy (in its original form), was discovered by Hilkiah in the Temple. The influence of Deuteronomy upon especially some of the later parts of Jeremiah's book is very evident. The year following the discovery of Deuteronomy was marked by Josiah's reformation (2 Kings xxiii.). Perhaps xi. 1-8 may have been written at about this time : but otherwise little or nothing in Jeremiah's book seems to belong to the last twelve years of Josiah's reign. Josiah met his death in 608 at Megiddo, on the S.W. of the Plain of Esdraelon, while vainly endeavouring to oppose Pharaoh Necoh's advance into Asia (2 Kings xxiii.' 29). Jeremiah makes in passing a pathetic reference to his loss (xxii. 10a) ; his judgement upon his character may be read in ch. xxii. 15, 16. (2) Josiah was succeeded on the throne by his third son, Jehoahaz, who, for some reason, was preferred by the people to either of his elder brothers." After three months, however, Jehoahaz, no doubt for political reasons, was deposed and exiled by Pharaoh Necoh (610-594), who placed upon the throne his second eldest brother, Jehoiakim, and at the same time imposed a heavy fine upon the land (2 Kings xxiii. 33 RVm., 34). Jeremiah laments Jehoahaz' unhappy fate in ch. xxii. 10-12. (3) Jehoiakim,, Josiah's second son, who succeeded Jehoahaz, reigned from 608 to 597. Jehoiakim was a selfish, unscrupulous ruler, who thought more of en- larging his own palace than of justice and the welfare a Comp. the ages as given in 2 Kings xxiii. 31, 36, xxiv. 18. TIMES OF JEREMIAH xxix of his subjects (see Jeremiah's judgement upon him, xxii. 13-19), and had no respect for the prophets of Yahweh, or for their words (xxvi. 20-23 ; xxxvi. 23-26). At the beginning of his reign Pharaoh Necoh continued his aggressions upon Syria; but in 605, essaying to cross the Euphrates, ho was defeated by Nebuchad- nezzar, acting as his father Nabopolassar's general, at Carchemish. This- defeat gave the final blow to Egyptian ambitions ; and assured for the Chaldaeans the supremacy of the West. PohticaUy it was the turning point of the age, and was fraught with important consequences for Israel's future. Jeremiah at once grasped its significance ; he saw that Nebuchadnezzar was destined to achieve further successes, and declared emphatically that the whole of Western Asia would fall under his sway (ch. xxv.), implying thereby what he afterwards taught explicitly, that the safety of Judah lay in yielding to the inevitable, and accepting the condition of dependence upon Babylon. Jehoiakim — not apparently immediately, but when called upon to do so (c. 600 B.C.) — submitted to Nebuchadnezzar, and during three years paid tribute : he then revolted (2 Kings xxiv. 1). Babylonian troops, assisted by marauding bands of Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites, were sent against Judah {ibid. v. 2) ; but before a regular siege of Jerusalem could be begun, Jehoiakim died. The reign of Jehoiakim seems to have been for Jere- miah a time of constant conflict and trial. A whole series of narratives and prophecies can, with greater or less probabiHty, be assigned to it, some testifying to XXX INTRODUCTION the deep emotion which overcame him, as he realized, more and more clearly, how his country was hastening to its doom, others recounting his vain efforts to reform or (vii. 16, xi. 14 ; and notably in the dialogue, xiv.-xv.) intercede for his people, and others again teUing of the experiences — the persecutions (xii. 6, xv. 10, xvii. 15-18, XX. 7-11), the plots against his life (xi. 18-23, xviii. 18), his imprisonment in the stocks (xx. 2), his narrow escapes from death (xxvi. 11, 21, cf. xxxvi. 26) — which his predictions of disaster brought upon him at the hands of his fellow-countrymen. Ch. xxvi. — of which vii. 1-20 seems pretty clearly to be a parallel report — the Temple-discourse, in which the prophet declares that unless the people amend their ways, the Temple, to which they looked for safety, wiU share the fate of Shiloh — is expressly assigned to the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign : other narratives and prophecies belonging to it are, in all probability, the rest of vii.-x. (except X. 1-16) ; most of xi.-xx. ; xxv., with its supplement xlv. (b.c. 604) ; the account in ch. xxxvi. of the circumstances under which Jeremiah's prophecies were first committed to writing, and of Jehoiakim's wrath when he heard them read (b.c. 604^3) ; the prophecies on foreign nations, xlvi.-xlix. 33, reflecting the manner in which Jeremiah pictured Nebuchad- nezzar's successes as likely to affect Israel's neighbo us ; xii. 7-17, from c. 598, when the country was overrun by bands of Syrians, Moabites, and others ; and ch. XXXV., describing how, at about the same time (v. 11), Jeremiah pointed a lesson for his countrymen from the example of the Rechabites. TIMES OF JEREMIAH xxxi (4) Jehoiakim was succeeded by his son, Jehoiachin, a youth aged eighteen years, in whose government the queen-mother, Nehushta, to judge from the prominence given to her (Jer. xiii. 18 ; cf. xxii. 36, xxix. 2), seems to have exercised considerable influence. His reign was a brief one. The penalty for Jehoiakim's imprudence fell upon his son : Jerusalem was besieged by Nebuchad- nezzar ; and after a three months' reign the king ' went out ' (2 Kings xxiv. 12), i.e. surrendered, to the enemy : he himself, the queen-mother Nehushta, the principal members of the court, and the elite of Jerusalem generally, were exiled to Babylonia. Seven thousand men of war, 1,000 artisans — besides, presumably, women and children— are mentioned as the number of those who thus went into captivity (2 Kings xxiv. 16). Only ' the poorest of the people ' were left behind. The Temple was at the same time despoiled of many of its golden vessels, and the palace of its treasures. Jehoiachin himself remained in imprisonment in Baby- lon for thirty-seven years, till released by Nebuchad- nezzar's successor, Evil-Merodach (lii. 31-34). The only prophecies of Jeremiah relating to this short reign are, apparently, xiii. 18 f. (the lament on the impending exile of the king and people), and xxii. 24^30 (the prophet's judgement on Jehoiachin). (5) Zedekiak, Josiah's eldest son, and Jehoiachin's uncle, having sworn a solemn oath of allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar (Ezek. xvii. 11-18), was appointed by him king over the Jews still remaining in Jerusalem and Judah. Jeremiah's tone now changes : the pro- phecies belonging to the reign of Zedekiah display no xxxii INTRODUCTION conflict of feeling ; the prophet no longer intercedes for his people ; he gives Zedekiah no hope ; he is bent solely on inducing the king to submit to the Chaldaeans. As all the leading men were now in exile, there must have been many among those left in Jerusalem who hitherto had occupied a humble station in life, but who now found themselves called on to fill state offices : these in many cases were elated by their new dignities, and proud of the confidence placed in them by Nebuchadnezzar. They treated their brethren in exile with no small contempt, declaring loudly that the ' land was given to them to possess it ' (see Ezek. xi. 15, xxxiii. 24) : Jeremiah expressed unambiguously his own very different judgement on both those left in Jerusalem and on the exiles (ch. xxiv.) : Uke Ezekiel (xi. 16-21, ch. xii., etc.), he gave up the former entirely, and planted his hopes for the future exclusively on the latter. There were many, however, who refused to believe that the exile would last long : some of Judah's neighbours were already meditating schemes of revolt : prophets were active in Judah promising the speedy restoration of the sacred vessels which the Chaldaeans had carried away ; one of them, Hananiah, in Zede- kiah's fourth year, asserted confidently that in two years Nebuchadnezzar's yoke would be broken, and Jehoiachin and the other exiles would return : other prophets, in Babylonia, were unsettHng the exiles themselves, and leading them to expect a speedy return home (chs. xxvii.-xxix.). To all these Jeremiah gave the same answer : it was Yahweh's purpose to give the Chaldaeans the rule over Western Asia for seventy years ; TIMES OF JEREMIAH xxxiii and till these seventy years were expired, it was useless to think either of any return of exiles, or of the restoration of the sacred vessels. The short prophecy on Elam (xlix. 34^39) is assigned by its title to the begiiming of Zedekiah's reign ; ■ and the symbolical prediction of the ultimate fall of Babylon (h. 59-64) to his fourth year. After seven or eight years, however, Zedekiah com- promised himself by treasonable negotiations with Pharaoh Hophra ; and in his ninth year (B.C. 588) the second siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldaeans began. Zedekiah sends anxiously to inquire of Jeremiah the issue of the siege; he replies unambiguously that the besiegers will prevail ; and that the only hope of safety is to submit to the Chaldaeans (xxi. 1-10 ; cf. xxxiv. 1-7)- This advice, though it seemed to many of his fellow- countrymen to be unpatriotic, was not so in reality : it was but the coroUary of the position taken by him in 605, when he saw what the rule of the Chaldaeans was likely to be, and reahzed how hopeless it was to enter into a contest with them. The approach of an Egyptian army, however, obliged the Chaldaeans to raise the siege. The hopes of the Jews were excited : Zedekiah again sends a message of inquiry to Jeremiah : the prophet rephes that the Chaldaeans will without doubt return, and take and burn the city (xxxvii. 1-10). Ch. xxxiv. 8-22 describes an incident belonging to the same period. The Jews, when the siege had begun, had solemnly promised to observe the law, and emancipate their Hebrew slaves in the seventh year of their service, but as soon as the siege was raised, had repudiated the obHgation : Jeremiah severely rebukes them for their xxxiv INTRODUCTION breach of faith, and again emphatically declares that the Chaldaeans will return, and take and burn the city. During the time that the siege was raised, Jeremiah was one day going out of the north gate of the city to take possession of some property in Benjamin — pro- bably at Anathoth — when he was arrested on a charge of deserting to the Chaldaeans, and thrown into a dungeon in the house of Jonathan, the king's secretary (xxxvii. 11-16). Being sent for by the king, and asked secretly if he has any message from Yahweh, he replies that he has : the city will be delivered into the hands of the Chaldaeans. After this, Zedekiah, at the prophet's own request, orders his removal from the dungeon ; and he is placed in honourable confinement in the guard- court, adjoining the royal palace (xxxvii. 17-21). The Chaldaeans seem now to have resumed the siege. Be- fore long, however, some of the princes accuse Jeremiah before Zedekiah of high treason, in encouraging the people to desert to the enemy ; and he is cast in conse- quence into a disused underground cistern, from which he is only rescued by the friendly intervention of Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian eunuch employed in tho palace, who obtains the king's permission to draw him up out of the cistern, and confine him, as before, in tht guard-court. Zedekiah again consults him — through fear of the princes, secretly ; and is again told by him that his only hope of safety is to surrender Jerusalem to the Chaldaeans : if he does not do this, he will himself fall into Nebuchadnezzar's hands, and the city will be burnt. After this Jeremiah remains in the guard-court tUl the city was taken by the Chaldaeans TIMES OF JEREMIAH xxxv (xxxviii. l-28a). It was during the period of his confinement in the guard-court, when he knew that the doom of Jerusalem was sealed, that Jeremiah (see xxxii. 2, xxxiii. 1), in the full assurance that his people would eventually be restored, bought the land belonging to his cousin at Anathoth (ch. xxxii.), and uttered the promises of restoration contained in that chapter and in xxxiii. 1-13 {w. 14^26 are not in the Sept., and may not be Jeremiah's) ; probably also chs. xxx.-xxxi., including promises addressed to Ephraim, as also the great prophecy of the New Covenant (xxxi. 33 f.), belong to the same period. The judgements on the kings (xxii. l-xxiii. 8), though parts are evidently earlier (xxii. 10-30), will have been completed (xxiii. 1-6) under Zedekiah : the discourse against the pro- phets (xxiii. 9-40), also, dates probably from the early or middle part of the same reign. (6) After the capture of Jerusalem, Jeremiah was favourably treated by the Chaldaeans, and permitted to reside where he pleased (xl. 5). GedaUah, son of his old friend Ahikam (xxvi. 24), being appointed by Nebu- chadnezzar governor of Judah, Jeremiah joins him at Mizpah. A number of refugee Jews assembled at the same place, among them one Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, a member of the royal family, an imperious, unscrupu- lous man, who before long treacherously slew GedaUah, and then endeavoured to force the other refugees to migrate with him across the Jordan into the territory of the Ammonites. His purpose was defeated by Johanan son of Kareah, who overtook him at Gibeon, and rescued his captives out of his hand. After this, xxxvi INTRODUCTION Johanan and the other refugees, fearing lest the Chal- daeans might hold them all responsible for the assassina- tion of Gedahah, resolved to seek a home in Egypt. Jeremiah did all that he could to dissuade them from carrying out this purpose, but in vain ; they refused to Usten to his warnings, and proceeded into Egypt, taking both Jeremiah and Baruch with them. Arrived in Egypt, Jeremiah foretells the future conquest of the country by Nebuchadnezzar (xliii. 8-12) ; and after- wards (ch. xliv.) rebukes the Jews resident in Egypt for their worship of the Queen of heaven, and rejection of Yahweh, and declares that sword and famine wiU even there overtake them. With this final outlook of disaster we lose sight of the aged prophet. Nothing is known either of the subsequent events of his life, or of the circumstances of his death. The misplaced pro- phecy, X. 1-16, bidding the Israelites not to stand in dread of the gods of the heathen, and the burst of triumphant exultation over the approaching fall of Babylon in 1. 1-li. 58, are, the former probably, and the latter certainly, of later date than Jeremiah's time. Jeremiah's was a susceptible, deeply emotional nature. The adverse course of events impresses him profoundly ; and he utters without reserve the emotions which in consequence are stirred within him. The burden of his prophecies is Israel's sin, — ^particularly its disregard of Yahweh, its heedlessness of His moral demands (v. 1 f., vii. 9-11, ix. 2-6, etc.), its idolatry, — and the doom which he sees advancing, with rapid steps, in consequence. Both the sin and the judgement are ever vividly before him ; and are ever, under one aspect JEREMIAH'S PERSONALITY xxxvii or another, being described or alluded to by him. The doom was no judgement unrelated to the sin ; for the mistaken poUcy which resulted in the ruin of the state was the direct outcome of the same wilfulness and blindness which was the cause of the people's rejecting Yahweh, and shutting their ears to the counsels, moral and poUtical alike, of His prophets. God, when He ' punishes ' a people, operates through the laws which naturally regulate the welfare of nations. But love for his country was ever warm in Jeremiah's breast : in his earlier prophecies, he once and again, in pathetic tones of tenderness and affection, entreats his people to change its ways, if so be that the disaster which he sees approaching may be averted (iv. 3 f., 14, vi. 8, vii. 3 ; cf. xxvi. 3, 13, and xxxvi. 3 in the fourth year of Jehoiakim) : through the greater part of two chapters he intercedes on Israel's behalf (xiv. 7-xv. 9) : but it is more and more clearly borne in upon him that its doom is sealed, and that Yahweh will refuse to accept any intercession for it (xiv. 11 [cf. vii. 16, xi. 14], xv. 1 ff. ; xviii. 12). It was the aim of his life to lead his people to better things : but his efforts were in vain ; the more he called to them, the more they turned from him. He was met not only with cold indifference, but often with actual detraction and persecution, including attempts on his life, from those to whom his words were unwelcome (xi. 18-23, etc. : see p. xxviii). And so it is that, with his sensitive, highly-strung natiu-e, feeling often overpowers him ; and in his agony and despair he breaks forth into bitter lamentations and complaints, he calls for vengeance on his persecutors, he wishes xxxviii INTRODUCTION himself unborn (xi. 20, xii. 3, xv. 10, 15, 18, xvii. 15-18, xviii. 19-23, XX. 7-10, 12, 14-18). The struggle within him was intense : on the one side, his lower, human self, naturally timid and shrinking, hardly able to bear up amid the trials in which he finds himself, and bur- dened by a thankless office which he would gladly have relinquished ; on the other side, his higher self, Yahweh's voice and word within him, ever with irresistible power constraining him to endure, fortifying him in his weak- ness, and encouraging him against despair (cf. i. 18 f., V. 14, vi. 11, XV. 16, 19-21, xx. 9, 11, xxiii. 29). Jere- miah's is a tragic figure ; and the conflicts, spiritual and material, which form the tragedy of his life, stand recorded in his book. But his isolation, his loneliness (xv. 17 ; cf. xvi. 2, 5, 8), his repulse by men, drove him to God : he unburdens his heart to God, discloses to Him his inmost feelings, and hears the Divine reply to his prayers and yearnings. Out of the experiences of his life there thus arose a consciousness, clearer, it seems, than had been attained before, of a personal relation between God and the individual soul. ' There were pious men before Jeremiah, but the long drawn out struggle of his life revealed piety more than ever before ' (A. B. Davidson). By his life of personal communion with God, he becomes the spiritual father of those Psalmists, whose names are indeed unknown to us, but to whom we owe all the deeper outpourings of the heart to God which we find in the Book of Psalms." " See further, on the personal and other characteristics of Jeremiah, Wellhausen, Isr. u. Jild. Oesch., ch. x. (' Jeremiah and the destruction of Jerusalem') end (ed, 3, 1897, pp 141-4); IDEALS OF THE FUTURE xxxix Like most of the other prophets, Jeremiah projects ideals of the future. Not only does he promise what actually came to pass ; the return of the exiles to the territories of Benjamin and Judah, and the resumption there of the interrupted social state, in which again, as of old, the sounds of joy and life would be heard in the villages (xxx. 18 f.; xxxiii. 10 f.), shepherds would again tend their flocks (xxxiii. 12 f.), and houses and fields would again be bought and sold by the restored exiles (xxxii. 15, 44) ; but he invests the future with ideal colours. The exiles of the Northern Eangdom will share in the restoration (iii. 18 ; xxxi. 4 £f.) ; the hiUs of Ephraim will again resound with happy throngs, and be clad with cornfields and vineyards ; a great company wiU return from the furthest corners of the earth (xxxi. 4-9, of. w. 10-17, 21 f.) ; the wants of all wiU be abun- dantly satisfied (xxxi. 12-14, 25 ; cf. 1. 19). The national life wiU be re-established (xxx. 18-21) ; Jerusalem wiU be rebuilt, and will be entirely holy to Yahweh (xxxi. 23, 38-40). It is in agreement with this representation that in xxxiii. 16 — whether xxxiii. 14-26 be from Jeremiah's own hand or not — the restored city is to bear the same symbohcal name as the ideal King (see below), ' Yahweh is our righteousness.''' The restored nation is pictured as returning to Yahweh ' with it Cornill, pp. xxn-v, XLVl-vii, xlviii ff. ; Davidson, in Hastings' D.B., art. Jeremiah, ii. 577 f. ; Kirkpatrick, The Doctrine of the Prophets, Lect. xi. ; Ottley, The Religion of Israel (1905), p. 102 f. •> Cf. Isaiah's ideal, a century or more before, i. 26, iv. 3 ; also, at a later date, Ezek. xlviii. 35, Isa. Ix. 21, Ixii. 12, Joel iii. 17, Zech. xiv. 20, 21. xl INTRODUCTION whole heart ' (xxiv. 7 ; cf. xxix. 13) ; words of con- fession and penitence are put into the mouth of both Judah (iii. 226-25) and Ephraim (xxxi. 18-19 ; cf. also 1. 4f.); the iniquity of Israel will be forgiven, and remembered no more (xxxi. 346, xxxiii. 8 ; cf. 1. 20) ; one heart, and one way, even the way of Yahweh's fear, wiU be given to them (xxiv. 7, xxxii. 39 f.); Israel will be Yahweh's people, and He will be their God (xxiv. 7, XXX. 22, xxxi. 1, 33, xxxii. 38). More than this, a ' new ' and spiritual * covenant ' wiU be estab- lished with the house of Israel ; and the nation will be ruled, not by a system of observances imposed from without, but by a law written in the heart, filling all with the knowledge of Yahweh, and prompting all to ready and perfect obedience (xxxi. 31-34). There will be no ark ; nor will the ark be either needed or missed (iii. 16). The people will be governed by upright, dis- interested ' shepherds ' (i.e. judges and princes), after God's own heart (iii. 15, xxiii. 4) ; and a perfect king of David's line, supreme over all, will maintain judge- ment and righteousness in the land, and ensure peace for its inhabitants (xxiii. 5 f . ; cf. xxxiii. 15 f., xxx. 8, 9). The ruler of the future will be of native birth, and enjoy the priestly privilege of access to Yahweh (xxx. 21). Israel has but to turn loyally to Yahweh for the nations to be moved by the spectacle of its ■blessedness to own Him as their God (iv. If.); else- where in the book the nations are depicted as in the future discarding their idols, confessing that Yahweh alone is God (xvi. 196 ; cf. the conditional promise, xii. 16), making pOgrimages to Jerusalem (iii. 17), and IDEALS OF THE FUTURE xli looking with awe and wonder at the restored Zion (xxxiii. 9). Israel will never be cast ofi by Yahweh, or cease from being a nation before Him (xxxi. 36 f . ; cf. xxxiii. 23-26). In xxxiii. 17-22, also, the perma- nence both of the Davidic dynasty and of the Levitical priesthood is promised ; but this passage occurs in a context (xxxiii. 14-26) not in the Sept., and it is doubtful whether it is Jeremiah's. Egypt, Moab, Ammon, and Elam, after their expected desolation by Nebuchadnezzar, will be restored (xlvi. 26&, xlvui. 47, xUx. 6, 39 — the first three of these passages, however, are not in the text of the Sept. : cf. also xii. 15/). It must be evident that many of these promises have not been fulfilled, and that now circumstances have so changed that they never can be fulfilled ; but, Hke the similar pictures drawn by other prophets, they remain as inspiring ideals of the future which God would fain see realized by or for His people, and of the goal which man, with God's help, should ever strive to attain. § 3. Some literary features of the Book of Jeremiah. Like most Hebrew writers, Jeremiah uses many favourite expressions, some peculiar, or nearly so, to himseK, others used also by other writers, particularly the author of the discourses of Deuteronomy, and other writers of the Deuteronomic school, especially the com- pilers of Judges and Kings (who display clear and numerous marks of the influence of Deuteronomy).* The words are often quite ordinary ones; but they * For resemblances with the compiler's parts of Kings, see the writer's Introduction, p. 192 f. (ed. 6 or 7, p. 202 f.). xlii INTRODUCTION recur, either alone or in particular combinations, so frequently as to be characteristic of the writer, or group of writers, by whom they are used. A few examples may be worth collecting here. Their interest is not merely hterary ; they are of value in many cases as an indication of the ideas and lines of thought most prominent in the book. to pluck up and to break down, to build and to plant : i. 10, xviii. 7, 9, xxiv. 6, xxxi. 28, xlii. 10 ; cf. xlv. 4. other gods (esp. with walk or go after) : i. 16, vii. 6, 9, 18, xi. 10, xiii. 10, xvi. 11, 13, xix. 4, 13, xxii. 9, xxv. 6, xxxii. 29, xxxv. 15, xliv. 3, 5, 8, 15. Often in Deut., and the Deuteronomic framework of Judges and Kings. vanity, vanities, of unreal gods ; ii. 5, viii. 19, x. 8, 15 (=H. 18), xiv. 22, xvi. 19. Cf. Deut. xxxii. 21; 1 Kings xvi. 13, 26, 2 Kings xvii. 15 (all compiler's passages). shepherds, fig. of kings or rulers : ii. 8, iii. 15, x. 21, xxii. 22, xxiii. 1, 2, 4, xxv. 34-6, I. 6. Cf. xlix. 19 = 1. 44. to receive instruction (or correction) : ii. 30, v. 3, vii. 28, xvii. 23, xxxii. 33, xxxv. 13. Elsewhere only Zeph. iii. 2, 7, Prov. i. 3, viii. 10, xxiv. 32. stubbornness : iii. 17, vii. 24, ix. 14, xi. 8, xiii. 10, xvi. 12, xviii. 12, xxiii. 17. Only besides Deut. xxix. 19, Ps. Ixxxi. 12. Always followed by ' of heart.' men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem : iv. 4, xi. 2, 9, xvii. 25, xviii. 11, xxxii. 32, xxxv. 13, xxxvi. 31. Else- where only 2 Kings xxiii. 2 = 2 Chron. xxxiv. 30 ; Dan. ix. 7 (a reminiscence from Jer. ). a great destruction (lit. breaking) : iv. 6, vi. 1, xiv. 17, xlviii. 3, 1. 22, Ii. 54. Only besides Zeph. i. 10. Cf. also breaking (or breach) alone : see p. 22 note. Terror on every side ! vi. 25, xx. 3, 10, xlvi. 5, xlix. 29, Ps, xxxi, 13, Cf, Lam. ii. 22 ' my terrors on every side.' LITERARY FEATURES xliii amend your ways and your doings : vii. 3, 6, xviii. 11, xxvi. 13 ; without ' your ways and,' xxxv. 15. Not elsewhere. this place (of Jerusalem or Judah) .• vii. 3, 6, 7, 20, xiv. 13, xvi. 2, 3, 9, xix. 3-7, 12, and 15 times besides. Cf. 2 Kings xxii. 16, 17, 19, 20 (in a prophecy greatly resembling Jeremiah's in. style, and probably cast into form by the compiler). In no other prophet, except Hag. ii. 9. rising up early and {speaking, sending, etc.) : vii. 13, 25, xi. 7, XXV. 3, 4, xxvi. 5, xxix. 19, xxxii. 33, xxxv. 14, 15, xliv. 4. Elsewhere only 2 Chron. xxxvi. 15 (evidently a reminiscence from Jeremiah). the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem : vii. 17, 34, xi. 6, xxxiii. 10, xliv. 6, 9, 17, 21. An expression which might have seemed to be obvious enough, but which in fact is not used by any other prophet. to vex Yahweh (by treating Him undeservedly, especially by not rendering Him the service and obedience which were His due) : vii. 18, 19, viii. 19, xi. 17, xxxii. 29, 32, xliv. 3 ;+ ivith the work of their hands : xxv.6,7, xxxii. 30, xliv. 8 (as Deut. xxxi. 29 ; 1 Kings xvi. 7, 2 Kings xvii. 17). Several times in Deut., and often in the Deut. framework of Kings. Cf. the note, p. 348 f. I mil be to you a Ood, and ye shall be to me a people (or in inverted order) .• vii. 23, xi. 4, xxiv. 7, xxx. 22, xxxi. 33 (cf. V. 1), xxxii. 38. Also 5 times in Ezek., and occasion- ally elsewhere. to incline the ear (denied of the people) .■ vii. 24, 26, xi. 8, xvii. 23, XXV. 4, xxxiv. 14, xxxv. 15, xliv. 5. Not in Deut., or any other prophet, except Isa. Iv. 3. my (or his) servants, the prophets : vii. 25, xxv. 4, xxvi. 5, xxix. 19, xxxv. 15, xliv. 4. Cf. 2 Kings ix. 7, xvii. 13, 23, xxi. 10, xxiv. 2 (all in passages due to the compiler). Else- where only Am. iii. 7, Zech. i. 6, Ezr. ix. 11, Dan. ix. 6, 10. xliv INTRODUCTION Behold, the days are coming, and . . . : vii. 32, ix. 25, xvi. 14, xix. 6, xxiii. 5, 7, xxx. 3, xxxi. 27, 31, 38, xxxiii. 14, xlviii. 12, xlix. 2, li. 47, 52. Elsewhere only Am. iv. 2, viii. 11, ix. 13, 1 Sam. ii. 31, 2 Kings xx. 17 = Isa. xxxix. 6. food for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth: vii. 33, xvi. 4, xix. 7, xxxiv. 20. From Deut. xxviii. 26. time (or year) of their visitation : viii. 12, xi. 23, xxiii. 12, xlvi. 21, xlviii. 44. Hence x. 15 (=li. 18), 1. 27. The corresponding form is also probably to be read in vi. 15, xlix. 8, 1. 31. the sword, the pestilence, and the famine (sometimes in changed order) .• xiv. 12, xxi. 7, 9, xxiv. 10, xxvii. 8, 13, xxix. 17, 18, xxxii. 24, 36, xxxiv. 17, xxxviii. 2, xlii. 17, 22, xliv. 13. a consternation to all kingdoms of the earth : xv. 4, xxiv. 9, xxix. 18, xxxiv. 17. From Deut. xxviii. 25. to return, each one from his evil way : xviii. 11, xxv. 5, xxvi. 3, XXXV. 15, xxxvi. 3, 7 ; cf. xxiii. 22. a hissing : xviii. 16, xix. 8, xxv. 9, 18, xxix. 18, li. 37. Elsewhere (in this application) only Mic. vi. 16, 2 Chron. xxix. 8. for evil and not for good: xxi. 10, xxxix. 16, xliv. 27. From Am. ix. 4. The attentive reader will notice other cases of re- curring expressions. Jeremiah's tendency to move along the same Unes of thought is illustrated also by the many cases in his book of the repetition of entire clauses or verses (some- times with sUght variations in the phraseology). Compare, for example, i. 18a, 19 and xv. 20 ; ii. 156 (footnote) and iv. 76 ; ii. 286 and xi. 13a ; iv. 46 and xxi. LITERARY FEATURES xlv 126 ; iv. 66 and vi. 16 ; v. 9, 29, and ix. 9 ; vi. 226 and XXV. 326 ; vii. 16 and xi. 14;; vii. 23a, 24-5 and xi. 46, 8a, 76 ; vii. 31-33 and xix. 5, 6, 116, 76 ; viii. 26, xvi. 4, and xxv. 336 ; viii. 15 and xiv. 196 ; ix. 156 and xxiii. 15 ; ix. 166 and xlix. 376 ; xi. 20 and xx. 12 ; xi. 236, xxiii. 125, xlviii. 446, and xlix. 86; xv. 26 and ^xliii. 116; xvii. 20 and xix. 3a ; xvii. 25 and xxii. 4 ; xvii. 276, xxi. 146, xlix. 27 (the same expression applied to Damascus), and 1. 326 (to Babylon) ; xix. 86 (of. 1 Kings ix. 8), xlix. 176 (the same words applied to Edom), and 1. 136 (to Babylon) ; xxv. 29 and xlix. 126. Some other cases are pointed out in the notes. Chs. xlviii.-li. are remarkable for the frequent cases of the double utilization of the same material : notice, not only the many reminiscences in xlviii. 5, 29-38a from Isa. xv.-xvi., but also xlviii. 40, 416 and xlix. 22 ; xlvui. 43-44a and Isa. xxiv. 17-18 ; xlviii. 446 and xi. 236 (see above) ; xlviii. 456, 46 and Num. xxi. 28, 29, xxiv. 17 ; xlix. 86 and xi. 236 (see above) ; xlix. 9, 14-16 and Obad. 6, 1-4 ; xlix. 126 and xxv. 29 ; xlix. 176 and xix. 86 (see above) ; xlix. 22 and xlviii. 40, 416 ; xlix. 27 and xvii. 276 (see above) ; 1. 136 and xix. 8, xlix. 17 ; 1. 276 and xlvi. 216 ; 1. 30 and xlix. 26 ; 1. 31a, 326 and xxi. 13a, 146 ; 1. 40 and xlix. 18 (also V. 336, li. 436) ; 1. 41-43 and vi. 22-24 ; 1. 44- 46 and xlix. 19-21 ; li. 15-19 and x. 12-16. Most of these examples are, however, different from those noted above ; and are due to the artificial, compUatory character of the parts' of these chapters referred to." There remain, lastly, the repetitions of the same short passages, usually of a couple of verses, in different contexts : viz. vi. 13-15 and viii. 116-12 (not here in * It is a good plan to underline in the text of Jeremiah the passages which recur, and to mark on the margin their other occurrences. xlvi INTRODUCTION Sept.) ; XV. 13-14 and xvii. 3, 46 (not in Sept. here) ; xvi. 14-15 and xxiii. 7-8 (not in Sept. here) ; xxiii. 5-6 and xxxiii. 15-16 (not in Sept. here) ; xxiii. 19-20 and XXX. 23-24 ; xxx. 10-11 (not in Sept. here) and xlvi. 27-28. In several of these cases (as pointed out in the notes) the passage suits one context, but not the other ; probably, therefore, at least in such instances, it was not original in both, and the passage found its way into the inappropriate context, as happened also with some other passages (e.g. x. 1-16 ; xiii. 18 f.), in the course of the process by which the book gradually reached its present form. Respecting the composition of the Book of Jeremiah, we possess, at least as regards its older portions, specific and interesting information. His prophecies, we learn from ch. xxxvi., were first committed to writing in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (b.c.604), when Jeremiah received the command to take a roll and write in it all the words which Yahweh had spoken to him concerning Israel (? 'Jerusalem'), and Judah, and all the nations, from the thirteenth year of Josiah (B.C. 626) onwards. Accord- ingly Jeremiah dictated them to his scribe, Baruch, who wrote them ' from his mouth ' in a roll. In the following year Baruch read the roll publicly before the people at one of the gates leading into the upper court of the Temple. Jehoiakim, hearing of what Baruch was doing, orders the roll to be brought and read before him. Enraged by its contents, he cuts it in pieces, and burns it in the fire. After the roU had been thus destroyed, Jeremiah is commanded to rewrite its contents in a second roll. This was done in the same manner as before, Baruch FORMATION OF BOOK xlvii writing at the prophet's dictation ; and, it is stated, not merely were the contents of the first roll repeated, but ' there were added besides unto them many Hke words ' (xxxvi. 32). Thus, as regards the prophecies belong- ing to the first twenty -three years of Jeremiah's ministry, there must always be some uncertainty as to what portions reproduce the original discourses, and what portions belong to the additions made by the prophet in the fifth year of Jehoiakim. It is reasonable to think that some of the more pointed denunciations of sin and judgement belong to the additions. It is impossible to say definitely how many of Jere- miah's prophecies were included in the roll of Jehoiakim's fifth year : but it wiU have included certainly ohs. i.-x. (except X. 1-16), probably some part of xi.-xviii., and at least a nucleus of xxv., perhaps also parts of xlvi.- xhx. 33. This roU must evidently have formed the nucleus of the existing Book of Jeremiah : though by what stages this nucleus was gradually enlarged tiU the present book was formed must remain matter of specula- tion. From the absence of any chronological order in the arrangement of many parts of the book, * and from the frequent occurrence in it of passages in such imperfect agreement with their context that it can hardly be " Thus, to take only the narratives, there belong (in the order given)': to Jehoiakim's reign xxvi., xxxvi., xlv., xxxv. ; and to Zedekiah's reign (earlier part) xxiv., xxix.,xxvii., xxviii., li. 59-64 ; (during the siege) xxi. 1-10, xxxiv. 1-7, xxxvii. 1-10, xxxiv. 8-22, xxxvii. 11-xxxviii. 28a, xxxii. (no doubt placed here on account of its connexion in subject with xxx.-xxxi.). The title i. 3 would seem to have been added at a stage when the book included only prophecies to the fall of Jerusalem in 586. xlviii INTRODUCTION supposed that they are in their original place," it is clear that the process must have been a gradual one, and not completed by a single hand. 'At some time, possibly not a great many years after the prophet's death, some person or persons undertook the work of gathering together aU the fragments of his oracles and furnishing as complete a biography of him as possible. The biographical interest was perhaps the predominant one' (A. B. Davidson). It is probable that most of the historical passages, with the prophet's words enclosed in them, are from the hand of Baruch, who continued with the prophet after the fall of the city, and accompanied him into Egypt. But however much in the book may be due to Baruch' s hand, it is not credible, in view of the many marks of imperfect arrangement in the book, that he was its compiler, and arranged it in its present form. That must have been a work which, as internal evidence shews, was accom- plished only by successive stages, and could hardly have been finally completed tiU long after Baruch's death. The two texts of Jeremiah. In the Book of Jeremiah the text of the Septuagint differs more widely from the Hebrew than is the case in any other part of the Old Testament. In the text of the Septuagint, as compared with the Hebrew, there are very numerous omissions, sometimes of single words, sometimes of entire clauses or passages ; there are also occasionally additions, variations of expression, and transpositions. The number of words in the Hebrew text not represented in ° As X. 1-16, xiii. 18-19, xvi. 14-15, etc. TEXT OF SEPTUAGINT xlix the Septuagint has been calculated at 2700, or one- eighth of the entire book. Very many of these omissions are however unimportant, consisting only of such words as the title the prophet attached to the name Jeremiah, the parenthetic saith Yahweh, etc., but others are more substantial, as x. 6-8, 10, xi. 7-8 (to to do), xxv. 266, xxvii. 7, xxix. 14 (after of you), 16-20, xxx. 22, xxxiii. 14:-26, xxxix. 4-13, xlvi. 26, xlviii. 406, 416, 45-6, 47, xlix. 6," lii. 28-30 (see also p. xliv.) ; sometimes also a chapter, though the substance is not materially altered, appears in a briefer form in the Sept. (as ch. xxviii.).'' In the Sept. the prophecies on foreign nations (xlvi.-h.) stand after xxv. 13a : the order of these prophecies among themselves is also different. It seems that, though some of these differences, as the omission of words, are due to the translators, others, especially most of the longer omissions, were aheady in the Heb. MSS. used by the translators : as has been pointed out above, the book reached its present form by successive stages, and at each stage additions were made to it ; and the MSS. used by the Sept. translators did not contain all the passages which eventually found a place in the MSS. from which our existiag Heb. text is derived. And in some oases — to the more important of which attention is called in the notes — there are reasons for »■ xlvi 266, xlviii. 47, xlix. 6 are promises ot ultimate restora- tion to Egypt, Moab and Ammon respectively : xlix. 39, how- ever, containing a similar promise to Elam, is in the Sept. ^ In the translation in CorniU's Commentary the words and passages not in the Sept. are distinguished by being printed in italics. 1 INTRODUCTION thinking that the passages thus added in the Heb. text, but not found in the Sept., are not really from Jere- miah's (or Baruch's) hand. For the purposes for which the Septuagint has been used in the present volume, a further discussion of the subject is not necessary. For further information respecting Jeremiah and his writings, the reader is referred to the full and excellent article, Jeremiah, by the late A. B. Davidson, in Hastings' Diet, of the Bible (1899). See also Cheyne's Jeremiah, his life and times (in the ' Men of the Bible ' series). The existing English commentaries on Jeremiah are not of recent date, and fall short of the requirements of the present time. The deficiency will no doubt be supplied when the commentaries of Prof. Kirkpatrick (in the ' International ' series), and of Prof. Peake (in the Century Bible), have appeared. The Commentaries of Graf (1862), Keil (1872), Giesebrecht (1894)," Duhm (1901), and CorniU (1905)— written from very different points of view, and with different critical principles — are indispensable for the advanced student if a choice must be made among them, those of Giesebrecht and CornUl wUl perhaps be found specially useful, though it is difficult to refrain from in- cluding the masterly work of Graf. Still, many questions have arisen with regard to Jeremiah's book, of which Graf in 1862 could take no accoiuit. CorniU's commentary is intended as a second edition of Graf's work, accommo- dated to the principles and conclusions of the scholarship of the present day : it contains numerous extracts from Graf's commentary, but at the same time omits much of it that is of permanent value. Keil is strictly conservative, » To be supplemented, so far as regards his present conclu- sions respecting the metre and text of the book, by his Jeremiaa Metrik am Texte dargeatellt (1905). COMMENTARIES li but ought not on that account to be disregarded ; Duhm is original and brilliant, but arbitrary ; and the principal task of the future Commentator on Jeremiah will be to discover the right mean between them. Duhm considers Jeremiah to have been exclusively a poet ; and would limit his genuine utterances to 268 couplets, written in the elegiac feinaTt-measure." Cornill also makes large use of metrical canons for distinguishing between the genuine utterances of Jeremiah and the amplifying additions of editors or others ; _but he does not doubt that Jeremiah uttered prophecies in prose, he does not limit his poetry to a single metrical form, and he refers considerably more in the book either to Jeremiah himself or Baruch than Dixhm does. Cornill also (Preface, p. vn.) definitely recognizes that the whole question of Hebrew metre is at present in a provisional stage. The future must shew whether metre ultimately approves itself to scholars as a criterion of authenticity. Both Duhm and Cornill, it may be worth adding, draw singularly appreciative and sympathetic pic- tures of Jeremiah and his work-i^ " Duhm's view of the Book of Jeremiah is put forth attract- ively, with typographical helps, in a popular form, in Daa Buck Jeremia. Ueberaetzt von B. Duhm (1903). In the German the couplets form stanzas of four lines. To Baruch Duhm refers considerable parts of chs. xxvi.-xxix., xxxii. 1-16, and xxxiv.-xlv. ^ By the Hebrew student the synopsis of various readings from the Sept. and other ancient versions, and of emendations proposed by modern scholars, contained in the edition of the book in Kittel's Biblia Hebraica 51906], will be found of great value. PRINCIPAL ABBREVIATIONS EMPLOYED Aq. Symm. Theod. S^mnaeh iq I G'''®'''^ translators of the O.T., Theodotion \°^ *^^ ^nd cent. a.d. Heb. text . Heb. margin Mass. text. BVm. 'In a certain number of passages in the O.T. the Massoretes (see below, under ' Mass. text '), leaving the Heb. text itself untouched, noted other readings on the margin, which they directed to be substituted for them in reading. The diilerences sometimes relate only to points of orthography or grammar, and do not appear in a translation. Where the differences are of sufficient import- ance to be noticed, the alternative readings are denoted by the words ' Heb. text ' and ' Heb. margin,' ^respectively. ■The Massoretic Text. The generally accepted Heb. text of the O.T. (con- sonants, vowel-points, and accents), as fixed by the Massoretes, or Jewish scholars of (approximately) the '6th to the 8th centuries, a.d. Margin of the Revised Version, liii liv ABBREVIATIONS Sept. Sept. (Luc.) Syr. . . Syr. -Hex . Targ. . . Vulg. (Septuagitit. The Greek version of the O.T., made not by one hand, but gradually, probably be- tween the 3rd and the 1st century, B.C. 'An edition, or recension, of the Septua- gint, madeby Luoian, apriestof|Antioch, at about ,300 a.d. It sometimes contains renderings differing from those of the ordinary text of the Septuagint, which have every appearance of representing the original readings of the Hebrew. (The Syriac Version of the O.T., dating probably from the 2nd cent. a.d. (The Syriac translation of the text of the Sept., which formed the fifth column in Origen's Hexapla. The Targum. An ancient Aramaic paraphrase of the Prophets, made for the use of Jews, who were no longer conversant with Hebrew. In its pre- sent form, it dates probably from the 5th cent. a.d. /"The Latin Version of the O.T., the work of Jerome, completed in 405 a.d. Often shews the influence of Sjonma- chus. In citations, the letters a and b denote the first and second parts, respectively, of the verse cited. Points occurring under certain letters are intended to distinguish Hebrew letters of different sound, which are commonly confused in English ; for instance, k and k, and h (like ch in German or Scotch) and h. It has not, however, ABBREVIATIONS Iv in the present volume, seemed necessary to employ them consistently ; and they have been, in fact, seldom used, except where it appeared desirable (as in Tahpanhes) to indicate that the aspirate should be sounded more sharply than an ordinary English h. The principal authors of modern translations or com- mentaries referred to are — Graf (1862), Hitzig (1866), Bwald (1867), Keil (1872), Payne Smith (in the ' Speaker's Commentary,' 1875), Cheyne (the exegetical notes in the ' Pulpit Commentary,' 1883), Plvimptre (in Bp. Ellieott's Commentary, 1884), Giesebrecht (1894), Duhm (1901), CorniU (1905). In the Explanatory Notes at the end (p. 337ff.). Lex. means the recently completed Hebrew-English Lexicon of the O.T., by Professors Brown, Briggs, and the present writer : the other abbreviations used will be readily under- stood by students of Hebrew. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE B.C. 639 Josiah's accession-year. 638 First year (i.e. the first full year) of Josiah. 626 Josiah's thirteenth year. Call of Jeremiah (ch. i.). 621 Josiah's eighteenth year. Discovery of Deuteronomy. 620 Josiah's reformation. 610-594 Pharaoh Necoh, king of Egypt. 608 Josiah's death at Megiddo. 608 Jehoahaz (three months). 608 Jehoiakim's accession-year. 607 First year of Jehoiakim. 605 Defeat of Pharaoh Necoh by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish. 604 Fourth year of Jehoiakim = First year of Nebuchad- nezzar. 604 RoU of Jeremiah's prophecies written by Baruch. 603 RoU of Jeremiah's prophecies rewritten by Baruch. c. 600-598 Jehoiakim tributary to Nebuchadnezzar. 597 Jehoiachin (three months). First siege of Jerusa- lem ; and deportation of Jehoiachin and many other Jews of the better class to Babylon. 597 Zbdekiah's accession-year. 596 First year of Zedekiah. 594-589 Psammetichus II. (or Psammis), king of Egypt. 589-564 Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt. 588 Second siege of Jerusalem begins. 686 Jerusalem taken and burnt by the Chaldaeans. Second deportation of Jews to Babylon. 568 Nebuchadnezzar's" invasion of Egypt. 561 First year of Evil-Merodach (Amelu-Marduk). He releases Jehoiachin from prison. 538 Capture of Babylon by Cyrus. 537 Return of exiles imder Zerubbabel. Ivi CHAPTER I Jeremiah's call, in Josiah's thirteenth year (B.C. 626). 1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth* in the land of Benjamin : * to whom the word of Yahweh came in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. [^ And it came in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month.''] * Now Andta, about three miles NNE. of Jerusalem. ^ V. 2, fixing a specific date, forms the title to oh. i. F. 3 must be an addition by a later hand, intended to extend the terms of v. 2, — though with disregard of prophecies belonging to the period between the thirteenth year of Josiah (B.C. 626) and the end of his reign (b.o. 608), — so as to include all the prophecies delivered by Jeremiah down to the time of the fall of Jerusalem, B.C. 586 (2 Kings xxv. 8, 11). 1 2 JEREMIAH The vision of JeremiaWs call to be a prophet of Yahweh. * And the word of Yahweh came unto me, saying, ^ ' Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee ; a prophet unto the nations have I made thee.' * Then said I, ' Ah, Lord Yahweh ! behold, I cannot speak : for I am a child.' ' And Yahweh said unto me, ' Say not, I am a child : for to whomsoever I shall send thee thou shalt go, and whatsoever I shall command thee thou shalt speak. ^ Be not afraid because of them : for I am with thee to deliver thee,' saith Yahweh. ^ Then Yahweh put forth his hand, and touched'" my mouth. And Yahweh said unto me, ' Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.'' " See, I have this day set" thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, and to destroy and to pull down, to build and to plant.'* ' Heb. made (it) touch. Cf. Isa. vi. 6. » Cf. Deut. xviii. 18. " The word used suggests the idea of set with authority, or make an overseer (it is rendered ' made overseer ' in Gen. xxxix. 4, 5, and ' made governor ' in Jer. xl. 5, 7) : Jeremiah, so to say, is to be Yahweh's vicegerent over the kingdoms of the earth, with authority to declare His purposes regarding them. ■i Viz., by announcing, in Yahweh's name, the overthrow, or restoration, of kingdoms. See xii. 14-17, xxv.,xlvi-xlix. ; andcf. also, for the expressions, xviii. 7, xxiv. 6, xxxi. 28, xlii. 10, xlv. 4. CHAPTER I. 4-15 3 A vision of reassurance for the prophet : Yahweh's word, though the time may seem long, will not fail of its fulfilment. ^^ And the word of Yahweh came unto me, say- ing, ' What seest thou, Jeremiah ? ' And I said, ' I see a rod of an almond tree [Heb. shdked'].'' ^2 Then said Yahweh unto me, ' Thou hast well seen : for I am wakeful [Heb. shoked *] over my word to perform it.' A vision showing that the judgement will break upon Judah from the north. 1^ And the word of Yahweh came unto me a second time, saying, ' What seest thou 1 ' And I said, ' I see a boiling caldron ;•» and the face thereof is from the north.' 1* Then Yahweh said unto me, ' Out of the north will the evil break forth" upon all the inhabitants of the land. ^^ For, behold, I am calling all the families of the kingdoms of the north,' saith Yahweh ; ' and they shall " Cf. the use of the same word in xxxi.;28, xHv. 27. For the play upon shdked and shaked, cf. Amos viii. 1-2, where Israel's ' end ' (Heb. ketz) is suggested by the basket of ' summer fruit ' (Heb. kayitz) seen by the prophet in his vision. •■ Heb. a caldron blown upon, i.e. made to boil by the flames being fanned under it. ° Heb. tic opened (i.e. he let loose). But read probably, by a slight change (in accordance with ' a caldron blovm upon ' in V. 13), be blown forth (cf. Ez. xxi. 31 ' with the fire of ray wrath will I blow upon thee '). 4 JEREMIAH come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah. ^^ And I will utter my judge- ments against them* because of all their wicked- ness ; in that they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.' Jeremiah is encouraged to deliver his message fear- lessly, in spite of the opposition which he will provoke by it. ^' ' And thou, gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee : be not dismayed at them, lest I dismay thee before them. 1^ And I, behold, I make thee this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and a bronze wall,*" against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. ^^ And they shall fight against thee ; but they shall not prevail against thee : for I am with thee,' saith Yahweh, ' to deliver thee.' ■ Heb. speaJc my judgements (or pleadings) with them : see the note on iv. 12 at the end of the volume. The agents by whom Yahweh will ' speak ' His ' judgements " are of course the nations encamped against Jerusalem (v. 15). " So Sept. (cf. XV. 20). The Heb. text has, bronze walls. CHAPTERS II-VI The condition and prospects of Judah under Josiah, probably during the years between the prophet's call (B.C. 626) and shortly after Josiah's reformation (b.c. 620). These chapters contain presumably Jeremiah's first prophetical discourses, as they were reproduced in a written form in the fifth year of Jehoiakim (b.c. 603). We learn, namely, from oh. xxxvi.,that none of Jeremiah's prophecies were committed to writing till the fourth year of Jehoiakim (B.C. 604) ; and also that when, in the following year, the king burnt the roll, and it was rewritten by Jeremiah, it was rewritten ivith additions (xxxvi. 32). Although, there- fore, these chapters no doubt, as a whole, reproduce the discourses delivered between 626 and v. 620, it is quite possible that they do not throughout reproduce them verbatim, but that they are coloured in parts by allusions to the course of subsequent events. (i) Chaps, ii. i-iv. 4. {Probably shortly after b.c. 626.) The Verdict on Israel's History. The devotion and happiness of Israel's youth. II. ^ And the word of Yahweh came unto me 6 JEREMIAH saying, ^ Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying. Thus saith Yahweh : I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thy bridal days,* How thou didst follow after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. ^ Israel was holiness unto Yahweh, the firstfruits of his produce'' : All that devoured him were held guilty ; evil came upon them, saith Yahweh. Israel's ingratitude and dejection. * Hear ye the word of Yahweh, house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel : ^ Thus saith Yahweh, What unrighteousness did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and followed after vanity," and became vain ? * " Neither said they, ' Where is Yahweh, who brought " Israel is figured as Yahweh's bride, who afterwards (vv. 20, iii. 1, etc.) was unfaithful to her Divine husband. The figure is adopted from Hos. ii. 2-20 ■; cf. Isa. liv. 5. '' His firstfruits from the field of the world, sacred to Him (Exod. xxiii. 19), and consequently not to be touched with impunity. " Or, emptiness, i.e. empty, unreal gods. So Deut. xxxii. 21 ; cf. on ch. viii. 19. ^ Or, empty, i.e. devoted to empty thoughts, and hopes, and aims. Cf. the same words in 2 Kings xvii. 15. CHAPTER II. 2-II 7 us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of steppes and of pits, through a land of drought and of deep dark- ness," through a land that none passed through, and where no man dwelt ? ' ' And I brought you into a garden-land, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof ; but when ye entered in, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abom- ination. * The priests said not, ' Where is Yahweh? ' and they that handle the law knew me not : the rulers'' also transgressed" against me ; and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.'^ * Wherefore I will still contend with you, saith Yahweh, and with your children's children will I contend. ^° For cross over to the isles of the Kitians,^ and see ; and send unto Kedar,' and consider diligently ; and see if there hath been such a thing. ^^ Hath a nation changed its gods, which yet are no gods ? but my " Fig. of the dangers and uncertainties which beset a traveller in a wild and unknown region. The Sept., however, reads, through a dry and barren land. ^ Heb. shepherds. See iii. 15, xxiii. 1, 2, 4. " Properly, rebelled. So always. Cf. Deut. xxxii. 16. " For bringing trouble on you. 12 JEREMIAH no correction : your own sword* hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion, ^i Q genera- tion, see 2/e the word of Yahweh : Have I been a wilderness unto Israel ? or a land of thick dark- ness^ ? why then say my people, ' We roam at large ; we will come no more unto thee ? ' ^^ Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her sash ? yet my people have forgotten me days without number. ^^ jJqw well thou directest thy way to seek love ! therefore even the wicked women hast thou taught thy ways.« ^^ Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor -A not at the place of breaking in have I found it,« but upon all these (garments).' ^^ Yet thou saidst, ' The Sept. has, the sword, perhaps rightly. i" Heb. darkness of Yah, i.e. darlcness so intense as to be re- garded as specially sent by Yah ; cf. Cant. viii. 6 RV. But the expression is strange, when Yahweh is Himself the speaker ; and perhaps a letter should be dropped, and darkness (alone) read. ' Or, therefore }iast thou trained thy ways even unto wickednesses. <■ The allusion may be either to deaths due to miscarriage o£ justice or the result of exaction (vii. 6, xxii. Send, 17; cf. Mic. iii. 10, Ps. xciv. 21), or to the sacrifice of children (see xix. 4; cf. Ps. cvi. 38), or possibly to the martyrdoms under Manasseh (2 Kings xxi. 16, xxiv. 4). ' In which case the shedding of blood might have been ex- cusable. It was permissible to slay at night-time a robber break- ing into a house (Exod. xxii. 2). Breaking in is Tproperly Digging in : cf. Matt. vi. 19 RVm. ' Or, not at the place of breaking in didst thou find them (viz. the poor, — in which case their death might have been excusable, Exod. xxii. 2), hut because of all these things (i.e. this rejection CHAPTER II. 31-37 13 ' I am innocent ; surely his anger is turned from me.' Behold, I will enter into judgement with thee, because thou sayest, ' I have not sinned.' ^^ Why goest thou about so much to change thy way 1* thou shalt be put to shame by ^ Egypt also, as thou wast put to shame by Assyria. 3' Thou shalt go forth from him also, with thine hands upon thine head :•= for Yahweh hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them. Judah compared to a faithless wife, whose promises of amendment are but as empty words. III. 1 [And the word of Yahweh came to me,]"* saying, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, can he return unto of Yahweh) — understand, thou hast committed such murders. The end of the verse is very possibly imperfect or corrupt. " Or, perhaps, with a change of punctuation. Why makest thou so light of changing thy way ? (i.e. Why turnest thou so easily from Assyria to Egypt 7). See the note at the end of the volume. '■ I.e. be disappointed of (viz. by the expected help failing). See the writer's Parallel Psalter, Glossary I., s.v. Ashamed, to be. ' I.e. thou wilt retire, humiliated and distressed (2 Sam. xiii. 19), from the presence-chamber of the Egyptian king. Tht allusion is apparently to political negotiations with Egypt, ot which we have no further information, which resulted only in disappointment. Cf., nearly a century before, Isa. xxx. 3-£ (render in w. 5 ' be put to shame by a people,' etc.) '' ThSse or other similar words have evidently accidentaUj fallen out here. 14 JEREMIAH her again i.^ will not that land" be polluted ? but thou hast played the harlot [with] many lovers ; and thinkest thou to return unto me ? saith Yahweh. ^ Lift up thine eyes unto the bare heights, and see, where hast thou not been ravished ? By the ways hast thou sat for them, as an Arabian in the wilderness ;<= and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredom and with thy wickedness. 3 And the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no spring-rain ;* yet thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be abashed. * Hast thou not from but now cried unto me, ' My father, thou art the companion of my youth. ^ Will he retain (his anger) for ever ? will he keep it to the end ? '" Behold, thou hast spoken (thus) ; but thou hast done evil things, and hast had thy way.' * See Deut. xxiv. 1-4, where such return is prohibited. >> The land in which such return has taken place : cf. v. 2 end, Deut. xxiv. 46. The Sept., however, has woman for land {Is not that woman polluted ? viz. by her union with a second hus- band ; cf . Deut. xxiv. 4a), which agrees better with the sequel. ° I.e. as eagerly as a Bedawi freebooter lying in wait for travellers. For ' Arabian,' see on xxv. 24. ^ Which fell as a rule in March or April, and was necessary for maturing the crops. ° Alluding probably to the superficial amendment and unreal words of penitence, which had followed the reformation of Josiah (cf. ui. 10). ' Heb. haat been able (or hast prevailed). CHAPTER III. 2-10 15 Judah contrasted unfavourably with Israel. Vv. 6-18 (in which Judah and Israel are contrasted) seem to introduce a thought foreign both to ii. 1-iii. 5, and to iii. 19-iv. 4 ; and have probably been introduced here from a different context. ^ And Yahweh said unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which back- turning Israel did ? she went up upon every high mountain and under every spreading tree, and there played" the harlot.'' ' And I said, ' After she hath done all these things, she will return unto me.' But she returned not. And her faithless sister Judah saw, ^ yea, saw" that, for the whole cause that backturning Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorcement ;'* and yet faithless Judah her sister feared not, but she also went and played the harlot. ^ And it came to pass that through the wantonness of her whoredom she poUiited the land,« and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. ^^ And yet * So, with a slight change. The Hebrew text has, thou (fem.) playedst. » Cf. Hos. iv. 13. ° So Sjrr., and most moderns. The Heb. text has, and I saw (one letter different). ^ See Deut. xxiv. 1, 3. ° So Syr. Targ. Vulg. The Hebrew text, as pointed, can only be rendered, was polluted with the land. i6 JEREMIAH for all this faithless Judah" hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith Yahweh. An offer of pardon and restoration, addressed to Israel. 11 And Yahweh said unto me, Backturning Israel hath justified herself' more than faithless Judah. 12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backturning Israel, saith Yahweh ; I wiU not look in anger" upon you : for I am merciful, saith Yahweh, I will not keep (anger) for ever, i* Only acknowledge^ thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against Yahweh thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to strange (gods) under every spreading tree, and hast= not hearkened unto my voice, saith Yahweh. i* Return, back- turning children, saith Yahweh ; for I am a husband unto you : and I will take you one from a city, and two from a family,' and I will bring you to " So Sept. The Heb. text has, her faithless sister Judah, which suggests an incorrect sense, as the pronoun can only naturally be understood of the subject in v. 9, which, however, is in fact not Israel, but Judah. •> Comp., in illustration of the relative sense of this expression, Ezek. xvi. 51, 52 ; also Gen. xxxviii. 26. " Heb. cause my countenance to fall. " Heb. know. Cf. y' .'. 20. ' So Sept. Vulg. The Heb. text has, ye have. ' I.e. only a few, or, as Isaiah would say (e.g. x. 22, xxviii. 5), a ' remnant,' will accept the offer, and so be brought back to ZioTu CHAPTER III. 11-18 17 Zion : ^^ and I will give you shepherds according to mine heart, which shall feed you" with knowledge and understanding. ^* And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith Yahweh, they shall say no more, ' The ark of the covenant of Yahweh '; neither shall it come to mind : neither shall they remember it ; neither shall they miss it ; neither shall it be made any more.'' The future glory of Jerusalem, in which Judah, as well as Israel, is ultimately to share. ^' At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Yahweh ; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, "because of the name of Yahweh, to Jerusa- lem :" neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart. ^^ ju those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the north country to the land that I gave for an inheri- tance unto your fathers. * Lit. shall shepherd you. Cf. xxiii. 4. I" A visible symbol of Yahweh's presence, such as the ark, will not then be needed. ° The Sept. does not express these words. The Sjr. omits ' to Jerusalem ' alone, which is certainly redundant after ' unto it." 2 i8 JEREMIAH How Yahweh's gracious purpose towards His people had been frustrated {the sequel to iii. 1-5). " Yet " I had said, How (gladly) will I treat thee as a son,'' and give thee a pleasant land, the most beauteous heritage of the nations !" and I said. Ye will call me, 'My father,' and wilP not turn back from following me. ^° But truly, (as) a woman departeth faithlessly from her lover," so have ye dealt faithlessly against me, house of Israel,' saith Yahweh. The prophet pictures Judah returning in penitence to Yahweh. ^^ A voice is heard upon the bare heights, the weeping of the supplications of the children of Israel ; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Yahweh their God. ^^ ' Re- " Introducing a thought antithetic to iii. 1-5 (of. ii. 21 after ii. 20 ; Am. ii. 9 after ii. G-8), of whicli this verse, it seems, was once the immediate sequel. ■= Heb. set thee among sons, i.e. (Duhm, Cornill) treat thee as a full heir. Judah is addressed here as a woman ; and, accord- ing to ancient Hebrew law, daughters did not inherit with their brothers ; cf. Job xlii. 15, where the case is noted as an exception. ' Cf. Ezek. XX. 6, 15 (' the beauty of all lands '). ■" So Heb. text, Sept. : Heb. marg., many MSS., Thou wilt . . . wilt. " Heb. friend. So t). 1. ' Jeremiah addresses Judah here by the national name of ' Israel ' : cf. vv. 21, 23, iv. 1 ; ii. 26, v. 15, xviii. 6. CHAPTER III. 19-IV. I 19 turn, backturning children, I will heal your back- turnings.' ' Behold," we are come unto thee ; for thou art Yahweh our God. 23 Truly in vain is [the sound]'' from the hills, the tumult" on the moun- tains ;* truly in Yahweh our God is the salvation of Israel. 24 g^^; ^he shameful things hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth ; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 2^ Let us lie down in our shame, and let our con- fusion cover us : for we have sinned against Yahweh our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day ; and we have not hearkened unto the voice of Yahweh our God.' Yahweh's reply to JudaWs words : if Judah is truly penitent, the heathen will be brought to oiv"- Yahweh as their God. IV. ^ If thou returnest, Israel, saith Yahweh, yea, returnest unto me ; and if thou puttest away " The prophet puts into the mouth of Judah words of penitence and confession. '' Some word appears to have dropped out here, which is supplied by conjecture. The Heb. has simply, in vain from. ° Or, the throng. The allusion is to the noisy orgies aocom- panjring the idolatrous cults^celebrated on the mountains (Hos. iv. 13, Ezek. vi. 13) : cf. 1 Kings xviii. 26-29. ^ So with a change of one point. The Heb. text, as pointed, has, the tumult the mountains. ' I.e. Baal. See xi. 13, Hos. ix. 10. 20 JEREMIAH thy detestable things* from before me, and dost not wander ;b 2 and if thou swearest, ' As Yahweh liveth,' in truth, in judgement, and in righteous- ness ;<= then will the nations bless themselves by him,!! and in him will they glory. Let Judah begin a new life, before it is too late. ^ For thus saith Yahweh to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem : Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns ;^ * circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and take away the foreskin' of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusa- lem : lest my fury go forth like fire, and burn, with none to quench it, because of the evil of your doings. " I.e. false gods, their rites, images, etc. Cf. Ezek. v. 11, vii. 20 ; also (the Heb. being the same) 1 Kings xi. 5, 7, Jer. vii. 30, Zeoh. ix. 7. •> The Sept., followed by Ew., Hitz., Cheyne, reads, and if thou puttest away thy detestable things out of thy mouth (Zecli. ix. 7), and dost not wander from before me. " Contrast v. 2, Isa. xlviii. 1. ■* I.e. they will give proof of being worshippers of Yahweh by using His name in wishing blessings upon themselves (see Isa. Ixv. 16 ; and cf. Ruth ii. 4). ' I.e. Prepare your heart properly to receive the seed of new resolutions. Cf., for the first clause, Hos. x. 12. 'So Syr. Sept. (Luc): cf. Dcut. x. 16. The Hebrew text has, foreskins. CHAPTER IV. 2-5 21 (2) Chaps, iv. 5 — vi. 30 The, approaching judgement. The foe is at the door ; and Judah's heedlessness and sin are working out their natural consequences. The prominence in this prophecy of the foe from the north (cf. iv. 6, vi. 1, 22) makes it probable that it is some- what later than ii. 1-iv. 5, in which no such specific danger is referred to. The foe whom Jeremiah had in mind when he originally delivered the prophecy was in all probability the Scythians, a wild and fierce people, whose proper home was on the north of the Crimea, but who often made predatory incursions into distant parts, and who actually, Herodotus tells us (i. 105-8) overran Western Asia at about 625 B.C., and advanced through Palestine as far as Ashkelon, intending to invade Egypt. When, however, the prophecy was committed to writing, and, as it were, re-edited, in 604 (see above, p. 6), the descriptions were probably intended to refer to the Chaldaeans, who in the interval had become Judah's most formidable enemy, the phraseology being possibly modified in parts, so as to be more suitable : the ' lion ' and ' destroyer of nations ' in vi. 7, for instance, are terms more applicable to an individual leader like Nebuchadnezzar than to a horde. A foe from the north is on his way, and will ere long fill the country with dismay. 5 Declare ye in Judah, and in Jerusalem publish it ; and say, ' Blow ye the trumpet" in the land : * Properly, the horn. So always. Here as the signal of danger. 22 JEREMIAH cry aloud and say, " Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities." ' « Lift up a stan- dard* toward Zion ; bring (your households) into safety ,*> stay not : for evil am I bringing from the north, and a great destruction." ' A lion is gone up from his thicket ; and a destroyer of nations is on his way, he is gone forth from his place : to make thy land a desolation, and that thy cities be laid waste, without inhabitant. ^ For this gird you with sackcloth, wail and howl : for the fierce anger of Yahweh is not turned back from us. ^ And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Yahweh, that the hearfi of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes ; and the priests shall be appalled, and the prophets shall be amazed. 1" And they shall say,^ ' Ah, Lord Yahweh, surely '^ As a way-mark to gmde the fugitives to a place of safety. " Cf. Isa. X. 31 RVm. " Heb. breach (or breaking). An expression used frequently by Jeremiah and other writers of the same age {v. 20, vi. 1, 14, viii. 11, 21, X. 19, xiv. 17, xxx. 12, 15, xlviii. 3, 5, 1. 22, li. 54 ; Lam. ii. 11, 13, iii. 47, 48, iv. 10). See also Am. vi. 6 ; Is. xxx. 26. (RV. sometimes 'destruction,' 'hurt,' or, in Am. vi. 6, ' affliction.') "* I.e. either the intelligence (v. 21 ; cf. Job xii. 24), or the courage (Am. ii. 16). ° So with a slight change : the false prophets of v. 9 (who declared that they spoke in Yahweh's name), when they see their promises of peace (vi. 14, xiv. 13, xxiii. 17) belied by the event, will reproach Yahweh for having deceived them. The CHAPTER IV. 6-14 23 thou hast greatly deceived this people, and Jerusa- lem, saying, " Ye shall have peace ; " whereas the sword reacheth even unto the soul.' Description of the enemy's approach. 11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem : A glowing wind* from the bare heights in the wilderness (cometh) toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow, and not to cleanse'' ; ^^ a wind too strong for these things shall come for me : now will I also reason the case with them !° ^^ Behold, he cometh up as clouds, and his chariots are as a whirlwind : his horses are swifter than eagles :^ ' Woe unto us ! for we are spoiled.' ^* Wash thine heart from wickedness, Jerusalem, that thou mayest be saved : how long Heb. text, as pointed, has, Atid I said ; but the words which follow are unsuitable in Jeremiah's mouth, who never uttered promises of peace in Yahweh's name. " I.e. a scorching and destructive sirocco (of . xviii. 17; Jobi. 19). Fig. here of the invader. ^ But, it is to be understood, to sweep violently away. Tliresh- ing-floors were commonly laid out on exposed, elevated places, where the wind could blow the chafi away (cf. Hos. xiii. 3) : if, however, the wind was too violent, it would, as in the case here pictured by the prophet, blow away the corn as well. " And, it is implied, convict them of having done wrong, and punish them accordingly. ^ Properly, griffons, — a large and majestic species of vulture {Gyps fulvus), very abundant in Palestine. So always. See Tristram's Natural History of the Bible, pp. 173f., 176f. 24 JEREMIAH shall thy thoughts of naughtiness lodge within thee ? 15 For hark ! one declareth from Dan,* and proclaimeth trouble from the mountains of Ephraim : ^^ make ye mention to the nations ; behold, publish concerning Jerusalem, (that) watchers'' are coming from a far country, and have given out their voice against the cities of Judah. i' As keepers of a field are they against her round about ; because me hath she defied, saith Yahweh. ^^ Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee : this is thy wickedness ;" surely it is bitter ! surely it reacheth even unto thine heart. The prophet, speaking in the people's name, describes the terror which thrills through him at the prospect of war. 1^ ' My bowels, my bowels l^ Let me writhe ! The walls of my heart !^ my heart moaneth within me !' I cannot hold my peace ! because my soul " In the far north of Canaan {Judg. xviii. 29). ■^ Fig. for besiegers. " I.e. the fruit of thy wickedness. ^ The ' bowels ' in the psychology of the Hebrews, are the seat of deeply felt emotion : cf. Isa. xvi. 11, Ixiii. 15; Cant. v. 4; Jer. xxxi. 20. ' I.e. I feel my heart beating against them. The exclamations, following one another, are expressive of the emotion vmder which the prophet labours. ' Heb. to me (of. for the idiom 2 Kings iv. 27 Heb. ; Isa. XV. 4 Heb.). CHAPTER IV. 15-24 25 heareth* the sound of the trumpet, the shout of battle. 2° Destruction upon destruction'' is pro- claimed ;" for the whole land is spoiled : suddenly are my tents spoiled, in a moment my curtains !'* ^^ How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet ? ' The reason of these woes. ^2 For my people is foolish, they know not me ; they are sottish children, and they have no under- standing : they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. The prophefs vision of the desolation about to fall upon Judah. 2* I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was formless and empty f and the heavens, and they had no light. 2* I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, "So Sept. The Heb. text has, thou hast heard, my send ('ni?Dt}' for nUDB'). '' Heb. Breach upon breach. " Or, Destruction meeteth destruction. There is an ambiguous word in the Hebrew. ^ I.e. tent-hangings ; of. x. 20. As in the last verse, ' my ' means not the prophet's but the people's (henoe the plural). " The two words found in Gen. i. 2 : cf . Isa. xxxiv. 1 1 ' and he shall stretch over it (Edom) the line of formlessness, and the plummet of emptiness.' 26 JEREMIAH and all the hills moved to and fro. ^^ I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. ^^ I beheld, and, lo, the garden-land was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down before Yahweh, even before his fierce anger. Judah's doom is irrevocable ; no arts or blandishments will avail to divert the invader. 2' For thus hath Yahweh said : ' The whole land shall be a desolation ; yet will I not make a full end. ^8 For this let the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black ; because I have spoken, and have not repented, I have purposed,* and will not turn back from it.' ^^ At the noise of the horse- men and bowmen the whole land"^ fleeth ; they are entered into the thickets, and have gone up into the rocks ; every city is forsaken, and not a man dwelleth therein. *" And thou, when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do ? Though" thou clothedst thyself with scarlet, though thou deckedst thee with ornaments of gold, though thou en- " So Sept. In the Heb. text three words have become accidentally disarranged. ^ So Sept. Heb. text, city (by error from the last clause of the verse). " Jerijsalem is compared here to a woman adorning herself in the endeavour to gain the attention and assistance of her admirers. Cf. Ez. xxiii. 40 f., Isa. Ivii. 9, CHAPTER IV. 25-V. I 27 largedst" thine eyes with antimony,'' in vain wouldest thou make thyself fair ;" they that doted (on thee)'' despise thee, they seek thy life. ^^ For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, distress^ as of her that bringeth forth her first chUd, the voice of the daughter of Zion,' that panteth for breath, that spreadeth out her hands, (saying,) ' Oh, woe to me ! for my soul fainteth because of murderers.' Gladly would Yahweh have pardoned, had the nation shown itself worthy of forgiveness ; but all, high and low alike, are corrupt. V. 1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of " Heb. rentest. ^ The edge of the eyelids, both above and below the eye, waa blackened (as is done still in Egj^t, and other parts of the East) for the purpose of increasing by contrast the lustre of the eyes, and making them look larger (Lane, Manners and Cuaioma of the Modern Egyptians, ed. 5, 1871, i. 45f.). Cf . 2 Kings ix. 20 (of Jezebel), and Ez. xxiii. 40. The name of Job's daughter, Keren- happuch, means ' Horn of antimony or eye-paint ' (the same word which is used here). " Or, And thou, spoiled one, what doeat thou, that thou clothest thyself in scarlet, that thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, that thou enlargeat thine eyes with antimony, in vain making thyself fair / ^ Fig. for political friends or allies, Cf Ez. xxiii. 6, 7, 9, 12, 16, 20. ' Read perhaps, after Sept., a cry (xiv. 2). ' I.e. the personified population of Zion : cf. v. 11, vi. 2, 14, viii. 11, 19, and frequently. 28 JEREMIAH Jerusalem, and see, now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgement, that seeketh faithfulness* ; and I will pardon her. ^ And though they say, ' As Yahweh liveth ! '•> surely" they swear falsely. ^ Yahweh, are not thine eyes set upon faithfulness ? thou hast stricken them, but they are not sick ; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction : they have made their faces harder than a rock ; they have refused to return. * I, however, said, ' Surely these are poor : they are foolish ; for they know not the way of Yahweh, nor the ordinance of their God : ^ I will get me unto the great men, and will speak with them : for they know the way of Yah- weh, and the ordinance of their God.' But these had altogether broken the yoke, and burst the thongs.* ^ Therefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the steppes shall spoil them ; a leopard shall keep watch upon"' their cities, so that "■ Or, honesty : see 2 Kings xii. 15, xxii. 7 (where faithfully is lit. in faithfulness, the word used here). So v. 3. ■= To swear by the national God was a token of loyalty to Him (Deut. X. 20) ; but it should be done sincerely (oh. iv. 2 ; Isa. xlviii. 1). " So some twenty MSS., with a, change of one letter. The Heb. text has, therefore. " Cf. ch. ii. 20. • A leopard ' will conceal itself near a village or watering- CHAPTER V. 2-12 29 every one going out from them sliall be torn in pieces : because their transgressions are many, and their backturnings are increased. ' How shall I pardon thee ? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods ; and when I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and made themselves at home'' in the harlots' houses. ^ They were as fed stallions'" : every one neighed after his neighbour's wife. * Shall I not visit for these things ? saith Yahweh : and shall not my soul be avenged on a nation such as this ? Let the afpointed ministers of judgement, then, complete their work. 1" Go ye up into her vine-rows," and destroy ; but make not a full end : take away her branches ; for they are not Yahweh's. 11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very faithlessly against me, saith Yahweh. ^^ They have denied Yahweh, and said, ' Not he'^ ! neither will place, and await for hours its opportunity of pouncing upon the cattle ' (Tristram, NHB., p. 112). " Or, made themselves sojourners (1 Kings xvii. 20) ; so Sept. (Kar^'Kvov, i.e. mjn'' for mjni). The Heb. text has, made them- selves into marauding bands (2 ICings v. 2, etc.). I" So with a slight change. The Heb. text is untranslatable. " Judah is figured as a vineyard : cf. xii. 10, Isa. v. 1-7. ■1 Understand, does anything; cf. Zeph. i. 12 end. Perhaps (Duhm)an expression of disparagement current at the time. 30 JEREMIAH evil come upon us ; neither shall we see sword or famine : ^^ and the prophets* will become wind and the word"" is not in them : thus may it be done unto them ! ' " Therefore thus saith Yahweh, the God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth lire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. ^^ Behold, I am bringing a nation upon you from far, house of Israel, saith Yahweh : it is an imperishable nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say. ^® Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men." " And they shall eat up thine har- vest and thy bread, (which) thy sons and thy daughters should eat ;■! they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds ; they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees : they shall beat down thy fortified cities, wherein thou trustest, with the sword. 18 But even in those days, saith Yahweh, I will not make with you a fuU end. i' And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, ' Wherefore hath Yahweh, our God, done all these things unto us ? ' that thou "■ I.e. the prophets who, like Jeremiah, foretold disaster. '' So Sept. (implying different vowel points). The Heb. text, as pointed, means apparently speech or speaking. "■ I.e. warriors (2 Sam. xxiii. 8, and frequently). '' Or, they shall eat up thy sons and thy daughters. CHAPTER V. 13-24 31 shalt say unto them, ' Like as ye have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'* The moral cause of the coming disaster ; 'prophet and priest unite in the furtherance of evil. ^^ Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, and pub- lish it in Judah, saying, ^i Hear, now, this, foolish people, and without understanding :•> which have eyes, and see not ; which have ears, and hear not : 22 Pear ye not me ? saith Yahweh : will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for a bound of the sea, (by) a perpetual decree, which it cannot transgress, and though [the waters thereof]" toss themselves, yet can they not prevail ; though its waves roar, yet can they not pass over it. ^^ But this people hath a refractory and defiant heart ; they are turned aside and gone. 2* Neither say they in their heart, ' Let us, now, fear Yahweh, our God, that giveth winter-rain, and autumn-rain, " Cf. with this verse Deut. xxix. 24-26 ; 1 Kings ix. 8f. ; Jer. xvi. lOf., xxii. 8f. ■i Heb. heart. The heart was regarded by the Hebrews, not, as with us, as the seat of feeling (cf. ' heartless,' and ' to set one's heart on » thing '), but as the seat of understanding : cf. Job xii. 24, xxxvi. 5 RVm., Hos. vii. 11 RVm. " These words (in the Heb. one word) have doubtless dropped out accidentally. Cf. xlvi. 7, 8. 32 JEREMIAH and spring-rain, in its season ; that reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of harvest.' ^s Your iniquities have turned away these things,* and your sins have withholden good from you. ^^ For among my people are found wicked men : they watch, as fowlers crouch (?) down ;'' they set a trap," they catch men. 2' Like a cage full of birds, so are their houses full of (the gains of) deceit : therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. ^^ They are waxen fat ; they are sleek i^ yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness : they defend not the right, the right of the fatherless, that they should prosper : and the cause of the needy do they not judge. 2' Shall I not visit for these things ? saith Yahweh : shall not my soul be avenged on a nation such as this ? 3" An appalling and horrible thing is come to pass in the land : ^1 the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule at their hands ; and my people love to have it so : and what will ye do in the end thereof ? ^ I.e. the blessings spoken of in v. 24. ■^ Read probably, as fowlers watch (one letter changed). ' Heb. a destroyer. ■• The Hebrews regarded fatness as a mark of contented self- indulgence, and associated it with impiety : cf. Job xv. 27 ; Ps. Ixxiii. 7. CHAPTER V. 25-VI. 5 33 Description of the danger as drawing nearer. VI. 1 Bring (your households) into safety, ye children of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem ; and blow the trumpet in Tekoa,» and raise up a beacon on Beth-haccherem : for evil hath looked forth from the north, and great destruction. ^ The comely and luxurious one, the daughter of Zion, will I cut off. * Shepherds with their flocks'' shall come unto her : they have pitched tents against her round about ; they feed every one off his place." * ' Pre- pare ye* war against her : arise, and let us go up at noon.' ' Woe unto us ! for the day hath de- clined, for the shadows of evening stretch themselves out.' 8 ' Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces. '« " In the elevated ' hill-country ' of Judah (Josh. xv. 48-60), 12 miles S. of Jerusalem, the home of the prophet Amos. In the Hebrew there is an assonance with ' blow.' Beth-hacch6rem (' House or Place of the vineyard ') is perhaps the height now called the Frank Mountain (from its having been made a point of defence by the Crusaders),"3 miles N.E. of Tekoa, commanding a fine view of the Dead Sea. ^ Fig. of bands of invaders : cf. xii. 10. " Fig. for, ravage the country. Cf. Mic. v. 6 (RVm.). '' Heb. Sanctify. Cf . xxii. 7, li. 27 ; Joel iii. 9 ; Mic. iii. 5 ; Isa. xiii. 3. The expression no doubt arose either out of the custom of opening a campaign with sacrifices, or from the idea that war was a sacred service, undertaken in the name of the national God (cf. 1 Sam. xxv. 28). ° In w. 4, 5 the enemy are dramatically Introduced, declaring their plans. In v. ia they urge one another to begin the attack : 3 34 JEREMIAH "For thus hath Yahweh of hosts said, Hew ye down her trees, and cast up a mound against Jeru- salem : that is the city which hath been visited ;» the whole of her — oppression is in her midst ! ' As a well keepeth fresh^ her waters, so she keepeth fresh** her wickedness : violence and spoU is heard in her ; before me continually are sickness and wounds. ^ Let thyself be admonished," Jerusa- lem, lest my, soul be severed * from thee ; lest I make thee a desolation, a land not inhabited. The completeness of the ruin. 8 Thus aaith Yahweh of hosts : They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine : ' Turn back^ thine hand as a grape-gatherer upon the tendrils ! ' ' " To whom shall I speak, and in V. 46 they lament that they have let noon pass — when in the East H, siesta is taken, and a surprise might readily be made (cf. XV. 8, XX. 16, Zeph. ii. 4) ; and in v. 5 they propose lastly to make the assault at night-time (ef . Is. xv. 1 ). " Viz. with punishment (v. 9). But the rendering is uncer- tain : read perhaps, with Sept.,afe, city of falsehood {ci. ix. 5-6). ^ Lit. cool. " Or, corrected. Cf. Ps. ii. 10, where the verb is the same. The word denotes not intellectual ' instruction,' but moral dis- cipline. ' Correction ' in ch. ii. 30, v. 3, is cognate. * Cf. Ez. xxiii. 17, 18, 22, 28 (the same unusual expression). = These words must be supposed to be dramatically addressed by Yahweh to the chief of the grape-gatherers (i.e. the leader of the foe).. CHAPTER VI. 6 15 35 testify, that they may hear ? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot listen : behold, the word of Yahweh is become unto them a reproach ; they have no delight in it. ^i But I am full of the fury of Yahweh ; I am weary with holding in : ' Pour it out* upon the children in the street, and upon the assembly of young men together ; for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days : ^^ and their houses shall be turned unto others, fields and wives to- gether ; for I wUl stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land,' saith Yahweh. The cause in the corruption of the people. 1* For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is greedy of gain ;•' and from the prophet even to the priest every one dealeth falsely. " And they would heal the breach of my people lightly, saying, ' Peace, peace ' ; when there is no peace. ^° They shall shew shame, be- cause they have committed abomination : (for " Yahweh's words, addressed to Jeremiah. Or, changing a point, I will pour it out (so Sept.). Yahweh'a words will then begin with ' for I will stretch,' in v. 12. •^ I.e. aU seek their own advantage and aggrandizement, with- out thinking of the welfare of their country. 36 JEREMIAH now,) yea, they are not at all ashamed, neither know they how to shew confusion : therefore they shall fall among them that fall ; at the time that I visit them they shall stumble, saith Yahweh. In vain has Israel been warned beforehand by its prophets. 1* Thus said Yahweh : Stand ye upon the ways,'' and see, and ask for the old paths, which is the way to prosperity," and walk therein, and ye shall find rest* for your souls : but they said, ' We will not walk (therein).' ^' And I ever raised up watchmen' over you, (saying,) ' Listen to the sound of the trumpet ' ; but they said, ' We will not listen.' 1^ Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, congre- gation, what is among them.* ^^ Hear, earth ; behold, I am bringing evil upon this people, even " Sept. (vocalizing the original consonants differently), at the time of their visitation, as viii. 12. '■ I.e., where the different ways meet. ° Hob. good, i.e. prosperity, as viii. 15, xvii. 6, Ps. xxv. 13 (Heb. abide in good), Deut. xxiii. 6, and elsewhere. The ' way ' meant is that of the fear and love of Yahweh : cf. xxxii. 39, and esp. Deut. xxx. 15 f. ^ I.e. peace and security. (Not as Matt. xi. 29.) ' Fig. of prophets : cf. Ez. iii. 17, xxxiii. 7 (see vv. 2-6). ' The second part of this verse is corrupt ; and has not hitherto been convincingly restored. The suggestion which involves the least change, and agrees best with the context, is, and take good knowledge of that which is coming. CHAPTER VI. 16-23 37 the fruit of their thoughts :» because they have not listened unto my words ; and as for my direction, they have rejected it. 2" To what purpose unto me is the frankincense that cometh from Sheba,'' and the sweet cane"" from a far country ? your burnt- offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices plecising unto me. ^^ Therefore thus saith Yahweh, Behold, I am laying stumbling-blocks'* before this people : and they shall stumble against them, fathers and sons together ; the neighbour and his friend shall perish. Renewed description of the invader (cf. v. 15-17). 2^ Thus saith Yahweh, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be stirred up from the uttermost corners of the earth. 23 They lay hold on bow and javelin ; they are cruel, " Read perhaps, with Sept., of their haohturning (ii. 19, iii. 22, V. 6). •> Cf. Is. Ix. 6. South Arabia was, in ancient times, celebrated as the country which chiefly produced the fragrant resin called frankincense ; cf . Vergil, ' Centumque Sabaeo Ture calent arae.' « Cf. Is. xliii. 24. It yielded a perfume (cf. Cant. iv. 14 (' calamus '), which was used in. making incense. The ' far country ' is probably India. ^ Fig. of the enemy, against whom the people will, as it were, stumble to their ruin (cf. v. 15 end). 38 JEREMIAH and have no mercy ; their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses : every one set in array, a,s a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Zion ! 24 ' We have heard the fame thereof : our hands wax feeble* : distress hath taken hold of us, and pangs as of a woman in travail. ' '^^ Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way ; for (there is) the sword of the enemy, terror on every side. 2' daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and sprinkle thyself with ashes : make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter wailing : for suddenly shall the spoiler come upon us. Jeremiah's report on the character of the people ; all his efforts to refine them had been in vain. 2' I have made thee an assayer among my people ^ ; that thou mayest know and assay their way. 28 They are all the most refractory of the refractory, going about with slanders : they are copper and iron ; they all of them deal corruptly. ^9 The bellows blow fiercely ; the lead is consumed by the " Heb. sink down (Is. v. 24), or drop down slaohly. *> The Heb. text adds, a fortress, which is here unsuitable, and is probably a gloss on the Heb. word for * aasayer ' (which might also moan ' watch-tower '),- derived from i. 18. CHAPTER VI. 24-30 39 fire : in vain do they go on refining ;* for the evil are not separated.'' ^^ Rejected silver shall men Call them, because Yahweh hath rejected them. " Or, smelting. Cf . for the figure ch. ix. 7 ' Behold, I will smelt them, and try (or assay) them ' ; Job xxiii. 10 ' If he trieth (or assayeth) me, I shall come forth as gold ' ; Zeoh. xiii. 9. *• A fig. description of the vain efforts made by the prophet to remove the evil elements from his people. In refining, the alloy containing the gold or silver is mixed with lead, and fused in a furnace on a vessel of earth or bone-ash : a current of air is turned upon the molten mass (not upon the fire) ; the lead then oxidizes, and acting as a flux, carries away the alloy, leaving the gold or silver pure (J. Napier, The Ancient Workers in Metal, 1856, pp. 20, 23). In the case here imagined by the prophet, so inextricably is the alloy mixed with the silver, that, though the bellows blow, and the lead is oxidized in the heat, no purification is effected ; only impure silver remains. CHAPTERS VII-X (except X. 1 — 16) A group of prophecies belonging probably to the early years (b.o. 608-5) of Jehoiakim's reign. (i) Chap. vii. i — 28. Not the presence of Yahweh's Temple in Jiidah, but amendment of life and obedience to Yahweh's moral commands, is the condition of His favour and protection. The occasion seems to be the same as that of xxvi. 1-9, which is assigned [v. 1) to the ' beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim ' (b.o. 608-7). VII. ^ The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, * Stand in the gate of Yahweh's house, and proclaim there this word, and say. Hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah, ye that enter in at these gates to worship Yahweh. ^ Thus saith Yah- weh of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. * Trust ye not in lying words, saying, ' The CHAPTER VII. i-io 41 temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, are these.' "■ ^ For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings ; if ye throughly execute judgement between a man and his neighbour ; ® if ye oppress not the sojourner,'' the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not" innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your own hurt : ' then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers from of old and even for evermore. * Behold, ye trust in lying words, in order not to profit. ^ Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely,and burn incense* unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye have not known ; i" and come and stand before me in this house, over which my name hath been called,^ " I.e. the temple itself, and the buildings round connected with it. '' I.e. the foreigner temporarily resident in Israel, who had no legal status of his own, and who in the ' Book of the Cove- nant' (Ex. xxi.-xxiii.), and Deuteronomy, is repeatedly com- mended to the regard and benevolence of the Israelite. So, transposing two letters. The Heb. text, by a scribal error, has, do not shed (imperative). ^ Or, perhaps, burn sacrifices. So always. See the note at the end of the volume. e In token of ownership (see 2 Sam. xii. 28 ; Is. iv. 1). Often in Deuteronomic writers, of the temple, the people, or the city of Jerusalem, as Deut. xxviii. 10 ; 1 Kings viii. 43 ; Jer. xiv. 9 ; xxv. 29 ; xxxii. 34 al. ; and occasionally besides (cf. Am. ix. 12 ; Is. Ixiii. 19). 42 JEREMIAH and say, ' We are delivered,'" in order (forsooth) to do all these abominations ? " Is this house, over which my name hath been called, become a cave'' of robbers in your eyes ? I also,— behold I have seen it ! saith Yahweh. Yahweh threatens to do to His temple in Jerusalem as He did formerly to His Temple at Shiloh. 12 For go, I pray you, unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first ;" and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.'^ ^^And now, because ye have done all these works, saith Yahweh, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not ; and I called you, but ye answered not ; 1* I will do unto the house, over which my name hath been called, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers ° Thinking, viz., that you are secure, and can go on sinning with impunity, because you maintain your religious lobservances, in the Temple. b There are many caves in the limestone strata of Palestine which in ancient times were often the homes of robbers. (Sept. airiiKaiov, as also Matt. xxi. 13 = Mark xi. 17 = Luke xix. 46.) c Josh, xviii. 1 ; Judges xviii. 31 ; xxi. 9 ff. ; 1 Sam. i.-iii. •* This destruction which overtook Shiloh is alluded to also in Jer. xxvi. 6, and Ps. Ixxviii. 60 ; but it is not mentioned in the existing historical books. It most probably happened after the Philistine victory described in 1 Sam. iv. CHAPTER VII. 11-20 43 as I did unto Shiloh. '^ j^nd j ^in c^st you out from before my face, as I have cast out* your brethren, even all the seed of Ephraim. Yahweh mil accept no intercession on behalf of His people ; for it is wholly given to idolatry. " And thou, pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make inter- cession to me : for I will not hear thee. " Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem ? ^' The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven,!* and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, in order to vex me. ** Do they vex me ? saith Yahweh ; is it not themselves (that they vex), in order to (bring about) the confusion of their own faces ? ^o Therefore thus saith the Lord Yahweh : Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground ; and it shall burn, and not be quenched. » So Sept. The Heb. text inserts, all (wliich has the c of weakening the ' all ' which follows). b In all probability Ashtoreth (Astarte), 2 Kings xxi Cf. Jer. xliv. 17, 18, 19. 44 JEREMIAH Yahweh has demanded of His people not sacrifice, but loyalty to Himself, and obedience to His moral commands. But to these demands Israel has never responded. 21 Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : Add your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh ! * ^^ For I spake not with your fathers, neither commanded them, in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, with regard to burnt offering or sacrifice : ^^ but this thing I com- manded them, saying, ' Hearken unto my voice, and I will be to you a God, and ye shall be to me a people : and walk ye in aU the way that I com- mand you, in order that it may be well with you.'"' » The words must be supposed to be spoken with irony and contempt. The burnt-offering was not eaten by the worshipper, but only parts of the peace-offering. Yahweh however cares so little for either, as offered by these idolatrous Israelites, that they may, if they please, eat both together ; they are nothing really sacred, but only ' flesh.' *■ When Jeremiah wrote, the priestly parts of the Pent, had in all probability not yet been combined with the rest of the Pentateuch, and the reference here is to the latter. Sacrifices are indeed enjoined in JE (Ex. xxiii. 14-19), and Deuteronomy : but little stress is laid upon them ; and the promises (as here, ' in order that it may be well with you ' ) are annexed more generally to loyalty to Yahweh and the refusal to foUow after other gods. See Ex. xv. 26, xix. 5, 6, xxiii. 21 ff. ; Deut. xxviii. 1, 2 ; and cf. Deut. iv. 40, v. 33 (which particularly resembles v. 236 here), vi. 3, 18 ; also x. 12-13. CHAPTER VII. 21-28 45 2* But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked* in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. ^^ Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily'' rising up early and sending them : ^^ yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff : they did worse than their fathers. Nor will the people respond to them now. " And thou shalt speak all these words unto them, but they will not hearken to thee : thou shalt also call unto them, but they will not answer thee. 28 And thou shalt say unto them, This is the nation that hath not hearkened to the voice of Yahweh their God, nor received correction : faithfulness" is perished, and is cut off from their mouth. " So Sept. (of. iii. 17, ix. 14, xi. 8, xiii. 10 al.) The Heb. text adds, in counsels. •" So, doubling a, word. The Heb. text, aa it stands, would mean, by day. « a V. 1, 3. 46 JEREMIAH (2) Chap. vii. 29 — viii. 3- Let the nation mourn over the idolatry which has caused Yahweh to cast off His people. 29 Poll thy locks," (0 Jerusalem,)'' and cast them away, and take up a dirge on the bare heights ; For Yahweh hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. ^ For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight, saith Yahweh : they have set their detestable things" in the house over which my name hath been called, to defile it. 31 And they have built the high places'^ of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire ; which I commanded not, neither came it into my rnind.^ " To poll the hair was a mark of mourning : Mic. i. 16, Job i. 20 (where ' shave ' is the same Heb. as ' poll ' here) j cf. Deut. xiv. 1. '• This word is inserted (as in AV., RV.) because in the Heb. the pronouns are feminine, shewing that the city, or the popula- tion personified, is addressed (as often in Jer., e.g. iv. 30, x. 17). " Cf. 2 Kings xxiii. 13 (where ' abomination ' [the first two times] in AV., RV., represents the same Hebrew). * The Sept. has, high place, which may be right. ' Heb. came up upon my heart, idiom, for ' occurred to me.' So Is. Ixv. 17 ; Jer. iii. 16, xix. 5, xxxii. 35, xliv. 21 ; Acts vU. 23. CHAPTER VII. 29-VIII. I 47 A terrible jvdgement will overtake the people. ^2 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, saith Yahweh, that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter : and they shall bury in To- pheth, because there shall be no place (else).* ^^ And the carcases of this people shall be food for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth ; and none shall fray'' them away. ^ And I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride : for the land shall become a waste. Even the bones of the buried Israelites will suffer indignities : their graves will be opened and desecrated by the enemy. VTII. ^ At that time, saith Yahweh, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves : " The land will be so full of corpses that they will have to be buried even in the unclean place of Topheth. ^ An archaism for frighten. (Really a shortened form of affray, of which the participle is afraid. See Hastings' Diet, of the Bible, s.v. ; and cf. Deut, xxviiii 26). 48 JEREMIAH * and they shall spread them before 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 whom they have worshipped : they shall not be gathered, nor be buried ; they shall be for dung upon the face of the ground. ^ And death shall be chosen rather than life by aU the remnant that are left of this evil family in all the places* whither I have driven them, saith Yahweh of hosts. (3) Chap. viii. 4 — 17. JudaVs utter refusal to repent and return to Yahweh. * And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Yahweh : Do men fall, and not rise again ? Doth one turn back, and not return again ? ^ Why then hath this people" turned back with a perpetual backturning ? they hold fast deceit ;* they refuse * See Deut. iv. 19, xvii. 3 ; 2 Kings xxi. 3, 5, xxiii. 4, 5 ; Jar. xix. 13. '' So Sept. The Heb. text haa, in all the places that are left (A word accidentally repeated by error. The Heb. cannot be rendered as it is rendered in AV., RV.) " So Sept. The Heb. text adds, Jerusalem (without ' of,' as AV., RV.) '' I.e., probably, either insincerity towards Yahweh, or the false teachings of idolatry (of. xiv. 14, xxiii. 26). CHAPTER VIII. 2-9 49 to return. " I listened and heard, but they spake not aright : no man repenteth him of his wicked- ness, saying, ' What have I done ? ' every one turneth back in his course, as a horse that rusheth headlong in the battle. ' Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times ;» and the turtle and the swift and the swallow observe the time of their coming ; but my people know not the ordinance of Yahweh. ^ How do ye say, ' We are wise, and the law of Yahweh^ is with us ' ? But surely, behold, the false pen of the scribes hath wrought falsely." ^ The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and taken : lo, they have re- jected the word of Yahweh ; and what manner of wisdom have they ? = I.e. the times of their migration, the birds mentioned being migratory birds, which return to Palestine every spring with great suddenness and regularity (Tristram, NHB. 205, 219, 246). Cf. Is. i. 3. •i Or, Yahweh's direction. See the next note. " Or, hath made (it) into falsehood. The priests gave iSrdh, or ' direction,' on cases of ceremonial or other usage submitted to them (Deut. xxiv. 8 [where ' teach ' means direct how to act]. Hag. ii. 11-13 [render in «. 11 'Ask, now, direction of the priests ']) ; and they declare here that they possess the legiti- mate traditional body of directions, or ' law,' respecting religious practice (cf. ii. 8, xviii. 18). Jeremiah replies that the scribes have falsified this body of directions, — exactly in what way we do not know : perhaps by claiming to have Yahweh's sanction for practices or ceremonial usages, of which in reality He did not approve. 4 50 JEREMIAH TU retribution which will fall wpon them. i« Therefore will I give their wives unto otters, and their fields to them that shall possess them : for* from the least even unto the greatest every one is greedy of gain ; from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. " And they would heal the breach of the daughter of my people lightly, saying, ' Peace, peace ' ; when there is no peace, i* xhey shall shew shame, because they have committed abomination : (for now,) yea, they are not at aU ashamed, neither know they how to be confused : therefore they them that fall ; at the time of thq shall stumble, saith Yahweh. Another description of the approa/it olj/f^ invader from the north. A ^^I will utterly make an end of them, saith Yahweh : there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf fadeth ;'' and I have appointed them those that shall pass over them." 1* ' Why are we sitting stiU ? assemble from'^^ ^isl^^ '^'^^ repeated, with only slight verbal variations, treetifh nfr"f'°° °^ '^^ "*''*'' °^ *he people: it is like a ^^ pZ ToJ:1^ "°^*'^'°^ "P°- •* Contrast xvii. 8. suspicious. °^^^'' °'ause is (in the Heb.) very CHAPTER VIII. 10-18 51 yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities,* yea, perish there : for Yahweh our God hath caused us to perish, and given us water of gall'' to drink, because we have sinned against Yahweh. ^ We wait for peace, but no good cometh ; for a time of healing, but behold dismay ! ' " From Dan is heard the snorting of his horses ;" at the sound of the neighing of his steeds the whole land trembleth : yea, they are come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it ; the city and them that dwell therein. " For, behold, I am sending serpents, even adders,"! among you, which cannot be charmed ; and they shall bite you, saith Yahweh. (4) Chaps, viii. 18 — ix. 22 ; x. 17 — 25. Jeremiah bewails the desperate condition and pros- pects of his country. 1^ Oh that I could brighten myself^ in time of * Cf. iv. 56. Vv. 14, 15 are supposed to be spoken by the distressed people. '' Heb. rosh, the name of a herb (see Deut. xxix. 18 ; Hos. x. 4 [BV. hemlock]) yielding some extremely bitter fruit or extract, which cannot now be certainly identified. Cf. ix. 15, xxiii. 15 ; Lam. iii. 5, 19; Ps. Ixix. 21. 'Gall,' i.e. bile, is in all these passages to be understood not literally, but merely as fig. of something very bitter. ° Cf. iv. 15. ■* The particular kind of serpent meant is uncertain. See the note at the end of the volume. ' Heb. Oh my brightness. 52 JEREMIAH sorrow ! my heart is heavy* upon me. i' Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land that is very far off :'' ' Is Yahweh not in Zion ? is her King not in her ? ' ' Wherefore have they vexed me with their graven images, and with foreign vanities" ? ' ^^ ' The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.' ^^ For the breach of the daughter of my people am I broken ;* I go in garb as a mourner f appalment hath taken hold on me. 22 jg there no balm in Gilead ; is there no physician there ? why then is not the fresh flesh of the daughter of my people come up (upon her) ?' IX. 1 Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people ! • Heb. eiek. ^ Jeremiah in thought imagines the people as in exile, and pictures them complaining bitterly that Yahweh has forsaken Zion. " Cf. ii. 5. ^ I.e. broken mentally, prostrated by grief. " The word rendered here, I go in garb aa a mourner, has re- ference to the dark and squalid attire and appearance of a mourner in the East (2 Sam. xix. 24 ; Est. iv. 1) ; in iv. 28 it is used of the sky darkened by clouds (' be black'). ' Cf. for the expression XXX. 17, xxxiii. 6; and see further the note at the end of the volume. CHAPTER VIII. 19-IX. 7 53 The corruption of society in Judah. 2 Oh that I had in the wilderness a travellers' lodging place ; that I might leave my people and go from them ! for they be aU adulterers, an assembly of faithless men. ^ And they bend their tongue as their bow in falsehood ; " and not in accordance with faithfulness are they mighty in the land :•> for they proceed from evU to evil, and they know not me, saith Yahweh. * Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother : for every brother doth utterly over- reach, and every neighbour goeth about with slanders. ^ And they mock every one his neigh- bour, and speak not the truth : they have taught their tongue to speak lies ; they weary themselves to commit iniquity. ^ Thy dwelling is in the midst of deceit ; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith Yahweh. The judgement upon this corruption. ' Therefore thus saith Yahweh of hosts. Behold, I will smelt" them, and try* them ; for how (else) " To aim calumnies against the innocent : cf. Ps. Ixiv. 3. >> I.e. those in authority abuse their power and position. " Fig. for, purify by severe discipline : cf. vi. 29 (where the same word is rendered ' refine '), Is. i. 25 (' purge away '), Ps. Ixvi. 10& (' try '), Zeoh. xiii. 9 (' refine '). * Or, assay (vi. 27). 54 JEREMIAH should I do,a because of the evil of" the daughter of my people ? ^ Their tongue is a deadly arrow ; the words of their mouth are deceit :" one speaketh peaceably with his neighbour, but in his heart he layeth ambush for him. ^ Shall I not visit them for these things 1 saith Yahweh : shall not my soul be avenged on a nation such as this ?* The desolation destined shortly to come upon Jvdah. ^^ For the mountains will I take up a weeping and lamentation, And for the pastures of the wilderness^ a dirge : Because they are burned up,' so that none passeth through, Neither can men hear the voice of the cattle ; From the fowl of the heavens unto the beasts, they are fled, they are gone. » Or, for how (terribly) will I do because of the evil of the daughter of my people I ^ So Sept. (cf. vii. 12, xxxii. 32 [' evil ' and ' wickedness ' represent the same Heb.]). The Heb. text omits, the evil of. " So Sept. (improving the parallelism of the verse). The Heb. text has (after ' arrow '), one hath spoken deceit : with his mouth one speaketh, etc. ^ Cf . the same refrain in v. 9, 29. ° I.e. uncultivated (v. 12, iv. 26) pasture-ground : cf. xxiii. 10; Ps. Ixv. 12; Joel i. 19, ii. 22. (The Heb. word means etymologically a driving place for cattle, and does not denote a sandy waste.) ' Read, probably, laid waste, as v, 12, CHAPTER IX. 8-16 55 ^1 And I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling place of jackals : » And the cities of Judah will I make a desola- tion, without inhabitant. 1^ Who is the wise man that may understand this ? and who is he to whom the mouth of Yahweh hath spoken, that he may declare it ? wherefore is the land perished, and laid waste like a wilderness, so that none passeth through ? The bitter consequences of JudaVs abandonment of Yahweh. ^3 And Yahweh said, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them,*" and have not hearkened to my voice, nor walked therein ; 1* but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them : ^^ therefore thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gaU to drink : ^^.and I will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known ; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them. » Cf. X. 22, xlix. 33, li. 37. Packs of jackals still haunt deserted sites in Syria. •> Alluding in particular to Deuteronomy : see Deut. iv. 8, 44 ; and cf. Jer. xxvi. 4. 56 JEREMIAH L&t the mourning women come, and chant a dirge over Jvdah's fall. " Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the women that chant dirges,^ that they may come ; and send for the skilful women,* that they may come : " and let them hasten and take up a lamentation for us, and let our eyes run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters. 1" For a voice of lamentation is heard out of Zion, ' How are we spoiled ! we are put greatly to shame, because we have forsaken the land, because they have flung down our dwelhngs.' 20 For hear, ye women, the word of Yahweh, And let your ear receive the word of his mouth ; And teach your daughters lamentation. And every one her neighbour a dirge. 21 For death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces ; To cut off the children from the street, and the young men from the broad places. 22 [Speak thus, saith Yahweh :p * I.e., women acting as professional mourners, such as still in Syria assist at funerals, and either recite from memory, or extemporize for the occasion, dirges constructed in a particular metrical form, in which the virtues of the deceased are recounted, and his loss is bewailed. *' The bracketed words are omitted in the Sept. They are peculiar in the Hebrew ; they interrupt the connexion ; and are probably no part of the original text. CHAPTER IX. 17-25 57 And the carcases of men shall fall, as dung upon the face of the field, And as a handful after the reaper, with none to gather it. Chap. ix. 23 — 26. Two short prophetic utterances, in no apparent connexion with the context, and probably (like iii. 6-18) misplaced. Only the right knowledge of Yahweh, and of His will for men, will profit a man. ^* Thus saith Yahweh, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man* glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches : 2* but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and that he knoweth me, that I am Yahweh which doeth kindness, judge- ment, and righteousness, in the earth : for in these things do I delight, saith Yahweh. // Jvdah has only the circumcision of the flesh, it will be treated by Yahweh as no better than other nations. ^ Behold, the days are coming, saith Yahweh, that I will punish'' every one that is circumcised » I.e. the warrior (v. 16). ■> Heb. visit upon. 58 JEREMIAH in unciroumcision ;» ^e Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners (of their hair) clipt,b that dwell in the wilderness : for ail the nations are uncircumcised, and all the hoxise of Israel are uncircumcised in heart." Chap. X. I — 16. No need to dread the gods of the heathen. This section (x. 1-16) interrupts the connexion (for x. 17-25 carries on the train of thought of ix. 1-22) ; and in all probability is the work not of Jeremiah himself, but of some later prophet, probably of one living in the latter part of the Babylonian captivity, when the exiles were in danger of being overawed by the elaborate idol-worship carried on by the Babylonians around them." '?,"°'' "■ '^ ^""^^''^ ' ^ho made ' at the be- euggested bv til ^^^ probably originally a marginal note, wlSfh ^shfiol::iZT "'^""^ *^"*' ^'^'^ i-tended^as a reply invited to take part in idoI^^orXp^ heathen countries, when CHAPTER X. 7-16 61 ^2 Who made the earth by his power, Who estabhshed the world by his wisdom, And by his understanding stretched out the heavens. 1^ When he uttereth his voice," there is a roar of waters in the heavens. And he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth ; He maketh hghtnings for the rain. And bringeth forth the wind out of his trea- suries : •> 1* (Then) every man becometh senseless and loseth knowledge ; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image : For his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them." ^ They are vanity, a work of mockery : In the time of their visitation they will perish.'^ " The portion of Jacob is not Uke these ; For he is the former of all things ; " Heb. (peculiarly) At the sound of his uttering. The allusion is to the thunder (Ps. xviii. 13, xxix. 3-9 ; cf. Ex. ix. 28 RVm.). " Cf. Ps. cxxxv. 7. ° The verse describes the effect of the thunderstorm {v. 13) : man is dumb before the spectacle ; and so every idol-maker Is put to shame by the obvious inability of his graven image to produce anything like it. ^ Cf. viii. 12. 62 JEREMIAH And Israel is the tribe of his inheritance :» Yahweh of hosts is his name. Chap. X. 17 — 25. (Continuation of ix. 22), The prophet sees in spirit the capital invested by the foe, and bids the inhabitants prepare to depart into exile. " Gather up thy bundle from the ground,'' (0 Jerusalem,)" thou that abidest in the siege. ^^ For thus saith Yahweh, Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and wiU distress them, that they may feel"* (it). ^' ' Woe^ to me for my breach !' my wound is grievous :8 but I said, " Truly this is my'' sickness, and I will bear it." 2" My tent is spoiled, and all my cords are broken : " The Sept. (omitting words) reads, perhaps rightly. For the former of all things is his inheritance ; of. Ps. xvi. 5. '' In preparation for going into exile. ° The pronouns are fem., showing that the community is addressed. Cf. vii. 29. ^ Heb. find. The text ia open to suspicion. " In vv. 19, 20, the community, personified, is introduced dramatically bewailing its fate. ' See viu. 11, 21. 8 Heb. made sick. " So Sept. (MSS.), Syr. Targ. Aq. Symm. Vulg. In the Heb. text a letter ('my ') has accidentally fallen out. CHAPTER X. 17-25. 63 my children are gone forth from me, and they are not ; there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.'" ^ For the shepherds^ are become senseless, and have not in- quired of Yahweh : therefore they have not pros- pered, and all their flock" is scattered. ^^ Hark ! a rumour, behold it cometh, and a great commo- tion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling place of jackals. Jeremiah, speaking in the name of the people, prays for a mitigation of the judgement. 23 ' I know, Yahweh, that not unto man be- longeth his way ; not for man is it to walk and direct^ his steps.^ ^ Correct me, Yahweh, but with judgement ; * not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing, s ^s pour out thy fury upon * I.e. my tent-hangings, cf. iv. 20. '' Fig. of rulers, as ii. 8, iii. 15, xxiu. 1 al. ° Heb. their pasture. ^ So with a change of points (cf. the Vulg.) The rendering of AV., RV., is not legitimate, a conjunction in clause 6 being not expressed in it. " Cf. Prov. xvi. 9 ; Ps. xxxvii. 23. ■ Or, in measure. Cf . on xxx. 1 1 ; and see the note on v. 4 at the end of the volume. ' Heb. diminish me (xxix. 6, xxx. 19 ['be few '] ; Ezek. xxix. 15 ; Ps. cvii. 39 [' are minished ']). ' Me ' in this verse signifies the people. 64 JEREMIAH the nations that have not known thee, and upon the families that have not called upon thy name : for they have devoured Jacob,* and consumed him, and have laid waste his homestead.''' • So Sept. The Heb. text adds, and devoured him (a corrupt repetition of the previous, and anticipation of the following word). •• Cf. Ps. Ixxix. 6, 7. Jeremiah was profoundly convinced that a nation which did not ' know ' Yahweh was nevertheless the Divinely appointed agent for the punishment of Judah : hence this verse — unless it may be regarded as merely the expression of the people's point of view — can scarcely have been written by Jeremiah, but must be the addition of a later hand, introduced Jas indeed its latter part seems independently to suggest] after the desolation of the land was complete. CHAPTERS XI. 1— XII. 6 Chap. xi. I — 8. The date is apparently shortly after the discovery of Deuteronomy in Josiah's 18th year (B.C. 621). Jeremiah is instructed to exhort the people to live in accordance with the Deuteronomic Law. XI. 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, sajdng, ^ ' Hear thou the words of this covenant, and speak them* unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ^ and say unto them, Thus saith Yahweh, the God of Israel : Cursed be the man that heareth not the words of this covenant,'' * which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron-furnace," saying, " So with slight changes. The Hebrew text has, Hear ye . . . and apeak ye (followed by, and say thou, v. 3). ^ Cf. Deut. xxvii. 26, xxix. 9 ; also xi. 28, xxviii. 13. " I.e. the furnace in which iron is smelted ; fig. of a place of severe suffering. So Deut. iv. 20 ; 1 Kings viii. 51. 65 5 66 JEREMIAH " Hearken unto my voice, and do* according to all that I command you ; and ye shall be to me a people, and I will be to you a God ; ^ that I may establish the oath which I sware unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day"*." ' And I answered and said, ' Amen, Yahweh.' Jeremiah instructed again to exhort the people to like effect, and to remind them of the consequences of disobedience. 8 And Yahweh said unto me. Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying. Hear ye the words of, this covenant, and do them. ' For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, ' Hearken unto my voice.' ^ Yet they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the stubbornness of their evil heart : so I brought upon them all the words of this covenant," which I commanded them to do, but they did them not. » So Sept. The Heb. text adds, them. (Probably by error from v. 6 end. Here the pronoun is without a proper ante- cedent. ) '' A summary of the teaching of Deuteronomy. ° Threats such as those in Deut. viii. 19, xxviii. 15 £f. CHAPTER XL 5-13 67 Chap. xi. 9 — 17. This part of the chapter belongs probably to the reign of Jehoiakim, when it had become clear (v. 10) that Josiah's reformation had led to no lasting results. The present generation has returned'' to the sins of their forefathers, and the prophet therefore re-affirms against them the sen- tence of judgement. 8 And Yahweh said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, i" They have returned to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words ; and they are gone after other gods to serve them : the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers. ^^ Therefore thus saith Yahweh, Behold, I am bringing evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape ; and they shall cry unto me, but I will not hearken unto them. 1* And the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense : but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble. '^^'Eov » Viz. after the reformation (2 Kings xxiii.), following the discovery of the ' Book of the Law ' (i.e. the discourses of Deuteronomy) in Josiah's eighteenth year, B.o. 621 (2 Kings xxii. ). 68 JEREMIAH according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, Judah ; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars "to the shameful thing, even altars» to burn incense unto Baal. Yahweh will accept no intercession on behalf of His people ; and hypocritical service will not avail to avert the doom. " And thou, pray thou not for this people, neither hf t up cry nor prayer for them ; for I will not hear them in the time that they call unto me in the time of' their trouble." ^^ What hath my beloved"* (to do) in mine house, "(seeing) she bringeth evil devices to pass' ? Will vows and holy flesh remove thine evil from off thee ?® then mightest thou rejoice !« " ' A spreading olive tree, fair with goodly fruit,' had Yahweh called thy name : (but) at the noise of a great roaring'' he hath kindled fire '^ The Sept. omits these words ; and as ' the shameful thing ' means Baal (iii. 24), they are probably not original. Cf. ii. 28. b So many MSS. Sept. Syr. Targ. Vulg. (one letter different; cf. V. 12, ii. 28). The Mass. text has, on behalf of. " V. 14 is repeated largely from vii. 16. '' I.e. Judah : cf. xii. 7. ' So with slight changes, following the Sept. The Heb. text cannot be intelligibly translated. ' The Heb. as in Ps. xxxvii. 7. ' Or, following the Sept., Or shalt thou escape by these ? ^ I.e. as the tempest rose. CHAPTER XI. 14-19 69 upon it, and its branches are marred.* " For Yahweh of hosts, that planted thee, hath pro- nounced evil against thee, because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have loved to do,*" to vex me by burning incense unto Baal. Chaps, xi. 18 — xii. 6. Jeremiah's discovery of a plot formed against his life by the men of his native place, Anathoth ; and the judgement pronounced by him upon them in consequence. 18 And Yahweh caused me to know, and I knew it : then thou shewedst me their doings, i' But I was like a tame" lamb that is led to the slaughter ; and I knew not that against me had they devised devices, (saying,) ' Let us destroy the tree with its sap,'^ and let us cut him off from the land of the " Yahweh had likened thee to u, flourishing olive-tree (for the figure, cf. Ps. lii. 8 ; Hos. xiv. 6) ; but a great storm has now arisen, the olive-tree has been struck by lightning, and its beauty is sadly marred. "^ Heb. done for themselves. " Lit. familiar (Ps. Iv. 13 'companion'); and so trustful, unsuspecting. '' So, omitting one letter (cf. the cognate adjective, ' full of sap,' Ezek. xvii. 24, xx. 47 [RV. ' green ']). The Heb. text has bread. The ' tree with its sap ' is fig. for a person in the full strength and vigour of hfe. 70 JEREMIAH living, that his name may be no more remembered.' ^ But, Yahweh of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart,* let me see thy vengeance on them : for unto thee have I revealed my cause, ^i Therefore thus saith Yahweh con- cerning the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, ' Thou shalt not prophesy in Yahweh's name, that thou die not by our hand ' : ^^ therefore thus saith Yahweh of hosts. Behold, I will punish them ^ : the young men shall die by the sword ; their sons and their daughters shall be consumed" by famine : ^^ aj^j there shall be no remnant unto them : for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation. " Jeremiah appeals to Yahweh, who can test the inmost feehngs and purposes both of himself and of his foes, and knows therefore on which side the right lies. The ' reins ' (i.e. the kidneys) were regarded by the Hebrews as the seat of feeling (cf. Prov. xxiii. 16 ; Ps. xvi. 7, Ixxiii. 21 ; Job xix. 27), as the heart was with them the seat of the understanding (cf. ch. V. 21) : hence when it is said of Yahweh that He ' tries ' (i.e. tests or examines), or ' sees,' the ' reins and hearts,' the meaning is that He is cognizant of man's emotions and affections as well as of his purposes and thoughts. Cf. xvii. 10, xx. 12 ; Ps. vii. 9, xxvi. 2. •* Heb. visit upon them. " So Sept. (two letters transposed) : cf. xiv. 15, xliv. 12. The Heb. text has, die (as in the preceding clause : the variation, however, is more expressive). CHAPTER XL 20-XII. 5 71 Jeremiah is surprised at the prosperity enjoyed by the wicked ; and demands upon the con- spirators summary vengeance. XII. 1 ' Righteous art thou, Yahweh, when I complain unto* thee ; yet will I reason the case with thee : Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper ? wherefore are all they at ease that deal faithlessly ? ^ Thou plantest them, yea, they take root ; they spread,'' yea, they bring forth fruit : thou art near in their mouth, but far from their reins." ^ Yet thou, Yahweh, knowest me ; thou seest me, and triest mine heart toward thee : pull them away like sheep for the slaughter, and pre- pare"* them for the day of killing. * How long shall the land mourn, and the herb of the whole country wither ? for the wickedness of them that dwell therein, beast and bird are swept away ; because they say, " He will not see our latter end.^ " ' His impatience is rebuked : he may have in the future still greater trials to endure. ^ ' If thou hast run with footmen, and they have * Or, contend (or dispute) with. Cf. the notes pp. 336, 339, ,(on ii. 9, 29). " Hos. xiv. 6. " I.e. far from their affections and desires. See the note on xi. 20. '^ Heb. sanctify, — as though they were victims for sacrifice. ^ I.e. the prophet wUl not see his predictions fulfilled : we shall survive him, and even, it may be implied, put him out of the way. Sept., however, has, He {i.e. God) seeth not our ways. 72 JEREMIAH wearied thee, then how wilt thou vie with horses ? and though in a land of peace thou art secure, yet" how wilt thou do in the pride of Jordan'' ? ^ For even thy brethren and the house of thy father, even they have dealt faithlessly with thee ; even they have cried aloud after thee ; believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.' " Kead probably (changing one letter), and if in a land of peace thou takest to flight, then. *■ I.e. the luxuriant growth of bushes and thick vegetation fringing the banks of the Jordan. See especially Jer. xlix. 19=1. 44, and Zech. xi. 3, which shew that this ' pride of Jordan ' was infested by lions, and consequently dangerous to enter. CHAPTER XII. 7-17. The prophecy dates probably from c. 598 B.C., when, after Jehoiakim's revolt from Nebaohadnezzar,the territory of Judah was overrun by bands of Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites (2 Kings xxiv. 1, 2). A lamentation on the desolation of Jvdah by its evil-disposed neighbours (v. 14). The speaker ia Yahweh ; and the sorrow and reluctance with whichHe gives up His heritage are pathetically depicted. ' I have forsaken mine house, I have cast off mine heritage ; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. ^ Mine heritage is become unto me as a lion in the forest :* she hath uttered her voice against me ; therefore do I hate her. ^ Is"* mine heritage unto me as a speckled bird of prey ?" are"^ the birds of prey against her * I.e. it has become my open enemy. '' Questions of astonishment at what nevertheless has really happened. ° I.e. like a bird of unusual plumage, which the other birds of the same kind attack. 73 74 JEREMIAH round about 1 Go" ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour. "Many shep- herdsb have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion into a desolate wilderness. " They have made it a desolation ; it mourneth to my sorrow,'' being desolate : the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.^ 12 Upon all the bare heights in the wilderness » spoilers are come ; ' for the sword of Yahweh de- voureth from one end of the land even to the other end of the land : no flesh hath peace. ^^ They have sown wheat, but they have reaped thorns ; they have made themselves sick, but they profit nothing : and they shall be disappointed of their fruitsK because of the fierce anger of Yahweh. " Beasts of prey, as well as birds of prey, are to be sum- moned to devour. '' Fig. of invaders, as vi. 3. ■= Heb. upon me. Cf . Gen. xlviii. 7 ' Rachel died to my sorrow ' (RVm.), lit. ' died upon me ', i.e. as a trouble resting upon me. ■^ I.e. no one has considered what would be the end of the policy which Judah had been pursuing {v. 13). " I.e. the uncultivated pasture-ground ; cf. on ix. 10. ' Heb. be put to shame by. See on ii. 36. ^ So, changing a letter. The Heb. text has, and be ye dis- appointed (or and they shall be disappointed) of your fruits. CHAPTER XII. 10-17 75 JvdaKs evil-disposed neighbours will be taken into exile ; but if they adopt from the heart Judah's religion, they will be restored to their own lands. ^* Thus saith Yahweh concerning all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit : Behold I am plucking them up from off their land, and the house of Judah will I pluck up from the midst of them. 1^ And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them up, I will turn, and have compassion on them ; and I will bring them back, every man to his inheritance, and every man to his own land. 1* And it shall come to pass, if they diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ' As Yahweh liveth,'* even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then shall they be built up in the midst of my people, i' But if they do not hear, then will I utterly pluck up that nation, plucking up and destroying it, saith Yahweh. " Cf. on V. 2. CHAPTER XIII Vv. 18, 19 belong clearly to the reign of Jehoiachin (B.C. 697), the rest of the chapter dates, probably, from that of Jehoiakim (b.c. 608-597). Jeremiah performs a symbolical act, illustrating the corrupt condition of the people, and its consequences. ^ Thus said Yahweh unto me, Go, and. buy thee a linen waist-cloth," and put it upon thy loins, but bring it not into water. ^ So I bought the waist- cloth according to the word of Yahweh, and put it upon my loins. ' And the word of Yahweh came unto me a second time, saying, * Take the waist-cloth that thou hast bought, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates,** and bury it there in a * See the note at the end of the volume. ■> Heb. Perdtk, the usual Heb. name of the river (Abs. Purdtu). So vv. 5-7. Perhaps, however, as Pfirath, when it means the Euphrates, has generally ' the river ' prefixed, and as a double journey (vv. 5-7) for such a distance is not very probable, the word should be read, with the change of a point, as Parah, the 76 CHAPTER XIII. i-ii 77 chink of the rock. So I went, and buried it by» Euphrates, as Yahweh commanded me. * And it came to pass after many days, that Yahweh said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the waist-cloth from thence, which I commanded thee to bury there. ' Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the waist-cloth from the place where I had buried it : and, behold, the waist- cloth was marred,'' it was profitable for nothing. Explanation of the symbolical act. * And the word of Yahweh came unto me, saying, 8 Thus saith Yahweh, After this manner wiU I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusa- lem, i" This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and are gone after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them — let it be, then, as this waist- cloth, which is profitable for nothing ! ^^ For as the waist-cloth cleaveth to the loins of a man, name of a town (Josh, xviii. 23) in a wild and rocky valley^ watered by a copious spring, and still called the Wady Fara, about three miles N.E. of Jeremiah's native place, Anathoth. The Wady runs into the Wady Kelt, which flows down, past Jericho, into the Jordan. " Or (more naturally, though not necessarily : see Ezek. X. 15, 20 Hob.), in (to go with the reading Parah). •> It had been in a moist place to which the water had pene- trated. 78 JEREMIAH so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith Yahweh ; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory : but they hearkened not. A parable declaring the disaster about to fall wpon Judah. 12 And thou shalt speak unto them this word : Thus saith Yahweh, the God of Israel, Every jar* is filled with wine ; and they will say unto thee, ' Do we not know that every jar is filled with wine ? ' 1^ Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith Yahweh, Behold, I am filling all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's throne,'' and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness." 1* And I wiU dash them one against another, even '^ An earthen vessel (see Is. xxx. 14, RV. ' vessel ' ; Lam. iv. 2, RV. 'pitcher') in which wine was kept (Jer. xlviii. 12), probably something like the Roman amphora. ** Heb. for David upon his throne. " Every jar is naturally made to be filled with wine : so the men of Judah will be filled with " drunkenness,' — fig. of the mental paralysis and bewilderment, rendering men helpless in face of a great calamity, — and then ' dashed ' like so many earthenware vessels (Ps. ii. 9) against each other. Cf. xxv. 15 f., Isa. li. 17, Ps. Ix. 3 (' Thou hast made us to drink the wine of staggering,' fig. for, thrown us into bewilderment by a great disaster). CHAPTER XIII. 12-18 79 the fathers and the sons together, saith Yahweh : I will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, that I should not destroy them. Take this message to heart betimes. ^^ Hear ye, and give ear ; be not proud : * for Yahweh hath spoken, i" Give glory to Yahweh your God,'' before he cause darkness," and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains ^ ; and, while ye wait for light, he turn it into blackness, and make it gross darkness, i' But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret because of (your) pride ; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because Yahweh's flock is taken captive. A lamentation on the approaching fate of Jehoiachin (B.C. 597), and his Queen-mother, Nehushta.^ ^^ Say ye' to the king and to the queen-mother, ' Sit ye down low : ' For come down from your head^ 'is your crown of beauty.' " Viz. by refuaing to listen to Yahweh's warnings. '' I.e. recognize His majesty, by obejang His words. ° Or, before it grow dark. '^ Heb. the mountains of twilight. ' See 2 Kings xxiv. 8, 15; and of. Jer. xxii. 26. ' So Sept. The Heb. text has. Say thou. « So Sept. Syr. Vulg. (omitting a letter). (The word rendered ' head- tires ' in RV. has that meaning nowhere else.) 8o JEREMIAH 19 The cities of the South" are shut up, and there is none to open them : Judah is carried into exile all of it, an entire exiled people.** The prophet laments the disaster which the sins of Jerusalem are bringing upon her. 2" Lift up thine" eyes, (0 Jerusalem,)^ and behold them that come from the north :« where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock ? ^^ What wilt thou say, when he shall set over thee as head those whom thou hast thyself taught to be friends unto thee ?' will not sorrows take hold of " Heb. the Negeb, the name of u, particular district in the S. of Judah (see Gen. xii. 9 RV m.), the cities of which are enumerated in Josh. xv. 21-32. ■> So Sept. (two slight changes): lit. an entire exile ( = exiled company), see Am. i. 6, 9 Heb. The Heb. text has (after ' all of it '), she is wholly (?) carried into exile ; but the word rendered ' wholly 'is peculiar, and does not occur in this sense elsewhere. ° So Sept. (in agreement with the verbs ' lift ' and ' behold, ' which are both singular, and the pronouns ' thee ' and ' thy,' at the end of the verse). The Heb. text has, your. ■^ Inserted (with Sept.) for the reason stated on vii. 29. " Cf. iv. 6, vi. 1, 22. ' I.e. What wilt thou say, when thou seest the nations whose friendship thou once courtedst, turned against thee, and ruling over thee ? Cf. ii. 36, iv. 30 ; Ez. xxiii. 22 ; and for the expression ' head,' Lam. i. 5, CHAPTER XIII. 19-27 81 thee, as of a woman in travail ? 22 ^^ jf thou say in thine heart, ' Wherefore are these things come upon me ? ' for the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts uncovered, and thy heels suffer violence. ^* Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots ? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed* to do evil. ^* I will scatter them, therefore, like stubble that passeth away, to the wind of the wilderness.*" ^^ This is thy lot, the portion measured unto thee from me, saith Yahweh ; be- cause thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in false- hood. ^® And I also have stripped off thy skirts before thy face, and thy shame shall appear. 2' Thine adulteries, and thy neighings," the lewd- ness of thy whoredom — I have seen thy detestable deeds on the hills in the field. Woe unto thee, Jerusalem ! how long will it yet be, ere thou be- comest clean ?■* * Heb. taught. ^ Cf. iv. 11. " See V. 8. * Heb. thou wilt not become clean, after how long yet f CHAPTERS XIV.— XV. A dialogue between the prophet and Yahweh, arising out of a drought in Judah. XIV. ^ That which came as Yahweh's word unto Jeremiah with regard to the drought. The distress of men and anitnals occasioned by the drought. ^ Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish, they are in mourning garb upon the ground,* and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. * And their nobles send their inferiors to the waters : they come to the pits, and find no water ; they return with their vessels empty : they are put to shamei> and confounded, and cover their heads." * And "■ The gates, as places of public concourse (Ruth iv. 1, 2, 11) are personified : cf. Isa. iii. 26. For ' are in mourning garb,' see on viii. 21 ; and for sitting on the ground, as a mark of mourning, cf. Job ii. 13, Lam. ii. 10. •> I.e., as we should say, 'are disconcerted ' or ' disappointed.' Comp. especially Joel i. 1 1, and Job vi. 20 ; and cf. on ii. 36. " A mark of grief : see 2 Sam. xv. 30. 8? CHAPTER XIV. 1-9 83 they that till the ground are dismayed,* because no rain hath been in .the land ; the plowmen are put to shame, they cover their heads. ^ For even the hind in the field doth calve, and forsaketh (her young) because there is no grass. *And the wild asses stand on the bare heights, they pant for air like jackals ; their eyes fail,*" because there is no herbage. The 'prophet, interpreting the drought as a sign of Yahweh's anger, utters a confession and suppli- cation in the name of his people. ' ' Though our iniquities testify against us, work" thou, Yahweh, for thy name's sake : for our backturnings are many ; against thee have we sinned. ^ thou hope of Israel, the saviour there- of in the time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as sojourner in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night ?'i * Why shouldest thou be as a man surprised, as a mighty man« that cannot save ? yet thou, Yahweh, art " So Duhm, after Sept. The Heb. text has, Becattse of the ground, which is dismayed. *> Viz. with looking in vain for food : cf . Ps. Ixix. 3 ; Job xi . 20 ; Lam. iv. 17. " Or, do; cf. 1 Kings viii. 32, 39 ; Ez. xx. 9, 14, 22. ^ I.e. as a passing visitor or traveller. I.e. a warrior. Contrast xx. 11 ; Zeph. iii. 17. 84 JEREMIAH in the midst of us, and thy name hath been called over us ;* leave us not.' Yahweh's reply : He will accept no intercession on behalf of the people. 1" Thus saith Yahweh of this people : Even so** have they loved to wander ; they have not refrained their feet : and Yahweh doth not accept them ; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins." " And Yahweh said unto me, ' Pray not for this people for their good. ^^ When they fast, I will not hear their cry ; and when they offer burnt-offering and oblation, I will not accept them : but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.' Jeremiah endeavours to excuse the people, laying the blame upon their prophets. " And I said, ' Ah, Lord Yahweh ! behold, the prophets say unto them : "Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine ; but I will give you assured peace^ in this place." ' " See on vii. 10. i" I.e. in the same proportion in which I have held myself aloof from them {v. 8). " A quotation from Hos. viii. 13. * Heb. peace of stability (or faithfulness). CHAPTER XIV. 10-18 85 Yahweh replies again : the prophds to whom Jeremiah refers have spoken lies in His name : and the doom of Jerusalem will not be deferred. " And Yahweh said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name : I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake I unto them : they prophesy unto you a lying vision, and a worth- less divination," and the deceit of their own heart. ^^ Therefore thus saith Yahweh concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, ' Sword and famine shall not be in this land : ' By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. " And the people to whom they prophesy shall be flung out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword ; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters ; for I will pour their wickedness upon them. " And thou shalt say this word unto them, ' Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease : for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous*' wound. ^^ If I go forth into the field, "■ So, omitting ons letter (' and '). The Heb. text has, divina- tion and worthlesaness. For the thought of the verse cf. xxii'. 16, 26, 32. ^ Heb. sick (aa x. 19). 86 JEREMIAH then behold the slain with the sword ! and if I enter into the city, then behold the torments* of famine ! yea, both the prophet and the priest have gone as traffickers'' into a land that they knew not.'" Jeremiah, in more beseeching tones, renews his sup- plication and confession in the name of his people. ^ ' Hast thou utterly rejected Judah ? or hath thy soul loathed Zion ? why then hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us ? we wait for peace, but no good cometh ; and for a time of healing, but behold dismay ! ^ We acknowledge,'^ Yahweh, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers : for we have sinned against thee. ^^ Do not contemn (us), for thy name's sake ; do not treat with contumely the throne of thy glory : re- member, break not thy covenant with us. ^^ ^g there any among the vanities^ of the nations that "■ Heb. sicknesses. >> Or, if a rare Syriao usage may be followed, have gone as beggars. In either case degradation from an honourable office , is the idea expressed. With 'a land that they knew not,' cf. XV. 14, xvi. 13, xvii. 4, xxii. 28. ■= In V. 18 Jeremiah, vividly realiziag the future, imagines himself to be witnessing the approaching invasion, siege, and exile. ^ Heb. know. Cf. iii. 13; Isa. lix. 12; Ps. li. 3 (RVm.). « I.e. unreal gods : cf. ii. 5, viii. 19. CHAPTERS XIV. 19-XV. 4 87 can cause rain ? or can the heavens give the winter- rains ? art not thou Yahweh our God ? and we wait for thee ; for thou hast made all these things. ' The prophet's intercession is rejected even more de- cisively than before : the fate of Jvddh is sealed. XV. 1 And Yahweh said unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind* would not be toward this people : send them away from before me, and let them go forth. ^ And it shall come to pass, when they say unto thee, ' Whither shall we go forth ? ' that thou shalt tell them. Thus saith Yahweh : 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. ^ And I will appoint over them four kinds," saith Yahweh : the sword to slay, and the dogs to drag, and the fowls of the heaven and the beasts of the earth to devour and to destroy. * And I will make them a consternation* to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of " Heb. my soul. •> I.e. death by pestilence : cf. xviii. 21. ° Heb. families. <■ Cf. xxiv. 9, xxix. 18 ; and see the note at the end of the volume. 88 JEREMIAH Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. ^ For who will have pity upon thee, Jerusalem ? or who will commiserate thee ? or who will turn aside to ask of thy weKare ? * Thou hast cast off me, saith Yahweh, thou ever wentest backward : and I have stretched out my hand against thee, and destroyed thee ; I am weary with repenting. ' And I have winnowed them with a winnowing-fork» in the gates of the land : I have bereaved, I have destroyed my people ; they returned not from their ways. ^ Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas : I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men^ a spoiler at noonday : I have caused agitation (?)■= and dismay to fall suddenly upon her. ^ She that hath borne seven languisheth ; she hath given up the ghost :'* her sun" is gone down while it was yet day ; she hath been put to shame and abashed : and the remnant of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith Yahweh. " See the note at the end of the volume. •> I. e. of the young warriors slain in battle. " The meaning of the Heb. word is very uncertain. ^ Heb. breathed out her soul. Here fig. of mental collapse at the death of her sons in battle. (Cf. Job xi. 20 Heb., xxxi. 39 Heb.). ° Fig. for the brightness of her home. CHAPTER XV. 5-13 69 Jeremiah laments the hard fate which has made him, through the message of evil which he bears, an object of ill-will to all men. 1" Woe to me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth ! I have not lent upon interest, neither have men lent to me upon interest ;* yet all of them curse me. Yahweh reassures him : The time will come when his enemies, crushed by the Chaldaean power, and with exile imminent before them, will come to implore his help. 11 Yahweh said, ' Verily I will strengthen thee*" unto good ; verily I will cause the enemy to make supplication unto thee in the time of evU and in the time of trouble. ^^ Can one break iron, even iron from the north, and bronze ?" ^^ Thy^ sub- * I.e. I am an object of hostility to all, though I have engaged in no transactions likely to arouse hostility. Jeremiah's un- popularity was due to his predictions of coming disaster. *> So, with a slight change, the Heb. text. The Heb. marg. reads, I wiU release thee. " Can anything avail to resist the power of the Chaldaeans, the ' northern Colossus ' ? (Ewald). I.e. of their idols (see on iv. 1 ; and cf. vii. 30), called ' dead bodies ' in contempt (of. Lev. xxvi. 30). '." Cf. ii.i,8, 11, 1 Sam.|xu. 21, Isa. xliv. 9, 10. 7 gS JEREMIAH Judah's sin is indelible; and will be followed by condign punishment. XVII. ^ The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron," and with the point of a diamond : it is graven upon the tablet of their heart, and upon the horns of their" altars ;<= ^ when their children remember their altars and their Asherimi by the spreading trees^ upon the high hills.* ^ my * Used for incising indelible characters on hard surfaces : cf. Job xix. 24. ■> So Sept. The Heb. text has, your. " Upon which, in rites of atonement, some of the blood was put (Lev. iv. 7, 18, 25, etc.). But here they are represented as polluted by the blood of idolatrous sacrifices. ^ The ' Ash^rah ' was a roughly-hewn wooden pole, — repre- senting, it is probable, a sacred tree, — planted beside an altar, and condemned by the spiritually-minded Israelites on account of its heathen associations : see Ex. xxxiv. 13, Deut. xii. 3, xvi. 21, 1 Kings xiv. 15, 23, 2 Kings xxi. 3, 7, etc. ' Often alluded to as places of idolatrous rites : Deut. xii. 2, 1 Kings xiv. 23, Jer. ii. 20, iii. 6, 13, etc. ' The meaning is supposed to be (Graf), when their children, beside every spreading tree, and every high hill, remember the altars and Ash^rim, by which their fathers sinned : this is evidence how deeply engraven upon the heart of the nation its sin is. But the sense thus obtained is forced. Keil renders : As (they) think of their children, (so they think of) their altars, etc. ; they are as devoted to them as to their own children : but this requires more to be supplied than is legitimate. There must be some error in the text, though we cannot be sure exactly where it lies. Duhm (with whom Comill agrees) supposes that the words, when their children remember their altars and their Anhirim, are a gloss, added by a later hand, to illustrate how inveterate Israel's sin must have been if even generations living CHAPTER XVII. 1-5 99 mountain in the field," thy substance and all thy treasures I will give for a spoil, and thy high places, because of sin, throughout all thy borders. * And thou shalt withdraw thine hand fromi* thine heritage that I gave thee ; and I will make thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not : for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever." It is usdess to trust in man : Yahweh, to those who put their trust in Him and act righteously {vv. 9-11), is the sole source of strength in the hour of trouble. ^ Thus saith Yahweh : Cursed is the man that long afterwards still thought of their fathers' idolatries : if this view be adopted, the original passage will run — The sin of Jvdah is written with a pen of iron. With the point of a diamond is it graven upon the tablet of their heart, Upon the horns of their altars, upon [every] spreading tree, Upon the high hills, the mountains in the field (see the next note.) " If the text is correct, a designation of Jerusalem (cf. xxi. 13). But the designation is a very strange one, and perhaps the words, pointed so as to mean ' the mountains in the field (cf. xiii. 27 'on the hills in the field'), should be attached to the end of D. 2 : see the last note.) ■• Heb. let thy hand fall (or drop) from : see Ex. xxiii. II (RV.), Deut. XV. 2, 3. The rend, implies a change of two letters ("JT for 131) : 'even of thyself ' (RV.) is an impossible rendering of ■]31 ; nor does DDB* mean to ' discontinue.' " Vv. 3 (from 'thy substance'), 4 (from 'and I will make') are nearly identical with xv. 13, 14. 100 JEREMIAH trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, but whose heart from Yahweh turneth aside. ^ He shall be like a juniper tree" in the steppe, and shall not see when good cometh ; but he shall inhabit parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited. ' Blessed is the man that trusteth in Yahweh, and whose confidence Yahweh is. * He shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that stretcheth out its roots to the stream, and he shall not fear** when heat cometh, but his leaf shall be spreading ; and in the year of drought he shall not be anxious, neither shall he cease from yielding fruit. ' The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is desper- ately sick : who can know it ? ^"1 Yahweh search the heart, and try the reins ; and give unto every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. ^^ (Like) a partridge that gathereth (young) which she hath not brought forth," is he " Probably the dwarf juniper tree, whose gloomy, stunted appearance, with its leaves often cropped close by wild goats, would well suit the comparison (Tristram, Nat. Hist, of the Bible, p. 358). ^ So Sept. Vulg. The Heb. text, as pointed, has, shall not see. ° Alluding, it is supposed, to a popular belief (arising perhaps out of the unusually large number of eggs laid by it) that the partridge brooded on eggs which were not its own : the young birds soon forsake their false mother, and so does wealth its unjust possessor. Or perhaps the words should be rendered CHAPTER XVII. 6-15 101 that getteth riches, but not by right : in the midst of his days he shall leave them, and at his end he shall be a fool.* ^^ A glorious throne, on high from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary ! ^* Yahweh, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be put to shame ; they that turn aside from thee'' shall be written on the earth," because they have forsaken Yahweh, the fountain of springing waters."* The prophet prays to be delivered from those who taunt and persecute him. 1* Heal me, Yahweh, and I shall be healed ; save me, and I shall be saved : for thou art my praise. 18 Behold, they say unto me, ' Where is the word that heapeth together (eggs), but doth not bring forth (young) — with allusion to the large number of eggs laid by the partridge, which are eagerly sought for by the Arabs as food, so that the bird often hatches no young (Tristram, NHB. p. 224 f.). » I.e. he will show himself to be morally and spiritually blinded (the word does not mean ' fool ' in an intellectual sense : see the glossary in the writer's Parallel Psalter, p. 457). i" So Vulg. Targ. The Heb. text has, me (one letter dropped out). ° I.e. (if the text is correct) on the soft soil from which their names will soon be obliterated. But the expression is a strange one, and the text is open to suspicion. Plausible emendations are (Ewald, Comill, Duhm), ' they that turn aside from thee in the land shall be brought to confusion,' and (Gie- sebrecht), ' they that turn aside from thee shall be cut off from the earth ' (Ps. xxxiv. 17). ^ I.e. ever-fresh and never-failing. Cf. ii. 13. 102 JEREMIAH of Yahweh ? let it come, pray.'^ " As for me, I have not hastened from being a shepherd"* after thee ; neither have I desired the woeful day ; thou knowest : that which came out of my lips was before thy face." ^' Be not a (cause of) dismay unto me : thou art my refuge in the day of evU. 18 Let them be put to shame that persecute me, but let not me be put to shame : let them be dis- mayed, but let not me be dismayed : bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.* ° With the taunting question, cf. Isa. v. 19, Ezek. xii. 22. '' Fig. for a prophet — an application which does not occur elsewhere. Giesebrecht, Duhm, and Cornill, vocalizing one word (with Aq. Symm.) differently, read, / have not hastened after thee because of evil, i.e., I have not run after thee, importun- ing thee to bring on the evil day : the clause will then be parallel with the following one. ° Jer. protests that he has not shrunk from following Yahweh as a prophet, or announced the day of woe, because (as his enemies declared) he desired it : Yahweh knows that he is speaking the truth ; why, then, should He abandon him to his foes ? * Heb. break them with a double breaking : cf. on iv. 6. CHAPTER XVII. 19-27. An exhortation to observe the Sabbath. 1* Thus said Yahweh unto me : Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out.a and in aU the gates of Jerusalem ; ^" and say unto them, Hear ye the word of Yahweh, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabit- ants of Jerusalem that enter in by these gates ; thus saith Yahweh : Take heed to'' yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem ; ^^ neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work ; but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers ; ^^ but they hearkened not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and » A gate, apparently (see Ezek. xliv. 1, 36, xlvi. la, 2) either the outer or the inner gate on the East, by which the kings of Judah entered and left the Temple. ■> So, changing a letter (see Deut. iv. 15, Josh, xxiii. 11). The text has, in. 103 104 JEREMIAH might not receive instruction.* 24And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith Yahweh, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but to hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein ; ^s then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings [and princes]'' sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusa- lem : and this city shall be inhabited" for ever. ^* And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places round about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland, and from the hill country, and from the South,'' bring- ing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and oblations, and frankincense, and bringing (sacrifices of) "■ Or, correction. See ii. 30 ; and cf. on vi. 8. •> The bracketed words are here out of place : ' princes ' would not be sitting on the throne, or have ' their princes ' under them. They must be an addition, older than the Sept., which has crept in from a reminiscence of ii. 26, xxv. 18, xxxii. 32, xHv. 17, 21. For ' kings sitting,' etc., comp. xiii. 13, xxii. 4. ° Heb. shall sit. A city or land, when it is inhabited and flourishing, is said in Heb. to ' sit ' ; so v. 6, Isa. xiii. 20, Jer. 1. 13, 39 al. ■> Three districts of Judah : the low hills and flat valley-land stretching down towards the PhiUstine plain on the W. and S.W. ; the elevated ' hill country ' about Hebron ; and the Negeb (see on xiii. 19), or the ' South.' See Josh. xv. 33-44 ; 48-60 ; 21-32 (where the cities in each are enumerated) ; and cf. Deut. i. 7, Josh. x. 40, Jer. xxxii. 44, xxxiii. 13. CHAPTER XVII . 24-27 105 thanksgiving* unto the house of Yahweh. ^' But if ye hearken not unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, •> I will kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem,'' and not be quenched. "■ Comp. xxxiii. 11 ; and see Lev. vii. 12, xxii. 19. *> Those words (only the places mentioned being different) recur xxi. 146, xlix. 27, 1. 32. They are baaed (like Hos. viii. 14) upon the refrain in Amos i. 4, 7, 10, 12, 14, u. 2, 5. CHAPTER XVIII. A lesson from the potter. XVIII. ^ The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, ^ Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I wiU cause thee to hear my words. ^ So I went down to the potter's house, .and, behold, he was doing (his) work upon the wheels." * And if the vessel that he was making of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he would make it again into another vessel, as seemed ^ood to the potter to make it. As the potter, if the need arises, can change the vessel that he is making into another, so can Yahweh deal with His people : if it repents. He can withdraw His threats ; if it doe^ svil, He can revoke His promise i. ^ Then the word of Yahweh came unto me, saying, * O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter ? saith Yahweh. Behold, as the clay " Heb. on the two (circular) stones, the lower one being turned by the feet (of. Eeclus. xxxviii. 29), and the upper (on the same vertical axle) supporting the clay. See the illustration in Encycl. Bibl. iii. 3820 (Fig. 8), or Thomson, The Land and the Book, Southern Pal., p. 35 (in the one vol. ed., p. 521) 100 CHAPTER XVIII. I-I2 107 in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, house of Israel. ' At one moment I speak concern- ing a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to break down, and to destroy it ; * but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from its evil, then I repent me of the evil that I thought to do unto it. ' And at another moment I speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it ; i" but if it do evil in my sight, that it hearken not to my voice, then I repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit it. Let Jvdah, then, repent, in order that the threatened doom may he averted. 11 Now, therefore, go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying. Thus saith Yahweh : Behold I am framing* evil against you, and devising a device against you : return, I pray you, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings. But Jvdah refuses to repent ; and so the judgement originally pronounced is re-affirmed. ^2 But they say, ' There is no hope •}> for we will " Or, forming, moulding, the verb of which ' potter ' (lit. former, moulder) is the participle, and which is often used in Heb. in various fig. applications : e.g. Ps. xciv. 9, 20, Isa. xxxvii. 26, Jer. x. 16, xxxiii. 2. " Cf. ii. 25. io8 JEREMIAH walk after our own devices, and we will execute every one the imagination of his evil heart ' " Therefore thus saith Yahweh : Ask ye, now, among the nations, who hath heard such things ? the virgin of Israel hath done very greatly an horrible thing. " Doth the snow of Lebanon leave* the rock of the field ?•> or are the cold ° flowing streams dried up"^ ? ^^ For my people have forgotten me, they burn incense unto worthlessness f and they have been made to stumble in their ways, in the old tracks,' to walk in by-paths, in a way not " So, omitting a letter. The Heb. text has, leave from. ^ I.e. (if the text is correct) Lebanon itself, rising up out of the level land around it. But the expression is a strange one, and Duhm would read. Doth the hoar frost leave Sirion (Ps- xxix. 6, — the Phoenician name of Hermon, Deut. iii. 9), the snow Lebanon ? (jnE* "1133 for nB* IIVD). ° The Heb. text inserts strange, in RV. paraphrased by ' that come from afar ' (D^"lT, probably a, faulty anticipation of the following D'llp ' cold.') ^ So, transposing two letters. The Heb. text has, plucked up (viz. like a tree: an idea unsuitable to' waters'). The text of this verse is in parts open to suspicion, but the general sense is clear. The snow of Lebanon never fails ; its gushing streams (Cant. iv. 15) never dry up (cf. Encycl. Bibl. iii. 2757) ; what a contrast to Israel's fickleness (v. 15) ! ' Or, unreality (see the writer's Parallel Psalter, p. 464) ; here a term of opprobrium for false gods : cf. Hos. v. 11, where the same word (KIB*) should be read with Sept., Syr. (cf. RVm.) ; and pan, a ' breath,' fig. ' vanity,' also of false gods, Jer. ii. 5, viii. 19, xvi. 19 al. ' Cf. vi. 16. CHAPTER XVIII. 13-18 109 oast up ; 1* to make their land an appalment,* and a perpetual hissing ; everyone that passeth by it shall be appaUed, and shake his head, i' I will scatter them like a sirocco'' before the enemy ; I wiU look upon them with the back, and not the face," in the day of their calamity. The people, resenting this unwelcome conclusion of the prophefs, propose to form plots against his life. 1^ Then said they, ' Come, and let us devise de- vices against Jeremiah ; for direction'^ will not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet.^ Come, and let us » The same Heb. word means also desolation ; and this sense is probably also in the prophet's mind. Cf. xix. 8; xxv. 9, 11, 18, 38, and elsewhere. "> A scorching, suffocating, and destructive wind, which in Palestine and adjoining countries is apt to spring up suddenly, with great violence, from the desert on the E. or S.E. (see descriptions in the writer's note on Am. iv. 9^in the Cambridge Bible). This is always what is meant by ' east wind ' in the O.T. (cf. Gen. xli. 6 [notice ' blasted '] ; Job xxvii. 21 ; Hos. xiii. 15), though the term used cannot be said to suggest it to an English reader, who would never think of associating an ' east wind ' with heat. ('Sirocco ' means eastern, being a corruption of the Arab, sherhiyeh.) " Compare the people's treatment of Yahweh, ii. 27. ^ I.e. direction to the laity what to do on points of cere- monial observance : see the note on viii. 8. * They cannot imagine that the time will ever come when, no JEREMIAH smite him with the tongue," and let us not give heed to any of his words.' Jeremiah's prayer that their plots against him may be frustrated. 1' Give heed to me, Yahweh, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me. 2" Should evil be recompensed for good ? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before thee to speak good for them, to turn back thy fury from them. ^^ Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword ;•' and let their wives become childless, and widows ; and let their men be slain of death," and their young men smitten of the sword in battle. ^^ Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them : for they have digged a pit to take me, and traps have they hidden for my feet. ^^ Yet thou, Yahweh, knowest all their counsel against me as Jeremiah declared, the State would come to an end, and the priest, the wise man, and the prophet be no longer able to fulfil their various vocations. Cf. Ezek. vii. 26. " I.e. bring some serious accusation against him, such as a charge of treason. '' Heb. spill them into the hands (fig.for power] of the sword ; so Ezok. XXXV. 5, Ps. Ixiii. 10 (Heb. U). I,e. death by pestilence, as xv, 2, CHAPTER XVni. 19-23 III to slay me : forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown* before thee ; deal thou with them in the time of thine anger. » Heb. made to atuwhle; of. vi. 15, 21 CHAPTERS XIX.-XX. The lesson of the broken cruse, and its consequences. The date, to judge from the distinctness with which Babylon is mentioned (xx. 4-6), will be after Nebuchad- nezzar's victory at Carchemish (see on xxv. 1), though probably still in the reign of Jehoiakim, i.e. between 605 and 597 b.o. Jeremiah, prophesying in the Valley of the son of Hinnom, teaches, by an effective symbolism, that the disaster, impending upon the nation, will be final and irretrievable. XIX. 1 Thus said Yahweh : Go, and buy a potter's earthen cruse," and take'' of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests ; ^ and go forth unto the valley of the son' of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the potsherd gate," and proclaim " See 1 Kings xiv. 3. I* So Sept. The word has dropped accidentally out of the Heb. text. " Probably a gate near which broken earthenware, etc., was thrown, or, perhaps, crushed, as it is now {Quarterly Statements of the Pal. Expl. Fund, 1904, p. 136), on a flat rock, with heavy stone rollers, into dust from which a cement is made, used for plastering cisterns. The place where this is now done is near the Birket es-Sultan, a pool at the S.W. of the city, in the upper part of what was probably the ancient Valley of Hinnom. 112 CHAPTER XIX. 1-7 113 there the words that I shall tell thee : * and say, Hear ye the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem ; Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : Behold, I am bringing evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.* * Because they have for- saken me, and have treated this place as foreign,'' and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom they knew not, they or their fathers or the kings of Judah ; and have filled" this place with the blood of innocents :* ® and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire [for burnt- offerings unto Baal],« which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind : * therefore, behold, the days are coming, saith Yahweh, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter.' ^ And I will make voids the counsel " See for the expression 1 Sam. iii. 11, 2 Kings xxi. 12. ^ Or, have made this place foreign, — in either case, with allu- sion to the foreign gods (v. 19, viii. 19), and foreign modes of worship, introduced into it. We might say now, denationalized. " Read probably with the Sept., whom they knew not, they or their fathers ; and the kings of Jiidah have filled, etc. ■J Of. ii. 34 ; and 2 ICings xxi. 16, xxiv. 4 (both of Manasseh). ° These words, which are not in the Sept., should probably be omitted. From xxxii. 35 (a very similar passage), it seems that these offerings were made to Moleoh, not to Baal. Of. vii. 31. ' Cf. vii. 32. * Heb. empty out (used fig. as Isa. xix. 3), from bdhak, the word 8 114 JEREMIAH of Judah and Jerusalem in this place ; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their life : and their carcases will I give to be food for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. ^ And I wiU make this city an appalment, and an hissing ; * every one that passeth by it shall be appalled and hiss » because of aU the strokes'' thereof. ^ And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his neighbour, in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their life, shall straiten them." ^^ Then shalt thou break the cruse in the sight of the men that go with thee, ^^ and shalt say unto them, Thus saith Yahweh of hosts : Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again : and they shall bury in Topheth, because there shall being suggested by bakbuk, ' cruse,' in v. 1. Comp. similar plays in chap. i. 12, 14 (emended text), Am. viii. 2. " Cf. 1 Kings ix. 8 (the same Heb.), Jer. xlix. 17, 1. 13; also xviii. 16. '' The word rendered wound in x. 19, xiv. 17, xv. 18, xxx. 14, 17 (see for the meaning 1 Kings xxii. 35 ; 2 Kings viii. 29). Plague, here and in other similar passages of both AV. and RV. (xlix. 17,1. 13; Deut. xxviii..59,J61,xxix. 22), must be understood in its etymological" sense of a severe stroke, or blow (irXi^yi)). " From Deut, xxviii, 53, CHAPTER XIX. 8-15 115 be no place (else) to bury. ^^ Thus will I do unto this place, saith Yahweh, and to the inhabitants thereof, and I will make this city as Topheth : ^^ and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be like the place of Topheth, unclean," even all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven,'' and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods. Jeremiah repeats in the court of the Temple the svb- stance of what he had said in the Valley of the son of Hinnom. 1* Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, whither Yahweh had sent him to prophesy ; and he stood in the court of Yahweh 's house ; and said to all the people : ^^ Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold I am bringing upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have made their neck stifif, that they might not hear my words. " So, omitting a letter. The Heb. text has, the unclean (plural). b Cf. xxxii. 29, Zeph. i. 5, 2 Kings xxiii. 12. ii6 JEREMIAH Pashhur, the superintendent of the Temple, has Jere- miah thrown into the stocks, on account of his predic- tions of disaster. After his release, Jeremiah again emphatically repeats his predictions, pointing them in particular against Pashhur himself. XX. ^ Now Pashhur the son of Iminer, the priest, who was overseer* in Yahweh's house, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. ^ Then Pashhur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin- gate,^ which was in Yahweh's house. ^ And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashhur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jere- miah unto him, ' Yahweh hath called thy name not Pashhur, but Magor-missabib." * For thus saith " The Heb. text has, overseer, ruler : but the expression is peculiar ; and ' ruler ' is probably a gloss, identifying Jeremiah's ' overseer ' (see xxix. 26) with the ' ruler ' often mentioned in later times in connexion with the Temple, 1 Chron. ix. 11 ( = Neh. xi. 11), 2 Chron. xxxi. 13, xxxv. 8. *> Probably the N. gate (the territory of Benjamin being on the N. of Jerusalem) of the inner court of the Temple, which, as the Temple was at the top of the hill of Zion, was higher than the larger ' outer ' court surrounding it, and is called the ' upper ' court in ch. xxxvi. 10, the gate from the N. leading into it being called similarly the ' upper ' gate in Ezek. ix. 2, 2 Kings XV. 35. " I.e. Terror on every aide : cf. the same expression in v. 10. vi. 25, xlvi. 5, xlix. 29 ; Lam. ii. 22. CHAPTER XX. 1-6 117 Yahweh, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends ;» and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it : and all Judah will I give into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them into exile to Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. 5 And I will give all the store of this city, and all the gains thereof, and aU the precious things thereof, yea, all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, and they shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon. ^ And thou, Pashhur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity : and unto Babylon shalt thou come, and there shalt thou die, and there shalt thou be buried, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied falsely.' » Pashhur and his friends represented a policy opposed to that of Jeremiah : they believed that fear of the Chaldaeans was groundless, and that with the help of Egypt Judah would be able to resist them successfully. The name here given to him is intended to describe partly the consternation of which he will be the centre, partly the consternation which he will experience himself, when the fatal consequences of his policy have become apparent to all in the fall of the city, and exile of the nation, at the hands of the Chaldaeans. ii8 JEREMIAH Jeremiah complains bitterly of his lot : he could not but give utterance to the Divine word burning within him, yet it had brought him nothing but hostility and misrepresentation. 'Thou haat beguiled* me, Yahweh, and I let myself be beguiled ;" thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed : I am become a laughingstock all the day, every one mocketh me. ^ For as often as I speak, I cry out ; I cry, ' Violence and spoil ! ' because the word of Yahweh is become to me a reproach, and a derision all the day. * And if I say, ' I will not think of it, nor speak any more in his name,' then there is in mine heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding in,'' and I cannot (contain). ^^ For I hear the defaming of many, terror on every side !" ' Report, and we will report him*,' (say) all my familiar friends," they that watch for my halting' ; ' peradventure he will be beguiled, « and we shall " Or, persuaded (Prov. xxv. 15), Jeremiah means to say that he has been over-peranaded by Yahweh to become His prophet, and beguiled into a position fraught with vexations and dis- appointments which he never anticipated. i" Or, enduring. " Cf. Ps. xxxi. 13, where these words are quoted. '' Viz. to the authorities, on a charge of treason (seexxvi. 11). ' Heb. the men of my peace (as xxxviii. 22 ; Ps. xli. 9). ' I.e. for my limping, fig. for fatal step, ruin (cf. Ps. xxxv. 15, xxxviii. 17). ' Or, persuaded ; viz. into saying unguardedly something CHAPTER XX. 7-13 IT9 prevail against him, and take our vengeance on him.' Nevertheless, he is sustained and encouraged by the conviction that Yahweh is with him, and will in the end grant him justice against his persecutors. 11 But Yahweh is with me as a mighty one and a terrible :" therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and not prevail : they shall be put greatly to shame, because they have not dealt wisely, with a perpetual confusion, which shall never be forgotten.'' ^^ But, Yahweh of hosts, that triest the righteous, that seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them ; for unto thee have I revealed my cause.'' ^^ Sing'unto Yahweh, praise ye Yahweh : for he hath delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evildoers.* that might be construed as treasonable, and lead to his being reported to the government. Jeremiah's conviction that the safety of Judah depended upon submission to the Chaldaeans, caused him to be regarded by many as unpatriotic, and to be suspected of treason. » I.e. as a fear-inspiring warrior, — the regular sense of gibbor, ' mighty man," in Heb. (2 Sam. xxui. 8, etc. : of Yahweh, as here, Ps. xxiv. 8, Isa. xlii. 13 ; contrast Jer. xiv. 9). " Cf. xxiii. 40. " This verse is repeated from xi. 20. * A jubilant thanksgiving, uttered in the certainty of his coming deliverance. I20 JEREMIAH A renewed outburst of grief and despair, which now wring from him the wish that he had never been horn (cf. Job iii.). 1* Cursed be the day wherein I was born : let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed. IS Cra'sed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, ' A man child is born unto thee ' ; making him very glad. ^^ And let that man be as the cities which Yahweh overthrew,* and repented not ; and let him hear a cry'' in the morning, and the (war-)shout° at noontide : i' because he slew me not in'^ the womb, that so my mother should have been my grave, and her womb always great. 1^ Wherefore came I forth from the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be con- sumed with shame ? "■ I.e. Sodom and Gomorrah : see Gren. xix. 25. ^ I.e. the cry of his household and friends, attacked by the foe. ■= See iv. 19 ; and cf. xv. 8. '^ So Sept. Syr. The Heb. text has from, which suits Job iii. 11, but does not here agree with the sequel. CHAPTER XXI. Zedekiah, shortly after the Chaldaeans began to besiege Jerusalem (b.c. 588), inquires of Jeremiah re- specting the issue of the siege. XXI. ^ The word which came unto Jeremiah from Yahweh, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pa/shhur the son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying, ^ ' Enquire, I pray thee, of Yahweh for us ; for Nebuchadrezzar » king of Babylon is making war against us ; perad- venture Yahweh will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, and he will go up from us.''' Jeremiah's reply]: the city will be delivered into the hands of the Chaldaeans. 3 And Jeremiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah : * Thus saith Yahweh, the God of Israel : Behold, I will turn round the weapons ^ The more correct form of Nebuchadnezzar (Bab. NahA- fcMd«lr-MZur), always found in Jeremiah, except in xxvii. 6, 8, 20; xxviii. 3, 11, 14; and xxix. 1, 3. *> I.e. raise the siege. Cf. xxxiv. 21 ; and (in the Heb.) XXX vii. 5, 11. 121 122 JEREMIAH of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight without the walls against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldaeans which besiege you, and I will gather them into the midst of this city, s And / will fight against you with a stretched out hand and with a strong arm, 'and in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. « And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, (even)* man and beast : they shall die of a great pestilence. ' And after- ward, saith Yahweh, I will deliver Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his servants, and the people that*" are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of [Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand ofp those that seek their life : and he shall smite them with- out quarter ;* he shall not spare them, neither pity, nor have compassion. The only hope of safety is to svhmit to the Chaldaeans ^ And unto this people thou shalt say. Thus saith ^ So Sept. Syr. Vulg. The Heb. text inserts by error, and. * So Sept. The Heb. text has by error, and (them) that. " The Sept. in this verse does not express the bracketed words; and reads afterwards, and they shall smite them without quarter . I will not spare them,^ etc. (cf. xiii. 14). ^ Heb. according to the mouth of the aword (i.e. as the sword devoureth, relentlessly). So frequently. (The rend, of AV. RV., ' with the edge of the sword,' is inexact). CHAPTER XXI. 5-1 1 123 Yahweh : Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death :* " he that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence ; but he that goeth out, and falleth away to the Chaldaeans that besiege you, shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.'' 1" For I have set my face upon this city for evil, and not for good, saith Yahweh : it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. A warning addressed to the royal house. Only by the strict observance of justice can the coming doom be averted. Apparently a misplaced fragment. V. 12 is parallel in general thought to xxii. 3, 5, but is out of connexion with either xxi. 1-10 or xxi. 13-14. 11 And to the house of the king of Judah [thou ^ Comp. Deut. xi. 26, xxx. 15. i> I.e. he will just escape with it. The same expression, xxxviii. 2, xxxix. 18 ; of. xlv. 5. The policy here inculcated by Jeremiah was due ultimately (cf. ch. XXV. and' the introduction to oh. xlvi.) to his conviction of the rdle which the Chaldaeans were destined to play in his- tory ; but it seemed to many of his fellow-countrymen to be unpatriotic, and led shortly afterwards, indirectly, to his arrest and imprisonment {xxxvii. 13 ff.), and to a demand for his death (xxxviii. 2, 4 ff.j. 124 JEREMIAH shalt say,]* Hear ye the word of Yahweh, ^^ o house of David : Thus saith Yahweh, Execute judgement in the morning, and deliver him that hath been robbed from the hand of the oppressor, lest*" my fury go forth Hke fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your" doings. Yahweh is against Jerusalem, and will punish her inhabitants for their tvrong-doing. A poetical epilogue to w. 1-10. 1^ Behold, I am against thee,"! O inhabitress^ of the vale, and of the rock of the plain,' saith Yahweh ; ye which say, ' Who will come down upon us ? or who wUl enter into our lairss ? ' " The Heb. text here cannot be right. Either the bracketed words — in the Heb. one word — have fallen out ; or the opening ' And ' must be omitted, and the following words treated as a title (cf. xxiii. 9), Concerning the house of the Jcing of Judah. Hear ye, etc. ^ The following clause is repeated from iv. 4. " So Heb. marg., Syr. Targ. The Heb. text has, their. ■i Cf. xxiii. 30, 31, 32, 1. 31, U. 25 ; Nah. ii. 14, iii. 5; and often in Ezekiel. " The feminine denotes the community personified : of. xxii. 23, and on vii. 29. ' Or, table-land (see xlviii. 8, 21). ' In which we are secure, like lions in their forest homes. The word, as Ps. civ. 22, Nah. ii. 12 (' dens '). V. 13, as it now stands, seems clearly to be addressed to Jerusalem, though the description does not suit ; for Jerusalem CHAPTER XXL 12-14 125 ^* And I will punish" you according to the fruit of your doings, saith Yahweh : and I will kindle a fire in her forest*", and it shall devour all that is round about her.« lies neither in a ' vale,' nor upon a ' rock ' rising out of a ' plain,' or table-land ; and its elevation is such (2,500 feet above the Mediterranean Sea) that a foe could not be said naturally to ' come down ' upon it. It is possible that the verse was written originally with reference to some other city (the miahor, or ' plain,' is commonly used of the ' table-land ' upon which the principal cities of Moab lay, Jer. xlviii. 8, 21), but placed here by the compiler of the book of Jeremiah, who treated it as referring to Jerusalem. " Heb. visit upon. ^ Jerusalem is figured here as a forest (cf. Is. ix. 18, of Israel) destroyed by a sudden conflagration. " With V. 14 5 cf. xvii. 27, with the note. CHAPTERS XXII.-XXIII. JeremiaVs judgement on the kings and prophets of his time. (i) Chap, xxii, i — jcxiii. 8. The kings. Exhortation to the king and princes to do justice in the land {cf. 2 Sam. viii. 15, 1 Kings x. 9), if they desire its continued prosperity. ^ Thus said Yahweh : Go down* to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, ^ and say, Hear the word of Yahweh, king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people, that enter in by these gates. 3 Thus saith Yahweh : Execute ye judgement and justice, and dehver the spoiled out of the hand " Viz. from the Temple — which was on the top of ' Zion,' the Eastern [not, as Is shewn incorrectly on many maps, the Western] hill of Jerusalem— to the palace, which was contiguous to it (Ez. xliii. 8) on the South, and a little below it. Comp. xxxvi. 12, 2 Kings xi. 19 ; and conversely ' go (or bring) up ' from the palace to the Temple, ch. xxvi. 10, 1 Kings viii. 1, 4. 126 CHAPTER XXII. 1-7. 127 of the oppressor : and do no wrong, do no violence, to the sojourner ,» the fatherless, or the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. * For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David,'' riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. ^ But if ye hear not these words, I swear by myself, saith Yahweh, that this house shall become a waste." A lament on the approaching jail of the house of David. * For thus saith Yahweh concerning the house of the king of Judah : A Gilead"! art thou unto me, and the top of Lebanon -.^ (Yet) surely I will make thee a wilderness, cities which are not inhabited. ' I will prepare* destroyets against thee, every one with his weapons ; And they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them on to the fire. * See on vii. 6. "^ Heb. for David v/pon hia throne. ' Cf. vii. 34. "^ Named as examples of finely-wooded regions. ' Heb. sanctify : cf. vi. 4 128 JEREMIAH 8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, 'Wherefore hath Yahweh done thus unto this great city ? ' 9 And they shall answer, ' Because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.'» Jehoahaz (2 Kings xxiii. 31-35), who succeeded Josiah, but after a reign of three months (B.C. 608) was taken captive by Pharaoh Necoh, and carried into Egypt, where he died. 1" Weep ye not for the dead,*" neither com- miserate him : weep sore for him that goeth away ; for he shall return no more, nor see his native country. ^^Por thus saith Yahweh touching Shallum," the son of Josiah, king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place : He shall not return thither any more ; ^^ but in the place whither they have carried him into exile, there shall he die ; and he shall see this land no more. " Cf. V. 19, xvi. 10 f. ; Deut. xxix. 24 f. ; 1 Kings ix, 8 f. '' I.e. Josiah, slain by Pharaoh Necoh at the battle of Megiddo, B.C. 608 (2 Kings xxiii. 29). ' I.e. Jehoahaz, called ' Shallum ' also in 1 Chr. iii. 15. CHAPTER XXII. 8-17 129 JehoiaUm (2 Kings xxiii. 36-xxiv. 7 : B.C. 608-597), whose selfish and oppressive luxury is con- trasted bitterly with the just rule of his father Josiah. ^^ Ah ! he that buildeth his house by unrighteous- ness, and his roof-chambers* by injustice ; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not his hire ; 1* that saith, ' I will buUd me a wide house and spacious roof-chambers,' and cutteth him out his windows, paneUing'' it with cedar, and painting it with vermihon." ^^ Shalt thou reign because thou strivest to excel in cedar ?* did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgement and justice ? Then it was well with him. 1* He judged the cause of the poor and needy : then it was well. Is not that to know me ? saith Yahweh. ^' For thine eyes and thine heart are set only upon => A chamber erected on the flat roof of an eastern house, with latticed windows, giving free circulation to the air, secluded and cool (cf. Jud. iii. 20 RV. marg., 1 Kings xvii. 19, 2 Kings i. 2, Dan. vi. 10) : ' the most desirable, and generally the best fltted-up room in the house, and still given to guests who are to be treated with honour ' (Thomson, The Land and the Book, in the 3 vol. ed., Central Palestine, p. 634, with illustration p. 636 ; in the one vol. ed., 1898, etc., p. 160). "= So, dividing two words differently, and changing the punctuation. The Heb. text cannot be intelligibly translated. " Jehoiakim enlarged and beautified his palace by the forced but unpaid labour of his subjects. * I.e. Does building palaces of cedar make thee a king ? 9 130 JEREMIAH thy dishonest gain, and upon innocent blood, for to shed it, and upon oppression and upon violence, for to do it. 1^ Therefore thus saith Yahweh concerning Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah : They shall not wail for him, (sa3ang,) ' Ah my brother ! ' or, * Ah sister ! ' they shall not waU for him, (saying,) ' Ah lord ! ' or, ' Ah his glory ! '" i» He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, dragged along and flung forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem. Jehoiachin (2 Kings xxiv. 8-16 ; xxv. 27-30), who, after a reign of three months, was carried captive to Babylon, with the flower of the nation, by Nebuchadnezzar (b.c. 597). ^^ Go up (,0 Jerusalem,)^ to Lebanon, and cry ; and in Bashan utter thy voice : And cry from Abarim ;" ior all thy lovers^ are destroyed." " Neither relations nor subjects will bewail his loss. Comp. ch. xxxiv. 5, 1 Kings xiii. 30. * Inserted for the reason stated on vii. 29. The pronouns, as far as v. 23 end, are all feminine, shewing that|the community is addressed. " The ' parts across ' : a range of mountains E. of the Dead Sea is meant, the same as that from which Moses saw the Pro- mised Land ; see Num. xxvii. 12. Public wailing was usual on elevated spots : cf. iii. 21, vii. 29, Is. xv. 2. ^ I.e. thy allies. Cf. iv. 30. " Heb. broken (Ez. xxx. 8). CHAPTER XXII. 18-26 131 ^^ I spake unto thee in thy prosperity ; but thou i^aidst, "^I will not hear.' This hath been thy way from thy youth, that thou hast not hearkened to my voice. ^^ All thy shepherds* the wind shall shepherd,*" and thy lovers shall go into captivity : surely then shalt thou be put to shame and con- founded because of all thy wickedness. ^^ in- habitress of Lebanon, that art nestled among the cedars ,<= how wilt thou groan* when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail ! 2* As I Hve, saith Yahweh, though Coniah « the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence ; 25 and I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them of whom thou art in dread, even into the hand of Nebuchad- rezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. "^ And I will hurl thee forth, and thy mother that bare thee,' into another land,^ where " I.e. thy rulera, as ii. 8, etc. ^ Ironically for, scatter. ° I.e. Jerusalem, poetically pictured as nestled in the recesses of Lebanon, in order to depict its sense of security. •^ So Sept. Syr. Vulg. The Heb. ia of doubtful meaning. • I.e. Jehoiachin, 2 Kings xxiv. 8, 12, 15, etc. Called Jeconiah in ch. xxiv. 1, xxvii. 20 al. ; and Coniah also in ch. xxxvii. 1. ' I.e. Nehushta ; cf. on xiii. 18 ; and see 2 Kings xxiv. 12. ' So, omitting a letter. The Heb. text has, the other land. Cf. Deut. xxix. 28. 132 JEREMIAH ye were not born ; and there shall ye die. 2' But to the land whereunto their soul longeth^ to return, thither shall they not return. ^8 jg this man Coniah a despised broken image ?'' is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure ?" why then are they hurled forth, he and his seed, and cast into the land that they know not ?•! ^^ O land, land, land, hear the word of Yahweh : ^o Thus saith Yahweh, Write ye this man childless,^ a man that shall not prosper in his days : for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah. A denunciation of the unworthy rulers of Judah, and promise that Yahweh will raise up faithful rulers in their place. XXIII. 1 Ah ! the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture ! saith Yahweh. 2 Therefore thus saith Yahweh, the God of Israel, against the shepherds that feed ' my people : Ye " Heb. they lift up their soul : cf. xliv. 14 ; Deut. xxiv. 15, and Hos. iv. 8, where ' set the heart ' is literally lift up the soul. The ' soul ' is in Heb. psychology the seat of feeling, and es- pecially of desire ; see the writer's Parallel Psalter, p. 459 f. •" ' Probably a broken terracotta figurine,' Encycl. Bibl. iii. 3818. " Cf. xlviii. 38 ; Hos. viii. 8. ^ Cf. xvi. 13; and on xiv. 18. " I.e. Register him so in the roll of citizens : cf., for the fig. use of ' write,' Is. iv. 3, Ps. Ixxxvii. 6, ' Heb. that shepherd. CHAPTERS XXII. 27-XXlII. 6 133 have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them : behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith Ythweh. ^ And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them back to their homestead ; and they shall be fruitful and multiply. ^And I will raise up shepherds over them, and they shall feed* them : and they shall fear no more, nor be dis- mayed, neither shall any be missing, saith Yahweh. A promise 0/ the ideal King, or ' Messiah.''^ * Behold, the days are coming, saith Yahweh, that I will raise up unto David a righteous shoot," and he shall reign as king and deal wisely,'* and shall execute judgement and righteousness in the land. ^ In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely : and this is his name whereby he shall be called, ' Yahweh is our righteousness. '« » Heb. shepherd. Cf. iii. 15. t" The ' shepherds ' of u. 4 are probably pictured by the prophet as princes, judges, etc. (cf. Is. i. 26, xxxii. 1), ruling vinder the ideal king. ■= Cf. xxxiii. 15 ; and see the note at the end of the volume. * Or, prosper. (The Heb. word means to deal with wisdom such as to command success : cf. Josh. i. 8 KV. ; 1 Sam. xviii. 5, 14 KV.) ' The king receives a name symbolizing the ideal character wliich the nation will then display (cf. Is. i. 26 ' City of right- 134 JEREMIAH Those now in exile will have a share in these promised blessings ; and the memory of their deliverance will eclipse that of the Exodus from Egypt. ' Therefore, behold, the days are coming, saith Yahweh, that they shall no more say, ' As Yahweh liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt ' ; ^ but, ' As Yahweh liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries whither I had driven them ' " ; and they shall dwell in their own land. (2) Chap, xxiii. 9-40. The prophets. The judgement to come upon both prophet and priest. ^ Concerning the prophets. Mine heart within me is broken, all my bones give way ;'' I am become like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome ;" because of eousness,' Ixi. 21 'Thy people shall be all righteous,' Ixi. 3 'tere- binths of righteousness'), and its source in Yahweh. Observe that in xxxiii. 16 exactly the same name is given to the ideal Jeruaalem of the future. " The Sept. has, whither he had driven them [cf. xvi. 15). " Heb. are soft. " The prophet is deeply moved, and almost unstrung, by Yahweh's wrath for Israel's sins expressing itself in his words (cf. vi. 11, XV. 176). CHAPTER XXIIl. 7-14 135 Yahweh, and because of his holy words, i" For the land is full of adulterers ; [for because of the curse" the land mourneth ; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up ;]'' and their course<= is evil, and their might is not right."^ ^^ For both prophet and priest^ are profane ; even in my house have I found their wickedness, saith Yahweh. ^^ There- fore their way shall be unto them as shppery places in the darkness : they shall be thrust along* and fall therein : for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith Yahweh. The prophets of Jerusalem are worse tJian were formerly the prophets of Samaria. 1^ And in the prophets of Samaria I saw that which was unsavoury ;8 they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. 1* But in the prophets of Jerusalem have I seen an horrible "■ The ciirse falling on the land for its transgressions : of. Is. xxiv. 6 ; also Deut. xxviii. 15, xxix. 27. ^ The bracketed words interrupt the sequence of thought, and have apparently found their way into the text by some error. " Heb. tlieir running : see Is. Hx. 7, Prov. vi. 18. ■J Cf. ix. 3. = Cf. vi. 13. ' Ps. xxxvi. 12, Prov. xiv. 32. " Or, unpalatable ; of. Job vi. 6 (where the cognate adj. is rendered 'that which hath no savour'). 136 JEREMIAH thing :* they commit adultery, and walk in lies, and they strengthen the hands of evil-doers, that they return nof" every one from his wickedness : they are all of them become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. ^^ There- fore thus saith Yahweh of hosts concerning the prophets : Behold, I will feed them with worm- wood, and make them drink the water of gall ;" for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into aU the land. A warning not to listen to their delusive promises of peace : Yahweh has not sent them. 1^ Thus saith Yahweh of hosts : Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you ; they fill you with vain hopes : the vision of their own heart do they speak, and not out of the mouth of Yahweh."! i' They say continually unto them that contemn the word of Yahweh,^ ' Ye shall have peace ' ; and unto every one that walketh in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, 'No evil shall come upon you.'' ^^Fot who (of " Cf. V. 30. " So with a slight change. The Heb. text is not translatable. " Cf. ix. 15; and see, for 'gall,' on viii. 14. <> Cf. xiv. 14. " So Sept. Syr. (two words vocalized differently). The Heb. text has, unto them that contemn me, Yahweh hath spoken (saying). ' Cf. iv. 10, vi. U, xiv. 13 ; also v. 12. CHAPTER XXIII. 15-21 137 them) hath stood in the council of Yahweh, that he should perceive and hear his word ? who (of them) hath listened to my* word and heard it?" YahweKs purpose of judgement upon the wicked. Vv. 19-20 recur, with unimportant differences, in xxx. 23, 24 ; and it is doubtful if they are here in their original place. If they are, they will be intended as an announce- ment of Yahweh's real purpose, as contrasted with those made by the false prophets, v. 17. Vv. 21-22 carry on the thought of vv. 16-18. 1" Behold the tempest of Yahweh, fury is gone forth and a whirling tempest : it shall whirl round upon the head of the wicked. ^° The anger of Yahweh wiU not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed, the intents of his heart : in the latter days ye shall understand it per- fectly.<= 21 1 have not sent the prophets, yet they ran : I » So Heb. text, and MSS. of Sept. ; Heb. marg., other MSS. of Sept. Syr. Targ. Vulg. have, his. ^ The questions imply the answer, No one : none of these prophets has been really admitted into Yahweh's ' council ' (v. 22, Job XV. 8 RVm., Ps. Ixxxix. 7), and heard His word there. ° Heb. with understanding. 138 JEREMIAH have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 22 But if they stand in my council, then let them cause my people to hear my words, and let them turn them back from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings !* Yahweh sees and knows what these prophets do ; and will punish them accordingly. 23 Am I a God at hand, saith Yahweh, and not a God afar off ? 24 Q^n a man hide himself in secret places and I not see him ? saith Yahweh. Do not I fill heaven and earth ? saith Yahweh. 26 j have heard what the prophets say, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, ' I have dreamed, I have dreamed.' 26 jjq^ long (shall this be) ? Is [my word] in"* the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies, and that prophesy the deceit of their own heart ? 2' which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers forgat my name through Baal. 28 The prophet with whom there is a dream, let him tell a dream ; and he " Which, it is implied, they do not do (cf. w. H, 14). ■' The Heb. text is not translatable. A word seems to have dropped out, either as suggested above, or perhaps (Giesebrecht), How long will it he ere the heart of the prophets turn, that prophesy lies, etc. " So MSS. of Sept. Targ. Vulg. The Heb. text has, and of the prophets of. CHAPTER XXIII. 22-32 139 with whom is my word," let him speak my word faithfully. What hath the straw (to do) with the wheat ? saith Yahweh. 2* Is not my word hke as fire ? saith Yahweh ; and like a hammer that breaketh in pieces the rocks ? *" Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith Yahweh, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.'' ^^ Behold, I am against the pro- phets, saith Yahweh, that use their tongues, and say, ' Saith ( Yahweh). '« ^^ Behold, I am against the prophets that prophesy'* lying dreams, saith Yahweh, and tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their reckless boasting : yet I sent them not, nor commanded them ; neither do they profit this people at aU, saith Yahweh. The word massd (' oracle,' ' burden '), which was applied mockingly to the prophecies of the true prophets, to be no more used in Judah. To understand the following paragraph, it ia necessary to remember the double sense of the Heb. maasd. Massd means something lifted or taken v/p, i.e. either literally a burden, or fig. " See xxvii. 18, 2 Kings iii. 12. *> I.e. who have no prophetic inspiration of their own, and appropriate consequently the prophecies of the true prophets. " A formula constantly used by the true prophets (e.g., in this chapter, vv. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 23, 24, etc.). 1 So Sept. Vulg. (cf. vv. 30, 31). The Heb. text has, against them that prophesy. 140 JEREMIAH something talcen up upon the lips, a solemn utterance, or oracle (see ;BVm. of 2 Kings ix. 26 [where ' uttered ' is lit. took up], Is. xiii. 1, XV. 1, etc.). It seems that on account of Jeremiah's prophecies being so constantly of coming disaster, this term was applied to them derisively in the sense of burden, and hence it is forbidden to be in future used in Judah : people are not to ask a prophet, ' What massd have you ? ' but ' What hath Yahweh answered ? ' or ' What hath Yahweh said ? ' At the same time Yahweh retorts the people's word upon themselves by saying, ' Not my words, but you yourselves, are the " bm-den " ; and I will no longer be burdened with you ; I will cast you from me ! ' 83 And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, ' What is Yahweh 's massd (' oracle ')? ' then shalt thou say unto them, ' Ye are the massd (" burden ") !" and I will cast you off,' saith "Yahweh. 3* And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, ' Yahweh's oracle,' I will punish that man and his house. '* Thus shall ye say every one to his neigh- bour, and every one to his brother, ' What hath Yahweh answered ? ' and, ' What hath Yahweh spoken ? ' ^^ But Yahweh's ' oracle ' ye shall mention'' no more : for every man's own word is his oracle, and ye pervert the words of tb^e living God, of Yahweh of hosts, our God. ^'_2n\:^ shalt " So Sept.,Vulg., and nearly all modems, dividing two words differently. The Heb. text is capable only of a most forced construction (see KeU). •' So Sept. (with different vowels). The Heb. text has, re- member. CHAPTER XXIII. 33-40 141 thou say to the prophet, 'What hath Yahweh answered thee ? ' and ' What hath Yahweh spoken V ^^ But if ye say, ' Yahweh 's oracle,' therefore thus saith Yahweh : Because ye say this word, ' Yah- weh's oracle,' and I have sent unto you, saying. Ye shall not say, ' Yahweh's oracle ' ; '^ therefore, behold, here I am, and I will surely take you up,» and cast you off, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, away from before me : *" and I will lay upon you everlasting reproach, and a per- petual confusion which shall not be forgotten. » So Sept. Syr. Vulg. (with a play on massd, Bomething ' taken up '). The Heb. text has, I will surely forget you (the two worda are very similar in Hebrew). CHAPTER XXIV The different characters and destinies of the Jews taken into exile with Jehoiachin (b.c. 597), and of those remaining in the city with Zedekiah, as symbolized by two baskets of figs, seen by Jeremiah in a vision. XXIV. ^ Yahweh shewed me," and, behold, two baskets of figs set before Yahweh's temple, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried into exile Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, and the crafts- men, and the smiths,'' from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. ^ One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe : and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. 3 And Yahweh said unto me, ' What seest thou, • Viz. in a vision. Comp. Am. vii. 1, 4, 7, viii. 1. >> The meaning of the Hebrew word is very uncertain. CHAPTER XXIV. 1-9 143 Jeremiah ? '» And I said, ' Figs ; the good figs, very good ; and the bad, very bad, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.' * And the word of Yahweh came unto me, saying : ^ Thus saith Yahweh, the God of Israel : Like these good figs, so will I regard the exiles of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldseans, for good. * And I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them back unto this land : and I will build them, and not pull them down ; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. ' And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Yahweh ; and they shaU be to me a people, and I will be to them a God : for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. 8 And as the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad,** thus saith Yahweh, So will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the remnant of Jerusalem, that^are left in this land, and them that dweU in the land of Egypt. * And I will make them a consternation " to all the king- doms of the earth, a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in aU places whither I shall » Comp. i. 11, 13 ; Am. vii. 8, viii. 2. ■• So Sept. Syr. Vulg. The Heb. text inserts by error, for. So Sept. (cf . XV. 4). The Heb. text adds, for evil (a corrupt repetition of the preceding word). 144 JEREMIAH drive them, i" And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.* " In explanation of the contrast here drawn between the two sections of the people, see the Introduction, p. xxx Ezeldel agrees with Jeremiah in judging Zedekiah and the Jews left with him in Jerusalem unfavourably (ch. xii., xvii. 1-21, xxi. 25-27, ch. xxii.), and in fixing his hopes for the future upon the exiles with Jehoiaohin (xi. 17-21, xx. 37, 38). CHAPTER XXV The Babylonian supremacy foretold. Jeremiah, in accordance with the view to which he was led by the defeat of the Egyptians at Carchemish, b.o. 605 (see the Introduction to ch. xlvi.), that theChaldaeans were destined to become the rulers of Western Asia, declares here, first that Judah and the surrounding nations (w. 1-14) will be subject to them for seventy years, and afterwards that the then known world generally (w. 15-38) will fall into their hands. How the people had refused to listen to the warnings of the prophets. XXV. 1 The word that came to Jeremiah concern- ing all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim,'' the son of Josiah, king of Judah (the same was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon) ; ^ the which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhab- itants of Jerusalem, saying : ^ From the thirteenth year of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah, even unto this day, now three and twenty years, '' » B.o. 604 b I.e. from B.o. 626 to 604. 145 10 146 JEREMIAH the word of Yahweh hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking ; but ye have not hearkened. * And Yahweh hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, — though ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear, — ^ saying, ' Return, I pray you, every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that Yahweh hath given unto you and to your fathers, from of old and even for evermore* : * and go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and vex me not with the work of your hands : and I will do you no hurt.' ' But ye hearkened not unto me, saith Yahweh, that ye might vex me with the work of your hands to your own hurt.^ Judah, therefore, not less than the neighbouring countries, will be laid waste by the Chaldaeans, and be subject to them for seventy years. 8 Therefore thus saith Yahweh of hosts : Be- cause ye have not heard my words, ® behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith Yahweh, "and (I will send) unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, my servant," and will bring them " Cf. vii. 7. " Cf. vii. 6 end. ° This clause is omitted in the Sept., perhaps rightly ; the ellipsis in the Heb. of ' I will send ' being unusual and awkward. CHAPTER XXV. 4-12 147 against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about : and I will utterly destroy them,* and make them an appalment and an hissing, and perpetual wastes.'" ^'' And I will take" from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bride- groom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones,*! and the light of the lamp. ^^ And this whole land shaU be a waste, and an appalment ; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. [1^ And^ it shall come to pass, when seventy years " Heb. I will ban (or devote) them. Cf. Deut. ii. 34, iii. 6, vii. 2, XX. 17, 1 Sam. xv. 3, 8, etc. The Sept. has, / will waste them (one letter different [see the same variant in Is. xi. 15, Heb and Sept., cf. RVm.]) ; cf. Is. Ix. 12. '' The Sept. has, and a perpetual reproach (nSin for n3"in) : cf. xxix. 18. " Heb. / will cause to perish. ^ Which is heard daily in an eastern village, and is a. sign of the presence of life in it (cf. Rev. xviii. 22). The hand-mill (which is what is here meant) consists of two circular stones, eighteen inches or two feet in diameter, the lower one being fixed on the ground, while the upper one is turned round by a woman — or often (cf. Matt. xxiv. 41) by two women — kneeling or sitting beside it. See Robinson, Biblical Researches in Pales- tine, i. 485 ; Thomson, The Land and the Book, Southern Palestine, p. 107 (in the one vol. ed., p. 626 f.); or Whitehouse, A Primer of Hebrew Antiquities, p. 70 f. ° Vv. 12-14, or, in any case, w. 13-14, cannot have formed part of the original prophecy of Jeremiah delivered in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, but must have been added when the book of Jerenaiah was completed, and stood substantially in its present 148 JEREMIAH are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith Yahweh, for then- iniquity,* and the land of the Chaldaeans ; and I will make it desolate for ever.^ " And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pro- nounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. 1* For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them," even of them : and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.] form. For (1) ot. 15, 16 (notice ' For ') give the reason, not for vv. 12—14 (the punishment, after seventy years, of Babylon), but for !). 11 (the subjugation of Judah and surrounding nations to Babylon) ; and (2) the terms of w. 13 presuppose the completion of Jeremiah's book, and in particular the inclusion in it of the prophecy against Babylon in 1. 1-li. 58, which, in all probability, is not by Jeremiah at all, and, even if it is, was certainly not incorporated in the book of his prophecies till long after b.o. 004 (the short prophecy against Babylon in li. 59-64 is assigned by its title to the fourth year of Zedeldah, b.o. 593). V. 12 is based most probably upon xxix. 10, and (at the end) upon li. 26, 02 ; «. 13 refers expressly to the prophecies against the nations con- tained in chaps, xlvi.-li., and esp. to chaps, l.-li. ; v. 14 is based upon xxvii. 76, and 1. 29, li. 24. Cf. Davidson, in Hastings' Diet, of the Bible, ii. p. 574. " Heb. visit upon the king, etc., their iniquity. *> Heb. perpetual desolations (exactly as in li. 26, 62). ° I.e. employ them as slaves or servants (so chap, xxvii. 7). Lit. work or labour by (means of) them: in Exod. i. 14 para- phrased by ■ make them serve ' ; in Lev. xxv. 46 by ' take bondmen of them,' and in Jer. xxii. 13 by ' use the services of . . .' (see also xxx. 8, xxxiv. 9, 10). CHAPTER XXV. 13-20 149 Jeremiah {in a vision) gives the cup of Yahweh's fury to the nations to drink.^ 15 For thus said Yahweh, the God of Israel, unto me : Take the cup of the wine of this fury from my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. ^^ And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad, because of the sword which I am sending among them, i' And I took the cup from Yahweh's hand, and made aU the nations to drink, unto whom Yahweh had sent me : ^^ to wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a waste, an appalment, an hissing, and a curse [,as it is this day]*" ; ^^ Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people ; ^^ and all the mixed people," and all the kings of the land of Uz,* and all the kings of the land of the * The intoxication which this oup is represented as producing is a figure for the bewilderment and helplessness produced upon a nation by an overwhelming calamity (of. xiii. 13) ; in the present case (w. 166) by the sword of the Chaldaeans. Cf. the same figure of a draught in xlviii. 26 ; Is. li. 17, 21-23 ; Ps. Ix. 3. ^ The bracketed words are omitted in the Sept., and describ- ing, as they do, the agreement of the prediction with the fulfil- ment, they cannot have formed part of the prophecy of Jehoia - kim's fourth year, but must have been added at some period after b.o. 586, during the exile. " I.e., probably, the mixed foreign population, settled in Egypt for trade or other purposes. Cf. the same expression in Ezek. XXX. 5, and (of foreigners settled in Babylon) in Jer. 1. 37. ^ The name of an Aramaean tribe settled probably somewhere 150 JEREMIAH Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod ;" ^i Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon ; 22 and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the coastland which is beyond the sea ;•> ^^ Dedan, and Tema, and Buz," and all them that have the corners (of their hair) dipt ;* ^4 and all the kings of Arab,^ and all the kings of the mixed people ' on the east or north-east of Edom : cf. Lam. iv. 21 ; Job i. 1 ; and see also Gen. x. 23, xxii. 21, xxxvi. 28. » I.e., probably, such as survived after the long siege — accord- ing to Herodotus (ii. 159), of twenty-nine years — which Ashdod had recently sustained at the hands of the Egyptian king, PsammetichuB (b.o. 666-610). ^ I.e. Phoenician colonies on the ooaats of the Mediterranean Sea. " Three tribes of north Arabia — the name Tema (Is. xxi. 14 ; Job vi. 19) being preserved in the modem Teimd, a place about 250 miles south-east of Edom ; Dedan (Gen. x. 7 ; Ezek. xxvii. 20, xxxviii. 13) being a tribe in the same neighbourhood (cf. Is. xxi. 13), and Buz being a, tribe closely allied to ' Uz ' (see Gen. xxii. 21 ; cf. ' Elihu the Buzite,' Job xxxii. 2). "■ See on ix. 26. ' Another tribe (or group of tribes] somewhere in north Arabia : cf. Is. xxi. 13. The name, it is probable, means properly steppe-dweUers (from drdbdh, ' steppe '] ; in course of time it came to be limited to a particular tribe, or group of tribes, dwelling in the steppes of north Arabia ; then, aiter Old Testament times, it was gradually extended so as to denote the whole of what we now know as ' Arabia.' But in the Old Testament the rend. ' Arabia ' suggests far more than what is really meant. See further Noldeke's art. Ababia in the Enc Bihl. ' Another local ' mixed population,' whose home was the CHAPTER XXV. 21-29 151 that dwell in the wilderness ; ^^ and all the kings of Zimri,*and all the kings of Elam,''and all the kings of the Medes ; ^® and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms" that are upon the face of the earth [: and the king of Sheshach* shall drink after them]." 2' And thou shalt say unto them. Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : Drink ye and be drunken and spue, and fall and rise no more, because of the sword which I am sending among you. ^^ And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup from thine hand to drink, that thou shalt say unto them. Thus saith Yahweh of hosts : Ye shall surely drink. ^* For, lo, with the city over which my name hath been wilderness, — unless, indeed, as many commentators suppose, the words ' and all the kings of the mixed people ' are a faulty repetition of the preceding clause (in the unpointed Heb. text ' mixed people ' is identical with ' Arab '). * A tribe not mentioned elsewhere. ^ In the far East, on the other side of the Tigris, about 200 miles E. of Babylon ; cf . xlix. 34. " So Sept. The Heb. text adds, of the earth, both tautologic- ally, and also so aa to produce at the same time an ungrammatical construction. ■^ I.e. Babel (Babylon), written in the cypher called Atbash, the last letter of the Heb. alphabet IT) being put for the first {A) the last but one [SH) for the second [B), and so on. Cf. li. 1, 41. ° The bracketed words are not in the Sept. ; and (like vv. 12-14, also declaring the ultimate punishment of Babylon, and consequently foreign to the main scope of the prophecy) were probably not part of Jeremiah's original prophecy. 152 JEREMIAH called* do I begin by doing evil, and should ye be utterly unpunished ? Ye shall not be unpunished : for a sword am I calling upon aU the inhabitants of the earth, saith Yahweh of hosts. A figurative and hyperbolical description of what Yahweh will accomplish in the world by the agency of the Ghaldaeans. 3" And thou, prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them : Yahweh will roar'' from on high, And utter his voice from his holy habitation ; He will mightily roar against his homestead ; <= With a shout'^ will he answer, as they that tread (the grapes). Against all the inhabitants of the earth. ^1 The din^ (of battle) is come even to the end of the earth ; for Yahweh hath a controversy with the nations, he contendeth in judgement with all " In token of ownership : cf. on vii. 10. '' Viz. like a lion. The first two lines are varied from Am. i. 2. "= Fig. for Judah: cf. x. 25, xxiii. 3. ^ Or, a huzzah. The word (Heb. heddd] ia specially used of the joyous shouts with which the vintagers trod the juice out of the grapes in the winepress (see Is. xvi. 10 ; Jer. xlviii. 33j. Here it is used of the war-shout (ct. Jer. li. 14, where the Heb. word is the same) with which, by a bold anthropomorphism, Jeremiah pictures Yahweh as treading down the nations of the earth. " Or, crash. CHAPTER XXV. 30-35 i53 flesh ; as for the wicked, he hath given them to the sword, saith Yahweh. ^^ Thus saith Yahweh of hosts. Behold, evil is going forth from nation to nation, *and a great tempest shall be stirred up from the uttermost corners of the earth.* ^^ And the slain of Yahweh shall be in that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth : they shall not be bewailed, neither gathered, nor buried, they shall be for dung upon the face of the ground. Let Icings and nobles wail over the doom that is about to fall upon them. ** Howl, ye shepherds,"" and cry ; and sprinkle you (with ashes), ye noble ones of the flock : for your days to be slaughtered are accomplished ; and ye shall be dashed in pieces" and fall like a precious vessel.* ^^ And the shepherds shall have " Varied from vi. 22, with the one substitution of ' tempest ' for ' nation.' i" Fig. of rulers, as ii. 8, x. 21, etc. The ' noble ones of the flock ' are here a figure for the principal and wealthiest men of the nations ruled by the ' shepherds.' ° So Syr. (of. xiii. 14). Or, and I mil dash you in pieces, [and ye shall fall, etc.), might be read. The Heb. text has a peculiar form, which is very doubtfully rendered, / will scatter you. ^ The expression ' be dashed in pieces,' and the comparison to a broken vessel, are not in keeping with the figure of the sheep ; and it is a question whether we should not read for the whole of this clause, with Sept., and ye shall fall like choice lambs 154 JEREMIAH no way to flee ;» and none shall escape of the noble of the flock. 3" Hark ! a cry of the shepherds, and the howling of the noble of the flock ! for Yahweh is laying waste their pasture. ^' And the peaceful meadows shall be brought to sUence because of the fierce anger of Yahweh. ^^ He hath forsaken his covert, as a lion : for their land is become an appal- ment,'' because of the oppressing sword," and because of his fierce anger. (with omission of Dn^B31 ' and ye shall be dashed in pieces,' as a faulty anticipation of DnPDJI ' and ye shall fall,' and with n33 for *!?D3D. " Heb. refuge shall perish from the shepherds, — an idiomatic expression found also in Am. ii. 14 ; Job xi. 20 ; Ps. cxlii. 4 (Heb. 5). ^ Or, a desolation. The meaning is, Judah being now a desolation, Yahweh is obliged to leave it, just as a Uon has to leave its lair when it has been destroyed. The past tenses are so-called ' prophetic ' pasts, describing the future as though it had already taken place. ° So Sept. Targ. (one letter changed). See xlvi. 16, 1. 16. The Heb. text is not translatable (notice the italics in RV.). CHAPTER XXVI Jeremiah, warning the people 'publicly that, unless they mend their ways, the Temple will share the same fate which of old hefel the sanctuary of Shiloh, escapes narrowly with his life. The occasion is generally considered to be the same as that which forms the subject of ch. vii., ch. vii. reporting more fully what Jeremiah said, and this chapter describing at length what is not mentioned in ch. vii., the personal consequences to Jeremiah himself. F. 1 fixes the date to B.C. 608, or shortly after. The warning addressed by Jeremiah to the people. XXVI. ^ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word from Yahweh, saying, ^ Thus saith Yahweh : Stand in the court of Yahweh's house, and speak unto all the cities of* Judah, which come to worship in Yahweh's house, all the words that I have com- ^ The Sept. omits the cities of (of. vii. 2J ; see, however, xi. 12. 166 156 JEREMIAH manded thee to speak unto them ; keep not back a word. ^ It may be they will hearken, and txirn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I am purposing to do unto them because of the evil of their doings." * And thou shalt say unto them. Thus saith Yahweh : If ye hearken not unto me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,** ^ to hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send unto you," rising up early and sending them, but ye have not hearkened ; ® then wUl I make this house like Shiloh,* and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth. Jeremiah is attacked on account of what he had said by the priests and prophets opposed to him. ' And the priests and the prophets® and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in Yahweh's house. ^ ^^(j j^ came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that Yahweh had commanded him to speak unto all * With the thought of this verse cf. xviii. 18. " Cf. ix. 12. " So the ancient Versions. The Heb. text inserts by error, and. See on xxii. 1. " So XXX vi. 10. Probably the gate leading into the " upper ' (or 'inner') court (cf. on xx. 2), built, about a century before, by Jotham (2 Kings xv. 35). * So 34 MSS., Syr. Vulg. Targ. The Heb. text has, the new gate of Yahweh. 158 JEREMIAH Jeremiah unto* the princes and to all the people, saying, ' Yahweh sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard. ^^ Now, therefore, amend your ways and your doings,'' and hearken to the voice of Yahweh, your God ; and Yahweh will repent him of the evil that he hath spoken concerning you. 1* But as for me, behold, I am in your hand : do unto me as is good and right in your eyes. ^^ Only know ye for certain, that, if ye put me to death, ye will bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof : for of a truth Yahweh hath sent me unto you to speak all these words ^in your ears.' ^' Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets, ' This man is not worthy of death ; for he hath spoken to us in the name of Yahweh our God.' Certain elders also recall the very different treatment accorded a century before to Micah, when he announced the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. 1' Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying, " So Sept. : cf. iw. 11, 16. The Heb. text adda, all " Of. vii. 5. CHAPTER XXVI. 13-20 159 1* ' Micah* the Morasthite was prophesying in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah ; and he spake to all the people of Judah, saying, " Thus saith Yahweh of hosts : Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house*" a wooded height." " 1^ Did Heze- kiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death ? did he not fear Yahweh, and intreat Yahweh's favour, and Yahweh repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them ? But we are doing a great evil against our own lives.' Jeremiah thus escapes with his life ; hut Uriah, a prophet liJce-minded with him, falls under the displeasure of the king, and is put to death. ^° And there was also a man prophesying in Yahweh's name, Uriah the son of Shemaiah of Kiriath-jearim ■,^ and he prophesied against this "■ So Heb. marg. The Heb. text has Micaiah. See Mio. i. 1, and iii. 12. Mor^sheth (Mic. i. H), Micah'a home, was a village near Eleutheropolis, about 23 miles S.W. of Jerusalem. >> I.e. the Temple. " So Sept. Syr. (though mistranslating the word). The Heb. text has, wooded heights. As the Heb. word was written by Mioah or Jeremiah, there would be no difference between the singular and the plural. <• Probably the modern Karyet el-Inab, seven miles N.W. of Jerusalem, on the Jaffa road. i6o JEREMIAH city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah, ^i And when king Jehoiakim, and all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death : but when Uriah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt ; ^^ and king Jehoiakim sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor,* and certain men with him into Egypt, ^s And they fetched forth Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him unto king Jehoiakim ; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.** ^* Howbeit the hand of Ahikam" the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death. » One of the 'princes ' ; see xxxvi. 12, 25. •> Heb. sons of the people. Cf. 2 Kings xxiii. 6. " Ahikam was father of GedaUah, who was likewise friendly to Jeremiah (xxxix. 14, xl. 5, 6) ; he was also one of the messengers sent by Josiah to inquire of the prophetess Huldah after the discovery of Deuteronomy in 621 (2 Kings xxii. 12 ff.). CHAPTERS XXVII.— XXIX. Jeremiah, on three separate occasions, insists that there is no prospect of a speedy deliverance from the yoke of the king of Babylon, or of a speedy return of the sacred vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away with Jehoiachin in 597 to Babylon. (i) Chap, xxvii The yoke of the king of Babylon not yet to be broken. In the foiirth year (see xxviii. 1) of Zedekiah (b.c. 693), the kings of Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, Tjrre, and Zidon, having invited Zedekiah to join them in revolting from Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah sends to warn them of the futility of making any such attempt. The warning sent to the five kings. XXVII. ^ In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah," the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word unto Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, ^ Thus saith Yahweh to me : Make thee thongs and bars,*" and * So Syr. : see w. 3, 12, 20. The Heb. text, by a lapsus calami, has Jehoiakim. •• To form viz. a yoke, the ' thongs ' being used for binding the 'bars ' together. See Lev. xxvi. 13. 161 II 1 62 JEREMIAH put them upon thy neck, ^ and send* 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 TjT^e, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messen- gers which are come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah, king of Judah ; * and give them a charge unto their masters, sajring, ' Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say unto your masters : ^ I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my stretched out arm ; and I give it unto whom it seemeth right unto me. * And now / have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant ; and the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him. ' Andi* all the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his land come, even his also : and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him." ^ AxiA it shall come to pass, that the nation and the kingdom which *will not serve him, even Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and that* » So Sept. (Luc). The Heb. text adds, them. Ch. xxviii. 10 shows that the yoke was not sent to the five kings. •> F. 7 is not in the Sept. ; and perhaps (for the reason men- tioned on XXV. 26, note "j was not part of the original prophecy. ° I.e. use him as their servant (cf. xxv. 14, with the note). There is a play on the double use of the word ' serve.' * These words are not expressed by the Sept, CHAPTER XXVII. 3-13 163 will not put their neck into the yoke of the king of Babylon, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence will I punish that nation, saith Yahweh, until I have given* them into his hand. 9 But ye, hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers," nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, ' Ye shall not serve the king of Baby- lon ' : ^o for they prophesy a lie unto you, in order to remove you far from your land ; and that I should drive you out and ye should perish. ^^ But the nation that shaU bring their neck into the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, I will leave them in their own land, saith Yahweh ; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.' Jeremiah addresses a similar warning to Zedekiah. 12 Unto Zedekiah king of Judah, also, spake I according to all these words, saying, ' Bring your necks into the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. ^^ Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Yahweh hath » So with a change of one letter. The Heb. text is not translatable. •> So Sept. SjT. Targ. Vulg. The Heb. text haa dreams. Cf . xxlii. 25, xxix. 8. i64 JEREMIAH spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon ? " And hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, " Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon " : for they prophesy a lie unto you. ^^ For I have not sent them, saith Yahweh, but they prophesy in my name falsely ; in order that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.' The prophets who promise the speedy restoration of the sacred vessels delude the people with false hopes : even the vessels still left in Jerusalem will also he carried away, and restored only in a still undetermined future. ^* And to the priests" and to all this people spake I, saying, ' Thus saith Yahweh : ^ Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, sa5dng, " Behold, the vessels of Yahweh's house shall now shortly be brought back from Babylon : " for they prophesy a lie unto you. i' Hearken not "■ Who were unfriendly to Jeremiah, and disposed to listen to the 'false' prophets; of. xxvi. 8, 11, 16. •■ In verses 16-22 of this chapter the text of the Sept. is much shorter than the Heb. text, the general efieot,' of the differences being that the Sept. speaks only of the captivity of the sacred vessels still left in Jerusalem, and not also, as the Heb. text does, of their restoration. CHAPTER XXVII. 14-22 165 unto them ; serve the king of Babylon, and live : wherefore should this city become a waste ? ^^ But if they be prophets, and if Yahweh's word be really with them, let them, now, make intercession to Yahweh of hosts, that the vessels which are left in Yahweh's house, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not* to Babylon. 1* For thus saith Yahweh of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that are left in this city, 2" which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried into exile Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and aU the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem ;•> ^^ Yea,^ thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in Yahweh's house, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem : "^ Unto Babylon shall they be brought,"! and there shall they be, until the day that I visit them, saith Yah- * So with a slight change. The Heb. text is untranslatable. •> See 2 Kings xxiv. U-16. " In the Heb. For (repeated, from the beginning of v. 19, after the long intervening clauses, by a not unfrequent Hebrew idiom : comp. in the Heb. xxviii. 6 at the beginning with xxviii. 5 at the beginning). ■i See lii. 17-19 (-2 Kings xxv. 13-15J. The Sept., however, for this verse, has only, Unto Babylon shall they be broitght, saith Yahweh. i66 JEREMIAH weh, and bring them up, and restore them to this place.*' (2) Chap, xxviii No hope of a speedy restoration of the sacred vessels. Hananiah, one of the prophets alluded to in ch. xxvii., announces that within two years the yoke of the Ghaldaeans will he broken : the sacred vessels will then be restored, and the exiled Jews will return. XXVIII. 1 And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah, the son of Azzur, the prophet, which was of Gibeon,>' spake unto me in Yahweh's house, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, ^ Thus speaketh Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, ' I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. ' Within two years I will bring back into this place all the vessels of Yahweh's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of » For the restoration of various gold and silver bowls, etc., by Cyrus in 536, see Ezr. i. 7-11. The pillars, the brasen sea, and the bases {v. 19), were never restored, for these, being too heavy to be transported entire to Babylon, were broken up by the Ghaldaeans before being removed from Jerusalem (lii. 17). * About 5 miles N.W. of Jerusalem, now el-Jib. CHAPTER XXVIII . i-io 167 Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon : * and Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah, that went to Babylon, will I bring back to this place, saith Yahweh : for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.' ^ Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that were standing in Yahweh's house, * even the prophet Jeremiah said, ' Amen : Yahweh do so : Yahweh perform* the words which thou hast prophesied, by bringing back the vessels of Yah- weh's house, and all the exiles, from Babylon unto this place. ' Only hear, I pray thee, this word that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people : * The prophets that have been before me and before thee from of old, prophesied against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. ^ The prophet which prophesieth of peace, (only) when the word of the prophet cometh to pass, is the prophet known, whom Yahweh hath truly sent.' ^"Then Hananiah the prophet took the bar'' from off the » The wish is, of course, intended sarcastically. Only the event {«. 9) can prove — and Jeremiah implies that Jn this case it will not prove — a promise of peace to be a genuine prophecy. '■ Sept. Syr. have, bars (with them for ' it ' at the end of the verse); cf. v. 13, xxvii. 2. i68 JEREMIAH neck of the prophet Jeremiah, and brake it. " And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying, ' Thus saith Yahweh : Even so will I break the yoke of aNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon within two years" from off the neck of all the nations.' And the prophet Jeremiah went his way. Jeremiah meets HananiaWs promises with an emphatic contradiction. 12 Then the word of Yahweh came unto Jeremiah, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the bar** from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,i3 Go, and tell Hananiah, sajdng, ' Thus saith Yahweh : Thou hast broken the bars of wood ; but thou shalt make" in their stead bars of iron, i* For thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ; and they shaU serve him : and the beasts of the field also have I given him.^ ' i^ xhen said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, ' Hear, now, Hananiah : Yahweh hath not sent thee : but thou makest this people to trust in * The Sept. for these words has simply, the king of Babylon ; of. V. 2. * Sept. Syr. have hars. " The Sept. has, probably rightly, I will make. " Cf. xxvii. 6. CHAPTERS XXVIII. ii-XXIX. 3 169 a lie. 1' Therefore thus saith Yahweh : Behold, I will send thee away from off the face of the earth : this year thou shalt die, because thou hast spoken defection* against Yahweh.' ^' And Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month. (3) Chap. xxix. The letter sent by Jeremiah to the exiles in Babylonia, exhorting them to settle down where they are, and not to listen to the prophets who promise them a speedy return to Jndah. XXIX. 1 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders of the exiles, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon ; ^ (after that Jeconiah the king, and the queen-mother,'' and the eunuchs, and the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the crafts- men, and the smiths'', were come forth'* out of Jerusalem ;) ^ by the hand of Eleasah the son of " Heb. turning aside (cf. the verb in Deut. xi. 16, xvii. 20) : so xxix. 32, Deut. xiii. 5. The clause (from ' because ' ) is not expressed in the Sept. ■> Nehushta [2 Kings xxiv. 8j ; cf. Jer. xiii. 18. " The rendering is uncertain. Cf. xxiv. I.^ * I.e. had surrendered ; see 2 Kings xxiv. 12. 170 JEREMIAH Shaphan,* and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah,— whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, — saying, Settle down contentedly in your new home. * Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all the exiles, whom I have caused to go into exile from Jerusalem unto Babylon : ^ BuUd ye houses, and dwell (in them) ; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them ; ® take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters ; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters ; and multiply there, and be not diminished. ' And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to go into exile, and pray unto Yahweh for it : for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. Oive no heed to the prophets who promise a speedy return to Judah. ' For thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : Let not your prophets that be in the midst of you, and your diviners, deceive you, neither hearken ye to your dreams which ye dream.'' "■ Probably the brother of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, who 13 mentioned aa having befriended Jeremiah in xxvi. 24. ^ So Sept. Syr. Vulg. The Heb. has, came to he dreamed (a letter written twice by error). CHAPTER XXIX. 4-14 171 " For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name : I have not sent them, saith Yahweh. For no restoration will take place till the seventy years of Babylonian domination are ended, when those now in exile with Jehoiachin will turn to Yahweh, and he will bring them back (cf. xxiv. 5-7). 1" For thus saith Yahweh, As soon as seventy years* be accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you,* in bringing you back unto this place, ^i For I know the thoughts that I think" concerning you, saith Yahweh, thoughts'* of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future" and a hope. ^^ And ye will call upon me, and go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 1^ And ye will seek me, and find me, because ye will search for me with all your heart.' [i* Ands I will let myseK be found of you, saith Yah- » Cf. XXV. 11, 12. i* I.e. the promise given in xxlv. 4-7. " Or, purposes that I purpose ; cf. xlix. 20, 1. 45 (the sameHeb.). * Or, purposes. " Heb. o latter end. See Prov. xxUi. 18 RVm. ' Cf. Deut. Iv. 29 ; also Jer. xxiv. 7. 8 F. 14 (except the first clause, to ' you ') is not in the Sept., and is probably a later addition. The terms of the verse ('gather you from all the nations,' etc.) do not suit the exiles with Jehoiachin (to whom w. 10-14 are addressed) ; for these, aa vv. 4^7 expressly state, were aU settled in one place, Babylonia. 172 JEREMIAH weh, and I will turn your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith Yahweh, and I will bring you back unto the place whence I caused you to go into exile.] For Zedekiah and the Jews left with him in Jerusalem are beyond hope of amendment, so that they will go into exile and remain there permanently [cf. xxiv. 8-10). » i« For thus saith Yahweh concerning the king that sitteth upon the throne of David,^ and con- cerning all the people that dwell in this city, even your brethren that are not gone forth with you into exile ; i' thus saith Yahweh of hosts : Behold, I am sending upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence," and I will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.** ^^ And I will pursue after them with the sword, with the " Vv. 16-20 are not in the Sept., and may not have formed part of Jeremiah's original letter. The digression on the fate of the Jews in Jerusalem seems out of place in a letter of advice written to the exiles in Babylonia ; and it is possible that, in the recension of his letter which found its place in the Heb. text of his book, it was not reproduced with literal exactness, but expanded in parts with additions taking account of the Jews in Jerusalem as well as of those already in exile. •• I.e. Zedekiah (cf. xxviii. 1). " Cf. xxiv. 10. i Cf. xxiv. 8. CHAPTER XXIX. 16-21 173 famine, and with the pestilence, and I will make them a consternation to all the kingdoms of the earth,* an execration, and an appalment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them : ^° because they have not hearkened to my words, saith Yahweh, where- with I sent unto them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them ; but they hearkened not,'' saith Yahweh. But the false prophets in Babylonia, who fill you with vain hopes of restoration, will meet with an untimely end. 2" And ye, hear the word of Yahweh, all ye exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon ; 1^ Because" ye have said, ' Yahweh hath raised us up prophets in Babylon,' ^^ thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son « Cf. xxiv. 9. *> So Sept. [Luc.J. The Heb. text has, ye hearkened not. Cf. XXV. 36, ia. Thia verse stands here in Lucian's text of the Sept. (which contains vv. 16-20] : in the ordinary text of the Sept. [which is without w. 16-20J, also, it of course stands immediately before V. 21. In the Heb. text it stands before v. 16, where it yields no sense agreeable to the context (for it cannot give a, reason for anything contained either in vv. 10-14 or in w. 16-19J ; standing before vv. 21-23, it gives the reason why the exiles are to listen to what is said in these verses. 174 JEREMIAH of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name : Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon ; and he shall slay them before your eyes ; ^^ and from them shall be taken up a curse by all the exiles of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, ' Yahweh make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire : ' ^^ because they have wrought senselessness* in Israel, and have com- mitted adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I commanded them not ; and I am he that knoweth, and am witness, saith Yahweh. Shemaiah, one of the false prophets in Babylonia, displeased by this letter of Jeremiah's, ivrites to Jerusalem, with the view of procur- ing the prophet's arrest. 2* And unto Shemaiah the Nehelamite'' thou shalt speak, sajdng, ^s Thus speaketh Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because" thou hast sent » The word is a strong one, — stronger than the rend. ' folly ' (AV., RV.) would suggest ; and denotes a state of mind, or an action, marked by utter disregard of moral or spiritual feeling (of. the writer's Parallel Psalter, p. 457J. It is used, aa here, of a gross act of immorality in Gen. xxxiv. 7, 2 Sam. xiii. 12, and elsewhere. ■> A place, NehSlam, is not elsewhere mentioned. ° The sentence is anacoluthio. There is no answer to ' Be- cause ' s but it is resumed by the ' Because ' in «. 31, and the real answer follows in v. 32, ' therefore,' etc. CHAPTER XXIX. 22-29 175 letters* in thine own name unto all the people that are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah*" the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests", saying, 2* ' Yahweh hath made thee priest instead of Je- hoiada the priest, that thou shouldest be overseeri^ in Yahweh's house for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet,^ that thou shouldest put him in the stocks and in the collar : *' now, therefore, why hast thou not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you, ^^ forasmuch as he hath sent unto us to Babylon, saying, " (The time)' is long : build ye houses, and dwell (in them) ; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them " ? ' ^' And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet. " Or, a letter [see v. 29]. '■ To judge from xxl. 1, xxxvii. 3, a man of some importance ; and probably identical with the Zephaniah who in lii. 24 ( = 2 Kings XXV. 18) is called the ' second priest,' i.e. the one next in rank to the chief priest. ° The Sept. omits, and to all the prieata. "■ So Sept. Syr. Targ. Vulg. The Heb. text has, overseers. The office is that which in xx. 1 is represented as held by Pashhm' son of Immer. = Or, behaveth as a prophet, — viz. with wild and frenzied ges- tures, resembling those of a modem dervish, such as sometimes characterized the ancient prophets. Of. 1 Sam. x. 10, U, 13, xix. 20-24 (where ' prophesied ' means acted like a prophet, i.e. behaved excitedly ) ; and the use of the word ' mad ' (the same word as here] in 2 Kings ix. II. ' Heb. It, i.e. the time of the captivity. 176 JEREMIAH JeremiaWs reply to Shemaiah. ^" Then came the word of Yahweh unto Jeremiah, saying, ^^ Send to all the exiles, saying, Thus saith Yahweh concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite : Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he hath caused you to trust in a lie, ^^ therefore thus saith Yahweh : Behold, I will punish* Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed : he shall not have a man to dwell among this people, neither shall he behold the good that I wUl do unto my people, saith Yahweh ; because he hath spoken defection against Yahweh.'' " Heb. visit upon. ^ The Sept. omits this clause; cf. xxviii. 16. CHAPTERS XXX.— XXXIII. Prophecies and promises of restoration. (i) Chap. XXX. Jvdah, though she has suffered greatly for her sins, will nevertheless he restored ; her exiles will return, and Jerusalem will he rebuilt. XXX. ^ The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, ^ Thus speaketh Yahweh, the God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. ' For, behold, the days are coming, saith Yahweh, that I will turn the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith Yahweh^; and I will bring them back unto the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. * And these are the words that Yahweh spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. "' 12 178 JEREMIAH A day of judgement is coming upon the world, out of which, however, Israel will be delivered.'' 5 For thus saith Yahweh : (Ye say,) ' A voice of trembling have we heard ; there is terror, and no peace.''' *Ask ye, now, and see whether a man doth travail with child ? why then do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness ?° ' Ah ! for that day is great ; whence [is any like it ?■* and it is a time of trouble for Jacob ; but he shall be saved out of it. ^ And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Yahweh of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off his^ neck, and will burst his^ thongs ; and strangers shall no more use him " Comp. the description in Isa. xiii. 6-15 of the terrors accom- panying the day of Babylon's fall, which^is also (xiv. If.) to end in Israel's deliverance ; and the judgement described in Isa. xxiv., which ends similarly {vv. 14, 15, 23, xxv. 1-8). i' Yahweh is represented here as quoting the words in which the people are supposed to express their consternation when the judgement breaks upon the earth. " Men do not suffer the pains of child-bearing ; what, then, is the cause of the terror and agony which they are all displaying ? d So the Heb. text. Or, with other vowel-points (AV., RV.), ao that none is like it. » So Sept. (except that the pron. is plural, 'their'). The Heb. text has thy (an error due probably to a scribe who sup- posed Israel to be addressed, and who also, perhaps, had Isa. x. 27 in his mind : see, however, the next clause). CHAPTER XXX. 5-11 179 as their servant" : ^ but they'' shall serve Yahweh their God, and David their king," whom I will raise up unto them. ^"And'* thou, fear thou not, Jacob, my servant, saith Yahweh : neither be dismayed, Israel : for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity ; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.® ^^ For I am with. thee, saith Yahweh, to save thee : for I will make a fuU end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee, only of thee will I not make a full end : but I will correct thee with judgement,' and will in no wise leave thee unpunished.^ "■ Heb. work by (means of) him. See in the Heb. xxii. 13 ; also XXV. H, xxvil. 7, where this is to be the fate of the Chal- daeans themselves. ^ I.e. the Israelites. ° The second David, the ideal king of the future, as David was of the past : (Hos. iii. 5, Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24, xxxvii. 24, 25). ■J Vv. 10, 11 are not in the Sept. They recur in xlvi. 27, 28 (both Heb. and Sept.). The contrast between the promise to Israel and the preceding prophecy of ruin for Egypt (xlvi. 14- 26) might suggest that the latter was their more original place, and that they were afterwards added here for the purpose of enhancing the promises of w. 76, 8 ; see, however, the note, p. 277f. ° Or, disturb Mm. The expression is used of sheep lying undisturbed upon their pastures (Isa. xvii. 2) ; and of people (Lev. xxvi. 6 ; Ezek. xxxiv. 28, xxxix. 26 ; Mic. iv. 4). ij , ' I.e. in a judicial spirit, not in anger (Pa. vi. 1, xxxviii. 1), tantamount to in measure (AV.). Cf. oh. x. 24. ' Lit. hold thee guiltless. i8o JEREMIAH Israel, for her sins, has suffered greatly: ruin and exile have fallen upon her : but now Yahweh will heal her wounds, and she will be freed from her oppressors. 12 For thus saith Yahweh, Thy breach (,0 Zion,)* is incurable, and thy wound grievous.'' ^^ There is none to plead thy cause : [there are no] medicines for the sore" ; there is no plaister for thee, i* All thy lovers* have forgotten thee ; 'they seek not thee^ : for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one ; because thine iniquity is great, and thy sins are in- creased. 1^ Why criest thou because of thy breach ? thy pain is incurable : because thine iniquity is great and thy sins are increased, have I done these things unto thee, i" Therefore' all they that devour thee shall be devoured ; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into cap- " See u. 17. In vv. 12-17 the pronouns are throughout feminine, showing that ' Zion,' i.e. not the place, but the per- Bonified community, the ' daughter of Zion,' is addressed. Cf . on vii. 29, x. 17. *> Heb. made sick. Cf. x. 19, xiv. 17. ° Properly, a compressed place, i.e. a hound up wound. So Hos. V. 13 ; cf. the verb ' bound up ' in Isa. i. 6. ^ I.e. thy alhea ; cf. xxii. 20. " Or, ' care not for thee ' (the pron. Is emphatic) : cf. v. 17. ' Viz. because of the extremity of thy need. CHAPTER XXX. 12-20 181 tivity ; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.* ^' For I will bring up fresh flesh for thee,'' and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith Yahweh ; be- cause they have called thee Outcast, (saying,) ' It is Zion ; she hath none to seek (after her).<'' The exiles will return, Jerusalem will he rebuilt, and again enjoy prosperity, under the rule of an independent prince of David's line. 1® Thus saith Yahweh : Behold, I am turning the captivity of Jacob's tents, and I will have com- passion on his dwelling-places ; and the city shall be builded upon her own mound,* and the palace shall be inhabited^ after its accustomed manner. ^' And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those that make merry : and I will multiply them, and they shall not be diminished ;' I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.8 20 Their children also shall be as afore- time, and their congregation shall be established " With the thought of this verse, comp. Isa. xiv. 2, li. 22 f. " See viii. 22. ° Or, care (for her). See Deut. xi. 12, Ps. cxlii. 4 (where the Heb. verb ia the same) ; and comp. the opposite in Isa. Ixii. 12. ^ I.e. upon its former site. = Heb. shall sit : see on xvii. 25. ' Of. xxix. 6. « I.e. be of small aocotmt. Comp. Job xvi. 21 Heb. i82 JEREMIAH before me,» and I will punish all that oppress them. 21 And their noble shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them'' : and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me f for who is he that (else) hath had bold- ness'^ to approach unto me ? saith Yahweh. ^^ And ye shall be to me a people, and I will be to you a God. The approach of the judgement upon the wicked. 23 Behold^ the tempest of Yahweh, fury is gone forth, a sweeping tempest : it shall whirl round upon the head of the wicked. ^* The fierce anger of Yahweh will not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed, the intents of his heart : in the latter days ye shall understand it. ■ I.e. under my eye and care (Gen. xvii. 18, Hos. vi. 2) ; c£. Ps. oil. 28. ^ I.e. no foreigner will rule over them : they will be under the rule of a native prince. Cf. Deut. xvii. 15. ° I.e. their future native ruler will have the right of access to the altar, and enjoy priestly privileges ; comp. the same two verbs in Num. xvi. 5 ; Lev. xxi. 21, 23 ; Ezek. xliv. 13. ^ Heb. hath gone surety for his heart (courage) ; i.e. who has ever guaranteed to himself the courage to do this of his own accord, unauthorized by me ? Cf. Est. vii. 5 (lit. ' whose heart [courage] hath filled him to do so' ). " Vv. 23, 24 are nearly identical with xxiii. 19, 20. CHAPTERS XXX. 21-XXXI. 4 183 (2) Chap. xxxi. A promise of restoration to the Israelites of the northern kingdom. The prophecy of the New Covenant. The territory of Ephraim to be again re-peopled and cultivated. XXXI. 1 At that time, saith Yahweh, I will be a God unto all the families of Israel, and they shall be to me a people. ^ Thus saith Yahweh : The people which survived the sword hath found grace in the wilderness :» I will go that I may cause Israel to rest. 3 ' From afar'' hath Yahweh appeared unto me," (saying,) "And with everlasting love have I loved thee : therefore draw I thee with kindness." ' * Again wiU I buUd thee, and thou shalt be built, virgin of Israel : again shalt thou adorn thee with thy timbrels,"* and go forth in the " The ' wilderness ' is here fig. of the land of exile : and the meaning is that such of the long-exiled Israelites as have escaped destruction will now find favour from Yahweh in their banish- ment. The past tense, ' hath found,' is the ' prophetic ' past, the prophet viewing the future as accomplished, and describing it accordingly. *' I.e. from Zion — the people being supposed to be in the land of their exile. " If ,' me ' is right, the people in exile must be supposed to be suddenly introduced as speaking in this verse. But the Sept . has unto him (i^ for i^), i.e. unto Israel, which is very possibly right. The verse wiU then no longer be in inverted commas. "i Or, hand-drums, i.e. a ring of wood or metal, covered with a, tightly drawn skin, held up in one hand, and struck by the i84 JEREMIAH dances of them that make merry. ^ Again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria : the planters shall plant, and enjoy* the fruit thereof. « For there will be a day when the (vineyard-)keepersi' in the highlands of Ephraim shall cry, ' Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto Yahweh our God.'" Ephraim's happy return from exile. ' For thus saith Yahweh : Ring out with glad- ness for Jacob, and cry aloud at the head of the nations ;* publish ye, praise ye, and say, ' Yahweh hath saved his people,^ the remnant of Israel.' fingers of the other. Cf., in comiexion with dances, Ex. xv. 20' Jud. xi. 34. * Heb. treat as common — the first produce of fruit-trees being regarded as sacred, and not used for food (see Lev. xix. 23-25). The same word is used in the same sense in Deut. xx. 6, xxviii. 30. ^ Or, more generally, (orchard-)heeper8. Such seems to be the only legitimate rendering of D'lVJ : see Job xxvii. 18 (' as a booth which the heeper maketh ') ; and cf. Isa. xxvii. 3, Prov. xxvii. 18. So 2 Kings xvii. 9=xviii. 8 (the 'keepers' tower'). 1V3 is to keep : it does not mean to ' watch ' in the sense of to look out, but only to ' watch ' in the sense of to guard. " A^mark that the schism between the Northern and Southern kingdoms is ended. * I.e. foremost among the liberated nations. Or, for the chief of the nations (i.e. ioTlsiaelitBeli; cf. Am. vi. 1). Or, per- haps, with a slight change, we should read, at the top of the[moun- tains (cf. Isa. xUi. 11, and below, v. 12a). " So Sept. Targ. The Heb. text has, save thy people. But the verse is evidently intended as a thanksgiving for the deliver- ance acBomplished (cf. Isa. xlviii. 206). CHAPTER XXXI. 5-13 185 ^ Behold, I am bringing them from the north country, and I wUl gather them from the uttermost corners of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together : a great company shall they return hither. * They shall come with weeping, and with suppHcationa wUl I lead them : I will bring them unto streams of water,* in an even way wherein they shall not stumble : for I am become (again) a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first- born. ^° Hear the word of Yahweh, ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off ; and say, ' He that scattered Israel wiU gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.' ^^ For Yahweh hath ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. ^^ And they shall come and ring out their joy in the height of Zion, and flow together unto the bounty of Yahweh, to the corn, and to the must,'' and to the fresh oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd : and their soul shall be as a watered garden ; and they shall not pine" any more at all. i^Then shall the » Cf. Isa. xlix. 106. '^ See the note in the writer's Joel and Amos, p. 79 f. ° See Iiev. xxvi. 16 (RV. "make the soul to pine away'), Deut. xxviii. 65 (RV. ' pining of soul '), Ps. Ixxxviii. 9 (' wasteth away '). i86 JEREMIAH virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together* ; and I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow, i* And I wUl satiate^ the soul" of the priests with fatness,* and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty, saith Yahweh. The 'prophet hears in imagination Rachel, the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, bewailing from her grave near Ramah the exile of her sons : hid Yahweh bids her stay her grief ; there is still hope for her sons' return. 15 Thus saith Yahweh : A voice is heard in Ramah,® lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel * Read perhaps, with Sept. (for 'together'), with different vowel-points only, shall be glad. •> Lit. saturate, Isa. Iv. 10 (where ' watereth ' is not quite strong enough ; of. v. 12 above, properly a saturated or thoroughly moistened garden), often used fig. for fill fully : e.g. Isa. xliii. 24, Lam. iii. 15 (RV. ' sated '), Ps. xxxvi. 8 (' abundantly satisfied '). " I.e. the appetite, — the ' soul ' being viewed by the Hebrews as the seat of desire, and in particular of appetite : of. Num. xi. 6, Mic. vii. 1, Ps. cvii. 18, Job xxxiii. 20, Prov. xxiii. 2 (where • a man given to appetite ' is lit. a possessor of soul), xxvii. 7 ; and see further the writer's Parallel Psalter, p. 460. ^ Or, richness. (Not the usual word for fai ; but often used fig. of rich satisfaction : see Isa. Iv. 2 end, Ps. xxxvi. 8 ; and of. the cognate verb in Prov. xi. 25, xiii. 4, xv. 30, xxviii. 25). ^ Ramah was five miles north of Jerusalem. Rachel's grave (see 1 Sam. x. 2, 3) was on the north border of Benjamin, not far from Bethel (which was ten miles north of Jerusalem), and, to judge from the present passage, at no great distance from Ramah either (see Hastings' D.B. s.v. Rachel). CHAPTER XXXI. 14-19 187 weeping for her children ; she refuseth to be com- forted for her children, because they are not. ^* Thus saith Yahweh : Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears : for there is a reward for thy work, saith Yahweh ; and they shall return from the land of the enemy. '^' And there is hope for thy latter end, saith Yahweh ; and thy children shall return to their own border. The ground of this hope is Ephraim's penitence, which enables Yahweh to welcome his prodigal home with affection. ^^ I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning him- seK, (and saying,) ' Thou hast corrected me, and I let myself be corrected, as a calf untrained :* bring me back,** that I may return (to thee) ; for thou art Yahweh my God. ^^ For after that I turned (from thee)," I have repented ; and after that I was brought to knowledge, I have smitten upon my thigh -.^ I am put to shame, yea, even " Which has to be taught by punishment to work and bear the yoke. ■> I.e. take me back (xv. 18), hke a prodigal but repentant son. Or the words may be rendered, turn me, and I will turn (in penitence) : but w. 19 seems to show that Ephraim is pictured as already penitent, at the time when he is represented as speaking these words. " For the two opposite senses of ' turn ' in the same context, of. iii. 12, 14, 22, viU. 4. ^ A gesture of grief, Ezek. xxi. 12. i88 JEREMIAH confounded, because I do bear the reproach of my youth.' 20 ig Ephraim my dear son ? is he a dehghtsome child ? that as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him stiU ? therefore my bowels yearn" for him ; I will surely have compassion upon him, saith Yahweh. Let exiled Ephraim, then, bethink herself of her journey homewards. ^1 Set thee up waymarks, make thee guide posts ; set thine heart toward the highway, even the way by which thou wentest -fi retxirn, virgin of Israel, return to these thy cities. ^^ How long wilt thou go hither and thither," thou backturning daugh- ter ? for Yahweh hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.** » Cf. Isa. Ixiii. 15 (RV.). " I.e. turn thy thoughts to the way by which thou wentest into exile, that thou mayest not miss thyjway back. ° Viz. in'ihesitation and uncertainty. ^ I.e., probably. In the new future (Isa. xliii. 19, xlviii. 6, 7, Ixv. 17) which Yahweh is purposing to create in the earth, the woman, instead of holding aloof and waiting to be sought by the man (typifying Yahweh), will affectionately cUng rouiid her divine husband (Hos. ii. 16 ; Isa. liv. 5, 6) : why, then, should Ephraim, the ' virgin of Israel,' defer to yield herself to the Divine purpose ? Ewald, Duhm, and Oornill, however, with a very sUght change in the text, read, shall be turned into a man : there will be no more need for the ' virgin ' of Israel to be timid or hesitate : frail woman that she ia, she will be wonderfully endowed by Yahweh with the strength and courage of a man. See further the note at the end of the volume. CHAPTER XXXI 20-26 189 Jvdah, also, will be restored, as well as Ephraim. ^^ Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall turn their captivity, ' Yahweh bless thee, O habitation* of righteousness,'' O holy mountain ! '« 2* And Judah and all the cities thereof"* shall dwell therein together ; as husbandmen, and they that move about with flocks.^ ^^ For I have satiated' the weary soul, and every pinings soul have I replenished. ^* Upon this I awaked, and beheld ; and my sleep'' was sweet unto me. * More exactly, homestead (2 Sam. vii. 8, Jer. x. 25, xxiii. 3) ; used poetically in a more general sense (cf. Exod. xv. 13, and of Yahweh, ch. 1. 7). '■ The inhabitants of the restored Jerusalem are pictured as invested with ideal perfections : cf. Isa. i. 26, xxxii. 1, 16 f., Ixi. 3. ° The cities of Judah and the temple being rebuilt, pilgrims or others visiting the capital will thus greet Jerusalem and Zion. ^ I.e. their inhabitants. Cf. similarly xi. 12, xxvi. 2. " The men of Judah will then be able to till their land, and move about with their flocks, unmolested. Cf . Isa. xxx. 23. ' See on v. 14. e Cf. V. 12. '' I.e. the dream, or reverie, in which the preceding happy prospects had come before him. igo JEREMIAH Yahweh will then be watchful over His r estored people; and mil so transform the constitution of society that, whereas now the children suffer for their fathers' sins, then the bitter consequences of sin will be confined to the sinner. ' 27 Behold, the days are coming, saith Yahweh, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. ^^ And it shall come to pass, that like as I have been wakeful over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to afflict ; so will I be wakeful over them, to build, and to plant, saith Yahweh. ^^ In those days they shall say no more, ' The fathers have eaten unripe grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.' ^° But every one shall die for his own iniquity : every man that eateth the unripe grapes, his teeth shall be sec on edge. The prophecy of the New Covenard. Israel, in the ideal future, is to be ruled, not by a system of observances imposed from without, but by a law written in the heart, a 'principle operative from within, filling all with the knowledge of Yahweh, and prompting all to ready and perfect obedience. ^1 Behold, the days are coming, saith Yahweh, CHAPTER XXXI. 27-35 iQi that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah : ^^ not accord- ing to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt ; which my covenant they brake, although / was an husband unto them,* saith Yahweh : ^^ but this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Yahweh : I will put my law in their inward parts, and upon their hearts will I write it ; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. ^* And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, ' Know Yahweh ' : for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Yahweh : for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more. Two solemn 'promises of the national permanence of Israel. 35 Thus saith Yahweh, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which stirreth up the sea so that the waves thereof roar (Yahweh " Cf. iii. 14. But perhaps we should read, changing ona letter, ' and / abhorred them ' (see xiv. 19, Lev. xxvi. 30). Sept. Syr. also express a similar sense, disregarded, despised. 192 JEREMIAH of hosts is His name) : ^^ If these ordinances depart from before me, saith Yahweh, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. 3' Thus saith Yahweh : If heaven above can be measm-ed, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then will I also cast off the whole seed of Israel for aU that they have done, saith Yahweh. Jerusalem will he rebuilt, evert beyond its former limits, and be holy to Yahweh. 38 Behold, the days are coming, saith Yahweh, that the city shall be built unto Yahweh from the tower of Hananel* unto the corner-gate.'' *»And the measuring line shall go out further straight onward unto the hill Gareb, and shall (then) turn round unto Goah." ^''And the whole vale of the dead bodies and of the altar-ashes,^ and all » At the N.E. corner of the city: cf.Neh. iii. 1, xii. 39. *> At the N.W. comer of the city : cf. 2 Kings xiv. 13 ; 2 Chron. xxvi. 9. These two points thus define the N. wall of the re- stored city : comp. especially the similar promise inZech. xiv. 10. " Gareb and Goah are not mentioned elsewhere. The hill Gareb was apparently some point S.W. of the ' comer-gate,' where the wall made a turn to the S. till it reached Goah, — presumably at the W. end of the S. wall. ^ Probably, the broad open depression (Heb. 'emek), just S. of Siloam, on the S.E. of the city, where the Wady er-Rababi, running down from the W., on the S. of Jerusalem, meets the Wady of the Kidron from the N. (see the plan in the Encycl. CHAPTERS XXXI. 36-XXXII. i 193 the fields unto the valley of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate* toward the east, shall be holy unto Yahweh ; it shall not be plucked up, nor pulled down, any more for ever.b (3) Chap, xxxii. Jeremiah, in full confidence of his people's restora- tion, redeems some land belonging to his family at Anathoth. In the second year of the siege of Jerusalem (b.c. 587), Jeremiah's cousin comes to him, offering him the redemp- tion of some land belonging to him at Anathoth. Jere- miah, seeing in this a divine sign, or omen, that, though the exile of the nation was imminent, the Jews would still once again possess the soil of Benjamin and Judah, redeems the land, and takes special precautions to ensure the preservation of the title-deeds, vv. 1-15. In w. 16-25 Jeremiah records how his heart afterwards misgave him and in vv. 26-44 how he was reassured by Yahweh. XXXII. ^ The word that came to Jeremiah from Bibl. ii., facing col. 2419-20). The Wady er-Rababi waa in all probability the ancient valley of Hirmom ; and the ' dead bodies ' and ' altar-ashes ' (for this word, meaning lit. ' fat,' see Lev. i. 16, 1 Kings xiii. 3, 5) would be no doubt those of the human sacrifices offered in it to Molech (Jer. vii. 31, xxxii. 35). " On the E. of Jerusalem, a little S. of the modem ' Golden Gate ' (now waUed up), and overlooking the Wady of the Kidron, at the S.E. comer of the Temple Courts (Neh. iii. 28 ; 2 Kings xi. 16—2 Chron. xxiii. 15). b Jerusalem is to be rebuilt, and {v. 40) certain districts on the S.W. and S., outside the old city, and polluted by human sacrifices, are to be included in it. The whole city, thus formed, is to be holy to Yahweh (cf. Joel iii. 17 ; Zeoh. xiv. 20 f.). 13 194 JEREMIAH Yahweh in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebu- chadrezzar. 2 Now at that time the king of Babylon's army was besieging Jerusalem : and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the guard- court,* which was in the king of Judah's house. (3 For'' Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, sapng, ' Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say," " Thus saith Yahweh, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it ; * and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldaeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth,* and his eyes shall behold his eyes ; ^ and unto Babylon shall he lead Zedekiah, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith Yahweh : though * A part of the court surrounding the Palace railed off to guard prisoners in, whom it was not desired to throw into the common dungeon : their friends had free access to them, but they might not pass beyond the area in which they were con- fined. ^ Vv. 3-5 are parenthetical, Zedekiah' a question being in- tended merely to suggest indirectly the reason why Jeremiah was confined in the ' guard-court' (see xxxvii. 21, xxxviii. 13, 28). V. 6 is not to be understood as an answer to Zedekiah's question. ° See xxxvii. 17 ; also xxi. 7, xxxiv. 2-3, xxxviii. 23. ■^ Heb. hi3 mouth shall speak with his mouth (so also xxxiv. 3). CHAPTER XXXII. 2-9 195 ye fight with the Chaldaeans, ye shall not pros- per " ? ') Jeremiah redeems the land belonging to his cousin at Anathoth. ® And Jeremiah said, The word of Yahweh came unto me, saying, ' Behold, Hanamel, the son of Shallum thine uncle, is coming unto thee, saying, ' Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth :" for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.' ^ ^jjj Hanamel mine uncle's son came to me, according to the word of Yahweh, into the guard-court, and said unto me, ' Buy, I pray thee, my field that is in Anathoth [, which is in the land of Benjamin] ■^' for the right of inheritance is thine, and the re- demption is thine ; buy it for thyself.' Then I knew that it" was Yahweh 's word. " And I bought the field of Hanamel mine uncle's son,'* and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. " Jeremiah's native place : see i. 1. •> The bracketed words are not in the Sept., and are probably an explanatory gloss, baaed upon i. 1. There would be no occasion for Hanamel to tell Jeremiah where his own home was. ■= Viz. the presentiment of vv. 6, 7. Jeremiah was only fully convinced that this was Yahweh's word by the arrival of his cousin confirming it. ^ So Sept. The Heb. text adds {here, not after ' field,' as in AV., BV.), that was in Anathoth. 196 JEREMIAH i"And I subscribed the deed,* and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances. ^^ Then I took the purchase-deed, both that which was sealed, (containing) the injunction and the conditions,'' and that which was open : 12 and I gave the purchase-deed unto Baruch" the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel mine uncle's son,'* and in the sight of the witnesses that subscribed the purchase-deed, and° in the sight of all the Jews that sat in the guard- court. ^^ And I charged Baruch in their sight, saying, 1* ' Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : " Take these deeds, this purchase-deed which' is sealed, and this deed which is open ; and put them in an earthen vessel, ^ that they may continue many days."'' ^^ For thus saith Yahweh " Heb. the scroll. ^ Probably technical legal terms, — the ' injunction ' bidding the seller cede possession of the property, and the ' conditions ' (the word usually rendered ' statutes ') stating the terms on which the property was purchased by the buyer. The two words are not in the Sept. ; and it is possible that they were originally an explanatory gloss, written on the margin. " Jeremiah's devoted friend and amanuensis : cf. xxxvi. 4ff., xliii. 3, 6, xlv. '^ So Sept. rightly. The Heb. text has, mine uncle (a word accidentally dropped out). ° So Sept. Syr. Vulg. The Heb. text omits and. ' So Sept. The Heb. text reads by error, and that which. * To secure them against damp, etc. ^ The double deed may perhaps be explained from a Baby- CHAPTER XXXII. 10-18 197 of hosts, the God of Israel : " Houses and fields and vineyards shall yet again be bought in this land." ' Appearances were so strongly against such hopes, that Jeremiah's heart misgave him ; and he casts himself upon Yahweh in prayer. 1^ Now after that I had given the purchase-deed unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto Yahweh, saying,* i' Ah Lord Yahweh ! behold^ thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and by thy stretched out arm ; there is nothing too hard*" for thee : ^^ which shewest kindness unto thousands, and recompensest the Ionian custom. Contracts stamped upon clay tablets have been fovmd, namely, in Babylonia, enclosed in an envelope of clay, on the outside of which an exact duplicate of the contract was impressed (see an illustration in Maspero, The Dawn of Civiliza- tion, p. 732) ; if in course of time any disagreement arose, and it was suspected that the outside text had been tampered with, the envelope was broken in the presence of witnesses to see if the inside text agreed with it or not. Earthen jars containing such duplicate contracts have been excavated at Nippur (Peters, Nippur, ii. 198). * The following prayer consists largely of reminiscences from Deuteronomy and of phrases used elsewhere by Jeremiah. Only a few of the parallels which might be quoted are cited in the notes. *> Or, wonderful. The idea of the Heb. word is separate from the ordinary, exceptional ; and so, either wonderful (2 Sam. i. 26, and frequently), or difficult (as Gen. xviii. 14 ; Deut. xvii. 8). So V. 27. igS JEREMIAH iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them :» the great, the mighty God,^ Yahweh of hosts is his name : i' great in counsel, and mighty in work : whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men ; to give to every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings :" ^^ which didst set signs and portents in the land of Egjrpf* unto this day, and in Israel, and among (other) men ; and madest thee a name,® as at this day ; ^^ and didst bring forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with portents, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror ;' 22 and gavest them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey ; ^^ and they came in, and possessed it ; but they hearkened not unto thy voice, neither walked in thy law, they have done nothing of all that thou com- mandedst them to do ; and so thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them : 2* behold, the » Varied from Deut. v. 96, 10a ( =Ex. xx. 56, Ga). " Cf. Deut. X. 17. " Cf. Jer. xvii. 106. >■ Cf. Deut. vi. 22 ; also the later imitation in Neh. ix. 10. " Cf. 2 Sam. vii. 23, Isa. Ixiii. 12, 14, Neh. ix. 10, Dan. ix. 15 (the same Heb. in each case). ' Cf. Deut. iv. 34. CHAPTER XXXII. 19-30 199 (siege-)moundsa are come imto the city to take it ; and the city is given into the hands of the Chal- daeans that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence : and what thou hast spoken is come to pass ; and, behold, thou seest it. ^^ And thou hast said unto me, Lord Yahweh, ' Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses ; ' whereas the city is given into the hand of the Chaldaeans. Yahweh's reply. Jerusalem has indeed abundantly merited the judgement now breaking upon it. 2* Then came the word of Yahweh unto Jeremiah, saying, ^' Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh : is there any thing too hard for me ? 2^ Therefore thus saith Yahweh : Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldaeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it : ^^ and the Chaldaeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set this city on fire, and burn it, with'' the houses, upon whose roofs" they have burnt incense unto Baal, and poured out drink-offerings unto other gods, in order to vex me.'* ^^ For the children of Israel and the »■ I.e. elevated embankments of earth, carried up to the walls of the hostile city, upon which the besiegers advanced to attack it. Cf. vi. 6, xxxiii. 4, Ez. xvii. 17, etc. I" Heb. and. ■= Cf. xix. 13. ^ Cf. vii. 186, xix. 136. 200 JEREMIAH children of Judah have been doing only that which was evil in my sight from their youth : for the children of Israel are only vexing me with the work of their hands, saith Yahweh. ^^For this city hath been to me a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day ; that I should remove it from before my face : ^^ because of aU the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to vex me, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ^' And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face :* and (though) I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet do they not hearken to receive correction.'' 3* But" they have set their detestable things in the house over which my name hath been called, to defile it. ^^ And they have built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through (the fire) unto Molech ; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination : in order to cause Judah to sin. " Cf. ii. 27. b Cf. ii. 30. ° This and the greater part of the next verse are nearly identical with vii. 30&, 31 ; cf. also xix. 5. CHAPTER XXXII. 31-41 201 Nevertheless, Yahweh will, as He has promised, bring back His people from their exile, and give them a new heart, to serve and please Him continually. ** And now, therefore thus saith Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say,» ' It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence ' : 3' Behold, I will gather them out of aU the countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath ; and I will bring them back unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely : ^^ and they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God : ^^ and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me always ; that it may be well with them, and with their children after them 'fi *" and I wiU make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn back from them," to do them good ; and my fear will I put in their heart, that it turn not away ii from me. *i And I will rejoice over them to do them good;® and I will plant^ them in this land in faithfulness, 8 with my whole heart and with my whole soul. » The Sept. has, thou sayeat (cf. v. 24). b Cf. Deut. v. 29. " Heb. from after them. <■ Cf. Deut. xvii. 17. "= Cf. Deut. xxviii. 63 ; xxx. 9, ' Cf. Jer. xxxi. 28. 8 Cf. Hos. ii. 20. 202 JEREMIAH And fields and houses will again be lougU and sold by Jews in the lands of Benjamin and Judah. *2 For thus saith Yahweh : Like as I have brought upon this people all this great evU, so will I bring* upon them all the good that I do promise them. *^ And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say,'' ' It is desolate, without man or beast ; it is given into the hand of the Chaldaeans.' ** Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe the deeds, and seal them, and take witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places -about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South ;■= for I will bring back their captivity, saith Yahweh. (4) Chap, xxxiii. Further promises of futiire restoration. XXXIII. 1 And the word of Yahweh came unto Jeremiah a second time, while he was yet shut up in the guard-court, saying, ^ Thus saith Yahweh that doeth it,'' Yahweh that formeth" it to estabhsh " Heb. am I bringing. •> The Sept. has, thou sayest ; cf. u. 36. " Cf. xvii. 26 ; also, for the general promise, xxxiii. 13. ^ I.e. His purposes, as described in xxxii. 42-44. Cf. the * it ' in Isa. xxii. 11, xxxvii. 26. " Viz. as a potter, fig. for frameth, planneth. So xviii. 1 1 al. CHAPTERS XXXII. 42-XXXIII. 7 203 it ; Yahweh is his name : ^ ' Call unto me, and I will answer thee ; and I will declare unto thee great things, and difficult*, which thou knowest not.' *For thus saith Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down (to make a defence) against the mounds,'' and against the sword : ^ (Though) the Chaldaeans are coming to fight," and to fill them with the dead bodies of the men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city ; ^ behold, I am bringing up upon her fresh flesh^ and healing, and I will heal her® ; and I will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and stabihty.' ' And I will bring back the captivity of Judah and the captivity "■ Heb. cut off, i.e. inaccessible, or unattainable (cf. Gen. xi. 6, where ' withholden ' is properly cut off, as here). Perhaps, however, changing one letter, we ought to read, hidden (see Isa. xlviii. 6). '' See on xxxii. 24. ° So, omitting a particle of two letters. There is some error in the text here, which cannot be certainly corrected. The existing Heb. text reads, (They) are coming to fight with the Chaldaeans, and to fill, etc., which cannot be right. * See on viii. 22 ; and cf. xxx. 17. ° So Sept. The Heb. text has, them. ' Cf. xiv. 13 (note), xxxix. 8 (' peace and stability ' :m here) ; also, though the Heb. word is diiierent, Isa. xxxiii. (i. 204 JEREMIAH of Israel, and I will build them up, as at the first.* ^ And I win cleanse them*' from aU their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me ; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned against me, and whereby they have trans- gressed against me. ^ And she" shall be to me for a name of joy, for a praise, and for a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I am doing unto them : and they shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I procure unto her. The land now desolate will then he re-inhabited ; and the signs of joy and life will be manifest everywhere in it. 1" Thus saith Yahweh : Yet again there shall be heard in this place, whereof ye say,"! ' Jt jg -w^aste, without man and without beeist,' even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabit- ant and without beast, ^^ 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 say, "■ I.e. as in former times, as of old. Cf. Isa. i. 26. b Cf. Ezek. xxxvi. 25. " I.e. Jerusalem. With the next words cf . xiii. 1 1. Cf. xxxii. 43. ' The reversal of vii. 34, xvi. 9, xxv. 10. CHAPTER XXXIII. 8-14 205 Give thanks unto Yahweh of hosts, for Yahweh is good, for his mercy endureth for ever,'* and that bring (sacrifices of) thanksgiving unto the house of Yahweh.b For I will bring back the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith Yahweh. 1^ Thus saith Yahweh of hosts : Yet again shall there be in this place, which is waste, without man or beast, and in all the cities thereof, an homestead of shepherds causing their fiocks to lie down. ^^ In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusa- lem, and in the cities of Judah," shall the flocks again pass along* at the hands° of him that counteth them, saith Yahweh. A promise of the ideal king or ' Messiah,^ and of the perpetual permanence both of the Davidic dynasty, and of the Levitical priesthood. Vv. 14-15 are repeated, with slight variations, from xxiii. 5-6. The entire section, vv. 14-26, is not in the Sept. 1* Behold, the days are coming, saith Yahweh "■ A liturgical invocation, common in the later Psalms (Ps. cvi. 1, cvii. 1, cxviii. 1, 29, cxxxvi. 1-3, 26, — the third clause, also, elsewhere, as Ps. cxxxvi. 4-25). n Cf. xvii. 26. <= Of. xxxii. 44. ■i Cf. Lev. xxvii. 32. e Heb. according to the hands (i.e. at the direction) ; cf. v. 31. ;o6 JEREMIAH that I will perform that good thing* which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. 1^ In those days, and at that time, will I cause a shoot of righteousness to spring forth unto David ; and he shall execute judgement and righteousness in the land. ^^ In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely ; and this is (the name) whereby she shall be called, ' Yahweh is our righteousness.''' ^' For thus saith Yahweh : David shall never want a man to sit", upon the throne of the house of Israel ; ^^ neither shall the priests the Levites^ want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to burn oblations and to do sacrifice continually .« " Cf. xxix. 10 ; also Josh. xxi. 45, xxiii. 14, 15 (' have pro- mised ' here is lit. ' have spoken,' as in these passages). ■> The name expressive of the ideal character which the nation will then display, which in xxiii. 6 (see the note there) was applied to the future ideal king, is applied here to the future city (cf. the symbolical name ' Yahweh is there,' Ez. xlviii. 35). " Heb. There shall not be cut off unto David a man sitting, etc. Cf. 1 Kings ii. ib,' ix. 56 (both 'passages belonging to the Deu- teronomic compiler), where the thought and (in the Heb.) the expression are both similar. ■* I.e. the priests of the tribe of Levi, the Levitical priests, — a Deuteronomic expression. See Deut. xvii. 9, 18, xviii. 1 xxiv. 8, xxvii. 9, Josh. iii. 3, viii. 33 ; also Ez. xliii. 19, xliv. is' ' Heb. neither shall there he cut off unto the priests the Levites a man from before me, offering . . ., and burning . . ., and . . Cf. 1 Kings viii. 25.RVm. CHAPTER XXXIII. 15-25 207 A renewed promise of the permanence of the Davidic dynasty, and the Levitical priesthood. ^' And the word of Yahweh came unto Jeremiah, saying, ^° Thus saith Yahweh : If ye can break my covenant with the day, and my covenant with the night," so that there should not be day and night in their season ; ^^ then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne ; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. ^^ As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured ; so wiU I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me. Yahweh will never cast off His people, or bring to an end the rule of the seed of David. 23 And the word of Yahweh came unto Jeremiah, saying, ^* Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, ' The two families which Yahweh hath chosen, he hath even cast them off ' ? and they contemn my people, that it should be no more a nation before me.* ^s Thus ° saith » So Sept. (Luc), Syr. Theod. Vulg. The Heb. text inserts by error, and. " So Sept. (Luc), Syr. Targ.^ (xxxi. 36). The Heb. text has, before them (in which case ' this people ' in the first line of V. 24 must, contrary to usage, be a heathen people). ■= With w. 25, 26a of. xxxi. 30 f. 2o8 JEREMIAH Yahweh : If my covenant with day and night [stand]* not, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth ; ^^ then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob : for I will turn^ their captivity, and have compassion on them. "• A word seems to have fallen out in the Heb. •> So the Heb. text. The Heb. margin has, hring hack. CHAPTER XXXIV Incidents during the siege of Jerusalena by the Chaldaeans (B.C. 588-6). (1) Jeremiah declares to Zedekiah the issue of the siege, and the king's own future fate. XXXIV. ^ The word which came unto Jeremiah from Yahweh, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Baby- lon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the land of his dominion, and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying : ^ Thus saith Yahweh, the God of Israel, Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and say unto him. Thus saith Yahweh, Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire : * and thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and dehvered into his hand ; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth,* and unto Babylon shalt thou come. * Only hear the word of Yahweh, Zedekiah king • Heb. his mouth shall speak with thy mouth : cf. xxxii. 4. ao9 14 210 JEREMIAH of Judah : Thus saith Yahweli concerning thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword : ^^ thou shalt die in peace ;i* and as at'' the burnings for thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn (odours) for thee ;" and ' Ah lord ! ' shall they wail for thee ; for I have spoken the word, saith Yahweh. * And Jeremiah the prophet spake aU these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, ' when the king of Babylon's army was fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, namely, against Lachish,'^ and against Azekah^ : for these (alone) remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities. (2) The people, when the siege began, had sworn solemnly to obey the law, and emancipate their Hebrew slaves, but had afterwards, when the siege was temporarily raised, disowned the obligation. ^ The word that came unto Jeremiah from * Zedekiah, in fact, died in prison in Babylon after having had his eyes put out by Nebuchadrezzar at Riblah (in Coele-Syria, on the N. of Palestine) : see Jer. lii. 11. •> So Sept. Syr. Vulg. The Heb. text has, and with. (The change in the Heb. is extremely small.) " See 2 Chron. xvi. 14, xxi. 19. '' Now Tell el-Hesy, about 35 miles S.W. of Jerusalem. ' Not identified; but probably (cf. 1 Sam. xvii. 1) about 15 rnijes S.W. of Jorusalom, CHAPTER XXXIV. 5-14 211 Yahweh, after that king Zedekiah had made a cove- nant with all the people which were in Jerusa- lem, to proclaim liberty unto them ; * that every man should let his bondman/ and every man his bondmaid,* being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free ;'' that none should use a Jew his brother as a slave, i" And all the princes and all the people obeyed, which had entered into the covenant, that every one should let his bondman, and every one his bondmaid, go free, that none should use them as slaves any more ; they obeyed, and let them go : 11 but afterwards they turned, and caused the bondmen and the bondmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for bondmen and for bondmaids. Jeremiah rebukes them for their disrespect towards Yahweh, and breach of faith. ^2 And the word of Yahweh came to Jere- miah from Yahweh, saying, ^^ Thus saith Yahweh, the God of Israel : / made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage,'^ saying, "1 ^* ' At the end of seven years ye shall let " I.e. male and female slaves. ■^ See the law referred to in Deut. xv. 12. ° Heb. house of bondmen (or slaves). So always. •^ See Deut. xv. 12. 212 JEREMIAH go every man his brother that is an Hebrew, which shall be sold unto thee, and shall have served thee six years ; thou shalt let him go free from thee : ' but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. ^^ And ye did now turn, and do that which was right in mine eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour ; and ye made a covenant before me in the house over which my name hath been called :* ^^ but ye turned again and profaned my name.^J and caused every man his bondman, and every man his bondmaid, whom ye had let go free at their pleasure,"' to return ; and ye brought them into subjection, to be unto you for bondmen and for bondmaids. Yahweh will emancipate them from His own service and 'protection unto destruction ; and the Ghaldaeans will ere long return, and take the city. ^' Therefore thus saith Yahweh : Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neigh- ' See on vii. 10. '' Viz., by disowning the agreement which had been solemnly sworn to in the Temple. " Hob. according to their soul (i.e. their desire : see xxii. 27 with the note). The same expression is in Deut. xxi. 14 ren- dered, ' let her go whither she will.' CHAPTER XXXIV. 15-21 213 bour : behold, I proclaim to you a liberty, saith Yahweh, unto the sword, unto the pestilence, and unto the famine ; and I will make you a consterna- tion* to all the kingdoms of the earth. ^^ And I will give the men that have transgressed my cove- nant,'' which have not performed the words of the covenant'' which they made before me, when they cut the calf in twain,'^ and passed between the parts thereof,' ^^ the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and aU the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf ; ^^ I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life : and their dead bodies shall be for food unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth, ^i And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which * See XV. 4. ■> The covenant oi v. 13 f . " The covenant of vv. 8, 10, 15. "* So, transposing a word. The Heb. text has, the calf which they cut in twain. ° A ceremony by which a covenant or agreement was symbolic- ally ratified (cf. Gen. xv. 10, 17) : the contracting parties passed between the divided pieces of the victim, invoking upon themselves a similar fate if they failed to fulfil the stipulated conditions. 214 JEREMIAH are gone up from you.* ^^ Behold, I will command, saith Yahweh, and cause them to return to this city ; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire : and the cities of Judah will I make a desolation, without inhabitant. ' I.e. which have raised the siege. See xxxvii. 5 ; and cf . on xxi. 2. CHAPTER XXXV Jeremiah and the Rechabites. Towards the close of the reign of Jehoiakim, in conse- quence of the territory of Judah being overrun by maraud- ing bands of Chaldaeans, Syrians, and others, the family of the Rechabites, wlao had hitherto lived a nomad life in tents, took refuge in Jerusalem ; and Jeremiah, from the example of their staunch adherence to the precepts of their ancestor, points a lesson for his own countrymen. XXXV. ^ The word which came unto Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ^ Go unto the house of the Rechabites,* and speak with them, and bring them into the house of Yahweh, into one of the chambers,'' and give them wine to drink. * Then " The Rechabites were a subdivision of the Kenites (1 Chron. ii. 55), a nomad tribe early associated with Israel, settled after- wards in the S. of Judah (Jud. i. 16, 1 Sam. xv. 6, cf. xxvii. 10). >> The ' chambers ' arranged round the courts of the Temple, and used partly as storehouses, partly as residences for the priests, etc. See Ez. xl. 17, 38, 45, 46, etc.; 2 Kings xxiii. 11 ; 1 Chron. ix. 26 ; Neh. x. 37-39 ; Jer. xxxvi. 12. 215 2i6 JEREMIAH I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites ; * and I brought them into the house of Yahweh, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, that was above the chamber of Maaseiah* the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold'' : ^ and I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, ' Drink ye wine.' ^ But they said, ' We will drink no wine : for Jonadab the son of Rechab," our father, commanded us, saying, " Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons, for ever : ' neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vine- yard, nor have any : but all your days ye shall dwell in tents ; that ye may live many days in the land wherein ye be sojourners." ^ And we have hearkened to the voice of Jehonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine aU our days, we, our wives, our sons, " Probably the Maaseiah who was father of the priest Zephaniah, mentioned in xxi. 1, xxix. 25 (where see the note), XXX vii. 3. i" One of the three ' keepers of the threshold,' i.e., probably, of the three gates of the Temple. Their ofBce was an important one ; and the holders of it ranked next to the chief priest and his deputy : see lii. 24 ; and of. 2 Kings xii. 9. " See 2 Kings x. 15, 23. CHAPTER XXXV. 4-15 217 nor our daughters ; " nor to build houses for us to dwell in : nor to have vineyard, nor field, nor seed : '" but we have dwelt in tents, and have hearkened and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. ^^ But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, " Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldaeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians*," so we dweU in Jerusalem.' 1^ Then came the word of Yahweh unto Jeremiah saying, i* Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : Go, and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction^ to hearken to my words ? saith Yah- weh. 1* The words of Jehonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons,'not to drink wine, are performed ; and they drink none unto this day, for they hearken unto their father's commandment : but I have spoken unto you, rising up early and speaking ; and ye have not hearkened unto me. 1^ I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ' Return, I pray you, every man from his evil way, " Heb. (as always) Aram (c£. Gen. xxv. 20 RVm. ; Jud. x. 6 RVm.). For the fact referred to, see 2 Kings xxiv. 2. •> Or, correction (of. xvii. 23). 2i8 JEREMIAH and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers" : ' but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me. ^* For the sons of Jehonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them ; but this people hath not hearkened unto me. i' Therefore thus saith Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel : Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and upon aU the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them : because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heark- ened ; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered. ^^ But unto the house of the Rechabites said Jeremiah, Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : Because ye have hearkened unto the commandment of Jehonadab your father, and kept all his commandments, and done accord- ing unto all that he commanded you ; ^^ therefore thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand'' before me" for ever. " A summary, in Jeremiah's phraseology (of. xviii. 11, xxv. 5, 6), of the teaching of former prophets. ■■ Heb. there shall not he cut off unto Jonadab the son of Eechah a man standing, etc. : cf. xxxiii. 17. " I.e. to servo me : see 1 Kings x. 8 ; and cf. Jer. xv. in. CHAPTER XXXVI. How Jeremiah's prophecies were first cwjmmitted to writing. In the fourth year of JehoiaJcim (b.c. 604), Jeremiah is commanded to write down all the prophecies which had been uttered by him during the past twenty-three years.'^ XXXVI. ^ And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, ^ Take thee a roll of a book, and write on it all the words that I have spoken unto thee con- cerning Israel,'' and concerning Judah, and con- cerning aU the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. 3 It may be that the house of Judah wiU hear all the evil which I am purposing to do unto them ; that "• See XXV. 3 (cf. the date in xxv. 1). •■ Sept. has, JemsaUm, probably rightly : for Jeremiah addresses Israel {i.e., by the side of 'Judah', the N. kingdom) only with promises {m.. 6-18, xxxi. 2-22) ; and these would not subserve the purpose of the roU, as suggested by v. 3. 219 220 JEREMIAH they may return every man from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. He dictates them accordingly to Baruch, and directs him to read them publicly in the Temple. * Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah ; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Yahweh, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book. ^ And Jeremiah com- manded Baruch, saying, ' I am detained ;^ I cannot go into the house of Yahweh : ^ therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of Yahweh in the ears of the people in Yahweh's house upon a fast day : and thou shalt read them also in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities. ' It may be they will present their suppHcation'' before Yahweh, and will return every one from his evil way : for great is the anger and the fury that Yahweh hath pronounced against this people.' ^ And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to aU that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of Yahweh in Yahweh's house.= '^ Probably by some ceremonial uncleanness. For the word, cf. 1 Sam. xxi. 7. '' Heb. their supplication will fall. Cf. for the expression xxxvii. 20, xxxviii. 26, xlii. 2, 9, Dan. ix. 18, 20. ° F. 8 is a summary statement of what is described with more particulars in vv. 9-10. CHAPTER XXXVI. 4-10 221 In the following year Baruch reads the roll in the Temple. Some of the princes, hearing of its contents, have it read again to them- selves, and resolve then to inform Jehoiakim about it. 8 And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoia- kim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month," that all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people that came from the cities of Judah into Jerusalem, proclaimed a fast before Yahweh. 1" Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of Yahweh, in the chamber of Gemariah, son of Shaphan the (king's) secretary,'' in the upper court," at the entry of the new gate"! of Yahweh's house, in the ears of all the people. " I.o. the later Chisleu(Neh. i. 1), corresponding to our Decem- ber (cf. V. 22). The Hebrew year at this time began in spring. ■^ Heb. the scribe. The king's ' scribe,' or, as we should say, secretary (1 Kings iv. 3 al., RVm.), was an important minister of state : see 1 Kings iv. 3, 2 Kings xii. 10, Isa. xxxvii. 2. It was the secretary, Shaphan, here mentioned, who, 18 years before, brought and read Deuteronomy to Josiah, after it had been discovered by the high priest, Hilkiah, in the Temple : see 2 Engs xxii. 3, 8, 9-11, 12, 14. Gemariah was the brother of Ahikam, who had befriended Jeremiah a few years previously (xxvi. 24). " I.e. (as it is elsewhere called, e.g. 1 Kings vi. 36, vii. 12) the inner court (for the Temple was built on the highest part of Zion). Cf. on xx. 2. d See on chap. xxvi. 10. 222 JEREMIAH " And when Micaiah, the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of Yahweh, ^^ he went down'' to the king's house, into the secretary's chamber : and, lo, all the princes were sitting there, even Elishama the secretary, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor,'' and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the (other) princes. ^*And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people. ^* Then all the princes sent Jehudi, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, ' Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people, and go.' So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and came unto them. ^^ And they said unto him, ' Sit down, now, and read it in our ears.' So Baruch read it in their ears. ^^ And it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, that they turned in fear one toward other, and said unto Baruch, ' We will surely tell the king of all these words.' I'And they asked Baruch, saying, 'Tell us, now. How didst thou write all these words at " Viz. from the Temple. See the note on xxii. 1. " Cf. xxvi. 22. CHAPTER XXXVI. 11-22 223 his mouth«'? ' " And Baruch said unto them, ' He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.' 18 Then said the princes unto Baruch, ' Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah ; and let no man know where ye be.' 2" And they went in to the king into the courtb ; but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the secretary : and they told all these" things in the ears of the king. Jehoialcim orders the roll to he brought and read before him. Enraged by its contents, he cuts it in pieces, and hums it in the fire. 21 So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll : and he took it out of Elishama the secretary's chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside* the king. 2^ Now the king was sitting in the winter- "■ The Sept. omits at Ms mouth, — perhaps rightly, as the words seem to anticipate ' with his mouth ' in i>. 18. >> I.e. the open inner court of the palace. But as this seems to agree badly with v. 22, many moderns, with a slight change, read, into the cabinet (see 1 Kings i. 15, where the same word is rendered ' chamber ' ). " So Sept. Targ. The Heb. text has, the. ■^ I.e. who were in attendance on him (cf. Jud. iii. 19 end). 224 JEREMIAH house* : and the fire'' on the brasier was burning before him. ^^ And it came to pass, that as often as Jehudi read three or four columns, he cut them' with a penknife/ and flung (them) into the fire that was on the brasier, until all the roU was con- sumed in the fire that was on the brasier. ^* And they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words, ^s Yet Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll : but he hearkened not to them. ^^ And the king com- manded Jerahmeel the king's son,® and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to fetch Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet : but Yahweh hid them. " So Sept. The Heb. text adds, in the ninth month, which is here superfluous, and is probably a gloss based upon v. 9, and intended to explain why the king should be in the winter-house. '' So, with a change of one letter. (The Heb. as it stands contains a grammatical solecism.) " So Sept. The Heb. text has, it. (The tense of the verb rendered ' he out ' implies repeated action. ) '' Heb. a scribe's knife. ° I.e., probably, a royal prince, one who had a king among his ancestors, but not necessarily a, son of the reigning king. So xxxviii. 6, 1 Kings xxii. 266, and esp. Zeph. i. 8 (written at a time when the reigning Icing, Josiah, could not have had a grown-up ' son ' ). CHAPTER XXXVI. 23-31 225 Jeremiah is commanded to rewrite the roll of his prophecies ; and to announce to Jehoiakim the failure of his dynasty and his own ignominious death. ^' Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch had written at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, ^^ Take thee again another roll, and write on it all the former words that were on the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned. ^^ And to Jehoiakim king of Judah thou shalt say. Thus saith Yahweh : Thou hast burned this roU, saying, ' Why hast thou written therein, saying, " The king* of Babylon shall cer- tainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from it man and beast " ? ' ^^ Therefore thus saith Yahweh concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah : He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David : and his dead body shall be flung forth^ in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. *^And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity;" and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I * Of. XXV. 9, 10 (not a verbal quotation). » Of. xxii. 19. " Heb. visit upon him, and upon his seed, etc., their iniquity. 15 226 JEREMIAH have pronounced against them, but they hearkened not. The roll, with many additions, is reivritten by Baritch at Jeremiah's dictation. 32 Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah ; who wrote thereon from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire ; and there were added besides unto them many like words. CHAPTERS XXXVII-XXXVIII 28" The personal history of Jeremiah diiring the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldaeans (b.o. 588-6) : his arrest on a charge of deserting to the enemy ; his confinement, first in a dungeon in the house of Jonathan, the king's secretary, then in the guard-court, after that, in an underground cistern, and lastly in the guard-court again ; and his interviews with Zedekiah. IntrodvMory note on the accession and 'policy of Zedekiah (b.c. 597-586). XXXVII. * And Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had made king in the land of Judah, reigned as king, instead of Coniah* the son of Jehoiakim. " But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of Yahweh, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah. The Chaldaeans being obliged to raise the siege, Jeremiah, in reply to an enquiry addressed to him by the king, declares that they will soon return and take the city. * And king Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of » See xxii. 24. 227 228 JEREMIAH Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest," to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ' Pray, now, for us unto Yahweh our God.' * Now Jere- miah was still coming in and going out among the people : for they had not yet put him into prison.'' ^ And Pharaoh's army" was come forth out of Egypt ; and when the Chaldaeans that were be- sieging Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they brake up from Jerusalem. * Then came the word of Yahweh unto Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ' Thus saith Yahweh, the God of Israel : Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me. Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. ^ And the Chaldaeans shall come again, and fight against this city ; and they shall take it, and burn it with fire. * Thus saith Yahweh : Deceive not your- selves,^ saying, ' The Chaldaeans wiU surely depart from us ' : for they will not depart. ^'' For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldaeans that fight against you, and there were left but wounded men® among them, yet would they rise ' See xxi. 1 ; xxix. 25. ^ See ti. 15. " The army sent by Pharaoh Hophra (xliv. 30). ■* Heb. your sovla. ' Heb. men thrust through ; cf. li. 4. CHAPTER XXXVII. 4-15 229 up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire. He is arrested as a deserter ; and thrown into a dungeon in the house of Jonathan, the king^s secretary. 11 And it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldaeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army, ^^ Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to take his portion* thence in the midst of the people. ^^ And it came to pass, as he was in the Ben- jamin-gate,'' that a sentinel" was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hana niah ; and he laid hold on Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ' Thou art falling away'' to the Chaldaeans.' 1* Then said Jeremiah, ' It is false ; I am not falling away to the Chaldaeans ' ; but he hearkened not to him : so Irijah laid hold on Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes. ^^ And the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the "■ I.e. to receive an inheritance. The Hebrew is peculiar. ^ A gate on the N. wall of the city, leading into the territory of Benjamin. ° Or, an officer. Heb. a possessor of oversight. * I.e. deserting. 230 JEREMIAH secretary :» for they had made that the prison. 1* Thusb Jeremiah came into the dungeon house, and into the cells ; and Jeremiah remained there many days. Jeremiah tells Zedekiah that he will fall into the hands of the Ghaldaeans. He is removed from the dungeon, and placed in honour- able confinement in the guard-court, adjoining the royal palace. 1' Then king Zedekiah sent, and fetched him : and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, ' Is there any word from Yahweh ? ' And Jeremiah said, ' There is.' And he said, ' Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.' ^^ And Jeremiah said unto king Zede- kiah, ' Wherein have I sinned against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison ? ^^ And where are your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, " The king of Babylon shall not come against you,« nor against this land " ? 2" And now hear, I pray * Shaphan, who was 'secretary' 17 years before, under Jehoiachin (xxxvi. 10), was thus no longer in office. If he was not dead, he may have been carried off to Babylon with Jehoiachin and the other ministers in 597 (xxiv. 1). ' Heb. For (a letter miswritten. The same error in 1 Sam. ii. 21 : see RVm.). "= Of. xxvui. 2, 11. CHAPTERS XXXVII. 16-XXXVIII.2 231 thee, my lord the king : let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted* before thee, and cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the secre- tary, lest I die there.' ^^ Then king Zedekiah commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the guard-court,'' and they gave him daily a loaf" of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the guard-court. Jeremiah is accused before Zedekiah of high treason ; and cast into a disused underground cistern, in the house of one of the royal princes. XXXVIII. 1 And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal* the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur^the son of Malchiah', heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking unto all the people, saying,',^ ' Thus saith Yahweh, He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence : but he that goeth forth to the Chaldaeans shall live, and his " Heb. let my supplication fall. Cf. on xxxvi. 7. ■j Seeonxxxii. 2. ° Heb. a round, i.e. a circular cake. '' Called Jehucal in xxxvii. 3. ' See xxi. 1. ' See XX.. 9, 06. /. 232 JEREMIAH life shall be unto him for a prey, and he shall live. * Thus saith Yahweh, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, and he shall take it.' * And the princes said unto the king, ' Let this man, we pray thee, be put to death ; forasmuch as he weakeneth the hands of» the men of war that are left in this city, and the hands of aU the people, in speaking such words unto them : for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.' ^ And king Zedekiah said, ' Behold, he is in your hand : for the king is not able to do any thing against you.''' * Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the cistern" of Malchiah the king's son,* that was in the guard- court : and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the cistern there was no water, but mire ; and Jeremiah sank in the mire. " I.e. discourages. ' Weakeneth ' is lit., causes to drop down slackly : cf. the corresponding jadjective, e.g. in Is. xxxv. 3, ' strengthen ye the weak (or slack) hands.' '' The Sept., omitting one letter, has, perhaps rightly, ' Behold, he is in your hand ' ; for the king was not able to do anything against them. ■= An underground pit, such as most houses in Jerusalem had, for the storage of water. ■i See on xxxvi. 26. CHAPTER XXXVIII. 3-11 233 Ebed-melech, a foreign eunuch employed in the palace, obtains permission from Zedekiah to remove Jeremiah from the cistern. ' And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, an eunuch, which was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern ; the king then sitting in the Benjamin-gate.* ^ And Ebed-melech went forth out of the king's house, and spake to the king, saying, ' ' My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the cistern ; and he will die'' in the place where he is" because of the famine : for there is no more bread in the city.' i" Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, ' Take from hence thirty* men with thee,« and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern, before he die.' ^^So Ebed- melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king underneath the treasury,' and took thence torn and tattered rags, and let them " See xxxvil. 13. •> So, omitting one letter. The Heb. text has, and he has died. " Or, on the spot. Cf. the same expression in 2 Sam. ii. 23. ■' Read probably, with a change of one letter, three. (The grammatical construction of ' thirty ' is anomalous ; and the number is also greater than is probable for the purpose men- tioned). ° Heb. in thy hand ; cf. In the Heb. 1 Sam. xiv. 34, xvi. 2. ' Into what must have been used as a lumber-room. 234 JEREMIAH down by cords into the cistern to Jeremiah. 13 And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jere- miah, ' Put now the torn and tattered rags under thine arm-holes under the cords.' And Jeremiah did so. " So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the cistern : and Jeremiah remained in the guard-court. Zedekiah again consults Jeremiah secretly ; and is again told by him that his only hope of safety is to surrender Jerusalem to the Chaldaeans. 1* Then king Zedekiah sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of Yahweh : and the king said unto Jeremiah, ' I wUl ask thee a thing ; hide nothing from me.' ^^ And Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, ' If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death ? and if I give thee coimsel, thou wilt not hearken unto me.' i° So king Zedekiah sware unto Jeremiah secretly, saying, ' As Yahweh liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.' i' Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, ' Thus saith Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel : If thou goest forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul will live, CHAPTER XXXVIII. 12-22 235 and this city will not be burned with fire ; and thou wilt live, thou, and thine house : ^^ but if thou goest not forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then will this city be given into the hand of the Chaldaeans, and they will burn it with fire, and thou wilt not escape out of their hand.' ^' And king Zedekiah said unto Jeremiah, ' I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen away to the Chaldaeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.' ^^ But Jeremiah said, ' They will not deliver thee. Hearken, I beseech thee, to the voice of Yahweh, in that which I speak unto thee : so shall it be well with thee, and thy soul shall live. ^^ But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that Yahweh hath shewed me» : *' ' And, behold, all the women that were left*" in the king of Judah's house were brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, while they said : " Thy friends have set thee on, and have pre- vailed over thee : " Thy feet are sunk in the swamp, they" are turned away back." * Viz. in a vision : of. xxiv. 1. The vision was of the women leaving the palace, and addressing the king in the mocking words of V. 226. •> For many had been carried away eleven years previously with Jehoiaohin. " I.e. thy friends. The Sept., however, vocalizing one word 236 JEREMIAH 2» ' And all thy wives and thy children shall they bring out to the Chaldaeans ; and thou shalt not escape out of their hand : but thou shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon : and this city shall be burned* with fire.' Zedekiah enjoins Jeremiah not to say anything to the princes about the conversation which they had had together. 2* Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, ' Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die. 25 But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, " TeU us, now, what thou hast said unto the king : hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death : also what the king said unto thee " : 2® then thou shalt say unto them, " I was presenting my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there." ' differently, renders more clearly, avoiding the change of subject, They have made thy feet to sink in the swamp. The meaning is : Zedekiah's friends, i.e. his misguided counsellors, have led him, against his own judgement, into a hopeless struggle with the Chaldaeana, and then, when he was in difficulties, turned back and deserted him. " So Sept. Syr. Targ. Vulg. The Heb. text has, and thou shalt burn this city. CHAPTER XXXVIll. 23-28 237 2' Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him : and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him ;* for the matter'' was not perceived. ^^ So Jeremiah abode in the guard-court until the day that Jerusalem was taken. " Heb. were silent from him. ^ I.e. the details of Zedekiah's conversation with him. CHAPTERS XXXVIII 28b, XXXIX 3, 14 The favour shown to Jeremiah by the Ghaldaeans after the capture of Jerusalem. He is entrusted to the care of Oedaliah, son of his friend Ahikam (xxvi. 24), and allowed to retire to his own home. The narrative is interrupted by particulars respecting the capture of the city, and incidents following it (xxxix. 1-2, 4-13 : see the notes on w. 1 and 4). And it came to pass, when Jerusalem was taken, — XXXIX. \} Ina the ninth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchad- rezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and besieged it ; ^ in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city], — ^ that all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, * Vv. 1-2 interrupt the connexion, — not only (in «. 1) going back to the beginning of the siege, but being inserted in the middle of a sentence, — in a manner which shows that they must originally have been a marginal gloss on the words ' Jerusalem was taken,' added to explain how this came about. In sub- stance the verses are an abridgement of 2 Kings xxv. l-3o, 4a ( — Jer. lii. 4-6o, 7o). 238 CHAPTER XXXIX. 1-4 239 and sat» in the middle gate, even Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, Rab-saris,* Nergal-shar- ezer, Rab-mag,* and all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon. [* And" it came to pass, when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, that they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, by the gate be- tween the two walls ;•* and he went f orth^ by the way ' I.e. held a solemn session for judgement. *> Titles of officers. ' Rab-saris ' appears to be the Heb. form of an Assyrian title, meaning ' Chief of the heads {or princes).' ° Vv. 4-13 are omitted in the Sept., probably rightly. Vv. 4-10, containing particulars of what happened after the capture of the city, — in fact (see 2 Kings xxv. S—Jer. Hi. 12) a month afterwards, — are abridged from 2 Kings xxv. 4 (second and following clauses), 6-7, 9-12, in the purer and more original text preserved in Jer. lii. 7, 8-11, 13-16. The verses were probably (like w. 1, 2J inserted where they now stand, long after the rest of the narrative was completed. It is doubtful also whether vv. 11—13 form part of the original narrative here ; not only are they also absent in the Sept., but v. 11 and w. 13 both attach badly to o. 3 ; Nebuzaradan, the principal officer in w. 11, 13, is not mentioned at all in v. 3, and Jer. lii. 12 shows that he did not come to Jerusalem till a month after the city had been taken. What we expect to find after xxxviii. 28a is an account of what happened to Jeremiah after the capture of Jerusalem; and this is contained in xxxviii. 286, xxxix. 3, 14. ^ On the S. of the city (the ' king's garden ' was near the pool of Siloam, Neh. iii. 15), probably the ' fountain gate ' of Neh. ii. 14, iii. 15, xii. 37; the 'two walls' (cf. Is. xxii. 11) being those below this gate along the W. side of the E. hill of Jerusalem, and the E. side of the W. hiU. " Jer. lii. 7 has, and they went. 240 JEREMIAH to the Arabah.* ^ But the army of the Chal- daeans pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the steppes of Jericho : and they took him, and carried him up unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon to Riblah'' in the land of Hamath ; and he gave judgement upon him." * And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah be- fore his eyes ; and all the nobles of Judah did the king of Babylon slay. '' And he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon. ^ And the king's house, and the houses^ of the people, the Chaldaeans burned with fire, and the walls of Jerusalem they brake down. ' And the residue of the people that were left in the city, and the deserters that had fallen away to him, and the residue of the artificers® that were left, did Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carry into exile to Babylon. i<* But of the poor people, which had nothing, did Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, leave in the land of Judah ; and he " I.e. the deep valley through which the Jordan flowed, and in which the Dead Sea lay. Cf. Deut. i. 1 (RVm.), iii. 17. b Now Bibleh, between the ranges of Lebanon and Hermon, about 100 miles N. of Dan, and 60 miles S. of Hamath. Heb. spake judgements with him. See on i. 16. ^ So Iii. 13. The Heb. text here has, house. " So Iii. 16. The Heb. text has here (by error from two lines above), people. CHAPTER XXXIX. 5-14 241 gave them vineyards and fields* at the same time. 11 And Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, sajdng, ^^ ' Take him, and look ^well to him,'' and do him no harm ; but do imto him even as he shall say unto thee.' ^' So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushazban, Rab-saris, and Nergal-sharezer, Rab- ma'g, and all the chief officers of the king of Baby- lon.] 1* And theyo sent and fetched Jeremiah out of the guard-court, and gave him unto Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan,'' that he should take him out® home : so he dwelt among the people. " The meaning of the Heb. word is doubtful. '' Heb, set thine eyes upon him : of. xl. 4. " I.e., if vv. 11-13 are omitted with the [Sept., the ofScers mentioned in v. 3. Otherwise, ' And they eent ' will resume, in Hebrew fashion (see e.g. xxviii. 6), the 'sent ' of v. 13. a Gedaliah was thus son of the Ahikam, who, some twenty years before (xxvi. _24), had been instrumental in saving Jere- miah's life. 1 Viz. from the precincts of the palace, in which the guard- court was. i6 242 JEREMIAH Jeremiah, in YahweVs name, promises safety to Ehed-melech, who had rescued him from the cis- tern (xxxviii. 7-13), in the day when Jerusalem is taken. Vv. 15-18 form evidently a supplement to ch. xxxviii. They relate to a period anterior in date to the capture of Jerusalem (xxxix. 1-14), while Jeremiah was confined in the guard- court (xxxviii. 13, 28). 1^ Now unto Jeremiah had come the word of Yahweh, while he was shut up in the guard-court, saying, i*Go, and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethio- pian, saying. Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : Behold, I am bringing my words upon this city for evil, and not for good ; and they shall be (accomplished) before thee in that day. i' But I will deliver thee in that day, saith Yahweh : and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art in dread. ^^ For I will surely save thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee :* because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith Yahweh. • Cf. xxi. 9. CHAPTERS XL— XLIV Events in Jeremiah's life after the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldaeans. The appointment of Gedaliah as governor of Judah ; his murder by Ishmael ; Johanan and the other Jews with him oblige Jeremiah to migrate with them into Egypt. Jeremiah is released by Nebuzaradan, and allowed to go where he pleases. He joins Oedaliah {whom Nebuchadnezzar had made governor of Jvdah) at Mizpah. XL. 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah,» when he had taken him, whilst he was bound in chains among all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried into exile to Babylon. ^ And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, ' Yahweh thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place : * and Yahweh hath brought and done it, according as he spake ; because ye " Five miles N. of Jerusalem (xxxi. 15). 243 244 JEREMIAH have sinned against Yahweh, and have not hearkened to his voice, and so this thing is come upon you. * And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which are upon thine hands. If it seem good unto thee to come with me unto Babylon, come ; and I will look well unto thee» : but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me unto Babylon, forbear : behold, all the land is before thee : whither it seemeth good and right for thee to go, go.' ^ •'Now while he was not yet gone back**, ' Go back, then,' (said he,)'to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan," whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people ; or go whither- soever it seemeth right unto thee to go.' So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a pre- sent, and let him go. " Then came Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah The Heb. is peculiar. The Sept. omita the words. (7. 5 will then connect directly with v. 4 : ' whither it seemeth good and right for thee to go, go ; and return to Gedaliah,' etc.). " See xxxix. 14. * In Benjamin, probably on the commanding height now called Neby Samwil, i\ miles N.W. of Jerusalem. CHAPTER XL. 4-9 245 Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, a member of the royal family, Johanan, the son of Kareah, and other Jews {including many who had been in exile), join Gedaliah at Mizpah. ' Now" when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had com- mitted unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poorest of the land, of them that were not carried into exile to Babylon ; ^ then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, (even)^ Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai" the Netophathite,* and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite,^ they and their men. " And Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, sware unto them and to their men, saying, ' Fear not to serve the Chaldaeans :' dwell " Vv. 7-9 are abridged in 2 Kings xxv. 23-24. ^ So Sept. The Heb. text inserts by error, and. " So the Heb. marg. Syr. Targ. The Heb. text has, Ophai. "i Netophah was a village, apparently "not far from Jerusalem (Neh. xii. 28), perhaps Beit Nettif, a little E. of Bethlehem. " Maacah was a land and people S.B. of Hermon, E. of the Lake of Gennesareth ; of. Deut. iii. 14. ' The Sept. and 2 Kings xxv. 24 have, probably rightly. Fear not because of the servants of the Chaldaeans (nSUD for 13UD), i.e. on account of the officers stationed by them in differ- ent parts of the country. 246 JEREMIAH in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. ^" As for me, behold, I am dweUing at Mizpah, to stand before* the Chaldaeans, who may come unto us : but ye, gather ye wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye will take. 1^ Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant unto Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan ; ^^ then all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much. Johanan warns Gedaliah against Ishmael. ** And Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah unto Mizpah, ^* and said unto him, ' Dost thou know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammonb hath sent Ishmael the son of * I.e. to be a servant (1 Kings x. 8) admitted to their presence, and able therefore to represent your interests with them, ■> The king of Ammon was mifriendly to the Chaldaeans (xxvii. 3). CHAPTERS XL. lo-XLI. 2 247 Nethaniah to take thy life ? ' But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not. ^^ Then Joha- nan the son of Kareah spake to GedaUah in Mizpah secretly, saying, ' Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it : wherefore should he take thy life, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish ? ' " But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, ' Do not this thing : for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.' Gedaliah is murdered in Mizpah by Ishmael^ XLI. ^ Now** it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and (one of) the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah ; and they ate bread 'there together in Mizpah. 2 Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and they smote Geda- liah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with * Ishmael probably regarded GedaUah as a traitor, on the ground that he was trusted by the Chaldaeans ; and was also aggrieved that he should have been preferred as governor above one of royal ancestry, like himself. •> Ft). 1-3 are abridged in 2 Kings xxv. 25. 248 JEREMIAH the sword, and slew* him, whom the king of Baby- lon had made governor over the land. ^ And all the Jews that were with him, i>(even) with Geda- liah,'' at Mizpah, and the Chaldaeans that were found there, even the men of war," did Ishmael slay. Seventy men, journeying to Mizpah, are murdered by him likewise. ■1 And it came to pass the second day after they had slain Gedaliah, and no man knew it, ^ that there came certain from Shechem, from Sluloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore men, having their beards shaven and their clothes rent, and having gashed themselves, '^ with oblations and frankincense in their hand, to bring them to the house of Yahweh. * And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went :« and it came to pass, as he met them, that he said unto them, ' Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.' ' And it was so, " So SjT. Vulg., adding one letter. The Heb. text has, and he slew him. 2 Kings xxiii. 25 has, and he died. The Sept. reads simply, and they smote Oedaliah, whom the king, etc. ^ Omit probably with Sept. (as a gloss on 'him'). " I.e. the Chaldaeans who formed GredaUah's body-guard. ^ I.e. mourning over the fate which had befallen Jerusalem. For ' gashed themselves ' see xvi. 6, xlvii. 6, and of. xlvi ii. 37. " I.e. hypocritically feigning sympathy with them. CHAPTER XLI. 3-10 249 when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, (and cast them) into the midst of the cistern, he, and the men that were with him. ^ But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, ' Slay us not . for we have stores buried* in the field, of wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey.' So he forbare, and slew them not among their brethren. ' Now the cistern wherein Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain, was a great cistern'' which king Asa had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel :" it did Ishmael the son of Nethaniah fill with them that were slain. Ishmael, taking forcibly with him the other refugees, starts to cross over to the Ammonites, but is overtaken by Johanan at Gibeon, and obliged to flee with the loss of his caftives. 1" Then Ishmael carried away captive aU the remnant of the people that were in Mizpah, even the " The allusion is to large subterranean pits, such as are still used in Palestine for the storage of grain. See Thomson, The Land and the Book, i. 89, 90, ii. 194, iii. 458. *> So Sept. The change is very slight ; and the Heb. text yields no satisfactory sense. ° Asa, to defend himself against Baasha, had fortified Mizpah (1 Kings XV. 22) ; and had no doubt made this cistern for the purpose of supplying Mizpah with water. 250 JEREMIAH king's daughters, and all the people that were left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam : and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon. 11 But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, ^^ then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.* ^^ Now it came to pass, that when all the people which were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, then they were glad. 1* So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about, and came back, and went unto Johanan the son of Kareah. 1^ But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon. " Now el-Jib, about a mile N. of Neby Samwil (Mizpah). The ' great waters ' are probably the pool mentioned in 2 Sam. ii. 13 CHAPTER XLI. 11-18 251 Johanan and his companions, with the refugees re- covered from Ishmael, withdraw to Bethlehem, intending eventually to find a home in Egypt. 1* Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, all the remnant of the people whom Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had taken captive" from Mizpah, after that he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, even men, [the men of war,]'' and women, and children, and eunuchs," whom he had brought back from Gibeon : ^' and they departed, and dwelt in Geruth-Chimham,'! which is by Beth-lehem, to go to enter into Egypt, ^^ because of the Chaldaeans : for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land. "■ So, with a slight change. The Heb. text has, whom he had brought back (recovered) from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, where ' recovered from Mizpah ' cannot be right. '' These words seem to be a gloss ; cf. xliii. 6, xliv. 20. " No doubt the guardians of the young princesses mentioned in V. 10. ^ Probably a village, so called from the Chimham (pron. ' Kimham ' ), son of Barzillai the Gileadite, who accom- panied David to Jerusalem, after Absalom's rebellion (2 Sam. xix. 37-40). For ' Geruth,' for which it is difficult to find a probable meaning (' lodging- place ' of BVm. is very question- able), we should perhaps read, with Aq., Josephus, and Sept. (partly), Qidroth, i.e. ' (sheep-)folds of Chimham.' 252 JEREMIAH Johanan and the people with him consult Jeremiah, 'promising faithfully to do whatever he WMy tell them. XLII. 1 Then^ all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Azariah*' the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near, ^ and said unto Jeremiah the prophet, ' Let, we pray thee, our supplication be accepted" before thee, and pray for us unto Yahweh thy God, even for all this remnant ; for we are left but a few out of many, as thine eyes do behold us : ^ that Yahweh thy God may declare unto us the way wherein we should walk, and the thing that we should do.' * Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, ' I hear ; behold, I will pray unto Yahweh your God according to your words ; and it shall come to pass that whatsoever thing Yahweh shall answer you, I will declare it unto you ; I will keep nothing back from you.' ^ Then said they to Jeremiah, ' Yahweh be a true and faithful witness against us, if we do not even according to all the word wherewith Yahweh thy God shall send thee to us. * Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will hearken to the " xlii. 1 and xliii. 7 are abridged in 2 Kings xxv. 26. ^ So Sept. and ch. xlui. 2. The Heb. text has by error, Jezaniah. " Heb. fall. See on xxxvi. 7. CHAPTER XLII. 1-12 253 voice of Yahweh our God, to whom we send thee ; that it may be well with us, when we hearken to the voice of Yahweh our God.' Jeremiah, in Yahweh' s name, earnestly dissuades them from migrating into Egypt, declaring that, if they do so, destruction will assuredly overtake them. ' And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of Yahweh came unto Jeremiah. ^ Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, 9 and said unto them, ' Thus saith Yahweh, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him : i" If ye will indeed " abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up : for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you. 11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid ; be not afraid of him, saith Yahweh : for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. ^^ And I will grant you compassion, that he may have compassion upon you, and let you dwell in'' your own land " So, adding a letter. The Heb. text is not translatable. '' So Syr. Vulg. The Heb. text has, and bring you back to, which does not suit the context ; for Johanan and the peoj le with him were still in their own land. The difference is only one of vocalization. 254 JEREMIAH " But if ye say, " We will not dwell in this land " ; so that ye hearken not to the voice of Yahweh your God ; ^* saying, " No ; but we wiU go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger for bread ; and there will we dwell " : i^ jjqw hear ye therefore the word of Yahweh, remnant of Judah : Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, If ye indeed set your faces to enter into Egjrpt, and go to sojourn there ; ^^ then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye are afraid, shall foUow hard after you* there in*" Egypt ; and there ye shall die. ^' Yea, all the men that have set their faces to go into Egjrpt to sojovu^n there shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence : and none of them shall survive or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them. ^^ por thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt : and ye shall be an execration, and an appalment, and a curse, and a reproach ; and ye " Heb. shall cleave after you. *> So Sept. Vulg. The Heb. text has, into (a letter dropped). CHAPTERS XLII. 13-XLIII. i 255 shall see this place no more. ^^ This is Yahweh's word unto you,» remnant of Judah : " Gro ye not into Egypt." Now, therefore,'' know certainly that I testify against you this day : 2" Because ye have done harm" against your own selves* ; for ye sent me unto Yahweh your God, saying, " Pray for us unto Yahweh our God ; and according unto all that Yahweh our God shall say, so declare unto us and we will do it " : 21 and I have this day declared it to you ; but ye have not hearkened to the voice of Yahweh your God, in'' anything wherewith he hath sent me unto you : ^^ now, therefore, know cer- tainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go to sojourn there.' Johanan and his companions refuse to listen to Jeremiah's words ; and proceed to Egypt, taking both Jeremiah and Baruch with them. XLIII. 1 And it came to pass, that when Jere- » So Symm. Vulg. Targ. The Heb. text has, Yahweh hath spoken concerning you, which is more abrupt than would be expected. The change in the Heb. is slight. '' So Sept. The two words have accidentally dropped out of the Heb. text. ° So Sept. (one letter different). The Heb. text has, erred (?). '' Or, your own Uvea. " So Sept. (Luc), Vulg., omitting a redundant letter ( =and). 256 JEREMIAH miah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of Yahweh their God, where- with Yahweh their God had sent him to them, even all these words, '^ then said Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, sa3dng* unto Jeremiah, ' Thou speakest falsely : Yahweh our God hath not sent thee to say, " Ye shall not go into Egypt to sojourn there " : ^ but Baruch the sonof Neriah is setting thee on against us, in order to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldaeans, that they may put us to death, and carry us into exUe to Babylon.' * So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, hearkened not to the voice of Yahweh, to dwell in the land of Judah. ^ But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all the nations, whither they had been driven, to sojourn in the land of Judah ;'• ^ the men, and the women, and the children, and the king's daughters, and every per- son that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan," and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch " Read, probably, all the proud and defiant men. (The Heb. for ' saying ' is unusual, and contrary to idiom.) " See xl. 11, 12. ° See xl. 7. xli. 10, 16. CHAPTER XLIII. 2-11 257 the son of Neriah ; ' and they came into the land of Egypt : for they hearkened not to the voice of Yahweh : and they came even to Tahpanhes." Upon the arrival of the refugees at the border-city of Tahpanhes (Daphnae), Jeremiah, before the royal palace, foretells the future conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar. 8 And the word of Yahweh came unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, * Take great stones in thine hand, and bury them in mortar in the pavement,*" which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tah- panhes, in the sight of the men of Judah ; ^^ and say unto them. Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : Behold, I will send and take Nebuchad- rezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set" his throne above these stones that I have buried"* ; and he shall spread his glittering tapestry^ over them. ^^ And he shall come, and shall smite the land of Egypt ; such as are for death to death, " On the N.JE. frontier of Egypt, now Tell Defneh ; cf. ii. 16. •• Properly, oblong area. " Sept. Syr. have, he shall set (which agrees better with the following ' he shall spread ' ). <■ Sept. Syr. have, probably rightly, that thou hast buried. The word rendered " glittering tapestry ' occurs only here ; and its meaning is uncertain. Cognate words mean in Heb. to be beautiful, and in Aramaic the brightness of dawn ; so prob- ably it denotes the richly decorated stuff forming either the carpet on which the royal throne stood, or the pavilion above it. 17 258 JEREMIAH and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword.* ^^ And I will kindle'' a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt ; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives : and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his gar- ment ;" and he shall go forth from thence in peace. ^* And he shall break the pillars'* of Beth-shemesh,« that is in the land of Egjrpt ; and the houses of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire.' » Cf. XV. 2. '' Sept. Syr. Vulg. have. And he shall kindle. ° A figure, intended to suggest the ease with which Nebuchad- nezzar would take possession of Egypt, and treat it as his own. ^ Or, obelisks. ° I.e. the house (or temple) of the sun, — with allusion to On, called by the Greeks Heliopolis, or the ' City of the Sun,' about 6 miles N.E. of the modern Cairo, where there was a famous Temple dedicated to the sun, with an avenue of obelisks in front of it, built by Thothmes III, of the eighteenth dynasty (c. 1500 B.C.). One of these obeUsks is still standing in situ; another is the so-called ' Cleopatra's needle,' now on the Thames Embankment. ' An inscription^of Nebuchadnezzar states that in his 37th year (b.o. 568) he invaded Egypt, defeated its Idng, Amasis (570-526), and slaughtered, or carried away, soldiers and horses. Further particulars are not laiown, as the inscription is fragmentary. See the writer's essay on Archaeology and the O.T. in Hogarth's Authority and Archaeology, p. 117. It is not improbable that the ' oblong area ' of v. 9 is the large oblong brick pavement close to the palace-fort built by Psam- metichus I. (b.o. 664-010), which was excavated by Prof. Petrie at Tell Defneh in 1886 r see ihid. and cf. Petrie, Ten Years' Digging in Egypt, pp. 52-4 ; Maspero, Passing of the Empires, p. 496. CHAPTERS XLIII. 12-XLIV. 4 259 Jeremiah rebukes the Jews resident in Egypt for continuing the idolatries practised by their forefathers, which had been the cause of Jerusalem's ruin. XLIV. ^ The word that came to Jeremiah con- cerning all the Jews which dwelt in the land of Egypt, which dwelt at Migdol,* and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph,** and in the country of Pathros," saying, ^ Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah ; and, behold, they are this day a waste, and no man dwelleth in them ; ^ because of their wickedness which they have committed to vex me, in that they went to burn incense,'* and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, nor ye, nor your fathers.^ * And I sent unto you* all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, sasdng, * Oh, do not this abominable » Probably the Magdolo of the Romans, a Uttle E. of Tah- panhes, on the extreme N.E. border of Egypt (cf. Ez. xxix. 10, XXX. 6). •• I.e. Memphis, near the site of the modern Cairo (ii. 16). " I.e. Upper Egypt. (The word means^in Egyptian ' The Land of the South.') '' Or, perhaps, to burn sacrifices. So w. 5, 8, etc. Cf. vii. 9. " Cf. xix. 4, Deut. xiii. 6. ' Read, probably, unto them (cf. m. 3, 5). 26o JEREMIAH thing that I hate.' « But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods. ' And so my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem ; and they are become a waste and a desolation, as it is this day. ' Now, therefore, thus saith Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel : Why are ye doing a great evil against yourselves, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of the midst of Judah, to leave you no remnant ; ^ in that ye vex me with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be come to sojourn, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth ? ^ Have ye forgotten the wickednesses of your fathers, and the wickednesses of the kings of Judah, and the wickednesses of their princes,* and your own wickednesses, and the wickednesses of your wives,** which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem ? 1" They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my » So Sept. (cf. m. 17, 21 ; viii. 1). The Heb. text has, wives. *• See vii. 18, and below, vv. 15, 25. CHAPTER XLIV. 5-14 261 statutes, that I set before* you and before your fathers. The remnant of Judah, who have taken refuge in Egypt, will perish there ; at most a mere hand- ful will ever return to Judah. 11 Therefore thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : ' Behold, I set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah. ^^ And T will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to come into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and all shall be consumed ; in the land of Egypt shall they fall ; by the sword and by the famine they shall be consumed ; from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine shall they die : and they shall become an execration, and an appalment, and a curse, and a reproach. 18 And I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence : ** so that none of the remnant of Judah, which are come to sojourn •> in the land of Egypt, shall escape or survive," that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire^ to return " Cf. ix. 13, xxvi. 4 (from Deut. iv. 8, xi. 32). •> So Sept. Vulg. The Heb. text adds, there. " So Sept. The Heb. text inserts by error, and. ■■ Heb. lift v/p their soul ; cf. on xxii. 27. 262 JEREMIAH to dwell there : for none shall return save fugi- tives.' The Jews who worshipped the queen of heaven reply that, as long as they had worshipped her, 'prosperity had attended them, hut it had now ceased. 15 Then all the men which knew that their wives burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great assembly, [and all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, and* in Pathros,]'' answered Jeremiah, saying, ^^ ' As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in Yah- weh's name, we will not hearken unto thee, i' But we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth," to burn incense unto the queen of heaven,* and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem ; and we had plenty of victuals,' and were well, and saw no evil. » So Syr. (cf. v. 1 ; Isa. xi. 11). The Heb. text omits and. ^ The bracketed words should in all probability be omitted as a glosB, based upon v. 16, but unsuitable here. The Jews dwelling in Lower and Upper Egypt, which are several hundred miles apart, are not likely to have been all present together. " A solemn expression for a vow : cf. Judges xi. 36 ; Num. XXX. 2, 12 ; and see v. 25 below. " See vii. 18. " Heb. bread. CHAPTER XLIV. 15-21 263 ^* But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. ^* * And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings xmto her, did we make her cakes to poiirtray her,^ and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our hus- bands" ? ' Their prosperity had ceased, Jeremiah replies, not because they had neglected the queen of heaven, but because of Yahweh's anger with them for worshipping her at all. 2" Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him answer, saying, ^^ ' The in- cense* that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye and your fathers, your kings" and yoiu- princes, and the people of » Syr. and MSS. of Sept. insert here, And all the women answered, and said (see the end of the verse). ^ Probably cakes with her image stamped upon them, or made in the shape of her. The word for ' cakes ' is peculiar, and occurs only here and vii. 18. It is used in Babylonian of cakes offered to Ishtar, and probably came into Judah with the worship here referred to. " I.e. without their knowledge and approval. ^ Or, sweet smoke (viz. from sacrifices). Cf. on v. 3, and the note on vii. 9 at the end of the volume. 264 JEREMIAH the land, did not Yahweh remember that/ and came it not into his mind ?" ^^ go that Yahweh could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and" because of the abominations which ye had committed ; and thus your land is become a waste, and an appalment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day. ^^ Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against Yahweh, and have not hearkened to Yahweh's voice, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies ; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as it is this day.' Jeremiah repeats his previous declaration that of the remnant who have taken refuge in Egypt, all but a mere handful will perish there. 2* And Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women. Hear the word of Yahweh, aU Judah that are in the land of Egypt : ^^ Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying : Ye and your wives* have spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it,® saying, "■ So, changing one letter. The Heb. text has, them. •> Heb. came it not up upon Ma heart. Cf. iii. 16. " So Sept. Syr. Vulg. The Heb. text omits and. ^ The Sept. reads, perhaps rightly, Ye women. (The verbs ' have spoken,' and ' establish ' and ' perform ' at the end of the verse, are all feminine in the Heb.) " Cf. for the expression 1 Kings viii. 15, 24. CHAPTER XLIV. 22-28 265 'We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her ' : estab- lish then your vows,* and perform your vows ! 28 Therefore hear ye the word of Yahweh, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt : Behold, I have sworn by my great name,'' saith Yahweh, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah, saying, ' As Yahweh liveth,' in all the land of Egypt." 2' Behold, I am wakeful over them for evil, and not for good -A and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them. ^^ And they that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, few in number ; and all the remnant of Judah, that are come into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine, or theirs. » Read, perhaps, words (to avoid the tautology with the fol- lowing clause). The command is, of course, meant ironically, b Cf. 1 Kings viii. 42. ° The meaning is, none will be left there to name it ; see v. 27. ■^ Cf. i. 12, xxxi. 28 ; and xxi. 10. 266 JEREMIAH And points to the approaching fall of Pharaoh Hophra, as a sign witnessing to the truth of his prediction. 29 And this shall be the sign unto you, saith Yahweh, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil : ^° Thus saith Yahweh : Behold, I am giving Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life ; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.* ' Pharaoh Hophra (called by the Greeks ^pWas) reigned from B.C. 590 to B.o. 571. He was deposed by a military revolution; and Amasis •(into whose hands he fell, and who ultimately suc- ceeded him) delivered him over to the Egyptians, by whom he was strangled (Herod, ii. 161-163, 169). CHAPTER XLV Words of mingled reassurance and reproof, addressed to Baruch, in the depression and disappoint- ment which overcame him, after writing the roll of the fourth year of Jehoiakim. A supplement to xxxvi. 1-8. XLV. 1 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words* in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ^ Thus saith Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning thee, O Baruch : ^ Thou didst say, ' Oh, woe to me ! for Yahweh hath added sorrow to my pain ; I am weary with my groaning,'' and I find no rest.' * Thus shalt thou say unto him. Thus saith Yahweh : " I.e. the words forming the roll of Jeremiah's prophecies, written by Baruch, at Jeremiah's dictation, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, B.C. 605 (xxxvi. 1-4) ; and containing predic- tions of disaster for Judah, and (xxv. 15-38) Western Asia generally. " Cf. Ps. vi. 6a. 287 268 JEREMIAH Behold, that which I have built am I breaking down, and that which I have planted am I plucking up ; and that is the whole earth.» ^ And dost thou seek great things for thyself ? seek them not : for, behold, I am bringing evil upon all flesh,'' saith Yahweh : but thy life wiU I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest." " Alluding to the ruin of kingdoms to be wrought by Nebu- chadnezzar, described (figuratively) in xxv. 15-38 (spoken also, according to xxv. 1, in the fovirth year of Jehoiakim). •> Cf. xxv. 31. ° Baiuoh is reminded that the age is one in whi<"''» he must not expect great things for himself, but must^Ee'^otfcntent if he escapes with hia bare life ; even Yahweh {v. i] k s obliged to destroy the work of His own hands. CHAPTERS XLVI-LI Prophecies against the nations. (i) Chaps, xlvi.-xlix. XLVI. 1 That which came as Yahweh's word unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. 2 On Egypt. Concerning the army of Pharaoh Necho king ot Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carche- mish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon* smote in the fourth year of Jekoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah. Pharaoh Necho (b.c. 610-594), an ambitious and as- piring prince, essayed to add Syria, and the neighbouring parts of Asia, W. of the Euphrates, to his dominions. As he was marching through Palestine to effect his purpose, Josiah, attempting to turn him back, met his death at " Nebuchadnezzar was not yet actually ' king ' of Babylon, though he became so a few months afterwards ; see the writer's Daniel (in the Cambridge Bible), pp. xlix. 2. The fourth year of Jehoiakim is in xxv. 1 equated with the first year of Nebuchad- nezzar (b.o. 604) : so it seems that the battle of Carchemish took place really in the previous year, 605. 270 JEREMIAH Megiddo (b.c. 609). Three months later Necho is mentioned as being at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, some seventy miles N. of Damascus (see 2 Kings xxiii. 29, 33). Some years afterwards (b.c. 608), he set out with a large army, and joined battle with Nabopolassar, the king of Babylon, at Carohemish, the great commercial city and fortress, commanding the principal ford of the Euphrates, by which armies marching to and fro between Babylon and Palestine, or Egypt, regularly crossed the river, about 260 miles N.N.E. of Damascus. There his army was completely de- feated by Nebuchadnezzar, acting as general for his father, Nabopolassar. This defeat of the Egyptians at Carchemish was politically the turning-point of the age. Jeremiah at once saw that the Chaldaeans were destined to become the rulers of Western Asia (cf. ch. xxv.) ; and his sense of this led him to come forward with the doctrine, — which to many of his fellow-countrymen seemed unpatriotic, — that the safety of Judah was to be found in submission to the Chaldaean supremacy (xxi. 1-10 ; xxvii. 6-8, 12, etc.). The group of prophecies contained in chaps, xlvi.-xlix., j except the one on Elam (xlix. 34-39), which is assigned by its title to a later period, reflect the impression which Nebuchadnezzar's successes made upon the prophet : he pictures not only Egypt, but also the Philistines, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus (all of whom had in the past been often unfriendly to Israel), and even the more distant Kedar, as one after another succtunbing helplessly before the invader." Chapter xxv. may be regarded as an in- " It ought, however, to be mentioned that most recent authorities on Jeremiah, including even A. B. Davidson (Hastings' Diet, of the Bible, ii. 6736), are of opinion, partly upon grounds of difference of literary style, partly on account of the nature of their contents, that chaps, xlvi.-xlix. are either wholly (Stade, CHAPTER XLVI. 3-4 271 troduction to these prophecies : it acquaints the reader with Jeremiah's general view of the poHtical situation, which is then illustrated, and poetically developed, with reference to particular countries, in the present prophecies. Probably, in the original form of the book of Jeremiah, these prophecies followed immediately after chapter xxv., from which they are now separated by the mainly bio- graphical matter contained in chapters xxvi.-xlv. Egypt's defiant ambition checked and humbled at the battle of Carchemish. Let the warriors arm themselves, and advance to the fight/ * Set in line the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle ! * Harness the horses, and mount the chargers, and stand forth with your helmets ! fur- bish the lances, put on the coats of mail ! Wellhausen, Duhm), or in part (Giesebrecht, Kuenen, Davidson), not Jeremiah's. Gieseb. accepts only chaps, xlvii. xlix. 7-8, 10-11, and perhaps 13, and a nucleus in xlvi. 3-12. But, though the prophecies may have been amplified in parts by a later hand (or hands), it is doubtful whether there are sufficient reasons for reducing the original nucleus to such small dimen- sions as these. Kuenen {Einl, § 56. 9-11) accepted the whole, except xlvi. 27f. i[ = xxx. 10 f.j, and certain parts of chap, xlviii. (see the note on xlviii. 1). Comill, while allowing that there are parts which either upon the grounds mentioned above, or on metrical grounds, must in his judgement be rejected, argues strongly against the rejection of the whole, and accepts himself xlvi. 3-26 (Egjrpt), and substantial parts of most of the other prophecies. On 1. 1-li. 58, see the note prefixed to 1. 1. 272 JEREMIAH Hardly has the 'prophet said these words, when he sees the Egyptians already in flight. 8 Wherefore do I see them to be dismayed,^ and turned backwards ? their mighty men^ also are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back : terror is on every side !" saith Yahweh. * Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape ! northward by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen ! Egypt's boasts of conquest will come to nought : in vain will she endeavour to recover herself after her defeat. ' Who is this that riseth up Uke the Nfle, whose waters toss themselves like the streams ? ^ Egypt riseth up hke the Nile, and [his]'' waters toss them- selves like the streams ; and he saith, ' I will rise up,® I will cover the earth ; I will destroy the city and them that dwell therein.' ^ Go up,' ye horses ; * The Heb. is unusual (yet see Ps. ix. 21) ; and perhaps we should read with Sept., Wherefore are they dismayed ? •> I.e. their warriors. So vv. 6, 9, 12. " Cf. vi. 25. ^ The pronoun, which has accidentally fallen out, must be supplied. ° So with a change of points. The Heb. text, as pointed, has, bring up. ' The prophet in this verse ironically bids the Egjrptians begin the attack with all their forces ; they will avail them nothing. CHAPTER XLVI. 5-13 273 and rage, ye chariots ; and let the mighty men go forth : Cusha and Put,'' that handle the shield ; and the Ludim," that handle and bend the bow. ^° But that day belongeth to the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries ; and the sword* shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of° their blood : for the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. 11 Go up into GUead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt : in vain hast thou multiplied medicines ; there is no plaister for thee.' ^^ The nations have heard of thy shame, and the earth is full of thy cry : for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, they are fallen both of them together. ^^ The word that Yahweh spake to Jeremiah the " I.e. the Ethiopians : cf. Gen. x. 6, 7. '' I.e. the Libyans ; cf. Gen. x. 6 ; Nah. iii. 9 ; Ezek. xxvii 10 ; XXX. 5. " Probably the name of a people dwelling on or near the W border of Egypt : cf. Gen. x. 13 ; Ezek. xxvii. 10 ; xxx. 5. The three names are those of nations which furnished contin- gents to the Egyptian army (cf. Nah. iii. 9 ; Ezek. xxx. 5). ^ I.e. the sword of the Chaldaeans, which will annihilate the Egjrptian army. For the expressions, cf. Isa. xxxiv. 5, 6, 8. ° Lit. be soaked or saturated with (cf. Isa. xxxiv. 6, 7). See note 6 on xxxi. 14. ' Cf., for the, expressions in this verse, viii. 22, xxx. 13. i8 274 JEREMIAH prophet, how that Nebuchadrezzar king of Baby- lon should come and smite the land of Egypt. The prophecy vv. 14-26 seems naturally to be the sequel to w. 3-12 ; though Cornill has urged that it may be later, and belong to the period of Jeremiah's residence in Egypt (xliii. 7 ff.)> to which xliii. 10-13 (shortly after 586), foretelling Nebuchadnezzar's invasion and con- quest of Egj^t, also belongs. Nebuchadnezzar did in fact invade Egypt in 568 : see the note on xUii. 13. An imaginative description of the invasion of Egypt by the Chaldaeans, and of the collapse of the power of Egypt before them. 1* Declare ye [in Egypt, and publish it] in Migdol, and publish it in Noph [and in Tah- panhes] :* say ye, ' Stand forth,*'and prepare thee ; for the sword hath devoiu'ed round about thee.' ^^ Wherefore is thy strong one" dashed down ? he »■ The bracketed words (which mar the symmetry and rhythm of the verse, and are not expressed in the Sept.) are probably later explanatory additions to the original text. Migdol and Tahpanhes (called by the Greeks Daphnae) were border cities of Egypt, in the direction of Asia ; Noph (i.e. Memphis) was the capital of Lower Egypt. Cf. ii. 16, xliv. 1. •^ I.e. take thy stand to resist the invader (ef. 2 Sam. xxiii. 12 ' stood '). " I.e. thy hull (see, for the meaning, Ps. xxii. 126 ' the strong ones of Bashan,' i.e. the hulls of Bashan), with allusion to Apis, the sacred bull of the Egyptians. The Massoretic text has, thy strong ones (i.e. thy steeds, as viii. 16, xlvii. 3) ; but more than 50 Heb. MSS. Sept. Aq. Symm. Theod. Vulg. have, thy strong one (the difference in the Heb. is very slight, and the verb dashed down and following pronouns are all singular). CHAPTER XL VI. 14-19 275 stood not," because Yahweh did thrust him. 1* Heb made many to stumble, yea, they fell one upon another : and they said,<= ' Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword.' ^' Call ye the name of"* Pharaoh king of Egypt a Crash" ; he hath let the appointed time' pass by. ^^ As I live, saith the King, whose name is Yahweh of hosts Surely there shall come one like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel in the sea.s i* thou daughter that dweUest in Egj^t,** furnish thyself " The Sept., reading what is now one word (^HDJ) as two (Pin D3)'has, Wherefore is Apis fled? 7% s^rowgr one [paraphrased in Sept. by Thy choice calf] stood not, etc. b 1.0. Yahweh. See, however, the next note. Read probably (from the beginning of the verse), Thy mixed people (I^IIJ for n^lH) hMve stumbled (ao Sept.) and fallen; and they said one to another ;(the transposition, as Sept.). The words following speak of a return of foreigners to their own country, of whom in the existing Heb. text there has been no mention. The ' mixed people ' will be either foreign traders settled in Egypt, or foreign mercenaries serving in the Egyptian army (cf. v. 21) : see oh. xxv. 20, with the note. d So Sept. (merely changes of vocalization). The Heb. text, as pointed, has. They called there. ° Pharaoh is to be called by a name symbolical of a great disaster (cf. xx. 3) : cf. for the word xxv. 31 ; Hos. x. 14 and Am. ii. 2 (of the roar or din of battle : AV., RV., ' tumult '). ' I.e. the time when he might have averted the disaster. But the correctness of the text is open to suspicion. * I.e. a foe (Nebuchadnezzar), towering above aJl others. '■ I.e. the population of Egypt, personified (cf. iv. 31, etc.). 276 JEREMIAH to go into exile :" for Noph shall become a desola- tion, and shall be laid waste without inhabitant. 20 Egypt is a graceful heifer ; but a gad-fly from the north is come upon her.^ ^i^igg her hired soldiers in the midst of her like calves of the stall ;" for they also have turned back, they are fled away together, they did not stand : for the day of their calamity is come upon them, the time of their visitation. ^^ Her sound is like the serpent's, as it goeth ;^ for with an army shall they march, and with axes shall they come against her, as gatherers of (fire-)wood. ^^ They shall cut down^ her forest,' saith Yahweh, for it cannot be searched out ; because they* are more than the locusts, and are innumerable. 2* Put to shame is the daughter " Lit. mahe thee articles for exile ; i.e. get ready household goods, dreaa, provisions, cooking utensils, etc., preparatory to going into exile. The same expression is rendered in Ezek. xii. 3, •prepare thee stuff for removing (R Vm. ' for exile ' ). b So Sept. Syr. Targ. Vulg. (7\1 for N3). The Heb. text repeats, is come. The ' gad-fly ' is, of course, a figure for the Chaldaeans. " Well-nourished, but useless in war (cf. Mai. iv. 2). " I.e. inaudible, so weak and powerless will Egypt have then become. « Heb. have cut down — a ' prophetic ' perfect, like are come (Heb.) in v. 22, and the two verba in v. 24. ' Egypt with its many populous and flourishing cities (Herod. ii.'177, cf. 60), ia compared to a forest (cf. Isa. x. 18, 19, 33, 34, of the Assyrian army), so thick that the only means of finding u, way through it is by cutting it down. 8 I.e. the host of the invaders. CHAPTER XLVI. 20-26 277 of Egypt ! she is given into the hand of the people of the north ! ^^ Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saith : Behold, I will punish Amon of No,* [and Pharaoh, and Egypt, and her gods, and her kings,]'' and Pharaoh, and them that trust in him : *^ and I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants ; and afterwards it shaU be inhabited," as in the days of old, saith Yahweh.* A message of encouragement addressed to Israel. Vv. 27, 28 are nearly identical with xxx. 10, 11. As vv. 14-26 seem to be of the same date as vv. 3-12 (605), they can hardly be here in their original place ; for they imply that the exile has begun, and contrast too strongly with the tone of menace, in which in 605-4 (xxv. 8-11) Jeremiah was expressing himself. Probably the two verses were handed down independently ; and were placed by a com- " I.e. Thebes, the capital of Upper Egypt, mentioned also in Nah. iii. 8, Ezek. xxx. 14, 15, 16. Amon was the tutelary god of Thebes : of. Nah. iii. 8. •> The bracketed words are not expressed in the Sept. ; and are almost certainly a supplementing gloss, like the two in v. 14. (Notice the following ' and Pharaoh,' producing, if the pre- ceding ' Pharaoh ' be correct, an intolerable tautology : ' even,' in AV., RV., is not a legitimate rendering of the Hebrew). " Heb. shall dwell : cf. on xvii. 25. The prophecy closes with a promise of ultimate restoration : cf. xlviii. 47, xlix. 6, 39. ^ With this expectation of Egypt's future restoration, cf . Ez. xxix. 13, 14 (where Egypt, after its anticipated desolation by Nebuchadnezzar, is to be restored forty years after B.C. 587). 278 JEREMIAH piler in ch. xxx. on account of their being germane there to the context, and also added here as a suitable counter- part to vv. 14-26. 2' But thou, fear thou not, Jacob, my servant ; neither be dismayed, Israel : for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity ; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. 28 Fear not thou, Jacob, my servant, saith Yah- weh ; for I am with thee : for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee, yet of thee will I not make a full end : but I will correct thee with judgement, and wiU in no wise leave thee unpunished. On the Philistines. XL VII. 1 That which came as Yahweh's word unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philis- tines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.* How the land of the Philistines will be wasted by the Chaldaeans. 2 Thus saith Yahweh : Behold, waters are rising " When Pharaoh smote Gaza is not certainly known (see the Commentaries). It is possible that the title — or at least the last clause of it — is the incorrect addition of one who saw in Necho's conquest of Gaza the fulfilment of v. 5, and hence identified wrongly — for the ' waters rising out of the north ' can certainly denote only the Chaldaeans — the foe who was to smite the Philistines with the Egyptians. The Sept. for the whole of V. 1 has simply, On the Philistines. CHAPTERS XLVI. 27-XLVII. 6 279 up out of the north, and they shall become an over- flowing torrent, and shaU overflow the land and all that is in it, the city and them that dwell there- in : and the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl. ^ At the noise of the gallop- ing of the hoofs of his steeds, at the rattling of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers look not back to their children for feebleness of hands ; * because of the day that cometh to spoil aU the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Zidon every helper that surviveth : for Yahweh is spoiling the Philistines, the remnant of the isle* of Caphtor.'' 8 Baldness" is come upon Gaza ; Ashkelon is brought to nought : remnant of the Anakim,^ how long wilt thou gash thyself ?° ^ ' Ah,' thou sword of Yahweh ! how long will it be ere thou be quiet ? put up thyself into thy scabbard ; rest, and be " Or, coast-land. The Heb. word may denote either. •> I.e. either Crete or {Enc. Bibl. s.v.) Cilioia. Mentioned here as the home of the Philistines : see Am. ix. 7, Deut. ii. 23. ° A mark of mourning : cf. xvi. 6, Deut. xiv. 1, Mic. i. 16 ■J So Sept. (Dp3i; for DpDi;). The Heb. text has.o/ their vale, which is unsuited to the context. The Anakim were a giant race, who were supposed to have dwelt in or near Hebron in prehistoric times (Num. xiii. 22, 28 ; Josh. xi. 21, xiv. 12, 15, XV. 13, 14— Jud. i. 20), and also in the Philistine country ; see Josh. xi. 22, which explains the expression used here. Or, perhaps, remnant of Ekron (xxv. 20) should be read. * Another mark of mourning : see xvi. 6, Deut. xiv. 1. ' V. 6 may be supposed to express the cry of the Philistines for mercy. 28o JEREMIAH still.' 'How can it* be quiet, seeing Yahweh hath given it a charge ? against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore, there hath he appointed it. XLVIII. 1 On Moab. The territory occupied by Moab was the elevated and rich plateau on the E. of the Dead Sea. Originally (Num. xxi. 26) the Moabite territory extended as far N. as Hesh- bon, to the N.E. of the Dead Sea (see on v. 2) ; but the Israelites, after their conquest of the country E. of Jordan, considered the territory N. of the Arnon (which flows down through a deep gorge into the Dead Sea at about the middle of its E. side) to belong to Reuben (Josh. xiii. 15-21), and regarded the Arnon as the N. border of Moab. But Reuben did not ultimately remain in possession of the district allotted to it ; and so here, as in Isa. xv.-xvi., many of the cities assigned in Josh. xiii. 15-21 to Reuben are mentioned as occupied by Moab. The desolating invasion about to break upon Moab ; and the flight of its population.^ Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : » So Sept. Syr. Vulg. The Heb. text (by false assimilation to «. 6) has, canst thou. ■> For most of the places mentioned in this chapter, see Num. xxxii. 3, 34-38, Josh. xiii. 16-19, xxi. 36-7, and Isaiah's pro- phecy on Moab, chaps, xv.-xvi. In vv. 6, 29-38, there are numeroiis verbal reminiscences from Isa. 15-16. The passages of this chapter which — chiefly on account of their lack of in- dependence — Kuenen (see on xlvi. 1) regarded as later expan- sions of the original prophecy of Jeremiah are w. 29-38 ; 406, 416 (introduced from xlix. 22; also not in Sept.); 43, 44a (see Isa. xxiv. 175-18) ; 445 (Jer. xi. 23, xxiii. 12) ; 45, 46 (see Num. xxi. 28, xxiv. 17, xxi. 29 ; not in Sept.). Cornill considers the original prophecy to have consisted of vv. 1-3, 6-7, 11-14, 16-19, 25, 28, 33a, 35, 386, 396, 445, 47a. CHAPTERS XLVII. 7-XLVIII. 5 281 Ah, for Nebo !» because it is spoiled ; Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken : Misgab'' is put to shame and dismayed ; ^ the renown of Moab is no more. In Heshbon<' they have devised evil against her, saying, ' Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation : also, Madmen,* thou shalt be brought to silence ; the sword shaU foUow after thee.' 3 The sound of a cry from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction !'= * Moab is destroyed' ; they make a cry to be heard unto Zoar.s ^ For by the ascent of Luhith with weeping do they go up*" ; for "' Tho city (Num. xxxii. 3, 38), not the better-known moun- tain (Deut. xxxiv. 1). '' A place not elsewhere mentioned. The word means a high retreat (Isa. xxv. 12, RV. high fort) ; so it was doubtless the name of some fortress. ° An ancient and famous city on the B. of Jordan, about thirteen miles E. of the upper end of the Dead Sea : originally Moabite (Num. xxi. 26), afterwards the capital of Sihon, king of the Amorites, allotted to Reuben (Josh. xiii. 17), and now again in the possession of Moab (of. Isa. xv. 4, xvi. 8, 9). In the Heb. there is a play on the name in ' devised.' ' They ' will be the foe, who must be supposed to have captured Heshbon, and to be planning there the ruin of the entire nation (' her ' =Moab). '^ No place Madmen is elsewhere mentioned : perhaps, with Sept. Syr. Vulg., we should read, yea, thou (i.e. Moab) shalt be utterly brought to silence. ^ Heb. breaking (so v. 5J. Cf. on iv. 6. ' Heb. is broken. e At the extreme S.E. of the Dead Sea (see Zoar in D.B.). The cry of Moab is thus heard from one end of the land to the other. Vnto Zoar is the reading of the Sept. ; the Heb. text has, her little ones (the difference in the Heb. is slight). ■■ See Isa. xv. 5. The Heb. after 'go up ' has, by error. 282 JEREMIAH in the descent to Horonaim they have heard* a cry of destruction. " Flee, save your lives,'' and be° Hke a juniper* in the wilderness. ' For, because thou hast trusted in thy works* and in thy treasures, thou also shalt be taken : and Chemosh' shall go forth into exile, his priests and his princes together. 8 And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape ; the vale^ also shall perish, and the table-land'^ shaU be destroyed, as Yahweh hath spoken. ^ Give wings unto Moab, for she would fain fly away ; and her cities shall become a desola- tion, without any to dwell therein, i" Cursed be weeping (subst.), — '3 13 (as in Isa.) becoming ''S '33 — probably through the influence of the preceding *33. * So Sept. The Heb. adds, the distresses of ; but the word is probably only a corrupt anticipation of the following word. ^ Heb. your souls. " Heb. let them be, — the pron. referring to your souls (see the last note), equivalent to your living persons, •• I.e. (from its cropped and stunted appearance) stripped and desolate. Comp. on xvii. 6. " I.e. thy undertakings, measures of defence, etc. But the Sept. has in thy fastnesses {v. 41) for ' in thy works and in thy treasures ' ; and this may be the original reading. ' The national god of Moab : cf. Num. xxi. 29, 1 Kings xi. 7. V. 76 is modelled on Am. i. 15. ' Probably, as in Josh. xiii. 19, 27, the broad depression into which the Jordan-valley opens as it approaches the Dead Sea. ^ The Mishor (or 'plain-country'), the regular name of thj extensive elevated plateau (c. 2500 ft. above the Medit. Sea), on which most of the Moabite cities lay : ef. Deut. iii. 10 (RVm.) ; Josh. xiii. 9, 16, 17, 21. CHAPTER XLVIII. 6-15 283 he that doeth Yahweh's work negligently, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood ! Moab has for long been left unmolested in his land ; but now his security will be rudely disturbed. " Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he is at rest upon his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into exile : therefore his taste* remaineth in him, and his scent* is not changed. ^^ Therefore, behold, the days are coming, saith Yahweh, that I will send unto him tUters, and they shall tilt him ; and they shall empty his vessels, and dash their'' jars in pieces. 1* And Moab shall be put to shame through" Chemosh, as the house of Israel was put to shame through Bethel their confidence."! 14 How say ye, ' We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war ? ' ^^ Moab is laid waste, and they are * Figures expressive of Moab's national character, and its spirit of haughty independence («. 29). ■> The Sept. has, hie. " Or, as we should say, be disappointed by ; viz. through the expected help not being given. The prep. (lit. from) denotes the source whence the disappointment comes. Cf. ii. 36, xiv 3 ; Isa. i. 29, xx. 5. The meaning is not ' to be ashamed of (AV., RV.) as we should understand the expression. " Cf. Amos V. 5. 284 JEREMIAH gone up» into his'' cities," and the flower* of his young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is Yahweh of hosts. " The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast. ^' Bemoan him, all ye that are round about him, and all ye that know his name ; Say, ' How is the strong staff" broken, the beautiful rod" ! ' 18 Come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst, thou daughter* that inhabitest Dibon ;« For the spoiler of Moab is come up against thee, he hath destroyed thy fortresses. 1* Stand by the way, and watch,'' inhabitress of Aroer ; " Heb. one is gone up. •= So Sept. The Heb. text has, her. ° The Heb. is peculiar. Read, perhaps, changing slightly two words, The spoiler of Moab [v. 18) is come up against him. ^ Heb. the choice : of. Ex. xv. 4 Heb. ° Figures of strength and authority. ' Fig. for the population; cf. xlvi. 19. So 'inhabitress in V. 19 (cf. xxi. 13). * Dibon lay on two hills (hence ' come down '), 13 miles E. of the Dead Sea, and 4 miles N. of the Arnon : see views in Libbey and Hoskins, The Jordan Valley and Petra (1905), i. 289, 293. It was here that the famous ' Moabite Stone ' was found in 1868. >> Cf. 1 Sam. iii. 13. ' 4 miles SSE. of Dibon (but 1500 feet below it : see G. A. Smith's large map of Palestine)), just on the N. edge of the deep chasm through which the Arnon flows. CHAPTER XLVIII. 16-27 285 Ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth ; say, ' What hath been done ? ' Moab is utterly crushed and helpless ; the entire country is at the invader^s fed. 2" Moab is put to shame ; for it is dismayed : howl and cry ; tell ye it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste. ^^ And judgement is come upon the table-land : upon Holon, and upon Jahzah, and upon Mephaath, ^^ and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim, ^3 and upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth- meon, ^* and upon Keri3ryoth, and upon Bozrah,* and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near. ^^ The horn"^ of Moab is hewn off, and his arm is broken, saith Yahweh. 2* Make ye him drunken," for he hath magnified himself against Yahweh ; and let Moab splash into his vomit,* and let him also be in derision. 2' Or was Israel not a * Probably the ' Bezer ' of Deut. iv. 43, Josh. xx. 8, xxi. 36 : its site is uncertain. (Not the ' Bozrah ' of xlix. 13, Isa. Ixiii. 1, which was in Edom.) •> A figure for power : cf. Ps. Ixxv. 10 ; Lam. ii. 3, 17. ° I.e. let him be bewildered by terror and despair. For this fig. sense of ' drunkenness,' cf. the note on xxv. 15. * A further trait in Moab's helplessness : cf. xxv. 27. Per- haps, however, we should read (after Sept.), and Moab hath clapped his hands (viz. in derision : Lam. ii. 15). The verb rendered ' splash ' nowhere else means either this or (AV., RV.) ' wallow,' but smite, clap. 286 JEREMIAH derision unto thee ? or was he found among thieves, that as often as thou spakest of him, thou didst wag the head ?* ^« Leave the cities, and dwell in the crags, ye inhabitants of Moab, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth.** The pride of Moab is humbled ; her vineyards and winepresses are ruined ; and the whole land is given over to mourning. 29 ^e" have heard of the pride of Moab, he is very proud ; his loftiness, and his pride, and his arro- gancy, and the haughtiness of his heart. ^^ ' / know,'saith Yahweh, 'his wrath; and his boastings are untruth : "> they do untruth.' ^^ Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab ;" for " I.e. was Israel like a detected thief, for thee to wag thy head (Ps. Ixiv. 8 : lit. shake thyself) at him in mockery ? ■> Alluding to the inaccessible crevices and fissures, high up the rocky sides of the defiles and gorges of Palestine — including in particular, the gorge of the Arnon — in which innumerable doves make their nests. See Tristram, Nat. Hist, of the Bible, p. 215 ; and cf. Cant. ii. 14. ° See Isa. xvi. 6. The following paragraph is largely a mosaic, constructed of reminiscences of Isa. xv.-xvi. ^ Rendered by many moderns, though questionably, and the untruth of his boastings. The same Heb. is found in Isa. xvi. 6. ° Varied from Isa. xvi. la (where ' Moab ' is the subject of the verbs). CHAPTER XLVIII. 28-33 287 the men* of Kir-heres will I^ moan." ^^ With more than the weeping* of Jazer will I weep for thee, vine of Sibmah : thy branches passed over the sea,^ they reached even unto * Jazer ; upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage the spoiler is faUen.B ^^ And'* gladness and joy are taken away "■ Varied from Isa. xvi. 76 by the change of ' raisin-cakes ' C^Z>H) into ' men ' (^B'JN). Kir-heres, the Kir-hariaeth of Isa. xvi. 7, 2 Kings iii. 25, was probably Kerak, 18 miles S. of the Amon, and 8 miles E. of the Dead Sea, a strongly fortified place, situated on a very steep rocky hill, surrounded by deep ravines. '' The Heb. has, will one, but the context requires the first person (one letter different). ° With a low, plaintive cry, resembling the note of the dove : cf. the same Heb. word in Isa. xxxviii. 14, lix. 1 1 (where ' mourn ' in AV., RV., as in the present passage, does not mean to grieve or sorrow, but is equivalent to ' moan '). ^ Read probably, as Isa. xvi. 9a, With the weeping ; i.e. as Jazer weeps (viz. over its ruined vineyards), so will I. " I.e. the Dead Sea (so Isa. xvi. 8d). Sibmah, mentioned also Num. xxxii. 3 (Sebam), 38, Josh. xiii. 19, — according to Jerome near Heshbon, and so perhaps the modem Sumia, 2J miles WNW. of Heshbon, — must have been famous for its vines (cf. Isa. xvi. 8, 9), and this verse must describe the area over which the vines derived from Sibmah extended ; northwards to Jazer (according to Eusebius, 15 miles N. of Heshbon), west- wards, over the Dead Sea : Isaiah (xvi. 8) adds eastwards also towards the wilderness. ' So Sept. and Isa. xvi. 8c : in the Heb. (' the sea of Jazer ') ' sea ' has no doubt been accidentally repeated from the pre- vious clause. e Varied from Isa. xvi. 9c(TTiXl 'thy vintage' for 11* Sp 'thy harvest ' ; and llEJ* ' the spoiler ' for TTH ' the shout '). ^ This verse is varied from Isa. xvi. 10. 288 JEREMIAH from the fruitful field, and from the land of Moab ; and I have caused wine to cease from the winevats : none shaU tread (the grapes) with shouting ;» the shouting shall be no shouting.^ ^4 prom [or Because of] the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh,<= even unto Jahaz have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto IJoronaim and'* the third Eglath^ : for the waters of Nimrim also shall become desolate.' 35 And I will cause to cease from Moab, saith Yahweh, him that offereth in^ the high place, and him that " Heb. heddd, the joyous shout, or huzzah, of the vintagers' as they trod the juice out of the grapes in the winepresses : cf. on XXV. 30. '■ I.e. the huzzah of the grape-treaders will be no true huzzah : it will become the huzzah of the attacking foe (xxv. 30, 11. 14, Isa. xvi. 9 — in all the same word hedad). ° These words, taken in conjunction with what follows, yield no intelligible sense : some verb ia desiderated (as in the original laa. XV. 4, ' Heshbon crieth out, and Elealeh.') Read perhaps, adding one letter (Giesebrecht), How criest thou, Heshbon and (so Sept.) Elealeh J Elealeh, now el-'Al, wag 2 miles NE. of Heshbon. ^ So Sept. The Heb. text omits and. Cf. Isa. xv. 5. ° Here also the text seems to be defective. Perhaps some such words as Moab calleth out should be inserted after 'the third Eglath.' ' Heb. desolations (so Isa. xv. 6). The meaning is, they will be dried up, their sources being stopped by the enemy (cf. 2 Kings iii. 25). « So with the change of a point (lit. the offerer of). Or render, him that bringeth up (viz. a procession of worshippers) to. Or read, with Sept., him that goeth up to (one letter omitted). (The Heb. text, as pointed, cannot be rendered, ' him that oflereth n.') For the 'high place,' cf. Isa. xv. 2, xvi. 12.J CHAPTER XLVIII. 34-41 289 burneth incense to his god. ^* Therefore mine heart soundeth for Moab like pipes, and mine heart soundeth like pipes for the men of Kir-heres* : there- fore the abundance that he hath gotteni" is perished. ^' For every head is bald, and every beard clipped ; upon all hands are gashes, and upon all" loins is sackcloth.'i ** Upon all the housetops of Moab and in the broad places thereof every one is wail- ing t® for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith Yahweh. ^* How is it dis- mayed ! (how) do they howl ! how hath Moab turned the back with shame ! thus shall Moab be- come a derision and a dismaying to all that are round about him. The final doom of Moab. *" For thus saith Yahweh : Behold one like unto an eagle' shall swoop, and spread out his wings against Moab. *^ Keriyyoth* is taken, and the " Varied from Isa. xvi. 11. ■> From Isa. xv. la. ° Insert all with Sept. Vulg. ^ Marks of mourning : of. on xvi. 6, xlvii. 5. ° With vv. 37, 38o, oomp. Isa. xv. 2c, 3. ' Properly, a griffon-vulture. Cf. on iv. 13. Here a figure of the foe, Nebuchadnezzar. * An important city of Moab, mentioned also in Am. ii. 2, and by Mesha in his Inscription (the ' Moabite Stone '), 1. 13, where he says that he ' dragged before Chemosh in Keriyyoth ' (pre- sumably in his sanctuary there) an altar-hearth which he had 19 290 JEREMIAH fastnesses are seized, and the heart of the mighty men of Moab in that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. *2 And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against Yahweh. *^ Fear,* and the pit, and the trap, are upon thee, inhabitant of Moab, saith Yahweh. ** He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit ; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the trap : for I will bring upon her, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation,'' saith Yahweh. *^ Under the shadow of Heshbon they that fled stand without strength :"• for* a fire is gone forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the house^ of Sihon ; and it hath devoured the temples of Moab's head, and the crown of the captured from the men of Gad in Ataroth (Num. xxxii. 3, 34). Its site is uncertain. * With w. 43, 44o, corap. Isa. xxiv. 17, 18 : one has evidently been adapted from the other. b Cf. ch. xi. 23, xxiii. 12. ° In vain do the fugitive Moabites seek protection in Heshbon ; for Heshbon is the starting-point of the conflagration which is to destroy Moab (cf. v. 2). * Vv. 455, 46, are based, with slight variations, upon Num. xxi. 28o, 6, xxiv. 17e, /, xxi. 29o, 6, c, d. (In the Hob. ' the crown of the head of ' [Ipip] differs extremely little from ' break down ' np-ip].) ° So, changing one letter (ITSD for P^^^); 'house of Sihon' being a poetical designation of Heshbon, Sihon's old capital (Num. xxi. 26, Deut. ii. 26, al.). The Heb. text has jrom the midst, which sdelds no satisfactory sense. Num. xxi. 28 has ' from the city (nnpD) of Sihon.' CHAPTERS XL VIII. 42-XLIX. 2 291 head of the sons of tumult.* ^' Woe unto thee, Moab ! the people of Chemosh is undone : for thy sons are taken away captive, and thy daughters into captivity. *' Yeti> wiU I turn the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith Yahweh. Thus far is the judgement upon Moab." XLIX. 1 On the children of Ammon. The Ammonites are threatened with retribution for taking to themselves the territory of GadA Thus saith Yahweh : Hath Israel no sons ? hath he no heir ? why then doth MUcom^ inherit Gad, and his people dwell in the cities thereof ?' * There- " Or, of the (battl6-)(Jin (cf. the same word in xxv. 31 ; Hoa. X. 14 ; Am. ii. 2), i.e. Moab's martial warriors. '' The prophecy ends with a promise of ultimate restoration : cf. xlvi. 266, xlix. 6, 39 ; also xii. 15. ° A compiler's note stating that the prophecy on Moab ends here. ^ The territory of Gad was on the E. of Jordan, from Heshbon at least as far N. aa the Jabbok (cf. Josh. xiU. 14-28 ; Num. xxxii. 34-36 ; but the details do not entirely agree ; see Gad in Hastings' Diet, of the Bible) : the Ammonite territory was on the E. of this, their principal city Rabbah (called by the Greeks, from Ptolemy Philadelphus, Philadelphia, now ' Amman), on the upper course of the Jabbok, being 14 miles NE. of Heshbon, and 24 miles E. of the Jordan. ' So Sept. (MeXxoX), Pesh. Vulg. The Heb. text, as pointed, has Malcam, which would mean ' their king.' Milcom was the national god of the Ammonites ( 1 ICings xi. 5, 33). ' I.e. Has Israel no children of its own, that the Ammonites should have talcen possession of this portion of its territory ? 292 JEREMIAH fore, behold, the days are coming, saith Yahweh, that I will cause the shout of battle to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon ; and it shall become a desolate mound,» and her daughters •> shall be burned with fire : then shall Israel inherit them that did inherit him, saith Yahweh. ' Howl, Heshbon, for Ai" is laid waste ; cry, ye daughters «f Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth : wail, and run to and fro among the (sheep-)folds ; for Milcom* shall go into exile, his priests and his princes to- gether.* * Why gloriest thou in the vales, (that) thy vale floweth (with fertility),' backturning " Heb. til, familiar now, in its Arabic form TeU, bs the name of many ' mounds ' in Palestine concealing the remains of ancient cities. So Deut. xiii. 16, Josh. viii. 28 (see RVm.). '' Fig. for suiTomidingV>town8 or villages. So Num. xxi. 26, xxxii. 42 ; Josh, x v. 45 (see RVm.), oZ. Sept., however, perhaps rightly, haa, her high pfc(C6sT(one letter different). ° Heshbon was a Moabiie city (xlviii. 2, 34, 45), so that it ia difficult to understand why it should be mentioned in a prophecy on Ammon ; and Ai is an otherwise unknown place. Duhm's conjecture, removing both these difficulties, is a clever one : Howl, palace (|1D^X for paETI : cf., though the Hebrew word is different. Am. viii. 3 RVm.), for the city ("fl^n for *!?) is laid waste ; the palace and city will then be those of Rabbah (2 Sam. xii. 27), which is the subject of the context, both before («. 2) and after (v. 3). ^ The Heb. text, as pointed, has, Malcam. See on v. 1. ' Varied from Am. i. 15. Cf. ch. xlviii. 7. ' The expression is peculiar, and doubtful : note that " with fertiUty ' has to be supplied to make sense. By a change in one letter, we could read (Gratz), Why gloriest thou in the vales, the multitude of thy vales f Comill would read simply, Why gloriest CHAPTER XLIX. 3-7 293 daughter ?* that trusted m her treasures, that said,'' ' Who shall come unto me ? ' ^ Behold, I am bringing a fear upon thee, saith the Lord Yahweh of hosts, from aU that are round about thee ; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth," and there shall be none to gather up him that wandereth. * Yet afterward I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith Yahweh. ' On Edom. Thus saith Yahweh of hosts : "^ Is wisdom no more in Teman'? is counsel perished from the thou in thy vale I The alluBion would then be in particular to the broad open plain (c. 2700 feet above the sea), surrounded on three sides by mountains (c. 3100-3300 feet) in which Kabbah itself lay (see G. A. Smith's large map of Palestine). » Cf. xxxi. 22 (of Ephraim). •> So Sept. Pesh. Targ. Vulg. ' Thateaid ' (mDXH) has acci- dentally dropped out in the Heb. Cf. xxi. 13 ; Obad. 3 ; Zeph. ii. 15. » Heb. before himself, i.e. straight forward (cf. Am. iv. 3). ■■ In this prophecy on Edom, v. 7 is similar to Obad. 8, and VB. 9-lOa, 14r-16, are largely identical, or nearly so, with Obad. 5-6, 1-4, respectively. The common passages are based probably upon some older prophecy, which Jer. and Obad. each adapt in his own way. = A district in the N. of Edom : cf. Am. i. 12 ; Ex. xxv. 13. See also Gen. xxxvi. 1 1 (where the clan inhabiting it is personi- fied as a ' son ' of EKphaz, the ' son ' of Edom), 15, 42 (where the ' duke,' i.e. leader [Vulg. dux ; Sept. Ttyeiuiv], or clan-chief, of Teman is spoken of). 294 JEREMIAH prudent ? is their wisdom vanished ?* * Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep,*" inhabitants of Dedan ;" for the calamity of Esau have I brought upon him, even the time that I visit him."* " If grape- gatherers come to thee, they will leave no gleanings ; if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough. ^Tor 7 have made Esau bare, I have disclosed his lurking-places, and he shall not be able to hide himself :" his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not. 11 Leave thy fatherless children, I wiU preserve them alive ; and let thy widows trust in me. ^^ For thus saith Yahweh : Behold, they to whom it pertained' not to drink of the cups shaU assuredly drink ; and art thou he that shall go altogether unpunished ? thou shalt not go un- punished, but thou shalt surely drink. ^^ For I " Heb. let go. Or, if the word should be explained from the Aramaic, corrupted. '> I.e. hide yourselves in inaccessible places. • Neighbours of Edom on the SE. (cf. Isa. xxi. 13 ; Ez. xxv. 13), who are here bidden to take flight, if they wish to escape Edom's fate. ^ Read probably, with Syr. Vulg., the time of his visitation ; cf. xi. 23, xxiii. 12, xlvi. 21, 1. 27. " So, rightly, AV. RV. ; but the rendering implies a change in the Massoretic vocalization. ' Lit. whose judgement (or sentence, or right) it was. 8 I.e. the cup of Yahweh' s anger ; see ch. xxv. 15 ff., esp. 28 f . If even Israel has to drink of this cup, surely Edom cannot expect to escape it. CHAPTER XLIX. 8-16 295 have sworn bymyseK, saith Yahweh, that Bozrah* shall become an appalment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse ; and aU the cities thereof shall become perpetual wastes. ^* A rumour from Yahweh have I heard, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, (saying,) ' Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.' 1^ For, behold, I make thee small among the nations^ and despised among men. i" thy trembling \^ the pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts" of the crags, that boldest the height of the hill :^ though thou shouldest make thy nest high like the eagle,^ even thence would » A city in the N. of Edom (Am. i. 12 ; Isa. xxxiv. 6, Ixiii. 1), now Busaireh, about 20 miles SE. of the Dead Sea. ^ I.e. What trembling will seize thee in the day of thy fall ! Others, however, suppose the meaning to be, the trembUng (or horror) for thee I i.e. What dread thy fall will inspire into those who witness it ! But the expression is peoviliar, and the text open to suspicion. " Properly, refugea or retreats (see Lane, Arab. Lex. 623c). •• The allusion is to the physical topography of Edom. Its capital, Petra, lay in an amphitheatre of mountains, accessible only through the narrow gorge, called the Sik, winding in with precipitous sides from the W. ; and the mountain sides rovmd Petra, and the ravines about it, contain innumerable rock-hewn cavities, some being tombs, but others dwellings, in which the ancient inhabitants lived. See Pusey's Commentary on the Minor Prophets, on Obad. 3 ; Stanley, Sinai and Pal., p. 88 H. ; Libbey and Hoskins, The Jordan Valley and Petra, ii., chaps, v.-ix. " Properly, the griffon-vulture. See on iv. 13. 396 JEREMIAH I bring thee down, saith Yahweh. ^'' And Edom shall become an appalment : every one that passeth by it shall be appalled and hiss because of all the strokes thereof.* ^^ As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith Yahweh, no man shall dwell there, neither shall a son of man sojourn therein. ^' Behold, there shall come up one like a Hon from the pride of Jordan" against the enduring habitation ■.'^ for in a moment wiU I chase them away from it ; and whosoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it ; for who is like me ? and who will fix a time for me V and who is the shepherd that can stand before me ?« *" Therefore hear ye the counsel of - Repeated from xix. 86. '' I.e. Admah and Zeboiim (Gen. x. 19, xiv. 2, 8). Se 1 Ueut. xxix. 23 ; and cf. Hos. xi. 8. ' I.e. the thick growth of semi-tropical vegetation fringing the banks of the Jordan, which was anciently the haunt of lions (see Zech. xi. 3 ; and comp. on Jer. xii. 5). ■^ Heb. homestead (see on xxxi. 23) of permanency, i.e. an abode of long standing, and likely to endure. " The Edomites are compared to a flock against which Yahweh is about to send a foe (figured as a lion) who will speedily expel them from their homestead : He will then appoint over their land as ruler whom He pleases. ' For ' gives the reason why one like a lion is to be sent against Edom. ' I.e. who will summon me to meet him in a court of law, or in a trial of strength ? Exactly the same expression occurs in Job ix. 19. « I.e. what shepherd (fig. for ruler, as xxv. 34-36, etc.) can defend his flock (people) against me ? CHAPTER XLIX. 17-23 297 Yahweh, that he hath taken against Edom, and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman : Surely they shall drag them, even the smallest of the flock ;* surely he shall make their homestead appalled because of them.*' *^ At the noise of their fall the earth trembleth ; there is a cry, the sound whereof is heard in the Red Sea. ^^ Behold," one like unto an eagle shall mount up and swoop, and spread out his wings against Bozrah ; and the heart of the mighty men of Edom in that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. ^^ On Damascus. Hamath is put to shame, and Arpad ;* for they have heard evil tidings, they are melted awaj^ : because of care, like the sea, they cannot rest.' ' The Edomites are here compared to the smallest and most helpless of a flock, whom their enemies, like dogs, will drag along, and treat as they please (xv. 3, xxii. 19). ^ Or, desolate v/pon them. ° The same words which in xlviii. 406, 41&, are used of Moab. ■i Two cities, named together, as here, in Isa. x. 9, xxxvi. 19, xxxvii. 13, and also mentioned frequently in the Ass. Inscrip- tions. Hamath was 110 miles N. of Damascus, and Arpad 95 miles N. of Hamath, and 10 miles N. of Aleppo. ° I.e. are rendered powerless through fear : of. Ex. xv. 5, Josh. u. 9, 24, Ps. Ixxv. 3 (AV., RV. ' dissolved ') ; and Ez. vii. 17 'all knees shall run into water.' ' So with slight changes (peirtly Symm. Vulg., partly Sept.). The Heb. text has, (there is) care in (or by) the sea, it cannot 298 JEREMIAH 2* Damascus is waxed feeble,* she turneth herself to flee, and trembling hath seized on her :'' anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail. ^^ ' How is the city of renown not forsaken," the city of my joy ! 'ii ^^ Therefore her young men shall fall in her broad places, and all the men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, saith Yahweh of hosts. *' And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.« rest ; which appears to yield no sense agreeable to the context, as there was no ' sea ' at or near Damascus. njXT does not mean ' sorrow,' but ' care' (RVm.), or ' anxiety' j see Josh, xxii. 24, and cf. the cognate verb in Jer. xvii. 8. With the last clause, comp. Isa. Ivii. 20. " Lit. hath sunk dovm elackly, said usually of the hands (vi. 24, xlvii. 3). •> So with a very sh'ght change in the puiictuation(rl for il)., The Heb. text has, she hath seized on trembling (cf. Job xviii. 20 RVm.). " If the text is correct, this will be an example of an idiom common in German, but otherwise unknown in Heb., the mean- ing being (in English idiom). How is the city of renown forsaken I Duhm would remove the anomaly by reading Woe to her I (TD MS for N? TK) the city of renovm, is forsaken. ^ This verse must be supposed to be spoken by one of the citizens of Damascus. Syr. Targ. Aq. Symm. Theod. Vulg. (the reading of the Sept. cannot be determined), however, have the city of joy (E'lti'D for ^B'lB'D) ; cf.' houses of joy ' in Isa. xxxii. 13. If this be the true reading, the words will be the prophet's, and the inverted commas will of course disappear. ' Varied from Am. i. 4 and 14 : cf. above, xxi. 146. CHAPTER XLIX. 24-31 299 2^ On Kedar,* and on the kingdoms of Hazor,'' which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote. Thus saith Yahweh : Arise ye, go up to Kedar , and spoil the children of the east. ^® Their tents and their flocks shall they take ; they shall carry away for themselves their curtains," and all their vessels, and their camels : and they shall cry unto them, ' Terror on every side ! '* '" Flee ye, wander far off, dwell deep,^ ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith Yahweh ; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Baby- lon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you.' ^^ Arise,8 get you up unto a nation that is in prosperity, that dwelleth carelessly,'' saith Yahweh, which have * A wealthy pastoral tribe (Isa. Ix. 7), famous also as bowmen (Isa. xxi. 17), living in villages (Isa. xlii. 11) in the wilderness, somewhere on the E. or SE. of Palestine (Jer. ii. 10 ; Isa. xxi. 16 f.), often mentioned also in the Assyrian Inscriptions. ■> Or, the village-settlements. ' Hazor ' is probably a collective term, derived from Aaj er, a ' village,' denoting Arab tribes living in fixed settlements or ' villages' (cf. Gen. xxv. 16 ; Isa. xlii. II " the villages that Kedar doth inhabit ' ), as opposed to nomadic tribes. The Arab hddir is used similarly : see Lane, Arab. Lex 5906, Eno. Bill, ii.' 1978. " I.e. their tent-hangings (iv. 20, x. 20). '' With this exclamation cf. vi. 25, xx. 3, 4, 10, xlvi. 5. " See on v. 8. ' So the Versions, many MSS., and the Heb. margin. The Heb. text has, them. Addressed to the assailants of Hazor (cf. v. 286). >■ Lit. confidently. (When the confidence is well-grounded rendered usually in safety, Lev. xxv. 18, 19, safely, Jer. xxiii. 6, 300 JEREMIAH neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone.* *^ And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil : and I will scatter unto all winds them that have the corners (of their hair) clipt'' ; and from every side of them will I bring their calamity, saith Yahweh. ^^ And Hazor shall become a dwelling-place of jackals, a desolation for ever : no man shall dwell there, neither shall a son of man sojourn therein. 3* That which came as Yahweh's word to Jere- miah the prophet concerning Elam" in the begin- ning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, 8' Thus saith Yahweh of hosts : Behold, I am breaking the bow of Elam, the chief (weapon) of their might, ^e^^j j .,,^111 bring upon Elam four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and I will scatter them toward all these winds ; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come. ^7 ^^ j ^jj] cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them or securely, Ez. xxviii. 26 : in Zeph. ii. 15, Isa. xlvii. 8, where, as here, it is ill-grounded, it is rendered carelessly). Comp. Ez. xxxviii. 11, which illustrates both this and the following clause. " I.e. in seclusion, far from the liability of attack. For this sense of 'dwell alone,' see Deut. xxxiii. 28, Ps. iv. 8 (RVm.). i" See on ix. 26. " On the E. of Babylonia ; cf. on xxv. 25. CHAPTER XLIX. 32-39 301 that seek their life : and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith Yahweh ; and I will send the sword after them, tUl I have consumed them :» ^^ and I will set my throne*" in Elam, and will destroy from thence king and princes, saith Yahweh. '^ But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will turn" the captivity of Elam, saith Yahweh. (2) Chaps. 1. I. — Hi. 58. On Babylon. A long and impassioned prophecy against Babylon. The time of her end is approaching, when the violence done by her to Israel will at length be avenged (1. 17 f., 33f., li. 24, 34-36) : a people from the north, even the Modes, are about to be stirred up against her : again and again the prophet with eager vehemence summons them to begin the fray, while he bids the Jewish exiles escape betimes from the doomed city, the future fate of which he contem- plates with manifest delight. The date will naturally be shortly before B.C. 538, when the conquests of Cyrus began to kindle the hopes of the exiles, and to mark him out as their coming deliverer (Isa. xli. 2, 25, xliv. 28, etc.). The prophecy cannot be Jeremiah's. According to li. 59, 60, its date, if it were Jeremiah's, would be the fourth year of Zedekiah (b.o. 593). But (1) the historical situation « Cf. ix. 166. >> I.e. the throne of judgement : cf. i. 15, xliii. 10. " So the Heb. text. The Heb. marg. has, bring bach ; cf. xlix. 6. 302 JEREMIAH presupposed by the prophecy is not that of B.C. 693, but much later : the Temple is alluded to as having suffered violence (1. 28, U. 11, 51), the Jews are in exile (1. 4 f., 17, li. 34), and the end of Babylon is approaching rapidly (1. 8 f., li. 6, 45 f.). Then (2) the point of view is not that of Jeremiah either in or about 593 B.C. -. Jeremiah at that time, as we know from chaps, xxvii.-xxix., was earnestly opposing the prophets who promised that the yoke of Babylon would speedily be broken, and was exhorting the exiles to settle down contentedly in their new home : but the prophet who speaks in 1. 1-li. 58 declares confidently that the fall of Babylon is close at hand, and does his utmost to inspire the exiles with the hope of a speedy release. And (3) the prophecy is animated by a temper which is not Jeremiah's. The vein of strong feeling against the Chal- daeans which pervades it, and the satisfaction shewn at the prospect of their approaching fate, are not consistent with Jeremiah's repeatedly avowed conviction that the Chaldaeans were the agents appointed by Providence for the pvuiishment of Israel's sin — a work which in 593 was not yet accomplished. There breathes in this prophecy the spirit of an Israelite, whose experiences had been far other than Jeremiah's, who had smarted under the painful yoke of the Chaldaeans (cf. Isa. xlvii. 6 f., hi. 3), and whose thoughts were full of vengeance for the sufferings which his fellow-countrymen had endiired at their hands. The prophecy miist have been the work of a prophet familiar with Jeremiah's writings, and accustomed to the use of similar phraseology, who wrote shortly before the fall of Babylon (b.o. 538), from the same general standpoint as Isa. xiii. 2-xiv. 23, xl.-lxvi. In later times, it seems, the prophecy came to be attributed to Jeremiah, and was identified with the ' scroll ' sent by him to Babylon, of which we read in li. 59-64 : a late editor of the book of CHAPTER L. 1-3 303 Jeremiah thus prefixed it to li. 69-64, at the same time adding the title, and also li. 606, for the purpose of iden- tifying the prophecy with the contents of the scroll.* The prophecy is remarkable for the many reminiscences, and even (1. 40, 41-43, 44-46, li. 15-19) excerpts from other prophecies, contained in it; the more striking instances are pointed out in the notes. The frequency with which, instead of the subject being developed regularly, the same thought is again and again reverted to (as 1. 3, 9, 25, 41, li. If., 25; 1. 14, 21, 26, 29, li. llf, 27; 1. 8, li. 6, 45, 50; 1. 12, 39f., li. 265, 296, 37, 43), is due probably to the tor- rent of impetuous feeling by which the prophet is carried along. L. ^ The word that Yahweh spake concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldaeans, by Jeremiah the prophet. The doom impending upon Babylon. 2 Declare ye among the nations and publish, and lift up a standard ; publish, and conceal not : say, ' Babylon is taken, BeP is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed ; her images are put to shame, her idol-blocks" are dismayed.' * For there * See further the writer's Introduction, pp. 266-8. *■ A title of Merodach (i.e. Marduk, the supreme god of Baby- lon), meaning Lord. Cf. Isa. xlvi. 1. ° A contemptuous expression for idols, used moat frequently (39 times) by Ezekiel, six times by the compiler of Kings (1 Kings XV. 12, xxi. 26, 2 Kings xvii. 12. xxi. 11, 21, xxiii. 24), and otherwise only Lev. xxvi. 30, Deut. xxix. 17, and here. The exact meaning is uncertain : as a very similar word in Aramaic moans a atone column (o-t^Xi;), it has been supposed 304 JEREMIAH is come up against her a nation out of the north ; " it shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell therein : from man unto beast, they are fled, they are gone.** Then Israel will turn in penitence to Yahweh ; it has suffered much in exile for its sins, but now it may take its flight from Babylon. * In those days, and in that time, saith Yahweh, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together ; they shaU go on their way weeping, and shall seek Yahweh their God. ^ For Zion shall they ask, with their faces hither- ward, (saying), ' Come ye, and let us join our- selves" to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten.' " My people hath been lost sheep : their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them back unto the mountains : they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting-place. ' All that found them have devoured that the Heb. gillid (meaning etymologioally aomething rolled) denoted originally a long sacred stone or menhir, that it then came to denote a, 'stone-image, till finally it was used as a contemptuous term for an idol generally. » Media [li. 11, 28; Isa. xiii. 17] was to the N. of Babylon. *• Varied from ix. 106. » So Syr. The Heb. text, by a slight error in one letter, has, and they shall join themselves. CHAPTER L. 4-12 305 them, and their adversaries said, ' We are not guilty:'* because they have sinned against Yahweh, the habitation'' of righteousness, and the hope of their fathers." ^ Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and be as the he-goats before the flocks.* YahweWs purpose to bring a great host of nations against Babylon. ' For, lo, I am stirring and bringing up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country : and they shall set themselves in array against her ; from thence she shall be taken : their arrows shall be as of an expert warrior, who returneth not empty .^ ^"And Chaldaea shall be a spoil : all that spoU her shall have their fill, saith Yahweh. ^^ Though ye be glad, though ye re- joice, O ye that plunder mine heritage, though ye be wanton as an heifer that treadeth out (the corn), and neigh as steeds ; ^* your mother' shall be sore ashamed ; she that bare you shall be " Contrast ii. 3. ■■ Lit. homestead : cf. xxxi. 23. So Sept. The Heb. text adds, Yahweh. Cf. xvii. 13. * I.e. leading the way. « Cf. 2 Sam. i. 22. ' I.e. Babylon, regarded as the mother of the indi vidua citizens (cf. Hos. ii. 2, 5, where the ' mother ' is Israel). 20 3o6 JEREMIAH abashed: 'Behold,' (men shall say,) 'thehindermostof the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a steppe ! '* 13 Because of the wrath of Yahweh it shall not be inhabited,'' but it shall be wholly desolate : every one that passeth by Babylon shall be appalled and hiss because of all the strokes thereof." The foe invited to begin the attach. 1* Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, aU ye that bend the bow ; ^hoot at her, spare no arrows : for against Yahweh hath she sinned. ^^ Shout against her round about : she hath submitted herself f- her buttresses are fallen, her walls are thrown down : for it is Yahweh's vengeance ; take vengeance upon her : as she hath done, do unto her. ^^ Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest : for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.® A promise of restoration and pardon to Israel. 1' Israel is a scattered sheep, which lions have » Cf. ii. 6 ; and below, li. 43. '' Heb. shall not ait : cf. on xvii. 25. " Cf. xix. 8 (where see the note), xlix. 17. * Heb. given her hand : cf. Lam. v. 6, 1 Chron. xxix. 24, 2, Chron. xxx. 8. ' Alluding to foreigners settled in Babylon : of. Isa. xiii. 14. CHAPTER L. 13-21 307 driven away : first the king of Assyria devoured him ; and now at the last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath gnawed his bones. ^^ Therefore thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I punished the king of Assyria. i*And I will bring Israel back to his homestead, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and upon the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead shall his soul* be satisfied. ^^ In those days, and in that time, saith Yahweh, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none ; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found : for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant. Renewed invitation to the foe to attack Babylon. The prophet's exultation over her fall. ^1 Go up to the land of" Merathaim", go up against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod'' : slay and " Mentioned as the seat, or organ, of appetite : cf. on xxxi. 14. ■> So, dividing two words, for a grammatical reason, differently, without appreciable change of sense. "■ ' Merathaim ' is evidently intended as a name of Baby- lonia : perhaps based upon a possible Babylonian name of South Babylonia, ' Land of the ndr Marrdtim,' or ' of the Bitter River ' (the Persian Gulf), Hebraized so as to suggest the meaning Double Defiance (or Double Bitternens). ^ A people of Babylonia (Ez. xsSii. 23), mentioned by Sargon among tribes bordering on Elam, and named perhaps by the prophet as suggesting the idea of visitation, punishment (Heb. pdkad, to visit or punish). Pronounce, ' Pekod.' 3o8 JEREMIAH utterly destroy* after them,'' saith Yahweh, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. 2* A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction !" ^^ How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken ! how is Babylon become an appalmenf^ among the nations ! ^* I have laid a gin for thee, and thou art also taken, Babylon, and thou wast not aware : thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast provoked* Yahweh. ^^ Yahweh hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indigna- tion :' for the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, hath a work to do in the land of the Chaldaeans. 2* Come against her from every quarter, open her storehouses? : pile her up like heaps (of corn), and destroy her utterly"* : let nothing of her be left. ^' Slay all her bullocks' ; let them go down to the slaughter : woe upon them ! for their day is come, the time of their " Heb. ban (or devote) ; of. on xxv. 9. '' Sept. Sjr. omit, after them (which has probably arisen from a corrupt repetition of ' utterly destroy ' ). " Heb. a great breaking. See on iv. 8. Cf. xlviii. 3, li. 64. ^ Or, o desolation; see on xviii. 16. So li. 41. " Or, challenged ; lit. excited thyself against. Cf. 2 Kings xiv. 10 (RVm.) ' Fig. for the nations who unconsciously perform Hia purpose against Babylon : cf. Isa. xiii. 5. * Or, granaries. Properly, fodder-stores. >> Heb. ban (or devote) her. See Deut. xiii. 15, 16. ' Fig. for young warriors : see the same figure in Isa. xxxiv. 7 ; and cf. also Jer. xlviii. 15, li. 40. CHAPTER L. 22-32 309 visitation." ^^ The voice of them that flee and escape^ out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance ] of Yahweh our God, the vengeance of his temple." Babylon will be compelled to let her captives go. 2* Call together the archers against Babylon, all them that bend the bow ; camp against her round about ; let there be* none to escape : recompense her according to her work ; according to all that she hath done, do unto her : for against Yahweh hath she been proud, against the Holy One of Israel. ^^ Therefore her young men shall fall in her broad places, and all her men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, saith Yahweh.^ *i Behold, I am against thee,' thou proud one,* saith the Lord, Yahweh of hosts : for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.'' ^^ And the proud one shall stumble and fall, and he shall have none to raise him up : and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all that is round about him.' » Cf. xlvi. 216. '' I.e. of the liberated Jews. ■= I.e. the vengeance due to his temple for its having been burnt by the Chaldaeans. ^ So Heb. text ; Heb. marg., many MSS. Versions, let her have- * Repeated from xlix. 26. ' Cf. xxi. 13o. e Heb. Pride. Similarly v. 32. ^ Sept. (with other points) has, the time of thy visitation. Cf. V. 27, xlvi. 21 ; also viii. 12, x. 15, li. 18. ' Repeated, with slight variations, f»om xxi. 146. 310 JEREMIAH 33 Thus saith Yahweh of hosts : The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed to- gether : and all that took them captives hold them fast ; they refuse to let them go. ^4 Their redeemer is strong ; Yahweh of hosts is his name : he shall surely defend their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. The doom imminent upon Jerusalem. 36 A sword is upon the Chaldaeans, saith Yahweh, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men. ^s ^ sword is upon the boasters^', and they shall dote'' ; a sword is upon her warriors, and they shall be dismayed 3' A sword is upon her" horses, and upon her" chariots, and upon all the mixed people'^ that are in the midst of her, and they shall become as women : a sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed. 38 ^ drought" is upon her waters, and '^ Or, empty praters ; the allusion being to the prophets and diviners, who promised Babylon security. Cf . Isa. xliv. 25. •> I.e. become foolish (Isa. xix. 13, Jer. v. 4 [the same Heb.]). " So Syr. (note the preceding and following clauses). The Heb. text has, his. The change in the Heb. is very slight. * I.e. foreign mercenaries : see on xxv. 20. ' Sept. (Luc), Syr. have, o sword. In the Heb. 'sword' {hereb) differs frona ' drought ' (horeb) only by a single vowel : and it is uncertain whether the prophet intended thus slightly to vary the word used by him in the other cases so as to adapt CHAPTER L. 33-41 311 they shall be dried up : for it is a land of graven images, and through idols* do they make them- selves mad.*" 39 Therefore wild beasts of the deserto with howling creatures'^ shall dwell (there), and ostriches shall dwell therein : and it shall be no more inhabited for ever ; neither shall it be dwelt in» -unto all generations.' *° As when God over- threw Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith Yahweh, no man shall dwell there, neither shall a son of man sojourn therein. 8 Description of the invader. *i Behold,'' a people cometh from the north ; and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred it to ' waters,' or whether he intended to keep the same word, using it then in a fig. sense of the means adopted by the as- sailants to cut off the waters which either served as a defence to Babylon, or provided supplies for her population during a siege. * Heb. terrors, i.e. objects of alarm, ironically for false gods. (The word in this sense occurs only here.) ■> Sept. Aq. Symm. Syr. Vulg. Targ. (vocalizing the Heb. consonants differently) read, and of idols do they boast themselves (Ps. xcvii. 7). " Or, perhaps (from the Arabic), mid cats. Of. Isa. xiii. 21, xxxiv. 14. ^ I.e., probably, wolves ; of. Isa. xiii. 22 (BVm.), xxxiv. 14 (RVm.). ■ " Heb. it shall sit no more for ever, neither dwell (xvii. 25, xlvi- 26). ' From Isa. xiii. 20a. ^ Repeated from xlix. 18. ^ Vv. 41-43 are repeated from vi. 22-24, with the necessary changes adapting them from Judah to Babylon. 312 JEREMIAH up from the uttermost corners of the earth. *2 They lay hold on bow and javelin : they are cruel, and have no mercy : their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses : every one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, daughter of Babylon. ** The king of Babylon hath heard the fame of them, and his hands wax feeble : distress hath taken hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail. ** Behold,* there shall come up one like a lion from the pride of Jordan"* against the enduring habitation : for in a moment wiU I chase them away from it ; and whosoever is chosen, him wiU I appoint over it : for who is like me ? and who wiQ fix a time for me ? and who is the shep- herd that can stand before me ? *^ Therefore hear ye the counsel of Yahweh, that he hath taken against Babylon, and his purposes, that he hath pur- posed against the land of the Chaldaeans : Surely they shall drag them, even the smallest of the flock ; surely he shall make their homestead ap- palled because of them." *^ At the tidings,* ' Baby- '^ Vv. 44^46 are repeated from xlix. 19-21, with the necessary changes adapting them from Edom to Babylon. The ' Uon,' which there was a figure of Nebuchadnezzar, becomes here, of course, a figure of Cyrus. '' See on this and other expressions in this verse the notes on xlix. 19, 20. " Or, desolate upon them. See on xlix. 20. ^ Heb. sound, or voice (viz. of the following words). CHAPTERS L. 42-LI. 4 313 Ion is taken,' the earth trembleth, and the cry is heard among the nations. Renewed announcement of the approaching doom of Babylon : let Israel hasten to leave her. LI. 1 Thus saith Yahweh, Behold, I am stirring up against Babylon, and against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai*, the spirif of a destroyer." ^ And I will send unto Babylon winnowers, "^ and they shall wianow her, and empty her land : for they shall be against her round about in the day of trouble. ^Let not the archer bend his bow, and let him note lift himself up in his coat of mail :' and spare ye not her young men ; destroy ye utterly e all her host. * And they shall fall down slain in the land of ° I.e. Ghaldaea (see w. 24, 35), Heb. Kaadim, written in the cypher called ' Atbash ' (see on xxv. 26). ' Leb-kamai ' means 'the heart (or, ' the midst,' 'centre,' Deut. iv. 11, Ez. xxvii. 4) of them that rise up against me.' ^ See u. 11 ; and of. Hag. i. 14. "= Cf. xxii. 7. * So Syr. Targ. Vulg. (one vowel different). The Heb. text has, strangers (zarim for zorim). For the form of the sentence cf. xvi. 16, xxiii. 4, xlviii. 12. o So 15 MSS., Syr. Targ. Vulg.fSyr.-Hex. The Heb. text reads. Against (him that) bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against (him that) lifteth himself up in, etc. ; but the grammar of this rendering is difficult and improbable. ' Let none of the warriors of Babylon arm themselves to defend her, for it will be useless. 8 Heb. ban (or devote) ; cf. 1. 21. 314 JEREMIAH the Chaldaeans, and thrust through in her streets. ^ For Israel is not widowed,* nor Judah, from his God, from Yahweh of hosts ; but their land^" is full of guilt before" the Holy One of Israel. ^ Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life ; be not cut off in her iniquity : for it is a time of vengeance for Yahweh ; a recompense is he repaying to her. '' Babylon hath been a golden cup in Yahweh 's hand, that made aU the earth drunken : of her wine the nations have drunk ; therefore the nations are beside themselves.* ^ Suddenly is Babylon fallen and broken !^ howl ye for her ! take balm for her pain, peradventure she will be healed !' ^ ' We^ would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed : forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country : for her judgement reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies, i" Yahweh hath brought forth our right- " Cf. for the figure Isa. liv. 4. •> I.e. the land of the Chaldaeans. " Lit. from, i.e. on the part of= in, the. judgement of : cf . Num. xxxii. 22, Job iv. 17 (RVm.). * Fig. for, bewildered and helpless before her. Cf. xxv. 16, with the note. = Like a ' cup ' (v. 7). ' The words are of course meant ironically. ' In this and the next verse the Jews are represemea as addressing other foreigners resident in Babylon, and suggesting that as her doom is now sealed they should all hasten to leave her. CHAPTER LI. 5-13 315 eousness* : come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.' The foe again invited to attack Babylon. ^^ Polish'' the arrows ; put on° the shields^ : Yahweh hath stirred up the spirit of the king« of Media , because his device is against Babylon, to destroy it : for it is Yahweh's vengeance, the vengeance of his temple.' ^^ gg^ ^p g, standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong,8 set watchers,'' prepare the ambushes : for Yahweh hath both devised and done that which he hath spoken against the inhabitants of Baby- lon. ^^ thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, the * So Syr. Targ. The Heb. text has, righteousnesses. The meaning is, has shewn openly (cf. Ps. xxxvii. 6) the justice of our cause, by the overthrow of our oppressors : cf. Isa. Ixii. 16, 2 " Cf. Isa. xlix. 2. " Heb. fill (or be filled with ; cf. 2 Sam. xxiii. 7 RVm.). Bead perhaps, furbish (Ez. xxi. 9). ^ Or, suits of armour. The meaning of the Heb. is uncertain, " So Sept. (cf. V. 28), referring to Cyrus. The Heb. text has, kings. Cf . Isa. xiii. 1 7 ; Ezra i. I . ' Cf. 1. 28. « I.e. blockade it closely (cf. 2 Sam. xi. 16). ■» I.e. men to watch and keep the city close by blockading it. (The Heb. word used does not mean ' watchmen,' in the sense of those who ' look out,' 2 Sam. xviii. 24-26, 2 Kings ix. 17, 19, 20, but 'watchers' in the sense of guarders, blockaders ; cf. the corresponding verb in 2 Sam. xi. 16.) 3i6 JEREMIAH cubit where thou shalt be cut off.» ^* Yahweh of hosts hath sworn by himself, (saying,) Surely I will fin thee with men,'' as with locusts" ; and they shall lift up a shout against thee. YahweVs power contrasted with that of idolsA 15 Who made the earth by his power, Who estabHshed the world by his wisdom. And by his understanding stretched out the heavens. 1* When he uttereth his voice,^ there is a roar of waters in the heavens, And he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth ; He maketh Hghtnings for the rain. And bringeth forth the wind out of his trea- suries : 1' (Then) every man becometh senseless and loseth knowledge ; * I.e. the web of thy destiny is finished. Cf. for the figure Isa. xxxviii. 12 (where the word for ' cut off ' is the same as here). '' Meaning here the assailants. " Probably (see on v. 27) the locust in the pupa-stage of its development, for which there is no proper English equivalent. ^ A citation from Jer. x. 12-16, no doubt introduced with the object of suggesting that the idols of Babylon (1. 38) will be powerless to save it. " Viz. in thunder. See further on x. 13. CHAPTER LI. 14-20 317 Every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image : For his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.* ^^ They are vanity, a work of mockery : In the time of their visitation they will perish. 1" The portion of Jacob is not like these ; For he is the former of aU things ; And [Israel is]'' the tribe of his inheritance : Yahweh of hosts is his name. Yahweh is against Babylon. 2" Thou" art my battle axe'* and weapons of war* : and with thee will I dash in pieces the nations ; " I.e. man is dumb in presence of the thvmderstorm {v. 16) ; and every idol-maker is abashed by the inability of his graven image to produce anything like it. •> So X. 16. But Sept. reads (as there), For the former of all things is hie inheritance. ° If the future tenses be kept in vv. 20-23, the reference will be to the conqueror of Babylon, Cyrus. But these verbs admit equally of being rendered ' etol dash in pieces,' ' do I destroy,' etc., i.e. I am in the habit of dashing in pieces, destroying, etc.. and many moderns prefer this rendering : the reference will then be to Babylon (cf. 1. 23), which has hitherto been Yahweh's instrument for subduing the earth, but which is now to reach shortly the term of her power. But v. 24 is unfavourable to this view. "> Or, war-club. The word signifies properly something that shatters or dashes in pieces (cf. Nah. ii. 1), and is cognate with the verb so rendered in w. 20-23. Cf.Ezek. ix. 2 (lit. ' his weapon of shattering ' ). ' Read perhaps, changing a vowel-point, war-weapon. 3i8 JEREMIAH and with thee will I destroy kingdoms ; ^^ and with thee wiU I dash in pieces the horse and his rider ; and with thee will I dash in pieces the chariot and him that rideth therein ; ^^ and with thee will I dash in pieces man and woman ; and with thee will I dash in pieces the old man and the youth ; and with thee will I dash in pieces the young man and the maid ; ^^ and with thee will I dash in pieces the shepherd and his flock ; and with thee will I dash in pieces the husbandman and his yoke (of oxen) ; and with thee will I dash in pieces governors and viceroys." 2* And I will repay to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldaea all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,'' saith Yahweh. 2^ Behold, I am against thee, destroying moun- tain, saith Yahweh, which destroyest aU the earth : and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the crags, and wiU make thee a burnt mountain." ^' And they shall not take from thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foun- " RV. deputies. Both these words (which occur also elsewhere in Heb. : see, for instance, for the former Hag. i. 1, Neh. ii. 7. and for the latter Isa. xli. 25) are of Assyrian origin ; and are often used in the Assyrian inscriptions of the governors of cities or provinces. Cf. vv. 28, 57. '' These three words go with ' repay ' : they will be requited so that you may witness it (Ps. xoi. 8). " I.e. as barren and desolate as an extinct volcano. CHAPTER LI. 21-28 319 dations ; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith Yahweh. The nations summoned to attach Babylon : its cap- ture by its assailants. " Set ye up a standard on the earth, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare* the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat,i> Minni," and Ashkenaz* ; appoint a marshal" against her ; cause the horses to come up as the rough locust.' ^^ Prepare against her the nations, the kings of Media, his'' governors, and all his"* viceroys, and all the land of his " Heb. sanctify. Cf. Isa. xiii. 3 ; and see on ch. vi. 4. So v. 28. ■^ The Urartu of the Assyrian inscriptions, NW. of Lake Van corresponding generally to the modem Armenia. Mentioned also in Gen. viii. 4, 2 Kings xix. 37 = Isa. xxxvii. 38. ° The Mannai of the Assyrian inscriptions, SE. of Lake Van. "" A people (Gen. x. 3), whose home, to judge from the present passage, will have been near Ararat and Minni : perhaps the Aahguza of the inscriptions, S. of Lake Urumiyeh. " Heb. tiphsar (also Nah. iii. 17), a word of foreign origin, to all appearance the Assyrian dupsarru, ' tablet-writer,' i.e. scribe, very common in the Assyrian inscriptions ; in Heb. (here and Nah. iii. 17) used of some high military official. ' Heb. yelek: properly (to judge from the epithet 'rough') the locust in the second or pupa-stage of its development, in which its wings are enveloped in horn-hke sheaths, and pro- ject roughly on the back. Cf. the writer's Joel and Amos, p. 85. ' So Sept. (note ' his dominion ' below). Heb. text, kings. The ' king of Media ' will, of course, be Cyrus ; cf. «. 11. ■■ So Sept. The Heb. text has, her (referring to ' Media' ). 320 JEREMIAH dominion. ^* And the land quaketh and is in anguish : for Yahweh's purposes against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant. ^° The mighty men* of Babylon have ceased to fight, they remain in the fastnesses : their might hath failed;^ they are become as women" : her dwellingplaces are set on fire ; her bars are broken. *i One post* runneth to meet another, and one ^messenger^ to meet another, to teU the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter ; ^^ and that the ferries' are seized, and they have burned the pools » with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. ^3 For thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel : The daughter of Babylon is like a thresh- jng-floor at the time when it is trodden ;'' yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her.' " I.e. the warriors. •• Heb. is dried up. ' Cf. 1. 37. ^ Heb. runner : cf. Job ix. 25, Esther iii. 13, 15. " Heb. teller, i.e. newsbearer. ' Viz. across the Euphrates. Lit. crossing places. * Probably connected with the defences of Babylon. These are hyperbolically described as consumed by fire : cf. 1. 38 ■^ I.e. trodden down hard, in readiness for the threshing. Cf. Robinson, Bib. Researches in Palestine, i. 650 ; and Payne Smith's note. (The reference is not to the time when the com is trodden out, the Heb. word being a different one from the one that is then used.) ' I.e. soon Babylon will be as the corn on the floor itself. CHAPTER LI. 29-36 321 The injuries done to Israel shall at last he avenged. ^* ' Nebuchadrezzar* the king of Babylon hath devoured me,'' he hath discomfited me,'' he hath set me'' as an empty vessel," he has swallowed me'' up like a monster,'* he hath filled his maw with my dehcacies ; he hath rinsed me'' out».' ^^ ' The violence done to me and to my flesh' be upon Babylon ! ' let the inhabitress of Zion say ; and ' My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldaea ! ', let Jerusalem say. 3* Therefore thus saith Yahweh : Behold, I will defend thy cause, and take vengeance for thee ; and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.8 ' Israel is dramatically introduced suddenly as the speaker. •> So Heb. marg. and the ancient Versions. The Heb. text has, us. [The difference in the Heb. is very slight.) "■ Fig. for spoiled and stripped of everything. ^ Heb. tannin, a word denoting a large sea- or river-monster (as the crocodile, Ps. Ixxiv. 13, Ez. xxix. 3). Nebuchadnezzar is compared to «. huge monster, which has maltreated and swallowed up Israel. « So the Heb., as pointed (the word, as Isa. iv. 4 ' purged,' Ez. xl. 38 'iVashed'). But probably, with other points, we should read, hath driven me away (1. 17). ' Heb. My wrong and my fieah (i.e. my torn and injured flesh). 8 Alluding probably to the great lake constructed by Nebu- chadnezzar for the defence of Babylon (cf. Hdt. i. 185):' as he tells us himself, ' That foes with evil purpose the bounds of Babylon might not approach, great waters like the volume of the sea I carried round the land, and the crossing of these was 21 322 JEREMIAH 37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling- place of jackals, an appalment, and an hissing, without inhabitant. The final end of Babylon. 88 All together like young lions do they roar : they growl as Hons' whelps." ^^ When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken,^ that they may exult," and sleep a per- petual sleep, and not wake, saith Yahweh. *" I will bring them down like lambs to be slaughtered, like rams with he-goats.* *i How is Sheshach' taken ! and the praise of the whole earth seized ! how is Babylon become an appalment among the like the crossing of the surging sea, of the briny flood ' (India House Inscription, vi. 39 ff., translated in Records of the Past, second series, iii. 116). * The Chaldaeans, elated over their spoils, are compared to lions roaring over their prey. ^ While they are thus gloating over their prey, Yahweh will (fig. ) prepare them a feast, which will have the effect of throwing them into a sleep from which they will never awake (cf. v. 57)- ° I.e. that they may be elated, at least for the time, by the ntoxioation of the feast. But the idea agrees badly with the sequel. The Sept. has, he stupefied, which suits ,the context much better, though it is not apparent what Heb. word this rend, would express. Giesebr. suggests swoon (ID7U* for 1T71?*), Isa. li. 20. * Cf. 1. 27, xlviii. 16, Isa. xxxiv. 6. ' I.e. Babel (Babylon). See on xxv. 86. CHAPTER LI. 37-46 323 nations ! *^ The sea* is come up upon Babylon, she is covered with the multitude'' of the waves thereof. *^ Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land, and a steppe ; " no man shall dwell in them, neither shall any son of man pass through them. ** And I will punish BeP in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up :* and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him : yea, the wall of Babylon is fallen ! Let Israel hasten to leave the doomed city. *5 Go ye out from the midst of her, my people, and save every man his life from the^fierce anger of Yahweh. ** And (take heed,) lest your .heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land, when there cometh in one year a rumour, and after it in (another) year a rumour,' and there is violence in the land, ruler against ruler. " Fig. of the overwhelming numbers of the invaders : cf. xlvi. 7, xlvii. 2, Isa. xvii. 12. ^ Or, roarmglTc. 16). ° So Sept. Syr. The Heb. text adds, a land (probably a reminiscence of ii. 6), which does not agree with the two plural pronouns following. ^ See on 1. 2. 8 The plunder of the subjugated nations, which Bel and his people (cf. V. 34) will be compelled to disgorge. ' So with slight changes. The Heb. text is in some disorder. 324 JEREMIAH *' Therefore, behold, the days are coming, that I will do judgement upon* the graven images of Babylon, and her whole land shall be put to shame ; and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. *^ And heaven and earth, and all that is ia them, shall ring out their joy over Babylon : for from the north shall spoilers come unto her, saith Yahweh. *8 Yea, Babylon must fall, ye slain of Israel ; yea, for Babylon have fallen the slain of aU the earth.*" 5 "Ye that have escaped the sword, go ye, stand not still" : remember Yahweh afar off, and let Jerusa- lem come into your mind. ^^ ' We^ are put to shame, because we have heard reproach ; con- fusion hath covered our faces : for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of Yahweh's house.' Ydhweh's final word of judgement upon Babylon. 62 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, saith Yahweh, that I will do judgement upon her graven images : and through aU her land the wounded * Heb. visit upon (as xi. 22, etc. ) : so d. 62. >> The second clause states the ground for the first : Babylon must fall because of the havoc wrought by her among the peoples of the earth. But the Heb. of the verse is hard ; and very prob ably there is some corruption in the text. Syr. Vulg. have for the second clause, yea, Babylon's slain ones shall fall in all the earth. ° I.e. flee from the doom impending upon Babylon (cf. 1. 5), and hasten your return to Jerusalem. d The Israelites reply that they are too humiliated to do this are not strangers in the Holy City ? CHAPTER LI. 47-58 325 shall groan. ^^ Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify* the height of her strength, i" yet from me should spoilers come unto her, saith Yahweh. ^* The sound of a cry from Babylon," and of great destruction'^ from the land of the Chaldaeans ! ^^ for Yahweh is spoiling Babylon, and will destroy out of her the great voiced ; and their waves' shall roar like many waters, the din of their voice is uttered : ^^ for the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her warriors are taken, their bows are broken in pieces : for Yahweh is a God of recompences, he will surely requite. ^' And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her viceroys, and her warriors ; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake,^ saith the King whose name is Yahweh of hosts. 5^ Thus saith Yahweh of hosts : The broad wall"* of Babylon shall be utterly laid bare, and her " Lit. cut off, i.e. make inaccessible, the regular meaning of the Heb. word rendered fortify. So fenced (i.e. fortified) cities are properly ' cut off cities,' and a fortress is lit. a place cut off and so inaccessible. '' I.e. her lofty walls. " Varied from xlviii. 3. ^ Heb. breaking (xlviii. 3). ° The hum of the great city. ' I.e. the surging masses of the foe. Cf. for the figure v. 42. B Cf. V. 39. '■ So Sept. Vulg. The pointed Heb. text has walls, which 326 JEREMIAH high gates shall be burned with fire ; thus the peoples labour for vanity," and the nations weary themselves'' for the fire." (3) Chap. li. 59-64- Jeremiah, in the fourth year of ZedeMah (b.c. 593), by the hand of Seraiah, reads Babylon her doom. The predictions contained in this narrative {^v. 62-64) do not either display the animus, or imply the historical situation, of 1. 2-li. 58 ; there is thus no inconsistency in supposing Jeremiah to be their author. A simple, un- impassioned declaration of the future end of Babylon is not inconsistent with Jeremiah's attitude at the beginning of Zedekiah's reign (of. the limit of seventy years assigned to Babylonian rule, and the promise of restoration after- wards, in xxix. 10), and the symbolical action of v. 63 is analogous to those narrated in xiii. 1-7, xix. 1, 10, xxvii. 2, xliii. 9. 5" The word which Jeremiah the prophet com- manded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah,'^ when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. does not agree with the adjective, ' broad '■ (which in the Heb. is in the singular number). " Heb. emptiness. •> Read -IBr^; for -ISy;). " A citation (only ' vanity ' and ' fire ' being interchanged) from Hab. ii. 13. '' And brother consequently to Jeremiah's friend, Baruch (see xxxii. 12). CHAPTER LI. 59-64 327 Now Seraiah was quartermaster.* *" And Jeremiah wrote all the evil that should come upon Baby- lon in a scroll [, even all these words that are written against Babylon].'' "^ And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, ' When thou comest to Babylon, then see thou, and read all these words, "^ and say, " O Yahweh, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor beast ; for it shall be desolate for ever." ^^ And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this scroll, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates : ** and thou shalt say, " Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise, because of the evil that I am bringing upon her." '" Thus far are the words of Jeremiah."* " Lit. captain of (the) resting-place (Num. x. 33), i.e. the officer who selected the place where the king, when on a journey would halt for the night. *> The bracketed words were added probably by the compiler, who supposed (wrongly) the scroU sent by Jeremiah to contain the preceding prophecy (1. 2-li. 58). ° So Sept. The Heb. text repeats by error from v. 58, and they shall weary themselves. ^ A compiler's note, intended to mark off Jeremiah's own prophecies from the Appendix (ch. lii.), excerpted from 2 Kings. CHAPTER LII (1) The capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldaeans, and exile of its inhabitants. Vv. 1-27 are excerpted from 2 Kings xxiv. 18-xxv. 21 : m. 28-30 are taken by the compiler from some independent source. The entire account was probably added here for the purpose of shewing how Jeremiah's principal and most constant prediction was fulfilled. The text of vv. 1-27 has, in several places, been preserved here more purely than in Kings. Vv. 4-11, 13-16, have occurred already slightly abridged, in xxxis. 1-2, 4-10." LII. ^ Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 And he did that which was evil in Yahweh's eyes, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. * For through the anger of Yahweh did it come to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he cast them out from before his face -J^ and Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. * And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of » See the notes there. ^ Cf. vii. 15. CHAPTER LII. i-ii 329 Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusa- lem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about. ^ So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. ' In the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. ' Then a breach was made in the city, * and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden (the Chaldaeans being by the city round about) ; and they went by the way to the Arabah. ^ But the army of the Chaldaeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the steppes of Jericho ; and aU his army was scattered from him. ' And they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath ; and he gave judgement upon him. 1" And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zede- kiah before his eyes : and all the princes of Judah also did he slay in Riblah. ^^ And he put out the eyes of Zedekiah ; and the king of Babylon bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison!" tm the day of his death. " and Zedekiah has probably fallen out here : of. v. 8. •> Heb. the house of visitations, i.e. of punishment. The expression does not occur elsewhere. 330 JEREMIAH 12 Now in the fifth month, in the tenth^ day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar- adan, the captain of the guard, which stood before'' the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem ; ^^ and he burned Yahweh's house, and the king's house ; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great house, burned he with fire, i* And all the walls of Jerusa- lem round about did all the army of the Chal- daeans, that were with the captain of the guard, break down. ^^ "And the residue of the people that were left in the city, and the deserters that had fallen away to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the artificers, did Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carry into exile, i* But of the poorest of the land did Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, leave to be vinedressers and husbandmen. 1' And the pillars of bronze that were in Yahweh's house, and the bases, and the bronze sea* that was » 2 Kings XXV. 7 has, seventh. It is impossible to say which is right. i" So adding a letter (^0i?^ for lOV) : 'stood before ' = was servant to (cf. on xv. 19). 2 Kings xxv. 8 has, the servant of (without ' before ' ). 'Stood ' and ' servant ' are in unpointed Hebrew very similar. " So xxxix. 9, 2 Kings xxv. 11. The Heb. text here prefixes, in contradiction with v. 16, And of the poorest of the people (by error from the beginning of v. 16). ■> See 1 Kings vii. 15, 21, 23 ff. ; 27 ff. CHAPTER LII. 12-20 331 in Yahweh's house, did the Chaldaeans break in pieces, and carried all the bronze of them to Baby- lon. 18 The pots* also, and the shovels,* and the snuffers,'' and the basons,* and the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze wherewith they used to minister, took they away. i*And the cups," and the snuffdishes,"! and the basons," and the pots, and the candlesticks,^ and the spoons," and the libation-bowls,' whatsoever was of gold, and what- soever was of silver, respectively, did the captain of the guard take away. ^° The pillars, two, the sea, one, and the bronze bulls that were under it, twelve, and the bases, sf which king Solomon had made for Yahweh's house [,ten]'': the bronze of all * 1 Kings vii. 45 (of bronze) ; see also Exod. xxvii. 3, which shews that they were used for the altar of burnt offering. The ' basons ' (lit. tossing-vesseU) were for ' tossing ' the sacrificial blood against the sides of the altar (Lev. i. 5, 11, iii. 2, 8, 13 al., where ' sprinkle ' in AV., RV., should be toss or dash). ^ For the lamps: see 1 Kings vii. 50 (though said here to be of gold) ; of. 2 Kings xii. 13. ° See 1 Kings vii. 50 (of gold). ' Cups ' (of silver) are alluded to also in 2 Kings xii. 13. ^ For the lamps (Exod. xxv. 38, Num. iv. 9) ; of. 1 Kings vii. 50 (where the same word is rendered ' firepans ' ). ' 1 Kings vii. 49. ' For the table of shewbread ; see Exod. xxv. 29 [' flagons '). * So, supplying two letters, which have accidentally fallen out. The Heb. text has, the bronze bulla that were under the bases, twelve, which cannot be right. See 1 Kings vii. 15, 27 ff., 43, 44. '' The number (IB'I?) seems to have fallen out before the follow- ing ICS. 332 JEREMIAH these vessels was without weight, "j^nd as for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits ; and a line of twelve cubits did compass it ; and the thickness thereof was four fingers : it was hollow. 22 And a chapiter" of bronze was upon it ; and the height of the one chapiter was five cubits ; and network and pomegranates were upon the chapiter round about, aU of bronze : and the second pillar also had like unto these, (even) [net- work]'' and pomegranates. ^^ And the pome- granates were ninety and six, windwards" ; all the pomegranates were an hundred upon the network round about.'* 2* And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the " I.e., as we should now say, a capital. •i The word appears to have dropped out accidentally. " So the Heb. ; but the meaning is very uncertain : visible outwards (four of the hundred surrounding each capital being supposed to be hidden where the pillar approached closely the wall of the porch), and hanging loosely (four of the pomegranates being supposed to be fixed to the network on the capitals, and the rest to have hung down in festoons between them), have both been suggested, the former by the Jewish Commentator, Rashi (a.d. 1040-1 105). In 1 ICings vii. 20, 42 the number of pome- granates on each capital is said to have been 200, arranged in two rows ; the present verse is apparently to be understood as referring only to one of the two rows. ■1 For vv. 21-23, cf. 1 ICings vii. 15-18. Vv. 17, 18 are cor- rupt ; and we must read, partly after Sept., connecting?). 18 with V. 206 : " ' And he made two nets to cover the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars ; a net for the one chapiter, and a net for the other chapiter. ''And he made the pomegranates ; CHAPTER LII. 21-27 333 second priest, and the three keepers of the thres- hold :« 28 he took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war ; and seven men of them that saw the king's face,'' which were found in the city ; and the scribe" of the captain of the host, who enlisted* the people of the land f and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city. 2* So Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. ^' And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried into exile out of its land. and two rows of pomegranates in bronze were upon the one net- work, and the pomegranates were two hundred, in two rows round about upon the one chapiter ; and so made he for the other chapi- ter (cf. V. 42). See Burney's Notes on iheHeb. text of the Booh of Kings, ad loo. ; or Skinner's note on the passage in the Century Bible. * See on xxxv. 4. '' I.e enjoyed access to the king's presence, were privileged courtiers or advisers. See the same expression in Esther i. 14 ; and compare 2 Sam. iii. 13, xiv. 24, 28. ° Or, secretary. ^ Lit. made to war (or to serve in the host). ° Apparently an officer who kept a register of those who had to serve in the army. ' The compiler has omitted here 2 Bangs xxv. 22-26 (appoint- ment of Qedaliah aa governor, his murder by Ishmael, and migration of Jews into Egypt), as unnecessary, after the fuller particulars already given in Jer. xxxix. 14, xl. 7-9, xli. 1, 2, xliij. 4-7. 334 JEREMIAH 28 This* is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried into exile : in the seventh^ year three thou- sand Jews and three and twenty : ^^ in the eight- eenth year of Nebuchadrezzar, out of Jerusalem, eight hundred thirty and two persons : ^o j^ ^iig three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons : all the persons were four thousand and six hundred. (2) The favour shown by Evil-Merodach to Jehoia- chin. Excerptedjroin 2 Kings xxv. 27-30. 31 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah," in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evil'^-merodach king of Babylon, " Vv. 28-30 are not in the Sept. [or in 2 Kings xxv. ). ^ Bead, probably, seventeenth. This would be the year in which the siege of Jerusalem was begun (oomp. v. 4 with v. 12) : the reference appears to be to the men of Judah taken prisoners (as opposed to those out of Jerusalem, v. 29). The items given do not include the numbers taken into exile after the capture of Jerusalem (in Nebuchadnezzar's nineteenth year). ° B.C. 561. * Pronounce, Evil. The name means ' man of Marduk ' (I. 2), in Babylonian Amelu-Marduh. He succeeded Nebuchad- nezzar and reigned for two years fa.o. 561-559). CHAPTER LII. 28-34 335 in the year that he began to reign,* lifted up the headb of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison ; ^^ and he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon. ^^ And he changed his prison garments, and did eat bread before him" continually all the days of his life. ^*And for his allowance,^ there was a continual allowance given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion^ until the day of his death, all the days of his life. " So 2 Kings XXV. 27. The Heb. text has here, in the year of hie reign. •> Cf. Gen. xl. 13, 20 ; also Ps. iii. 3. ° Cf. 2 Sam. ix. 7, 10. Demoeedes, a. Greek physician, who had cured Darius of a severe sprain, was privileged similarly to dine at the same table with the king (Herod, iii. 132). ^ Or, provision. The word rendered victuals in xl. 6. ° Heb. a day's matter in its day (the same idiom, Exod. v. 13 xvi. 4, Dan. 1. 5 al.). NOTES EXPLANATORY OF SOME OP THE RENDERINGS ADOPTED II. " produce, nxun denotes properly ' in-come,' used primarily of that which comes in annually in kind from the fields. In Lev. xxv. 15, 16 RV., well rendered by crops ; elsewhere (as Prov. iii. 9) by increase, sometimes also (as Lev. xxv. 22 ; Prov. viii. 19, xv. 6) by fruit{s) or (in a fig. sense) by revenu6{s). ' steppes. See Plain, § 6, in Hastings' D.B. " rebelled. The idea in I'tJ'S is not that of transgression against a law, but that of defection or revolt against a person. See 2 Kings i. 1, iii. 5, viii. 22. " Plead has become a misleading rendering ; for (unless it is used in a palpably forensic connexion) it suggests inevitably to a modern reader the idea of entreat, intercede. It is true, it always in AV. means ' to argue for or against a cause ' (Hastings, s.v.) ; but who is to know this, unless he happens to have been a student of Old English 7 AV. itself has sometimes ' contend ' (as Isa. xlix. 25, 1. 8) ; and the American revisers have very reasonably preferred this in many cases where the English revisers have left ' plead ' (see the Appendix to the RV. of OT., ' Classes of passages,' VTL). Of. Hos. ii. 2, where ' plead with ' is as misleading as it is here, the meaning being really expostulate. For other examples of the same Heb. word (3'1) see Gen. xxvi. 20 (' strove,' i.e. disputed), xxxi. 36 (' chode,' i.e. contended), Ex, xvii. 2, 4 (' strove ' : of. v. 7), Jud. vi. 31 (' plead,' i.e. 336 EXPLANATORY NOTES 337 argue), Isa. i. 17 (' plead for,' i.e. defend the cause of), iii. 13 (' to plead,' i.e. to argue his case), xlv. 9, 1. 8 (' con- tend ' ) ; and of Yahweh in relation to His servants, or His people, in a friendly or unfriendly sense, according to the context, Isa. xlix. 25, li. 22 (so Ps. xxxv. 1, xliii. 1, al.), Ivii. 16, Ps. ciii. 9 (' chide '), Mio. vii. 9, Jer. 1. 34, h. 36. It is a pity, in the case of such a word as this, that we have no one equivalent, clearly understood, which will suit all passages. For the cognate subst., see, in a literal forensic sense, Deut. xxv. 1 (' controversy '), 2 Sam. xv. 2, 4 (' suit ') : fig., in connexion with Yahweh, Jer. xxv. 31 (' controversy ') ; so Hos. iv. 1, Mic. vi. 2. '* The mixture of metaphors is strange : a depastured, or devastated, country (for ni;T —feed on, of. Mic. v. 6 [Heb. 5] RVm., where, however, the use of the word is evidently determined by the ' shepherds ' of the preceding verse, and Jer. vi. 3, where the ' shepherds ' must be fig. of foes), and a shaven head [cf. Isa. vii. 20] ; though in the Heb., it may be observed, the ' crown of the head ' is at least not the direct object of the verb, the more exact rend, being ' depasture thee as to (or on) the crown of the head ' (construction as Ps. iii. 8: G.-K. § 117 II). However, Gesenius, Ewald, and Graf all accepted ' feed on ' ; the last-named scholar urging against the alternative vocaliza- tion '^Wl.'', ' break ' (Ps. ii. 9) ' the crown of thy head,' that this would assert the absolute ruin of Judah (Ps. Ixviii. 22), and consequently imply too much (especially as the tense used denotes properly ' keep breaking '). Dixhm suggests either 'q-W'l*: ' break,' or '^•111?!, ' ^2/ ^^''^ (viz. by shaving) the crown of thy head ' ; Cornill also accepts lay bare. StiU, we at least do not know whether rnsi would have been used of laying bare the head, though the derivative 11?H signifies a razor. 22 338 NOTES EXPLANATORY " nmn- Read with Giesebreoht HOT (the D ditto- graphed). when he led thee by the way. The Heb. (lit. ' in the time of one leading thee by the way ') is very peculiar {Tenses, § 135. 6 Ohs. 2) : the change of 13''Sin into the perf. 'qS'^in would, however, remove this difficulty. A reference to Israel's unfaithfulness at the time of the Exodus as the cause of its present troubles is not, however, probable : and Duhm may be right in his suggestion that T^^ ^^*71D mi may be a corrupt anticipation of the following "I? HO nni?1 ^^ I should read (assuming *"11D to be correct) either *"11D7 or ^TlD? '7. Of course, also, the ungranunatical H in |S3n must be omitted (G.-K. § 126z). nnDJ 1S2 nn'lD^ (Buhl, Duhm, Cornill), into an ill-smelling (plant), a foreign vine (from the Aram. N~lD, to stink, Ex. vii. 18, Isa. 1. 2 Pesh.), is clever, but hazardous. ^'^ (footnote). ' Alkali ' (Arab.) means properly ' that which is burnt ' (the same word kali in Heb. [^'p] signifies ' parched [corn]'). That the renderings ' soda ' and ' alkali ' are correct has been long known : see Smith's D.B. s.v. Soap ; Payne Smith in the Speaker's Comment- ary ; or Plumptre in Bp. EUicott's Commentary, ad loc. ' Lye ' is a word which few now understand, though, with an explanatory footnote, I have ventured to retain it. ^' (footnote), entangling or twisting. See the Targ. of Eccl. i. 15 (n^nn-llX pno n laa paraphr. of nwp) ; also X. 3, Lam. iii. 59. SI il^^Ft. From nJX to bring at the right time — to cause to meet (Exod. xxi. 13) : hence, properly, right or opportune » Comp. the very similar corrupt doublets in the recently recovered Hob, text of Ecoleaiaaticus (e.g. xxxi. 12). OF SOME OF THE RENDERINGS 339 meeting. With a different nuance, i^^^Fi (Judg. xiv. 4) — opportunity. ^° com/plain unto. So, for the same word 3'"l, Judg. xxi. 22 AV., RV. American Revision, contend with (of. on V. 9). '' roam at large. The meaning is established by the Arabic. See Lane's Arab. Lex. p. 1183 f. For the position of DnK, of. nx Gen. xxiv. 60. '^'attire (AV., RV.) means here, as generally in Old English, headband (see Dr. Aldis Wright's Bible Word-Book, s.v.) : cf. the same English word in Ezek. xxiii. 15, and the verb in Lev. xvi. 4. The Heb. word however means more probably something bound on like a ' sash ' (so Isa. iii. 20 RV.) : notice the use of the cognate verb in Isa. xlix. 18 (RV. gird). As may be inferred from this passage and Isa. xlix. 18, it was something worn specially by a bride. '* have I found it, etc. This rendering leaves less to be understood, and postulates an esisier antithesis to ' not at the place of breaking in,' than that given in the footnote. ^° goest thou about. It is true, 7tX (which is the usual Aramaic word for to go ; e.g. Dan. ii. 17) in the four other ■passages in which it occurs in the Hebrew of the Old Testa- ment (Deut. xxxii. 36 ; 1 Sam. ix. 7 ; Job xiv. 11 ; Prov. XX. 14) means to go away, or fail, rather than simply to go ; but it is doubtful whether this constitutes a sufficient ground for holding that it might not (like 1?n) have the more general sense of gro." Giesebrecht and Duhm (after LXX. KUTe^pdvriffas) vocalize vin, ' how greatly thou malcest light of changing thy way ! ' i.e. how easily thou * ' Gaddest about' (AV., RV.) puts more into the verb than is justified. I have retained ' about,' not as part of the render- ing of 7tN , but because ' goest' alone reads baldly, and 'goest much ' is virtually tantamount to ' goest about much.' 340 NOTES EXPLANATORY tiirnest from Assyria to Egypt ! but ^'tn , in the only other place in which it ocoiirs in Hebrew (Lam. i. 8), means specifically to make light of in the sense of to treat as common, despise (cf. '?i'1t, Jer. xv. 19, Lam. i. 11 ; so also the Syr. Afel !?t^<), not to make light of in the sense of to do easily. However, ^^ij (St!?) combines both ideas (2 Kings iii. 18 ; Gen. xvi. 4, 6) ; so it is possible that ?7T may have done the same. Still, we do not know that it did so. It is thus, imder the circumstances, impossible to feel confidence that "PJH is right. 3' Notice nSD ('from with,' implying a person: Exod. V. 20), not simply JD (^JI?)- Egypt is personified in its ruler. ni. ' [mth]. nx must be supplied after n'3i. 3iE'). Lit. and a returning to me I (is that imagin- able ?'). See G.-K. § 113 ee. ' backtitrning. The play on the two senses of 3 IK', to turn back from Yahweh, and to turn back (or return) from false gods to Him, which runs through all this passage (as far as iv. 1) is lost by the rend. ' backsliding.' Moreover, ' backsliding ' does not suggest with sufficient clearness that the face is turned from Yahweh. went up, etc. As the reference is obviously to the Northern Kingdom, which had ceased to exist a century before Jeremiah's time, the rendering (AV., RV.) is gone up . . . and hath played, suggesting something recent and even present, yields an incorrect sense. '" The Sept. has simply faithless Judah in vv. 7, 8, 10. Perhaps indeed this was the original reading in each verse : in «. 10 it is distinctly preferable ; for in ' her faithless sister Judah,' the pronoun would naturally be understood by a reader to refer to the subject of v. 9, which however is incorrect, as of course Judah is there meant. The OF SOME OF THE RENDERINGS 341 omission of ' her sister ' in v. 10 removes an element of confusion in the verse, while not in the least altering the general sense. '^ hearkened unto. More graphic, and also more faithful to the original, than ' obeyed ' ; and moreover often used elsewhere in AV., RV., for the same Hebrew. It is true, ■ obeyed ' is etymologicaUy ' hearkened to,' but the sense has by long usage become obscured, and few English readers realize the fact, while many, it is certain, do not know it at all : in the Hebrew the meaning ' hearkened to ' is apparent at once. " because of, etc. See Josh. ix. 9, Heb. and Engl. '0 For the omission of ' as,' of. Isa. Iv. 9, Hos. xi. 2, Job vii. 9 (Lex. p. 486&). But ^j?^ '^K for mJ3 pN (Giesebrecht, Je/remiaa Metrik, 1905) certainly eases the construction. The pregnant construction, " is faithless from,' is of course fully justifiable in Hebrew ; but Sept. has e's, exactly as in clause 6 ; and it is quite possible that nn3 should be read for ni^lD (on the frequent confusion of 3 and D in one stage of the Hebrew script, as evidenced by the versions, see the writer's Notes on Samuel, p. Ixviii.). ^' Or (Gie., I.e.), changing only one point. Truly in vain from the hills (is heard) the tumult on the mountains ; but ' tumult on the mountains ' does not come in very naturally after 'from the hills.' Giesebr. (Comm.), Duhm, and Cornill, following the Sept., read, ' Truly in vain are the hills,' etc. (with n for D) ; but Heb. idiom would surely not say absolutely that ' the hills ' were in vain, but would specify what it was in connexion with them that was in vain. IV. * wander (i.e. wander aimlessly from Yahweh). It has been objected to this rendering that Tii (of Cain, Gen. iv. 12 [' fugitive '] ; of a bird, Prov. xxvi. 2 ; of fugitives 342 NOTES EXPLANATORY from a captured country or city, Jer. xlix. 30, 1. 3, 8) does not express the idea of wilful wandering about, but rather of being driven out ; but, in view of the rarity with which the word occurs in Heb., it may be doubted whether this negative position can be sustained (note also Prov. xxvi. 2 of the aimless flittings of a bird). At any rate, if a doubt should be felt whether, standing alone, the word would have a moral connotation, the reading of the Sept., ' and dost not wander from before me ' (TiJn tO 'JSD'; for TUn N71 *3aD), quoted in the footnote, would go far to remove it ; and the very slight alteration of H-Un to 1'l"'ri, ■ and dost not roam at large ' — the rare word used by Jeremiah himself in ii. 31 — would remove it altogether. detestable things. On this rend, of D'Vlpt^ see the art. Abomination in Hastings' D.B. It is so rendered in AV., when it stands beside narin, ' abomination ' (Ezek. v. 11, vii. 20), and once (Ezek. xxxvii. 23), even where it stands alone ; and it is better, for distinction, to keep the same rendering uniformly. Of. vii. 30. * foreskin. Not really a change in the consonantal text ■; Jer. wrote, of course, simply rb'\V ; and ni7"ir merely represents an incorrect pronunciation of it, sug- gested by the preceding plm-al verb. '^ On this use of not, suggesting or insinuating something not expressed, see Lex. p. 5186 ; and cf. 2 Kings vi. 10, Isa. xlvii. 14b, Job xxxiv. 20. '" reason the case with them (so AV. marg. on xii. 1) ; ht. speak judgements (or pleadings) with them. The expression occtu-s also i. 16, xii. 1, xxxix. 5 —Hi. 9—2 Bangs xxv. 6 ; Jer. xii. 1 shows that it cannot really mean ' utter judge ments against,' but that it must acquire the sense of con- demning or punishing from the context in which it is used. The passages to be compared are those in which tiSB'J, to argue together in judgement (G.-K. § 51d), is used of Yahweh : OF SOME OF THE RENDERINGS 343 see Jer. ii. 35, xxv. 31, Isa. Ixvi. 16, Ez. xvii. 20, x:x. 35, 36, xxxviii. 22, Joel iii. 2 (in all which passages ' plead ' means argue or dispute in judgement, though it obviously at the same time implies that punishment will follow). DniX is an incorrect pronunciation of the original DHN, for DR'<, as often in Jer., Ez., 1 Kings xx.-2 Kings viii., and occasionally besides : see Lex. p. 856. 1*, ^* On \}i$, rendered naughtiness in v. 14, and trouble in V. 15, see my Parallel Psalter, p. 450. " me hath she defied. Inversions in English prose do not appear to me to be thoroughly natural or idiomatic ; but they may perhaps be permitted occasionally, where the emphasis indicated by the Hebrew cannot be otherwise conveniently expressed. Cf. in AV. Gen. xli. 13, xlii. 36, Judg. XX. 5 ; also Deut. x. 20 ; Matt, xxvii. 32, Acts xvi. 3. ^^ alarm. I.e. properly AW arme ! To arms I But in modern English the word has lost this meaning, and is simply (except with a verb such as, sound or hlow) a synonym for a shock of fear. The Heb. is shout or shouting ; and the word, even in AV., is usually so rendered (e.g. Jer. xx. 16, Amos i. 14). For the rend, alarm, see Num. x. 5, 6 (with ' blow ') ; Jer. xlix. 2, Zeph. i. 16. "» my. I.e. not the prophet's, but the people's (hence the plural). See, for the idiom, my Introduction, p. 366f . (ed. 7, p. 390). ''■' formless and em/pty. Heb. toha wd-hohH, an alliter- ative description of a chaos (Gen. i. 2), in whicli nothing can be distinguished or deiined. Tohu is a word which it is often difficult to represent satisfactorily in English : but a survey of the passages in which it is used appears to shew that it denotes properly — not a ' waste,' but — what is undefinable, unsubstantial, or (fig.) unreal (as of idols, 1 Sam. xii. 21, of what is baseless, Isa. xxix. 21 [' a thing of nought '], of what is morally unreal, i.e. falsehood, 344 NOTES EXPLANATORY Isa. lix. 4). The ancient Versions usually render it by words signifying emptiness, nothingness, or (fig.) vanity. Comp. the note in the writer's Booh of Genesis, on i. 2. 31 ^53, implying entreaty, is rendered Oh in AV. RV. of xliv. 4. In ' Woe to me now ! ' it could hardly fail to be misunderstood in a temporal sense. Cf. xlv. 3. V. > be. The italics (both here and elsewhere) are intended to indicate emphasis. E*' in Heb. always affirms with emphasis : e.g. Ps. Iviii. 11 ' that there is a God judging the earth ' ; Deut. xiii. 3 ' to know whether you do love,' etc. ' l'?n (mil'el) is derived naturally from 7in, to be in anguish ; though it might (on the analogy of a few excep- tional forms, such as Itn Job xxiv. 1, 11"? Isa. xvi. 8 : Ges.-K. § 75m) just come from n?n, to be sich. Prov. xxiii. 35, and the frequent combination of vn and HSD, make the latter sense the more probable ; but it is better then simply to accent yn (milra'). *, " ordinance, i.e. the right way of worshipping God. The word is lit. judgement (properly a decision given by a judge), the term being used in an enlarged sense of a prescribed system of observances : so viii. 7 (where RV. has ordinance). The word thus becomes sometimes virtually equivalent to religion : see Isa. xlii. 1 (' he will bring forth — i.e. publish — religion to the nations '), 3 (' he will bring forth religion faithfully,' — in faithfulness to the trust committed to him), 4, li. 4 (|| law) ; of. 2 Kings xvii. 26, 27 (where AV., RV. render poorly by ' manner '). DBtJ'D is not unfrequently rendered ordinance in AV. ; but judge- ment often remains where it is difficult to think that it can convey any clear idea to an English reader. It is particularly to be regretted that it remains in Isa. xlii. 1, 3, 4 ; for it here entirely obscures the prophet's sense of OF SOME OF THE RENDERINGS 345 the ' servant's ' work : religion is the word which ought here to have been employed. The references to Isa. ii. 4 (on V. 1) and to Ps. ix. 8 (on v. 3) in the recently published RV. with marginal references gloss the word incorrectly : Isa. ii. 3, li. 4 would have been the truer parallels. In other directions, also, tJSE'D acquires meanings not cov- ered by its etymology ; thus it may mean right, not in a forensic (Isa. xl. 27) or ethical (Gen. xviii. 25) sense, but in the sense of just measure or proportion : and so it denotes the right disposition of a building, Exod. xxvi. 30, 1 Kings vi. 38, Ez. xlii. 11, or of a palace, Jer. xxx. 18, a proper measure or due, 1 Kings iv. 28 (Heb. v. 8) ; fitness, Isa. xxviii. 26 (RV. ' aright,' lit. ' according to right or fitness ') ; and in Isa. xl. 14 the ' path of right ' is the path by which, in the work of creation, everything was arranged in its proper measiire or proportion. ' gedUd means ' troop ' in the sense of a marauding troop, not ' troop ' in the general sense of company. * The rendering in the morning is grammatically impos- sible : it involves an intolerable ' false concord.' The best suggestion is to read D'5E'? which means to shake to and fro (Hab. ii. 7 Heb. [see 36o NOTES EXPLANATORY RVm.] ; and in Syr., e.g. for SUa-eia-e in the Hexaplar Sjrriac of Job iv. 14, awiaaae Hex. Ps. lix. 4, ^criXeiio-e Hex. 4 Reg. xvii. 20, xxi. 8 [see Payne Smith, col. 1107 ; and note the Ethpalp. i6ii.]) ; so that ni;ij, derived from the Qal conjug., meant more probably nothing more than the slhoking of fear. " Commiseration is used by Shakespeare ; and comr- miserate appears as early as 1606 (Murray) : so the word is no modernism. There is no reason for supposing that ^12 meant specifically to ' bemoan.' ' ' Fan,' whether verb or noun, is now practically obso- lete in the sense here intended ; in the N.T. (' whose fan is in his hand ') the meaning can be conjectured from the words which follow. winnowing-forh. Heb. mizreh (from zarah, to scatter or unnnow), also Isa. xxx. 24. The corresponding Arab, word midhra (with dh — '^, for the Heb. ') is in use in modern Syria, and denotes a wooden fork almost six feet in length, with five or six prongs, bound together by fresh hide, which, on shrinking, forms a tight band {Eno. Bibl., i. 84, from Wetzstein). There is an illustration of a midhra in Hastings' D.B. i. 51. The wooden ' shovel ' of Isa. xxx. 24 was used with it. The mixture of corn, chaff, and broken straw, produced by threshing, was shaken about with these two implements, usually in some exposed spot, when a wind was blowing (generally in the afternoon or evening, Ruth iii. 2), and the wind carried away the chaff and the straw (Ps. i. 4). If however the wind was too violent, it would blow away the corn as well : hence the poiat of Jer. iv. 11. " agitation. Heb. I'J', a most uncertain word. D'TV in Heb. denotes the pains of childbirth, 1 Sam. iv. 19, Isa. xxi. 3, fig. of mental distress or terror, Isa. xiii. 8, xxi. 3, Dan. X. 16: hence (1) it has been supposed that "I 'l? is OF SOME OF THE RENDERINGS 361 Aram, for "fi; an Aram. V however corresponds to a Heb. X only when the corresponding Arabic word has (j<3 (my Tenses, § 178), which does not here appear to be the case ; m^oreover, CI'')! occurs only in the plur., never in the sing. ; and thirdly, where the reference is to a woman, the word might be so easily misunderstood in a literal sense that it is hardly likely to have been used by the prophet : accordingly this view must be rejected. (2) The view that TW is a scribal error for T'V falls through for the two last-mentioned reasons. (3) Ges. had recourse to the Arab.^vC> to be very hot (e.g. of noon-day) ; thinking T'l' might be applied, like the Lat. aestus, to the glow or ardour of an emotion, and denote here the aestus doloris, as in Hos. xi. 9 (where also Tl' occurs, but where this meaning is unsuitable) the aestus irae. But it must be evident that the meaning thus obtained rests upon a very precarious and uncertain basis. (4) In default of any- thing better, Tl' may perhaps be connected with "IW, to he stirred up, and denote (Lex. 7356) the excitement or agitation of alarm : this explanation, if not positively probable, may at least be said to labour under fewer objections than those mentioned above. (In Hos. xi. 9 T'l'S is probably corrupt. ) 10 For ''JlS^pO n^D, with the monstrum '31?7pD, read 'Jl*?^]? Dn^3 11 The Kt. is 'l^n'nE' ; from I^K', a common Aram, root meaning to be strong, or, in the causative conjugations, to strengthen, confirm (e.g. Jer. x. 4 Pesh. for D-1ptn*) ; but in Heb. found otherwise only in derivatives. The Qal is however intransitive in Aram. ; so it seems we must, at least if this sense is accepted, read either the Piel '^''PiyW, or the Hiphil '^Tlh!?'!!. The Qre is I'nn^, from a root found otherwise only once in Heb., viz. Job xxxvii. 3 362 NOTES EXPLANATORY (RV. sendeth it forth), but common in Aram., and meaning there to loosen, release (e.g. in Jer. xl. 4 Targ. and Pesh., the same form as here, for "n^nnClS ; and in Isa. Iviii. 6 Pesh. for nnS). Whichever reading, therefore, is adopted, the word is an Aramaism. Of the two, the first seems to yield the more appropriate sense. 1 ' common. R V. (from AV. ) vile, a most misleading rendering to a modern reader : for what is meant is ' vUe ' in the old sense of the word ( — Lat. vilis), common, looked down upon, not ' vUe ' as used in modern English. ' VUe ' has the same sense in Lam. i. 11 (AV., RV.), for the same Hebrew as here, and in Job xl. 4 AV. (altered in RV. to ' am of small account ' ). Cf . the unfortunate use of the same now misunderstood word in the Authorized Version of a more important passage, Phil. iii. 21 (for raTefouiris). XVI. ' There are so many instances in Heb. in which where a class of persons is spoken of, there is a transition from the plur. to the sing.,* and (sometimes) vice versd, that it must be recognized as a peculiarity of Hebrew thought to pass in such cases more readily than we do from the class generally to the individual member of it (or conversely) ; and there is no occasion to correct the text except in extreme cases.*" The variations of number in this verse are thus defensible ; still in clause a Dn./ 1013'' N?1 73N ?V ('will not divide bread to a mourner ') is a very plausible correction, especially as /i? in the sense of in ' E.g. Lev. xxi. 7, xxv. 31, Deut. vii. 3, Isa. xxx. 22 end, Jer. ix. 7, x. 4, xvi. 66, xxxi. 15 (cf. Job xxiv. 24), Am. vi. 9f., Mic. ii. 9, Zech. xiv. 12, Jobxviii. 5, xxi. 10 (after iw. 7-9), 19-21, 30, xxiv. 5b, 16-24, Ps. vii. 3, xvii. 1 1 f., xxxv. 7 f., Ixxxiv. 8 ; see also above, on viii. 1. Comp. G.-K. § 145 m ; Konig, § 348 u, v, >> Aa Josh; ii. 4, Deut. vii. 10, Hos. iv. 8 (read Dt5'S3), x. 6 ("pjy), Zeeh. xiv. 10 end (IH'aa), Ps. v. 10 (10^23), Ixii. 5; cf. OF SOME OF THE RENDERINGS 363 time of is very unusual (Jer. viii. 18 ; 1 Sam. xxv. 8).a XVII. " and give. See my Tenses, § 206; G.-K. § 114p, Not ' even.' So xix. 12, xliv. 19. " (footnote). The word hese rendered gathereth (131) occurs otherwise in the O.T. only in Isa. xxxiv. 15a, where, as the text stands, it clearly refers to the young. To judge, however, from its use in Mandaic (Payne Smith, Thes. Syr., col. 823), and the Targ. of Job xxxix. 14 (of eggs), and from the subst. Nlin a heap in the Targums (e.g. Ex. viii. 10), it will have meant to heap together, and be more applic- able to the eggs than to the young ; so that there is much to be said for the view of Oheyne and Marti that in Isa. xxxiv. 15 ' hatch ' and ' gather ' have accidentally changed places. " (footnote). The explanation of the text is that of Payne Smith, Plumptre, Streane, and modern commenta- tors generally. The comparison of Luke x. 20, cited in the RV. with marginal references, throws no light upon the passage : it implies an antithesis, of which Jeremiah would Itnow nothing. XX. " in. For the corruption of 3 into O see on iii. 20 ; and cf. Ez. xlviii. 29 (where obviously n'?nJ3 must be read for the impossible niriJD ; cf. xlvii. 22). that so, etc. Lit., of course, and so my mother became, etc. ; but in English, in such cases, we are obliged to change the construction. The case is the same with l^'l in V. 8. Cf. Gen. xxxi. 27, and see my Tenses, § 74. XXI. ' It is strange that, in spite of their different parentage, the Revised Version with marginal notes should identify the two Pashhurs of xx. 1 and xxi. 1 . also Ixiii. 11, Ixiv. 9, Isa. v. 23 (Sept. pHV ; cf. Eocl. x. 15, Sept. X A ^'DDH), Ivii. 2, Neh. iii. 176. " If Dn? be kept, Dn? must be inserted after it. 364 NOTES EXPLANATORY XXII. "cieied (AV., RV.). ' Cieled ' formerly meant panelled ; and is to be so understood wherever it occurs in AV., RV., viz. Ez. xli. 16, Hag. i. 4, 2 Cliron. iii. 5 (Aldis Wright, Bible Word-book, s.v.). Unfortunately, however, no one now, except a specially educated minority, is aware of this meaning : so that, if the ordinary Bible reader is to understand any of these passages correctly, the word must be avoided. 28 mnx fixn, even though justifiable in the abstract (Gen. xliii. 14, 2 Chron. xxxii. 5 ; Davidson, § 32, Rem. 2 (1), Konig, iii. § 334 w), can scarcely be right here : we must read either mnN flK (Deut. xxix. 27), the art. having come in by a scribal error from v. 27 (Graf, Gie. Du.), or Y-iHr\, ' the land,' alone (Sept. Hitz. ; cf. v. 286, xvi. 13). XXIII. '' nos cannot mean ' branch ' * : as its other occurrences shew, it is a general term for what sprouts or shoots from the ground. See Gen. xix. 25' ' the growth of the ground ' (where ' branch ' would obviously be unsuit- able) ; Ps. Ixv. 10 (Heb. 11), ' Thou blessest the sprmj/rngf (i.e. the young growth) thereof ' ; Isa. iv. 2 (where the ' growth ' or ' shooting ' of Yahweh means generally the produce of the soil, quickened and blessed by Yahweh in the blissful future which the prophet here looks forward to) ; Ixi. 11 (AV., RV., ' bud ' ; Cheyne, sprouting). The term, which in Isa. iv. 2 is general, is, however, here limited by the context so as to be a fig. designation of the Messiah, represented as a sprout or shoot ; and in Zech. iii. 8, vi. 12 (see RVm.) it is used actually as a title of the Messiah. Comp. the parallel passage, xxxiii. 15, 'In those days will I cause to shoot forth unto David a shoot of righteousness, and he shall execute judgement and justice (righteousness) " The word in Isa. xi. 1 is different (1V3), and is correctly rendered ' branch.' OF SOME OF THE RENDERINGS 365 in the land ' ; and the fig. use of the same verb in Ezelt. xxix. 21 ; Ps. cxxxii. 17. See also Skinner's note on Isa. iv. 2 (in the Cambridge Bible) ; and notice RVm. 11 utJ' *n?37 is as impossible in Hebrew as ne redeunt would be in Latin. Read either 3'IB' TlPa? or (of. Exod. XX. 20, 2 Sam. xiv. 14') 1^^\ TlSa'?. There is an exactly similar error in xxvii. 18. " Lit. make you vain : but neither this nor AV., RV., teach you vanity, suggests a correct idea of what is really meant. " and unto, etc. Of course, the grammatical con- struction is, and everyone that walketh {= whoso wallceih), etc., they say (sc. to him), etc. : the ptcp. absolute (G.-K. § 116 w). '* council. The idea of the word is that of a body of men holding close or confidential conversation together, a private conclave of intimate friends. See my note on Amos iii. 8. ^" Lit. How long ? Is there in the heart ef the prophets . . . ? but the word ' is ' is without a subject ; for the insertion of ' this ' is quite unauthorized. The aposiopesis after How long ? is possible (Ps. vi. 4, xc. 13) ; but in the following clause there must be some fault in the text, though we cannot be sure what it is. Gie. would read 3^ if\ vh inD ni; for 2^a B'.'i.q »nD ir. '^ reckless boasting (nuriB). See Moore on Judges ix. 4 (p. 244). The corresponding participle is applied also to prophets in Zeph. iii. 4 (AV., RV., ' light,' i.e. empty, idle, worthless, following Ivimchi). *' For the construction at the beginning of the verse, see my Tenses, § 188. 1, or G.-K. §§ 121h, Uld. XXV. " (of) this fury. For the construction (apposi- tion), see G.-K. § 131 c, k; and cf. Ps. Ix. 5, 1 Kings xxii. 27. 366 NOTES EXPLANATORY XXVIII. ' On the Kt. r\:f2 (so xxxii. 1 Kt. ; xlvi. 2, li. 59), see G.-K. § 134 k. " Defection is no modernism : it is already used, of reli- gious disloyalty, by writers of the 16th cent. XXX. " n"? goes with UK, and is notacous. to tni (RV.) : the order as v. 136, xlix. 1 , cf. Lex. p. 512a. XXXI. 'I will go, etc. See G.-K. §§ USdd, 131m. ' When I went ' is not a legitimate rendering of the Heb. '* In the rend, of AV., RV. ' turn thou me, and I shall be turned ' (cf. Lam. v. 21), ' be turned ' is to be understood, not as a passive, but in the neuter sense, which it often had in Old English, and which is unquestionably found in AV. : see especially Jer. xxxiv. 15, where AV. has ' were turned ' for exactly the same Heb. (I^IBTII) which in v. 16 is rendered ' turned ' ; and Rev. i. 12, where i-a-iaTpeipa is rendered ' I turned,' and itruTrpi^as, just afterwards, in the same verse, ' being turned ' (comp. Acts xv. 19, by the side of xi. 21, the Greek in both passages being the same) Cf. my Parallel Psalter, p. 483. "Ewald for 3310;^ reads 3310^ ; Duhm and Cornill for "13| 331DI|1 read ~Qk'^ 3iDri, comparing for the construction Zech. xiv. 10. The word rendered ' compass ' may mean either to come about or surround (Deut. xxxii. 10, Ps. vii. 7. xxxii. 10), or to go round about (Ps. xxvi. 6, Iv. 10, lix. 6, 14, Cant. iii. 2). Rashi and Kimchi explain go about in the sense of go about after, i.e. seek in marriage — Kimchi, for instance, saying, ' It is the way of mankind for the man to go about after the woman ; but then the woman will go about after her husband, as though to say that the children of Israel will return to their God and He will redeem them : cf. Hos. iii. 5.' DeanPlumptre explains similarly, ' In the normal order of man's life, the bridegroom woos the bride ; in the spiritual relationship which the prophet has in view, this shall be inverted, and Israel, the erring but repentant OF SOME OF THE RENDERINGS 367 wife, shall woo her divine husband.' This yields an excel- lent sense ; but it is not clear that ' to go about ' (not ' to go about after ') would by itself mean definitely 'to woo.' The explanation given in the note on the passage, is not, however, substantially different. The Heb. word for ' woman' is the one commonly rendered ' female.' '^* For • as husbandmen ' cf. Job xxiv. 5 (G.-K. § 118r) : for ' and they that,' etc., cf. Ps. xxii. 29 [Heb. 30] (as in RV., but with ' and ' for ' even '), Mai. ii. 16 (G.-K. § 155n): this construction is, however, somewhat forced here, and it is simpler to read the participle '1?P35 for WD31 (G.-K. § 130a), the sense remaining the same. XXXII. ' RV. the court of the guard suggests a court in which a body of men, called the ' guard,' were stationed. The Heb., however, means either the court of keeping or guarding (see the cognate verb in Cant. i. 6), or the court of the guard-place (the court in which the place of guarding was). i^^^O, in this sense, occurs only in this expression (Neh. iii. 25, as well as in Jer.), and in the name, ' guard- gate,' Neh. xii. 39. It is quite different from the word rendered ' guard ' (of a body of men) either in Jer. xxxix. 9, 10, etc., or in 2 Kings x. 23, xi. 4, etc. XXXVIII. " done evil in, etc. Of course, a paraphrase, the Heb. being have made evil all that they have done : comp. Gen. xliv. 6, and 3't3'n, Deut. v. 25, xviii. 17. XXXIX. 4 note ''. See L. B. Paton, Journal of Bibl. Lit. (New York), xxv. (1906), p. 1 ff. XLIV. ^' mine or theirs. A paraphrase : the Heb. is lit. ' the word of which of me and of them.' The idiom has parallels in Arabic {Lex. p. 581a) ; so that there seems no occasion to question it, as is done in Kittel's Biblia Hebr. XL VI. ' Set in line. This, of course, is the meaning of AV., RV., ' order,' which in Old English means to ' set in order,' ' arrange ' (cf. in the Communion Service, ' when 368 NOTES EXPLANATORY the priest hath so ordered the bread and wine,' etc.). But this sense of the verb is now obsolete ; and it is to be feared that the majority of Enghshmen, when they read (or hear) ' he shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick (Lev. xxiv. 4), ' buUd an altar in the ordered place ' ( Jud. vi. 26 AV.), ' Who shall order the battle ? ' (1 Kings xx. 14 AV.), ' Order my steps in thy word ' (Ps. cxix. 133), or here ' Order ye the buckler and shield,' suppose that the meaning in each c£ise is ' command,' ' give directions for,' whereas it is, in fact, ' set in order,' 'arrange,' or (Ps. cxix.) 'dispose.' The same sense also occurs often in the Prayer Book. Cf. Hastings, D.B., s.v. Ordbb. 1" Dashed down. The sense of ^ino is clear from Syriac, in which the same word is used, for instance, to express Din (Jud. vi. 25), or iSaipl^a (Luke xix. 42). Prov. xxviii. 3 is thus properly ' a prostrating rain.' " The emendation is Giesebrecht's, and it has been accepted by Duhm. The rendering of Sept. presupposes it partly (tal t4 t\tjB6s crov — ^311). "» Oraceful. Heb. fl'Q'nai , divided incorrectly into two words (cf . Isa. ii. 20, Ixi. 1 ) : read n>S*B| — of course, upon the assumption that there is no deeper corruption (possibly we should read HDJ ' fair,' alone). The precise force of the reduplication (if correct) is uncertain (see Ewald, § 157c ; Stade, p. 159 ; G.-K. § 84 (6) n, cf. 55e) ; but it seems, on the whole, more probable that it has a diminutive, caritative force (' pretty,' ' graceful ') than that it is a were intensive (' very fair '). '^ Gatherers. Not ' hewers,' which would be ''2'in : see Lex. s.v. 3Dn. XL VIII. " For a fem. pi. (nJ''^nn), referring to a singular noun, to be understood collectively (DOE'DJ), cf. Isa. xxvii. 11, and with pronouns Gen. xxx. 37 (!n3 referring to ^p^), Jud. xix. 12, Jer. iv. 29, and with l^V regularly (e.g. Gen. xxx. 38) : cf. G.-K. § 145. 2. OF SOME OF THE RENDERINGS 369 ' wings . . . fly away. The meaning of both words can hardly be said to be certain : J'^V is not found elsewhere with the meaning ' wings,' and XS3 occurs only (in the form nS3) in a passage where the reading is open to ques- tion (Lam. iv. 15) : but the sense is good, and nothing better has hitherto been proposed. The combination ^!fD '^^{i, ' go forth with a flying,' is, however, so contrary to Heb. usage (cf. G.-K. § 11 3w, note) that there can be little hesitation in pointing N^ri NVJ, ' fly away.' ^' and her that escapeth (perfect in pause). ^On the con- struction (which is delicate), see my Tenses, § 117 06s., G.-K. § 112n (where, however, this passage is not cited). For the variation in the gender, cf. Isa. xi. 12 (Heb.). " inm. Read with Giesebrecht Tip ; cf. xxxi. 20, 1 Sam. i. 7, etc. '0 For 13 i6, ' not right,' cf. xxiii. 10, 2 Kings vii. 9, Prov. XV. 7 ; and of words or speaking, as here, Jer. viii. 6, 2 Kings xvii. 9. '' every one. Or, more exactly, the whole of it, the suffix being neuter : see the same idiom in Isa. i. 23, xv. 3, Ps. xxix. 9, etc. {Lex. p. 481 d 6). ' Wailing ' is (in the Heb.) a subst. : see G.-K. § 145 c, d ; and cf. Ps. cix. 4, ex. 3. XLIX. "ForlPDf 3tGratz conjectured cleverly 'n!POV,a'"l; but ' the multitude of thy vales,' though excellent in itself, is somewhat tautologous after ' the vales.' It is quite possible, however, that the existing Hebrew text IP'OV at D'pDl^a is the corrupted result of a dittography (the Sept. expresses only D*pDl?3 ' in the vales') ; and that we should read simply either in the multitude of thy vales, or in thy vale. ' (footnote). See Noldeke, Expositor, May, 1897, p. 363. '*'■ The text, as it stands, oaimot be correct ; taut the change adopted above seems the least that will yield a 24 370 EXPLANATORY NOTES satisfactory sense (nJNID D13 for nJST 0*3, ef. Symm. irb iMcpl/ivr}!, Vvdg. prae solUcitudine ; and 173V for 731', cf. the plural SivavTat in the Sept.). The Sept. does not express ' like the sea,' but has simply two verbs, pre- supposing apparently, they are full of care (1JS1 for nJXT), they canrtot rest. "^ To render the existing Heb. text trembling hath seized on her, on the strength of the Massoretic peculiarity noticed in G.-K. § 91e, is artificial and precarious. L. 1' ' First ' and ' at the last ' are free renderings. Syntactically, either pK'S<"in and pinxn will be accusa- tives, ' as a first one, the king of A. devoured him,' etc. (cf. Job xix. 25 ; and see G.-K. § 118n ; and for Ht' cf. Lex. nt 4 1) ; or we might construe, ' The first one (who) devoured him was the king of A. ; and this, the last one (who) gnawed his bones, was,' etc. ^^ ' Merathaim,' though it may suggest the idea of either ' Double Bitterness ' or ' Double Defiance,' cannot mean either of these things : the former would be Mordthaim, the latter (supposing a fem. of ''")'? were in use) Miryathaim. LI. 1' Or, suits of armour. See W. E. Barnes, Expos. Times, x. (1898-9), 43-45 ; and cf. ibid. p. 188. LII. ^'The lit. rend., ' that which was gold, (as) gold, and that which was silver, (as) sUver,' does not sufficiently express the meaning. The writer means to say, without particularizing details, that whatever among the articles mentioned was of gold and silver, respectively, was taken away by Nebuzaradan. VI. '' (footnote). T\V'\ ISJTl (Gie.), lit. kruyiv with knowledge ( or with knowing) ; cf . for the construction 1 Sam. i. 6, Isa. xxi. 7, xxii. 17, 18, xxiv. 16, GLOSSARY OF ARCHAISMS IN THE REVISED VERSION OF JEREMIAH" again (back, esp. in to ' bring again '), xii. 15, xv. 19, xvi. 15, xxviii. 3, 4, xxx. 3, 18, xxxvii. 8, xlviii. 47, etc. ' Again ' now so regularly means a second time that its retention in R.V. in the obsolete sense of back not unfrequently obscures the meaning. alarm (Ital. AlV arme ! To arms I), iv. 19, xx. IQmarg., xlix. 2. See the note, p. 343. astonied (amazed : Lat. attonitus), xiv. 9. attire (head-band), ii. 32. See p. 339. brass (bronze or copper), vi. 28, xv. 12 al. So always in AV., RV. Alclia Wright cites from Holland's Pliny the expression 'mines of brass.' brazen (made of bronze or copper), i. 18, xv. 20, lii. 20. buckler (a small shield with a knob ; Fr. bouclier, a shield with a knob or boucle), xlvi. 3. cankerworm (a caterpillar that eats away buds and leaves), li. 14, 27. " For further particulars respecting the following words, see Aldis Wright's Bible Word-Book (ed. 2, 1884), Hastings' Diet, of the Bible, s.vv., and Murray's English Dictionary. Some of them, if they did not seem likely to mislead, or could be explained by a footnote, have been retained in the present volume. S71 372 ARCHAISMS IN THE REVISED cast about, to (to go about ; cf . Gower, ' Then cast I all the worlde a6oM< ' ), xli. 14. chapiter (the capital of a column), lii. 22. cieled {panelled), xxii. 14. Cf. the note, p. 364. convenient {suitable [Heb. right} : not, as now, adapted to one's comfort, easily managed), xl. 4, 5. Cf. in AV. Rom. i. 28, Eph. v. 4, Philem. 8 (RV. in all ' be- fitting '). cunning {skilful; properly pres. partio. of A.S. cunnan, to know), ix. 17, x. 9. So often in AV., RV., of technical skill, e.g. Gen. xxv. 27, Ex. xxvi. 1, xxxi. 4 ( —skilfully made), 1 Sam. xvi. 16. delicates {delicacies ; cf . Ps. cxli. 4 in the Geneva Version [1560] ' Let me not eat of their delicates '), li. 34. den {cave), vii. 11 (see p. 348). dote, to (to be foolish), 1. 36. Cf. 1 Tim. vi. 4 AV. With ' dote upon ' we are more familiar : cf. Ez. xxiii. 5, 7, 9, etc. ; and above, iv. 30. estate {order or rank in a community), x. 7. estrange, to (to treat as foreign), xix. 4. See ' strange.' fan, to (to winnow), iv. 11, xv. 7, li. 2. fan {winnowing-fan), xv. 7. Cf. Matt. iii. 12. fanners (winnowers), U. 2 marg. fence, xlix. 3. The Heb. means a low stone wall between fields, used to form ' folds ' (same Heb.) for sheep (Num. xxxii. 24). fenced (i.e. defenced : fortified), v. 17, xv. 20. fray, to (to frighten), vii. 33 (see the note ad foe). grief (bodily ailment), x. 19 (Heb. sickness ; in vi. 7 ' grief of AV. is changed to " sickness '). ' Grief ' is from VERSION OF JEREMIAH 373 Lat. gravis ; and was not formerly, as now, restricted to mental distress, but denoted both bodily ailments and physical pain. Thus Shakespeare speaks of ' the grief of a wound ' (1 Herwy IV., v. 1. 134); another old writer (1544) mentions ' the grief which the patient feeleth in his back ' ; and a third (1640) describes a certain oil as ' very comfortable in aU^ cold griefes of the joyntes.' Cf. " grief ' for the Heb. vn ' sickness' in Isa. liii. 3, 4, and ' put to grief ' for the cognate verb, ' made sick,' in v. 10. grieved {pained, hurt), v. 3. Cf. Woodall (1612), cited by Murray, ' use wine and honey to foment the grieved part.' The verb * grieved ' in Gen. xUx. 23 has the same sense. grievous (of persons, burdensome, troublesome), vi. 28 (cf . 2 Cor. xii. 14 AV.[RV. ' be a burden to '] ; Udall (1548). ' ye shall be grievous to no man with begging ' ; and Haklu5rt (1600), ' I do intreat you all to forgive me in whatsoever I have been grievous unto you'); (of things, severe, painful), x. 19, xiv. 17, xxx. 12 (Heb., in all, made sick) ; xvi. 4 (' grievous deaths,' Heb. ' deaths of sicknesses ' ).* his {its [never used in AV.]), hi. 27. increase {produce of the soU), ii. 3. lightly {easily), vi. 14, viii. 11. Cf. Gen. xxvi. 10. lye {alkalized water, used for washing), ii. 22. =■ It is noticeable that ' grievous,' in aocordanoe with its etymology, several times corresponds to Heb. and Greek words signifying properly 'heavy' : see e.g. Gen. xii. 10 (AV.), 1. II, Ex. viii. 24, ix. 3, Isa. ix. 1 (AV.), xxi. 15, Acts xx. 29, xxv. 7, 1 John V. 3. 374 ARCHAISMS IN THE REVISED meat (food in general, not animal food only), vii. 33, xvi. 4, xix. 7, xxxiv. 20. moimt (siege-mound), xxxii. 24, xxxiii. 4. mourn, to (to moan, not to ' sorrow'), xlviii. 31. So Isa. xxxviii. 14, lix. 11, Ez. vii. 16, Nah. ii. 7. order, to (to arrange in order), xlvi. 3. See the note, p. 367. plague (severe blow or strohe : Gk. TXijyT)), xix. 8 (see the note), xlix. 17, 1. 13. plead, to (to argue or contend, as in a law-suit or contro- versy ; not, as now, to entreat), ii. 9, 29, xii. 1, xxv. 31, XXX. 13, 1. 34, Ii. 36. So always in AV., RV. : see the note, p. 336 f. pleasant (a stronger word formerly than now, ' pleasing ' rather than " pleasant ' " : often for Heb. words mean- ing 'desirable'), iii. 19 (Heb. 'desirable'), xii. 10 (do.), xxv. 34 (do. ; so Hos. xiii. 15), xxxi. 20 (Heb. ' delightsome ' ; cf. Isa. v. 7 for the same Heb.). See also Isa. liv. 12, Nah. ii. 9. refrain, to (to hold back, restrain ; now used only intran- sitively), xiv. 10, xxxi. 16. So Prov. i. 16, Ps. cxix. 101, 1 Pet. iii. 10 al. reins (kidneys ; Lat. renes), xi. 20 (see the note), xii. 2, xvii. 10, XX. 12. repent me (the verb construed reflexively), viii. 6, xxvi. 3, 13, xlii. 10. So Judg. xxi. 16 al. * I am indebted to Dr. Hastings for the following quotations supporting this statement : Erasmus, Exposytion of the Commune Crede (1533), p. 108&, ' to ofier to Grod a more plesaunte sacrifice and oblation ' ; Expositions (Parker Soc. ), p. 1 94, ' because we keep his commandments and do the things which are pleasant in his sight.' VERSION OF JEREMIAH 37^ replenish, to (to /sM, not, as now, to fill again ; Fr. rem/pUr), xxxi. 25. The Heb. is the ordinary word for to 'fill.' So Gen. i. 28, ix. 1 ; cf. in the Prayer-Book, ' and so replenish him with the grace of thy Holy Spirit,' etc., and ' replenish them with the truth of thy doctrine.' " serve oneself of, to (to employ as servant, use the services of), XXV. 14 (see note), xxvii. 7, xxx. 8, xxxiv. 9, 10. shew, to (to declare to, tell, not, as now, to cause to see) xvi. 10, xxxiii. 3, xlii. 3, li. 31. An old sense of ' shew,' often found in both AV. and RV. where the Heb. (or Greek) is an ordinary word for ' tell ' or ' declare ' : e.g. Gen. xli. 25 AV. (RV., ' declared unto '), Ex. xiii. 8 AV. (RV. ' tell '), 1 Sam. viii. 9 AV., RV., xi. 9 AV. (RV. ' told '), xxii. 21 AV, (RV. 'told'). Job xi. 6 AV., RV., Ps. cxi. 6 AV., RV., etc. ; Matt. xi. 4 AV., John xvi. 13 AV., etc. It also occurs frequently in the PB. Version of the Psalms : see the writer's Parallel Psalter, p. 481. .^ore (severe; A.S. sdr, painful: as adv. severely, Germ, sehr, in the more general sense of ' greatly,' ' very ') : as adj. hi. 7 ; as adv. xiii. 17, xxii. 10, 1. 12. So often in AV., Shakespeare, etc. Htraiten, to, straitness (to narrow, narrowness ; Lat. strictus), xix. 9 (fig. closeness, to hold close, in a siege). Cf. 2 Kings vi. 1 ; Matt. vii. 13 AV. strange (foreign; Lat. extrarieus),n. 21, v. 19, viii. 19. This is often (but not always) the sense of ' strange ' and ' stranger ' in both AV. and RV. ; e.g. in the expres- sions ' strange god,' Gen. xxxv. 2, 4, 1 Sam. vii. 3, " Aldis Wright quotes from North's Plutarch the statement I at Alexander, when he founded Alexandria, determined to replenish ' it with Greek settlers. 376 ARCHAISMS, ETC. Ps. Ixxxi. 96, and ' strange women or wives,' 1 Kings xi. 1, Ezr. X. 2 al. See D.B. s.v. ; or the writer's note on Mai. ii. 1 1 ia the Century Bible. The retention of these words in such cases is often unfortunate ; as it has the effect of conceahng from a modern reader that what is referred to is not Israehtish, but foreign.'- tabret (hand-drum), xxxi. 4. tell, to (to count), xxxiii. 13. Cf. Gen. xv. 5, I Bangs viii. 5, Ps. xxii. 17, etc. turned, to be (not in a passive, but in a neuter sense, to turn), xxxi. 18, xxxiv. 15 (see the note, p. 366). usury \interest generally ; not, as now, excessive interest), XV. 10. vain (empty, in a fig. sense : Heb. lit. a breath), ii. 5, xxiii. 16, vanity (emptiness, in a fig. sense), ii. 5, viii. 19, x. 3, 8, 15 ( — Ii. 18), xvi. 19 (Heb., in all, lit. a breath); xviii. 15 (Heb. lit. unreality) ; Ii. 58 (Heb. lit. emptiness). vUe (comm/:)n : see the note, p. 362), xv. 19. to wit (to know, videlicet ; infin. of ' I wot ' : see Hastings, D.B. iv. 9316), XXV. 18, xxxiv. 9. So 1 Kings ii. 32 al. Woe is me 1 (i.e. to me, ' me ' being a dative), iv. 31, xlv. 3. » In other passages, however,'' as [Jer. ii. 25, iii. 13, v. 19 {'strangers'), xxx. 8, Ii. 51, Num. xviii. 4, 7, Deut. xxxii. 16, Ps. xliv. 20, Ixxxi. 9a, ' strange ' (or ' stranger '), in the sense of unauthorized to he in the place or position referred to, outside or outsider (but not definitely ' foreign '), is the correct rendering of the Hebrew. INDEX (chiefly of words or expressions explained in the notes). Abarim, 130 adders (?), 350 f. Ahikam (friendly to Jer.), 160, 170«., 22 In., 24 In. ' alarm,' 343 altar-ashes, 192, 193«. Ammonites, 291 Amon, 277 Analdm, 279 Anathoth, 1, 70, 195 apis, 274, 275 appalment, 109, 308 Arab (not— ' Arabia '), 150, cf. 14 Arabah (i.e. desolate plain or steppe ; cf. 150ra.), the, xxxix. 4 (see note) —Hi. 7 Ararat, 319 archaisms, misleading, in RV., xiv. 336, 339, 343, 362, 364, 366, 367 f., 371 ff. ark, the (not to be needed in the ideal future), 17 Amon, the, 280, 285 Aroer, 284 Arpad, 297 ' ashamed of,' to be, 283re. Ashdod, 150 Ash^rah, 98 Ashkelon, 279, 280 Ashkenaz, 319 assaying, 39, 53 Azekah, 210 Baal, ii. 8, vii. 9, xi. 13, 17, xii. 16, xix. 5, xxiii. 13, 27, xxxii. 29, 35 ; the Baals, ii. 23, ix. 14 Babylon, prophecy against, 301ff.,326f. backturning, 9, 16, 29, 37»i., 340 ban (or devote) to, 147, 308, 313 Baruch, 196, 220-6, 256, 267 f., 326n. Bashan, 130, 307 basons (in Temple), 331 battle-axe (fig. of conqueror), 317 ' Behold, I am against thee,' 124 Bel, 303, 323 Benjamin-gate, 116, 229, 233 Beth-hacch6rem, 33 Beth-shemesh (in Egypt), 258 bless oneself by, to, 20 boasters (of self-confident Bab. prophets), 310 bowels (as seat of deep feeling), 24 Bozrah, 295 ' branch,' inporrect rendering, 364 breach, breaking, 221, of. xl. breaking in, place of, 12 bullocks (fig. of warriors), 308 377 378 INDEX Buz, 150 cakes (offered to queen of heaven), 263 Canaanite ' —merchant, 354f. Caphtor, 279 Carchemish, battle of, 145, 269, 270 oaves in Palestine, 42 chambers (in Temple-courts), 215 Chemosh, 282, 283, 291 cisterns, 232, 249 ' come up upon the heart,' to, 46 Coniah, 131f. ' consternation,' a, 87, 359f. ' corner-clipt,' 58 comer-gate, 192 ' council,' Yahweh's, 137, 138 covenant, ceremonial in con- cluding a, 213 covenant with Israel, 65, 66, 67, 86, 128, 211 (xxxiv. 13); in the future, 201, 304 covenant with David, 207 covenant, the new, 191 curtains (tent-hangings), 25, 63, 299 Cush, 273 Cyrus, 301, 312, 315, 317, 319 Damascus, 297 Dan, 24, 51 ' daughter ' : fig. of personified population, 27 etc., 188, 275, 284 (21 times in aU) ; fig. of dependent towns, 292 David, the second, 179 Dedan, 150, 294 ' defection,' 169 ' destroy utterly,' to (lit. to ban or devote), 147, 308 (1. 22, 26), 313 detestable things, 20, 97, 342 Dibon, 284 dirge or elegy (Heb. kindh), 46, 54, 56, 353 ; rhythm of, xxi, xxii. divorce, 13 f., 15 drunkenness (fig. of bewilder- ment, etc.), 78, 149, 285, 314, cf. 322 eagle (properly, grifion-vul- ture), 23, 289, 295 Ebed-melech, 233f., 242 edge of the sword (incorrect translation), 122 Elam, 151, 300 Ephraim, vii. 15, xxxi. 6, 9, 18, 20. See Israel Euphrates, the, 76, 272, 327 eye-paint, 27 fail (of the eyes), to, 83 fallow ground (fig.), 20 fatness (mark of unspirituality) 32 feminine, of city or commiinity, 46, 62, 124, 130, 180 firstfruits, 6 fool, 101 foreign gods, 31, 52 form (as a potter), to, in fig. applications, 107n. ' formless,' 25, 343 fortify, fortress (meaning of Heb. words), 325 frankincense, 37 'fray,' to, 47 (cf. xviin., 179re<'). ' fresh flesh,' 52, 353 Gad, 291 'gall,' 51 Gaza, 278 Geruth-Chimham 251 Gibeon, 166, 250 Gfiead, 127, 307 ; balm of, 52, 273 ' good ' ( —prosperity), 36 governor (pehah), li. 23, 28, 57 INDEX 379 ' grieved,' ' grievous,' obsolete senses of, 372 f. guard-court, 194, 367 halting (fig. for false or fatal step), 118 Hamath, 297 hand, Yahweh's (prophetic ecstasy or trance attributed to), 91 hand-drum, 183 hand-mill, 147 Hazor, 299 heart, 22, 31, 182 Hebrew text of O.T., emenda- tion of it sometimes neces- sary, xxii-iv. HeUopoUs, 258 Heshbon, 281, 290, 292 hill-country (of Judah), 104 hills, as site of idolatrous rites, 10, 15, 19, 98 Hinnom, Valley of, 10, 46, 47, 112, 113, 193n., 200 ' homestead,' x. 25, xxiii. 3, XXV. 30, xxxi. 23 (see note), xxxiii. 12, xlix. 19, 20 (-1. 44, 45), 1. 7, 19 host of heaven, 48 ideal future, pictures or as- pects of the, chs. iii. 14^18, 21-25, iv. 1-2, xii. 15-16, xvi. 19, xvii. 24—6, xxii. 4, xxiii. 3-6, xxiv. 6-7, xxix. 12-14, xxx.-xxxi., xxxii. 37-41, xxxiii., xlvi. 27-8, xlviii. 47, xlix. 6, 39, 1. 4^5, 19-20; pp. xxxvii-ix ideal king (or ' Messiah '), 179, 182, 206 idolatry in Babylon, 58, 311, 324 'idol-blocks,' 303 incense, to bum, 41 ' inhabitress,' 124, 131, 284, 321 ' instruction,' xl, 34, 60 inversions in English prose, xvii, 343 iron-furnace, 65 Israel figured as Yahweh's spouse, 6 Israel or Ephraim (the N. kingdom), ii. 15(?), ui. 6-8, 11, v. 11, vii. 15, xi. 10, 17, xiii. 11, xxxii. 30, 32, xxxvi. 2(?), xlviii. 13, 1. 17a, 33, li. 5 ; ideal restoration of in future, iii. 12-16, 18, xxx. 3, xxxi. 1-22, 27, 31, xxxiii. 14, 24^6, 1. 4, 19, 20 jackals, 65 Jeremiah's personality, xxxiv- vi, ideals of future, xxxvii- ix, Uterary style, xix H., xxxixff. Jeremiah's prophecies, how first committed to writing, xliv-v ; his book reached its present form gradually, xlv-vi ; the Sept. text of it, xlvi-vii. Jerusalem of the future, 189, 192f., 206 ' judgement,' derived senses of (ordinance, religion, right measure), 344f. ; to ' speak judgements with,' 4, 342f. juniper tree, 100, 282 Kedar, 7, 299 Keriyyoth, 289 ' king's son,' the, 224 kings of Judah, Jeremiah's judgement on, 128-133, 210, 225, cf. 235 Kir-h6res, 287 Kitians, 7 Lachish, 210 38o INDEX land, formalities in sale of, 196f. ' law ' (properly ' direction ' ), ii. 8, vi. 19, viii. 8 (see note), ix. 13, xvi. 11, xviii. 18, xxvi. 4, xxxi. 33, xxxii. 23, xliv. 10, 23 ; and p. 351 Leb-kamai, 313 Lebanon, 108, 127, 130, 131 lees (of wine), 283 leopard, Z8 life, to be a prey, 123 living (i.e. springing or running) water, 8, of. 101 locusts, 276 [arheh) ; 316, 319 (yelek) lovers (fig. of alUes), 180, cf. 27 lowland (district of Judah), 104 Ludim, 273 lye, 10, 338 Maacah, 245 marshal (tiphsar), li. 27 TOoasa (' oracle,' 'burden'), 139 Medes, Media, 151, 304»., 315, 319 'melt away,' to (in fear), 297 Merathaim, land of, 307, 370 Merodach, 303 Micah, 159 Migdol, 259 mighty men (i.e. warriors), 30, 57, 83 al. ; in the sing., of Yahweh, 119 (cf. 83) Milcom, 291 Minni, 319 Mishor, the, 282 mixed people, 149, 275, 310 Mizpah, 244, 249 Molech, 200 ' mother,' fig. of community, 305 mountains, idolatrous rites on, see Hills mourning customs, 46, 52, 56, 82, 94, 130, 210, 248, 279 must, 185 name ' called over ' a person or place, 41, 91 ; to make oneself a name, 198 names, symbolical, 47 (vii. 32; so xix. 6), 68, 116, 133, 206, 275 Nebo, 281 Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Egypt, 258 Nebuchadrezzar, 121 Nehushta, 79, 131, 169 new gate of temple, 157, 221 No, 277 Noph, 8, 259, 276 ' obey,' lit. ' hearken to,' 341 'oblation,' 358f. ' order,' to, obsolete sense of, 367f. ' other gods,' xl. overseer of Temple, 116, 175 participle, of approaching future, xviii partridge, lOOf. Pashhur son of Immer, 116 f., 231 (?) Pashhur son of Malchiah, 121, 231 Pathros, 259 Pekod, 307 personification of city or popu- lation, 27, 46, 62 Petra (capital of Edom), 295 Pharaoh Hophra, 266 Pharaoh Necho, 269 £. pits, 249 ' plague,' 114n. plays on words or names, 3, 113 (xix. 7), 140, 141, 162, 281, 340 ' plead,' to, 336 f. potsherd gate, the, 112 ' pride of Jordan,' the, 72, 296, 312, 356 ' priests, the Levites,' the, 206 INDEX 381 ' profit, things that do not,' 7, 97 prophet, to behave as a, 175 prophetic past, 154, 183, 276 prophets, false, 22, 84 f., 134 ff., 156, 163, 164, 166-9, 170 £., 173-6 ' prosper,' to, 133 Put, 273 queen of heaven, the, 43, 263 Kabbah, 291, 292, 293n. Rachel, 186f. Bamah, 186, 243 Rechabites, the, 215 ' refine ' (or ' smelt '), to (fig.). 39, 63, 92 reins (kidneys), as seat of emotion, 70 Riblah, 240 River, the, 9 ' rock of the plain,' 124 f. roof-chamber, 129 ' sanctify ' war (or warriors), to, 33, 127, 319. ' saturate,' to, 186n. scarecrow, a, 59 ' scribe : —secretary, 221 ; scribe of captain of the host, 333 Scythians, 21 sea, fig. of foes, 323, cf. 325 secretary, 221 ' see the king's face,' to, 333 senselessness, 174 Shallum, 128 shame, to be put to, 13, 82, 283 shameful thing, the (Baal), 19, 68 Sheba, 37 shepherd : fig. of rulers, 7, 17 etc. (see p. xl) ; of invaders ravaging the country, 33, 74; of prophets (?), 102 Sheshach, 151, 322 Shihor, 9 Shiloh, 42, 156 f. ' shoot,' fig. of ideal king, 133, 364 Sibmah, 287 siege-mounds, 199 ' signs of heaven,' the, 59 sirocco, 23, 109 ' sit,' to, of city or land, 104, 181, 306, cf. 277 shout of vintagers {heddd), 152, 288 slaves, Hebrew, to be freed in 7th year of service, 21 Iff. Sodom and Gomorrah, 120, 136, 296, 311 'sojourner,' 41 soul, as seat of desire, 132, 212 ; of appetite, 186, 307 ; to breathe out the soul, 88 South ( ' Negeb ' ), the (district of Judah), 80, 104 spring-rain, 14, 32 ' sprinkle oneself ' (with ashes), to, 347 stand before (i.e. be in attend- ance on) to, 91, 218,246, 330 steppe, steppes, ii. 6, v. 6, xvii. 6, 1. 12, li. 43 ; xxxix. 5 —Hi. 8 : see also Ardbah ' strange ' (i.e. foreign), 374 ' stubbornness,' xl. swallow, the, 49, 350 sweet cane, 37 sweet smoke, 263, 348 swift, the, 49, 349f. table-land, the Moabite, 125n., 282, 285 Tahpanhea, 8, 257 Tekoa, 33 Tema, 150 Teman (in Edom), 293 Temple and palace, relative sites of, 126 ' Terror on every side ! ' xl. threshing-floor, 23, 320 382 INDEX threshold, keepers of the, 216, 333 thunderstorm, moral effect of, 61 Tophet, 46, 47, 113-115 tower of Hananel, 192 transgress, to (sense of Jleb.), 7, 336 tree, fig. of man or people, 68f., 69 (xi. 19), 71, 100 ; spread- ing tree, as site of idolatrous rites, 10, 15, 16, 98, 356 trumpet (properly, horn), 21 ' turn,' opposite senses of, 187«., 340 ' turned, to be,' 366 upper court of Temple, 221 Uz, 149 vanity, vanities (of unreal gods), xl. 6 vex, to (viz. Yahweh), vexa- tion, xli., 348f. viceroy (adgdn), li. 23, 28, 57 ' vile,' obsolete sense of, 362 vines of Moab, 287 visit, visit upon ( —punish), to. 34, 70, 133, etc. visitation, 329ra. ; year) of, xlii time {or wail, to (in mourning), 94, 130, 210 waist-cloth, 76, 356f. ' walls, between the two,' 239 watchers (lit. keepers or giiard- ers), of besiegers or block- aders, 24, 315 (two different Heb. words) watchmen (lit. lookers-out), fig. of prophets, 36 wilderness, 54 ; fig. of exile, 183 winnow, to, 23, 313 winnowing-fork, 88, 360 winter-rain, 31, 87 Yahweh, xix ; ' Yahweh is our righteousness ' (S3rm- bolical name), 133f., 20 6 yoke, 161 Zephaniah, the priest, 175,332 Zion, site of, 126n. Zoar, 281 Butler and Tanner, T/se Selwood Printing IVorks, Frame, and London THE HIGHER CRITICISM: THREE PAPERS. By S. R. Driver, D.D., and A. F. Kirkpatrick, D.D. Pafer Covers, 1s. Net. " These are courageous and timely words of warning. In a third paper on the permanent value of the Old Testament Dr. Driver writes that the Old Testament Scriptures ' depict under majestic and vivid anthropomorphic imagery the spiritual character and attributes of God. They contain a wonderful manifestation of His grace and love, and of the working of His Spirit upon the soul of man. They form a great and indispensable preparation for the coming of Christ.' We commend these words to those Christians who imagine that criticism must be irreligious." — Guardian. " The issue of the essays in this convenient shape should do much to remove widespread misconceptions as to what the Higher Criticism really is and enforce its claims as a legitimate and enlightening exercise of judgment upon problems, not of religion, but of literary history." — Scotsman. ■ ' As the names of the authors would lead one to expect, the papers present a lucid and sober statement of the case that ought to influence the most prejudiced reader." — Christian World. " They are able, clear, and reverent presentations of the case on behalf of a sound criticism, and they should be exceedingly helpful to minds which have been disturbed by controversial misstatements or exaggerations. There is an excellent preface by Professor Driver, in which he makes the meaning of the phrase ' Higher Criticism ' so clear, and distinguishes it so care- fully from textual criticism on the one hand and historical criticism on the other, that one would hope he has done some- thing to deliver the public from the tiresome verbal puerilities on this topic which still frequently appear in print." — Glasgow Herald. [London : HODDER & STOUGHTON.