o A farther expreſſion of his bitter Lamentation, redoubling his complaint; the end of one but the beginning of another, 9.9. worſe and worle, Deut. 32. 23. Exel. 7. 26. Good Joſeah ſlain, and four of his Succeflors carried away, or flain, or both, 2 Chroz. 36. p This is more particulary deſcribed, weyſe. 23, 24, 25, 26. q The enemy makes no more of overthrowing my ſtately Cities, and magnificent Palaces, ſometimes deſcribed by Tents, 1/a. 54. 2. than if he were plundering ofa Camp, or overturning of Tents made of Courtains, ch. 49. 29. either alluding to thcir ancient way of living, Numb. 24. 2,5. or their Wilderneſs condition,when they abode in Tents : 9.4: We are reduced to as mean a condition as then, and that ſudden- Jy ere we are aware, and it is done with as much cafe as overturn- ing a poor Shepherds Cottage, Lam. 2. 5,6. Jeremiah poſſibly per- ſonating a Shepherd, ſpeaks in the Shepherd's ſtile, and may here ſignific the deſtru&tion of their whole Country, even all thoſe PJa- ces and Fields, where Shepherds were wont to pitch their Tents.
21 How long r ſaall I ſee the ſtandard, and hear the
ſound of the trumpet ?
» He ſeems to have theſe Concomitants of War, both of Judea, preparing for Defence, and eſpecially theſe of the Enemy prepa« ring for ruine and deſtrution, always in his Eye and Ear verſe 19. and bewailing the countenance of it in taking City after City, with the ſeveral ſackings of Jeruſalem under her three laſt Kings. The LXX read, How long ſhall I ſee them flying? reading nas a Refuge, for nes a Banner, differing only in the Points.
22 For my peop'e zs fooliſh /, they have not known me f, thee are fſottiſh children, and they have none underſtanding: they are wiſe to do evil, but to do
g00d they have no knowledge #.
{ Though God ſhew them here, that the cauſe of all theſe Cala- mities is their folly, Chap. 2. 17, 19. Pſalm 38. 3, 5. yet he owns them for his People, Chap. 2. 11,31, 32. © Which is indeed the only true Wiſdom ; they have nor ſtudied my Diſpoſition or Mild- neſs toward them; they are ſo ſotriſh, that they have neither re- garded my Counſels nor Threats, bur utterly ſtupid ; they know not what is for their own good, have no underſtanding. «1. e. Their knowledge is as bad, or worſe than none, it is very il em- ployed in doingevil, only witty here, crafty and ſubti]. Sec 2 $47. 23. 3+ But how to do any good they know not, Chap. 9. 3. Luke 16. 8. This the Apoſtle dehorts from 1 Cor. 14. 20-
22 * I beheld the earth, and lo, #t as without | form and void y: and the Heavens, and they had no | 4,
light z. x Either framed ſuch an des of it in my mind, it ſeems to be imprefled u-
. pon my thoughts Graphical, as in a Map, in ſuch a rueful manner; \ for in this, and the three following verſes, he doth as on: tranſport-
ed with ſorrow, elegantly, and hyperbolically deſcribe the Phanomenon,
ned that he fanſieth it to be like the firſt Chaos, for which reaſon poſſibly he .calls Judes the Earth, in alluſion to Gen. 1. 2. and here- in implying that Judab's fins were ſuch, that they had even over- rutned the Courſe of Nature, being laid waſte and deſolate, not of Inhabitants cnly, but of all things that might tend either to ornament or uſe, without Men, without Houſes, without Fruits, withour Beaſts or Birds for Food or Service, verſe 25, 26. z Some ſay being obnubilated, *and darkened by the abundance of ſmcke that would aſcend from the deſoliting Fires of Towns and Cities, 1a. g. 18, 19. of which you may read in the Hiſtory of this break- ing in of the Chaldees. Bur he ſeems to proceed rather in his Meta- phor of the Chaos, it being an expreſſion, whereby the Scripture doth ſer forth the ſaddeſt Deſolations, 1/s. 13. 9, &c. Exzek. 32. 7,
| &c+ Joel 2. 10, 30,31. every thing above and-below ſeemed to be
in a mournful poſture, wrapt up in diſmal blackneſs. 24 T beheld the mounrains, and lo, they trembled
a, and all the hills moved lightly 6b.
a He proceeds in his figurative Elegancies, q. 4. Behold how the Mountains of Judea tremble ! A like expreſſion, Pſalm 18. 7, 8. Ia. 5. 25- as if the very ſenſeleſs Creatures were aſtoniſhed at the
reatneſs of God's Anger, and he mentions theſe as being the moſt Fable part of the Earth, yet ſhake before him. 6b As eafily as if they were ſome very light matter, or as duſt, or feathers in a Whirl-wind. See Pſalm 114. 4, 6. Or theſe may be ſaid hyperbolically to tremble, and move by reaſon of the multitudes of trampling and prancing Horſes and Chariots furiouſly paſſing over them.
25 1 beheld, and lo, there was no man c, and allthe
birds of the heavens were fled 4d. c Quite depopulated and laid waſte, all either ſlain, or carried
captive, or fled: For after the flight of Men, Women and Chi1- *
dren into Egypt, upon the death of Gedaliah, ſcarce a Jew was left in Judea, d Such Birds as are uſed to inhabited plices, thar live, feed and bui!d among Men; (others indeed, both Birds and Beaſts
would continue, which implies but the greater deſojation, and waſte of the Land, as is threatned againſt Babylon, 7a. 13. 19, 20, 21, 22.) Fed, either to ſeck Proviſions, here being no food left for | them, or frighted with the hideous noiſes and clatterings that do '
attend Armies ; as we have read, that ſuch hath been the concuſſi- onof the Air by the loud clamours and noiſes of Armies, that Birds have fallen downto the earth, Chap. 9. 10. Zeph. 1.2, 3.
26 I beheld, andlo, the fruitful place e was a wil- derneſs, and all the cities thereof were broken down f at the preſence of the LORD, and by his fierce
anger g.
e Heb Carmel, either properly for that part of the Land fo called for irs fruitfulneſs, or rather Appeliatively for, not only their moſt pleaſant, bur moſt fruirful Lands, that were kept dreſſed and oc- cupied for food, borh for neceſlity and-delight, verſe 27. 1/aiah 29. 17. and 33 9 f No place left for Men to inhabite, Iſaiah 1. 7.
That which the Enemy could not have done with all his fury and fierceneſs, had it not been for rhe anger of the Lord, which by their great provocation, they had broughtupon themſelves, 2 Kings 24. 3- Je. 9. 12, 13. | |
25 For- thus hath the LORD faid, the whole land
ſhall be deſolate ; * yer will T not make a full end 5.
ERIE M1 4 7,
| | ! ' 1
I. Jeremiah faw all this in a Viſion, or I fanſied and |