Gaying, we are confounded, that is, aſbamed ( as it is expounded in the next words) to hear the enemies reproaching us, tor our God, | or for our Religion, as Pſal, 137. 3. And m becauſe Pagans that were ' Strangers to the Commonwealth of 1rae!, who Numb: 1: 51, might | not come near the Tabernacle of the Lord, were come, and thar ' not to worſhip, but to plunder and rifle inthe San#uaries of the Lord, | even into the Court of the Prieſts and of the /ſraelites, and into the | - moſt holy place ; thoſe whoſe very preſence in theſe places had been | MW a pollution of them. © 52 Wherefore behold, the days come, faith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon. her graven imas- | ges, and through all her land, the wounded ſhall
groan 2. | » For which complaints of my people, or rather for which pros- | fanation of my Holy place, I will be revenged upon their Graven Images, and not only upon their Idols, but upon the worſhippers of them, and cauſe a groaning of wounded Men over all the Coun. try of the Chaldeans ; I will cauſe them to know that their Idols are not able to prote& themt from my Power and Juſtice. 53 * Though Babylon ſhould mount up co heaven, and thoughſhe ſhould forrifie the height of her ſtrength, et from me ſhall ſpoilers come unto her, faith the |
ORD 0.
oe We are very prone to meaſure things by the meaſures of our -own Reaſons, and to judge of events which are to be the effe&s of Divine power, by humane probabilities, therefore God 1s pur to
”
be” ; *Obad: 4.
" 2
7 -
' Zedekiah, the ſame with Manahah, x Chron 8: 6: Others think it was ' a Name of Office, and ſignified Lord Chamberiain; but the beſt In-
bour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they ſhall be {|Or, made WCAaryY y). ; yon 8
2 Incredible things are told us by Hiſtorians of this great City. , then They ſay the compaſs of it was threeſcore miles about. That her 3” Walls were in height two hundred foot, in breadth, ſuch as two Chariots might drive a breaſt upon the top of them, that it had an hundred great Gates, many of them of Braſs, God threatens the breaking down of theſe Walls, and the burning of theſe high Gates and Towers. y And that though the people ſhould labour to quench this Fire, or to rebuild this City, yer it would be all loſt la. beur, and they ſhould give over theirenterpriſe, as being weary,
59 \ The word which Jeremiah the Prophet com- manded Serajah, the ſon of Neriab, the ſon of Maaſcei- es ah z, when be went || with Zedekiah the king of Judah ||Or, 0:5 into Babylon #, in the fourth year of his reign b, and fl -b ; this Seraiah was a || quiet prince . Prince of
z Of this Seraiah we read no more than we have in this Verſe, Menuchs
; though chap 36: 26. theft be mention made of another Seraiah.aWe or chief
no where read of any JourneyZedekiah made intoBabylon till he was chambers carried a Priſoner thither,it is therefore probable that with ſhould be in. tranſlated from as the ſame particle is in other places, Geneſis 4: 1.
and 44. 4. it being not uſual with great Princes to make viſits one
to another at ſuch diſtances, though the Jews tell us a ſtory of ſome ſuchthing. 6 The expreſſing of this circumſtance of time,lets us know that the Propheſic was many Years before Babslon was deſtroy-
ed, for it was ſeven Years before Jeruſalem was taken ; fo as 1t muſt
be above ſixty Years before it was fulfilled in the firſt degree, m The Hebrew word admits of various Interpretations, ſome think thar Menucha was a place over which Seraiah had ſome Authority under
terpretersſee no Reaſon to vary from our Tranſlation, the ſenſe of which is, that he wasa Man of a moderat quiet Temper, that pers ſwaded to Peace. | :
60 So Jeremiah wrote ina book all the evil that ſhould come upon Babylon, eve all theſe words hat are | written againſt Babylon. !
61 And Jeremiab ſaid to Seraiah, when thou comeſt | to Babylon, and ſhalt ſee, and Jhalt read a'l theſe |
wordsn.
» Notto the Chaldeanr, nor poſlibly is it to be underſiood of a mecr
F Hebs ae: ſolation.
* Goo roy Teading this book, that thou ſhalt bind * a ſtone to it,
23S. 208. | | | | | + Heb. rigned, | | t E- 4 a < F Heb.
blinded,
F Chaps LIL.
' phecy the time ſhould come after ſome Years, when Babylox ſhould
32k 0s) ” = "x
2 4 meer private reading of them to himfc1f, but to the Jews, that were in Babylon, acquainting them with what G:2d had ſpoken againft Babylon by the Prophet.
62 Then ſhale chou ſay, O LORD, thou haſt ſpo- ken againſt this place to cut ir off, chat none ſhall re- main 1n it, neither man nor beaſt, but that ir ſhall be + deſolate for ever 0.
o Thou ſhalr treſtifie that thou believeſt what thou haſt read to
be what ſhal moſt certainly come to paſs, by ſpeaking words to this Senſe.
62 And it ſhall be when thou haſt made an end of
Fi
nd
and caſt it into the midſt of Euphrates.
64 And thou ſhalt ſay, Thus ſhall Babylon ſink, and ſhall not riſe from the evil that I will bring upon her p: and they ſhall be weary 9q. Thus far are the words
of Jeremiah 7.
p Ic hath been ofren ſaid that Euphrares was that great River which ran by the Walls of Babylon; into this Seraiah is commanded by Jeremiah to throw this Roll of Prophecy againſt Babylon, ſymbo- lically to teach the Fews, that according to the Tenor of his Pro-
be D-:ſtroyed never to riſe again to any great view, or degree of ſplendor, no more than that Rull with che Stone ricd to it thould riſe from the b-tcom of Euphrates. q Some read though they weary themſ-Ives, that is, do what they can, or ( asit is here ) and they ſhal be weary with that weight of Judgement which ſhal be upon them. r E:ither the words of Jeremy relating to Babylon reach thus far, or all the words of Jeremiah remaining on Sacred Record ( for it is thought that the next Chapter was rather penned by ſome, other Holy Man ) Or ( which ſeemeth the beſt ) the Propherical word of Jeremiah, forthe matter of the next Chapter is Hiſtorical, and the Book of Lamentations is not- Prophetical ; as to the main of it, though there be in it three or four Prophetical Paſſages, Lam: 4+ 21,
22, Oc.
CHAP.
A Repetition of the Reign of Z-dekiah : Of the Siege, Taking, and Des» frufion of Jerulatem : With the Cauſ's thereof ; 'and what further hapened there, 1t——=30. Evil-merodach advanceth Jeho:achin,
$ —
: Edekiah 24s One and twenty years old when he y + began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jervſalem ; and his morhers name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.