his propheſying, but ro his being alſo ; ler us cut him off ſome [expreſſions of this nacure, and the lawfulneſs of purting up tuch
way or other, that his Name may no more be remembred. Of | Petitions againſt thoſe who are not only our Enemies, but God's
{his tne Prophet faich he was as ignorant, asan Ox or a Lamb tha' | alſo. See what was noted on Chap- 11. Ver- 20:
4 How
-
Chap. XII.
4 How long ſhall the land mourn and the herbs of
every ſicld wither, for the wickedneſs of them that
* Chap. 4. dwell therein g? * The beaſts are conſumed, and
25. & 7. the birds, becauſe they ſaid, He ſhall nor ſee our laſt 20&9-10- end h,
JEREMIAH
derſtood of either, for the Fews were r.otoriouſly and it is God that cauſech the Birds to come again
e The Prophet ſeems to give a reaſon of his former Paſſion,and Prayer againſt thole wicked Men before reflected on, becauſe ther were the cauſe of the Nations Ruine, which is alſo aſſerted by the Pſalmiſt, Pſal. 107. 34. A Land is ſaid ro mourn metapho- rically when it is brought roan 11] complexion; and looketh un- pleaſantly, the Grais and green Herbs 1n it being deſtroyed by Enemtes, or Diought, or Vermine. þ Nay, the effects of their wic- ked courles reached to the very Beaſts and Birds, becauſe they were {o pretumpruous as to conclude, that they ſhould do wel] e- nough, neither the Prophet nor any other ſhould ſee their laſt end
5 If thou haſt run with the footmen and they have wearicd thee, then how canſt thou contend with hor- {&s 1? and if in the land of peace nhereinthou truſtedlt
+ Joſh. 3. they Trearicd thee, then how wilt thou do in * the I5. ſwelling of Jordan & ?
i Tha: theleate the au{wer of God to the Prophet is reaſonably wellagreed by the beſt Interpreters,asalſo that this isa Proverbia] exprefiion, bur as to the application of it inthis place,there is ome difference : Some make it this. 1f thou doſt notunderſtand what 15 done by the Men of thine own City, how canſt thou think to fa- thom my Diſpenſations of Providence 1n the Government of t: - World ? Bur this (enſe feemeth not very probable,becaule the lenlc of the Prev©b leemeth to be, It thou beeſt not able to encounte! lefſer dangers how wilt thou be able to overcome greater ? I rather agree with thoſe who make the ſenſe this. Foremy, I have greater cangers for thee to encounter than thoſe thou art expoſed to at Anathotb,it thou beelt to diſturbed with them,whoare but as Foor- men, how wiltthou be able to grapple with thoſe tar greater Ene mies whick thou art like to meet with at Hieruſalem. kh Anathor), allo ſeen.eth to be underſtood by the Lind of thy peace, that is, the Land of thy Friends wherein thou hadſt a confidence: It thy Ene- mies thou haſt there met with, tire thee, what wilt thou do zn the ſwellings of Fordas ? That is in a place 1n which thouarrt like to meet With an increaſe of greater Troubles, [ike the ſwelling of Jor- dan ( which in Harveſt uſed to overflow its Banks.) Many other things are faid by Interpreters.both with reference to the ſenſe of this Texr, and the explication of thele proverbialexpreffions, but the ſenſe above-mentioned ſeemeth to me leaſt ſtrained, and beſt agreeing with what went before, and what tollows.
* Ch. 9.4 6 For even * thy brethren, and the honſe of thy TOr.oried father, even they have dealt treacherouſly with thee /, after thee vea !| they have called a multitude after thee m7, * be-
| 44 lievethem not, though they ſpeak Þ fair words unto 26. 2F« thee N.
f Heb. | The Men of Anathoth, thine own Town and Country, and gc6d things. thole of thy own Family have conſpired Evil againſt thee ſecretly. m Either they have expoſed rtliee to the rage and rudenels of a mulcitude, or they havexaccuſec thee to a multitude. » Tho' there- fore they give thee many Yair words, yet repole no truſt nor corhi- dence in them, but look th, thy ſelf.
7 1 have forſaken my houſe o, I have left mine he- + Heb. the Titage p, I have given + the dearly beloved of my ſoul
loce, ito the hands of her enewies 9.
o God by his Houſe here underſtandeth the Temple, which God js ſaid here to have torſaken with reſpect to his gracious mani- feſtations in it to the people that came thicher to worſhip him. p By his heritage he means the whole body of the Iſraelites,called God's Heritage not in this Chapter only, but Chap.2.7. Foel 2.17. Mic. 7.14. whom God threatneth to leave with reſpect to his [pe- cial Providence, by which he had taken care of them, upon which account Canaan is called the Land which God cared for, Deut. 11. 12. that is ſo cared for, 2s in compariſon with them, he might j ſeem to neglect all other Countries. q That is, he had given that Nation which was once his dearly beloved, into the hands or power of :|,cir Enemſes. :
$ iine heritage is unto me, asa lion in the foreſt, T Or, yet- It |} * crieth out againlt me : therefore have I hated
leth. IT 7.
Chap. XII
guilty of both, her, and the Beaſts of the field to deyour.
10 Many Paſtors have deſtroyed my vineyard mw, they have troden my portion - under foot, they have made my + pleaſant portion, a deſolate wil-
derneſs x.
w By Paſtors moſt here think Civil Perſons, not Eccleſiaſtical Offi cers are meant ; bur they are divided, ſome interpreting it of the Rulers and Princes of Nebucha dnez3ar's Army, who took Feruſalem, and deſtroyed Fudah, called God's Vineyard, Iſa. 5 - r, 2, others underſtanding it of the Rulers of the Fews, who by their wickedGovernment,and as wicked example had ruined their Country. x And cauſed God to turn the Country which he had choſen for his portion, and declared ſuch a pleaſnre in, into a Wilderneſs, and ſuch a W:}dernels as was not only thinly inha« bited, but wholly deſolate.
11 They have made it deſolate y, and being de- folate it mourneth unto me z, the whole Land 1s made deſolate, becauſe no man layeth it to heart 4.
y Heb. He hath made it deſolate, but it cannot be meant of God, for 1t is God that ſpeaketh, and God is he mentioned in the next words ; It muſt either be underſtood of Nebuchadnez2ar, the in- {trumental cauſe ; or (one number being put for another) of the People or the Rulers as the meritorious cauſe, and in that rueful {kate into which their ſins had brought 1t,it cried unto God. a And one great cauſe of this fore Judgment upon the Land, was the Peoples not Jaying to heart, not ſeriouſly conſidering what God had done or was doing againſt it.