The Pulpit Commentary — Jeremiah — Volume 1 — Section 148

save your goods by flight. In eh. iv. 6 the war i~.. to ~ opened wit~. sacriflcee (comp. so.me o.dvice was given to the inhabitants of Isa. xw. 3 with 1 8am. :nu. 9); next thew the conntry districts. There, Jernsalem was is o. forced march, so as to ta.ke the city by represented as the only safe refnge ; here. storm, when the vigilance of its defenders the capital being no longer tenable, the wild is relaxed in the fierce noontide heat po.sture-land to the south (the foe being ex- (comp. eh. xv. 8); evening surprises the foe pected from the north) becomes the goal of still on the way, but they press steadily on, to the fugitives of Jerusalem. In Tekoa. Tekoa do their work of destrnction by uight. The was a town in the wild hill-country to the rapidity of the merches of the Chaldeans im- south of Judah, the birthplace of the prophet pressed another prophet of the reign of Josiah Amos. It is partly mentioned because its -Ha.bakkuk (see Ha.b. i. 6, 8). Woe unto name seems to connect it with the verb us! for the day goeth away; rather, .J.las for rendered blow the trumpet. Buch parono- u• I for the day hath turned. masim are favourite oratorical instruments Ver. 5.-Let us go; rather, let us go up. of the prophets, and especially in connections "To go up" is the technical term for the like the present (comp. Isa. x. 30; Micah i. movements of armies, whether advancing 10-15). A sign of ftre in Beth-haooerem; (as here and Isa.. viL 1) or retreating (as eh. rather, a signal on Beth-hakkerem. The ren- xxi. 2; xxxiv. 21; :uxvii. 5, 11). dering of Authorized Version was snggested Ver. 6.-Hew ye down trees; rather, her by Judg. :u. 38, 40; but there is nothing trees. Hewing down trees was an ordinary in the present context (as there is in that feature of Assyrian and Babylonian expe- passage); to favonr the view that a fiery ditions. Thus, Assurnagirpal "co.used the beacon is intended. Beth-hakkerem lay, forests of all (his enemies) to fall" (' Records according to St. Jerome, on an eminence of the Pa.st,' iii. 40, 77), and Shalma.neser between Jerusalem and Tekoa.; i.e. probably calls himself •• the tra.mpler on the heads of the hill known as the Frank Mountain, the mountains e.nd all forests "(lbid.,p. 83; comp. Arabic name of whioh (Djebel el-Furaidis, p. 90). The timber was partly required for Little Paradise Mountain) is e. not unsuit- their palaces and fleets, but also, a.s the con- able equivalent for the Hebrew (Vineyard- text here suggests, for warlike operu.tions. house). The" district of Beth-ha.lµ:erem" "Trees,'' as Professor Rawlinson remarks, is mentioned in Neh. iii. 14. The choice of "were sometimes cut down and built into the the locality for the signal was a perfect one. mound" (see next note); they would a.lso be "There is no other tell," remarks Dr. used for the "bnl wo.rks" or siege instru- Thomson, "of equal height and size in Pales- ments spoken of in Deut. xx. 20. Cast a tine." Appee.reth; rather, bendeth forward, mollllt; literu.lly, pour a mount (or" bank," as if it were ready to fall. o.s it is elsewhere rendered), with reference Ver. 2.-1 have likened , , , e. comely and to the emptying of the baskets of earth re- delicate woman. This passage is one of the quired for building up the "mount" (mound). most difficult in the book, and if there is cor- Hu.bakkuk (i. 10) says of the Chal<leans, "He ruption of the text o.nywhere, it is here. The lu.ugheth at every stronghokl, and heapeth up most genero.lly adopted rendering is, " The earth, and taketh it" (comp. also 2 Sam. x:s:. comely e.nd delicu.te one will I destroy, even 15; Isu.. xxxvii. 33). The intention of tho the do.ughter of Zion," giving tho verb the wound wns not so much to bring the be- same sense as in Hos. iv. 5 (litero.lly it is, siegers on o. level with the top or the wu.11s as I have brought to silence, or perfect of pro- to enable them to work the battering-rnms phetic certitude). The context, however, to better udvu.ntu.ge (Ra.wlinson, ' Ancient seems to favour the rendering" pastuwge" Monarchies,' i. 472). She is wholly oppre~- (including the idea. of o. nomad settlement), sion, etc.; rather, she is the city that is instead of " comely; " but how to make thi:1 punished; wholly oppression is ill the mid,t fit in with the remainder of the existing text of her. is fo.r from clear. 'l'he true o.nd original Ver. 7.-As a. folllltain casteth out; rnthcr, reading probo.bly only survives in fro.gments. as a cistern keepeth fresh (literally, cool). The Ver. 3.-The shephei-ds with their :f!.ooks, wickedness of Jerusalem is so thoroughly eto.; ro.ther, To her came shepherd8 with their ingrained thnt it seems to puss into o.ct by floclcs ; they have pitched their tents round o. lu.w of nature,just as u. cistern oo.nnol help about her; they have pastured each at his ride. o.lways yielding a supply of cool, fresh water. The best cowwento.ry on the Ju.et clu.use is Violenoe and spoil ; mther, injttstice and furnished by Numb. xxii. 4," Now shall this violence (so eh. xx. 8; Amos iii. 10; Hau. i. company lick up 1111 thu.t u.re round o.bout us, 3). Before me, etc.; ra.thcr, lie/ore my fac6 o.s tllo ox licketh up the gro.ss of the field." co11Unually iB sic/mess and 1oounding. 'fhe Ver. 4.-Prepare ye war; literally, sanc- ear is constnntly dinnecl with the sounds of tify (or, comecrate) war. The foes 11re dra- oppression, nncl tho eye pninecl with the sight wu.lically dosoribed 11s urging cuch other on of tho bodily sufferings of tho victims. 'fJi,, at the different stnges of the carnpnign. 'fho word for" sickness" is npplical,\o to nny ki,1<) JI\IlDIIAII, 1-, 146 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHE'l' JEREMCAH. [ou. vr. 1-30,