EXPOSITION. points of contact with eh. vii. (comp. vers. CHAPTER XIX. 4-6 with eh. vii. 30-32; and ver. 13 with With this chapter, vers. 1-6 of the next eh. vii. 18 ; viii. 2), e.nd we may presume ought undoubtedly to be connected to com- that tho evonts here related belong to the plete the narrative. Jeremiah here comes time to which we he.ve already referred eh. before us performing e.nother symbolical vii., viz. the eo.rly pa.rt of the reign of Je- action. By breaking a potter's vessel he hoiakim. The same do.te is confirmed for foresbows the ruin impending overJ erusa.lem the ne.rre.tive of Pashur by the office which for the idolo.try practised in the valley of is therein given him ; for according to eh. Hinnom. Not (remarks Graf) o.s if tbe xxix. 25, 26, the office wo.s not held by him, worship of Moloch had been restored o.fter but by Zephanio.h. the death of Josiah ; vcr. 13, in fact, cuf- Ver. 1.-A potter's earthen bottle. Dr. ficiently shows that the Tophet ho.d, ever Thomson speo.ks of the extreme cheapness 111ince Josiah's time, continued to be an un- and brittleness of the common pottery of Palestine (comp, Isa.. xxx.14). The e.noients clean place, o.nd the sins which are here of the people, The natural popular ropre- rebuked a.re the unexpiated abominations scnto.ti vcs (comp. Exod. iii. 16; 2 Sam. of Me.nuseh's reign (described in eh. xv. 4, xix. 11 ; 1 Kings viii. 1 ; xx. 7). • It was as the immediate co.uses o! the Captivity). an announcement concerning the whole Jeremiah's prophecy on the Tophet is fol- people that Jeremiah we.a about to make. The anoients of the priests (comp. 2 Kings lowed by one on the fo.te of a. certain Pas- xix. 2). hur, e. high officer in the temple. Ver. 2.-The valley of the son of Hinnom The principal prophecy presents striking (see on eh. vii. 31). The east gate; rother_ cm. x1x. 1-lli.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 457 -------------- thl' potsherd aate, i.e. the gate where pot- verbatim, is given in Deut. xxviii. 53; sherds were wont to be thrown. Another (comp. Lev. xxvi. 29; Ezek. v. 10). For tl1e possible rendering is "enn gate," of which fulfilment, see Lam. iv. 10. "east go.ta" is but a pare.phrase. But there Ver. 11.-As one breaketh a potter's is evidently e. connection between the name vessel (comp. Isa. xxx. 14). Dr. Thom- of the gute and the action performed by son speaks of the utter indifference with Jeremiah. The Authorized Version seems which the common pottery of Palestine io to have misled Captain Warren iuto identi- handled. It is not only brittle, but so fying the valley of Hiunom with that of cheap that no one is distressed at breaking Kedron. He confirms bis view, it is trne, it. And they shall bury them in Tophet, by the Arabic nomenclature, which speaks etc. These words form the conclusion of of the Kedron BB the Wady Jehinnam-a eh. vii. 32 (see note), the greater part of nomenclature, however, which is by no which is repeated in ver. 6. They are cer- means uniform (see Robinson, 'Biblical tainly out of place here, and are wanting in Researches,' ii. 396, 403). The situation of the Septuagint. the "potsherd gate" must remain uncertain. Ver. 12.-As Tophet; i.e. an unclean spot, Ver. 3.-0 kings of Judah; i.e. the nume- avoided by mankind. rous clan of royal princes, kings by courtesy Ver. 13.-The houses of the kings of (see on eh. xvii. 20). His ears shall tingle Judah; i.e. the palaces and other buildin"s (so 2 Kings xxi. 12; comp. 1 Sam. iii. 11). which together made up" the king's house"\' Ver. 4.-Re.ve estranged this ple.ce; (eh. xxii. 6). Shall be defiled as the place rather, ha'lle treated 'this place as strange; of Tophet. This is one of the few places in i.e. ns one that did not belong to their God, which the Authorized Version he.a o.llowed that was unholy (comp. eh. xvi. 18, itself to interfere with the rece!veci text; "They have defiled my land"). With the for the Hebrew has" which are tlefiletl," etc. blood of i.nnooents; comp. "Innocent blood, The common reading, in fact, seems un- even the blood of their sous and of their translatable. Because of all the houses; daughters" (Ps. cvi. 38)-the children rather, eren all the hOl/,Bes. sacrificed in Hinnom to Maloch. Vers. 14, 15.-Here begins a fresh section Ver. 5.-Baal, This seems to be used of the no.rmtive. Jeremiah has executed loosely for Molooh (comp. on eh. ii. 8). his commission, and now proceeds to the Ver, 6.-(Comp. eh. vii. 32.) Tophet; temple, where he repeo.ts before the assem- mther, the Tophet (see on oh. vii. 31). bled people his announcement of the awful Ver. 7.-I will ma.ke void; literally, I judgment. will pour out, alluding to the etymology of Ver. 15.-trpon all her towns. The cities the word rendered " bottle " in ver. I. of Judoh are regnrded ns in a mo.nner subject Ver. 8.-(Comp. oh. xviii. 16.) to the copital. Ver. 9.-The same description, almost
HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-13.-The brolcen bottle. That was a strange ecene-tho royal family, the nobles, tho chief priests, together with the populace of Jerusalem, gathered, at the summons of a prophet whose power could not be ignored though his teaching was opposed, in the valley of Hinnom, now reeking with the odours of foul crime; and the prophet facing them, alone and fearless, with e. common potter's vessel in his ham\, while he draws n most awful picture of impending calnmity, rind sternly charges his nudience with the terrible wickedness which is bringing it upon thefr heads, aud brings his discourse to a dramatic climax by breaking the vessel to pieces. I. CoNBIDEl!. THE OIRCUMBTANCES OF THE DISCOURSE. I. It was addressed especially to the leaders of the people (ver. 1). "'l'o the poor the gospel is preached," but to the great sterner messages must often be declared. Nothing in the history of the prophets is more exemplary than the directness of their accusations of guilt in high places. They were no flattering court preachers. Yet they were court preachers. '!'hey did not reserve their harsh words for the poorest and lowest of the people, as modern popular preachers are too apt to do. 'l'he leaders were first in crime; they should be first in responsibility. 2. It was spoken on the site of the greatest w-ickedness. 'l'he guilty people had the memorials of their crimes before their eyes while judgment was being pronounced for them. Men naturally shun these valleys of Hinnom, these scenes of old sins, the sight of which stings the conscience. llut they must revisit them. It is sometimes the duty of the preacher to take his hei.rers back in memory to the 458 'THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. [au. ux. 1-16,