Ver. 2.— Thus saith the lord, the Uaker thereof, etc. ; rather, Thus taith Jehovah, uho doeth it, Jehovah who frameth it that he may ettdblish it, whose name it Jehovah. It was needless to express the object of the verbs. Jehovah's great purpose is the regeneration of his people. To " frame " or " form " if synonymous with " purpose " (see on ch. xviii. 11). The meaning of the verse is that Jehovah's very Name is a pledge of his fidelity to his promises (comp. ch. xxxii. 18). To " establish " is synonymous with to carry out."
Ver. 3. — Mighty things; rather, secret things (literally, inaccessible). It must be admitted that this introduction hardly oor- responds to the sequel, which does not contain any special secrets, as we should have thought. Either vers. 2, 3 have been inserted by a later (inspired) editor, whose mind was absorbed in high thoughts of the latter days — for this view may be urged the style and phraseology, which are hardly those of the surrounding chapters, liardly those of Jeremiah ; or else we must adopt Hengstenberg's perhaps over-subtle sug- gestion, which, however, does not touch the question of the phraseology, "that throughout Scripture dead knowledge ii not regarded as knowledge ; that the hope of restoration had, in the natural man, in the prophet, as well as in all believers, an enemy who strove to darken and extinguish it; that therefore it was ever new," or, in the words of Jeremiah, "great and secret things, which thou knowest not."
Vei». 4^9.— The houses of Jerusalem, destroyed by the engines of the besitgers or filled with d«ad bodies, shall be restored;
the captives shall be brought back; their sins shall be forgiven, and God be glorified.
Ver. 4 — By the mounts, and by the sword ; rather, because of the mounds (aee on eh. X xxii. 24) and because of the weapons of war The latter are the warlike instruments used by tlie besiegers from their batteries or breastworks.
Ver. 5. — They oome to fight with the Chal- deans, but it is, etc. The passage is obscure, so obscure that we cannot avoid inferring that it is corrupt. "They come" could only refer to the Jews, but these would rather be said to "go out;" the Hebrew writers are particular in distinguishing between to "oome" and to "go out." Besides, there is no gi ammatical connection with the preceding verse. The Septuagint omits "they come," but the passage still remains enigmatical.
Ver. 6.— I will bring it health and cure, eto._ "Health" is properly the fresh skin which grows over a healing wound (as oh. viii. 22 ; xxx. 17). First the city is spoken of; then its inhabitants. Will reveal unto them ; or perhaps, will roll unto them (comp. ch. xi. 20 ; IX. 12). In this case the figure will be that of a mighty stream (comp. Amos v. 24; Isa. xlviii. 18; Ixvi. 12). Truth; rather, continuance (comp. ch. liv. 13).
Ver. 7. — I will cause the captivity ... to return (see on oh. ixii. 14). Will build them (see on ch. xxxi. 14).
Ver. 8. — I will cleanse them, etc. Bestored prosperity without spiritual purification would be of no avail ; how could it give happiness (comp. ch. xxxi. 34)?
Ver. 9.— And it shall be ; vi«. Jerusalem. A name of joy ; rather, on the analogy of Isa. Iv. 13, etc., a monument of joy ; i.e. joy- giving. They shall fear and tremble. As feeling the contrast between tlieir •' unprofit- able" idol-gods and the faithful God of Israel.
Ver. 10.— In this place; i.e. «in this land," as in ch. vii. 7 and elsewhere. Shall be desolate ; rather, is desolate.
Ver. 11. — The sacrifloe of praise (see on ch. xvii. 26).
Ver. 12. — An habitation ; rather, a pasture (including the idea of an encampment). The oxpreseion reminds us of ch. xxiii. 3, 4, but it is preferable to take the present passage in its literal sense rather than •■ meta- phorical.
Ver. 13.— In the eltiei, eto. A parallel description to ch. xvii. 26 ; xxxii. 44. The vale; rather, the lowland (about the Medi- terranean, on the south). The south. It is the Negeb, or south country, which is meant
oa. XXxm. 1— 26.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEKEMIAH.
TTndei the hands; rather, at the beek. Of him that telleth them. Comp. Milton, •L'Allegro'—
" And every sheplierd tells his tale Under the hawthorn in the dale."
Virgil, 'Eel.,' iii. 34—
" Bisque die nnmerant ambo pecus, alter et hsedoB."
Vera. 14 — 26. — These verses are omitted in the Septuagint, and some leadiDg critics think that bo'h the stvle and the cuntents point to a dlflerent author from our prophet. In particular it is urged that the promise of a multitude of Levltes and of descendants of David is isolated among the prophecies of Jeremiah, who elsewhere speaks of a single great representative of David as tlie object of pious hope, and of the intercourse between Jehovah and his people as being closer and more immediate than under the old Law. A variation in the form of expressing the Messianic hope is, however, not of much importance. Isaiah, for instance, sometimes refers to a single ideal king (ix. 6, etc.); sometimes to a succession of noble, God- fearing kings (xxxii. 1 ; xxxiii. 17).
Ver. 14. — That good thing which I have promised; viz. in the parallel passage, oh. ixiii. 5, 6 (which see).
Ver. 15. — The Branch of righteonsnesB ; rather, the Plant of rightemune$s (see on eh. zxiiL 5).
Ver. 16. — ^Wherewith she shall be called ; viz. Jerusalem ; in ch. xxiii. 6, the parallel passage, the subject is "Israel," unless there is a corruption of the text. The Lord our righteousness ; rather, The Lord (is) our righteousnese.
Ver. 17.— David shall never want a man, etc. This is, in fact, a republication of the promise given by Nathan in 2 Sam. vii. 12 — 16. It agrees in form with the announcements in 1 Kings ii. 4; viii. 25; ix. 5.
Ver. 18. — Neither shall the priests the Levites, etc. It has been thought that this passage is inconsistent with the prophecies of a time when the ark sliould no more be remembered (oh. iii. 16), and when all should know Jehovah from the least to the greiitest (ch. xxxi. 34). But though sin offerings would in this glorious time become things of the past, yet thank oflerings are expressly excepted from abolition (ver. 11), and
in ch. xzxi. 14 a special latter-day promise is given to the priests. Moreover, Ezekiel, who repeats the prophecy of the new spiritual covenant (xi. 19; xxxvi. 26; xxxvii. 26), gives an elaborate sketch of a new temple with a saoriScial system (ch. xl., etc.) ; and, if there is any inconsistency, we find the same one in the latter part of Isaiah. In Isa. Ixi. 6 the whole regenerate people ol' Israel is called " the priests of Jehovah ; " but in Isa. Ixvi. 21 the prophet distinctly states that there will be, in some sense, a priestly class within the chosen people.