19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people, from a very far country: Is not Jehovah in Zion? Is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, with foreign vanities?
Then came the prophet Isaiah to king Hezekiah, and said to him, What said these men? and from whence came they to thee? And Hezekiah said, They came from a far country to me, from Babylon.
They come from a far country, from the end of the heavens -- Jehovah, and the weapons of his indignation -- to destroy the whole land.
Why hath this people of Jerusalem slidden back with a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast deceit, they refuse to return. I hearkened and heard: they speak not what is right; there is no man who repenteth him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Every one turneth to his course, like a horse rushing into the battle.
To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus write: These things says he that holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lamps:
But upon mount Zion shall there be deliverance, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
And it shall be that whosoever shall call upon the name of Jehovah shall be saved: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as Jehovah hath said, and for the residue whom Jehovah shall call.
For there shall be a day, when the watchmen upon mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise, and let us go up to Zion, unto Jehovah our God.
and will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them.
They moved him to jealousy with strange gods, With abominations did they provoke him to anger. They sacrificed unto demons who are not +God; To gods whom they knew not, To new ones, who came newly up, Whom your fathers revered not. Of the Rock that begot thee wast thou unmindful, And thou hast forgotten ùGod who brought thee forth. And Jehovah saw it, and despised them, Because of the provoking of his sons and of his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be; For they are a perverse generation, Children in whom is no faithfulness. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is no ùGod; They have exasperated me with their vanities; And I will move them to jealousy with that which is not a people; With a foolish nation will I provoke them to anger.
-- And thou, wasted one, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rendest thine eyes with paint, in vain dost thou make thyself fair: [thy] lovers despise thee, they seek thy life. For I hear a voice, as of a woman in travail, anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion: she moaneth, she spreadeth forth her hands, [saying], Woe unto me! for my soul faileth because of murderers.
Inform the nations; behold, make Jerusalem to hear: Besiegers come from a far country, and raise their voice against the cities of Judah. As keepers of a field are they against her round about; for she hath been rebellious against me, saith Jehovah.
Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
Cry out and shout, thou inhabitress of Zion; for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.
Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that corrupt themselves! They have forsaken Jehovah; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; they are turned away backward.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Jeremiah 8
Commentary on Jeremiah 8 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 8
Jer 8:1-22. The Jew's Coming Punishment; Their Universal and Incurable Impenitence.
1. The victorious Babylonians were about to violate the sanctuaries of the dead in search of plunder; for ornaments, treasures, and insignia of royalty were usually buried with kings. Or rather, their purpose was to do the greatest dishonor to the dead (Isa 14:19).
2. spread … before the sun, &c.—retribution in kind. The very objects which received their idolatries shall unconcernedly witness their dishonor.
loved … served … after … walked … sought … worshipped—Words are accumulated, as if enough could not be said fully to express the mad fervor of their idolatry to the heavenly host (2Ki 23:5).
nor … buried—(Jer 22:19).
dung—(Jer 9:22; Ps 83:10).
3. The survivors shall be still worse off than the dead (Job 3:21, 22; Re 9:6).
which remain in all the places—"in all places of them that remain, whither I … that is, in all places whither I have driven them that remain [Maurer].
4. "Is it not a natural instinct, that if one falls, he rises again; if one turns away (that is, wanders from the way), he will return to the point from which he wandered? Why then does not Jerusalem do so?" He plays on the double sense of return; literal and metaphorical (Jer 3:12; 4:1).
5. slidden … backsliding—rather, as the Hebrew is the same as in Jer 8:4, to which this verse refers, "turned away with a perpetual turning away."
perpetual—in contrast to the "arise" ("rise again," Jer 8:4).
refuse to return—in contrast to, "shall he … not return" (Jer 8:4; Jer 5:3).
6. spake not aright—that is, not so as penitently to confess that they acted wrong. Compare what follows.
every one … his course—The Keri reads "course," but the Chetib, "courses." "They persevere in the courses whatever they have once entered on." Their wicked ways were diversified.
horse rusheth—literally, "pours himself forth," as water that has burst its embankment. The mad rapidity of the war horse is the point of comparison (Job 39:19-25).
7. The instinct of the migratory birds leads them with unfailing regularity to return every spring from their winter abodes in summer climes (So 2:12); but God's people will not return to Him even when the winter of His wrath is past, and He invites them back to the spring of His favor.
in the heaven—emphatical. The birds whose very element is the air, in which they are never at rest, yet show a steady sagacity, which God's people do not.
times—namely, of migrating, and of returning.
my people—This honorable title aggravates the unnatural perversity of the Jews towards their God.
know not, &c.—(Jer 5:4, 5; Isa 1:3).
8. law … with us—(Ro 2:17). Possessing the law, on which they prided themselves, the Jews might have become the wisest of nations; but by their neglecting its precepts, the law became given "in vain," as far as they were concerned.
scribes—copyists. "In vain" copies were multiplied. Maurer translates, "The false pen of the scribes hath converted it [the law] into a lie." See Margin, which agrees with Vulgate.
9. dismayed—confounded.
what wisdom—literally, "the wisdom of what?" that is, "wisdom in what respect?" the Word of the Lord being the only true source of wisdom (Ps 119:98-100; Pr 1:7; 9:10).
10-12. Repeated from Jer 6:12-15. See a similar repetition, Jer 8:15; Jer 14:19.
inherit—succeed to the possession of them.
11. (Eze 13:10).
13. surely consume—literally, "gathering I will gather," or "consuming I will consume."
no grapes … nor figs—(Joe 1:7; Mt 21:19).
things that I have given … shall pass away—rather, "I will appoint to them those who shall overwhelm (pass over) them," that is, I will send the enemy upon them [Maurer]. English Version accords well with the context; Though their grapes and figs ripen, they shall not be allowed to enjoy them.
14. assemble—for defense.
let us be silent—not assault the enemy, but merely defend ourselves in quiet, until the storm blow over.
put us to silence—brought us to that state that we can no longer resist the foe; implying silent despair.
water of gall—literally, "water of the poisonous plant," perhaps the poppy (Jer 9:15; 23:15).
15. Repeated (Jer 14:19).
We looked for—owing to the expectations held out by the false prophets.
health—healing; that is, restoration from adversity.
16. his horses—the Chaldean's.
was heard—the prophetical past for the future.
from Dan—bordering on Phœnicia. This was to be Nebuchadnezzar's route in invading Israel; the cavalry in advance of the infantry would scour the country.
strong ones—a poetical phrase for steeds, peculiar to Jeremiah (Jer 47:3; compare Jer 4:13, 29; 6:23).
17. I—Jehovah.
cockatrices—basilisks (Isa 11:8), that is, enemies whose destructive power no means, by persuasion or otherwise, can counteract. Serpent-charmers in the East entice serpents by music, and by a particular pressure on the neck render them incapable of darting (Ps 58:4, 5).
18. (Isa 22:4). The lamentation of the prophet for the impending calamity of his country.
against sorrow—or, with respect to sorrow. Maurer translates, "Oh, my exhilaration as to sorrow!" that is, "Oh, that exhilaration ('comfort', from an Arabic root, to shine as the rising sun) would shine upon me as to my sorrow!"
in me—within me.
19. The prophet in vision hears the cry of the exiled Jews, wondering that God should have delivered them up to the enemy, seeing that He is Zion's king, dwelling in her (Mic 3:11). In the latter half of the verse God replies that their own idolatry, not want of faithfulness on His part, is the cause.
because of them that dwell in a far country—rather, "from a land of distances," that is, a distant land (Isa 39:3). English Version understands the cry to be of the Jews in their own land, because of the enemy coming from their far-off country.
strange vanities—foreign gods.
20. Proverbial. Meaning: One season of hope after another has passed, but the looked-for deliverance never came, and now all hope is gone.
21. black—sad in visage with grief (Joe 2:6).
22. balm—balsam; to be applied to the wounds of my people. Brought into Judea first from Arabia Felix, by the queen of Sheba, in Solomon's time [Josephus, Antiquities, 8.2]. The opobalsamum of Pliny; or else [Bochart] the resin drawn from the terebinth. It abounded in Gilead, east of Jordan, where, in consequence, many "physicians" established themselves (Jer 46:11; 51:8; Ge 37:25; 43:11).
health … recovered—The Hebrew is literally, "lengthening out … gone up"; hence, the long bandage applied to bind up a wound. So the Arabic also [Gesenius].