Jeremiah 6

Jer 6:1-30.

ZION'S

FOES

PREPARE

WAR AGAINST

HER:

HER

SINS

ARE THE

CAUSE.

1. Benjamin--Jerusalem was situated in the tribe of Benjamin, which

was here separated from that of Judah by the valley of Hinnom. Though it

was inhabited partly by Benjamites, partly by men of Judah, he addresses

the former as being his own countrymen.

blow . . . trumpet . . . Tekoa--Tikehu, Tekoa form a play on

sounds. The birthplace of Amos.

Beth-haccerem--meaning in Hebrew, "vineyard-house." It and Tekoa

were a few miles south of Jerusalem. As the enemy came from the north,

the inhabitants of the surrounding country would naturally flee

southwards. The fire-signal on the hills gave warning of danger

approaching.

2. likened--rather, "I lay waste." Literally, "O comely and delicate

one, I lay waste the daughter of Zion," that is, "thee." So

Zec 3:9,

"before Joshua," that is, "before thee" [MAURER].

3. shepherds--hostile leaders with their armies

(Jer 1:15; 4:17; 49:20; 50:45).

feed--They shall consume each one all that is near him; literally,

"his hand," that is, the place which he occupies

(Nu 2:17;

see on

Isa 56:5).

4, 5. The invading soldiers encourage one another to the attack on

Jerusalem.

Prepare--literally, "Sanctify" war, that is, Proclaim it formally

with solemn rites; the invasion was solemnly ordered by God (compare

Isa 13:3).

at noon--the hottest part of the day when attacks were rarely made

(Jer 15:8; 20:16).

Even at this time they wished to attack, such is their eagerness.

Woe unto us--The words of the invaders, mourning the approach of

night which would suspend their hostile operations; still, even in

spite of the darkness, at night they renew the attack

(Jer 6:5).

6. cast--Hebrew, "pour out"; referring to the emptying of the

baskets of earth to make the mound, formed of "trees" and earthwork,

to overtop the city walls. The "trees" were also used to make warlike

engines.

this--pointing the invaders to Jerusalem.

visited--that is, punished.

wholly oppression--or join "wholly" with "visited," that is, she is

altogether (in her whole extent) to be punished [MAURER].

7. fountain--rather, a well dug, from which water springs;

distinct from a natural spring or fountain.

casteth out--causeth to flow; literally, "causeth to dig," the cause

being put for the effect

(2Ki 21:16, 24;

Isa 57:20).

me--Jehovah.

8. Tender appeal in the midst of threats.

depart--Hebrew, "be torn away"; Jehovah's affection making Him

unwilling to depart; His attachment to Jerusalem was such that an effort

was needed to tear Himself from it

(Eze 23:18;

Ho 9:12; 11:8).

9. The Jews are the grapes, their enemies the unsparing gleaners.

turn back . . . hand--again and again bring freshly gathered handfuls

to the baskets; referring to the repeated carrying away of captives to

Babylon

(Jer 52:28-30;

2Ki 24:14; 25:11).

10. ear is uncircumcised--closed against the precepts of God by the

foreskin of carnality

(Le 26:41;

Eze 44:7;

Ac 7:51).

word . . . reproach--

(Jer 20:8).

11. fury of . . . Lord--His denunciations against Judah communicated

to the prophet.

weary with holding in--

(Jer 20:9).

I will pour--or else imperative: the command of God (see

Jer 6:12),

"Pour it out" [MAURER].

aged . . . full of days--The former means one becoming old; the

latter a decrepit old man

[MAURER]

(Job 5:26;

Isa 65:20).

12. The very punishments threatened by Moses in the event of

disobedience to God

(De 28:30).

turned--transferred.

13.

(Jer 8:10;

Isa 56:11;

Mic 3:11).

14. hurt--the spiritual wound.

slightly--as if it were but a slight wound; or,

in a slight manner, pronouncing all sound where there is no soundness.

saying--namely, the prophets and priests

(Jer 6:13).

Whereas they ought to warn the people of impending judgments and the

need of repentance, they say there is nothing to fear.

peace--including soundness. All is sound in the nation's moral

state, so all will be peace as to its political state

(Jer 4:10; 8:11; 14:13; 23:17;

Eze 13:5, 10; 22:28).

15. ROSENMULLER

translates, "They ought to have been ashamed,

because . . . but," &c.; the Hebrew verb often expressing, not the

action, but the duty to perform it

(Ge 20:9;

Mal 2:7).

MAURER translates, "They shall be put to shame,

for they commit abomination; nay (the prophet correcting himself),

there is no shame in them"

(Jer 3:3; 8:12;

Eze 3:7;

Zep 3:5).

them that fall--They shall fall with the rest of their people who

are doomed to fall, that is, I will now cease from words; I will execute

vengeance [CALVIN].

16. Image from travellers who have lost their road, stopping and

inquiring which is the right way on which they once had been, but from

which they have wandered.

old paths--Idolatry and apostasy are the modern way; the worship of

God the old way. Evil is not coeval with good, but a

modern degeneracy from good. The forsaking of God is not, in a true

sense, a "way cast up" at all

(Jer 18:15;

Ps 139:24;

Mal 4:4).

rest--

(Isa 28:12;

Mt 11:29).

17. watchmen--prophets, whose duty it was to announce impending

calamities, so as to lead the people to repentance

(Isa 21:11; 58:1;

Eze 3:17;

Hab 2:1).

18. congregation--parallel to "nations"; it therefore means

the gathered peoples who are invited to be witnesses as to how great

is the perversity of the Israelites

(Jer 6:16, 17),

and that they deserve the severe punishment about to be inflicted on

them

(Jer 6:19).

what is among them--what deeds are committed by the Israelites

(Jer 6:16, 17)

[MAURER]. Or, "what punishments are about

to be inflicted on them" [CALVIN].

19.

(Isa 1:2).

fruit of . . . thoughts--

(Pr 1:31).

nor to my law, but rejected it--literally, "and (as to) My law they

have rejected it." The same construction occurs in

Ge 22:24.

20.

Literally, "To what purpose is this to Me, that incense cometh to Me?"

incense . . . cane--

(Isa 43:24; 60:6).

No external services are accepted by God without obedience of the heart

and life

(Jer 7:21;

Ps 50:7-9;

Isa 1:11;

Mic 6:6,

&c.).

sweet . . . sweet--antithesis. Your sweet cane is not sweet to Me. The calamus.

21. stumbling-blocks--instruments of the Jews' ruin

(compare

Mt 21:44;

Isa 8:14;

1Pe 2:8).

God Himself ("I") lays them before the reprobate

(Ps 69:22;

Ro 1:28; 11:9).

fathers . . . sons . . . neighbour . . . friend--indiscriminate ruin.

22. north . . . sides of the earth--The ancients were little acquainted

with the north; therefore it is called the remotest regions (as

the Hebrew for "sides" ought to be translated,

see on

Isa 14:13)

of the earth. The Chaldees are meant

(Jer 1:15; 5:15).

It is striking that the very same calamities which the Chaldeans had

inflicted on Zion are threatened as the retribution to be dealt in turn

to themselves by Jehovah

(Jer 50:41-43).

23. like the sea--

(Isa 5:30).

as men for war--not that they were like warriors, for

they were warriors; but "arrayed

most perfectly as warriors" [MAURER].

24. fame thereof--the report of them.

25. He addresses "the daughter of Zion"

(Jer 6:23);

caution to the citizens of Jerusalem not to expose themselves to the

enemy by going outside of the city walls.

sword of the enemy--literally, "there is a sword to the enemy";

the enemy hath a sword.

26. wallow . . . in ashes--

(Jer 25:34;

Mic 1:10).

As they usually in mourning only "cast ashes on the head," wallowing

in them means something more, namely, so entirely to cover one's

self with ashes as to be like one who had rolled in them

(Eze 27:30).

as for an only son--

(Am 8:10;

Zec 12:10).

lamentation--literally, "lamentation expressed by beating the breast."

27. tower . . . fortress--

(Jer 1:18),

rather, "an assayer (and) explorer." By a metaphor from metallurgy in

Jer 6:27-30,

Jehovah, in conclusion, confirms the prophet in his office, and the

latter sums up the description of the reprobate people on whom he had

to work. The Hebrew for "assayer" (English Version,

"tower") is from a root "to try" metals. "Explorer" (English

Version, "fortress") is from an Arabic root, "keen-sighted";

or a Hebrew root, "cutting," that is, separating the metal from

the dross [EWALD]. GESENIUS

translates as English Version, "fortress," which does not accord

with the previous "assayer."

28. grievous revolters--literally, "contumacious of the

contumacious," that is, most contumacious, the Hebrew mode of

expressing a superlative. So "the strong among the mighty," that is,

the strongest

(Eze 32:21).

See

Jer 5:23;

Ho 4:16.

walking with slanders--

(Jer 9:4).

"Going about for the purpose of slandering" [MAURER].

brass, &c.--that is, copper. It and "iron" being the baser and

harder metals express the debased and obdurate character of the Jews

(Isa 48:4; 60:17).

29. bellows . . . burned--So intense a heat is made that the very

bellows are almost set on fire. ROSENMULLER

translates not so well from

a Hebrew root, "pant" or "snort," referring to the sound of the

bellows blown hard.

lead--employed to separate the baser metal from the silver, as

quicksilver is now used. In other words, the utmost pains have been

used to purify Israel in the furnace of affliction, but in vain

(Jer 5:3;

1Pe 1:7).

consumed of the fire--In the Chetib, or Hebrew text, the

"consumed" is supplied out of the previous "burned." Translating as

ROSENMULLER, "pant," this will be inadmissible; and the Keri (Hebrew Margin) division of the Hebrew words will have to be

read, to get "is consumed of the fire." This is an argument for the

translation, "are burned."

founder--the refiner.

wicked . . . not plucked away--answering to the dross which has no

good metal to be separated, the mass being all dross.

30. Reprobate--silver so full of alloy as to be utterly worthless

(Isa 1:22).

The Jews were fit only for rejection.