This chapter contains the Lord’s answer to the prophet’s prayers, in which he declares himself inexorable, and had resolved on the ruin of the Jewish nation for their sins; the prophet’s complaint of the hardships he endured, notwithstanding his sincerity and integrity; and the Lord’s promise of…

Then said the Lord unto me In answer to his expostulations and entreaties, , though Moses and Samuel stood before me; to pray before me, as the Targum; to make intercession for the people. Standing is a prayer gesture.

And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee As doubtless they will, when this message is brought to them: whither shall we go forth? in a jeering scornful manner, not believing that this would be their case: then thou shall tell them, thus saith the Lord, such as are for death, to death; such…

And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord Or four families [[22]], and these very devouring ones; that is, four sorts of punishment; and so the Targum, “four evil punishments;” which are after mentioned.

And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth Not only into Babylon, but into other countries; which has had its full accomplishment in this their last captivity by the Romans: or “I will give them for a commotion” [[24]]; shaking and trembling; they shall be like Cain,…

For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? &c.] The inhabitants of it; their sins being so many, and so heinous, and so aggravated, and so deserving of punishment, that none could pity their case, or have a heart of compassion towards them, or even spare reproaching them: or “who shall bemoan…

Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord His worship, as the Targum; and had set up idols, and idol worship; and this was the cause of the sword, pestilence, famine, and captivity, and of all the evils that befell them: thou art gone backward; from the law of the Lord, and from his pure worship and…

I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land Either of their own land, the land of Judea; and so the Septuagint version, “in the gates of my people”; alluding to the custom of winnowing corn in open places; and by fanning is meant the dispersion of the Jews, and their being carried captive…

Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas, &c.] Their husbands being slain; not in the times of Ahaz, when a hundred and twenty thousand men were slain in one day in Judah, by Pekah the son of Remaliah, , as Kimchi thinks; but in the times of Zedekiah, at the siege of Jerusalem,…

She that hath borne seven languisheth Either the mother that has borne many children, seven being put for a large number, now being able to bear no more, and being bereaved of what she had, and who were her staff and support, and from whom she had her expectation, faints away, and dies through…

Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast born me a man of strife, &c.] Not that the prophet was a quarrelsome and contentious man, but others quarrelled and contended with him, and that for no other reason than for his faithful discharge of his office, under which he ought to have been easy; but being…

The Lord said In answer to the prophet’s complaint: verily it shall be well with thy remnant: not with the remnant of his people, or those that should escape the threatened calamities; but the sense is, that it should be well with him in his latter end; the remainder of his days should be…

Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel? ] Can iron break iron, especially that which comes from the north, which was harder than the common iron; or steel, the hardest of all? though the Jews were hard as iron, they could not prevail against and overcome Jeremiah, who was made an iron…

Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price Not the prophet’s substance and treasure; for it does not appear that he had any, at least to require so much notice; but the substance and treasure of the people of the Jews, to whom these words are directed; these the Lord…

And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies Not Jeremiah, but the Jews, to whom these words are continued. The meaning is, that they should go along with the Chaldeans out of their own land into theirs: into a land which thou knowest not; the land of Babylon; and there is another reading of the…

O Lord, thou knowest All persons and things; he knew the prophet and his heart, and all that was in it; his innocence and integrity; all his afflictions, and what he met with from his enemies; and he knew them, and all their malicious designs against him: remember me; with the favour which he bore…

Thy words were found, and I did eat them, &e.] The messages he was called to deliver unto others appeared to him to be of God, and they were as welcome to him as food is to a hungry man; he cheerfully received them, treasured them up in his memory, digested them in his mind, and carefully retained…

I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced With them, the mockers; or, “those that make merry” [[16]]; as the word is rendered in , and so the Targum, “those that sing;” and dance and live jovially; with these the prophet did not associate himself; such levity being unsuitable to his…

Why is my pain perpetual The pain of his mind; his uneasiness for the good of his people, which was likely to last, having no hope of a change for the better: or it may design the pain which they gave him by their reproaches and persecutions of him, which seemed as if they would have no end: and my…

Therefore thus saith the Lord, if thou return From thine unbelief, diffidence, and impenitence, and repent of them; expressed in the preceding verses: then will I bring thee again; or, “restore thee [[17]]”; pardon his sin, and return him to his post and place, to his office and ministry in it, and…

And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall, &c.] As he had promised him, when he first called him to his office, , and so would not be as a liar to him: and they shall fight against thee; by words and blows, by menaces and imprisonment: but they shall not prevail against thee; so as…

And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked The wicked Jews, Zedekiah and his courtiers, who imprisoned him: and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible; as kings and great men of the earth seem to be; or, “the violent”, or “strong” [[18]], and mighty; that were stronger than…