This chapter begins with several exhortations to repentance; first to Israel, or the ten tribes, to return to the Lord with their whole hearts, and put away their abominations, and serve him in sincerity and uprightness of soul; with promises of rest and safety to themselves; and that it would have…

If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord To which they had been encouraged, and as they had promised they would, and said they did, (Jer. 3:14, Jer. 3:22) : return unto me; with thy whole heart, and not feignedly and hypocritically, as Judah did, .

And thou shalt swear, the Lord liveth Or by the living Lord, by him and him only; not by the creatures, but by the God of truth. This is sometimes put for the whole worship and service of God, and for a confession of Christ, and profession of faith in him, , compared with and which ought to be…

For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who were at the time of this prophecy in their own land; and so are distinguished from Israel the ten tribes, who were in captivity; unless the same persons should be meant, who were called by these…

Circumcise yourselves to the Lord Or, “be ye circumcised”, as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it. This is to be understood of the circumcision of the heart, as Kimchi observes; and as appears from the following words: and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah, and…

Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem, and say Exhortations to repentance being without effect in general, though they might have an influence on some few particular persons, the Lord directs the prophet to lay before the people a view of their destruction as near at hand; who calls upon…

Set up the standard toward Zion Not on the tower of Zion, as Kimchi interprets it; but on some high place, pointing to Zion, and directing the country people to flee thither for safety; for the setting up of the standard here is not for enlisting of soldiers in order to fight, but as a sign of…

The lion is come up from his thicket Meaning Nebuchadnezzar [[17]], from Babylon, who is compared to a lion for his strength, fierceness, and cruelty; see so the Roman emperor is called a lion, , agreeably to this the Targum paraphrases it, “a king is gone from his fortress;” or tower; and the…

For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl That is, because of this destruction threatened, which was so near at hand, and so sure and certain: for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us.

And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord When Nebuchadnezzar should be come up from Babylon into the land of Judea, and lay waste the cities thereof, and besiege Jerusalem: that the heart of the king shall perish; meaning Zedekiah king of Judah, who should be in the utmost fright and…

Then said I, ah, Lord God! &c.] Expressing great sorrow and concern: this “ah” is by way of lamentation. The Targum interprets it as a petition, “and I said, receive my prayer, O Lord God:” surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem: what the false prophets did, that God is said to…

At that time shall it be said to this people, and to Jerusalem The inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem, the people of the Jews; or “concerning” [[22]] them, as Jarchi interprets it: a dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people.

Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me That is, a strong one, very vehement; or, “a wind which is fuller than these”, as the Syriac version renders it; which is stronger than those winds which are fit for fanning and winnowing the chaff from the wheat.

Behold, he shall come up as clouds Meaning the lion, Nebuchadnezzar, , “the king with his army (as the Targum paraphrases it); he shall come up against them as a cloud that ascendeth and covers the earth.” “come up against them as a cloud that ascendeth and covers the earth.” The metaphor denotes…

O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness These are the words of the prophet, or of God by the prophet, showing the cause of all their ruin and destruction, the wickedness of their hearts; and they are expressed in such form and language, as to be accommodated to the case of any unregenerate…

For a voice declareth from Dan The coming of the enemy, as Kimchi explains it, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Chaldeans; a messenger was come from Dan, which was on the border of the land of Israel to the north, on which side Babylon lay, and from whence the evil was to come predicted; who…

Make ye mention to the nations This, according to Kimchi, is the sum and substance of the voice from Dan. It seems to be a summons to the nations to gather together to join the king of Babylon in his enterprise against Jerusalem; see : publish against Jerusalem; what follows: that watchers come…

As keepers of a field, are they against her round about As those that are set to watch a field, in which are fruit and corn of any sort, that thieves and robbers, and wild beasts, may not enter to waste and destroy, and are placed on all sides for that purpose; so the Chaldeans were round about…

Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee, &c.] The way in which they walked, which was an evil one; and the actions which they committed; their idolatries, backslidings, and rebellions, before spoken of in this and the preceding chapter, were the cause of this siege, and those…

My bowels, my bowels These are either the words of the people, unto whose heart the calamity reached, as in the preceding verse; or rather of the prophet, who either, from a sympathizing heart, expresses himself in this manner; or puts on an appearance of mourning and distress, in order to awaken…

Destruction upon destruction is cried; &c.] Or, “breach upon breach” [[6]]; as soon as one affliction is over, another comes on; and upon the news of one calamity, tidings are brought of another, as in Job’s case: it signifies, that distress and troubles would come thick and fast, and that there…

How long shall I see the standard “Ensign” or “banner” displayed; either by the watchmen placed on high hills or towers, who, when they see the enemy approaching, lift up their ensign or banner, and blow with their trumpets, to give the people warning and notice of it, and to call them to battle,…

For my people is foolish This, as Kimchi says, is the answer of the Lord to the prophet; for not the prophet says this, but the Lord to the prophet, giving a reason why this sore destruction came upon the people of the Jews, and so reconciling his mind to the providence; seeing those whom he had…

I beheld the earth The land of Judea, not the whole world; and this the prophet says, either in spirit, as Jerom; or in prophecy, as Kimchi; or in a visionary way; for these are not the words of God continued, as Cocceius, but of the prophet; who, by a prophetic spirit, describes the dreadful…

I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled At the presence of God, at the tokens of his displeasure, and at his awful vengeance in the destruction of the Jews, as they are sometimes said to do, (Ps. 114:6, Ps. 114:7) (Hab. 3:6, Hab.

And I beheld, and, lo, there was no man No people dwelling in it, as the Targum; the land was without inhabitants, they were either killed with the sword, or taken and carried captive into Babylon, or fled into Egypt and other countries: and all the birds of the heavens were fled; at the sound of…

I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness Or, “I beheld, and, lo, Carmel was a wilderness”; which was a particular part of the land of Israel, and was very fertile, and abounded in pastures and fruit trees, and yet this, as the rest, became desolate as a wilderness; see though it may…

For thus hath the Lord said What follows is an explanation and confirmation of the above vision the prophet had: the whole land shall be desolate; as he had seen; it should not be manured, ploughed, and sown, or bring forth fruit; and should be without inhabitants, at least have very few: yet I…

For this shall the earth mourn That is, for the full end that will be made hereafter, though not now; the earth may be said to mourn when the inhabitants of it do; or when it is destroyed, and is become desolate, as the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, explain it; when it is uncultivated and…

The whole city shall flee Or, “every city”; for not Jerusalem only is meant, but every city, or the inhabitants of every city; and so the Targum paraphrases it, “all the inhabitants of the land,” who would be put into a panic, and flee: “for” or at the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; of which the…

And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? &c.] Or, “O thou spoiled” [[9]], wasted, and undone creature, how wilt thou help thyself? by what means dost thou think thou canst be delivered? it suggests that her ruin was inevitable; that she could not be recovered from it by herself, or any other:…

For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail So the distress of the Jews, at the time of their destruction, is compared to the sorrows of a woman in travail; and a word, that signifies that is used to express it, : and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child; whose time is…