Jer. 11. God’s covenant, Jer. 11:1–7. Their disobedience, Jer. 11:8–10. Evils to come on them, Jer. 11:11–17, and on the men of Anathoth, for conspiring to kill Jeremiah, Jer. 11:18–23.

What time and in what manner this revelation came from God to the prophet is not expressed, whether it were in the days of Josiah or Jehoiakim.

Hear ye the words of this covenant: God speaking in the plural number, not hear thou, but hear ye, makes some conjecture that this was a charge given to some other prophets, either, Zephaniah (if it were in Josiah’s time, Zeph. 1:1) or Uriah (if it were in the time of Jehoiakim).

In Deut. 27:26, it is, Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen. The people’s saying Amen testified their assent, and made the law a covenant; but they had besides formally and explicitly covenanted with God, Ex. 24:3, Ex.

Which I commanded your fathers, which law (that you by your restipulation made a formal covenant) I that am the Lord, and so had a sovereign power to lay laws upon my creatures, commanded your fathers, in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace; and obliged…

I required their obedience for their own good; I had sworn to their fathers that I would give their posterity a land abounding with plenty of all good things, the best and choicest things, upon supposition of their obedience.

Let it be thy work to call upon this people, not only to hear, but to do, the words which I have commanded them, and they have engaged to do.

In protesting I protested, a usual way in the Hebrew, by which they express the seriousness and vehemency of an action. By protesting he meaneth the same with charging and commanding, with promises annexed to obedience, and threatenings denounced in case of disobedience.

But had not hearkened unto his counsels, but every one had walked after the imaginations of his own heart. A phrase by which sin is often expressed in holy writ, Deut. 29:19, Jer. 3:17, Jer. 7:24, Jer. 9:14, Jer. 13:10, Jer. 16:12, Jer. 18:12, Jer. 23:17.

All sorts of people, whether of the city or country, have done alike, as if they had conspired together to break my law, and to provoke me to wrath, they are all alike and act alike.

They are turned back from me, or they are turned back from their own better courses in the time of David, to the sins of their forefathers that worshipped the golden calf, or the many idols which they worshipped in the time of the judges.

Evil upon them which they shall not be able to escape; a judgment from which they shall by no means be delivered, by any counsels of their own, or assistance of their friends and allies.

Shall here signifieth will, and might as well have been so translated, denoting the hardness of the hearts of this people, whom affliction would not reduce to God; or rather the indicative mood is here put for the imperative, and the sense, Let the cities of Judah, & c., and the phrase taken…

Not that they had just so many idols as were cities in Judah, or altars as were streets in Jerusalem; the meaning is, they had very many, and that the people who lived in every city and street were guilty.

Once before, and we shall find once after this, Jer. 14:11, God forbiddeth the prophet to pray for this people; hence ariseth a question how the prophet is excused from sin, in praying for them after this prohibition, especially when God had assured him that he would not hear. Solut. 1.

Some make these words the words of the prophet, declaring that God (whom they suppose here called the beloved) was about to forsake the temple. Others make them the words of God, speaking of his prophet, whom he calleth his beloved; or rather, speaking of his people, whom he calleth his beloved,…

That is, the Lord fixed thee when he brought thee first into Canaan, in a beautiful flourishing state and condition, so as thou wert in a capacity both to have done thyself much good, and to have brought him much glory, like a beautiful fair olive tree, fit to bear fair and goodly fruit.

This verse expounds what was metaphorically expressed in the former verse, viz. that God had declared his will to his prophet; that he would destroy his people, the blame of which must lie upon themselves, for they had by idolatry most highly provoked him, and had therein done against themselves,…

This may be understood either more generally, as relating to all the wicked actions of his countrymen, to obviate their saying, How comest thou to know our doings? or else (which seemeth most probable) more specially, with relation to that conspiracy against him which is mentioned in the following…

We have no other mention of this conspiracy in holy writ, but it is plain, both from this verse and what followeth to the end of this chapter, that the men of Anathoth (which was Jeremiah’s own town) were offended at his prophesying so sharp things against the land of Judah, and had threatened to…

The prophet appealeth to God, and appealeth to him as one that knew both the innocency of his heart toward them, and the malice of their hearts toward him, and used to deal out justice impartially, and committeth his cause unto God, (as we are commanded, 1 Pet.

The prayers of God’s prophets, though they may sometimes have too much passion and human infirmity mixed with them, yet are heard of God, and many times answered in righteousness by terrible things, as to those against whom they are directed.