Jeremiah 17
DOYLYJeremiah 17:10
- I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins.] Signifying the most secret thoughts and motions of the soul: these God is said to “search” and “try,” not as if it were a work of labour and difficulty to the Divine knowledge to penetrate the hearts of men, and to dive into their thoughts, but to signify to us the perfection and exactness of the Divine knowledge: as, when men would know a thing exactly, they search into every part of it, and examine every thing narrowly. On the same account, He is elsewhere said “to weigh the spirits” of men, Prov. xvi. 2; intimating that He has that perfect knowledge of the secrets of men’s hearts, which men have of those things that they weigh in a balance with the greatest exactness. Abp. Tillotson.
Jeremiah 17:11
- As the partridge sitteth on eggs, &c.] It is here said of the partridge, rather than of any other bird, that it “sitteth and hatcheth not,” because the partridge’s nest being made on the ground, the eggs are frequently broken by men or other animals, and the bird is often obliged to quit them for fear of cattle, dogs, or sportsmen, which chills the eggs, and makes them unfruitful. Rain and moisture also may spoil them. Calmet, Parkhurst. — and at his end shall be a fool.] In the end shall find that he hath been a fool. Bp. Hall. So God calls the rich man, Luke xii. 20; who was cut off in the midst of his life, when he promised himself the enjoyment of many years. W. Lowth.
Jeremiah 17:12
- A glorious high throne from the beginning &c.] As in the preceding verses was set forth the vain dependence of him who seeks to advance himself by indirect methods; so here we are taught the solid foundation, which he builds upon, who has recourse to the Divine blessing, and seeks to recommend himself to the favour of that Being, to whom Israel was taught to look up for support, and whose kingdom from all eternity ruleth over all. Dr. Blayney. 13. — they that depart from me shall be written in the earth.] They that forsake my laws, saith God, and their reliance upon me, shall not be registered among my people, nor shall their names be written in heaven, or in the book of life: compare Ezek. xiii. 9; Ps. lxix. 28; Luke x. 20; Phil. iv. 3; Ezra ii. 59. W. Lowth.
Jeremiah 17:14
- Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; &c.] It is from Thee only that I expect comfort and relief in all my troubles and afflictions: see ver. 15-17. And as I acknowledge that all the blessings I enjoy come from Thee, so it is to Thee that I return all thanks and praise: compare Ps. cix. 1; cxlviii. 14; Deut. x. 21. The expression, “Save me, and I shall be saved,” is much the same with that in chap. xxxi. 18, “Turn thou me, and I shall be turned;” and both of them import, that it is the Divine assistance and blessing alone which can crown human endeavours with success. See the note there. W. Lowth. 15. Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the Lord? This is an objection common in the mouths of infidels and libertines, that God doth not speedily fulfil his promises and threatenings, so as to give them ocular demonstration of their certainty: see Isa. v. 19; Amos v. 18; 2 Pet. iii. 4. This was objected against the truth of Jeremiah’s prophecy by the unprincipled persons of the age. W. Lowth. 16. As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor &c.] It is Thou, O Lord, that hast called me; and I have not dared to be averse from following Thee in that charge which Thou hast laid upon me; neither have I been ambitious and desirous of this sad and busy task, as Thou well knowest, and that which I have spoken is thy true message, and no other. Bp. Hall.
Jeremiah 17:19
- — the gate of the children of the people.] This probably means the gate most frequented by the people, being that nearest the palace, where the kings of Judah held their most solemn courts of judicature. Dr. Blayney.
Jeremiah 17:20
- — Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah.] Compare chap. xix. 3. The words are directed both to the king himself, and likewise to the princes, or those of the blood royal: see ver. 25. The word “king,” in
Jeremiah 17:25
- Then shall there enter into the gates of this city &c.] Compare chap. xxii. 4. Hence it appears, that the judgments denounced against Jerusalem, at least as far as they threatened the city with utter destruction, were not irreversible. And from the Prophet’s advice to Zedekiah, chap. xxxviii. 17, it may be concluded, that if the king had listened to that counsel, the city would not have been destroyed, and he himself might have continued a tributary king under Nebuchadnezzar. It is true, that in several other chapters of this prophecy, God, upon foresight of the Jews’ impenitence, pronounces a peremptory sentence upon them: see the note on chap. iv. 28. B. Lowth.
— riding in chariots, and on horses.] This is plainly a description of a state of peace and security; compare ver. 27: taken in any other sense, it must stand in contradiction to the law in Deut. xvii. 16, and to many other texts in Scripture. Bp. Sherlock.
Jeremiah 17:26
- — from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south.] These divisions of the country, belonging to the tribe of Judah, may be found Josh. xv. 21. 33. 48; and these, together with the tribe of Benjamin, make up the whole kingdom of Judah, when taken separate from the kingdom of Israel, or of the ten tribes. See the same enumeration, chap. xxxii. 44. Dr. Blayney.
Chap. XVIII. The prophecies and transactions, contained in this and the two following chapters successively, hang together, and must be referred to some part of the three first years of the reign of Jehoakim. The Prophet is shewn, first, under the type of the potter, God’s absolute authority over nations and kingdoms to regulate and alter their condition at his own discretion, ver. 1—10. He is then directed to exhort the people to avert the evil designed them by repentance and amendment; and upon their refusal to charge them with the guilt of unprecedented revolt, and to foretell their destruction, ver. 11—17. They conspire against him: he protesteth against their unmerited and ungrateful persecution of him, and calleth for justice against them. Dr. Blayney.
Ver. 6. — cannot I do with you as this potter? The comparison of a potter, here proposed, does not signify that God hath created men to destroy them, or render them unhappy, by the mere effect of his will; but the design of it was, to teach the Jews that they were in the hands of God, and that He was able to punish them, and afterwards to restore them: in the same manner as a potter, who, thinking to make a good vessel and not succeeding, might break it, and make another with the same clay. Thus God Himself explains it when He says, that if a nation, which He had purposed to destroy, turned from its iniquity, He would not destroy it; and on the contrary, if a nation, which He had