Chap. XXIII. ver. 2. — the pastors that feed my people.] That undertake the care of my people, though they do not faithfully execute their trust. W. Lowth.

— have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you &c.] In Scripture language, to “visit” any one is to take such notice of him, and treat him in such a manner, as his condition requires. “The day of God’s visitation,” therefore, when wicked persons or nations are the subject, is the day of his vengeance, Isa. x. 3; but that “the Lord hath visited and redeemed his people,” is the highest expression of his love, Luke i. 68. In this passage of Jeremiah these different senses of the word are found together in a beautiful opposition. Abp. Secker. “To visit,” in scriptural language, signifies to send good or evil judicially. Dr. Johnson.

— I will raise unto David a righteous Branch.] It is an usual figure, for the head of a family, and the descendants from him, to be represented by the root or body of a tree, and the branches growing out of that tree. God therefore having frequently declared, that the Messiah should be born of the house and lineage of David, the Prophet, here and in chap. xxxiii. 15, with allusion to this figure, mentions it as an act of Divine power and mercy, that “God would raise unto David a righteous Branch.” Dean Stanhope. The Messiah is often called “the Branch,” to denote his descent from the stock of David: see Isa. iv. 2; Zech. iii. 8; vi. 12; and compare Isa. xi. 1. W. Lowth.

— and a King shall reign and prosper.] The Messiah was, continually from the time of David, foretold under this character; and, as such, He was expected by the Jews. Accordingly the New Testament abounds in affirmations concerning the regal character of Jesus; in conformity with which, though his kingly authority be not so visibly and powerfully exerted, as it shall one day be, yet we are not left under any reasonable doubt, whether our blessed Lord be the promised Messiah. The amazing vengeance taken on his murderers, in destroying their city and their constitution; and the no less wonderful success of his Gospel, propagated and preserved in opposition to all its enemies, are instances of his unlimited “power in heaven and in earth,” Matt. xxviii. 18. The enlightening of Jews and Gentiles, by bringing such multitudes of the one, and so many nations of the other, to the acknowledgment of the truth, are a partial completion of the prophecies, though there be still a nobler in reserve, when the fulness of both shall come in. He reigns now actually in the hearts of men, and subdues the most formidable of our enemies by the holiness of his law, and the mighty operations of his grace. His dominion and conquest indeed will be much more absolute, when the time shall come for every enemy to be utterly destroyed. In the mean time we may be well assured, that what remains shall certainly come to pass, because nothing has hitherto failed of what was reasonable and expedient to be done, as an evidence of Christ’s regal authority. Dean Stanhope.

— and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.] This character is elsewhere given of the kingdom of Christ; see Ps. lxxii. 2; Isa. xi. 5; xxxii. 1; his laws being the most perfect rule of righteousness, and He Himself the most impartial Rewarder of every man according to his works, Rev. xxii. 12. W. Lowth.

b Chap. 3. 15. Ezek. 34. 11, 12. c Chap. 33. 14, 15. Isa. 4. 2. & 40. 11. Dan. 9. 24. John 1. 45.

Jeremiah 22:3

3. And I will gather the remnant &c.] In that happy time of restoration, I will gather the remnant of mine elect people out of all countries, both them of Judah and of Israel, into the bosom of my Church; where they shall be fruitful of all good works. Bp. Hall.

Jeremiah 22:4

4. — then shall there enter in by the gates of this house] See the note on chap. xvii. 25. Instead of “the gates of this house,” the text there reads, “the gates of this city:” and the context here shews, that the prophecy is directed not only to the king’s court in particular, but likewise to the whole city of Jerusalem, one part of which was called the city of David; and the whole looked upon as a royal city, and the place of their king’s residence. Compare ver. 2 and 8. W. Lowth.

5. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them.] I will set over them holy, conscientious, able pastors, which shall feed them with the bread of life. Bp. Hall.

Jeremiah 22:5

5. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, &c.] It hath been universally agreed by Christian, and allowed by several of the most eminent Jewish interpreters, that this is a prophecy of the coming of Christ, and the glorious state of God’s Church consequent thereupon. Nor is it possible to think of any other person or event, to which the characters here mentioned agree; whilst they all evidently conspire to point out the Messiah and his kingdom. Dean Stanhope.

visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 22:6

6. — Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon.] Lebanon was the highest mountain in Israel; and was therefore an apt emblem of the reigning family, advanced to the highest rank and dignity in the state. Gilead was the richest and most fertile part of the country. The meaning then is plainly this, By my providence thou art not only supreme in rank, but hast been rendered exceedingly wealthy and flourishing: but the same power that raised thee, will likewise be exerted in reducing thee to the lowest state of indigence and distress. Dr. Blayney.

Hence we are taught, that the greater privileges any church or nation enjoys, the sorer will prove its punishment, if it abuses the favour and goodness of God. Wogan.

The judgment of Shallum and of Jehoiakim. Before CHRIST about 609.

against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.

Jeremiah 22:7

7. — they shall cut down thy choice cedars.] The Prophet, having compared the king’s palace or the city of Jerusalem to Lebanon, (ver. 6.) here pursues the metaphor, and threatens to destroy both houses and inhabitants by the Chaldean army: see the note on chap. xxi. 14. W. Lowth.

Jeremiah 22:8

8. And many nations shall pass by this city, &c.] They who had heard that this city had been called the city of God, and the place of his especial residence, would be astonished to find it the scene of his judgments and vengeance. Thus was fulfilled that threatening of Moses, that God would make the Jews “an astonishment” to other nations, Deut. xxviii. 37. See likewise 1 Kings ix. 8. W. Lowth.

Jeremiah 22:10

10. Weep ye not for the dead, &c.] “Weep not for the dead;” that is, for the good Josiah, who, though dead, was happy, and in peace; but weep rather for his wicked son Shallum, or Jehoahaz; who, after a very short and impious reign, was carried captive into Egypt, and was never to return or see his native country any more. Wogan.

11. — Shallum the son of Josiah? The son of Josiah, who immediately succeeded his father on the throne, was Jehoahaz, whom Pharaoh-necho deposed after a reign of three months, and carried captive to Egypt, where he died, 2 Kings xxiii. 30—34. It is therefore probable, that, before he ascended the throne, his name was Shallum, which he changed for Jehoahaz, as his brothers Eliakim and Mattaniah also assumed the names of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah on the like occasion, 2 Kings xxiii. 34; xxiv. 17. Dr. Blayney.

Jeremiah 22:13

13. Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, &c.] The Prophet proceeds to denounce God’s judgments against Jehoiakim, who succeeded Shallum; but taking no warning by his brother’s fall, nor forsaking the sins that had caused it, becomes also a mo-

chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;

Jeremiah 22:14

14. — large chambers.] Several modern travellers give accounts of the large and lofty halls, and of different contrivances for letting in fresh air into the Eastern houses; and Sir J. Chardin speaks of the great size of the Eastern windows. Harmer.

— it is cielded with cedar, &c.] In houses of better fashion in Barbary, the chambers are hung with velvet or damask from the middle of the wall downwards; the rest is adorned with the most ingenious wreathings and devices in stucco and fret-work. The cielding is generally of wainscot, either very artfully painted, or else thrown into a variety of panels, with gilded mouldings, and scrolls of the Koran intermixed. The Prophet Jeremiah exclaims against some of the Eastern houses, that were “cielled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.” Dr. Shaw. At Aleppo, the walls and cieldings of the state apartments are adorned with flowers, fruits, or other fancy ornaments, painted in lively colours, intermixed with gilding, and richly varnished. Dr. Russell.

Jeremiah 22:15

15. Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? &c.] Dost thou think to reign ever the more happily and securely, because thou hast closed up thyself in cedar? Thy father, good king Josiah, lived in much content and happiness, by doing justice and right unto his subjects, and prospered in so doing. Bp. Hall.

— did not thy father eat and drink? That is, did not he live in a state suitable to his character? But at the same time governing with impartial justice and equity, he enjoyed in consequence thereof that solid and true felicity, which nothing but the practice of virtue and religion, emphatically called “the knowledge of God,” can bestow. W. Lowth, Dr. Blayney.

Jeremiah 22:18

18. — They shall not lament for him, &c.] The Prophet repeats part of the funeral dirge, which the pub-

Before CHRIST about 609. throughaired. windows. incursion. The judgment of Coniah. Before CHRIST about 509. Fulfilled 509. 509. prosperities. inhabitress.

lick mourners used at such solemnities; see the note on chap. ix. 17; xx. 14; and compare 1 Kings xiii. 30; signifying that Jehoiakim should not be buried with those solemn lamentations, with which the memory of his predecessors, particularly that of his father, had been honoured: see 2 Chron. xxxv. 25. W. Lowth.

Jeremiah 22:19

19. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, &c.] His carcase shall be shamefully left unburied; exposed to the fowls of the air, or to ravenous beasts; even as the carcase of an ass, which is left to rot in a ditch. Bp. Hall.

And so it came to pass. For being taken by the Chaldeans, as they were carrying him captive to Babylon, he died by the way, and they would not stay to bury him, but threw his body into a ditch, where it lay exposed “in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost,” as the Prophet had foreseen in his Divine vision. See chap. xxxvi. 30. Reading.

Jeremiah 22:20

20. Go up to Lebanon, and cry; &c.] This is an ironical expression, addressed to Jerusalem, or more probably to the royal house or family of Judah; the whole chapter being a prophecy concerning it and its several branches. She is styled “inhabitant of Lebanon,” (ver. 23,) for the same reason as her state and dignity is denoted by “the head (or summit) of Lebanon,” (ver. 6,) as being highest of all. See the note there. Here she is called upon ironically to go to the tops of the highest mountains, and to the frontiers of the country, and cry aloud for help to the neighbouring powers, but in vain; since all those who had any inclination to favour her, the Egyptians in particular, were themselves crushed and disabled by the arms of the king of Babylon. Dr. Blayney.

— cry from the passages.] From the borders or rivers, which are the bounds of your country. W. Lowth.

Jeremiah 22:21

21. I spoke unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear.] The common infirmity of mankind, who, being elated with prosperity, think themselves too wise to need good advice, and therefore put off all attention to it till they are in extremities, when it will do them little or no benefit. W. Lowth.

Jeremiah 22:22

22. The wind shall eat up all thy pastors.] God’s judgments are compared to a scorching and blasting wind. See chap. iv. 12; Isa. xli. 16; lvii. 13. This, it is here said, should consume all the heads and governours of the family; as it happened to the four last kings of it in succession. Dr. Blayney.

Jeremiah 22:23

23. O inhabitant of Lebanon, &c.] See the notes on chap. xxi. 14, and ver. 20 of this chapter.

— how gracious shalt thou be] That is, from having been obstinate and inflexible in prosperity, thou wilt be changed by adversity, and be made courteous and condescending, ready to comply with and follow admonition and good advice. Dr. Blayney.

Jeremiah 22:24

24. — though Coniah—were the signet upon my right hand, &c.] Though he were never so near and dear to me, continuing always under my eye and superintendence; (compare Cant. viii. 6; Hsg. ii. 23;) yet his wickedness would make him forfeit all my favour towards him: see 2 Kings xxiv. 9. W. Lowth. Coniah appears to have been another name for Jeconiah.

Jeremiah 22:26

26. And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee.] See this fulfilled in 2 Kings xxiv. 15.

Jeremiah 22:28

28. Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol?] An interrogation by way of admiration. The meaning is, Would any have thought that this man, who was invested with royal dignity, should come to be no better than a broken image of royalty, divested of all power and authority, and an object of sworn and reproach? Nothing can be more contemptible than a broken idol, which can be put to no further use, and is no longer an object of worship, but of derision. W. Lowth.

— wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed.] The children, which he probably had after he was carried to Babylon, where he lived many years a captive; see 2 Kings xxv. 27; though none of them lived to succeed to the royal authority. W. Lowth. See below, note on ver. 30.

Jeremiah 22:30

30. — Write ye this man childless.] Not that Jeconiah died absolutely childless. Other parts of Scripture positively assert him to have had children, 1 Chron. iii. 17, 18; Matt. i. 12. And both ver. 28, and the subse-

The prophet foretelleth a restoration of the scattered flock.

his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

CHAP. XXIII.