Jeremiah 9
DOYLYChap. IX. ver. 2. O that I had &c.] The corrupt and profligate manners of the people are here set forth at large, and the denunciation of Divine vengeance are renewed against them, ver. 2—17. God summons the mourning women to bewail the calamities of the nation, ver. 17—22; forbids setting any value on personal endowments, except the knowledge of God and his attributes only, ver. 23, 24; and shews the punishment of the surrounding nations, circumcised and uncircumcised, to be near at hand. Dr. Blayney.
— a lodging place of wayfaring men;] Travellers in the East are not, nor ever were, accommodated at inns on the road, after the manner of the European nations. In some towns indeed, but not in all, there are large public buildings provided for their reception, which they call caravanseras: but these afford merely a covering, being absolutely without furniture, Judges xix. 15. And, in passing through the desert, it is well if they can light upon a cave, or a hut, which some one before them may have erected for a temporary shelter. This is what appears to be here meant by “a lodging place;” a solitary, and not very comfortable, situation; but yet preferable to the chagrin of living continually in the society of men of profligate manners. Dr. Blayney.
— the signs of heaven;] The Chaldeans, among whom the Jews were destined to live in captivity, were particularly addicted to astrology, and attributed to the heavenly bodies a considerable influence over human affairs. This naturally tended to beget a religious dread and awe of those objects, from whence so much good or evil was supposed to be derived. Dr. Blayney.
Jeremiah 9:6
- Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit;] These are the words of God to the Prophet. W. Lowth.
— through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the Lord.] The knowledge of God, which is true religion, is incompatible with the habitual practice of any wicked-Vol. II.
tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.
Jeremiah 9:7
- — Behold, I will melt them, and try them; &c.] In the fire of affliction. Bp. Hall.
Jeremiah 9:10
- — the habitations of the wilderness] This is more properly rendered in the margin, “The pastures of the wilderness.” Compare Joel i. 19; ii. 22. “The wilderness” sometimes signifies the plain or champaign country, and is opposed to the mountains; see Isa. (xiii. 13; Lam. iv. 19; Joel i. 19. W. Lowth. It properly signifies a thinly-inhabited country, used chiefly for sheepwalks. Dr. Blayney.
— neither can men hear the voice of the cattle;] There shall be heard no more, in the plains or on the mountains, either the bleating of sheep, or the lowing of oxen: there shall no animal, wild or tame, be seen any more. Calmet.
Jeremiah 9:11
- — a den of dragons;] A place of horrour and desolation. Bp. Hall. The word, translated “dragons,” among several other significations, is taken for a serpent, such as are usually found in ruins and desolate places. Compare chap. li. 37; Isa. xiii. 22; xxxiv. 13; Ps. xliv. 19. W. Lowth.
Jeremiah 9:12
- Who is the wise man, &c.] In this style of interrogation the Prophet indirectly declares himself to be the person qualified by Divine inspiration to answer the
Jeremiah 9:15
- — I will feed them,—with wormwood, &c.] Compare this expression with Ps. lxxx. 5; 1 Kings xxii. 27. W. Lowth. See the note on Deut. xxix. 18.
Jeremiah 9:17
- — the mourning women,—cunning women.] It was an ancient custom of the Hebrews, at funerals, and on other like occasions, to make use of hired mourners, whose profession it was to exhibit in publick all the signs and gestures of immoderate and frantic grief, and by their loud outcries and doleful songs to excite and stir up a real passion of sorrow in others. Women were chiefly employed in this office; and St. Jerome, in his comment upon this verse, says, that the practice was continued in Judea down to his days. As it required a degree of skill to discharge this office, for that reason these “mourning women” are likewise called “cunning;” that is, skilful women. Frequent allusions to this custom are to be met with in Scripture, particularly 2 Chron. xxxv. 25; Eccles. xii. 5; Amos v. 16; Matt. ix. 23; Mark v. 38. Nor was this practice peculiar to the Jews, as many instances of it occur in heathen writers. Dr. Blayney.
It is usual at funerals in Barbary to hire women, who, like “the mourning women” of old, are mistresses of the art, and indeed perform their parts with such proper gestures and commotions, that they rarely fail to work up the assembly into some extraordinary pitch of thoughtfulness and sorrow. Dr. Shaw.
Travellers inform us, that the same practice prevails in most of the provinces of the Levant. Calmet.
Jeremiah 9:21
- For death is come up into our windows, &c.] For the Chaldeans have scaled our walls, and entered into
our cities; and are now breaking upon us in our houses, to inflict a sudden and cruel death upon us, wherein they will spare no age or sex, but put all without mercy to the sword. Bp. Hall.
- — as the handful after the harvestman, &c. This alludes to the manner of reaping corn in a field, where the reaper, as soon as he has cut what he can hold in his hand, lets it fall, and passes on; but is usually followed by another, who gathers what is cut, and binds it into sheaves. But here it is said, that there would be none to gather; and consequently the corn, after being cut, would lie neglected and rot on the ground; which renders the simile a very apt one. Dr. Blayney.
Jeremiah 9:23
- — Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, &c.] Let not men value themselves for their wisdom, strength, or riches, which are things of themselves of a very uncertain continuance, and such calamities are coming, (see ver. 25, 26, in which they will stand the owners of them in very little stead. The only true valuable endowment is the knowledge of God, not as He is in Himself, which is too high an attainment for poor mortals to pretend to, but with respect to his dealings with man; to have a serious sense of his mercies to the penitent, of his judgments to the obstinate, and of his truth and integrity, in making good his promises and threatenings to both. “Tis in the exercise of these attributes God chiefly delights; and ‘tis by these He desires to make Himself known to the world; and he, that forms an apprehension of God chiefly with regard to these perfections, will always demean himself suitably towards Him. “Judgment” and “righteousness” are often equivalent terms; but if we distinguish them here, “judgment” denotes God’s severity against the
The great disparity between God and idols. Before CHRIST about 600. knoweth me, that I am the LORD
which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth:
for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. upon.
Jeremiah 9:26
- Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, &c.] See these judgments denounced more at large, chap. xxv. 1b, &c. The Prophet places Judah among the heathen nations, because the Jews were, in effect, that is, in a spiritual
sense, uncircumcised as well as they: contenting themselves with the outward sign of circumcision, without
endeavouring to procure the inward purity signified by it. W. Louth. — all that are in the utmost corners.] If we prefer the marginal reading, “they that have the corners of
their hair polled,” the expression denotes those Arabians who cut their hair upon the fore part of the head
round, and let the hair behind grow long; which custom of theirs, Herodotus mentions, and tells us, that
they did it in imitation of Bacchus. It is probable, that the precept in Lev. xix. 27, “Ye shall not round
the corners of your heads,” hath reference to this custom, which was a rite in several countries near Judea,
whereby they devoted themselves to the worship of some false god. W. Louth. Chap. X. The beginning of this chapter to the end of ver. 16, contains an earnest dissuasive against the practice of heathen idolatry, setting forth the vanity of idols in comparison with the true God. And this, no doubt, was designed by way of precaution to the Jews against the time of their removal out of their own land, to dwell amongst idolaters, as is predicted, ver. 17, 18. Jerusalem lamenteth the completion of her ruin, ver. 19; and humbly supplicateth the intervention of God’s mercy, ver. 23, to the end. Dr. Blayney. Ver. 2. — be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; &c.] The word of God, far from encouraging groundless and superstitious horrors, cautions against them strongly. In all ages and nations, men have been terrified with
eclipses of the sun and moon; in many, with conjunctions, oppositions, and aspects of the stars, and