Jeremiah · Chapter 20

V. 1. Immer-The course of Immer was the sixteenth course of the priests, 1 Chronicles 24:14. Pashur was his son, that is descended from him.

Verse 1. Pashur—chief governor] Pashur was probably one of the chief priests of the twenty-four classes.

Verse 1. Pashur the son of Immer — Pashur was not the immediate son of Immer, but of Melchiah, as is expressly mentioned 1 Chronicles 9:12, and hereafter, Jeremiah 21:1. Immer was one of his predecessors, and head of the sixteenth sacerdotal class, 1 Chronicles 24:14. Pashur was not high-priest, as some of the ancients have thought, but only captain, or overseer of the temple. In this capacity he had power to arrest and put in prison the false prophets, and those who caused any disturbance in the temple. This matter is further explained, by Blaney, thus: “The priests being distributed, by David, into twenty-four courses, under as many heads of families, and each of these courses officiating by turns in the temple service; the heads of each course were governors of the sanctuary; or, according to our translation, of the house of God. The meaning then will be, that these heads of the courses had not only the chief ordering of the service of the sanctuary, but were invested also with authority, at least within the precincts of the temple, to maintain peace and good order there. These persons I consider as being the same with those who in the New Testament are styled arciereiv, chief priests, being next in dignity and power to the high-priest. Pashur, it seems, was the head of the course of Immer. So that, if the course of Immer was at that time upon duty, Pashur was at the same time the acting ruler or commander in the temple. And this I conceive to be implied in the words here used, dygn, implying his authority to command, and dyqp, that he was then in the exercise of it; and by virtue of that authority he took upon him to punish Jeremiah as a disturber of the peace. I have given this officer, or magistrate,” (namely, in his translation,) “the military title of commanding officer, because it was usual to consider the temple as a kind of garrison, held by high-priests under military subordination. And for this reason, no doubt, we find him called by the name of strathgov tou ierou, captain of the temple, Acts 4:1, and 5:24, 26. In Luke 22:52, captains, strathgoi, are spoken of, in the plural number; which may perhaps be thus accounted for. As on the great festivals, not only the priests of the ordinary course, but the whole body of priests, were called upon to assist in the sacrifices; so on account of the multitudes that flocked to the temple at these times, the guards were also necessarily doubled, and, of course, a greater number of captains were on constant duty; and many, if not all these, came to assist in apprehending Jesus, as on a service which might be esteemed hazardous, on account of the number of his disciples.”

THE OPPOSITION AND THE PUNISHMENT OF PASHUR, 1-6.

1. Pashur — Many individuals of this name are mentioned, but none can be certainly identified with this one. It is possible, and indeed probable, but by no means certain, that he is the one mentioned in Jeremiah 38:1, as the father of Gedaliah. The Pashur of the following chapter is another person. This one seems to have stood at the head of the sixteenth course of priests, (1 Chronicles 24:14,) called sons of Immer, who was their ancestor in David’s time. Of this house ten hundred and fifty-two men returned from the exile. Chief governor — The epithet “chief” implies that there were many. He was the temple governor, and in dignity ranked next to the high priest. See Jeremiah 29:25, 26; 52:24.

Verse 2. Put him in the stocks] Probably such a place near the gate as we term the lock-up, the coal-hole; or it may mean a sort of dungeon.

Verse 2. Then Pashur smote Jeremiah, &c. — He thought, no doubt, that Jeremiah’s speaking so plainly of the overthrow of Jerusalem, and of the miseries which should befall it, deserved that he should be arrested and put in confinement, to prevent his speaking thus freely: and accordingly he treats him as they treated, or rather, ought to have treated, the false prophets. And put him in the stocks — The word tkphmh, here translated the stocks, is rendered the prison by Houbigant, and the house of correction by Blaney. It occurs twice besides, namely, Jeremiah 29:26, and 2 Chronicles 16:10, in both which places it is rendered simply a prison, and is mentioned as a punishment due to, or inflicted on, one who assumed the character of a prophet, without a proper call, or was presumed to have behaved unbecomingly as such. The word which properly signifies the stocks, is ds: see Job 13:27, and 33:11. It is very natural to understand here that Pashur, having caused Jeremiah to be beaten, or scourged, ordered him into confinement afterward; from whence he released him the next day.

2. Jeremiah the prophet — This designation indicates that he had come to have a public recognition in his prophetical character. It occurs here for the first time. Stocks — This word occurs besides only in Jeremiah 29:26, and 2 Chronicles 16:10. In this last passage it is translated “prison-house.” It comes from a root which means to twist, and was a contrivance for confining the body in a crooked and painful position. Paul and Silas were subjected to this mode of punishment. Acts 16:24. High gate of Benjamin — Further designated as a temple gate. By the house of the Lord — The epithet “high,” or upper, implies that it was a gate to the inner court of the temple, which was raised above the outer court.

V. 3. Not called-God’s meaning was, not that he should by men be no longer called Pashur, but that his condition should not answer that name Pashur, which signifies, a flourishing priest; but Magor-missabib, that is, fear and terror on all sides.

Verse 3. The Lord hath not called thy name Pashur]—Security on all sides. This name thou hast had, but not by Divine appointment. But Magor-missabib—Fear on every side. This name hath God given thee; because, in the course of his providence, thou shalt be placed in the circumstances signified by it: thou shalt be a terror to thyself.

Verses 3-5. Jeremiah said, The Lord hath not called — Rather, doth not call thy name Pashur; but Magor-missabib — That is, Terror on every side, or, Terror to all around, as the name is explained in the next verse. God’s giving him this name: signifies his changing the circumstances or condition of the person so named, agreeably to the meaning of the name given him, or that he would render him such as he called him. So when God called Abram by the new name of Abraham, he assigns the reason, “For a father of many nations have I made thee,” Genesis 17:5. I will deliver all the strength of this city — All its wealth, the word ˆsj, here used, being frequently translated treasures: see Proverbs 15:6; Ezekiel 22:25. It may also include whatever strengthened and defended it, especially the men of war; and all the labours thereof — Or, all the workmanship thereof; that is, all the fruit of the people’s labours; all their fine buildings, or whatever its artificers had erected with labour and cost; and all the precious things thereof — Whatever was valuable in the eyes of the greatest persons among them; will I give into the hands of their enemies — The Babylonians shall spoil and make a prey of them all.

Verse 3. The Lord hath not called thy name Pashur, which signifies security or increase; but Magormissabib, a terror on every side, or terrors of a captivity. Pashur believed the prophet, yet put him in the stocks for preaching! His new name is compound, and very expressive. Gor in Hebrew designates migration to another country. Some men obtain new names for illustrious virtues, and some new names for deplorable crimes.

3. Pashur — All is uncertain as to the etymology, and so the meaning, of this name. As it is set over against the one which follows, it is probably opposite to it in sense, but just how we do not know. Magor-missabib — Fear round about, as the margin correctly translates. It seems to have originated from Psalm 31:13. It is a rather common phrase with Jeremiah, being used besides in Jeremiah 6:25; 20:10; 46:5; 49:29; and in Lamentations 2:22. The general significance of this phrase has been indicated, but its precise application is less evident. Probably it is used to intimate that the course adopted and carried out under his instigation would involve in calamity not only himself but all those about him.

Verses 3-5. Jeremiah said, The Lord hath not called — Rather, doth not call thy name Pashur; but Magor-missabib — That is, Terror on every side, or, Terror to all around, as the name is explained in the next verse. God’s giving him this name: signifies his changing the circumstances or condition of the person so named, agreeably to the meaning of the name given him, or that he would render him such as he called him. So when God called Abram by the new name of Abraham, he assigns the reason, “For a father of many nations have I made thee,” Genesis 17:5. I will deliver all the strength of this city — All its wealth, the word ˆsj, here used, being frequently translated treasures: see Proverbs 15:6; Ezekiel 22:25. It may also include whatever strengthened and defended it, especially the men of war; and all the labours thereof — Or, all the workmanship thereof; that is, all the fruit of the people’s labours; all their fine buildings, or whatever its artificers had erected with labour and cost; and all the precious things thereof — Whatever was valuable in the eyes of the greatest persons among them; will I give into the hands of their enemies — The Babylonians shall spoil and make a prey of them all.

THE OPPOSITION AND THE PUNISHMENT OF PASHUR, 1-6.

1. Pashur — Many individuals of this name are mentioned, but none can be certainly identified with this one. It is possible, and indeed probable, but by no means certain, that he is the one mentioned in Jeremiah 38:1, as the father of Gedaliah. The Pashur of the following chapter is another person. This one seems to have stood at the head of the sixteenth course of priests, (1 Chronicles 24:14,) called sons of Immer, who was their ancestor in David’s time. Of this house ten hundred and fifty-two men returned from the exile. Chief governor — The epithet “chief” implies that there were many. He was the temple governor, and in dignity ranked next to the high priest. See Jeremiah 29:25, 26; 52:24.

Verses 3-5. Jeremiah said, The Lord hath not called — Rather, doth not call thy name Pashur; but Magor-missabib — That is, Terror on every side, or, Terror to all around, as the name is explained in the next verse. God’s giving him this name: signifies his changing the circumstances or condition of the person so named, agreeably to the meaning of the name given him, or that he would render him such as he called him. So when God called Abram by the new name of Abraham, he assigns the reason, “For a father of many nations have I made thee,” Genesis 17:5. I will deliver all the strength of this city — All its wealth, the word ˆsj, here used, being frequently translated treasures: see Proverbs 15:6; Ezekiel 22:25. It may also include whatever strengthened and defended it, especially the men of war; and all the labours thereof — Or, all the workmanship thereof; that is, all the fruit of the people’s labours; all their fine buildings, or whatever its artificers had erected with labour and cost; and all the precious things thereof — Whatever was valuable in the eyes of the greatest persons among them; will I give into the hands of their enemies — The Babylonians shall spoil and make a prey of them all.

5. Strength of this city — Its stores and resources. Labours thereof — The fruits of labour, the great works of the city.

Verse 6. And thou, Pashur—shall go into captivity] Thou shalt suffer for the false prophecies which thou hast delivered, and for thy insults to my prophet.

6. Shall go into captivity — Apparently a milder fate than that of multitudes who, as had been before predicted, should come to fearful deaths, and should lie unburied and be devoured by beasts and birds of prey; and yet, for this very reason, terrible. Pashur will see all this, even to the end; and to him, a leading instigator of the policy which will work out this fearful ruin, the very spectacle itself will be an awful punishment. Hast prophesied lies — Opposing his word of power to that of this obscure prophet of evil.

V. 7. Hast prevailed-Thou prevailedst against me. Jeremiah at first excused himself to God, Jeremiah 1:6, but the Lord prevailed against him replying, ver. 1:7, Say not, I am a child, for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak, ver. 1:9. This is all that is here meant, namely, God’s over-ruling him contrary to his own inclinations.

Verse 7. O Lord, thou hast deceived me] Thou hast promised me protection; and, lo! I am now delivered into the hands of my enemies. These words were probably spoken when Pashur smote him, and put him in prison.

I think our translation of this passage is very exceptionable. My old Bible reads, Thou laddist me aside Lord; and I was lad aside. The original word is yntytp pittithani, thou hast persuaded me, i.e., to go and prophesy to this people. I went, faithfully declared thy message, and now I am likely to perish by their cruelty. As the root htp pathah signifies to persuade and allure, as well as to deceive, the above must be its meaning in this place. Taken as in our Version it is highly irreverent. It is used in the same sense here as in Genesis 9:27: God shall enlarge (persuade, margin) Japheth; and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem.

Verse 7. O Lord, thou hast deceived me, &c. — This is a very harsh and improper translation of the prophet’s words, tpaw yntytp, which properly and literally signify, Thou hast persuaded me, and I was persuaded. Some, to make the sense more clear, supply a few words, and make the whole sentence stand thus; O Lord, thou hast persuaded me to carry thy commands to thy people, and I was persuaded: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed — That is, “It was sore against my will, that I undertook the prophetic office, which I would gladly have declined, chap. 1:6. But thy commands and inspiration did, in a manner, constrain me to it.” The occasion of the words was this: “The prophet had met with a large share of ill usage, from an ungrateful people, in return for the faithful discharge of his prophetic office. Under these his calamitous circumstances he looks up to God, and appeals to him, the searcher of hearts, as his witness, that it was not through any ambition of his own that he had entered upon that invidious office; nor had he taken upon him, of his own accord, to reprove his countrymen: but he had done all in pure obedience to the divine command. He would gladly have declined the office, but God would not suffer him: wherefore, hereupon he says, speaking to the Almighty, Thou hast persuaded me, &c. The passage carries in it a lively idea of the prophet’s great modesty, and profound humility, in not affecting high things or shining offices; but submitting, however, to the burden of them, in obedience to the will of God.” See Waterland’s Script. Vind., part

3. page 84.

JEREMIAH’S COMPLAINT, 7-18.

7. Deceived — Rather, persuaded: though the word often contains the sense of misleading. Here the meaning is: didst entice me into the prophetic office with vain hopes. Thou art stronger — Literally, hast taken hold of: placed me in this position of fruitless suffering and danger.

V. 8. Since-Since I first began to be a prophet, I have faithfully discharged my office, and that with warmth and zeal. Spoil-I have prophesied that violence and spoil was coming. Because-Because of that scorn and derision with which they treated him.

Verse 8. I cried violence and spoil] This was the burden of the message thou didst give me.

Verses 8, 9. For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil — Or, rather, as Houbigant renders it, For since I spake, and cried against iniquity, and denounced desolation, the word of the Lord, &c. — Blaney’s translation is nearly to the same sense: For as often as I speak, whether I cry out against injustice or proclaim devastation, the word of Jehovah is turned against me into matter of reproach and derision continually. The prophet means that, upon account of declaring what God had revealed to him, he was reckoned an enemy to his country, and a false prophet. Then I said — Namely, within myself, for he did not speak this to any one; I will not make mention of him — Or, of it, namely, the word of God, or the message God had appointed him to deliver; nor speak any more in his name — I resolved no more to declare what God had revealed to me concerning the calamities which he was about to bring on Judah and Jerusalem. But his word was in my heart as a burning fire — It glowed inwardly, and must have vent: I found myself so pressed in spirit, felt such a burning ardour within my breast, such an immediate and powerful impulse of the prophetic spirit constraining me to speak, that I could no more be easy without executing God’s commands, than if a burning fire had been shut up in my bones. The conviction of his own mind that he ought to speak, his zeal for the glory of God, his indignation at the sins of the people, and his compassion for their souls, would not suffer him to rest, or allow him to forbear declaring God’s message.

8. Since I spake, I cried out — Rather, when I speak, I cry out, as if in pain or protest. The first “cried out” means to make an outcry as in danger or pain; the second cried means to call out — proclaim. Such was the subversion of justice on every side — the violence and spoil — that he could not speak calmly, but only cry out.

V. 9. I said-He did not speak this openly, but in his heart. But-He found in his heart a constraint to go on.

Verse 9. I wilt not make mention of him] I will renounce the prophetic office, and return to my house.

As a burning fire shut up in my bones] He felt stings of conscience for the hasty and disobedient resolution he had formed; he felt ashamed of his own weakness, that did not confide in the promise and strength of God; and God’s word was in him as a strongly raging fire, and he was obliged to deliver it, in order to get rid of the tortures which he felt from suppressing the solemn message which God had given. It is as dangerous to refuse to go when called, as it is to run without a call. On this subject, see Clarke on “Jeremiah 1:6”.

Verses 8, 9. For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil — Or, rather, as Houbigant renders it, For since I spake, and cried against iniquity, and denounced desolation, the word of the Lord, &c. — Blaney’s translation is nearly to the same sense: For as often as I speak, whether I cry out against injustice or proclaim devastation, the word of Jehovah is turned against me into matter of reproach and derision continually. The prophet means that, upon account of declaring what God had revealed to him, he was reckoned an enemy to his country, and a false prophet. Then I said — Namely, within myself, for he did not speak this to any one; I will not make mention of him — Or, of it, namely, the word of God, or the message God had appointed him to deliver; nor speak any more in his name — I resolved no more to declare what God had revealed to me concerning the calamities which he was about to bring on Judah and Jerusalem. But his word was in my heart as a burning fire — It glowed inwardly, and must have vent: I found myself so pressed in spirit, felt such a burning ardour within my breast, such an immediate and powerful impulse of the prophetic spirit constraining me to speak, that I could no more be easy without executing God’s commands, than if a burning fire had been shut up in my bones. The conviction of his own mind that he ought to speak, his zeal for the glory of God, his indignation at the sins of the people, and his compassion for their souls, would not suffer him to rest, or allow him to forbear declaring God’s message.

Ver. 9. Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. He assigns reasons. I was daily in derision. I was exposed to a cloud of obloquy, and evil reports. Futile reasons! What, Jeremiah, wilt thou retire and leave the gods of Syria masters of the field. What, retire, and let the false prophets shout for joy. What, retire, and bring reproach on thy Lord, as if he had deceived thee by promising to make thee a pillar of iron and steel. What, retire, when the whole army of Assyria are coming up to thy support. What, retire like the old prophet of Bethel, whose lamp was gone out. What, retire, and leave the remnant in Jerusalem without a pastor. What, retire, when the Messiah’s voice is sounding in thine ears, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. Oh it is a sweet voice to disconsolate ministers, when the Redeemer shall say, Thou hast laboured, and hast not fainted.

9. I will not, etc. — Because his word had been apparently fruitless of good, and brought only sorrow to himself. Shut up in my bones — A vivid phrase for a restless and resistless inward moving.

V. 10. Prevail-Desiring nothing more than that I might be enticed to speak or do something which they might make matter of a colourable accusation.

Verse 10. Report—and we will report it.] Let us spread calumnies against him every where; or let us spread reports of dangers coming upon him, that we may intimidate him, and cause him to desist.

Verses 10, 11. For I heard the defaming of many — The slanderous, injurious reports that were raised concerning me; fear on every side — Hebrew, magor-missabib; as if he had said, The name given to Pashur would have suited me; fear, or cause for fear, was on every side of me. These words are found verbatim in the original, (Psalm 31:13,) where the sense of them seems to be exactly the same as here, namely, from the slanderous reports raised upon him, he had reason to apprehend some evil design against his life, as well from treacherous friends as from open enemies. Report, say they, &c. — This seems to be spoken of the enemies of the prophet, exciting one another to accuse him of being in the interest of the Babylonians against his country. Blaney joins this clause with the preceding, thus: Report ye terror all around, and we will report it: all my familiar friends watch for my halting; perhaps, say they, he may be drawn aside, so that we may prevail against him, and we may take our revenge of him. But, &c. — The prophet, having given vent to his painful apprehensions in the preceding gloomy reflections, begins here to rise above his fears, and to encourage himself in his God. The Lord is with me — Is on my side, to take my part against my enemies, and to defend me from their malicious designs upon me; as a mighty and terrible one — Mighty to defend, support, and save me, and terrible to confound and avenge me of them! The Lord had said to him, when he first undertook the prophetic office, (Jeremiah 1:8,) Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee. This promise he now recollects, and confiding in the power, love, and faithfulness of God to make it good, he concludes that though he had many enemies who pursued after his life, he should be protected, and they should fail of accomplishing their wicked purpose. Therefore my persecutors shall stumble — In their ways of violence, and not prevail against me. They shall be greatly ashamed — Of what they have done, or shall be brought to shame for it. Their everlasting confusion — That is, their ignominy and disgrace; shall never be forgotten — They shall not forget it themselves, but it shall be to them a constant and lasting vexation whenever they think of it; and others shall not forget it, but it shall leave upon them an indelible reproach.

10. Defaming — Literally, talking: but the word has in it a sinister and evil animus. It does not necessarily mean slandering, but talking fraught with mischief. Fear, etc. — What follows appear to be fragmentary quotations from his slanderers and opposers. Familiars — Literally, men of my peace, taken from Psalm 41:9. The allusion in the phrase may be to the usual mode of Eastern salutation — Peace be to thee! The “men of my peace,” are those who say when I meet them: Peace be to thee; but who do really watch for my halting.

V. 11. But-The prophet recovering himself out of his fit of passion, encourageth himself in his God, whom he calls the mighty and terrible one, so declaring his faith in the power of God, as one able to save him, and in the promise and good will of God toward him; therefore he saith, The Lord is with me; such was the promise of God to this prophet, when he first undertook the prophetical office, Jeremiah 1:8. Be not afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee saith the Lord: from hence be concludes, that though he had many that pursued after his life, yet they should stumble in their ways of violence, and should not prevail. Ashamed-That they should be ashamed of what they had done, or be brought to shame for what they had done; for prosper they should not: or they acted like fools, and did not deal prudently for themselves (so this word is translated, Isaiah 52:13,) yea, they should become a reproach, and their reproach should be a lasting perpetual reproach that should not be forgotten.

Verse 11. But the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one] Thus was he, by his strong confidence in the strong God, delivered from all his fears, and enabled to go on comfortably with his work.

Verses 10, 11. For I heard the defaming of many — The slanderous, injurious reports that were raised concerning me; fear on every side — Hebrew, magor-missabib; as if he had said, The name given to Pashur would have suited me; fear, or cause for fear, was on every side of me. These words are found verbatim in the original, (Psalm 31:13,) where the sense of them seems to be exactly the same as here, namely, from the slanderous reports raised upon him, he had reason to apprehend some evil design against his life, as well from treacherous friends as from open enemies. Report, say they, &c. — This seems to be spoken of the enemies of the prophet, exciting one another to accuse him of being in the interest of the Babylonians against his country. Blaney joins this clause with the preceding, thus: Report ye terror all around, and we will report it: all my familiar friends watch for my halting; perhaps, say they, he may be drawn aside, so that we may prevail against him, and we may take our revenge of him. But, &c. — The prophet, having given vent to his painful apprehensions in the preceding gloomy reflections, begins here to rise above his fears, and to encourage himself in his God. The Lord is with me — Is on my side, to take my part against my enemies, and to defend me from their malicious designs upon me; as a mighty and terrible one — Mighty to defend, support, and save me, and terrible to confound and avenge me of them! The Lord had said to him, when he first undertook the prophetic office, (Jeremiah 1:8,) Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee. This promise he now recollects, and confiding in the power, love, and faithfulness of God to make it good, he concludes that though he had many enemies who pursued after his life, he should be protected, and they should fail of accomplishing their wicked purpose. Therefore my persecutors shall stumble — In their ways of violence, and not prevail against me. They shall be greatly ashamed — Of what they have done, or shall be brought to shame for it. Their everlasting confusion — That is, their ignominy and disgrace; shall never be forgotten — They shall not forget it themselves, but it shall be to them a constant and lasting vexation whenever they think of it; and others shall not forget it, but it shall leave upon them an indelible reproach.

11-13. The Lord is with me — Very strikingly does the lament rise into a clear and strong expression of faith in God. Deeper than his despondency, and stronger than the terrors about him, is his trust in God’s unfailing strength. And at last, in verse 13, this faith rises into triumph, and he speaks of his deliverance as already accomplished.

Verses 12, 13. But, O Lord, that triest the righteous — That triest their faith and patience, in order to the farther purification of their souls, and the increase of these and all their other graces; or, who takest cognizance of them, and of every cause in which they are interested; and who dost not judge in their favour with partiality, but searchest the reins and the heart; let me see thy vengeance on them — See note on Jeremiah 11:20. For unto thee have I opened my cause — As to a just judge, who wilt not fail to do me justice. Sing unto the Lord — The prophet here rises higher, from prayer to praise. The clouds of darkness and doubt which enveloped his mind are dispersed, and his complaints silenced and turned into thanksgivings. He has now an entire confidence in that God whom (verse 7) he was distrusting, and stirs up himself to praise that name which he had almost resolved (verse 9) no more to make mention of. And it was the lively exercise of faith in the word and promise of God that made this happy change in his mind, that scattered the gloom which surrounded it, and turned his sorrow into joy. For he hath delivered the soul of the poor, &c. — He means especially himself, his own poor soul: he hath delivered me formerly when I was in distress, and now of late out of the hand of Pashur; and he will continue to deliver, 2 Corinthians 1:10; from the hand of evil-doers — So that they have not yet gained, and will not be able to gain, their ends.

11-13. The Lord is with me — Very strikingly does the lament rise into a clear and strong expression of faith in God. Deeper than his despondency, and stronger than the terrors about him, is his trust in God’s unfailing strength. And at last, in verse 13, this faith rises into triumph, and he speaks of his deliverance as already accomplished.

Verse 13. Sing unto the Lord] He was so completely delivered from all fear, that although he remained in the same circumstances, yet he exults in the Divine protection, and does not fear the face of any adversary.

Verses 12, 13. But, O Lord, that triest the righteous — That triest their faith and patience, in order to the farther purification of their souls, and the increase of these and all their other graces; or, who takest cognizance of them, and of every cause in which they are interested; and who dost not judge in their favour with partiality, but searchest the reins and the heart; let me see thy vengeance on them — See note on Jeremiah 11:20. For unto thee have I opened my cause — As to a just judge, who wilt not fail to do me justice. Sing unto the Lord — The prophet here rises higher, from prayer to praise. The clouds of darkness and doubt which enveloped his mind are dispersed, and his complaints silenced and turned into thanksgivings. He has now an entire confidence in that God whom (verse 7) he was distrusting, and stirs up himself to praise that name which he had almost resolved (verse 9) no more to make mention of. And it was the lively exercise of faith in the word and promise of God that made this happy change in his mind, that scattered the gloom which surrounded it, and turned his sorrow into joy. For he hath delivered the soul of the poor, &c. — He means especially himself, his own poor soul: he hath delivered me formerly when I was in distress, and now of late out of the hand of Pashur; and he will continue to deliver, 2 Corinthians 1:10; from the hand of evil-doers — So that they have not yet gained, and will not be able to gain, their ends.

11-13. The Lord is with me — Very strikingly does the lament rise into a clear and strong expression of faith in God. Deeper than his despondency, and stronger than the terrors about him, is his trust in God’s unfailing strength. And at last, in verse 13, this faith rises into triumph, and he speaks of his deliverance as already accomplished.

V. 14. Cursed-This sudden change makes some think that these words proceeded from Jeremiah rather as a repetition of a former passion into which the abuses of his enemies had put him, than as the immediate product of his spirit at this time.

Verse 14. Cursed be the day wherein I was born] If we take these words literally, and suppose them to be in their proper place, they are utterly inconsistent with that state of confidence in which he exulted a few minutes before. If they are the language of Jeremiah, they must have been spoken on a prior occasion, when probably he had given way to a passionate hastiness. They might well comport with the state he was in Jeremiah 20:9. I really believe these verses have got out of their proper place, which I conjecture to be between the eighth and ninth verses. There they will come in very properly; and might have been a part of his complaint in those moments when he had purposed to flee from God as did Jonah, and prophesy no more in his name. Transpositions in this prophet are frequent; therefore place these five verses after the eighth, and let the chapter end with the thirteenth, and the whole will form a piece of exquisite poetry, where the state of despair, and the hasty resolutions he had formed while under its influence, and the state of confidence to which he was raised by the succouring influence of God, will appear to be both illustrative of each other, and are touched with a delicacy and fervour which even a cold heart must admire. See Job 3:3, and the notes there. The two passages are very similar.

Verse 14. Cursed be the day, &c. — If the reader be surprised at this sudden change of the prophet’s discourse, from joyful thanks for deliverance to bitter complaints, he must observe that the order of time is not strictly observed in the prophetic writings, nor does the discourse always go on in a regular series. Therefore, though these complaints are placed immediately following a thanksgiving, it does not follow that they were pronounced immediately after it. In the following chapters of Jeremiah, it is very evident the order of time is not kept; and it is not unlikely that these words of complaint were uttered before the foregoing, which are expressive of confidence in God and gratitude for deliverance; namely, at a time when his sense of present evils, or his prospect of those just at hand, produced in his mind the most pungent grief and the greatest perturbation. They represent, it seems, the melancholy thoughts which oppressed him while he was struggling with the malice of his enemies, and, as Lowth justly observes, are to be considered, not as expressions of indignation and malice, but rather of mourning and sorrow; or, as a lamentation written in a poetical strain, like a Lessus, Nænia, or mournful ditty, such as the mourning women used to sing, (see note on chap. 9:17,) wherein strong poetical figures were wont to be used, and all the circumstances brought in, which were calculated to raise the passions, but which it would be extremely wrong to interpret in a strict and literal sense. The expressions here used are so similar to those in Job. 3., that they seem to have been borrowed from thence; and the reader is referred to the notes on that chapter for our views of them. Bishop Lowth has cited other similar instances of grief, discharging itself in invectives and bitter wishes against objects equally blameless and undeserving with those which our prophet has singled out. Among the rest is the following exclamation in David’s celebrated lamentation over Saul and Jonathan, 2 Samuel 1:21, “Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither rain upon you, nor fields of offering.” Upon which the bishop thus descants: “All which if you were to bring to the standard of cool and dispassionate reason, what could appear more absurd? But, if you have an eye to nature, and the ordinary flow of the passions, what more genuine, more exact? The falling upon a wrong cause, instead of the right, though a fault in logic, is sometimes an excellence in poetry; because the leading principle in the former is right reason, in the latter it is passion.” — De Sacr. Poes. Hebrews Prælect. 23. Let not the day, wherein my mother bare me be blessed — Let it not be celebrated with those good wishes and expressions of joy which are wont to be used on birthdays.

Ver. 14. Cursed be the day wherein I was born. Jeremiah quotes here the words of Job, chap. 3., which the ancient critics understand as a hyperbole of the heart; for when David said in his elegy on Saul and Jonathan, Let there be no rain, nor dew, on the mountains of Gilboa, he certainly did not mean literally so. Why should Job literally curse the man who brought his father the news of his birth, to be as the cities of Sodom, which the Lord overthrew. Chrysostom, in his fourth homily on the patience of Job, magnifies the superior grace of the gospel, which enabled the christian martyrs to bear tortures, and to die rejoicing and praying for their enemies.

14-18. Cursed be the day, etc. — Violent and unexpected is the contrast of this passage with the preceding. Instantly and without warning we are precipitated from the height of perfect and triumphant confidence into the deepest depth of sorrow. The faith which had just shone out full-orbed seems suddenly to pass into a fearful eclipse.

But though there is here a startling contrast, there is no essential inconsistency. The faith of the preceding section, and the intense and bitter sorrow of this, are alike genuine facts of the prophet’s experience; and are not necessarily incongruous. Indeed the sorrow which Jeremiah experienced, and which is expressed in these passionate utterances, is not in itself a difficulty; but only its degree as measured by these fearful utterances, and its close relation to the victorious faith of the preceding passage.

But let not the spirit of these passionate words be misunderstood. Too little allowance has been made for the fact that we have here only a summary of the prophet’s oral teachings, so that what we now read in a few sentences represents the experiences of this earnest man, it may be for months and even years. Passages which here stand alongside of each other may reflect states of mind which, in the prophet’s actual experience, were separated by a considerable time. Hence the real difficulty, if any there be, must consist in the essential incongruity of these words with a state of loyalty to God.

As we carefully examine this passage, so far from finding it essentially inconsistent with a personal theistic faith, we see that it could come only from one in whom the idea of God

“Like one great furnace flamed”

in his fervid soul. It is his jealous regard for God’s honour that gives the keenest bitterness to his grief. The darkest feature of the coming calamity is the fact that it would over-spread God’s own particular heritage, and sweep away the defences of Jehovah’s cause.

In outward form these words are very similar to those fearful utterances of Job recorded in the third chapter of that book. But a careful study of them discloses important differences. Jeremiah’s words are not, like Job’s, turned directly against God, neither are they so violent and passionate and selfish. They are called forth, not by personal losses of property, health, or friends, but by that which he was inevitably to see, though he had struggled against it so long — the ruin of the commonwealth and the discomfiture of God’s people before their heathen enemies. We do not, indeed, deny that there is in this fierce outcry an element of human passion. Jeremiah may have felt that he had been sacrificed to no good end — that he had been too much left to himself in executing Jehovah’s commission. Like Moses, Elijah, and even John, he may have mingled his selfish hopes and disappointments with the deeper experiences of faith and loyalty to God. But this only proves what is so abundantly illustrated everywhere — that this man of God was also “subject to like passions as we are.”

Verse 15. A man child is born] Borun is to thee a knave child.—Old MS. Bible. This is the old English word for man or servant; and is so used by Wiclif, Revelation 12:5.

Verses 15-18. Cursed be the man, &c. — As in the forms of rejoicing upon a birth-day they blessed every person and thing concerned in the birth, and said, Blessed be the womb that bare thee, and the like, and he that brought the joyful news was always rewarded, so in the forms of sorrow for the miserable they used quite the contrary expressions. Let that man be as the cities, &c. — Namely, Sodom and Gomorrah; let him be looked upon as a sad spectacle. Let him hear the cry in the morning, &c. — By these expressions he means the cries, shouts, and noises that enemies make when they break in upon a place in a hostile manner. Because he slew me not, &c. — Or, because I was not slain; from the womb. Wherefore came I forth to see — That is, to experience; labour and sorrow? — Seeing being frequently put to express any sensation. As if the prophet had said, “I speak thus in the bitterness of my soul; when I consider how much better it would have been that I had never been born, or that I had given up the ghost immediately on my birth, than to lead a life of continual sorrow and misery.” These various expressions show us to what a height the tide of perturbation swelled at this time in this good man’s heart, and what need we have to pray to be delivered from the power of our own passions.

14-18. Cursed be the day, etc. — Violent and unexpected is the contrast of this passage with the preceding. Instantly and without warning we are precipitated from the height of perfect and triumphant confidence into the deepest depth of sorrow. The faith which had just shone out full-orbed seems suddenly to pass into a fearful eclipse.

But though there is here a startling contrast, there is no essential inconsistency. The faith of the preceding section, and the intense and bitter sorrow of this, are alike genuine facts of the prophet’s experience; and are not necessarily incongruous. Indeed the sorrow which Jeremiah experienced, and which is expressed in these passionate utterances, is not in itself a difficulty; but only its degree as measured by these fearful utterances, and its close relation to the victorious faith of the preceding passage.

But let not the spirit of these passionate words be misunderstood. Too little allowance has been made for the fact that we have here only a summary of the prophet’s oral teachings, so that what we now read in a few sentences represents the experiences of this earnest man, it may be for months and even years. Passages which here stand alongside of each other may reflect states of mind which, in the prophet’s actual experience, were separated by a considerable time. Hence the real difficulty, if any there be, must consist in the essential incongruity of these words with a state of loyalty to God.

As we carefully examine this passage, so far from finding it essentially inconsistent with a personal theistic faith, we see that it could come only from one in whom the idea of God

“Like one great furnace flamed”

in his fervid soul. It is his jealous regard for God’s honour that gives the keenest bitterness to his grief. The darkest feature of the coming calamity is the fact that it would over-spread God’s own particular heritage, and sweep away the defences of Jehovah’s cause.

In outward form these words are very similar to those fearful utterances of Job recorded in the third chapter of that book. But a careful study of them discloses important differences. Jeremiah’s words are not, like Job’s, turned directly against God, neither are they so violent and passionate and selfish. They are called forth, not by personal losses of property, health, or friends, but by that which he was inevitably to see, though he had struggled against it so long — the ruin of the commonwealth and the discomfiture of God’s people before their heathen enemies. We do not, indeed, deny that there is in this fierce outcry an element of human passion. Jeremiah may have felt that he had been sacrificed to no good end — that he had been too much left to himself in executing Jehovah’s commission. Like Moses, Elijah, and even John, he may have mingled his selfish hopes and disappointments with the deeper experiences of faith and loyalty to God. But this only proves what is so abundantly illustrated everywhere — that this man of God was also “subject to like passions as we are.”

V. 16. The cities-Sodom and Gomorrah; by the cry in the morning and shouting at noon, he means the shouts and noises that enemies make when they break in upon a place.

Verse 16. And let him hear the cry] Let him be in continual alarms.

Verses 15-18. Cursed be the man, &c. — As in the forms of rejoicing upon a birth-day they blessed every person and thing concerned in the birth, and said, Blessed be the womb that bare thee, and the like, and he that brought the joyful news was always rewarded, so in the forms of sorrow for the miserable they used quite the contrary expressions. Let that man be as the cities, &c. — Namely, Sodom and Gomorrah; let him be looked upon as a sad spectacle. Let him hear the cry in the morning, &c. — By these expressions he means the cries, shouts, and noises that enemies make when they break in upon a place in a hostile manner. Because he slew me not, &c. — Or, because I was not slain; from the womb. Wherefore came I forth to see — That is, to experience; labour and sorrow? — Seeing being frequently put to express any sensation. As if the prophet had said, “I speak thus in the bitterness of my soul; when I consider how much better it would have been that I had never been born, or that I had given up the ghost immediately on my birth, than to lead a life of continual sorrow and misery.” These various expressions show us to what a height the tide of perturbation swelled at this time in this good man’s heart, and what need we have to pray to be delivered from the power of our own passions.

14-18. Cursed be the day, etc. — Violent and unexpected is the contrast of this passage with the preceding. Instantly and without warning we are precipitated from the height of perfect and triumphant confidence into the deepest depth of sorrow. The faith which had just shone out full-orbed seems suddenly to pass into a fearful eclipse.

But though there is here a startling contrast, there is no essential inconsistency. The faith of the preceding section, and the intense and bitter sorrow of this, are alike genuine facts of the prophet’s experience; and are not necessarily incongruous. Indeed the sorrow which Jeremiah experienced, and which is expressed in these passionate utterances, is not in itself a difficulty; but only its degree as measured by these fearful utterances, and its close relation to the victorious faith of the preceding passage.

But let not the spirit of these passionate words be misunderstood. Too little allowance has been made for the fact that we have here only a summary of the prophet’s oral teachings, so that what we now read in a few sentences represents the experiences of this earnest man, it may be for months and even years. Passages which here stand alongside of each other may reflect states of mind which, in the prophet’s actual experience, were separated by a considerable time. Hence the real difficulty, if any there be, must consist in the essential incongruity of these words with a state of loyalty to God.

As we carefully examine this passage, so far from finding it essentially inconsistent with a personal theistic faith, we see that it could come only from one in whom the idea of God

“Like one great furnace flamed”

in his fervid soul. It is his jealous regard for God’s honour that gives the keenest bitterness to his grief. The darkest feature of the coming calamity is the fact that it would over-spread God’s own particular heritage, and sweep away the defences of Jehovah’s cause.

In outward form these words are very similar to those fearful utterances of Job recorded in the third chapter of that book. But a careful study of them discloses important differences. Jeremiah’s words are not, like Job’s, turned directly against God, neither are they so violent and passionate and selfish. They are called forth, not by personal losses of property, health, or friends, but by that which he was inevitably to see, though he had struggled against it so long — the ruin of the commonwealth and the discomfiture of God’s people before their heathen enemies. We do not, indeed, deny that there is in this fierce outcry an element of human passion. Jeremiah may have felt that he had been sacrificed to no good end — that he had been too much left to himself in executing Jehovah’s commission. Like Moses, Elijah, and even John, he may have mingled his selfish hopes and disappointments with the deeper experiences of faith and loyalty to God. But this only proves what is so abundantly illustrated everywhere — that this man of God was also “subject to like passions as we are.”

Verses 15-18. Cursed be the man, &c. — As in the forms of rejoicing upon a birth-day they blessed every person and thing concerned in the birth, and said, Blessed be the womb that bare thee, and the like, and he that brought the joyful news was always rewarded, so in the forms of sorrow for the miserable they used quite the contrary expressions. Let that man be as the cities, &c. — Namely, Sodom and Gomorrah; let him be looked upon as a sad spectacle. Let him hear the cry in the morning, &c. — By these expressions he means the cries, shouts, and noises that enemies make when they break in upon a place in a hostile manner. Because he slew me not, &c. — Or, because I was not slain; from the womb. Wherefore came I forth to see — That is, to experience; labour and sorrow? — Seeing being frequently put to express any sensation. As if the prophet had said, “I speak thus in the bitterness of my soul; when I consider how much better it would have been that I had never been born, or that I had given up the ghost immediately on my birth, than to lead a life of continual sorrow and misery.” These various expressions show us to what a height the tide of perturbation swelled at this time in this good man’s heart, and what need we have to pray to be delivered from the power of our own passions.

14-18. Cursed be the day, etc. — Violent and unexpected is the contrast of this passage with the preceding. Instantly and without warning we are precipitated from the height of perfect and triumphant confidence into the deepest depth of sorrow. The faith which had just shone out full-orbed seems suddenly to pass into a fearful eclipse.

But though there is here a startling contrast, there is no essential inconsistency. The faith of the preceding section, and the intense and bitter sorrow of this, are alike genuine facts of the prophet’s experience; and are not necessarily incongruous. Indeed the sorrow which Jeremiah experienced, and which is expressed in these passionate utterances, is not in itself a difficulty; but only its degree as measured by these fearful utterances, and its close relation to the victorious faith of the preceding passage.

But let not the spirit of these passionate words be misunderstood. Too little allowance has been made for the fact that we have here only a summary of the prophet’s oral teachings, so that what we now read in a few sentences represents the experiences of this earnest man, it may be for months and even years. Passages which here stand alongside of each other may reflect states of mind which, in the prophet’s actual experience, were separated by a considerable time. Hence the real difficulty, if any there be, must consist in the essential incongruity of these words with a state of loyalty to God.

As we carefully examine this passage, so far from finding it essentially inconsistent with a personal theistic faith, we see that it could come only from one in whom the idea of God

“Like one great furnace flamed”

in his fervid soul. It is his jealous regard for God’s honour that gives the keenest bitterness to his grief. The darkest feature of the coming calamity is the fact that it would over-spread God’s own particular heritage, and sweep away the defences of Jehovah’s cause.

In outward form these words are very similar to those fearful utterances of Job recorded in the third chapter of that book. But a careful study of them discloses important differences. Jeremiah’s words are not, like Job’s, turned directly against God, neither are they so violent and passionate and selfish. They are called forth, not by personal losses of property, health, or friends, but by that which he was inevitably to see, though he had struggled against it so long — the ruin of the commonwealth and the discomfiture of God’s people before their heathen enemies. We do not, indeed, deny that there is in this fierce outcry an element of human passion. Jeremiah may have felt that he had been sacrificed to no good end — that he had been too much left to himself in executing Jehovah’s commission. Like Moses, Elijah, and even John, he may have mingled his selfish hopes and disappointments with the deeper experiences of faith and loyalty to God. But this only proves what is so abundantly illustrated everywhere — that this man of God was also “subject to like passions as we are.”

Verse 18. Wherefore came I forth] It would have been well had I never been born, as I have neither comfort in my life, nor comfort in my work. JEREMIAH

Verses 15-18. Cursed be the man, &c. — As in the forms of rejoicing upon a birth-day they blessed every person and thing concerned in the birth, and said, Blessed be the womb that bare thee, and the like, and he that brought the joyful news was always rewarded, so in the forms of sorrow for the miserable they used quite the contrary expressions. Let that man be as the cities, &c. — Namely, Sodom and Gomorrah; let him be looked upon as a sad spectacle. Let him hear the cry in the morning, &c. — By these expressions he means the cries, shouts, and noises that enemies make when they break in upon a place in a hostile manner. Because he slew me not, &c. — Or, because I was not slain; from the womb. Wherefore came I forth to see — That is, to experience; labour and sorrow? — Seeing being frequently put to express any sensation. As if the prophet had said, “I speak thus in the bitterness of my soul; when I consider how much better it would have been that I had never been born, or that I had given up the ghost immediately on my birth, than to lead a life of continual sorrow and misery.” These various expressions show us to what a height the tide of perturbation swelled at this time in this good man’s heart, and what need we have to pray to be delivered from the power of our own passions.

14-18. Cursed be the day, etc. — Violent and unexpected is the contrast of this passage with the preceding. Instantly and without warning we are precipitated from the height of perfect and triumphant confidence into the deepest depth of sorrow. The faith which had just shone out full-orbed seems suddenly to pass into a fearful eclipse.

But though there is here a startling contrast, there is no essential inconsistency. The faith of the preceding section, and the intense and bitter sorrow of this, are alike genuine facts of the prophet’s experience; and are not necessarily incongruous. Indeed the sorrow which Jeremiah experienced, and which is expressed in these passionate utterances, is not in itself a difficulty; but only its degree as measured by these fearful utterances, and its close relation to the victorious faith of the preceding passage.

But let not the spirit of these passionate words be misunderstood. Too little allowance has been made for the fact that we have here only a summary of the prophet’s oral teachings, so that what we now read in a few sentences represents the experiences of this earnest man, it may be for months and even years. Passages which here stand alongside of each other may reflect states of mind which, in the prophet’s actual experience, were separated by a considerable time. Hence the real difficulty, if any there be, must consist in the essential incongruity of these words with a state of loyalty to God.

As we carefully examine this passage, so far from finding it essentially inconsistent with a personal theistic faith, we see that it could come only from one in whom the idea of God

“Like one great furnace flamed”

in his fervid soul. It is his jealous regard for God’s honour that gives the keenest bitterness to his grief. The darkest feature of the coming calamity is the fact that it would over-spread God’s own particular heritage, and sweep away the defences of Jehovah’s cause.

In outward form these words are very similar to those fearful utterances of Job recorded in the third chapter of that book. But a careful study of them discloses important differences. Jeremiah’s words are not, like Job’s, turned directly against God, neither are they so violent and passionate and selfish. They are called forth, not by personal losses of property, health, or friends, but by that which he was inevitably to see, though he had struggled against it so long — the ruin of the commonwealth and the discomfiture of God’s people before their heathen enemies. We do not, indeed, deny that there is in this fierce outcry an element of human passion. Jeremiah may have felt that he had been sacrificed to no good end — that he had been too much left to himself in executing Jehovah’s commission. Like Moses, Elijah, and even John, he may have mingled his selfish hopes and disappointments with the deeper experiences of faith and loyalty to God. But this only proves what is so abundantly illustrated everywhere — that this man of God was also “subject to like passions as we are.”