Jeremiah · Chapter 3

1-11. Both called to repent, with gospel promises, ver. 12-19. Misery by sin; salvation only of God, ver. 20-25.

V. 1. Shall be-He cannot take her again according to the law, Deuteronomy 24:1-4. Yet I am ready to be reconciled to you. Polluted-Would not so great a sin greatly pollute a nation? Many-Not with one only, but many idols.

Verse 1. If a man put away his wife] It was ever understood, by the law and practice of the country, that if a woman were divorced by her husband, and became the wife of another man, the first husband could never take her again. Now Israel had been married unto the Lord; joined in solemn covenant to him to worship and serve him only. Israel turned from following him, and became idolatrous. On this ground, considering idolatry as a spiritual whoredom, and the precept and practice of the law to illustrate this case, Israel could never more be restored to the Divine favour: but God, this first husband, in the plenitude of his mercy, is willing to receive this adulterous spouse, if she will abandon her idolatries and return unto him. And this and the following chapters are spent in affectionate remonstrances and loving exhortations addressed to these sinful people, to make them sensible of their own sin, and God’s tender mercy in offering to receive them again into favour.

Verse 1. They say — That is, men use to say, If a man put away his wife — Or give her a bill of divorce, Deuteronomy 24:1; and she go from him — In consequence thereof; and become another man’s — Engage herself to another; shall he return unto her? — He cannot take her again according to the law, Deuteronomy 24:1-4. Or, rather, will a man do such a thing? If the law were not against it, would any man be inclined to take such a woman again? Certainly not. Such playing fast and loose with the marriage-bond would be a horrid profanation of that ordinance, and would greatly pollute the land. Thus they had reason to expect, that God would refuse ever to take them again to be his people, who had not only been joined to one strange god, but had played the harlot with many lovers. If we had to do with a man like ourselves, after such provocations as we have been guilty of, he would be implacable, and we might despair of his ever being reconciled to us again. But he is God and not man, and therefore he adds, Yet return again to me — Namely, forsaking all those other lovers; which invitation implies a promise, that he would receive them upon their repentance and reformation.

ISRAEL’S SIN AND PUNISHMENT, 1-5.

1. They say — Hebrew, to say. This harsh and unusual use of the infinitive has been to interpreters a source of perplexity. Does it mark the beginning of a new discourse, or is it a continuation of the preceding? The former, say Nagelsbach and Ewald; the latter, say Hitzig, Keil, and a majority of the best expositors. And inasmuch as we have at verse six the formal marking of a new discourse, this latter view is clearly to be preferred. And so this infinitive is not to be construed as an initial form, with Jerome, R. Payne Smith, and many others; but as in direct and close dependence on the preceding chapter, thus: “The Lord hath rejected thy confidences”… saying, etc. Shall he return unto her again — A man who had put away his wife was forbidden to take her again if, in the interval, she had been married to another. Deuteronomy 24:1-4. Yet return… to me — Most expositors regard the verb here as an infinitive and the sentence as a question: Will ye return to me? but there is no conclusive reason for this. In the Authorized Version we have a very satisfactory rendering of the Hebrew, and a most impressive illustration of the truth that God’s ways are not as our ways. His wonderful mercy is superior to all human obstructions. Great as is man’s sin, it is not so great as God’s mercy. With this view of the passage agree the Syriac and Vulgate Versions and the Targum.

V. 2. Lien with-Where there are not the footsteps of thy idolaters. Sat-To assure passengers. As the Arabian-An allusion to the custom of that people, who were wont to pitch their tents by the way-sides, that they might meet with their customers to trade, as they passed along. Wickedness-Not only thy idolatries, but other wicked courses.

Verse 2. As the Arabian in the wilderness] They were as fully intent on the practice of their idolatry as the Arab in the desert is in lying in wait to plunder the caravans. Where they have not cover to lie in ambush, they scatter themselves about, and run hither and thither, raising themselves up on their saddles to see if they can discover, by smoke, dust, or other token, the approach of any travellers.

Verse 2. Lift up thine eyes — Do but look and consider whether I charge thee wrongfully or not; unto the high places — The places of thy spiritual whoredoms or idolatries, their false gods being generally worshipped upon the hills and mountains, 2 Kings 21:3. Thy idolatries have been so frequent that thou canst scarcely show a place where some false god has not been worshipped. In the ways hast thou sat for them — To allure passengers. Thus the fondness of the people for idolatry is compared to the wantonness of a harlot, who lies in wait for men as for her prey; or, as the Arabian hides himself in the desert, to rob and spoil the unwary traveller. “The Arabs,” says Sir John Chardin, in a manuscript quoted by Harmer, “wait for caravans with the most violent avidity, looking about them on all sides, raising themselves upon their horses, running hither and thither, to see if they can perceive any smoke, or dust, or tracks on the ground, or any other marks of people passing along.” And with thy wickedness — Not only with thy idolatries hast thou polluted the land, but with all thy other wicked courses.

2. High places — More exactly, bare-topped hills; the places selected for idolatrous worship, which is here and elsewhere denominated spiritual adultery. Compare Hosea 4:13; Numbers 23:3. As the Arabian, etc. — An allusion to the freebooting propensities of the Bedouins. Eager as they were for plunder, so eager was Israel for idolatry.

V. 3. A whore’s forehead-For all this, thou didst still remain obstinate, as ashamed of nothing.

Verse 3. There hath been no latter rain] The former rain, which prepared the earth for tillage, fell in the beginning of November, or a little sooner; and the latter rain fell in the middle of April, after which there was scarcely any rain during the summer.

Verse 3. Therefore the showers have been withholden — Namely, by me, according to my threatening, Leviticus 26:19; Deuteronomy 28:23, 24; that is, a drought was sent upon their land, either as a punishment of their wickedness, public sins bringing public judgments, or as an aggravation of it, in which case the clause ought to be read, Though the showers, &c.; that is, notwithstanding the great drought, whereby thou hast been chastised, thou hast not been brought to repentance; and there hath been no latter rain — Though the latter rain hath been withheld as well as the former: concerning which two seasons of rain, see notes on Deuteronomy 11:14, and Proverbs 16:15. Thou hadst a whore’s forehead — Notwithstanding all this, thou didst still remain impudent and obstinate, as one ashamed of nothing. “The general import of the passage is, that though God had begun, in some degree, to chastise his people, as he had threatened, with a view to their reformation, his chastisements had not produced the desired effect, for they continued as abandoned as before, without showing the least sign of shame or remorse.” — Blaney.

Verse 3. Therefore the showers, of the former and the latter rain, have been withheld. Other prophets make the same remark. God is not obliged to give luxuriant harvests to furnish feasts to a guilty people, who would ascribe those gifts to their idols.

3. Showers have been withholden — Perhaps, in some cases, in an extraordinary and miraculous way, as in the time of Ahab; and yet the statement should by no means be confined to so narrow an application. Drought, famine, and all other types of natural evil, are all for the one purpose of spiritual correction, rectification, and development.

V. 4. My father-Wilt thou not as a child call upon me, whom thou hast thus greatly provoked. The guide-I have been brought up by thee.

Verse 4. Wilt thou not—cry unto me, My father] Wilt thou not allow me to be thy Creator and Preserver, and cease thus to acknowledge idols? See on Jeremiah 2:27.

Verses 4, 5. Wilt thou not from this time — Namely, that I have withholden showers, this time of conviction and correction; now that thou hast been made to see thy sins, and to smart for them, wilt thou not forsake them and return to me, saying, I will go and return to my first husband, for then it was better with me than now? Or from this time that thou hast had so kind an invitation to return, and an assurance that thou shalt be well received. Wilt thou not cry unto me, My father? — Wilt thou not, as a child, humble thyself, and call upon me, whom thou hast greatly provoked, and own me as a father, for such I have been to thee? Psalm 103:13; Malachi 1:6, and 3:17. Wilt thou not beg pardon for thy undutiful carriage toward me, and hope to find in me the tender compassion of a father toward a returning prodigal? Wilt thou not come and make thy complaints to me as to a father, and confide in me for relief and succour? Thou art the guide of my youth — The husband who didst espouse me, and become my guide in the days of my youth: alluding to the time when their manners had not been corrupted by idolatry. Though thou hast gone after many lovers, wilt thou not at length remember the love of thine espousals, and return to the husband of thy youth? Or the relation of a father may rather be referred to; as if he had said, Wilt thou not remember and lay to heart under whose eye and care thou wast brought up, and who was the guide of thy inexperienced years? In our return to God, we ought thankfully to remember that he was our guide when we were young in years, in the way of comfort; and we must faithfully covenant that he shall be our guide from henceforward in the way of duty, and that we will follow his guidance, and give ourselves up to his government. Will he reserve anger for ever? — Surely he will not, for he hath proclaimed his name, gracious and merciful. They seem to be the words of the people reasoning thus with themselves, for their encouragement to return to God. Repenting sinners may encourage themselves with this, that though God chide, he will not always chide; though he be angry, he will not keep his anger to the end; but though he cause grief he will have compassion. Behold, thou hast spoken, &c. — Or, as Blaney translates the clause, “Behold, thou hast spoken and done; thou hast wrought wickedness, and hast prevailed.” These are the words of God, or of the prophet speaking in God’s name, reminding them of, and reproving them for, their long and obstinate continuance in idolatry and other sins. The prophets had endeavoured to dissuade them from persevering in their evil courses, but their arguments had no weight with them; “they continued to do as they had said, or resolved; they carried their wicked thoughts into execution, in spite of all that was urged to the contrary.”

4. Wilt thou not, etc. — Rather, Hast thou not from this time called me, etc.? From this time, stands in contrast with “of old time,” in Jeremiah 2:20. Guide of my youth — That is, husband. See Hosea 2:7, 13.

V. 5. Will he-Will he not be reconciled?

Verse 5. Will he reserve his anger for ever?] Why should not wrath be continued against thee, as thou continuest transgression against the Lord?

Verses 4, 5. Wilt thou not from this time — Namely, that I have withholden showers, this time of conviction and correction; now that thou hast been made to see thy sins, and to smart for them, wilt thou not forsake them and return to me, saying, I will go and return to my first husband, for then it was better with me than now? Or from this time that thou hast had so kind an invitation to return, and an assurance that thou shalt be well received. Wilt thou not cry unto me, My father? — Wilt thou not, as a child, humble thyself, and call upon me, whom thou hast greatly provoked, and own me as a father, for such I have been to thee? Psalm 103:13; Malachi 1:6, and 3:17. Wilt thou not beg pardon for thy undutiful carriage toward me, and hope to find in me the tender compassion of a father toward a returning prodigal? Wilt thou not come and make thy complaints to me as to a father, and confide in me for relief and succour? Thou art the guide of my youth — The husband who didst espouse me, and become my guide in the days of my youth: alluding to the time when their manners had not been corrupted by idolatry. Though thou hast gone after many lovers, wilt thou not at length remember the love of thine espousals, and return to the husband of thy youth? Or the relation of a father may rather be referred to; as if he had said, Wilt thou not remember and lay to heart under whose eye and care thou wast brought up, and who was the guide of thy inexperienced years? In our return to God, we ought thankfully to remember that he was our guide when we were young in years, in the way of comfort; and we must faithfully covenant that he shall be our guide from henceforward in the way of duty, and that we will follow his guidance, and give ourselves up to his government. Will he reserve anger for ever? — Surely he will not, for he hath proclaimed his name, gracious and merciful. They seem to be the words of the people reasoning thus with themselves, for their encouragement to return to God. Repenting sinners may encourage themselves with this, that though God chide, he will not always chide; though he be angry, he will not keep his anger to the end; but though he cause grief he will have compassion. Behold, thou hast spoken, &c. — Or, as Blaney translates the clause, “Behold, thou hast spoken and done; thou hast wrought wickedness, and hast prevailed.” These are the words of God, or of the prophet speaking in God’s name, reminding them of, and reproving them for, their long and obstinate continuance in idolatry and other sins. The prophets had endeavoured to dissuade them from persevering in their evil courses, but their arguments had no weight with them; “they continued to do as they had said, or resolved; they carried their wicked thoughts into execution, in spite of all that was urged to the contrary.”

5. Thou hast spoken — Thus do the people speak, but they DO evil. Their words are friendly, but their actions are rebellious.

V. 6. Israel-The ten tribes who fell off from Judah.

Verse 6. The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king] This is a new discourse, and is supposed to have been delivered after the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah. Here the prophet shows the people of Judah the transgressions, idolatry, obstinacy, and punishment of their brethren, the ten tribes, whom he calls to return to the Lord, with the most gracious promises of restoration to their own country, their reunion with their brethren of Judah, and every degree of prosperity in consequence. He takes occasion also to show the Jews how much more culpable they were than the Israelites, because they practiced the same iniquities while they had the punishment and ruin of the others before their eyes. He therefore exhorts them to return to God with all their hearts, that they might not fall into the same condemnation. See the following verses.

Verse 6. Then the Lord said unto me — “Here begins an entire new section, or distinct prophecy, which is continued to the end of the sixth chapter. It consists of two distinct parts. The first part contains a complaint against Judah for having exceeded the guilt of her sister Israel, whom God had already cast off for her idolatrous apostacy, verses 6-12. The prophet is hereupon sent to announce to Israel the promise of pardon upon her repentance, and the hopes of a glorious restoration in after times, which are plainly marked out to be the times of the gospel, when the Gentiles themselves were to become a part of the church, verses 12-21. In the second part, which begins Jeremiah 4:3, and is prefaced with an address to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, exhorting them to prevent the divine judgments by a timely repentance; the Babylonian invasion is clearly and fully foretold, with all the miseries which it would be attended with; and the universal and incorrigible depravity of the people is represented at large, and pointed out as the justly provoking cause of the national ruin. In the days of Josiah the king — This date of the prophecy, or sermon, must be particularly observed, in order to the right understanding of it. It was delivered in the days of Josiah, who began a blessed work of reformation, in which he was hearty; but the people were not sincere in their compliance with it. To reprove them for that, and warn them of the consequences of their hypocrisy, is the scope of that which God here declares to the prophet, and which he delivers to them. Hast thou seen what backsliding Israel hath done — The case of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah is here compared, the ten tribes that revolted from the throne of David and the temple at Jerusalem, and the two tribes that adhered to both. The distinct history of these two kingdoms is given us in the two books of the Kings; by referring to the notes on which the reader will be enabled the better to understand this paragraph, and many other parts of this prophecy. When God asks, Hast thou seen what Israel has done? he refers to the prophet’s acquaintance with that history, for as he lived between sixty and seventy years after Israel was carried into captivity, he could not otherwise see what they had done. She hath gone up upon every high mountain: &c. — See note on Jeremiah 2:20. They had openly, and almost with common consent, apostatized from the worship appointed by God, insomuch that all their kings proved wicked and idolatrous: and no marvel, since from the time of their defection from the kingdom of David, they worshipped God by the golden calves at Dan and Beth-el, and hence easily proceeded from worshipping by the medium of images, to worship images themselves, and other false and imaginary deities.

Ver. 6. The Lord said unto me in the days of Josiah, when idolatry had prevailed for fifty years, from Manasseh’s ascension to the throne to the minority of this young king: nor could the king wholly suppress it during his reign, though he made great efforts.

JUDAH PERSISTS IN FOLLOWING ISRAEL, 6-10.

6. In the days of Josiah — This formal note of time clearly indicates the beginning of a new discourse. It is not necessarily implied that the preceding discourse was not also in the time of Josiah; this may be taken only as a careful marking of the time of the following one, which is very extended and important. Backsliding Israel hath done — Namely, as you are now doing. Nearly a hundred years before was Israel destroyed, and had ceased to exist as a kingdom; and now her history and fate are pointed to as a warning to Judah. You are walking in her footsteps; you shall come to her calamitous end.

Verse 7. And I said] By the prophets Elijah, Elisha, Hosea, Amos, &c.; for all these prophesied to that rebellious people, and exhorted them to return to the Lord.

Verse 7. After she had done all these things — For which she might justly have been abandoned; I said, Turn thou unto me — Namely, and I will receive thee. Though they had forsaken both the house of David and the house of Aaron, who both had their authority from God without dispute, yet God sent his prophets among them to call them to return to him, that is, to the worship of him only, not insisting so much upon their return to the house of David as to that of Aaron. We do not read that Elijah, that great prophet, ever mentioned their returning to the former, but only to the faithful service of the true God. It is serious and genuine piety that God regards more than any ritual observances, whether with respect to matters civil or religious. But she returned not — Which God observed, and with which he was much displeased; and her treacherous sister Judah saw it — A sister, because descended from the same common stock, Abraham and Jacob; and as Israel had the character of a back-slider, so Judah is called treacherous, because, though she professed to keep close to God when Israel had backslidden, and adhered to the kings and priests that were of God’s own appointing, yet she proved treacherous, false, and unfaithful to her profession and promises, as is stated in the following verses.

7. And I said, etc. — The object of the verb “said” begins with after, and the verb turn is thought by most expositors to be in the third person. The reading then would be, And I said (namely, to myself = thought,) after she had done all… Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. Treacherous — Better, faithless. See Ezekiel’s allegory in chapter xxiii for the character of these two sisters — apostate Israel and hypocritical Judah.

V. 8. Given a bill-Delivered her up into the hands of the Assyrian, where God took from her the title of being his church, 2 Kings 17:5,6.

Verse 8. I had put her away] Given them up into the hands of the Assyrians.

Verse 8. And I saw — As if he had said, That which others discerned not, I saw perfectly; namely, both her hypocrisy and her incorrigibleness, notwithstanding what had befallen Israel, whose correction should have instructed and reformed her. When for all the causes — The various idolatries and other sins, for which I had given her — That is, Israel; a bill of divorce — Delivered her up into the hands of the Assyrians, and thereby taken from her the title of being my church; yet her sister Judah feared not — Was neither afraid of giving me offence, nor of the like punishment; but went and played the harlot also — Was forward enough to worship any idol that was introduced, and to join in any idolatrous usage, although she had seen the judgment of God executed upon Israel before her eyes.

8. A bill of divorce — How fearful a thing is a bill of divorce from the Almighty! A withdrawal of the divine support and protection carries with it all dark and dreadful possibilities. The pall of desolation which for twenty-five centuries has covered this land is a fit but feeble expression of the fearfulness of abandonment by God!

Verse 9. The lightness of her whoredom] The grossness of her idolatry: worshipping objects the most degrading, with rites the most impure.

Verses 9, 10. And through the lightness of her whoredom — “By this phrase,” says Blaney, “I take to be meant, that she was not nice in the choice of the objects, but was ready to prostitute herself to all that came in her way; that is, she eagerly fell in with all kinds of idolatrous worship indiscriminately, descending so low as to images of wood and stone.” That she defiled the land — Brought the whole land under the guilt of idolatry. Yet for all this — Though God saw what she did, and though she saw the shameful idolatry of Israel, and what she had suffered; yet Judah hath not turned unto me, &c. — When they had a good king that would have reformed the nation, they did not heartily concur with him in that good work. In the reigns of Manasseh and Amon, who were disposed to idolatry, the people were so too, and all the country was corrupted by it, none fearing the ruin which Israel, by this sin, had brought on themselves. God therefore tried whether they would manifest a different spirit and conduct under a good king, but the evil disposition was still the same, and they returned not to the Lord with all their hearts, but feignedly — They were forced indeed to an external compliance with Josiah, who went further in destroying idolatry than the best of his predecessors had done, joined with him in keeping a very solemn passover, and in professing to renew their covenants with God, 2 Chronicles 34:32, and 35:17; but they were not sincere in all this, nor were their hearts right with God. For which reason God, at that very time, said, I will remove Judah out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, (2 Kings 23:27,) because Judah was not removed from their sin by the sight of Israel’s removal from their land.

9. Lightness — This rendering of the Hebrew is made under the influence of the ancient Versions, but cannot be vindicated. There is in the Old Testament no clear and sufficient support of this sense. And even were it better supported it does not easily suit the passage. The marginal “fame” is nearer, but incorrect. The word for this would be shem, (µv,) while the meaning of kol (lwq) is noise, or voice. Hence the rendering should be, the noise of her whoredoms, etc., reference being had to the riotous orgies of idolatry.

V. 10. And yet-Though God saw what she did, and though she saw the shameful idolatry of Israel, and what she had suffered.

Verses 9, 10. And through the lightness of her whoredom — “By this phrase,” says Blaney, “I take to be meant, that she was not nice in the choice of the objects, but was ready to prostitute herself to all that came in her way; that is, she eagerly fell in with all kinds of idolatrous worship indiscriminately, descending so low as to images of wood and stone.” That she defiled the land — Brought the whole land under the guilt of idolatry. Yet for all this — Though God saw what she did, and though she saw the shameful idolatry of Israel, and what she had suffered; yet Judah hath not turned unto me, &c. — When they had a good king that would have reformed the nation, they did not heartily concur with him in that good work. In the reigns of Manasseh and Amon, who were disposed to idolatry, the people were so too, and all the country was corrupted by it, none fearing the ruin which Israel, by this sin, had brought on themselves. God therefore tried whether they would manifest a different spirit and conduct under a good king, but the evil disposition was still the same, and they returned not to the Lord with all their hearts, but feignedly — They were forced indeed to an external compliance with Josiah, who went further in destroying idolatry than the best of his predecessors had done, joined with him in keeping a very solemn passover, and in professing to renew their covenants with God, 2 Chronicles 34:32, and 35:17; but they were not sincere in all this, nor were their hearts right with God. For which reason God, at that very time, said, I will remove Judah out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, (2 Kings 23:27,) because Judah was not removed from their sin by the sight of Israel’s removal from their land.

Ver. 10. Yet for all this, her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly. She took no warning by the fall of Samaria; and even at the great passover celebrated by Josiah in the eighteenth year of his reign, the princes had their idols concealed: Jeremiah 34:18-20. In this view, the sin of Samaria was less than the sin of Judah, for she worshipped idols professedly, while Judah, bowing in the temple of the Lord, worshipped all the gods of Syria. Her gods were as numerous as her cities: Jeremiah 11:13.

10. Treacherous sister Judah — Mark the solemn iteration of this accusing phrase in verses 7, 8, 10, and 11. Feignedly — Such language as this makes us know that the reformation of Josiah, remarkable and impressive as it was, was not of that radical character which the case demanded. And so we understand how it was that the destruction of the city so soon followed the most splendid religious pageant Jerusalem ever witnessed. 2 Chronicles 35.

Verse 11. Backsliding Israel hath justified herself more] She was less offensive in my eyes, and more excusable, than treacherous Judah. So it is said, Luke 18:14, the humbled publican went down to his house justified rather than the boasting Pharisee. The one was more to be pitied than the other, and more likely to receive the mercy of God.

Verse 11. And the Lord said unto me, &c. — The case of these sister kingdoms is here compared, and judgment given upon the comparison. Israel hath justified herself more than Judah — Hebrew, hvpn hqdx, hath justified her soul: so the LXX. edikaiwse thn yuchn, and the Vulgate. The meaning is, that of the two, Judah was the more guilty, because, though Israel’s sins were more numerous, and their idolatry had continued longer, yet in Judah that and other sins were more heinous, because Judah had sinned against greater light, and would not take warning by that desolation which God had brought upon the whole kingdom of Israel. Observe, reader, this comparative justification stood Israel in little stead. It will little avail us to say we are not so bad as others, when yet we are not really good ourselves. And God’s judgments upon others, if they be not the means of our reformation, will help to aggravate our destruction. The Prophet Ezekiel makes the same comparison between Jerusalem and Samaria, that Jeremiah here makes between Judah and Israel, nay, and between Jerusalem and Sodom, and Jerusalem is represented as being the worst of the three. See Ezekiel 23:11; and 16:48.

THE CALL TO RETURN, 11-18.

11. Hath justified herself — Israel is less guilty than Judah, because she had less light. To be false is accounted worse than to be apostate. Honest idolatry is less offensive than hypocritical orthodoxy. To lose truth out of the intellect is sad enough; but to lose it out of the conscience and heart is still worse.

V. 12. The north-To Assyria and Media, that lay northward from Judea, whither the ten tribes were carried by Tiglath-pileser, and Salmanezer.

Verse 12. Proclaim these words toward the north] The countries where the ten tribes were then in captivity, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Media, &c., see 2 Kings 17:6; these lay north of Judea. How tender and compassionate are the exhortations in this and the following verses! Could these people believe that God had sent the prophet and yet prefer the land of their bondage to the blessings of freedom in their own country, and the approbation of their God?

Verses 12, 13. Go, and proclaim these words toward the north — “The sin of the ten tribes being attended with more favourable circumstances than that of Judah, the prophet is commanded to call them to repentance with promises of pardon. In order to this he is bid to direct his speech northward, that is, toward Assyria and Media, whither the ten tribes had been carried away captive, which countries lay north of Judea.” And say: Return, thou backsliding Israel — Repent of thy backslidings, return to thy allegiance; come back to that good way out of which thou hast turned aside. And I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you — Namely, more grievously than it has already fallen, or for ever; for otherwise his anger lay heavy upon them at this time. Observe, reader, God’s anger is ready to fall on sinners, as a lion falls on his prey, and there is none to deliver. But if they repent, it shall be turned away, for he is merciful, and will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity — Own thyself in a fault, and thereby take shame to thyself, and give glory to God. Confess and forsake thy sins; for he that confesseth and forsaketh shall find mercy. This will aggravate the condemnation of sinners, that the terms of pardon and peace were brought so low, and yet they would not come up to them. Sinner, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? How much more when he saith, Only acknowledge thine iniquity. The Hebrew, ˆnw[ y[d, is properly, Know thine iniquity, that is, in order to thy acknowledging and forsaking it. We must call our sins to mind, consider the number, greatness, and inexcusableness of them, that we may conceive a proper hatred to them, and sorrow for them, and thereby, and through faith in the divine mercy and grace in Christ, may obtain pardon and deliverance from them. That thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God — Against the infinite and eternal Jehovah, who had taken thee to be his peculiar people, and was in covenant with thee as thy God. And hast scattered thy ways to the strangers — To other gods, to idols, running hither and thither to worship them. The phrase is taken from the lewdness of common harlots, who promiscuously prostitute themselves to all comers: see Proverbs 30:20. The clause may be rendered, Thou hast wandered among strangers, or strange gods; that is, thou hast not repaired, or had recourse, to one strange god, but many; under every green tree — Alluding to the heathen performing the ceremonies of their idolatrous worship in groves, or under large spreading trees. And ye have not obeyed my voice — So that your sin is not a sin of ignorance, but of obstinacy, for you shut your ears against my counsels, sent by my prophets for reclaiming you.

Ver. 12. Go, and proclaim these words toward the north. The principal part of the holy land lay north of Jerusalem, where some remains of the ten tribes still continued. Others say the phrase means, proclaim this great, this royal proclamation of grace, through the lands where the ten tribes were dispersed, as named in 2 Kings 17:6.

12. Toward the north — Hebrew, midnight; “the north” being so designated because it is in the opposite direction to the meridian sun. Here it means the provinces of Assyria, into which Shalmanezer had carried away the ten tribes.

V. 13. Strangers-To other gods, or to idols, running here and there up and down.

Verses 12, 13. Go, and proclaim these words toward the north — “The sin of the ten tribes being attended with more favourable circumstances than that of Judah, the prophet is commanded to call them to repentance with promises of pardon. In order to this he is bid to direct his speech northward, that is, toward Assyria and Media, whither the ten tribes had been carried away captive, which countries lay north of Judea.” And say: Return, thou backsliding Israel — Repent of thy backslidings, return to thy allegiance; come back to that good way out of which thou hast turned aside. And I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you — Namely, more grievously than it has already fallen, or for ever; for otherwise his anger lay heavy upon them at this time. Observe, reader, God’s anger is ready to fall on sinners, as a lion falls on his prey, and there is none to deliver. But if they repent, it shall be turned away, for he is merciful, and will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity — Own thyself in a fault, and thereby take shame to thyself, and give glory to God. Confess and forsake thy sins; for he that confesseth and forsaketh shall find mercy. This will aggravate the condemnation of sinners, that the terms of pardon and peace were brought so low, and yet they would not come up to them. Sinner, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? How much more when he saith, Only acknowledge thine iniquity. The Hebrew, ˆnw[ y[d, is properly, Know thine iniquity, that is, in order to thy acknowledging and forsaking it. We must call our sins to mind, consider the number, greatness, and inexcusableness of them, that we may conceive a proper hatred to them, and sorrow for them, and thereby, and through faith in the divine mercy and grace in Christ, may obtain pardon and deliverance from them. That thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God — Against the infinite and eternal Jehovah, who had taken thee to be his peculiar people, and was in covenant with thee as thy God. And hast scattered thy ways to the strangers — To other gods, to idols, running hither and thither to worship them. The phrase is taken from the lewdness of common harlots, who promiscuously prostitute themselves to all comers: see Proverbs 30:20. The clause may be rendered, Thou hast wandered among strangers, or strange gods; that is, thou hast not repaired, or had recourse, to one strange god, but many; under every green tree — Alluding to the heathen performing the ceremonies of their idolatrous worship in groves, or under large spreading trees. And ye have not obeyed my voice — So that your sin is not a sin of ignorance, but of obstinacy, for you shut your ears against my counsels, sent by my prophets for reclaiming you.

13. Acknowledge — Literally, know; that is, see it in its true light. The most fundamental element in all genuine confession is confession to one’s self. One must admit his own vileness in his inmost soul before he is prepared for reformation. Scattered thy ways — Hast run in all directions in search of false gods. Madly and irrationally has this quest been urged.

V. 14. I am married-I am in covenant with you, and this covenant notwithstanding all your unfaithfulness, I am ready to renew with you. Family-This word is taken frequently for a country or nation, and this may partly respect the fewness of those that will return. But chiefly it respects God’s exact care of them, that being now married to them, there shall not be one in a city, or two in a country or tribe, but he will find them out. Zion-The ten tribes did never return into their own land, therefore this must be understood of a spiritual going up to Zion, when all Israel shall be saved, Romans 11:26.

Verse 14. I will take you one of a city, and two of a family] If there should be but one of a city left, or one willing to return, and two only of a whole tribe, yet will I receive these, and bring them back from captivity into their own land. I have heard these words most sinfully applied to show the nature of a fancied eternal decree of election, that has appointed in several cases one only out of a whole city, and two out of a whole family, to be eternally saved, leaving the rest, according to the decree of reprobation, to perish everlastingly! And yet these persons, who spoke thus of the Fountain of eternal goodness and mercy, professed to believe in Him who by the grace of God tasted death for every man.

Verse 14. Turn, for I am married unto you — I am in covenant with you, and this covenant, notwithstanding all your unfaithfulness, I am ready to renew with you. Hebrew, µkb ytl[b, which Blaney translates, I have been a husband among you; observing, that God hereby “means to remind them that he had fulfilled the covenant on his part, by protecting and blessing them, as he had promised when he engaged to be their God: and therefore, as they had never any reason to complain of him, he urges them to return to their duty, and promises, in that case, to be still kinder to them than before.” I will take you one of a city, &c. — Some interpret these words thus: “I will receive you, though there should be but one from a city willing to return, and two from a province, or tribe.” This prophecy was accomplished in the letter, after the edict of Cyrus, when several of the Israelites returned to Palestine, but only by little and little, and, as it were, one by one. But undoubtedly it was intended to be understood chiefly, in a spiritual sense, of their conversion to Christianity, and their reception into the gospel church, into which they partly have been, and probably hereafter in greater numbers will be admitted, “not all at a time, or in a national capacity, but severally, as individuals, here and there one.” See Isaiah 27:12.

Ver. 14, Turn, oh backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you. The prophet refers to the prayer of Solomon concerning Hebrew captives in a foreign land, that God would hear their prayer and restore them, 1 Kings 8:47; and give them pastors such as Ezra, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

14. I am married unto you — A divine tenderness breathes in these words. God still remembers the sacred covenant between himself and his faithless people; and, in spite of their infidelities, looks upon their miseries with sincere and yearning pity. He even turns suppliant himself, and pleads with them to return. The mingling of metaphor in this passage, which starts with the parental and then introduces the conjugal relation, is not a blemish, but reveals the warm feeling which underlies the passage; a feeling that struggles in vain for adequate expression. The two most expressive figures which human experience furnishes are here blended in a way that leaves the impression of an unfathomable depth of meaning behind. One of a city, and two of a family — The word rendered “family” is of broad import, and answers in a general way to stock or tribe. If but “one of a city,” or “two of a tribe,” (evidently a larger term than city,) shall turn to me, I will be careful to save even them. This promise is full and absolute. Though not exclusively Messianic and spiritual, yet, on the other hand, it is not limited to any material restoration. It is one of those broad predictive promises which sweep over the centuries, and are being constantly and everywhere fulfilled. And yet its highest force and significance belong to the highest things, and so the promise contains the glory of the Messianic revelation.

Verse 15. I will give you pastors according to mine heart] The pastor means either the king or the prophet; and the pastors here promised may be either kings or prophets, or both. These shall be according to God’s own heart; they shall be of his own choosing and shall be qualified by himself: and in consequence they shall feed the people with knowledge, דעה deah, that Divine truth concerning the true God and the best interests of man, which was essentially necessary to their salvation; and understanding lykch haskeil, the full interpretation of every point, that in receiving the truth they might become wise, holy, and happy.

Verse 15. I will give you pastors according to my heart — This is likewise an evangelical promise, (compare Jeremiah 23:4,) implying that under the happy times here foretold all governors, both civil and ecclesiastical, should faithfully discharge their trust, in duly governing and instructing the people committed to their charge; and that all in authority should answer the character which God gives of David, namely, that he was a man after his own heart, whereas, at the time when Jeremiah lived, the princes, the priests, and prophets were the ringleaders in seducing the people, and enticing them to idolatry: see Jeremiah 2:8, and Lowth. “Those are pastors after God’s own heart,” says Henry, “that make it their business to feed the flock; not to feed themselves and fleece the flock, but to do all they can for the good of those that are under their charge; that feed them with wisdom and understanding — That is, wisely and understandingly, as David fed them, in the integrity of his heart and by the skilfulness of his hands, Psalm 78:72. Those that are not only pastors, or rulers, but teachers, must feed them with the word of God, which is wisdom and understanding, and is able to make us wise unto salvation.”

15. Pastors — No matter how few and poor and scattered the flock, they shall have shepherds. Under this term are included, not prophets and priests, but rulers who held to the people a parental relation, and were, under the great Shepherd, their guardians and guides.

V. 16. Multiplied-After the growth of the church under the Messiah. The ark-That whole worship with all the rites and ceremonies belonging to it shall cease, Christ being come, who was the substance of what the ark, and all other rites shadowed. Covenant-Called also the ark of the testimony, because the two tables of the law, which were the testimony, or witness of the covenant were in it. Any more-It shall be no more in use; neither shall men trouble their thoughts about it, or mention it.

Verse 16. The ark of the covenant of the Lord] This symbol of the Divine presence, given to the Jews as a token and pledge of God’s dwelling among them, shall be no longer necessary, and shall no longer exist; for in the days of the Messiah, to which this promise seems to relate, God’s worship shall not be confined either to one place or to one people. The temple of God shall be among men, and every where God be adored through Christ Jesus.

Neither shall that be done any more.] The ark shall be no more established, nor carried from place to place, nor shall men go to visit it. All its ceremonies and importance shall cease; and, if lost, shall never be rebuilt.

Verse 16. And when ye be multiplied — That is, when the kingdom of the Messiah shall be set up, and there shall be a vast increase of the members of the church by the accession of the Gentiles: for that the days of the Messiah are here intended, the Jewish masters themselves acknowledge; they shall say no more, The ark, &c. — The ark is here put for all the legal ceremonies, being, with the rites connected with it, the chief part thereof. The sense is, that whole worship, with all the rites and ceremonies belonging to it, shall wholly cease, Christ being come, who was the substance of what the ark and all other rites did but shadow out for a time. “Here,” says Blaney, “God comforts the Jews with an assurance that, though upon their return to him they might not find themselves in possession of exactly the same privileges as they had before, they should be no losers, but should receive ample indemnification, so as to leave them no just cause of regret. The ark of the covenant was the visible seat of God’s residence among his people; it was therefore the object of their boast; but after the destruction of the first temple they had it no more. But, to compensate this loss, they are told, in the next verse, that Jerusalem should be called the throne of Jehovah, to which, not the Jews only, but all nations should resort. By Jerusalem is probably meant the Christian Church: see Galatians 4:26; Revelation 21:2, 3. The greater privileges of this latter would, of course, supersede all boast on account of those which had belonged to the Jewish Church at any time.” Neither shall it come to mind — Hebrew, bl l[ hl[y alw, which Blaney renders, Nor shall it be the delight of their heart; namely, as it formerly was, observing, that several passages of Scripture where the same phrase occurs show this to be the import of it. What value the Israelites set upon the ark, and how much they were attached to it, appears from many parts of their history. Neither shall they remember it — They shall forget the less in contemplation of the greater benefit. Neither shall they visit it — Or care for it, as Blaney translates wdqpy, which often signifies to look after a thing, which has been long lost or neglected, with a wish or design to recover or restore it. In this sense God is said to have visited his people, Exodus 3:16; Luke 1:68; that is, he again showed that he concerned himself about them. And so it is said of the people, Isaiah 26:16, O Lord, in trouble have they visited thee; that is, they, who before neglected thee, in their affliction turned their thoughts and desires toward thee. Neither shall that be done any more — It shall be no more in use; neither shall men trouble their thoughts about it, or mention it. The Hebrew, dw[ hc[y alw, is literally rendered by the LXX., kai ou poihqhsetai eti, Nor shall it be made any more. So also the Vulgate, nec fiet ultra. The ark, once lost, was never to be made again, or restored: and for a good reason, which immediately follows; because, instead of the ark, Jerusalem itself, that is, the Christian Church, was to become the seat of God’s residence. It is probable that this great variety of expressions is used, not only to show that the ceremonies of the law of Moses should be totally and finally abolished, never to be used any more, but that it would be with difficulty that those who had been so long wedded to them would be weaned from them; and that they would not quite relinquish them till their holy city and holy house should both be levelled with the ground.

Ver. 16. And it shall come to pass when ye are multiplied and increased— they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord. Here a new scene opens, as in Isaiah 65:17; a new law, when the Messiah, not the ark of wood, should be the boast and glory of Israel. The ark, in which Christ then dwelt, divided the Jordan, and threw down the walls of Jericho; but then the same Lord will openly put all his enemies under his feet.

16. No more, The ark, etc. — They shall not want the symbol, because they have the high and glorious reality. They shall not need the tables of stone, for God shall write the law on the tables of their hearts. They shall no longer need the symbolized presence of Jehovah, for Jerusalem shall be his throne and dwellingplace. This passage has an exact parallel ina higher plane in Revelation 21:22. “And I saw no temple therein.” Heaven, as has been well said, will be “a templeless, because an all-temple, state.” So the full spiritual revelation of God must of necessity do away with all material symbols.

V. 17. The throne-Instead of the ark, the church typified by Jerusalem, shall be the place of God’s residence, where by his spirit he will rule and act in his word and ordinances. Jerusalem-Dwelling in Jerusalem, or where the Lord placed his name, of old in Jerusalem, but now in the church. Neither-Both Jews and Gentiles shall now conform themselves to the will of God.

Verse 17. They shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord] The new Jerusalem, the universal Church of Christ, shall be God’s throne: and wherever he is acknowledged as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, there God sits on his throne, and holds his court.

Verse 17. At that time — Of reformation, diorqwsewv, emendation, (Hebrews 9:10,) when things should be put into a better state by the coming of the Messiah; they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord — Instead of the ark, the Christian Church, typified by Jerusalem, shall be the place of God’s special residence, power, and glory; where he will rule and act, and display his glory, in and by his word and ordinances, and especially in and by the Messiah. And all the nations shall be gathered unto it — Not only the Jews and Israelites, but many of all nations: many of the heathen shall be brought to worship the true God, and to embrace the Christian faith. To the name of the Lord — Which shall be both manifested and called upon in his church, as formerly at Jerusalem. Neither shall they walk, &c. — Both Jews and Gentiles shall now conform themselves to the will of God. The word twrrv, here rendered imagination, is derived from a root that signifies to see, and is sometimes applied to the judgment, and sometimes to the affections. Here it may comprehend both: they shall neither follow their own corrupt judgment nor affection, but wholly the word of God.

Ver. 17. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord. Whatever gracious comfort this great promise might afford the Jews under the second temple, (and they apply it wholly to themselves) all critics seem agreed that its grand bearings are on the new-testament church in the glory of the latter day. “Not the earthly,” says Poole, “but the spiritual Jerusalem, even the church, of which the earthly was a type.” Vide Synopsis in loc. Professor Cocceius, of Leyden, anno 1663, from whose Latin Commentary I translate this note, says, “This is that greater good and superior glory, which Jehovah shall reveal; not dwelling in the sanctuary, the holy place, but about to be manifested in the ways of Jerusalem, nay in all the earth.” Jeremiah explains what John means by skhnwsei dwelt among us, 1:14; and which Isaiah, 2:2, calls “the mountain of the house of the Lord, established on the top of the mountains;” that is, all his future glory, and indeed a greater glory than any mountain ever saw. This is the Jerusalem and the mountain hereafter to be the throne of Jehovah. Thus Psalm 82:1, is understood. “God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.” Besides, in or before that throne, Christ is the to ilasthrion, the propitiation, the mercyseat here after to be set forth. Romans 3:25.

All the nations shall be gathered to the name of the Lord. They shall join in the worship of his name, detesting all idols. Joel 2:32.

17. All the nations shall be gathered — Let this passage, the meaning of which is so unmistakable, explain all similar passages. The sense in which the nations of the earth shall gather to Jerusalem, according to this golden vision, is doubtless that in which the Jewish people shall gather there. It only means that the spiritual Jerusalem shall be the capital of the world, and all nations shall “bring their glory and honour into it.”

V. 18. Judah-The two kingdoms shall become one. Shall come-Of their captivity, a promise of their enjoying again their ancient possession at their last conversion.

Verse 18. The house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel] That is, in those days in which the Jews shall be brought in with the fulness of the Gentiles.

Out of the land of the north] From Chaldea. This prophecy has two aspects: one refers to the return from the Babylonish captivity; the other, to the glorious days of Christianity. But the words may refer to that gathering together of the Jews, not only from Chaldea, but from the countries of their dispersion over the face of the whole earth, and uniting them in the Christian Church.

Verse 18. In those days the house of Judah, &c. — Judah and Israel shall be happily united; the enmity that was between them shall be taken away, and they shall walk one with another, in a friendly manner, in the ways of God. This implies their being incorporated in one body, by one spirit, under Christ their head, and that without distinction of nations. This reunion of Israel and Judah, and their joint participation of the blessings of the Messiah’s kingdom, is elsewhere foretold. See the margin. And they shall come together out of the land of the north — Namely, out of their captivity; to the land that I have given them — That is, the land of Canaan. Both Assyria and Chaldea fell into the hands of Cyrus, and his proclamation extended to all the Jews in all his dominions. And therefore we have reason to think that many of the house of Israel came with those of Judah out of the land of the north; though at first there returned but forty-two thousand, of whom we have an account, Ezra 2., yet Josephus saith, (Antiq., lib. 11. cap. 4,) that some years after, under Darius, Zerubbabel went and fetched up above four million of souls to the land that was given for an inheritance to their fathers. And we never read of such animosities and enmities between Israel and Judah as had been formerly. And the happy coalescence between Israel and Judah in Canaan was a type of their union, and that of Jews and Gentiles in the gospel church, when, all enmities being slain, they should become one flock under one shepherd. It may also be implied in these words, as many commentators think is expressly declared in many other passages of the ancient prophets, that in the latter days the Jews and Israelites, after their conversion to Christianity, shall actually return from their several dispersions to dwell, as a nation, in their own land.

18. Judah shall walk with… Israel — The lost harmony shall be restored. Partners in a common exile, they shall rejoice in a common deliverance. Hand in hand shall these wanderers return from the land of “the north,” or midnight, into the warmth and light, the safety and the glory, of the city of God.

V. 19. Put-Esteem thee as my child, ‘till thou give some proof, of thy repentance. Give thee-How shall I put thee into possession of that pleasant land. Of nations-Great hosts and multitudes of nations, or Gentiles, that shall be joined to them in the gospel church. Thou shalt-On this condition, that thou wilt own me, and not return any more to idols.

Verse 19. How shalt I put thee among the children] As if he had said, How can ye be accounted a holy seed, who are polluted? How can ye be united to the people of God, who walk in the path of sinners? How can ye be taken to heaven, who are unholy within, and unrighteous without? And I said, Thou shalt call me, My father] This is the answer to the above question. They could not be put among the children unless they became legal members of the heavenly family: and they could not become members of this family unless they abandoned idolatry, and took the Lord for their portion. Nor could they be continued in the privileges of the heavenly family, unless they no more turned away from their heavenly Father.

Verse 19. But I said — Namely, within myself, God is here represented as deliberating with himself, after the manner of men, in what way he might, consistently with his divine attributes, receive the Jewish people into his favour, and admit them into the Christian Church. How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land? — How can it be consistent with my divine holiness and justice to receive such a rebellious people into my favour, to own them for my children, and restore them to the possession of that goodly inheritance which I gave to their fathers. Judea is elsewhere called a pleasant land, the glory of all lands, and the land which God had espied out for his chosen people: see Daniel 8:9; and 11:16, 45; Ezekiel 20:6. A goodly heritage of the hosts of nations — The Hebrew, µywg twabx ybx, is literally, the glory of hosts, or, multitudes of nations, that which they esteem glorious, a phrase of the same import with that now quoted from Ezekiel, the glory of all lands. This pleasant land, and glory of the hosts of nations, is here to be taken figuratively, for the Christian Church and the privileges of the gospel covenant. And the condition of adoption into the former, and of enjoying the latter, are expressly stated by Christ and his apostles to be the same as are here prescribed, namely, true faith in God, as our Father, our reconciled Father in Christ, (which faith is always preceded by the repentance required, verse 13,) and uniform obedience for the time to come. Thou shalt call me, My Father, and shalt not turn away from me — On these conditions I will put thee among the children.

THE CONDITIONS OF RESTORATION, 19-25.

19. But — The relation of the thought is completely missed in the English Version. The conjunction is not adversative but continuative — and not “BUT.” How is not interrogative, but exclamatory, marking a declaration of God’s gracious purpose, and not, as in the text, the statement of a theological problem. How gloriously will I distinguish thee by the value and the beauty of thy heritage! Thou — Hebrew, ye; meaning not Israel collectively, but the individuals thereof.

Verses 20, 21. Surely, as a wife treacherously departeth, &c. — This may be rendered, As a woman is not faithful to her husband, or, her friend, as the Hebrew h[r signifies. Here God returns to the carnal Israelites; so that the Jewish doctors seem to be right in calling the spirit of prophecy an abrupt spirit. So have you dealt treacherously with me — God, by thus reminding the Israelites of what they had formerly been, endeavours to bring them to repentance and new obedience for the time to come. A voice was heard, &c. — Here the prophet, foreseeing that some of them would at length be brought to true repentance for all their misdoings, represents them as bewailing themselves upon the high places, the scenes of their former idolatries. Compare Jeremiah 31:9, and 50:4; Zechariah 12:10. Or, as some think, he alludes to the usual practice of praying upon the tops of houses in great calamities, Isaiah 15:3; and 22:1; Jeremiah 7:29. For they have perverted their way — This is that which they lament: for this they bemoan themselves. They have forgotten the Lord their God — Of this they were now sensible, and for this they were humbled, as being the first step toward their apostacy. Observe well, reader, 1st, Sin is the perverting of our way; it is turning aside to crooked paths, and perverting that which is right. By it we embarrass ourselves, and bring ourselves into trouble and misery. 2d, Forgetting the Lord our God is at the bottom of all sin: if men would remember God, and their obligations to him, and consider that his eye is upon them, they would not transgress as they do. 3d, Prayers and tears well become those whose consciences tell them that they have perverted their way and forgotten their God.

20. Surely as — Rather, Just as. Husband — Hebrew, friend. Israel has been false to the holiest obligations, and this would seem to close the door of hope for her return.

V. 21. A voice-Here the prophet seems to express Israel’s repentance. Forgotten-This expresses, rather the matter or their prayer, than the cause of it.

Verse 21. A voice was heard upon the high places] Here the Israelites are represented as assembled together to bewail their idolatry and to implore mercy. While thus engaged, they hear the gracious call of Jehovah—

Verses 20, 21. Surely, as a wife treacherously departeth, &c. — This may be rendered, As a woman is not faithful to her husband, or, her friend, as the Hebrew h[r signifies. Here God returns to the carnal Israelites; so that the Jewish doctors seem to be right in calling the spirit of prophecy an abrupt spirit. So have you dealt treacherously with me — God, by thus reminding the Israelites of what they had formerly been, endeavours to bring them to repentance and new obedience for the time to come. A voice was heard, &c. — Here the prophet, foreseeing that some of them would at length be brought to true repentance for all their misdoings, represents them as bewailing themselves upon the high places, the scenes of their former idolatries. Compare Jeremiah 31:9, and 50:4; Zechariah 12:10. Or, as some think, he alludes to the usual practice of praying upon the tops of houses in great calamities, Isaiah 15:3; and 22:1; Jeremiah 7:29. For they have perverted their way — This is that which they lament: for this they bemoan themselves. They have forgotten the Lord their God — Of this they were now sensible, and for this they were humbled, as being the first step toward their apostacy. Observe well, reader, 1st, Sin is the perverting of our way; it is turning aside to crooked paths, and perverting that which is right. By it we embarrass ourselves, and bring ourselves into trouble and misery. 2d, Forgetting the Lord our God is at the bottom of all sin: if men would remember God, and their obligations to him, and consider that his eye is upon them, they would not transgress as they do. 3d, Prayers and tears well become those whose consciences tell them that they have perverted their way and forgotten their God.

21. A voice was heard — And so there is lamentation. The very high places which have witnessed their shameless idolatry shall witness their penitential distress. This publicity of their sorrow answers to that of their sin.

Verse 22. Return, ye backsliding children] This they gladly receive, and with one voice make their confession to him: “Behold, we come unto thee, for thou art Jehovah our God;” and thence to the end of the chapter, show the reasons why they return unto God. 1. Because he is the true God. 2. Because the idols did not profit them: they could give no help in time of trouble. 3. Because it is the prerogative of God alone to give salvation. 4. Because they had no kind of prosperity since they had abandoned the worship of their Maker. And this was not only their case, but it was the case of their forefathers, who all suffered in consequence of their idolatry and disobedience. 5. These reasons are concluded with a hearty confession of sin, at the thought of which they are confounded; for the remembrance of their sin was grievous to them, and the burden was intolerable. This confession ended, God appears in the next chapter with gracious promises, and proper directions how they are to return, and how to conduct themselves in future.

Verse 22. Here begins a dialogue between God and his people, wherein he offers gracious terms of pardon to them, and they make sincere professions of obedience to him. Return, ye backsliding — Or revolted, children — Return to me, and to my worship and service; return to your duty. God is introduced as saying this upon hearing the weeping and supplications of the Israelites, acknowledging their sin, and humbling themselves for it. And I will heal your backslidings — Your revolts, or apostacies: I will take away the guilt of them, and save you from a refractory and revolting disposition. God heals our backslidings by his pardoning mercy, his composing peace, and his renewing grace. Behold, we come unto thee — We readily and cheerfully obey thy command, and comply with thy invitation. It is an echo to God’s call; an immediate, speedy answer, without delay; not we will come hereafter, but we do come now; we need not take time to consider of it. For thou art the Lord our God — Words expressing the strongest inducements to return to God imaginable, because God had an undoubted right to them and their services, was willing to accept them, and able to save them, Isaiah 55:7; chap. 14:22. Not only this latter part of the verse, but what follows, to the end of the chapter, is spoken of in the name of the Israelites, accepting the divine invitation, acknowledging the vanity of their misplaced trust, and professing the deepest contrition and shame for their misconduct. It is a description, not of what was really done by the Israelites in general, but of what was necessary to be done in order to their regaining God’s favour; and of what he foresaw would actually be done by such of them as should believe on the Messiah, when he came, and receive the privileges and blessings of the new covenant.

22. Answering to this penitence is God’s gracious willingness to receive and pardon. The prophet echoes the divine invitation and promise. Return, ye backsliding children… I will heal your backslidings — Literally, Turn, ye turned children, I will heal your turnings. To this promise they answer, Behold, we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God.

V. 23. The hills-From idols which were worshipped upon hills. Mountains-The multitude of sacrifices, which they offer in the mountains.

Verse 23. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills — From idols worshipped on hills and mountains. It is a continuation of that form of confession begun verse 22, drawn up with a reference to the present state of the idolatrous Israelites; wherein they express their abhorrence of those idols which they worshipped upon the hills and mountains, and declare their firm resolution of adhering to, and depending upon, the Lord their God. There being nothing in the original of this clause for salvation is hoped for, it has been differently interpreted by learned men. The LXX. render it, ontwv eiv yeudov hsan oi bounoi, kai h dunamiv twn orewn, Truly the hills and the power of the mountains were for a lie. And the Vulgate nearly to the same sense, Vere mendaces erant colles, et multitudo montium, Truly the hills were liars, and the multitude of mountains; that is, they were deceitful: they promised what they did not perform. To the same purpose the Syriac. Blaney renders the verse, “Surely the hills are lies; the tumult of mountains: surely in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel.” “The people,” he observes, “acknowledge that the hills, the places sacred to idolatrous worship, and the tumultuous rites with which that worship was accompanied, (see 1 Kings 18:26, 28,) were mere impostures, deceiving and disappointing those that trusted in them; whereas Jehovah was indeed the author of salvation to his people.”

23. In vain… from the hills — Various translations of this text have been made: “Surely in vain from the hills is the revelry of the mountains.” — Dean Smith. “As certainly as hills are false, mountains are empty sound,” etc. — Nagelsbach. “Surely hills are lies, the tumult of the mountains.” — Blayney. “In vain resounds from the hills revelry, even from the mountains.” — Ewald. “Truly the sound from the hills, from the mountains, is become falsehood.” — Keil. This last conforms closely to the original, and gives a sense manifestly congruous with the context. The passage states the falseness of idolatrous trusts, and calls back the thought of the people to the one God as the only ground of confidence.

V. 24. Shame-Sin, which causes shame, for that brought shame first into the world. Devoured-This hath been the fruit of our labour.

Verse 24. For shame hath devoured] The word shame, here and in Jeremiah 11:13; Hosea 9:10, is supposed to signify Baal, the idol which they worshipped. That thing or shame which has brought you into contempt, confusion, and ruin. Sooner or later every sinner must be ashamed of his conduct; next, confounded; and, lastly, ruined by it, unless by true faith and hearty repentance he returns to the Lord. JEREMIAH

Verses 24, 25. For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers — That is, the fruit of their labour, [ygy, which properly signifies labour and toil, being here put by a metonymy for the substance acquired by toil; that is, their labours have been followed by disappointment and shame; they have not reaped the expected fruit of them. Or sin, which causes shame, especially the sin of idolatry, has brought all our calamities upon us, the loss of our goods and substance, the dispersion of our families and nearest relations, and all the other miseries of our captivity: all these evils, which we and our forefathers have felt, are the effects of our idolatry, of which we are now heartily ashamed, and which had brought shame and confusion upon us. Blaney renders tvbh, (which we translate shame,) that thing of shame, meaning the idol which they worshipped, called by the same name, chap. 11:13; Hosea 10:10; “and with good reason,” says he, “because, in return for all the expense and pains bestowed upon it, it only frustrated the hopes of its votaries, and, as it follows in the next verse, left them mortified with disappointment, and overwhelmed with disgrace, for having deserted the service of a Being that could have saved them, in pursuit of so vile and worthless an object.” We lie down in our shame — Being unable to bear it. Our confusion covereth us — On account both of our sins and sufferings. Sin hath laid us under such rebukes of God’s providence, and such reproaches of our own consciences, as surround us and fill us with shame. These expressions, which set forth the greatness of their repentance and sorrow, are taken from those who cast themselves down upon the ground, and cover themselves with dust or ashes, out of grief and anguish of mind.

Ver. 24. Shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers. The altars and worship of Baal, and all the gods of Syria, which are called “a shameful thing: Jeremiah 11:13.

24. Shame hath devoured, etc. — Literally, the shame, namely, the shame-god, an opprobrious epithet for Baal, whose worship had eaten up the substance of the people and even devoured their children.

V. 25. Lie down-An expression to set forth the greatness of their repentance and sorrow in great perplexity, not knowing what to do, throws himself down upon his couch or bed.

Verses 24, 25. For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers — That is, the fruit of their labour, [ygy, which properly signifies labour and toil, being here put by a metonymy for the substance acquired by toil; that is, their labours have been followed by disappointment and shame; they have not reaped the expected fruit of them. Or sin, which causes shame, especially the sin of idolatry, has brought all our calamities upon us, the loss of our goods and substance, the dispersion of our families and nearest relations, and all the other miseries of our captivity: all these evils, which we and our forefathers have felt, are the effects of our idolatry, of which we are now heartily ashamed, and which had brought shame and confusion upon us. Blaney renders tvbh, (which we translate shame,) that thing of shame, meaning the idol which they worshipped, called by the same name, chap. 11:13; Hosea 10:10; “and with good reason,” says he, “because, in return for all the expense and pains bestowed upon it, it only frustrated the hopes of its votaries, and, as it follows in the next verse, left them mortified with disappointment, and overwhelmed with disgrace, for having deserted the service of a Being that could have saved them, in pursuit of so vile and worthless an object.” We lie down in our shame — Being unable to bear it. Our confusion covereth us — On account both of our sins and sufferings. Sin hath laid us under such rebukes of God’s providence, and such reproaches of our own consciences, as surround us and fill us with shame. These expressions, which set forth the greatness of their repentance and sorrow, are taken from those who cast themselves down upon the ground, and cover themselves with dust or ashes, out of grief and anguish of mind.

25. We lie down in our shame, etc. — We will patiently submit to this misery and disgrace which our own infamous sin has invited.