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Verse 1.-Nebo !-Kiriathaim] Cities of Moab. 5. For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; &c.] At Lubith the hill country of Moab appears to have begun; and here the people are represented as mounting the hill successively in their flight before the enemy, weeping as they follow one another. At Horonaim they descended again into the plain.

6.-be like the heath in the wilderness.] Or, like "a blasted," or "naked tree:" that is, a tree stripped of its leaves. A proper emblem of one robbed of all his fortune, and just able to escape with life by fleeing into the desert.

7.-Chemosh] The idol of the Moabites.

10. Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully, &c.] A curse is here denounced against those, who having received a commission from God as His ministers to take vengeance on the Moabites, do not fully and faithfully exe. cute it.

11. he hath settled on his lees,] Wine preserves its strength and flavour the better from being kept for some time upon the lees; and it is apt to be damaged by being drawn off too soon into other vessels. By this allegory therefore, Moab is represented as having enjoyed singular advantages from constantly remaining in his own country, ever since he became a people.

12.-wanderers, that shall cause him to wander,] The Chaldeans, who came out of a foreign country: these shall make a prey of him.

17.-How is the strong staff broken,] A staff, or rod, is an emblem of authority, and thence comes to signify a kingdom, or government.

26. Make ye him drunken:] That is, drunken with the cup of God's fury: overwhelmed with calamities.

27. For was not Israel a derision unto thee? &c.] Was not Israel without cause an object of

acorn unto thee? In what had he offended thee? However guilty he were in his carriage towards Me, yet to thee he was inoffensive: notwithstanding thou didst rejoice in his fall.

30. I know his wrath, but it shall not be so; &c.] I know his haughty boastings; but it shall not be so with him as he imagineth: his great words and presumptuous undertakings shall not carry it.

32. O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jaser:] The expressions denote the destruction of the fruitful vineyards of Sibmah,

36.mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes,] I will groan for Moab and make a noise of mourning like that of the pipes used at funerals.

37. For every head shall be bald, &c.]. In token of grief.. We often read of persons eutting themselves when in great anguish.

40.-he shall fly as an eagle,] That is, the Babylonian conqueror.

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43. Fear, and the pit, and the snare, &c.] See Is. xxiv. 17, 18; and the note there.

CHAP. XLIX.

Verse 1.-why then doth their king inherit Gad,] Why doth the king of the Amonites seize on the country belonging to the tribe of Gad, as though the Israelites had lost their right to the inheritance?

2.-her daughters] That is, the smaller cities, which are reckoned as so many daughters to their mother city.

7.-Is wisdom no more in Teman ?] Notwithstanding the great pretence of the Edomites to wisdom and policy, it shall not be able to deliver them from the judgments God will bring on them.

8.-dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan;] The "dwelling deep" recommended to the Arab tribes here and at verse 30, probably means their plunging far into the deserts, where their enemies dare not follow them.

9. If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? &c.] The vintage can hardly be gathered so clean, but that there will be gleaning left. Nay the housebreakers commonly leave something behind them. But the desolation which is coming upon thee shall be so entire, that scarcely a remnant shall be preserved, Compare Obad. ver. 5.

12.-they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; &c.] Even My own people the Jews, who in comparison of thee, had no reason to be put to these extreme judgments, have yet been punished severely: and shalt thou escape?

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18.-Besrah] One of the chief cities of Idumea or Edom.

14. I have heard a rumour from the Lord, &c.] The Prophets often represent God as summoning armies, and setting them in array of battle against those people whom He has decreed to destroy God's stirring up men's minds to invade such countries is described here, as if He had sent an ambassador to the Chaldeans and their confederates, to engage them in a war against the Idumeans, according to the methods in which earthly princes use to engage their allies: compare chap. li. 27. 28.

19. Behold, he shall come up like a lion &c.] A description of Nebuchadnezzar, marching with his army against Idumea.

I will suddenly make him run away from her:] The most probable sense of these words is, that they indicate the Edomites running away from Nebuchadnezzar out of their own country, which seems to be understood by " her."

who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her?] That is, I will single out a man remarkable for his prowess; namely, Nebuchadnezzar, and place him at the head of the army, which shall execute My vengeance upon Edom.

20.-Surely the least of the flock shall draw them Out] The very meanest of the Chaldean army shall discomfit and overthrow the proud inhabitauts of Teman.

23.-Damascus,] The capital of the kingdom of

Syria.

26, How is the city of praise not left, &c, How is it that so famous a city as Damascus is not pared from destruction?

27.-Ben-hudad.] This seems to have been a common name for the kings of Syria, as Pharaoh was for those of Egypt.

28.-the men of the east.] The Arabians are so called in the language of Scripture.

31. Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, &c. Arise, ye Chaldeans, and go up to the rich ation of the Hazorites, who dwell without care in their tents; abounding with flocks and herds in the desert, where they dwell apart without cities and

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demption of Israel and Judah, who were not, like those oppressors, to be finally extirpated, but to survive them, and upon their repentance and conversion to be pardoned and restored.

Verse 2.-Bel-Merodach] Idols of the Babylonians.

3.-out of the north there cometh up a nation &c.] The Medes, who lay to the north of Babylon.

4. In those days, the children of Isruel shall come,-going and weeping: &c.] They shall, through the favour of the Persian monarchs, go up together, weeping for joy to return to their country, and to the place of God's worship.

6.-their shepherds have caused them to go astray, &c] Their pastors and governors have led them to commit idolatry, of which the mountains were a principal scene. And " they have gone from mountain to hill," varying the object or place of their idolatrous worship, and forgetting the sanctuary of their God, where alone they ought to have set up their rest.

7.-the habitation of justice,] A refuge and protection for the good and just.

12. Your mother shall be sore confounded; &c.] Your mother city, Babylon, shall be confounded; and Chaldea, which was the queen of all nations, shall now be cast behind all the rest, and become a very wilderness and a barren desert,

15.-she hath given her hand:] This probably alludes to the act of the vanquished, who throwing down his arms, and stretching forth his defenceless hands, acknowledges himself in the power of the

conqueror.

16.-they shall turn every one to his people,] They, that is, the allies of Babylon.

20.-the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none;] Their sins shall be done away through God's grace and mercy. This promise seems evidently to respect the Gospel times, and the remnant" that shall be saved "according to the election of grace." Rom. xi. 5.

23. How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken!] Babylon is here called " the hammer of the whole earth," as being that oppressive empire," which smote the people with a continual stroke;" Is. xiv. 6.

36.-upon the liars:] The false pretenders to the knowledge of future events.

38. A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up :] Babylon was taken by surprise, by unexpectedly draining the river Euphra tes, and entering through the channel into the city.

42. they are cruel, and will not shew mercy:] Upon the second capture of Babylon, as soon as Darius had made himself master of the place, he ordered three thousand of the principal men of the

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Verse 2.-fanners, that shall fan her,] Enemies that shall scatter her inhabitants, as fanners drive away the chaff.

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7. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, &c.] In what sense Babylon is called " eup" may be seen by comparing chap. xxv. 15. She was a splendid instrument of vengeance ordained by God against the neighbouring nations; and as all these had suffered by her, all are represented as ready to rejoice when her turn of suffer, ing came,

10. The Lord hath brought forth our righteousmess.] He hath declared our cause to be just (compare Ps. xxxvii. 6.) by bringing such remarkable judgments upon our enemies.

12. Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, &c.] The Prophet ironically encourages the Babylonians to use their best skill and courage for the defence of their city, which yet he forsees will be of no avail.

13. O thou that dwellest upon many waters,] Upon the river Euphrates, which encompassed Babylon, and ran through it, and by means of which it thought itself secure.

15-19. These verses are repeated from chap. x. 12-16.

20. Thou art my battle ax and weapons of war:] God speaks here to Cyrus, and tells him, that He will make use of him as an instrument of Providence, for the destroying of the whole power of the Babylonish empire, and of all orders of men in it.

27.-as the rough caterpillers.] Armies are frequently compared to swarms of insects on account of their numbers.

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32.- that the passages are stopped,] Or rather, surprised." These were probably the entrances into the city from the river side.

- and the reeds they have burned with fire,] The soldiers, seeing the Euphrates nearly dry, set fire to the reeds which covered its borders, in order to render more easy the approach of the troops to the walls.

33.-it is time to thresh her :] To tread, or cause the city to be trodden, as a threshing floor.

34. Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, A pathetick description of the calamities brought upon the Jews by Nebuchad■ezzar and his forces, who after they had devoured

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41.-Sheshach] That is, Babylon.

44.-I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up:] This was fulfilled, when the vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem, and placed in the temple of Bel (Dan. i. 2,) were restored by order of Cyrus (Ezra i. 7,) and carried to Jerusalem again.

46.-a rumour shall both come one year, &c.] Terrifying rumours shall continue year after year.

55.-destroyed out of her the great voice;] When cities are populous, they are of course noisy. Silence is therefore a mark of depopulation; and in this sense we are to understand God's destroying or taking away out of Babylon the great noise, which during the time of her prosperity was constantly heard in her.

58.-and the people shall labour in vain, &c.] In vain shall the people labour to quench that fire, which is kindled for the consuming of Babylon.

63.—thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:] The Prophets sometimes gave sensible representations of the judgments they foretold. This was a significative emblem of Babylon's sinking irrecoverably under the judgments here denounced against her. See note on Gen, xxxii. 25.

CHAP. LII.

This chapter was confessedly added by some one after Jeremiah's time, probably by Ezra, or whoever revised the sacred writings after the return of the Jews from Babylon, and collected them into one body. It contains a brief history of the captivity, nearly the same, word for word, as it is related in the second book of Kings, chap. xxiv. 18-20, and xxv.; together with some few additions. Some have supposed it placed here as a proper introduction to the Book of Lamentations. But more probably the design was, by immediately subjoining this historical narrative of the desolations of the Jewish nation to the predictions of Jeremiah concerning them, to hold forth a nearer view of the exact accomplishment of the Divine word of prophecy."

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THIS Book, which is written in a very plaintive strain of poetry, contains the lamentations and complaints which the Prophet Jeremiah poured forth in consequence of the desolation of Jerusalem, when the city was taken by the Chaldeans, and, together with the temple, burnt and destroyed, and the Jews carried away captive to Babylon.

CHAP. I.

Verse 1.-the city] Meaning Jerusalem, here represented as a person mourning over her forlorn condition.

2.-her lovers] Or allies.

7.—the adversaries-did mock at her sabbaths.] The heathen writers commonly ridicule the Jewish sabbaths, as a mark of the sloth and idleness of the people; without considering the excellent uses that day was designed for, namely, to give men leisure to attend upon the service of God, and learn the duties of religion.

9. Her filthiness is in her skirts;] The Prophet compares the Jewish people to a woman, whose filthiness is exposed to the publick view. But, as he continues, notwithstanding such degrees of sin, they would not believe or consider what would be the end of their wickedness,

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upon the Babylonians, and other nations hostile to the Jews, will certainly come at Thy appointed time.

The destruction of Jerusalem affords us a melancholy and alarming instance of Divine justice. The severity of this justice appears, not only in the city's being taken, and the people exposed to the fury of their enemies, and carried into captivity; but more especially in the burning of the temple, and the suppression of the Divine service. After such an example, no one can doubt but that God will severely revenge the contempt which men offer to His covenant, His worship, and the invitations of His mercy.

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key have made a noise in the house of the Lord, &c.] The enemies triumphed in the desolation of the temple with as loud a noise, as, the people were wont to make there in celebrating the praises of God on a solemn festival.

8. he hath stretched out u line,] As it were to mark out the extent of what was to be pulled down.

13. What thing shall I take to witness for thee?] With what example of like misery shall I go about to comfort thee?

14.-they have not discovered thine iniquity, &c.] They have not given the people a just sense of their iniquities, in order to avert God's judgments; but flattered them in their sins, with the hope of impunity.

false burdens] That is, false prophecies. 180 wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down &c.] As the wall and ramparts are said to lament, ver. 8, because their ruins are objects of lamentation; so here devout persons, upon the destruction of the city, direct their prayers to God, as if the ruins themselves did entreat Him to have compassion on the miseries of that place, which He had chosen for His peculiar residence.

let not the apple of thine eye ceuse.] Cease, that is, from looking toward God in prayer,

We

20.-Shall the women eat their fruit, &c.] find by comparing this verse with chap. iv. 10, that God brought upon them that terrible judgment, which He had denounced against them, if they continued to provoke Him; namely, that they should eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters," Levit. xxvi. 29.

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22. Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about,] Terrors came upon me on every side by Thy appointment; just as multitudes used to flock to Jerusalem at the times of the solemn feasts.

CHAP. III.

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Verse 2.-darkness,-light.] "Darkness" is a common emblem of distress, as light" is of prosperity.

16.

He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones,] I am as one that, instead of finding any support from food, has his mouth filled with gravel and ashes.

27. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.] It is good to be inured betimes to bear those useful restraints which arise from a sense of the duty we owe to God, and the obedience we ought to pay to His laws.

28. He sitteth alone &c.] The discipline of affliction makes a man serious and thoughtful, it disposes him to reflect on himself and his ways, and instructs him to acquiesce in the dispensations of Providence.

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33. For he doth not afflict willingly &c.] God does not afflict men merely to gratify His own pleasure, or exercise His authority; but for the good of the afflicted.

38. Out of the mouth of the most High proceed, eth not evil and good?] Do not calamities come from God's will and disposal, as well as prosperity? See Is. xlv. 7; Amos iii. 6.

If

30. Wherefore doth a living man complain, &c.] we consider God's afflictions as a just reward of our evil deeds, this will prevent all murmuring and repining against Providence; especially as long as men are on this side of the grave, they ought to be thankful for having an opportunity given them for repentance.

51. Mine eye affecteth mine heart] Or preys upon my heart: my grief wears out my health and strength.

54. Waters flowed over mine head;] A meta phor taken from a person ready to be drowned, to denote imminent danger and distress.

63. Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; &c.] In every part of their life, I am the object of their scorn and derision.

64. Render unto them a recompence,] See the note on Jer. xi. 20.

CHAP. IV.

Verse 1. How is the gold become dim: &c.] How is the glory of the temple obscured! The sanctuary now lies in ruins! And the stones of it are not distinguished from the common rubbish!

2. The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, &c.] Those that in honour and worth exceeded the meanest, as much as gold does earthenware, are now involved in the same common destruction.

3. Even the sea monsters draw out the breast,] They are not so unnatural as to neglect the care of their young ones: whereas the women of Jerusalem have been reduced to the necessity, not only of disregarding their children, but even of feeding upon them. See ver. 10.

5.-embrace dunghils.] That is, they lie on them, instead of the delicate couches, to which they were bred.

7.-Nazarites] By "Nazarites," we are in this place probably to understand, not persons, properly so called, who had set themselves apart by a religious vow, but persons of rank and distinction. Their beauty is here described under several images.

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