Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

“His "supplanting" was in order to obtain Jehovah's blessing. They plant Jehovah for "trust in man" (Jer 17:5), and then think to deceive God, as if it could escape His notice, that it is in man, not in Him, they trust.”

Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.

“Prayer of the prophet for deliverance from the enemies whom he excited by his faithful denunciations. Heal . . .”

This is what the LORD says: Take heed for yourselves; do not carry a load or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.

“Jerusalem--It would have been scandalous anywhere; but in the capital, Jerusalem, it was an open insult to God.”

then kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city. They will sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses with their officials, along…

“kings . . . in chariots--The kingdom at this time had been brought so low that this promise here was a special favor. remain--Hebrew, "be inhabited" (Jer 17:6;”

And people will come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, and from the foothills, the hill country, and the Negev, bringing…

“plain mountains . . . south-- (Jos 15:1-4). The southern border had extended to the river of Egypt, but was now much curtailed by Egyptian invasions (2Ch 35:20; The Hebrew for "south" means dry; the arid desert south of Judea is meant.”

So I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working at the wheel.

“On the upper the potter moulded the clay into what shapes he pleased. They are found represented in Egyptian remains. In Ex 1:16 alone is the Hebrew word found elsewhere, but in a different sense.”

But the vessel that he was shaping from the clay became flawed in his hand; so he formed it into another vessel, as it seemed best for him to do.

“"Of clay" is the true reading, which was corrupted into "as clay" (Margin), through the similarity of the two Hebrew letters, and from Jer 18:6, "as the clay."”

At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed.

“At what instant--in a moment, when the nation least expects it. Hereby he reminds the Jews how marvellously God had delivered them from their original degradation, that is, In one and the same day ye were the most wretched, and then the most favored of…”

Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard things like these? Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing.

“Even among the heathen it was a thing unheard of, that a nation should lay aside its gods for foreign gods, though their gods are false gods. But Israel forsook the true God for foreign false gods. virgin of Israel-- (2Ki 19:21).”

Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave its rocky slopes? Or do its cool waters flowing from a distance ever run dry?

“Lebanon means the "white mountain"; so called from the perpetual snow which covers that part called Hermon, stretching northeast of Palestine. that come from another place--that come from far, namely, from the distant lofty rocks of Lebanon.”

Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of…

“This implies a previous knowledge of God, whereas He was unknown to the Gentiles; the Jews' forgetting of God, therefore, arose from determined perversity. they have caused . . . to stumble--namely the false prophets and idolatrous priests have.”

Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me.

“In the particulars here specified, Jeremiah was a type of Jesus Christ (Ps 109:4, 5; Joh 15:25). my soul--my life; me (Ps 35:7). I stood before thee . . . to turn away thy wrath--so Moses (Ps 106:23; compare Eze 22:30).”

Therefore, hand their children over to famine; pour out the power of the sword upon them.

“In this prayer he does not indulge in personal revenge, as if it were his own cause that was at stake; but he speaks under the dictation of the Spirit, ceasing to intercede, and speaking prophetically, knowing they were doomed to destruction as reprobates; for…”

So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.

“Thus the name indicated the joy of the people at the fancied propitiation of the god by this sacrifice; in antithesis to its joyless name subsequently.”

For this is what the LORD says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends.

“I will bring terror on thee and on all thy friends, that terror arising from thyself, namely, thy false prophecies. Thou and thy prophecies will be seen, to the dismay both of thee and thy dupes, to have caused their ruin and thine.”

You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.

“But Jeremiah misunderstood God's promise, which was not that he should have nothing to suffer, but that God would deliver him out of sufferings (Jer 1:19).”

For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long.

“Rather, "Whenever I speak, I cry out. Concerning violence and spoil, I (am compelled to) cry out," that is, complain [MAURER]. English Version in the last clause is more graphic, "I cried violence and spoil" (Jer 6:7)!”

For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!”

“GESENIUS not so well translates, according to Arabic idiom, "those guarding my side" (that is, my most intimate friends always at my side), in apposition to "familiars," and the subject of "say" (instead of "saying").”

Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed.

“The contrast between the spirit of this passage and the preceding thanksgiving is to be explained thus: to show how great was the deliverance (Jer 20:13), he subjoins a picture of what his wounded spirit had been previous to his deliverance;”

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. They said,

“Pashur--son of Melchiah, of the fifth order of priests, distinct from Pashur, son of Immer (Jer 20:1), of the sixteenth order (1Ch 24:9, 14). Zephaniah--of the twenty-fourth order. They are designated, not by their father, but by their family (1Ch 24:18).”

this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will turn against you the weapons of war in your hands, with which you are fighting the king of…

“God of Israel--Those "wondrous works" (Jer 21:2) do not belong to you; God is faithful; it is you who forfeit the privileges of the covenant by unfaithfulness.”

Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who besiege you will live; he will retain…

“(Jer 38:2, 17, 18). falleth to--deserts to. life . . . a prey--proverbial, to make one's escape with life, like a valuable spoil or prey that one carries off; the narrowness of the escape, and the joy felt at it, are included in the idea…”

O house of David, this is what the LORD says: ‘Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor, or My wrath will…

“MAURER translates, "every morning." lest my fury . . . like fire--Already it was kindled, and the decree of God gone forth against the city (Jer 21:4, 5), but the king and his house may yet be preserved by repentance and reformation.”

And many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’

“The Gentile nations, more intelligent than you, shall understand that which ye do not, namely, that this city is a spectacle of God's vengeance [CALVIN].”

who says, ‘I will build myself a great palace, with spacious upper rooms.’ So he cuts windows in it, panels it with cedar, and paints it with vermilion.

“Retaining English Version, there must be understood something remarkable about the windows, since they are deemed worthy of notice. GESENIUS thinks the word dual, "double windows," the blinds being two-leaved.”