John Wesley (NT Notes)

“A maid - How unlikely is it, that a maid should forget her ornaments? A bride - Those jewels which the bridegroom was wont to present his bride with. Forgotten - In the neglect of my worship; me, who was not only their defense, but their glory.”

“Trimmest - Or, deckest, Ezek xxiii, 40, thinking thereby to entice others to thy help. Taught - Nations that have been vile enough of themselves, by thy example are become more vile.”

“Skirts - Of thy garments: the tokens of cruelty may be seen openly there. Innocents - In thee is found the murder expressed here by blood of innocent persons, murdering souls as well as bodies. Search - Hebrew. by digging; as if the earth had covered the blood…”

“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 l…”

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

“The nations - This shall be a means to work upon the Heathen nations, to come into the same way of worship. They shall think themselves happy to be incorporated with thee, that it may be with them according to that promise, Gen. xii, 3. Glory - Whereas before …”

“The trumpet - The Lord being now about to bring enemies upon them, speaks in martial language, warning them of the nature of their approaching judgment.”

“Deceived - Hast suffered them to be deceived by their false prophets. Whereas - To persuade them it should be well with them, when the sword is at the door, not only ready to take away the comforts of life, but even life itself.”

“In the plain - Where there is no stop in the way to break its fury. Toward - Directly, and designedly, coming in the way leading to my people. Not - Not such a gentle wind, as is made choice of to separate the chaff from the wheat; but so boisterous and violen…”

“As clouds - Denoting the suddenness of them, when not expected, clouds often rising on a sudden, and overspread the whole face of the heavens; or the great swiftness with which Nebuchadnezzar should march against them. As a whirlwind - Which, besides the swift…”

“Wash - As a means to prevent the judgments that are impending.”

“From Daniel - Daniel was the first place the Chaldeans came to, being the utmost boundary of Canaan northward. Ephraim was the innermost border of Israel in the north of Judea, intimating the march of the Babylonians thro' all Israel.”

“Make mention - These words are a proclamation, summoning the nations by the Chaldeans. Watchers - Chaldean soldiers, who shall so carefully encompass Jerusalem, that none shall escape.”

“My bowels - Here begins the complaint of the prophet. My heart - Is disturbed within me. Because - I have heard in the spirit of prophecy; it is as certain, as if I now heard the trumpet sounding.”

“I beheld - I Jeremiah saw this in a vision. It - The land was squalid, and ruined, like the first chaos, for which reason possibly he calls Judah the earth, in allusion to Gen. i, 2.”

“In travail - When the scripture would express any exquisite sorrow, it doth it by a woman in travail. First child - Which is usually the most painful.”

“In the broad places - Even there, where men meet from all quarters. A man - It seems worse than Sodom and Gomorrah, for God condescends to pardon Jerusalem, if there be but one righteous man found in it; there he came no lower than ten.”

“Though - Though when they swear, they use the form of an oath, and say, the Lord liveth, or by the living God: yet it is neither in truth nor righteousness.”

“O Lord - Dost not thou approve truth and faithfulness. Grieved - They have not repented. Consumed - God had not only lightly chastised them, but wasted them by several enemies, yet they have profited nothing by it.”

“A lion - Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldean army are here pointed at under the metaphor of beasts of prey of three kinds; compared to a lion, which denotes his great power, courage, and pride. A wolf - For their greediness and unsatiableness. A leopard - The Chal…”

“Became wind - A proverbial expression, all the prophet's threats shall come to nothing. The word - The prophet's words are not from God. Thus - It shall fall upon their own heads that have thus threatened us.”

“Israel - By these are meant Judah; for Israel were in captivity before: called the house of Israel, not only because they descended from Jacob, but because they were the chief of that stock.”

“And hear not - They are wilfully blind, and obstinately deaf, will neither see, nor hear the word, will, or works of God, of which he giveth two instances in the two following verses.”

“Reserveth - He gives seasonable harvests according to his appointment. God would let them know what a foolish, as well as wicked thing it is to set themselves against that God, that keeps the whole order of nature at his own disposal, which he can order as he …”

“They catch - Such a trap did Jezebel lay for Naboth, 1 Kings xxi, 9, 10. Such an one was that conspiracy of more than forty men against Paul, Acts xxiii, 13-15.”