John Wesley (NT Notes)

“Of Lebanon - Lebanon had rocks, and also fruitful valleys; snow fell upon these rocks, and upon a thaw ran down into the lower places. Reason teaches men not to forsake a greater good for a less, tho' that greater good was but a poor creature comfort, not to b…”

“East wind - The east wind was in those parts the fiercest wind. As the east-wind scatters the chaff, so saith God, I will scatter them. In their calamity - And when they shall be in great calamity, I will turn my back upon them, I will not regard their prayers…”

“Therefore - But is it lawful for God's servants to pray for evil against their enemies? It is not lawful for Christians. It is doubtless our duty, to pray for the conversion, forgiveness, and eternal salvation of our worst enemies.”

“The sin in the general was idolatry, but a most barbarous species of it, mentioned also chap. vii, 31; xxxii, 35, where it is said, they made their sons and their daughters pass thro' the fire to Molech; the place where they did it is called Tophet, ver. xix, …”

“In this place - In this place, among others, I will make void all the counsels that the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, have taken to escape my righteous judgments.”

“Then - Jeremiah had now dispatched the errand upon which God had sent him to Tophet, coming back by God's direction, he stands in the court, which was common to all people, where the most might hear.”

“This is all that is here meant, namely, God's over-ruling him contrary to his own inclinations. Since - Since I first began to be a prophet, I have faithfully discharged my office, and that with warmth and zeal.”

“Ashamed - That they should be ashamed of what they had done, or be brought to shame for what they had done; for prosper they should not: or they acted like fools, and did not deal prudently for themselves (so this word is translated, Isaiah lii, 13,) yea, they…”

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

“Inquire - Zedekiah, as he was none of the best, so he was none of the worst of the kings of Judah. Having some reverence of God, he sends the prophet to inquire of the Lord.”

“Of the valley - The inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem are here intended. Jerusalem itself was built in part upon the rocky mountain of Zion, but a great part was in the valley, and the higher mountains, about Mount Zion, made that mountain itself, in compar…”

“The forest - By the forest he either means the forest of Lebanon or their houses, made of wood cut out of that forest. And it - And this fire shall not end in the destruction of this city, but in the total destruction of all the country round Jerusalem.”

“Gilead - Gilead was a country fertile for pastures; upon which account the Reubenites and Gadites, being men whose estate lay in cattle, begged it of Moses for their portion. Lebanon also was a very pleasant place: they were both in the lot of Gad and Manasseh…”

“Shallum - Most think that this Shallum was Jehoahaz. Went forth - He was carried away from Jerusalem presently after he was set up, imprisoned at Riblah, and died in Egypt.”

“Lebanon - Jerusalem was the place to which this speech is directed: the inhabitants of which the prophet calls to go up to Lebanon. Both Lebanon and Bashan were hills that looked towards Assyria, from whence the Jews looked for help. Abarim - Abarim is the nam…”

“Pastors - Thy rulers and governors, they shall be blasted by my judgments, as plants are blasted by winds. Thy lovers - And those that have been thy friends, Syria and Egypt.”

“Lebanon - Jerusalem is called an inhabitant of Lebanon, because their houses were built of wood cut down out of the forest of Lebanon. Cedars - Their houses were built of the Cedars of Lebanon. How gracious - What favour wilt thou find when my judgments come u…”

“Coniah - By Coniah he means Jehoiakim, whose name was Jeconiah, 1 Chron. iii, 13, (for all Josiah's sons had two names, and so had his grandchild Jeconiah) here in contempt called Coniah.”

“Is this - The prophet speaks this in the person of God, affirming that this prince, who was the idol of the people, was now become like a broken idol.”

“Childless - He is said to be childless, either because all his children died before their father; or because he had no child that sat upon the throne, or ever had any ruler's place in Judah.”

“Behold - Even the Jewish doctors, as well as the Christian interpreters, understand this as a prophecy of the Messiah who is called the branch, Isaiah iv, 2; liii, 2. And here, he is called the righteous branch, not only because himself was righteous, but beca…”

“And this - The name wherewith this branch shall be called, shall be, The Lord our righteousness. This place is an eminent proof of the Godhead of Christ, he is here called Jehovah, and what is proper to God alone, namely to justify, is here applied to Christ.”

“Like a man - And he was even astonished and stupefied, and like a drunken man, at the apprehensions of the wrath of the Lord ready to be revealed against them, and considering also what words the holy God had put into his mouth, to speak against them.”

“Swearing - By false-swearing, or by idle and profane swearing. The pleasant places - The wrath of God was extended to all places whether more or less inhabited. Their courses - The prophets did not only err in single acts, but the whole course of their actions…”

“Hearken not - People are under no religious obligation to hear any thing but the revealed will of God, and are not to obey those that call to them for what that doth not call to them.”