Jeremiah1chapter 1

Jeremiah 1:1

“The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah,.... This is the general title of the whole book, and includes all his discourses, sermons, and prophecies; and designs not his own words, but the words of the Lord, which were put into his mouth, and he delivered under divine inspiration. The Septuagint version renders it, "the word of God": and the Arabic version, "the word of the Lord": the Targum, "the words of the prophecy of Jeremiah;'' who is described by his descent and parentage, "the son of Hilkiah". The Arabic version calls him Selkiah.”

Jeremiah 1:1

“The words of Jeremiah - The usual title of the prophetic books is “the Word of the Lord,” but the two books of Amos and Jeremiah are called the words of those prophets, probably because they contain not merely the words of those prophets, probably because they contain not merely prophecies, but also the record of much which belongs to the personal history of the writers. This title might therefore be translated the “life of Jeremiah” or “acts of Jeremiah,” though some understand by it a collection of the prophecies of Jeremiah.”

Jeremiah 1:1

“Compare 1Ki 2:26, 27; a stigma was cast thenceforth on the whole sacerdotal family resident there; this may be alluded to in the words here, "the priests . . . in Anathoth." God chooses "the weak, base, and despised things . . . to confound the mighty." 2, 3. Zedekiah--Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin are omitted for they reigned only three months each.”

Jeremiah 1:2

“Came - literally, was (and in Jer 1:4); the phrase implies that Jeremiah possessed God’s word from that time onward, not fitfully as coming and going, but constantly. The thirteenth year of his reign - According to the ordinary reckoning, this would be 629 b.c., but if the Ptolemaic canon be right in putting the capture of Jerusalem at 586 b.c., it would be two years later, namely 627 b.c. However, according to the Assyrian chronology, it would be 608 b.c. It was the year after that in which Josiah began his reforms.”

Jeremiah 1:3

“The whole period contained in this verse is no less than 40 years and 6 months, namely, 18 years under Josiah, two periods of 11 years each under Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, and 3 months under each of the omitted kings, Jehoahaz and Jeconiah. In the fifth month - The capture of Jerusalem took place in the fourth month, but its destruction was in the fifth month (see the marginal references), the ninth day of which was subsequently kept as a fast-day Zec 7:3.”

Jeremiah 1:3

“At what age he was called to the prophetic office, we do not know; it is, however, probable that he was of mature age, for it was a work of high authority; and further, had he been a youth, doubtless such a miracle would not have been passed over in silence, that is, that he was made a prophet before the age of maturity.”

Jeremiah 1:3

“Of Jerusalem - The inhabitants of Jerusalem, under Zedekiah, during all which time Jeremiah prophesied. Captive - This does not terminate the time of his prophecies; for he prophesied also both in Judea, and in Egypt afterwards: but only relates to what he prophesied while the city and temple were standing, the rest seeming to be added as a supplement.”

Jeremiah 1:4

“Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying. Not in the days of Jehoiakim, but in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, Jer 1:2. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions read, "unto him".”

Jeremiah 1:4-10

“Jeremiah's call to the prophetical office. unto me--other manuscripts read "to him"; but English Version probably represents the true Hebrew text; this inscription was doubtless made by Jeremiah himself.”

Jeremiah 1:5

“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee,.... Not merely by his omniscience, so he knows all men before their conception and birth; but with such a knowledge as had special love and affection joined with it; in which sense the Lord knows them that are his, as he does not others, and predestinates them unto eternal life; and which is not only before their formation in the womb, but before the foundation of the world, even from all eternity.”

Jeremiah 1:5

“Rather, “Before I formed thee in the belly.” I approved of thee (as one fit for the prophetic office),” and before thou camest forth from the womb” I made thee holy (dedicated thee to holy uses); I have appointed thee (now by this public call to be) “a prophet unto the nations.” Unto the nations - The privileges contained in this verse are so great as in their full sense to be true only of Christ Himself, while to Jeremiah they belong as being in so many particulars a type of Christ.”

Jeremiah 1:5

“I sanctified - I ordained thee for this public service. He speaks thus to Jeremiah, not to the other prophets, because he stood in need of greater encouragement than they, both in respect of the tenderness of his years, and the difficulties which he was to encounter with.”

Jeremiah 1:6

“Then said I, Ah, Lord God!.... The word אהה, "Ah", or "Ahah", is used in distress and grief, as Kimchi observes; and is expressive of mourning and complaint, as Jarchi notes; and shows that the prophet was troubled and uneasy at his call, and would gladly have been excused on the following account: behold, I cannot speak; or, "I know not how to speak" (r); properly and pertinently, politely and eloquently, especially before great personages, kings and princes, and the citizens of Jerusalem, being brought up in a rustic manner in the country. A like excuse Moses made, Exo 4:”

Jeremiah 1:6

“From the long duration of his office (Jer 1:2, 3; Jer 43:8, &c.), it is supposed that he was at the time of his call under twenty-five years of age. child--the same word is translated, "young man" (2Sa 18:5).”

Jeremiah 1:7

“But the Lord said unto me, say not, I am a child,.... This excuse will not be admitted: for thou shall go to all that I shall send thee; either to "every place", as the Targum paraphrases; or "to all persons to whom" he should be sent, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions render the words; or "to all things for which" he should send him, as the Syriac and Vulgate Latin versions.”

Jeremiah 1:7

“Jeremiah suggested two difficulties, the first inexperience, the second timidity. God now removes the first of these. Inexperience is no obstacle where the duty is simple obedience His timidity is removed by the promise given him in the next verse.”

Jeremiah 1:8

“Be not afraid of their faces,.... Their stern looks, their frowning brows, and angry countenances, which would threaten him with destruction and death: for I am with thee, to deliver thee, saith the Lord; out of their hands, when in the most imminent danger. The Targum paraphrases the words thus, "my Word shall be thine help to deliver thee:'' which is true of Christ, the essential Word of God.”

Jeremiah 1:8

“Mr. Gataker well observes here, That earthly princes are not wont to go along with their ambassadors; but God goes along with those whom he sends, and is, by his powerful protection, at all times and in all places present with them; and with this they ought to animate themselves, Acts xviii.”

Jeremiah 1:9

“Touched - “Made it touch.” This was the symbol of the bestowal of divine grace and help, by which that want of eloquence, which the prophet had pleaded as a disqualification, was removed.”

Jeremiah 1:9

“God not only put knowledge into his head, but words into his mouth; for there are words which the Holy Ghost teaches, 1 Cor. ii. It is fit God's message should be delivered in his own words, that it may be delivered accurately. And those that faithfully do so shall not want instructions as the case requires;”

Jeremiah 1:10

“It is important to observe here that two joys succeed four sorrows. The good cannot be built up unless the evil is destroyed, nor can the best be planted unless the worst is eradicated. For "every plant that the heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted," and every building that does not have its foundation on rock but was built on sand is undermined and destroyed by the word of God.”

Jeremiah 1:10

“In Jer 31:28, God is said to do what Jeremiah here is represented as doing (compare Jer 18:7; Eze 43:3). root out-- (Mt 15:13). pull down--change of metaphor to architecture (2Co 10:4). There is a play on the similar sounds, linthosh, linthotz, in the Hebrew for "root out . . . pull down." build . . . plant--restore upon their repenting.”

Jeremiah 1:10

“The kingdoms - Having now received his commission, he is directed to whom he is to go; to the greatest, not only single persons, but whole nations, as the Babylonians, Persians, and Egyptians.”

Jeremiah 1:10

“It is a strange commission that is here given him: See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms. This sounds very great, and yet Jeremiah is a poor despicable priest still; he is not set over the kingdoms as a prince to rule them by the sword, but as a prophet by the power of the word of God.”

Jeremiah 1:11-12

“It is written in the book of the prophet, "Take a branch from a nut tree." So we must consider why the Lord said this to the prophet, for it is not written without a purpose, since we also read in the Pentateuch that the nut tree of Aaron, the priest, blossomed after it had been laid away for a long while.”

Jeremiah 1:11

“Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me,.... At the same time as before: saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? The Septuagint version leaves out the word "Jeremiah": and I said, I see a rod of an almond tree; a dry stick, without leaves or fruit upon it, and yet he knew it to be an almond tree stick; though some think it had leaves and fruit on it, by which it was known. The Targum is, "and I said, a king hastening to do evil I see;'' meaning Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, hastening to bring destruction upon the Jews.”

Jeremiah 1:11

“What seest thou? - If we admit a supernatural element in prophecy, visions would be the most simple means of communication between God and man. A rod of an almond tree - Many translate “a staff of almond wood.” The vision would thus signify that God - like a traveler, staff in hand - was just about to set forth upon His journey of vengeance. But the rendering of the King James Version is supported by Gen 30:”

Jeremiah 1:11-12

“OBSERVE, first, dear Friends, that before Jeremiah becomes a speaker for God, he must be a seer. The name for a Prophet, in the olden time, was a "seer"—a man who could see—one who could see with his mind's eye, one who could also see with spiritual insight, so as vividly to realize the Truth of God which he had to deliver in the name of the Lord. Learn that simple lesson well, O you who try to speak for God! You must be seers before you can be speakers.”

Jeremiah 1:12

“I will hasten my word - Here is a paronomasia. What dost thou see? I see שקד shaked, “an almond,” the hastening tree: that which first awakes. Thou hast well seen, for (שקד shoked) I will hasten my word. I will awake, or watch over my word for the first opportunity to inflict the judgments which I threaten. The judgment shall come speedily; it shall soon flourish, and come to maturity.”

Jeremiah 1:13

“The first vision was for the support of the prophet’s own faith during his long struggle with his countrymen: the second explains to him the general nature of his mission. He was to be the bearer of tidings of a great national calamity about to break forth item the north. He sees a caldron. It was a vessel of metal Eze 24:11, large enough to prepare the meal of a numerous community 2Ki 4:38, and broad at the top, as it was also used for washing purposes Psa 60:8. This caldron was boiling furiously.”

Jeremiah 1:13

“Another vision, signifying what is the "word" about to be "performed," and by what instrumentality. seething--literally, "blown under"; so boiling by reason of the flame under it kept brisk by blowing.”

Jeremiah 1:13

“Some think that those scoffers referred to this who said ( Ezek. xi. 3 ), This city is the cauldron, and we are the flesh. Now the mouth or face of the furnace or hearth, over which this pot boiled, was towards the north, for thence the fire and the fuel were to come that must make the pot boil thus.”

Jeremiah 1:14

“Shall break forth - תפתח tippathach, shall be opened. The door shall be thrown abroad, that these calamities may pass out freely.”

Jeremiah 1:14

“When there was friendship between Hezekiah and the king of Babylon they promised themselves many advantages out of the north; but it proved quite otherwise: out of the north their trouble arose. Thence sometimes the fiercest tempests come whence we expected fair weather. This is further explained”

Jeremiah 1:15

“I will call - I am calling. The judgment has begun. God is summoning His hosts to the war. Families - The various races by which the provinces of the Babylonian empire were populated. They shall set every one his throne - The chiefs of these various races come as God’s ministers to hold solemn court, and give sentence in His name (see Jer 25:9). They therefore set each one his throne in the usual place for administering justice, namely, the entering in of the gates, where a large open space was always left in cities for the purpose.”

Jeremiah 1:15

“The families - Those nations that were under one Lord. Kingdoms - The Babylonians, and their assistants; the Medes also being in confederacy with them, whose king's daughter Nebuchadnezzar married.”

Jeremiah 1:16

“He emphasizes the justice of what has been done by adding, "I shall pronounce my judgment against them because of all their wickedness in forsaking me. They sacrificed to foreign gods and worshiped the works of their hands." What could be more foolish than this …”

Jeremiah 1:16

“And I will utter my judgments against them,.... Not against the kingdoms of the north, but against the people of the Jews. The sense is, that God would enter into judgment with this people, and pass sentence upon them, and execute it: touching all their wickedness; or on account of all their sins and transgressions hereafter mentioned: who have forsaken me.”

Jeremiah 1:16

“I will utter my judgments - God denounced his judgments: the conquest of their cities, and the destruction of the realm, were the facts to which these judgments referred; and these facts prove that the threatening was fulfilled. Worshipped the works of their own hands - Idolatry was the source of all their wickedness and was the cause of their desolations. For למעשי lemaasey, the works, more than a hundred MSS. of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s, with many editions, have למעשה lemaaseh, the work. Idolatry was their One great Work, the business of their life, their trade.”

Jeremiah 1:17

“Gird up thy loins - A symbol of preparation for earnest exertion, and implying also firm purpose, and some degree of alacrit Be not dismayed ... - literally, “be not dismayed at their faces, lest I dismay thee before their faces.” Naturally despondent and self-distrustful, there was yet no feebleness in Jeremiah’s character. There was in him a moral superiority of the will, which made him, at any cost to himself, faithfully discharge whatever his conscience told him was his duty.”

Jeremiah 1:17

“Gird up - It is a speech taken from the custom of the countries where they wore long garments; and therefore they girt them up about them, that they might not hinder them in any work that required expedition.”

Jeremiah 1:17-19

“He was of the priests, and, as a priest, was authorized and appointed to teach the people; but to that authority and appointment God added the extraordinary commission of a prophet. Ezekiel also was a priest. Thus God would support the honour of the priesthood at a time when, by their sins and God's judgments upon them, it was sadly eclipsed.”

Jeremiah 1:18

“For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city,.... Or, "as" one; so read the Targum, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions; which is inexpungible, and cannot be taken: and an iron pillar; which cannot be removed out of its place: and brasen walls; which cannot be broken down.”

Jeremiah 1:18

“I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and, brazen walls - Though thou shalt be exposed to persecutions and various indignities, they shall not prevail against thee. To their attacks thou shalt be as an impregnable city; as unshaken as an iron pillar; and as imperishable as a wall of brass. None, therefore, can have less cause to apprehend danger than thou hast. The issue proved the truth of this promise: he outlived all their insults; and saw Jerusalem destroyed, and his enemies, and the enemies of his Lord, carried into captivity.”

Jeremiah 1:19

“And they shall fight against thee,.... The Targum adds, "that they may hide the words of thy prophecy;'' hinder him from prophesying, stop his mouth, and even take away his life: but they shall not prevail against thee; as to do either: for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee; as he did; he hid him when they sought for him, and delivered him out of the dungeon and bonds into which he was cast by them; See Gill on Jer 1:8.”

Jeremiah 1:19

They shall not prevail against thee - Because I am determined to defend and support thee against all thy enemies. One of the ancients has said, Θεου θελοντος, και επι ῥιπος πλεῃ Σωζῃ· Thestius, apud Theophil. ad Autolyc. lib. 2: “God protecting thee, though thou wert at sea upon a twig, thou shouldst be safe.”