Jeremiah 44 — King James Version

Verse 1

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

The Jews in Egypt persist in idolatry.

God reminds the Jews of the sins that brought desolations upon Judah. It becomes us to warn men of the danger of sin with all seriousness: Oh, do not do it! If you love God, do not, for it is provoking to him; if you love your own souls, do not, for it is destructive to them. Let conscience do this for us in the hour of temptation. The Jews whom God sent into the land of the Chaldeans, were there, by the power of God's grace, weaned from idolatry; but those who went by their own perverse will into the land of the Egyptians, were there more attached than ever to their idolatries. When we thrust ourselves without cause or call into places of temptation, it is just with God to leave us to ourselves. If we walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to us. The most awful miseries to which men are exposed, are occasioned by the neglect of offered salvation.

John Wesley's Bible Commentary

At Migdol - It seems the Jews that went into Egypt had planted themselves at these four places. Migdol was a city upon the borders of the Red Sea. Noph was a city, which the Greeks and Latines called Memphis; it is thought to be that, which is now called Cairo. Pathros was the province, since called Thebais.

John Calvin Bible Commentary

Jeremiah had already prophesied against the Jews, who had taken refuge in Egypt, as though there would be for them in that rich and almost unassailable land a safe and quiet retreat. But he now speaks against them for another reason, and denounces on them something more grievous than before, even because they had not only gone into Egypt against God’s will, but when they came there they polluted themselves with all kinds of superstition. God, no doubt, designed, in due time, to prevent this, when he forbade them to go into Egypt; for he knew how prone they were to idolatry, and to false and adulterous modes of worship. He was therefore unwilling that they should dwell in that land, where they might learn to pervert his worship. And this had happened, as it appears from the present prophecy. As then they had cast aside every shame, and given themselves up to the superstitions of the heathens, the Prophet again testified, that God would take vengeance on them. But we shall see that he had to do with refractory men; for without shewing any respect for him, they attacked him with impetuous fury. The sum of what is said then is, that the Jews who dwelt in Egypt were unworthy of any pardon, because they had, as it were, designedly rejected the favor of God, and their obstinacy had become altogether hopeless. We shall now consider the words: A word is said to have beengiven to Jeremiah to all the JewsBut God spoke to Jeremiah not in the same way as to the Jews; for he committed to him the words which he commanded him to deliver to others. Then the word was directly given to Jeremiah only; but as Jeremiah was God’s interpreter to the people, the word is said to be given in common to all, which yet at first, as it has been stated, was committed to Jeremiah alone. For he did not favor the Jews with such an honor as to speak to them, but he sent the Prophet as his messenger. He said thento the Jews who dwelt in Egypt, and afterwards he mentions certain places, firstMigdol, thenTahpanhes, and thirdly,Noph. The first name some have rendered Magdal. That city was not so much known at the time when Egypt flourished, but it has been mentioned by heathen writers. Of Tahpanhes we spoke yesterday. Noph has been called Memphis; and it is generally agreed that what the Hebrews called Noph was that noble and celebrated city Memphis, which, as they suppose at this day, is called Cairo,Le Caire. He lastly mentions thecountry of Pathros, which is supposed by some to have been near Pelusia. But on such a matter as this I bestow no great labor; for even heathen writers have regarded this as an obscure country, of no importance. Pathros is elsewhere mentioned as a city, and some think it to have been Petra of Arabia. But the Prophet no doubt refers here to the country in which Memphis and other cities were situated, in which the Jews dwelt.But he says these things for this reason, because a question might have been raised, “As the Jews dwelt in Egypt, so large was the land, that the Prophet could not have announced the commands of God to all. This, then, was the reason why he intimates that. they were not dispersed everywhere throughout Egypt, from one end to the other, but that they were in one part only, and that they were so collected that his word might come to all. This, then, was the reason why he mentioned the places where the Jews sojourned.

McArther Bible Commentary

The word that came. The unrelenting iniquity of the Jews called for yet another prophecy of judgment on them in Egypt.

Bible Cross References

Exodus 14:2 Isaiah 11:11 Isaiah 19:13 Jeremiah 2:16 Jeremiah 24:8 Jeremiah 43:7 Jeremiah 43:8 Jeremiah 43:13 Jeremiah 46:14 Ezekiel 29:14 Ezekiel 30:13 Ezekiel 30:14 Ezekiel 30:16 Ezekiel 30:18 Hosea 9:6

Verse 2

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

The Jews in Egypt persist in idolatry.

God reminds the Jews of the sins that brought desolations upon Judah. It becomes us to warn men of the danger of sin with all seriousness: Oh, do not do it! If you love God, do not, for it is provoking to him; if you love your own souls, do not, for it is destructive to them. Let conscience do this for us in the hour of temptation. The Jews whom God sent into the land of the Chaldeans, were there, by the power of God's grace, weaned from idolatry; but those who went by their own perverse will into the land of the Egyptians, were there more attached than ever to their idolatries. When we thrust ourselves without cause or call into places of temptation, it is just with God to leave us to ourselves. If we walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to us. The most awful miseries to which men are exposed, are occasioned by the neglect of offered salvation.

John Calvin Bible Commentary

He now begins with reproof, because they were so stupid as not to remember the vengeance which God had executed on themselves and on the whole nation. They had been left alive for this end, that they might acknowledge God’s judgment, and thus return to a right mind. Here, then, the Prophet upbraids them with their insensibility, that they had profited nothing under the scourges of God. They commonly say that fools, when they are beaten, become wise. As then the Jews had not repented, after having been so grievously chastised, it was a proof of extreme perverseness; for if the remnant had a grain of a sound mind, they would have been humbled at least by the final destruction of their nation, and when the city and the temple were demolished. Since then they followed the same wicked courses, for which God had inflicted so grievous a punishment, it was evident that they were wholly irreclaimable and destitute of reason and judgment. This is the import of all the words of the Prophet which we have read. He says first, Ye have seen what great evils I brought on you and the land. “Then ye know that you have justly suffered all the evils which have happened to you; for ye have not sinned through want of knowledge, but when I had sedulously warned you by my Prophets, ye continued ever obstinate; ye have therefore fully deserved such punishments. Now when God spared you, and wished that a small number should remain, to preserve as it were a seed, how is it that these evils which are still as it were before your eyes, are not remembered by you?” We now then understand the design of the Prophet.But it may be well to examine every part; Ye have seen, he says,all the evil which I have brought (evil here means calamity) onJerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah; and, behold, they are nowa waste, and no one dwells there. There is here an emphatical comparison between Jerusalem and Memphis, between the cities of Judah and Heliopolis and the whole country of Pathros. If then God had not. spared the holy city which he had chosen, if he had not spared the cities of Judah which were under his protection, how foolish it was for the Jews to think that they would be safe in the cities of Egypt? By what privilege could these be secure, since the cities of Judah had been reduced to a waste? We now then perceive why the Prophet mentioned Jerusalem and the cities of Judah; it was, that he might expose the stupidity of the Jews, because they thought, themselves safe in Egypt, a land which God had ever held in abomination.

McArther Bible Commentary

The prophet summarized what had occurred in Judah as a basis for what he predicted would be coming on the refugees in Egypt.

Bible Cross References

Leviticus 26:31 Isaiah 6:11 Jeremiah 4:7 Jeremiah 9:11 Jeremiah 34:22 Jeremiah 44:23 Daniel 9:12 Micah 3:12

Verse 3

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

The Jews in Egypt persist in idolatry.

God reminds the Jews of the sins that brought desolations upon Judah. It becomes us to warn men of the danger of sin with all seriousness: Oh, do not do it! If you love God, do not, for it is provoking to him; if you love your own souls, do not, for it is destructive to them. Let conscience do this for us in the hour of temptation. The Jews whom God sent into the land of the Chaldeans, were there, by the power of God's grace, weaned from idolatry; but those who went by their own perverse will into the land of the Egyptians, were there more attached than ever to their idolatries. When we thrust ourselves without cause or call into places of temptation, it is just with God to leave us to ourselves. If we walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to us. The most awful miseries to which men are exposed, are occasioned by the neglect of offered salvation.

John Calvin Bible Commentary

He afterwards adds, For the evil which they did to provokeme. He refers to the sins by which the Jews had provoked the wrath of God; for the people whom Jeremiah addressed had relapsed into those superstitions which had been the cause of their ruin. Had the Prophet spoken generally and said, that it was strange that the Jews had forgotten the punishment which had been inflicted by God on the whole nation, his doctrine would not have been so impressive. But when he now points out as by the finger how they had procured for themselves such calamities, he presses and urges them more forcibly to acknowledge their madness, because they thus continually provoked God, and sinned not through ignorance, but offended him by the same sins for which yet they had suffered punishment so grievous and dreadful. This is the reason why the Prophet says,For the evil which they did to provoke me, evento go, he says,to offer incense and to serve alien gods.To go here intimates the care and diligence theyexercisedin false worship. God had shewn to the Jews a certain way in his Law which they ought to have followed: had they then continued in the doctrine of the Law, they would have kept in the right way, and gone forward to the right end. But they are said to go, because they disregarded the Law and went here and there, as those who wander at random, and know not where they are going. There is then to be understood a contrast betweengoing and remaining under the teaching of the Law. To go, in short, is to weary one’s self by an erratic course, when the word of God is neglected, and the way which it points out is forsaken. This is one thing.Then he adds, to offer incense and to serve alien gods. Incense here is mentioned as a particular thing, then that which is general is added; for incense, as it is well known, was an evidence of worship. Then the Prophet under one thing condemns the idolatry of his own nation. But at length he shews that they were given to other abominations, that they had devoted themselves to the false worship of alien gods.This passage, and those which are like it, are entitled to particular notice; for we hence learn that men depart from God and alienate themselves from the true worship of him, whenever they mingle with it something of their own, and dream of this and that according to their own will, the very thing intended, as we have said, by going as used by the Prophet. As soon, then, as men devise for themselves some new modes of worship, it is the same thing as though they turned backward or willfully wandered, for they keep not in the right and legitimate way. We also learn from the second clause that idolaters in vain adduce pretences to excuse themselves. For if they transfer to another what peculiarly belongs to God, and what he claims for himself, it is more than a sufficient proof of idolatry; and incense, as I have said, was a symbol of divine worship. As then they offered incense to their idols, they robbed the true God of his own honor, and chose new gods, and adorned them with the rights of the only true God.In vain, then, and foolishly do the Papists at this day seek evasions when we object to them and say, that gross idolatries prevail among them: “He!it is not our intention to transfer the worship which peculiarly belongs to the only true God to saints, to images; but we apply all this to God.” Since they burn incense to saints, images, and pictures, since they offer incense even to the dead, there is surely no further need of disputing the point; and when they try to evade whatever they can bring forward, it is confuted by this one expression of the Prophet, for when he speaks of incense, he condemns the Jews for their idolatry.But as I have said, he speaks afterwards generally, and says, and to serve alien gods. Then it follows,whom they knew not, neither ye nor your fathersHere the Prophet amplifies the sin of his own nation, because they had devoted their attention to unknown gods. There is here again a contrast to be understood, that is, between God, who had revealed himself by his Law, by his Prophets, by so many miracles and blessings, and the fictitious gods, who had, without thought and without judgment, been invented and contrived by the Jews. Now, it was an evidence of a base and an intolerable ingratitude, that the Jews should have forsaken the true God after he had made himself known to them. For had the Law never been given, had God suffered them, as other nations, to be entangled in their own errors, their offense would have been lighter. But God had made himself to be so familiarly known to them, that he was pleased to give them his Law, to be a certain rule of religion; he had also exercised his miraculous powers among them. As, then, the knowledge of the true God had been made so remarkably clear to them, how great and how base was their ingratitude to reject him and to depart from him, in order to run after idols! when they contrived for themselves vain gods and nothing but fictions! Had any one inquired what sort of god was Baal, or what were their Baalim, they would have said, that they had Baalim as their patrons, who obtained favor for them with the supreme God. But whence had they derived their vain notion? It was nothing but superstition founded on no reason.This ought to be carefully observed; for at this day were any one to ask the Papists by what right they have devised for themselves so various and so many modes of worship: devotion alone they say will suffice, or a good intention. Let us then know that religion, separated from knowledge, is nothing but the sport and delusion of Satan. It is hence necessary that men should with certainty know what god they worship. And Christ thus distinguishes the true worship of God from that of vain idols, “We know,” he says, speaking of the Jews, “whom we worship.” (John 4:22)He then says that the Jews knew, even those who worshipped God according to what the Law prescribes, — he says that they knew whom they worshipped. He then condemns all good intentions in which the superstitious delight themselves, for they know not whom they worship. And I have said that religion ought not to be separated from knowledge; but I call that knowledge, not what is innate in man, or what is by diligence acquired, but that which is delivered to us by the Law andthe Prophets.We now, then, understand why the Prophet says that the Jews devoted themselves to alien gods, whom they had not known, nor their fathers.

Bible Cross References

Hebrews 3:16 Deuteronomy 13:6 Deuteronomy 29:26 Deuteronomy 32:17 Nehemiah 9:33 Isaiah 3:8 Jeremiah 2:17 Jeremiah 7:19 Jeremiah 19:4 Jeremiah 32:30 Jeremiah 44:8 Jeremiah 44:23 Ezekiel 8:17 Ezekiel 8:18 Daniel 9:5

Verse 4

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

The Jews in Egypt persist in idolatry.

God reminds the Jews of the sins that brought desolations upon Judah. It becomes us to warn men of the danger of sin with all seriousness: Oh, do not do it! If you love God, do not, for it is provoking to him; if you love your own souls, do not, for it is destructive to them. Let conscience do this for us in the hour of temptation. The Jews whom God sent into the land of the Chaldeans, were there, by the power of God's grace, weaned from idolatry; but those who went by their own perverse will into the land of the Egyptians, were there more attached than ever to their idolatries. When we thrust ourselves without cause or call into places of temptation, it is just with God to leave us to ourselves. If we walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to us. The most awful miseries to which men are exposed, are occasioned by the neglect of offered salvation.

John Calvin Bible Commentary

Now follows a circumstance by which their impiety was still further enhanced, that God had sent them Prophets who stretched forth their hands to them to draw them from their errors. For had they never been warned, their condemnation would have been just; for God had once shewn to them by his Law what was right. The teaching, then, of the Law ought to have been sufficient for all ages. But when God had neverceased to send Prophets, one after another, it was a sign of hopeless obstinacy to reject so many and so constant warnings. God then added this circumstance that it might appear that the Jews were wholly inexcusable, and worthy of a hundred and of a thousand deaths, because they had so perversely despised all the means of salvation.But God says, that he had sent to them all his servantsWhat is universal has its own peculiar importance; for if one or two Prophets had been sent, the Jews would have been proved guilty; for the law does not require more than two or three witnesses to condemn those who have done wrong. (Deuteronomy 17:6.) But God shews here that there had been a vast number of those, through whom, had they been believed, the Jews might have been preserved in safety. They might, then, have been proved guilty, not only by three or four witnesses, but even by a great number; for the Prophets had continually succeeded one another. And thus had been fulfilled what God had promised in the Law,“A Prophet will I raise up from the midst of thy brethren, him shalt thou hear; and every one who will not hear that Prophet shall be cut off from his people.” (Deuteronomy 18:18, 19)For God shews in his proclaimed Law, that this would be one of his chief blessings, ever to keep the Jews in the knowledge of their duty, by never leaving them destitute of Prophets and faithful teachers, here then he shews that he had ever really performed what he had promised by Moses; for he does not say that he had only sent a few, but, as I have said, that there had been a copious abundance; for in every age there were several Prophets, and some, when it became necessary, succeeded others. But what had been the fruit? He afterwards complains that all the Prophets had been rejected. But to render their sin still more heinous, he says, rising up early and sendingOf this kind of speaking an explanation has been elsewhere given. (Jeremiah 7:13;Jeremiah 11:7) It is a metaphorical language; for God rises not nor does he change places; but here he applies to himself what peculiarly belongs to men. For he who is attentive to business, does not wait till the sun rises, but anticipates the morning dawn. So also the Prophet says, that God had been vigilant, for he had been solicitous concerning the wellbeing of the people.We further learn from this mode of speaking how invaluable is the benefit which God bestows when he raises up honest and faithful teachers; for it is the same as when the head of a family rises early from his bed, calls up his children, and takes care of them. Let us, then, know that teaching, when it is communicated to us, is an evidence of God’s paternal solicitude, because he would not have us to perish, but comes down to us and sees what is needful, as though he were present with us, and as a father towards his children, he takes care of us and of our affairs. This is the meaning. He now adds the substance of his message, Do not the thing of this abomination which I hateGod intimates, in short, that it had not been through him that the Jews did not return from their errors to the right way, because he had stretched forth his hand to them, and had, as it were, sup-pliantly requested them to provide better for themselves, and not knowingly and willfully to seek their own destruction, having acted as though he were a husband, who, being anxious to preserve the fidelity of his wife, might thus say toher, — “Behold, thou knowest that I cannot endure unchaste-ness; beware, then, lest thou shouldest prostitute thyself to adulterers.” So God shews here that he had testified by all his servants, that all kinds of idolatry were displeasing to him, in order that the Jews might keep themselves from idolatry.

Bible Cross References

Jeremiah 7:13 Jeremiah 7:25 Jeremiah 16:18 Jeremiah 25:4 Jeremiah 26:5 Jeremiah 29:19 Jeremiah 32:34 Jeremiah 32:35 Jeremiah 35:15 Ezekiel 8:10 Daniel 9:6 Zechariah 7:7

Verse 5

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

The Jews in Egypt persist in idolatry.

God reminds the Jews of the sins that brought desolations upon Judah. It becomes us to warn men of the danger of sin with all seriousness: Oh, do not do it! If you love God, do not, for it is provoking to him; if you love your own souls, do not, for it is destructive to them. Let conscience do this for us in the hour of temptation. The Jews whom God sent into the land of the Chaldeans, were there, by the power of God's grace, weaned from idolatry; but those who went by their own perverse will into the land of the Egyptians, were there more attached than ever to their idolatries. When we thrust ourselves without cause or call into places of temptation, it is just with God to leave us to ourselves. If we walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to us. The most awful miseries to which men are exposed, are occasioned by the neglect of offered salvation.

John Calvin Bible Commentary

And he adds, But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to alien godsHere God charges the Jews with irreclaimable obstinacy, for the teaching of the Law did not retain them in obedience, nor did they attend to it, though often and at different times warned and admonished by the Prophets. And their perverseness he still more clearly sets forth by the second clause, when he says that they didnot incline their earHad he said, “They have nothearkened,” it would have been quite sufficient; but when he adds, “They have not inclined their ear,” he expresses, as I have said, something worse than contempt, even that they designedly rejected the teaching of the Prophets, that they disdained to hear the Prophets or to listen to their admonitions, but became willingly deaf, nay, closed up their ears, as rebels do, who are said elsewhere to harden their heart. We now then understand the import of this verse.

Bible Cross References

Jeremiah 11:8 Jeremiah 11:10 Jeremiah 13:10 Jeremiah 43:4 Daniel 9:6

Verse 6

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

The Jews in Egypt persist in idolatry.

God reminds the Jews of the sins that brought desolations upon Judah. It becomes us to warn men of the danger of sin with all seriousness: Oh, do not do it! If you love God, do not, for it is provoking to him; if you love your own souls, do not, for it is destructive to them. Let conscience do this for us in the hour of temptation. The Jews whom God sent into the land of the Chaldeans, were there, by the power of God's grace, weaned from idolatry; but those who went by their own perverse will into the land of the Egyptians, were there more attached than ever to their idolatries. When we thrust ourselves without cause or call into places of temptation, it is just with God to leave us to ourselves. If we walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to us. The most awful miseries to which men are exposed, are occasioned by the neglect of offered salvation.

John Calvin Bible Commentary

Now he adds, On this account has my wrath and my fury been poured forth, and has burned through the cities of Judah, and through the streets of Jerusalem; and this day they are a waste and a desolationThe wordשממה,shimme, sometimes means amazement, as it has been before stated; but when it is connected withחרבה,cherebe, as here, it means desolation.As at this day; a dreadful waste was then at that time apparent, he again refers to this truth, that the Jews ought to have been so touched by that remarkable and memorable instance of God’s displeasure, as not to abandon themselves afterwards to new idolatries; they ought to have remembered so recent an example of punishment. As, then, they still persevered in their hardness, it was an evidence of extreme impiety. The Prophet says that the perverseness of the Jews had not been unpunished, for God’s wrath had been poured forth against the cities of Judah, nay, against Jerusalem itself, the sanctuary of God, so that all things had been reduced to desolation. The Jews then ought, on the one hand, seriously to have considered how inexcusable had been their impiety in having so perversely despised God; and then they ought on the other hand, to have entertained fear and dread, since they saw that God had taken such vengeance on those who had despised his teaching and violated his worship.

Bible Cross References

Leviticus 26:31 Isaiah 1:7 Isaiah 51:17 Jeremiah 4:27 Jeremiah 7:17 Jeremiah 7:34 Jeremiah 34:22 Jeremiah 42:18 Lamentations 1:13 Ezekiel 8:18 Ezekiel 20:34 Zechariah 1:2 Zechariah 7:14

Verse 7

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

The Jews in Egypt persist in idolatry.

God reminds the Jews of the sins that brought desolations upon Judah. It becomes us to warn men of the danger of sin with all seriousness: Oh, do not do it! If you love God, do not, for it is provoking to him; if you love your own souls, do not, for it is destructive to them. Let conscience do this for us in the hour of temptation. The Jews whom God sent into the land of the Chaldeans, were there, by the power of God's grace, weaned from idolatry; but those who went by their own perverse will into the land of the Egyptians, were there more attached than ever to their idolatries. When we thrust ourselves without cause or call into places of temptation, it is just with God to leave us to ourselves. If we walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to us. The most awful miseries to which men are exposed, are occasioned by the neglect of offered salvation.

McArther Bible Commentary

, 10 Incredibly, after being spared death in Judah, they pursued death by their idolatrous sin in Egypt.

Bible Cross References

Numbers 16:38 Jeremiah 3:24 Jeremiah 9:21 Jeremiah 26:19 Jeremiah 44:12 Jeremiah 51:22 Lamentations 2:11 Lamentations 2:22 Ezekiel 33:11 Habakkuk 2:10

Verse 8

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

The Jews in Egypt persist in idolatry.

God reminds the Jews of the sins that brought desolations upon Judah. It becomes us to warn men of the danger of sin with all seriousness: Oh, do not do it! If you love God, do not, for it is provoking to him; if you love your own souls, do not, for it is destructive to them. Let conscience do this for us in the hour of temptation. The Jews whom God sent into the land of the Chaldeans, were there, by the power of God's grace, weaned from idolatry; but those who went by their own perverse will into the land of the Egyptians, were there more attached than ever to their idolatries. When we thrust ourselves without cause or call into places of temptation, it is just with God to leave us to ourselves. If we walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to us. The most awful miseries to which men are exposed, are occasioned by the neglect of offered salvation.

Bible Cross References

1 Corinthians 10:21 1 Corinthians 10:22 Hebrews 3:16 1 Kings 9:7 1 Kings 9:8 2 Kings 17:15 2 Chronicles 7:20 Isaiah 19:1 Jeremiah 7:9 Jeremiah 11:12 Jeremiah 11:17 Jeremiah 25:6 Jeremiah 25:7 Jeremiah 42:18 Jeremiah 44:3 Hosea 4:13 Habakkuk 1:16

Verse 9

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

The Jews in Egypt persist in idolatry.

God reminds the Jews of the sins that brought desolations upon Judah. It becomes us to warn men of the danger of sin with all seriousness: Oh, do not do it! If you love God, do not, for it is provoking to him; if you love your own souls, do not, for it is destructive to them. Let conscience do this for us in the hour of temptation. The Jews whom God sent into the land of the Chaldeans, were there, by the power of God's grace, weaned from idolatry; but those who went by their own perverse will into the land of the Egyptians, were there more attached than ever to their idolatries. When we thrust ourselves without cause or call into places of temptation, it is just with God to leave us to ourselves. If we walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to us. The most awful miseries to which men are exposed, are occasioned by the neglect of offered salvation.

John Calvin Bible Commentary

The Prophet now sets forth how extremely shameful was the insensibility of the Jews, in not acknowledging that God had most severely and grievously punished the superstitions to which they had previously been addicted. At the same time, if we regard the word used, he seems not to understand punishments by evils, but raffler the wicked deeds by which they had provoked God. And this ought to be observed, for some interpreters give this rendering, “Have you forgotten your evils and those of your fathers;” that is, how severely God had afflicted you? But there is no doubt but that the Prophet means byרעות,rout, their sins, by which they had exposed themselves to God’s judgment; for it immediately follows,which they did,or committed,in the land of Judah, and in the streets of JerusalemBut though he means by this word the sins of the people, there is yet no doubt but that he includes also the punishments by which they ought to have known that the impiety in which they continued most obstinately had displeased God.When therefore the Prophet says, Have ye forgotten your evils and those of your fathers? he takes it for granted that it was sufficiently known that God had taken vengeance on them for their sins; for he does not address the Jews in their prosperity, but when they were fugitives from their own land and under the curse of heaven. As, then, they were evidently condemned by God, the Prophet justly asks them, “Have ye forgotten that you have been condemned for the sins of your fathers and those of your kings, even for those which they had committed?” This he asked, because it was a horrid stupidity, that though thecity had been overthrown and the temple burnt, they did not yet leave off their superstitions, especially when so singular a vengeance of God ought to have retained their posterity in fear and obedience even for ten ages. Thus we see that punishment is linked with sins.He says, of the kings of Judah and of their wivesThe relative is singular, “his wives;” but no doubt it refers to the people. Some read, “of every one of them;” but there is no need, it being a singular number, referring to a collective noun, Judah. he afterwards adds,which they didThis ought not to be confined to the women, (nor is it suitable,) but it refers to all the Jews as well as to kings of Judah, and also to the women, —whichthenthey did in the land of Judah, and in the streets of JerusalemWhen he mentions the streets of Jerusalem, he exaggerates their wickedness. For we know that city to have been as it were the earthly sanctuary of God. It, was then a most disgraceful impiety to pollute that place which God had consecrated for himself. The whole land of Judah was indeed under his authority and power, but he had favored the city, and especially Mount Sion, with singular privileges. Then the Prophet amplifies the greatness of their sin, when he says that Jerusalem had been polluted by their superstitions.

Bible Cross References

Jeremiah 7:9 Jeremiah 7:10 Jeremiah 44:17 Jeremiah 44:21

Verse 10

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

The Jews in Egypt persist in idolatry.

God reminds the Jews of the sins that brought desolations upon Judah. It becomes us to warn men of the danger of sin with all seriousness: Oh, do not do it! If you love God, do not, for it is provoking to him; if you love your own souls, do not, for it is destructive to them. Let conscience do this for us in the hour of temptation. The Jews whom God sent into the land of the Chaldeans, were there, by the power of God's grace, weaned from idolatry; but those who went by their own perverse will into the land of the Egyptians, were there more attached than ever to their idolatries. When we thrust ourselves without cause or call into places of temptation, it is just with God to leave us to ourselves. If we walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to us. The most awful miseries to which men are exposed, are occasioned by the neglect of offered salvation.

Bible Cross References

Psalm 78:10 Jeremiah 6:15 Jeremiah 8:12 Jeremiah 26:4 Jeremiah 32:23 Jeremiah 44:23

Verse 11

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

The Jews in Egypt persist in idolatry.

God reminds the Jews of the sins that brought desolations upon Judah. It becomes us to warn men of the danger of sin with all seriousness: Oh, do not do it! If you love God, do not, for it is provoking to him; if you love your own souls, do not, for it is destructive to them. Let conscience do this for us in the hour of temptation. The Jews whom God sent into the land of the Chaldeans, were there, by the power of God's grace, weaned from idolatry; but those who went by their own perverse will into the land of the Egyptians, were there more attached than ever to their idolatries. When we thrust ourselves without cause or call into places of temptation, it is just with God to leave us to ourselves. If we walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to us. The most awful miseries to which men are exposed, are occasioned by the neglect of offered salvation.

John Calvin Bible Commentary

He again denounces punishment on the obstinate; nor is it a wonder that these threatenings were so often repeated, since he had to do with men so ferocious and refractory. The reason then why he denounced on them God’s judgment, was because they boldly derided him; and it will become more evident from what follows how necessary was such vehemence.

McArther Bible Commentary

Ironically, the Jews taken to Babylon were weaned from idolatry and restored to their land; those who went to Egypt and continued their obstinate idolatry perished there.

Bible Cross References

Leviticus 17:10 Leviticus 20:5 Leviticus 20:6 Leviticus 26:17 Psalm 34:16 Jeremiah 21:10 Ezekiel 14:8 Amos 9:4

Verse 12

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

The Jews in Egypt persist in idolatry.

God reminds the Jews of the sins that brought desolations upon Judah. It becomes us to warn men of the danger of sin with all seriousness: Oh, do not do it! If you love God, do not, for it is provoking to him; if you love your own souls, do not, for it is destructive to them. Let conscience do this for us in the hour of temptation. The Jews whom God sent into the land of the Chaldeans, were there, by the power of God's grace, weaned from idolatry; but those who went by their own perverse will into the land of the Egyptians, were there more attached than ever to their idolatries. When we thrust ourselves without cause or call into places of temptation, it is just with God to leave us to ourselves. If we walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to us. The most awful miseries to which men are exposed, are occasioned by the neglect of offered salvation.

Bible Cross References

Numbers 5:27 Isaiah 1:28 Isaiah 65:15 Jeremiah 16:4 Jeremiah 18:16 Jeremiah 24:9 Jeremiah 26:6 Jeremiah 29:18 Jeremiah 42:1 Jeremiah 42:15 Jeremiah 42:18 Jeremiah 42:22 Jeremiah 44:7 Jeremiah 44:22 Zechariah 8:13

Verse 13

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

The Jews in Egypt persist in idolatry.

God reminds the Jews of the sins that brought desolations upon Judah. It becomes us to warn men of the danger of sin with all seriousness: Oh, do not do it! If you love God, do not, for it is provoking to him; if you love your own souls, do not, for it is destructive to them. Let conscience do this for us in the hour of temptation. The Jews whom God sent into the land of the Chaldeans, were there, by the power of God's grace, weaned from idolatry; but those who went by their own perverse will into the land of the Egyptians, were there more attached than ever to their idolatries. When we thrust ourselves without cause or call into places of temptation, it is just with God to leave us to ourselves. If we walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to us. The most awful miseries to which men are exposed, are occasioned by the neglect of offered salvation.

Bible Cross References

Jeremiah 11:22 Jeremiah 42:16 Jeremiah 42:17 Jeremiah 43:11 Jeremiah 44:27 Jeremiah 44:28

Verse 14

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

The Jews in Egypt persist in idolatry.

God reminds the Jews of the sins that brought desolations upon Judah. It becomes us to warn men of the danger of sin with all seriousness: Oh, do not do it! If you love God, do not, for it is provoking to him; if you love your own souls, do not, for it is destructive to them. Let conscience do this for us in the hour of temptation. The Jews whom God sent into the land of the Chaldeans, were there, by the power of God's grace, weaned from idolatry; but those who went by their own perverse will into the land of the Egyptians, were there more attached than ever to their idolatries. When we thrust ourselves without cause or call into places of temptation, it is just with God to leave us to ourselves. If we walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to us. The most awful miseries to which men are exposed, are occasioned by the neglect of offered salvation.

John Wesley's Bible Commentary

For none - Only such shall escape, as have been forced into Egypt against their wills; and as did not fall in with the idolatry of the Egyptians.

John Calvin Bible Commentary

The Prophet seems to be inconsistent with himself; for at the beginning of the verse he says that there would be no residue, but at the end he adds an exception, that there would be few alive, who would flee, and, by some miracle, escape from death. Some take this view, that none of the ungodly despisers would remain, but that some would yet be preserved alive, even those who had been drawn there against their own will, such as Jeremiah, Baruch, and such as were like them. But this explanation may seem forced at the first view; and yet if the Prophet is speaking of the Jews who had fled into Egypt, it is necessary so to take it; otherwise there would be a manifest inconsistency and contradiction. But we may also refer what he says at the end of the verse to the exiles in Babylon; for they who had concealed themselves in Egypt thought that it was all over with all others, because they had been led away into a distant country. As, then, a return to their country was closed up against them, they thought that they themselves would become the sole heirs of the land; for as Egypt was not far from the land of Judah, a return was easy, and also free, because they had made a treaty with the Egyptians; and further, they had gone to them as friends to partake of their hospitality. They, then, who dwelt in Egypt thought that the land of Judah would be their own. But God says that none would return into that land except those who should escape, even those to whom permission to return would be given at the end of their captivity and exile. I take then the word פלטים, pelethim, at the end of the verse, as referring to the remnant which God would at length gather, when liberty to return was granted to theJews by the edict of Cyrus, at the end of the seventy years, which the Prophet had before mentioned. And this seems to me a simpler meaning, that. is, that none would remain of that remnant which had gone down to Egypt, whocame, as it is expressed,to sojourn in the land of Egypt and to return to the land of Judah, for this was their purpose.He then adds, To which they lift up their souls to return thereThe Prophet here exposes theconfidence by which the Jews still deceived themselves; for the lifting up of which he speaks, means to aspire or to hope, and denotes pride and presumption. So by saying that theylifted up their souls, he reproves them, because they were still inflated with a foolish hope, and persuaded themselves that a return would soon be open for them, as the land was without any possessors. As, then, they were cherishing themselves with such delusions, they were to know that they were never to return there,They shall not return, he says. And then follows an exception,Except those who escape, even those of whom the Jews in Egypt despaired, who thought that they did well, and had taken a prudent counsel, because they had for a time a quiet hiding-place in Egypt. It now follows, —

McArther Bible Commentary

except those who escape. A small number (Jer 44:28) who fled before the arrival of the Babylonian army were spared.

Bible Cross References

Romans 9:27 Isaiah 4:2 Isaiah 10:20 Jeremiah 22:10 Jeremiah 22:26 Jeremiah 22:27 Jeremiah 42:17 Jeremiah 44:27 Jeremiah 44:28 Ezekiel 6:8

Verse 15

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

They refuse to reform.

These daring sinners do not attempt excuses, but declare they will do that which is forbidden. Those who disobey God, commonly grow worse and worse, and the heart is more hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Here is the real language of the rebellious heart. Even the afflictions which should have parted them from their sins, were taken so as to confirm them in their sins. It is sad when those who should quicken each other to what is good, and so help one another to heaven, harden each other in sin, and so ripen one another for hell. To mingle idolatry with Divine worship, and to reject the mediation of Christ, are provoking to God, and ruinous to men. All who worship images, or honour saints, and angels, and the queen of heaven, should recollect what came from the idolatrous practices of the Jews.

John Wesley's Bible Commentary

All the men - It should seem those that did it were mostly women, and that they did it with some privacy, so that all their husbands did not know of it.

McArther Bible Commentary

wives. The idolatry apparently began with the women.

Bible Cross References

Proverbs 11:21 Isaiah 1:5 Isaiah 48:5 Jeremiah 5:1 Jeremiah 44:19 Jeremiah 44:24 Ezekiel 29:14 Ezekiel 30:14

Verse 16

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

They refuse to reform.

These daring sinners do not attempt excuses, but declare they will do that which is forbidden. Those who disobey God, commonly grow worse and worse, and the heart is more hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Here is the real language of the rebellious heart. Even the afflictions which should have parted them from their sins, were taken so as to confirm them in their sins. It is sad when those who should quicken each other to what is good, and so help one another to heaven, harden each other in sin, and so ripen one another for hell. To mingle idolatry with Divine worship, and to reject the mediation of Christ, are provoking to God, and ruinous to men. All who worship images, or honour saints, and angels, and the queen of heaven, should recollect what came from the idolatrous practices of the Jews.

Bible Cross References

1 Samuel 8:19 Proverbs 1:24 Jeremiah 11:8 Jeremiah 11:10 Jeremiah 13:10 Jeremiah 42:13 Jeremiah 43:2 Jeremiah 44:24

Verse 17

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

They refuse to reform.

These daring sinners do not attempt excuses, but declare they will do that which is forbidden. Those who disobey God, commonly grow worse and worse, and the heart is more hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Here is the real language of the rebellious heart. Even the afflictions which should have parted them from their sins, were taken so as to confirm them in their sins. It is sad when those who should quicken each other to what is good, and so help one another to heaven, harden each other in sin, and so ripen one another for hell. To mingle idolatry with Divine worship, and to reject the mediation of Christ, are provoking to God, and ruinous to men. All who worship images, or honour saints, and angels, and the queen of heaven, should recollect what came from the idolatrous practices of the Jews.

McArther Bible Commentary

queen of heaven. See note on Jer 7:18. This is a title that Roman Catholicism erroneously attributes to Mary, the mother of Jesus, in a blending of Christianity with paganism. The Jews' twisted thinking credits the idol with the prosperity of pre-captivity Judah, further mocking the goodness of God.

Bible Cross References

Philippians 3:19 Exodus 16:3 Deuteronomy 23:23 2 Kings 17:16 2 Chronicles 28:23 Nehemiah 9:34 Jeremiah 1:16 Jeremiah 7:18 Jeremiah 11:12 Jeremiah 18:15 Jeremiah 32:29 Jeremiah 32:32 Jeremiah 44:9 Jeremiah 44:21 Jeremiah 44:25 Ezekiel 8:16 Ezekiel 20:32 Ezekiel 23:41 Hosea 2:5 Habakkuk 1:16

Verse 18

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

They refuse to reform.

These daring sinners do not attempt excuses, but declare they will do that which is forbidden. Those who disobey God, commonly grow worse and worse, and the heart is more hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Here is the real language of the rebellious heart. Even the afflictions which should have parted them from their sins, were taken so as to confirm them in their sins. It is sad when those who should quicken each other to what is good, and so help one another to heaven, harden each other in sin, and so ripen one another for hell. To mingle idolatry with Divine worship, and to reject the mediation of Christ, are provoking to God, and ruinous to men. All who worship images, or honour saints, and angels, and the queen of heaven, should recollect what came from the idolatrous practices of the Jews.

Bible Cross References

Numbers 11:5 Numbers 11:6 2 Chronicles 28:23 Jeremiah 19:13 Jeremiah 40:12 Hosea 2:5 Malachi 3:13

Verse 19

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

They refuse to reform.

These daring sinners do not attempt excuses, but declare they will do that which is forbidden. Those who disobey God, commonly grow worse and worse, and the heart is more hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Here is the real language of the rebellious heart. Even the afflictions which should have parted them from their sins, were taken so as to confirm them in their sins. It is sad when those who should quicken each other to what is good, and so help one another to heaven, harden each other in sin, and so ripen one another for hell. To mingle idolatry with Divine worship, and to reject the mediation of Christ, are provoking to God, and ruinous to men. All who worship images, or honour saints, and angels, and the queen of heaven, should recollect what came from the idolatrous practices of the Jews.

Bible Cross References

Numbers 30:6 Numbers 30:7 Jeremiah 7:18 Jeremiah 44:15 Jeremiah 44:20

Verse 20

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

Jeremiah then denounces destruction upon them.

Whatever evil comes upon us, it is because we have sinned against the Lord; we should therefore stand in awe, and sin not. Since they were determined to persist in their idolatry, God would go on to punish them. What little remains of religion were among them, would be lost. The creature-comforts and confidences from which we promise ourselves most, may fail as soon as those from which we promise ourselves least; and all are what God makes them, not what we fancy them to be. Well-grounded hopes of our having a part in the Divine mercy, are always united with repentance and obedience.

John Calvin Bible Commentary

The Prophet refutes the impious objections by which the Jews had attempted to subvert and to render contemptible his doctrine, he then turns against them all that they had falsely boasted. They had at the beginning said, “Our kings, ourprinces, and ourfathers, had before used these rites; and they have been delivered to us, as it were, by their hands.” To this Jeremiah answers,“This is certainly true, and for this reason it was that God became so severe a judge of their impiety, when he took away your fathers from the world, when he wholly destroyed the kingdom itself, when he demolished the city, and when at length he afflicted you with all kinds of evils: for except your kings, and your fathers, and your princes, had been impious towards God, he would have never treated them with so much severity; for he has promised to be a Father to the children of Abraham. God, then, must have been grievously offended with you, and your fathers, and your kings, when his wrath thus burned against them.”There is, then, here a retort; for as we see that the Prophet turns against them what they had adduced against him. This is the sum of what is said. He says that he spoke to the whole people, both men and women, and he repeatsthe whole people, because all had subscribed to the impious calumny. Then God says, “For this reason have I destroyed your city and you, even because ye burnt incense to-your idols.” The truth of what they had boasted is allowed, but it is turned to a meaning different from what they thought. For, as their fathers and their kings had imbibed superstitions, they supposed that they were doing right in following them; for, as we have said,hypocrites consider use and custom as sufficient reasons for disregarding the Law. Then, as to the fact itself, the Prophet admits that what they said was quite true, that this had been the cause of all their evils; for had not the kings and the whole people provoked the wrath of God, the temple would not have been demolished, nor the kingdom destroyed; God, in short, would not have alienated himself from his own people whom he had adopted. This is the meaning.

McArther Bible Commentary

Jeremiah set the record straight, saying the idol was not the source of their prosperity, but it was the cause of their calamity.

Bible Cross References

Jeremiah 44:19 Jeremiah 44:21

Verse 21

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

Jeremiah then denounces destruction upon them.

Whatever evil comes upon us, it is because we have sinned against the Lord; we should therefore stand in awe, and sin not. Since they were determined to persist in their idolatry, God would go on to punish them. What little remains of religion were among them, would be lost. The creature-comforts and confidences from which we promise ourselves most, may fail as soon as those from which we promise ourselves least; and all are what God makes them, not what we fancy them to be. Well-grounded hopes of our having a part in the Divine mercy, are always united with repentance and obedience.

John Calvin Bible Commentary

The incense, he says,which ye have burnt in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, ye and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the whole people of the land, has not Jehovah remembered them?Whence, he says, has this dreadful calamity proceeded, which has destroyed all your race? Even from the wrath of God, for it has not happened to you by chance, for God had by his servants predicted what afterwards has been really fulfilled. It then follows, that your city has been destroyed through the righteous judgment of God. And what has been the cause of so great and so grievous a vengeance? Even your incense.

Bible Cross References

Deuteronomy 32:19 Deuteronomy 32:34 Psalm 79:8 Isaiah 64:9 Jeremiah 11:13 Jeremiah 14:10 Jeremiah 32:32 Jeremiah 44:9 Jeremiah 44:17 Jeremiah 44:20 Ezekiel 8:10 Ezekiel 8:11 Hosea 7:2 Amos 8:7

Verse 22

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

Jeremiah then denounces destruction upon them.

Whatever evil comes upon us, it is because we have sinned against the Lord; we should therefore stand in awe, and sin not. Since they were determined to persist in their idolatry, God would go on to punish them. What little remains of religion were among them, would be lost. The creature-comforts and confidences from which we promise ourselves most, may fail as soon as those from which we promise ourselves least; and all are what God makes them, not what we fancy them to be. Well-grounded hopes of our having a part in the Divine mercy, are always united with repentance and obedience.

John Calvin Bible Commentary

And hence he adds, Jehovah could not endure the wickedness of your works and the abominations which ye have done: therefore, he says,your land has been reduced to a wasteThe Prophet, in short, shews that had they not been justly exposed to God’s judgment, they would not have been destroyed. For he assumes this principle, that God is not angry without reason; and then he assumes another principle, that as God had chosen the seed of Abraham, and had been always propitious even to the unworthy, they would have been made partakers of his kindness, had not God been wholly alienated from them. It then follows, that God’s vengeance had not been thus kindled by some slight offense, but by many and daily offenses, so that it could no longer be deferred: for the atrocity of punishment shews the atrocity of sin; and hence he says,Jehovah could not endure the wickedness of your works, and the abominations which ye have done: therefore,he adds,your land has been made a waste, an astonishment, and a curse, or execration, so that there is no inhabitant

Bible Cross References

Genesis 19:13 Psalm 107:33 Psalm 107:34 Isaiah 7:13 Isaiah 43:24 Jeremiah 4:4 Jeremiah 21:12 Jeremiah 23:2 Jeremiah 25:11 Jeremiah 25:18 Jeremiah 29:18 Jeremiah 30:14 Jeremiah 34:22 Jeremiah 42:18 Jeremiah 44:12 Jeremiah 48:9 Ezekiel 39:23 Malachi 2:17

Verse 23

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

Jeremiah then denounces destruction upon them.

Whatever evil comes upon us, it is because we have sinned against the Lord; we should therefore stand in awe, and sin not. Since they were determined to persist in their idolatry, God would go on to punish them. What little remains of religion were among them, would be lost. The creature-comforts and confidences from which we promise ourselves most, may fail as soon as those from which we promise ourselves least; and all are what God makes them, not what we fancy them to be. Well-grounded hopes of our having a part in the Divine mercy, are always united with repentance and obedience.

Bible Cross References

1 Kings 9:9 Nehemiah 13:18 Psalm 78:10 Psalm 119:136 Psalm 119:150 Jeremiah 7:13 Jeremiah 26:4 Jeremiah 40:3 Jeremiah 44:2 Jeremiah 44:3 Jeremiah 44:10 Daniel 9:11 Daniel 9:12

Verse 24

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

Jeremiah then denounces destruction upon them.

Whatever evil comes upon us, it is because we have sinned against the Lord; we should therefore stand in awe, and sin not. Since they were determined to persist in their idolatry, God would go on to punish them. What little remains of religion were among them, would be lost. The creature-comforts and confidences from which we promise ourselves most, may fail as soon as those from which we promise ourselves least; and all are what God makes them, not what we fancy them to be. Well-grounded hopes of our having a part in the Divine mercy, are always united with repentance and obedience.

McArther Bible Commentary

Jeremiah repeated the doom stated in verses Jer 44:11-14.

Bible Cross References

Jeremiah 42:15 Jeremiah 43:7 Jeremiah 44:15 Jeremiah 44:16 Jeremiah 44:26

Verse 25

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

Jeremiah then denounces destruction upon them.

Whatever evil comes upon us, it is because we have sinned against the Lord; we should therefore stand in awe, and sin not. Since they were determined to persist in their idolatry, God would go on to punish them. What little remains of religion were among them, would be lost. The creature-comforts and confidences from which we promise ourselves most, may fail as soon as those from which we promise ourselves least; and all are what God makes them, not what we fancy them to be. Well-grounded hopes of our having a part in the Divine mercy, are always united with repentance and obedience.

John Calvin Bible Commentary

Jeremiah pursues the same subject, and not only bitterly reproves the ungodly men who so pertinaciously despised his doctrine, but also shews that they could gain nothing by their audacity, because they would at length be violently broken down, as they could not bear to be corrected, he says at the beginning, Ye and your wives have spoken; the men are also included, Ye have spoken both men and women, andwith your hands have fulfilled it;that is, your obstinacy is complete, for, as you have spoken insolently against God, so there has been a performance; for byhands he designates the work done. he then shews that they had advanced to the highest pitch of impiety, for they hesitated not to vomit forth these impious words,We will not obey God,and they joined their hands to their mouth, for they strenuously executed what they had said. The thought itself was sufficient to condemn them; but when they thus spoke with their tongues, and then employed their hands against God, it was a proof of desperate audacity, as though they willfully designed to provoke him.But he shews what issue awaited these impious men, who so presumptuously rebelled against God. When he bids them to hear what God on the other hand had sworn, he compares God with themselves, as though he had said, “You may a hundred times increase in your madness, yet God will be the conqueror; for he is an adversary who will surely subvert all schemes and efforts.” But before he comes to this, he mentions what they said,Doing we shall do our vows which we have vowed, to burn incense, etc. Here Jeremiah relates what we have before seen, that the Jews, under the pretext of doing what had been before done, continued thus rebellious against God. We perceive this by the wordvows; and the superstitious, when they are pressed, are wont always to flee to this pretext, that to persevere in one’s resolution is a great virtue. While, then, they avoid the charge of fickleness, they harden themselves against God.The same thing we see at this day under the Papacy: The older any one is, the more obstinate he is. “What! have I not learned during forty or fifty years what religion is, and how to worship God? I have been thus taught from a child, and have by a long habit followed this way: it would be now a disgraceful thing for me to change my course and to relinquish the faith which I have professed for so many years.” There is, then, no doubt but the Jews made a pretense of this kind against Jeremiah, when they said that they had vowed. For hypocrites make no distinction when they vow anything, but indiscriminately obtrude on God whatever comes to their minds; they afterwards stand fixed in their foolish fancies, and say that a. vow is inviolable, a sacred thing. Such was the excuse of the people. But we see from the Prophet’s answer how vainly they did bring forward in opposition to God their vows, which had been made without judgment and without reason.And this passage ought to be carefully noticed; so that we may especially know, that it is a folly in no way pleasing to God, when men indiscriminately vow whatever they may dream according to their own fancies. God then would have sobriety and regard to his will to be observed as to vows. But when any one has made an inconsiderate vow, pertinaciously to persist in it is no less displeasing to God than the vow itself. The Jews had vowed; the warning of the Prophet ought to have constrained them to change their resolution. But while they avoided every kind of fickleness, we see that instead of constancy they set up their own perverseness and diabolical obstinacy in opposition to God. When, therefore, we rashly make vows, disapproved by God, nothing is better than immediately to retract them; for we have already sinned more than enough in having abused the holy name of God. For this reason the Prophet says, that the Jews spoke thus,Doing we shall do the vows we have vowed;and what were these? To offer incense to the stars and to hosts of Heaven. Had they vowed anything to God, they ought not to have broken their pledged faith; but they had made vows to the devil; then they ought to have immediately changed their purpose. When I say that vows made to God ought to be performed, I mean lawful vows; for he who makes a vow without judgment, does not vow to God; but those vows which God sanctions ought to be deemed sacred; and whatever vows God repudiates, ought to be counted as nothing. We hence see that the Jews were justly condemned, for they pertinaciously paid their vows to their own idols.He adds by way of irony, Confirming ye will confirm your vows, doing ye will do your vowsHere the Prophet sharplychecks their insolence,because they thus set up themselves against God, as though it were a great virtue to persevere in their wicked purpose; ye cannot change, he says, but confirming ye will confirm your vows!

Bible Cross References

Matthew 14:9 Acts 23:12 Jeremiah 32:29 Jeremiah 44:17 Ezekiel 20:39

Verse 26

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

Jeremiah then denounces destruction upon them.

Whatever evil comes upon us, it is because we have sinned against the Lord; we should therefore stand in awe, and sin not. Since they were determined to persist in their idolatry, God would go on to punish them. What little remains of religion were among them, would be lost. The creature-comforts and confidences from which we promise ourselves most, may fail as soon as those from which we promise ourselves least; and all are what God makes them, not what we fancy them to be. Well-grounded hopes of our having a part in the Divine mercy, are always united with repentance and obedience.

John Wesley's Bible Commentary

The Lord liveth - There shall not any be left alive of the Jews that are in Egypt, to swear The Lord God liveth.

Bible Cross References

Hebrews 6:13 Genesis 22:16 Deuteronomy 32:40 Deuteronomy 32:41 Psalm 50:16 Isaiah 48:1 Isaiah 48:2 Jeremiah 5:2 Jeremiah 22:5 Jeremiah 24:8 Jeremiah 44:24 Jeremiah 49:13 Ezekiel 20:39 Hosea 4:15 Amos 6:8 Amos 6:10

Verse 27

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

Jeremiah then denounces destruction upon them.

Whatever evil comes upon us, it is because we have sinned against the Lord; we should therefore stand in awe, and sin not. Since they were determined to persist in their idolatry, God would go on to punish them. What little remains of religion were among them, would be lost. The creature-comforts and confidences from which we promise ourselves most, may fail as soon as those from which we promise ourselves least; and all are what God makes them, not what we fancy them to be. Well-grounded hopes of our having a part in the Divine mercy, are always united with repentance and obedience.

Bible Cross References

2 Kings 21:14 Jeremiah 1:10 Jeremiah 9:16 Jeremiah 21:10 Jeremiah 31:28 Jeremiah 39:16 Jeremiah 42:16 Jeremiah 44:13 Jeremiah 44:14 Ezekiel 5:12 Daniel 9:14 Amos 9:8

Verse 28

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

Jeremiah then denounces destruction upon them.

Whatever evil comes upon us, it is because we have sinned against the Lord; we should therefore stand in awe, and sin not. Since they were determined to persist in their idolatry, God would go on to punish them. What little remains of religion were among them, would be lost. The creature-comforts and confidences from which we promise ourselves most, may fail as soon as those from which we promise ourselves least; and all are what God makes them, not what we fancy them to be. Well-grounded hopes of our having a part in the Divine mercy, are always united with repentance and obedience.

Bible Cross References

Psalm 33:11 Isaiah 10:19 Isaiah 14:27 Isaiah 27:12 Isaiah 27:13 Isaiah 46:10 Isaiah 46:11 Jeremiah 42:17 Jeremiah 44:13 Jeremiah 44:14 Jeremiah 51:50 Ezekiel 6:8 Zechariah 1:6

Verse 29

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

Jeremiah then denounces destruction upon them.

Whatever evil comes upon us, it is because we have sinned against the Lord; we should therefore stand in awe, and sin not. Since they were determined to persist in their idolatry, God would go on to punish them. What little remains of religion were among them, would be lost. The creature-comforts and confidences from which we promise ourselves most, may fail as soon as those from which we promise ourselves least; and all are what God makes them, not what we fancy them to be. Well-grounded hopes of our having a part in the Divine mercy, are always united with repentance and obedience.

John Wesley's Bible Commentary

This shall be a sign - Signs are usually antecedent to the thing signified, but the word is taken in a larger notion in this place for that which should attend the thing signified by it.

John Calvin Bible Commentary

Jeremiah seals his prophecy by adding a sign which yet was to be coincident with it. It was not then, as they say, a premonstrative sign. And doubtless the Jews were wholly unworthy that God should shew them anything extraordinary; but this sign was only added, that they might know that they in vain trusted in the protection of Egypt, and also that every excuse might be taken away. This brief notice may perhaps be obscure. We shall therefore refer to a distinction that exists: some signs precede the time and order of things, but others are connected with the events themselves. The signs which precede events avail to prepare the minds of the faithful, so that they may not doubt but that God will do what he has promised, as when Gideon sought a sign from God, and it was granted to him; the ground was wet with dew, while the fleece remained dry; and then the fleece remained dry when the ground was wet. (Judges 6:36-40.) By this sign Gideon was encouraged to proceed in his course, when before doubt made him inert Gideon was torpid, but when he saw by this miracle that victory would be given him, he boldly undertook the work assigned to him. The greatest portion of signs are of this kind. But there are other signs which do not precede events, but shew that when the time is fulfilled the events have been truly predicted, as when God said to Moses,“This sign I give thee, that after ye have come out of Egypt ye shall sacrifice to me in this mountain.” (Exodus 3:12)Neither Moses nor the people could know anything by that sign before they had departed from Egypt. But after they were delivered they there gave thanks on the third day to God their Redeemer. Hence signs refer sometimes to past time, and sometimes to what is future. Those which refer to the future are such as we call premonstrative, as the case was with Gideon, who took up arms with alacrity, because he knew that he was fighting under God’s banner; and he was fully persuaded of a victory when he understood that God would be his leader.

McArther Bible Commentary

sign. The sign of punishment was described in verse Jer 44:30 as the strangulation of Pharaoh Hophra in 570 B.C. by Amasis, which paved the way for Nebuchadnezzar's invasion in the twenty-third year of his reign (568/67 B.C.).

Bible Cross References

Matthew 24:15 Matthew 24:16 Proverbs 19:21 Isaiah 7:11 Isaiah 7:14 Isaiah 8:18 Isaiah 31:2 Isaiah 40:8 Jeremiah 44:30 Zechariah 1:6

Verse 30

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary

Jeremiah then denounces destruction upon them.

Whatever evil comes upon us, it is because we have sinned against the Lord; we should therefore stand in awe, and sin not. Since they were determined to persist in their idolatry, God would go on to punish them. What little remains of religion were among them, would be lost. The creature-comforts and confidences from which we promise ourselves most, may fail as soon as those from which we promise ourselves least; and all are what God makes them, not what we fancy them to be. Well-grounded hopes of our having a part in the Divine mercy, are always united with repentance and obedience.

Bible Cross References

2 Kings 25:4 Jeremiah 27:7 Jeremiah 34:21 Jeremiah 39:5 Jeremiah 43:9 Jeremiah 44:29 Jeremiah 46:25 Jeremiah 46:26 Ezekiel 29:2 Ezekiel 29:3 Ezekiel 30:21