Verse 4. Thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel.'-'The people of the East metaphorically ascribe the character of females to cities. They represent them as the mothers of the inhabitants; they speak of them as wives of the kings; when they revolt against the sovereign they are adulterous,' etc. Compare 2 Sam. xx. 19; 2 Kings xix. 21; Ps. cxxxvii. 8; Isa. xxiii. 12; xlvii. 1-8; lxii. 4; Jer. iii. 8-14; xiii. 26; Lam. i. 1-8, 17; Ezek. xvi. 14 ; xxiii. 29; Nah. iii. 5, 6.

15. A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping,' etc.-This was for the dead, as appears by what follows. Taken in the fulness of its signification, the passage which Burder here produces from Le Brun is striking and illustrative, although the Ramah (or rather Ramla) at which the scene was witnessed is far from being, as Burder supposes, the Ramah of the prophet. After stating that the women go in companies on certain days, out of the towns, to the tombs of their relations, in order to weep there, and when they are arrived they display very deep expressions of grief-he goes on to say, 'While I was at Ramah, I saw a very great company of these weeping women, who went out of the town. I followed them, and after having observed the place they visited, adjacent to their sepulchres, in order to make their usual lamentations, I seated myself on an elevated spot. They first went and placed themselves on their sepulchres, and wept there; where, after having remained about half an hour, some of them rose up and formed a ring, holding each other by the hand, as is done in some country-dances. Quickly two of them quitted the others, and placed themselves in the centre of the ring, where they made so much noise in screaming and in clapping their hands, as, together with their various contortions, might have subjected them to the suspicion of madness. After that they returned, and seated themselves to weep again till they gradually withdrew to their homes. The dresses they wore were such as they generally used, white, or any other colour; but when they rose up to form a circle they put a black veil over the upper part of their persons.'

18. I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke.'-The Rev. J. Campbell, whose South African experience has supplied some very remarkable illustrations of Scripture, regards this simile as a very apt one.' He says, 'I have had frequent opportunities of witnessing the conduct of oxen when for the first time put into the yoke to assist in dragging the waggons. On observing an ox that had been in the yoke for seven or eight hundred miles beginning to get weak, or his hoofs to be worn down to the quick by treading on the sharp gravel, a fresh ox was put into the yoke in his place. When the selection fell on an ox I had received as a present from an African king, of course one completely unaccustomed to the yoke, such generally made a strenuous struggle for liberty, repeatedly breaking the yoke, and attempting to make his escape. At other times such bullocks lay down upon their sides or backs, and remained so in defiance of the Hottentots, though two or three of them would be lashing them with their ponderous whips. Sometimes, from pity to the poor animal, I would interfere, and beg them to be less cruel. "Cruel!" they would say; "it is mercy; for if we do not conquer him now, he will require to be so beaten all his life." Some oxen would seem convinced of the folly of opposing the will of the Hottentots by the end of the first day; some about the middle of the second; while some would continue the struggle to the third; after which they would go on as willingly and quietly as any of their neighbour oxen. They seemed convinced that their resisting was fruitless as kicking against the pricks, or sharp pointed iron, which they could not injure, but that every kick they gave only injured themselves.'

19. I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh.'-Compare Ezek. xxi. 12. This is a common action of self-reproach, conviction, and grief in the East. Perhaps the mode of sitting which brings the thigh immediately under the hand may have some connection with the practice. This, as an act of grief, was in use among the classical ancients. Thus, in Homer, when the

flames arose from the Grecian fleet, which had been set on fire by the Trojans,

'Achilles saw it, smote his thigh, and said-'

Il. xvi. 124.

So also Xenophon describes Cyrus as smiting his thigh when he received intelligence of the death of his generous friend Abradates. And Cicero mentions it as a common rhetorical action of which he did not approve.

21. Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps.'This refers to the foretold return of the captives, when they must necessarily cross the desert between Babylonia and Palestine; and it shews that it was customary, as it still is in some cases, to set up waymarks to direct the course of travellers across these desolate regions where man leaves no trace of his footsteps. The first word, D'Y tzinim, rendered waymarks, denotes stones set or heaped up for any commemorative or indicative purpose. The other, ' tamrurim, coming from n tamar, a palm-tree, would suggest tall round pillars or poles, having some resemblance to the trunk of the palm. Where such waymarks exist, they are usually set very far asunder, as in the level and bare plains they are visible from a great distance. Their construction varies, being formed of that material which can be most easily obtained; but they are seldom other than heaps of stones, except in those desolate districts over which a settled people have authority, and through which they frequently pass, and then they sometimes erect pillars of brick or stone, and we have occasionally observed cones or pillars of wickerwork filled up with clay or earth.

38. The tower of Hananeel.'-This tower, which probably derived its name from the builder, is one of the three towers mentioned in Nehemiah (xii. 38, 39). Its situation is there intimated with relation to the sheep-gate, but here, and in Zech. xiv. 10, with respect to the 'cornergate; and the tower was therefore most probably between the two. With respect to the position of the gates see the note on Neh. iii. 1, where the sheep-gate is, in accordance with general opinion, placed on the east side of the town. It seems to have been a little to the north of the northeast corner of the temple wall, in the same situation as is now occupied by the gate of St. Stephen, so called from a tradition that the proto-martyr was there slain. The probable situation of the sheep-gate determines that of the tower of Hananeel, which was obviously near it; and from the direction in which the boundary line is described, we may infer it to have been to the north of that gate, and consequently was near the north-east corner of the city, and probably faced the east.

The gate of the corner.'-This gate is not mentioned in Nehemiah; but it occurs so early as the reign of Amaziah, when Jehoash, king of Israel, brake down the wall from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate.' This would alone intimate that it was in the north wall, as that quarter was, by nature, the most defenceless, and therefore the north wall was that against which besiegers usually directed their principal operations. The gate of Ephraim, which helps to determine the corner gate,' is allowed to have been in the north wall, and regarding the supposed situation of the tower of Hananeel, which seems sufficiently to mark the north-east angle, we may consider the corner gate' to have been at or near the north-west angle, so that from the tower of Hananeel to the corner gate describes the north-eastern and the whole of the northern part of the city walls. As this gate is not mentioned after the Captivity, it was perhaps not rebuilt, unless it occurs under another name.

་

39. Over against it upon the hill Gareb.'-Our im pression concerning the whole description is, that it describes no boundary of stone, but a boundary of holinessthat is, that not only the city itself, but those parts without the city, which were accounted common or unclean ground, should be considered holy-as holy as the temple. It therefore does not include the temple, which was already holy; and this is a circumstance which, notwith

standing its interest, and the point which it gives to the passage, has escaped notice. The line begins at some distance opposite the north-east angle of the temple precincts, and ends at the horse-gate, which was at nearly an equal distance from the south-east angle, leaving the temple itself, therefore, unenclosed. So also, although this boundary of holiness coincides with the city wall from the tower of Hananeel to the corner gate, it there ceases to do so; for that gate being at the north-west corner, the boundary does not turn southward, to follow the course of the western wall of the city; but continues westward, across the entrance of the western valley, to the hill Gareb, and then turns westward, and runs round the remainder of the city, parallel to the wall, so as to enclose the western and southern valleys, with part of the valley of the Kidron on the east. This is the clearest idea we can form of the passage and its object. This definition of course infers that the hill Gareb was that opposite the north-west angle of the city, and at the entrance of the western valley. Some writers, observing that the name denotes a species of leprosy, infer that the hill was occupied by the lepers, who were obliged to live outside the city, and that it hence derived its name. This does not seem improbable; and if true, the explanation we have given will suggest that it is mentioned as one of the unclean places which should become holy unto the Lord. 'Goath.'-This was of course in the further progress westward. As the word wants but the common prefix

gal or gol, ‘a heap,' to become Golgoath or Golgotha, some writers have suggested that it is the same place bearing that name in the New Testament, and where our Lord was crucified. This is however a matter which belongs to an inquiry concerning the site of Calvary, for which see the note on Heb. xiii.

40. The valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes.” — This was undoubtedly the valley of Ben-Hinnom, which, after it had been defiled by Josiah, to mark his detestation of the horrid rites which had there been celebrated, became the common receptacle for all the filth of the town. But as the bodies of dead animals, etc., thrown there, might prove very offensive to the city, and tend to produce a pestilence, we are informed by the Rabbins that fires were constantly kept burning in the valley, to consume these and other substances likely to prove injuricus to the inhabitants. Hence the ashes; although some understand this of the ashes from the temple altar. It seems from ch. vii. 32, that there was also in this valley a burying-place of some kind-perhaps for foreigners or criminals.

The horse-gate.'-The situation of this gate has been indicated in a note on Neh. iii. i. It is supposed to have derived its name from being that through which the king's horses usually passed, when taken out to be watered or exercised; others suppose that it was so called because the market for horses was held there.

CHAPTER XXXII.

1 Jeremiah, being imprisoned by Zedekiah for his prophecy, 6 buyeth Hanameel's field. 13 Baruch must preserve the evidences, as tokens of the people's

return.

16 Jeremiah in his prayer complaineth to God. 26 God confirmeth the captivity for their sins, 36 and promiseth a gracious return.

THE word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.

2 For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house.

3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD, 'Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;

4 And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;

5 And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the LORD though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.

6 And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

7 Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.

8 So Hanameel mine uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

9 And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even 'seventeen shekels of silver.

10 And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.

11 So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open :

12 And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.

13 ¶ And I charged Baruch before them, saying,

14 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God

4 Or, seven shekels and ten pieces of silver.

of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an carthen vessel, that they may continue many days.

26 T Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,

27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh is there any thing too hard for me? 28 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chal

16 Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the LORD, saying,

17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing "too hard for thee:

18 Thou shewest 'lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name,

19 Great in counsel, and mighty in "work: for thine 'eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:

20 Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and hast made other men; and hast made thee a name, as at this day;

21 And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;

22 And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;

23 And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them :

24 Behold the "mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it.

25 And thou hast said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaideans.

king of Babylon, and he shall take it:

13

29 And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.

30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD.

31 For this city hath been to me as 1a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,

32 Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

33 And they have turned unto me the 15 16back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction. 34 But they house, which is file it.

18

17

set their abominations in the called by my name, to de

35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto "Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

36 And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence;

15 Heb. neck.

19 Levit. 18. 21.

Ꮓ

401

have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.

43 And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

44 Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD.

24 Heb. from after them.

Verse 9. I bought the field.'-This passage has much interest, as enabling us to perceive very clearly the manner in which, in this later period, the Hebrews conducted their transactions of important purchase and sale; and in this view it may be well to compare it with the account in Gen. xxiii. of Abraham's purchase of a field from Ephron the Hittite. In both, the presence of witnesses is secured, and in both the money is weighed in balances: but there are no other circumstances of resemblance. There is also no appearance of the shoe,' which occurs in the transaction recorded in Ruth iv.; which, however, being a transfer of right rather than a sale, does not supply so definite a comparison as the other. In fact, the present is the first instance in which we find written instruments employed in such transactions; and here they are introduced with much of the completeness and care which we find in modern ratifications. It seems that the terms of the agreement were written out in duplicate, and subscribed by the contracting parties and witnesses. The original was sealed and carefully preserved, probably for production at a future period, if judicial evidence of the transaction should be required; while the copy, characterized as 'open,' we may suppose to have been kept for occasional reference and inspection. The deed seems to have contained the formula of assignment, and a description of the premises, which more clearly appears in Blayney's translation of v. 11: 'And I took the purchasedeed, that which was sealed, containing the assignment and limitations, and that which was open,' etc. This learned translator conceives, we see not on what grounds, that there was but one deed, in two parts-that which contained the assignment being sealed, and the specification being open. But the explanation we have given seems the simpler of the two.

But per

-Seventeen shekels of silver.'-This would not make more than about forty shillings of our money, which seems a very small sum to give for the inheritance of a field, particularly when we see the transaction of purchase conducted with so much legal form and care. haps, when we consider that we are unacquainted with the extent of the land purchased-that the same nominal sum probably at that time and place represented a far greater real value than at this time and in this place-and above all, that the circumstances of the times must have tended

402

greatly to lessen the value of land, the country being then actually under the dominion of the Chaldeans, and the purchaser well knowing that the property would not be come beneficial to himself or his heirs till after the seventy years had expired-it becomes unnecessary to suppose that error in the text which had been imagined to exist, and which some have corrected so as to raise the amount to fourteen pounds sterling, by reading seven shekels of gold, and ten of silver,' while others raise it to fifty-three pounds fifteen shillings, by reading, or rather understanding, seven manehs (each equal to sixty shekels), and ten shekels of silver.'

14. Take these evidences....and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.-This was no doubt intended to be buried in the ground, and probably in the very spot of ground which was the subject of this transaction. Nothing is more usual in the East than to deposit in earthen vessels and bury in the ground things intended to be preserved for a length of time, or to be protected temporarily from spoliation. This is considered more secure because less easily discoverable than any place of deposit above ground. The chief danger is from accidental discovery; and there are many eastern accounts of treasures discovered by men when ploughing or pur suing other labours of the field. As respects the burying in earthen jars of things intended for evidence of territorial possession, the following extract from Halhed's Code of Gentoo Laws, is singularly illustrative. Dust, bones, bran, cinders, scraps of earthenware, the hairs of a cow's tail, the seed of the cotton plant; all these being put into an earthen pot filled to the brim, a man must privately bury on the confines of his own boundary: and there preserve stones also, or bricks, or sea-sand: any of these three things may be buried by way of landmark of the limits; for all these things, on remaining a long time in the ground, are not liable to rot or become putrid. Any other thing also, which will remain a long time in the ground, and without becoming rotten or putrid, may be buried for the same purpose. Those persons who by any of these methods can shew the line of their boundaries, shall acquaint their sons with the respective landmarks of these boundaries; and in the same manner those sons also shall explain the signs the limits to their children.'

CHAPTER XXXIII.

1 God promiseth to the captivity a gracious return, 9 a joyful state, 12 a settled government, 15 Christ the Branch of righteousness, 17 a continuance of kingdom and priesthood, 20 and a stability of a blessed seed.

MOREOVER the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet 'shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

2 Thus saith the LORD the 'maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name ;

3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

4 For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword;

5 They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.

6 Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.

7 And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.

8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will 'pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.

9 And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.

10 T Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,

11 The 'voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise

to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.

12 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.

13 In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the LORD.

14 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the 'Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, "The LORD our righteousness.

17 ¶ For thus saith the LORD; David shall never 'want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

18 Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

19 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,

20 Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;

21 Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.

22 As "the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me. 23 ¶ Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

24 Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. 25 Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant

4 Chap. 31. 34. Mic. 7. 18.

5 Chap. 7. 34, and 16. 9. 8 Heb. There shall not be cut off from David. 11 Chap. 31. 37.