Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood , and there is no breath in them. See Gill on Jeremiah 10:14 . read more
They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. See Gill on Jeremiah 10:15 . read more
Every man is brutish by his knowledge - He is brutish for want of real knowledge; and he is brutish when he acknowledges that an idol is any thing in the world. These verses, from fifteen to nineteen, are transcribed from Jeremiah 10:12-16 . read more
Verse 17 This verse is usually explained, as though the Prophet pointed out how men glide into errors and fancies, even because they seek to be wise according to their own notions; and Paul, in the first chapter to the Romans, assigns it as the cause of idolatry, that men become vain in their own wisdom, because they follow whatever their own brains suggest to them. This doctrine is in itself true and useful; for men have devised idols for themselves, because they would not reverently receive... read more
Verse 18 As he had called idols a lie, so now in the same sense he declares that they were vanity, even because they were nothing real, but vain pomps, or phantoms, or masks; and he afterwards expresses himself more clearly by saying that they were the work of illusions But he does not seem to take the word תעתעים , toroim, in a passive but in an active sense. He then means that it was a deceptive work, which was a snare to men; as though he had said, that they were the work of imposture, or... read more
The duty of separating from the world. I. IN WHAT SENSE OBLIGATORY UPON THE CHILDREN OF GOD . 1 . Spiritual detachment is always the duty of saints. In heart and life they are to be separate unto the Lord. Their motives, ulterior aims, and dispositions are to be such as the Holy Spirit creates and fosters. They obey the law of the resurrection life, and "seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, setting their affection on... read more
Probably interpolated from Jeremiah 10:12-16 (the only verbal difference is in Jeremiah 10:19 , where "Israel" is left out before "the rod of his inheritance"). But may not Jeremiah have quoted himself? Conceivably, yes; but he would surely not have quoted such a passage here, where it spoils the context. For granting that a point of contact with verse 14 may be found for verses 15, 16 (Jehovah who has sworn has also the power to accomplish), yet the passage on the idols stands quite by... read more
A transcript of Jeremiah 10:12-16. read more
Jeremiah 51:13-19. O thou that dwellest upon many waters The river Euphrates ran through the midst of Babylon, and there was a prodigious lake of water on one side of the city, besides other lesser waters near it, so that it was in a manner encompassed with waters. Many waters do likewise signify mystically the many people over which this was the reigning city: see Revelation 17:15. Abundant in treasures Not only enriched by traffic, but by the conquest and spoil of many nations. Thine... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 51:1-58
The particulars of this copious prophecy are dispersed and interwoven, and the same things left and returned to so often that it could not well be divided into parts, but we must endeavor to collect them under their proper heads. Let us then observe here, I. An acknowledgment of the great pomp and power that Babylon had been in and the use that God in his providence had made of it (Jer. 51:7): Babylon hath been a golden cup, a rich and glorious empire, a golden city (Isa. 14:4), a head of gold... read more