The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying. Here seems to begin a new prophecy; but when it was, and under what reign, and what time between this and the former, is not known; however, it was from the Lord, and so to be regarded. read more
The word that came to Jeremiah - This discourse is supposed to have been delivered in the first year of the reign of Zedekiah. See Dahler. read more
Verse 1 Here the Prophet teaches us, that the Jews, though they continued to profess God’s holy name, were yet wholly perfidious, and had departed altogether from the law. The import of this discourse is, that the Jews gloried in the name of God, and yet were violaters of his covenant, for they had broken their faith pledged to God, and wholly cast aside the doctrine of the law. The Jews, no doubt, were often greatly exasperated against Jeremiah, as though he was pleading his own cause: it was... read more
The ancient covenant. I. THE OBJECT OF THE COVENANT . This was to secure obedience. No covenant was required on God's side, since he is ever willing to bless and changeless in his beneficence. But for the sake of men's faith and to secure their allegiance God graciously condescended to enter into covenant bonds. It is therefore foolish to claim the fulfillment of God's promises irrespective of our conduct. They are covenant promises— i.e. conditional and assured on certain... read more
The covenant with the fathers binding on the children. Here it is necessary to go back over all the history of Israel, and consider the great covenant transactions between God and his people. Such transactions we find to have been filled with great solemnity, so that they might make a deep mark in history. We trace the beginnings of the great covenant in God's dealings with Abraham. Indeed, the covenant with Israel as a nation was the necessary consequence of the covenant with Abraham as... read more
1. A reminder of the renewal of the covenant between Jehovah and the people lately made under Josiah ( Jeremiah 11:1-8 ). 2. First stage of the conspiracy; all Israel, instead of keeping the covenant with Jehovah, conspires against him ( Jeremiah 11:9-13 ). 3. The punishment of the conspiracy is an irreversible, severe judgment ( Jeremiah 11:14 17). 4. Second stage of the conspiracy; the plot of the men of Anathoth ( Jeremiah 11:18-23 ). 5. Third stage; the plot... read more
The prophecy contained in Jer. 11–12 seems to belong to an early period of Jeremiah’s life. The covenant Jeremiah 11:2 was that renewed by Josiah in his 18th year, after the discovery of the Book of the Law in the temple 2 Kings 23:3; while Jeremiah 11:13 apparently refers to the public establishment of idolatry by Manasseh Jeremiah 21:3. The people took no hearty part in Josiah’s reformation, and the prophet therefore sets before them the consequences that will inevitably fellow upon their... read more
Jeremiah 11:1. The word that came to Jeremiah, &c. At what time the prophecy, contained in this and the following chapter, was communicated to the prophet, is not expressed; but Blaney and many others assign it to the latter part of the reign of Josiah,” when the people, who, in the eighteenth year of that prince, had solemnly engaged to perform the obligations of the divine covenant, may be supposed to have relapsed, in course of time, into their former disregard and neglect. The... read more
The broken covenant (11:1-17)God had made a covenant with Israel after the people came out of Egypt, assuring them of blessing if they obeyed his law and punishment if they disobeyed. God now tells Jeremiah to remind the people of these conditions of the covenant (11:1-5). Past lessons should be a warning to them that unless they change their ways, they are heading for disaster (6-8). However, the people prefer to ignore the warnings. Like their forefathers they rebel against God and follow... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 11:1-10
The prophet here, as prosecutor in God's name, draws up an indictment against the Jews for wilful disobedience to the commands of their rightful Sovereign. For the more solemn management of this charge, I. He produces the commission he had to draw up the charge against them. He did not take pleasure in accusing the children of his people, but God commanded him to speak it to the men of Judah, Jer. 11:1, 2. In the original it is plural: Speak you this. For what he said to Jeremiah was the same... read more