Jeremiah 44:17-18

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 44:15-19

We have here the people's obstinate refusal to submit to the power of the word of God in the mouth of Jeremiah. We have scarcely such an instance of downright daring contradiction to God himself as this, or such an avowed rebellion of the carnal mind. Observe, I. The persons who thus set God and his judgments at defiance; it was not some one that was thus obstinate, but the generality of the Jews; and they were such as knew either themselves or their wives to be guilty of the idolatry Jeremiah... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 44:17

But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth out of our own mouth ,.... And not what went out of the mouth of God, or his prophet: but whoever they had resolved on within themselves to do, and had declared with their mouths they would, or had vowed with their lips; so Abarbinel interprets it of a vow; this they were determined to perform, let God and his prophet say what they would: to burn incense unto the queen of heaven ; which, according to Abarbinel, was the moon, which is the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 44:18

But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven ,.... Or were restrained from it, as the Targum, through the force of the prophet's sermons, or by the authority of their governors: this Abarbinel thinks was in the times of Jehoiakim, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah; but perhaps it only regards some space of time in the latter part of Zedekiah's reign, a little before the destruction of Jerusalem, when they refrained from their idolatry; fearing the wrath of God, and what was coming upon... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 44:17

Verse 17 Here they shew more openly their obstinacy; for having said that they had no faith in Jeremiah, as he had not been sent by God, they now add that they would indeed be the worshippers of God, but according to their own will. We have here discovered to us the fountain of all superstitions. This passage sufficiently proves whence these flow, and from what source proceed all the corruptions by which religion has been vitiated in all ages, even from the willfulness and pride of men. While... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 44:18

Verse 18 Here he enlarges on their ingratitude, that they attributed to God the fault of all their calamities, when yet God would have drawn them, as the Prophet will hereafter tell us, as it were out of darkness into light, had they been reclaimable. They ought to have been restored, by punishments, to their right mind. But this had been so far from being the case, that the effect of God’s scourges had been to render them more and more obstinate. They then said, that from the time they left... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 44:1-30

Jeremiah's last sermon. There are other prophecies of Jeremiah recorded in this book in the chapters that remain, but this discourse is the last that we know of his delivering. And with it the curtain falls upon this great prophet of God; upon Baruch, his beloved companion and helper; and upon the wretched Jews for whose good he had laboured, but in vain. A long interval separates it from that in the previous chapter; for we see the people not now at Tahpanhes, at the border of Egypt, but... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 44:1-30

The end of Jeremiah; or, going down in clouds. With this chapter Jeremiah disappears from view. The sadness which surrounded his first ministry accompanies it to the last and deepens at its close; like a sunset in clouds, going down in darkness and storm, The path along which he had been led had been via crucis, a via dolorosa indeed; a lifelong tragedy, an unceasing pain. We can only hope that death came soon to him after his recorded history closes. We have seen him torn from his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 44:15-19

The reply of the people. The special mention of the women suggests that the occasion of the gathering was a festival in honour of the Queen of Heaven. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 44:15-19

Supposed and real reasons for calamity. I. A SUPPOSED REASON . What is the calamity? Sword and famine. Certainly a calamity to be removed and as far as possible averted for the future. And casting about to discover a reason for the calamity, the men of Judah, or rather the women, for it is they who appear most prominently in this declaration, discover that the reason is to be found in the discontinuance of their offerings to the queen of heaven. What a family matter this offering was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 44:15-23

Credentials of religion. Very important to know why we prefer one religious system to another, and also why we ought to prefer it. A man is continually in need of having to give a reason for the hope that is in him. The higher religions find the field already occupied by many great systems, and have to vindicate themselves. The arguments employed here are those most commonly adduced, because most superficial. As appealing to the sensuous and material side of human nature, they are very... read more

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