Thus saith the Lord, behold, a people cometh from the north country ,.... The Assyrians from Babylon, which lay north of Judea, as in Jeremiah 1:14 , and a great nation shall be raised ; that is, by the Lord, who would stir them up to this undertaking. The Targum is, "many people shall come openly:' from the sides of the earth ; afar off, as Babylon was, Jeremiah 5:15 . read more
They shall lay hold on bow and spear ,.... That is, everyone of them should be furnished with both these pieces of armour, that they might be able to fight near and afar off; they had bows to shoot arrows at a distance, and spears to strike with when near. The Targum renders it bows and shields. "They are cruel, and have no mercy"; this is said, to strike terror into the hearts of the hardened Jews: their voice roareth like the sea ; the waves of it, which is terrible, Luke 21:25 , ... read more
We have heard the fame thereof ,.... Meaning not the prophet's report then, but the rumour of the enemy's coming from another quarter, at the time he was actually coming. These are the words of the people, upon such a rumour spread; or the words of the prophet, joining himself with them, describing their case, when it would be strongly reported, and they had reason to believe it, that the enemy was just coming, and very near: our hands wax feeble ; have no strength in them, shake and... read more
Go not forth into the field ,.... Either for pleasure, or for business; to take a walk in it for the air, or to till it, plough, sow, or reap; but keep within the city and its walls, there being danger: nor walk by the way ; in the high road from Jerusalem, to any town or village near it: for the sword of the enemy : or, "because there is a sword for the enemy" F2 כי חרב לאיוב "quoniam gladius est inimico", Munster, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius; "quia (ibi) gladius... read more
O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth ,.... Either as a token of repentance for sin; so the king of Nineveh and his subjects did, to show their repentance, Jonah 3:6 or as a sign of mourning, for the calamities coming on them, Genesis 37:34 . and wallow thyself in ashes ; or roll thyself in them, as a token of the same. The Targum is, "cover your heads with ashes.' Make thee mourning as for an only son ; which of all is the most bitter: and therefore it is added, ... read more
They shall lay hold on bow and spear - Still pointing out the Chaldeans: or according to Dahler, the Scythians, who had before their invasion of Palestine overrun many parts of Asia, and had spread consternation wherever their name was heard. read more
Verse 22 It was no useless repetition when the Prophet said so often that God said. He might have said only, “Behold, a nation shall come from the north;” but he premises by saying that he derived this message from God, and not only so, but he introduces God as the speaker, that his message might be more impressive. In the former verse he had also said, Thus saith Jehovah, and elsewhere: but he now repeats the same words, that the holy name of God might more powerfully rouse their minds. ... read more
Verse 23 He adds other particulars, in order more fully to render the Chaldeans objects of dread: They shall lay hold, he says, on the bow and the lance They who render the last word shield, do not sufficiently attend to the design of the Prophet. For there is no mention here made of defense; but it is the same as though the Prophet had said, that they would come furnished with bows and spears, that they might shoot at a distance. The word כידון, kidun, means a spear and a lance; (182) and it... read more
Verse 24 Jeremiah proceeds in the same strain; for he sets before the eyes of the Jews the judgment of God, and draws them, as it were against their will, into the middle of the scene. And this was done by the prophets, as it has been already said, because by plain words they could not move the hearts of the people on account of their contempt of God, and of the long obduracy in which they had settled. Hence he says, that heard had been the report of the enemy, and that immediately dissolved... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 6:18-30
Here, I. God appeals to all the neighbours, nay, to the whole world, concerning the equity of his proceedings against Judah and Jerusalem (Jer. 6:18, 19): ?Hear, you nations, and know particularly, O congregation of the mighty, the great men of the nations, that take cognizance of the affairs of states about you and make remarks upon them. Observe now what is doing among those of Judah and Jerusalem; you hear of the desolations brought upon them, the earth rings of it, trembles under it; you... read more