Jeremiah 4:10

Then said I, ah, Lord God! .... Expressing great sorrow and concern: this "ah" is by way of lamentation. The Targum interprets it as a petition,

"and I said, receive my prayer, O Lord God:'

surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem : what the false prophets did, that God is said to do, because he suffered them to deceive the people; see 1 Kings 22:20 . The Targum ascribes the deception to the false prophets, and not to God,

"surely behold the false prophets deceive this people, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem;'

or this may be ironically said, because the false prophets pretended to speak in the name of the Lord; wherefore Jeremiah says, "surely thou hast greatly deceived", &c.; "saying, ye shall have peace"; as the false prophets did, Jeremiah 6:14 ,

whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul ; takes away the life, many are slain by it; so the Targum,

"and now behold the sword killeth among the people;'

great slaughter is made by it. L'Empereur F23 Not. ad Mosis Kimchi, οδοιπορια , p. 186. observes that the word here used signifies, in the Arabic language, to educate or bring up; and then the sense is,

"ah, Lord, thou hast brought up this people with great tenderness, and promised them all manner of happiness; but now thou thunderest out threatenings of calamities of all sorts, and death itself; and assigned a place for the sword to enter into their very souls;'

so the Arabic word used in the version of Acts 22:2 .