---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Jeremiah 6"
description: "CHAPTER 6   :-. ZION"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/jeremiah/6"
---

CHAPTER 6

. ZION'S FOES
PREPARE WAR
AGAINST HER: HER
SINS ARE
THE CAUSE.

**1. Benjamin**—Jerusalem was
situated in the tribe of Benjamin, which was here separated from that
of Judah by the valley of Hinnom. Though it was inhabited partly by
Benjamites, partly by men of Judah, he addresses the former as being
his own countrymen.
**blow . . . trumpet . . .
Tekoa**—*Tikehu, Tekoa* form a play on sounds. The
birthplace of Amos.
**Beth-haccerem**—meaning
in *Hebrew,* "vineyard-house." It and Tekoa were a few
miles south of Jerusalem. As the enemy came from the north, the
inhabitants of the surrounding country would naturally flee
southwards. The fire-signal on the hills gave warning of danger
approaching.

**2. likened**—rather, "I lay
waste." Literally, "O comely and delicate one, I lay waste
the daughter of Zion," that is, "thee." So , "before *Joshua,*" that is, "before
*thee*" [MAURER].

**3. shepherds**—hostile leaders
with their armies ([Jeremiah 1:15](../../../kjv/jeremiah/1/15);
[Jeremiah 4:17](../../../kjv/jeremiah/4/17); [Jeremiah 49:20](../../../kjv/jeremiah/49/20);
[Jeremiah 50:45](../../../kjv/jeremiah/50/45)).
**feed**—They shall consume
each one all that is near him; literally, "his *hand,*"
that is, the *place* which he occupies ([Jeremiah 50:45](../../../kjv/jeremiah/50/45); see on [Jeremiah 50:45](../../../kjv/jeremiah/50/45)).

**4, 5.** The invading soldiers
encourage one another to the attack on Jerusalem.
**Prepare**—literally,
"Sanctify" war, that is, Proclaim it formally with solemn
rites; the invasion was solemnly ordered by God (compare ).
**at noon**—the hottest
part of the day when attacks were rarely made ([Jeremiah 15:8](../../../kjv/jeremiah/15/8);
[Jeremiah 20:16](../../../kjv/jeremiah/20/16)). Even at this time
they wished to attack, such is their eagerness.
**Woe unto us**—The words
of the invaders, mourning the approach of night which would suspend
their hostile operations; still, even in spite of the darkness, at
*night* they renew the attack ([Jeremiah 20:16](../../../kjv/jeremiah/20/16)).

**6. cast**—*Hebrew,* "pour
out"; referring to the emptying of the baskets of earth to make
the *mound,* formed of "trees" and earthwork, to
overtop the city walls. The "trees" were also used to make
warlike engines.
**this**—pointing the
invaders to Jerusalem.
**visited**—that is,
punished.
**wholly oppression**—or
join "wholly" with "visited," that is, she is
altogether (in her whole extent) to be punished [MAURER].

**7. fountain**—rather, a *well*
dug, from which water springs; distinct from a natural spring or
fountain.
**casteth out**—causeth to
flow; literally, "causeth to dig," the cause being put for
the effect ([2 Kings 21:16](../../../kjv/2-kings/21/16); [2 Kings 21:24](../../../kjv/2-kings/21/24);
[Isaiah 57:20](../../../kjv/isaiah/57/20)).
**me**—Jehovah.

**8.** Tender appeal in the midst of
threats.
**depart**—*Hebrew,*
"be torn away"; Jehovah's affection making Him unwilling to
depart; His attachment to Jerusalem was such that an effort was
needed to tear Himself from it ([Ezekiel 23:18](../../../kjv/ezekiel/23/18);
[Hosea 9:12](../../../kjv/hosea/9/12); [Hosea 11:8](../../../kjv/hosea/11/8)).

**9.** The Jews are the grapes,
their enemies the unsparing gleaners.
**turn back . . . hand**—again
and again bring freshly gathered handfuls to the baskets; referring
to the repeated carrying away of captives to Babylon ([Jeremiah 52:28-30](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/28-30);
[2 Kings 24:14](../../../kjv/2-kings/24/14); [2 Kings 25:11](../../../kjv/2-kings/25/11)).

**10. ear is uncircumcised**—closed
against the precepts of God by the foreskin of carnality ([Leviticus 26:41](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/41);
[Ezekiel 44:7](../../../kjv/ezekiel/44/7); [Acts 7:51](../../../kjv/acts/7/51)).
**word . . . reproach**—
([Jeremiah 20:8](../../../kjv/jeremiah/20/8)).

**11. fury of . . . Lord**—His
denunciations against Judah communicated to the prophet.
**weary with holding in**—
([Jeremiah 20:9](../../../kjv/jeremiah/20/9)).
**I will pour**—or else
imperative: the command of God (see [Jeremiah 20:9](../../../kjv/jeremiah/20/9)), "Pour it out" [MAURER].
**aged . . . full of days**—The
former means *one becoming old;* the latter a *decrepit old
man* [MAURER] ([Job 5:26](../../../kjv/job/5/26);
[Isaiah 65:20](../../../kjv/isaiah/65/20)).

**12.** The very punishments
threatened by Moses in the event of disobedience to God ().
**turned**—transferred.

**13.** ([Jeremiah 8:10](../../../kjv/jeremiah/8/10);
[Isaiah 56:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/56/11); [Micah 3:11](../../../kjv/micah/3/11)).

**14. hurt**—the spiritual *wound.*
**slightly**—as if it were
but a *slight* wound; or, *in a slight manner,* pronouncing
all sound where there is no soundness.
**saying**—namely, the
prophets and priests ([Jeremiah 6:13](../../../kjv/jeremiah/6/13)).
Whereas they ought to warn the people of impending judgments and the
need of repentance, they say there is nothing to fear.
**peace**—including
soundness. All is *sound* in the nation's moral state, so all
will be *peace* as to its political state ([Jeremiah 4:10](../../../kjv/jeremiah/4/10);
[Jeremiah 8:11](../../../kjv/jeremiah/8/11); [Jeremiah 14:13](../../../kjv/jeremiah/14/13);
[Jeremiah 23:17](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/17); [Ezekiel 13:5](../../../kjv/ezekiel/13/5);
[Ezekiel 13:10](../../../kjv/ezekiel/13/10); [Ezekiel 22:28](../../../kjv/ezekiel/22/28)).

**15.** ROSENMULLER
translates, "They *ought to have been* ashamed, because . .
. but," c. the *Hebrew* verb often expressing, not the
action, but the *duty* to perform it ([Genesis 20:9](../../../kjv/genesis/20/9);
[Malachi 2:7](../../../kjv/malachi/2/7)). MAURER
translates, "They shall be put to shame, for they commit
abomination; nay (the prophet correcting himself), there is no shame
in them" ([Jeremiah 3:3](../../../kjv/jeremiah/3/3); [Jeremiah 8:12](../../../kjv/jeremiah/8/12);
[Ezekiel 3:7](../../../kjv/ezekiel/3/7); [Zephaniah 3:5](../../../kjv/zephaniah/3/5)).
**them that fall**—They
shall fall with the rest of their people who are doomed to fall, that
is, I will now cease from words; I will execute vengeance [CALVIN].

**16.** Image from travellers who
have lost their road, stopping and inquiring which is the right way
on which they once had been, but from which they have wandered.
**old paths**—Idolatry and
apostasy are the modern way; the worship of God the *old* way.
Evil is not coeval with good, but a *modern degeneracy* from
good. The forsaking of God is not, in a true sense, a "way cast
up" at all ([Jeremiah 18:15](../../../kjv/jeremiah/18/15);
[Psalms 139:24](../../../kjv/psalms/139/24); [Malachi 4:4](../../../kjv/malachi/4/4)).
**rest**— ([Isaiah 28:12](../../../kjv/isaiah/28/12);
[Matthew 11:29](../../../kjv/matthew/11/29)).

**17. watchmen**—prophets, whose
duty it was to announce impending calamities, so as to lead the
people to repentance ([Isaiah 21:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/21/11);
[Isaiah 58:1](../../../kjv/isaiah/58/1); [Ezekiel 3:17](../../../kjv/ezekiel/3/17);
[Habakkuk 2:1](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/1)).

**18. congregation**—parallel to
"nations"; it therefore means *the gathered peoples*
who are invited to be witnesses as to how great is the perversity of
the Israelites ([Jeremiah 6:16](../../../kjv/jeremiah/6/16);
[Jeremiah 6:17](../../../kjv/jeremiah/6/17)), and that they deserve
the severe punishment about to be inflicted on them ([Jeremiah 6:17](../../../kjv/jeremiah/6/17)).
**what is among them**—what
*deeds* are committed by the *Israelites* ([Jeremiah 6:16](../../../kjv/jeremiah/6/16);
[Jeremiah 6:17](../../../kjv/jeremiah/6/17)) [MAURER].
Or, "what *punishments* are about to be inflicted on them"
[CALVIN].

**19.** ().
**fruit of . . . thoughts**—
([Proverbs 1:31](../../../kjv/proverbs/1/31)).
**nor to my law, but rejected
it**—literally, "and (as to) My law they have rejected it."
The same construction occurs in [Proverbs 1:31](../../../kjv/proverbs/1/31).
**20.** Literally, "To
what purpose is this to Me, that incense cometh to Me?"
**incense . . . cane**—
([Isaiah 43:24](../../../kjv/isaiah/43/24); [Isaiah 60:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/60/6)).
No external services are accepted by God without obedience of the
heart and life ([Jeremiah 7:21](../../../kjv/jeremiah/7/21); [Psalms 50:7-9](../../../kjv/psalms/50/7-9);
[Isaiah 1:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/1/11); [Micah 6:6](../../../kjv/micah/6/6),
&c.).
**sweet . . . sweet**—antithesis.
Your *sweet* cane is not *sweet* to Me. The calamus.

**21. stumbling-blocks**—instruments
of the Jews' ruin (compare [Matthew 21:44](../../../kjv/matthew/21/44);
[Isaiah 8:14](../../../kjv/isaiah/8/14); [1 Peter 2:8](../../../kjv/1-peter/2/8)).
God Himself ("I") *lays* them before the reprobate
([Psalms 69:22](../../../kjv/psalms/69/22); [Romans 1:28](../../../kjv/romans/1/28);
[Romans 11:9](../../../kjv/romans/11/9)).
**fathers . . . sons . . .
neighbour . . . friend**—indiscriminate ruin.

**22. north . . . sides of the
earth**—The ancients were little acquainted with the *north;*
therefore it is called *the remotest regions* (as the *Hebrew*
for "sides" ought to be translated, see on ) *of the earth.* The Chaldees are meant ([Jeremiah 1:15](../../../kjv/jeremiah/1/15);
[Jeremiah 5:15](../../../kjv/jeremiah/5/15)). It is striking that
the very same calamities which the Chaldeans had inflicted on Zion
are threatened as the retribution to be dealt in turn to themselves
by Jehovah ([Jeremiah 5:15](../../../kjv/jeremiah/5/15)).

**23. like the sea**— ().
**as men for war**—not that
they were *like* warriors, for they *were* warriors; but
"arrayed *most perfectly as warriors*" [MAURER].

**24. fame thereof**—the report of
them.

**25.** He addresses "the
daughter of Zion" ([Jeremiah 6:23](../../../kjv/jeremiah/6/23));
caution to the citizens of Jerusalem not to expose themselves to the
enemy by going outside of the city walls.
**sword of the enemy**—literally,
"there is a sword to the enemy"; the enemy hath a sword.

**26. wallow . . . in ashes**—
([Jeremiah 25:34](../../../kjv/jeremiah/25/34); [Micah 1:10](../../../kjv/micah/1/10)).
As they usually in mourning only "cast ashes on the head,"
*wallowing in them* means something more, namely, so entirely to
cover one's self with ashes as to be like one who had rolled in them
([Ezekiel 27:30](../../../kjv/ezekiel/27/30)).
**as for an only son**—
([Amos 8:10](../../../kjv/amos/8/10); [Zechariah 12:10](../../../kjv/zechariah/12/10)).
**lamentation**—literally,
"lamentation expressed by beating the breast."

**27. tower . . . fortress**— (), rather, "an assayer (and) explorer." By a
metaphor from metallurgy in , Jehovah, in conclusion, confirms the prophet in his
office, and the latter sums up the description of the reprobate
people on whom he had to work. The *Hebrew* for "assayer"
(*English Version,* "tower") is from a root "to
try" metals. "Explorer" (*English Version,*
"fortress") is from an *Arabic* root, "keen-sighted";
or a *Hebrew* root, "cutting," that is, separating the
metal from the dross [EWALD].
GESENIUS translates as
*English Version,* "fortress," which does not accord
with the previous "assayer."

**28. grievous revolters**—literally,
"contumacious of the contumacious," that is, most
contumacious, the *Hebrew* mode of expressing a superlative. So
"the strong among the mighty," that is, the strongest (). See [Jeremiah 5:23](../../../kjv/jeremiah/5/23); [Hosea 4:16](../../../kjv/hosea/4/16).
**walking with slanders**—
([Jeremiah 9:4](../../../kjv/jeremiah/9/4)). "Going about for
the purpose of slandering" [MAURER].
**brass,** c.—that is,
copper. It and "iron" being the baser and harder metals
express the debased and obdurate character of the Jews ([Isaiah 48:4](../../../kjv/isaiah/48/4)
[Isaiah 60:17](../../../kjv/isaiah/60/17)).

**29. bellows . . . burned**—So
intense a heat is made that the very bellows are almost set on fire.
ROSENMULLER translates not
so well from a *Hebrew* root, "pant" or "snort,"
referring to the sound of the bellows blown hard.
**lead**—employed to
separate the baser metal from the silver, as quicksilver is now used.
In other words, the utmost pains have been used to purify Israel in
the furnace of affliction, but in vain ([Jeremiah 5:3](../../../kjv/jeremiah/5/3);
[1 Peter 1:7](../../../kjv/1-peter/1/7)).
**consumed of the fire**—In
the *Chetib,* or *Hebrew* text, the "consumed" is
supplied out of the previous "burned." Translating as
ROSENMULLER, "pant,"
this will be inadmissible; and the *Keri* (*Hebrew Margin*)
division of the *Hebrew* words will have to be read, to get "is
consumed of the fire." This is an argument for the translation,
"are burned."
**founder**—the refiner.
**wicked . . . not plucked
away**—answering to the dross which has no good metal to be
separated, the mass being all dross.

**30. Reprobate**—silver so full
of alloy as to be utterly worthless (). The Jews were fit only for rejection.

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