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X.

(1)House of Israel.—This forms the link that connects what follows with what precedes. The“house of Israel” had been told that it was “uncircumcised in heart,” on a level with the heathen; now the special sin of the heathen, which it was disposed to follow, is set forth in words of scorn and indignation.

Jeremiah 10:1-2.Hear ye the word,&c. — The prophet continues his remonstrances and exhortations to Judah. He said, at the conclusion of the preceding chapter, that the Lord would punish, without distinction, all the ungodly and unrighteous Jews, as well as Gentiles. He here informs them that if they would avoid this vengeance of the Lord they must quit their idolatries and other impieties, and have nothing to do with the superstitious practices of the Gentile nations.Learn not the way of the heathen— Their manner of life or customs.And be not dismayed at the signs of heaven— “The Chaldeans, among whom the Jews were destined to live in captivity, were particularly addicted to astrology, and attributed to the heavenly bodies a considerable influence over human affairs. This naturally tended to beget a religious dread and awe of those objects, from whence so much good or evil was supposed to be derived. The sun, moon, and planets are said indeed to have been set in the firmamentfor signs.Genesis 1:14. But hereby is meant, that they should serve, as natural marks, to distinguish, by their periodical revolutions and appearances, the various times and seasons; which, however, is a very different use from that of prognosticating future events, or causing an alteration in the fortunes of men.” — Blaney.

10:1-16 The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving that glory to another which is due to him alone. He is ready to forgive, and save all who repent and believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ. Faith learns these blessed truths from the word of God; but all knowledge not from that source, leads to doctrines of vanity.All that are in the utmost corners - Really, all who have the corners of their hair shorn. The people meant are those Arabs who cut the hair close upon the forehead and temples, but let it grow long behind. SeeLeviticus 19:27.

For all these nations are uncircumcised - Or, "for all the pagan are uncircumcised." circumcision probably prevailed partially in the pagan mysteries as a sign of special sanctity, but to the Jews alone it represented their covenant-relation to God.

CHAPTER 10

Jer 10:1-25. Contrast between the Idols and Jehovah. The Prophet's Lamentation and Prayer.

1. Israel—the Jews, the surviving representatives of the nation.They are forbid to be afraid of the tokens of heaven, and consult idols, which are vain,Jeremiah 10:1-5, and not to be compared with the majesty and power of God, who is Jacob’s portion,Jeremiah 10:6-16. The Babylonians destroy the temple; the brutish pastors and the flocks are scattered,Jeremiah 10:17-22. The prophet’s humble supplication,Jeremiah 10:23-25.

Here begins another sermon, i.e. most probably relating to Jechonias and the Jews, that were already in captivity.

Israel; the ten tribes.

Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel. Or, "upon you"; or, "concerning you" (k); it may design the judgment of God decreed and pronounced upon them; or the prophecy of it to them, in which they were nearly concerned; or the word of God in general, sent unto them by his prophets, which they were backward of hearing; and seems to refer particularly to what follows.

(k) "super vos", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus; "de vobis", Vatablus; "super vobis", Cocceius.

Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:

Ch.Jeremiah 10:1-16. The folly of idolatry

It is now generally recognised that this passage is a later insertion, for (a) it breaks the connexion betweenJeremiah 9:1-22 andJeremiah 10:17 ff.; while by its omission the train of thought in the former is carried on smoothly in the latter; (b) elsewhere the people have been rebuked for being already devoted to idolatry (Jeremiah 7:18;Jeremiah 7:31), but here they are addressed as sincere and convinced worshippers of Jehovah, and are warned against imagining that idols are possessed of any real power, a warning which would be well adapted to the circumstances of the exiles in Babylon, surrounded as they were with its elaborate idol worship; (c) elsewhere Jeremiah’s argument is, “Expect no help from vain gods; they cannotsave you” (Jeremiah 2:28,Jeremiah 11:12); here the argument is, “Do not fear them, they cannotharm you.” See LOT. p. 254. This does not indeed preclude the possibility that the passage is one which the prophet himself addressed at a later date to his brethren in captivity, and in fact it contains certain of his expressions, viz.vain, vanity, as applied to idols (Jeremiah 10:3;Jeremiah 10:15),in the time of their visitation (Jeremiah 10:15). But the style generally is not that of Jeremiah, and resembles that of the second Isaiah (chs. 40–66), so that it may at any rate be attributed to that period. The MT. is an expansion of the original form of the Hebrew. This is shewn both by the superiority in logical sequence exhibited on the whole (but see onJeremiah 10:10) by the text of the LXX in the way of omission as well as change of order (see onJeremiah 10:5-8;Jeremiah 10:10), and by the smoothness of metre which results from the adoption of the Greek form of text. Co. points out that we then have fromJeremiah 10:2 onwards a series of clauses arranged in triplets, presenting a clear and well articulated connexion of thought. So too Gi. (inJeremias Metrik) with slight differences in detail. Du. shortens the passage still further. We may add that Baruch, ch. 6 (The Epistle of Jeremy) is partly an amplification of this passage by one who was very familiar with particulars of the idolatry as practised at Babylon.

The passage may be summarized thus. (i)Jeremiah 10:1-5. Be not led away by heathen beliefs. The phenomena seen in the sky have no element of divinity about them. The gods are nothing beyond the materials put together by workmen. They are speechless, and incapable of movement. They are powerless both for good and for harm. (ii)Jeremiah 10:6-16. Jehovah is not as these. He is the supreme God, Creator of the heavens and of the world, and Wielder of the powers of nature. The peoples of the earth may well tremble before Him, who has created all things and has chosen Israel for His own.

Jeremiah 10:1The nothingness of the false gods. -Jeremiah 10:1. "Hear the word which Jahveh speaketh unto you, house of Israel!Jeremiah 10:2. Thus saith Jahveh: To the ways of the heathen use yourselves not, and at the signs of the heaven be not dismayed, because the heathen are dismayed at them.Jeremiah 10:3. For the ordinances of the peoples are vain. For it is wood, which one hath cut out of the forest, a work of the craftsman's hands with the axe.Jeremiah 10:4. With silver and with gold he decks it, with nails and hammers they fasten it, that it move not.Jeremiah 10:5. As a lathe-wrought pillar are they, and speak not; they are borne, because they cannot walk. Be not afraid of them; for they do not hurt, neither is it in them to do good."

This is addressed to the house of Israel, i.e., to the whole covenant people; and "house of Israel" points back to "all the house of Israel" inJeremiah 9:25. עליכם for אליכם, as frequently in Jeremiah. The way of the heathen is their mode of life, especially their way of worshipping their gods; cf. ἡ ὁδὸς,Acts 9:2;Acts 19:9. למד c. אל, accustom oneself to a thing, used inJeremiah 13:21 with the synonymous על, and inPsalm 18:35 (Piel) with ל. The signs of heaven are unwonted phenomena in the heavens, eclipses of the sun and moon, comets, and unusual conjunctions of the stars, which were regarded as the precursors of extraordinary and disastrous events. We cannot admit Hitz.'s objection, that these signs in heaven were sent by Jahveh (Joel 3:3-4), and that before these, as heralds of judgment, not only the heathen, but the Jews themselves, had good cause to be dismayed. For the signs that marked the dawning of the day of the Lord are not merely such things as eclipses of sun and moon, and the like. There is still less ground for Ng.'s idea, that the signs of heaven are such as, being permanently there, call forth religious adoration from year to year, the primitive constellations (Job 9:9), the twelve signs of the zodiac; for תּחתּוּ( נחת), to be in fear, consternari, never means, even inMalachi 2:5, regular or permanent adoration. "For the heathen," etc., gives the cause of the fear: the heathen are dismayed before these, because in the stars they adored supernatural powers.

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