1Slovo, které se Jeremiášovi takto ozvalo od Jahva: 2Stůj u brány Jahvova Chrámu, hlásej tam toto slovo a říkej: Vy všichni Judovci, kteří vstupujete těmito branami, abyste se klaněli před Jahvem, slyšte Jahvovo slovo. 3Takto mluví Jahve Sabaot, Bůh Izraele: Napravte své cesty a své skutky, a já vám dám přebývat na tomto místě. 4Nespoléhejte na klamná slova: „To je Jahvova svatyně, Jahvova svatyně, Jahvova svatyně!“ 5Napravíte-li však opravdu své cesty a své skutky, budete-li každý vzhledem ke svému bližnímu dbát o právo, 6nebudete-li utiskovat cizince, sirotka a vdovu, nebudete-li na tomto místě prolévat nevinnou krev a nebudete-li chodit ke své škodě za jinými bohy, 7pak způsobím, že budete přebývat na tomto místě, v zemi, kterou jsem odevždy a navždy dal vašim otcům. 8Ale hle, spoléháte na klamná slova, na to, co je marné. 9Jakže! Krást, zabíjet, páchat cizoložství, křivě přísahat, pálit kadidlo Baalovi, chodit za cizími bohy, které neznáte, 10pak předstoupit přede mne v tomto Chrámě, jenž nese mé jméno, a říci: „Tady jsme v bezpečí!“ a pokračovat ve všech těch ohavnostech! 11Je snad podle vás tento Chrám, který nese mé jméno, doupě lupičů? Ať je, jak je, já vidím jasně, Jahvův výrok! 12Jděte tedy na místo, jež bývalo mým, do Sila: kdysi jsem tam dal přebývat svému Jménu; podívejte se, co jsem z něho udělal pro zvrácenost svého lidu Izraele. 13A nyní, protože jste se dopustili všech těch činů - Jahvův výrok - protože jste neposlouchali, když jsem k vám naléhavě a neúnavně mluvil a protože jste neodpovídali na mé volání, 14naložím s tímto Chrámem, který nese mé Jméno a ve který jste složili svou důvěru, s tímto místem, které jsem dal vám a vašim otcům, tak jako jsem naložil se Silem. 15Odvrhnu vás od sebe, jako jsem odvrhl všechny vaše bratry, celý Efraimův rod. 16A ty se za ten lid nepřimlouvej, nezastávej se jich a nemodli se za ně, nenaléhej na mne, neboť tě nechci slyšet. 17Což nevidíš, co dělají v Judových městech a na jeruzalémských ulicích? 18Synové sbírají dříví, otcové zapalují oheň, ženy hnětou těsto na koláče pro Královnu nebe; a pak vylévají úlitby cizím bohům, aby mě zranili. 19A zraní opravdu mne - Jahvův výrok -, ne spíš k vlastní hanbě samy sebe? 20Takto proto mluví Pán Jahve: Hle, můj hněv, mé rozlícení se vyleje na toto místo, na lidi i dobytek, na stromy v polích a na plody země; bude hořet a neuhasne. 21Takto mluví Jahve Sabaot, Bůh Izraele: Přidejte své celopaly ke svým obětem a snězte maso z nich! 22Neboť já jsem vašim otcům, když jsem je vyvedl z egyptské země, o celopalu a o oběti nic neřekl ani nepředepsal. 23Ale přikázal jsem jim toto: Slyšte můj hlas, pak budu váš Bůh a vy budete můj lid. Ve všem choďte po cestě, kterou vám předepisuji, abyste byli šťastni. 24Ale oni neposlouchali a nepopřávali sluchu; chodili podle svých záměrů, v zatvrzelosti svého zlého srdce, byli obráceni dozadu, a ne dopředu. 25Ode dne, kdy vaši otcové vyšli z egyptské země, až dodnes jsem vám posílal všechny své služebníky, proroky; neúnavně jsem je posílal každý den. 26Ale oni mě neposlouchali, nepopřávali sluchu, byli tvrdošíjní, horší než jejich otcové. 27Řekneš jim všechna tato slova, nebudou tě poslouchat. Zavoláš na ně, neodpovědí ti. 28Řekneš jim: Hle, národ, jenž neposlouchá hlas Jahva, svého Boha, a nedá se poučit. Věrnost už není, zmizela z jejich úst. 29Ostříhej své dlouhé vlasy, zahoď je, na holých vrších zanotuj žalozpěv. Neboť Jahve zavrhl a zapudil pokolení, jež budí jeho hněv! 30Ano, Judovi synové udělali, co se mi nelíbí - Jahvův výrok. Do Chrámu, jenž nese mé jméno, umístili své ohyzdy, aby ho poskvrnili; 31postavili výšiny Tofetu v údolí Ben-Hinom, aby pálili své syny a své dcery, což jsem vůbec nepřikázal, na což jsem nikdy nepomyslel. 32Proto nadcházejí dny - Jahvův výrok - kdy se už nebude říkat Tofet, ani údolí Ben-Hinom, ale údolí Krveprolévání. Tehdy se pro nedostatek místa bude pohřbívat v Tofetu; 33mrtvoly tohoto lidu poslouží za pastvu nebeským ptákům a pozemským zvířatům, které nikdo nebude odhánět. 34V judských městech a na jeruzalémských ulicích umlčím výkřiky radosti i výkřiky veselí, volání ženicha a nevěsty, neboť země už bude pouhou troskou.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 2 THE SEVENTH THROUGH NINTH CHAPTERS. DELIVERED IN THE BEGINNING OF JEHOIAKIM'S REIGN, ON THE OCCASION OF SOME PUBLIC FESTIVAL. (Jer. 7:1-34)
the gate--that is, the gate of the court of Israel within that of the women. Those whom Jeremiah addresses came through the gate leading into the court of the women, and the gate leading into the outer court, or court of the Gentiles ("these gates").
3 cause you to dwell--permit you still to dwell (
Jer 18:11;
Jer 26:13).
4 The Jews falsely thought that because their temple had been chosen by Jehovah as His peculiar dwelling, it could never be destroyed. Men think that ceremonial observances will supersede the need of holiness (
Isa 48:2;
Mic 3:11). The triple repetition of "the temple of Jehovah" expresses the intense confidence of the Jews (see
Jer 22:29;
Isa 6:3).
these--the temple buildings which the prophet points to with his finger (
Jer 7:2).
5 For--"But" [MAURER].
judgment--justice (
Jer 22:3).
6 this place--this city and land (
Jer 7:7).
to your hurt--so
Jer 7:19; "to the confusion or their own faces" (
Jer 13:10;
Pro 8:36).
7 The apodosis to the "if . . . if" (
Jer 7:5-
Jer 7:6).
to dwell--to continue to dwell.
for ever and ever--joined with "to dwell," not with the words "gave to your fathers" (compare
Jer 3:18;
Deut 4:40).
8 that cannot profit--MAURER translates, "so that you profit nothing" (see
Jer 7:4;
Jer 5:31).
9 "Will ye steal . . . and then come and stand before Me?"
whom ye know not--Ye have no grounds of "knowing" that they are gods; but I have manifested My Godhead by My law, by benefits conferred, and by miracles. This aggravates their crime [CALVIN] (
Judg 5:8).
10 And come--And yet come (
Ezek 23:39).
We are delivered--namely, from all impending calamities. In spite of the prophet's threats, we have nothing to fear; we have offered our sacrifices, and therefore Jehovah will "deliver" us.
to do all these abominations--namely, those enumerated (
Jer 7:9). These words are not to be connected with "we are delivered," but thus: "Is it with this design that ye come and stand before Me in this house," in order that having offered your worthless sacrifices ye may be taken into My favor and so do all these abominations (
Jer 7:9) with impunity? [MAURER].
11 den of robbers--Do you regard My temple as being what robbers make their den, namely, an asylum wherein ye may obtain impunity for your abominations (
Jer 7:10)?
seen it--namely, that ye treat My house as if it were a den of thieves. Jehovah implies more than is expressed, "I have seen and will punish it" (
Isa 56:7;
Matt 21:13).
12 my place . . . in Shiloh--God caused His tabernacle to be set up in Shiloh in Joshua's days (
Josh 18:1;
Judg 18:31). In Eli's time God gave the ark, which had been at Shiloh, into the hands of the Philistines (
Jer 26:6;
1Sam 4:10-11;
Ps 78:56-
Ps 78:61). Shiloh was situated between Beth-el and Shechem in Ephraim.
at the first--implying that Shiloh exceeded the Jewish temple in antiquity. But God's favor is not tied down to localities (
Acts 7:44).
my people Israel--Israel was God's people, yet He spared it not when rebellious: neither will He spare Judah, now that it rebels, though heretofore it has been His people.
13 rising . . . early--implying unwearied earnestness in soliciting them (
Jer 7:25;
Jer 11:17;
2Chr 36:15).
14 I gave--and I therefore can revoke the gift for it is still Mine (
Lev 25:23), now that ye fail in the only object for which it was given, the promotion of My glory.
Shiloh--as I ceased to dwell there, transferring My temple to Jerusalem; so I will cease to dwell at Jerusalem.
15 your brethren--children of Abraham, as much as you.
whole seed of Ephraim--They were superior to you in numbers and power: they were ten tribes: ye but two. "Ephraim," as the leading tribe, stands for the whole ten tribes (
2Kgs 17:23;
Ps 78:67-
Ps 78:68).
16 When people are given up to judicial hardness of heart, intercessory prayer for them is unavailing (
Jer 11:14;
Jer 14:11;
Jer 15:1;
Exod 32:10;
1John 5:16).
17 Jehovah leaves it to Jeremiah himself to decide, is there not good reason that prayers should not be heard in behalf of such rebels?
18 children . . . fathers . . . women--Not merely isolated individuals practised idolatry; young and old, men and women, and whole families, contributed their joint efforts to promote it. Oh, that there were the same zeal for the worship of God as there is for error (
Jer 44:17,
Jer 44:19;
Jer 19:13)!
cakes . . . queen of heaven--Cakes were made of honey, fine flour, &c., in a round flat shape to resemble the disc of the moon, to which they were offered. Others read as Margin, "the frame of heaven," that is, the planets generally; so the Septuagint here; but elsewhere the Septuagint translates, "queen of heaven." The Phśnicians called the moon Ashtoreth or Astarte: the wife of Baal or Moloch, the king of heaven. The male and female pair of deities symbolized the generative powers of nature; hence arose the introduction of prostitution in the worship. The Babylonians worshipped Ashtoreth as Mylitta, that is, generative. Our Monday, or Moon-day, indicates the former prevalence of moon worship (see on
Isa 65:11).
that they may provoke me--implying design: in worshipping strange gods they seemed as if purposely to provoke Jehovah.
19 Is it I that they provoke to anger? Is it not themselves? (
Deut 32:16,
Deut 32:21;
Job 35:6,
Job 35:8;
Pro 8:36).
20 beast . . . trees . . . ground--Why doth God vent His fury on these? On account of man, for whom these were created, that the sad spectacle may strike terror into him (
Rom 8:20-
Rom 8:22).
21 Put . . . burnt offerings unto . . . sacrifices . . . eat flesh--Add the former (which the law required to be wholly burnt) to the latter (which were burnt only in part), and "eat flesh" even off the holocausts or burnt offerings. As far as I am concerned, saith Jehovah, you may do with one and the other alike. I will have neither (
Isa 1:11;
Hos 8:13;
Amos 5:21-
Amos 5:22).
22 Not contradicting the divine obligation of the legal sacrifices. But, "I did not require sacrifices, unless combined with moral obedience" (
Ps 50:8;
Ps 51:16-
Ps 51:17). The superior claim of the moral above the positive precepts of the law was marked by the ten commandments having been delivered first, and by the two tables of stone being deposited alone in the ark (
Deut 5:6). The negative in Hebrew often supplies the want of the comparative: not excluding the thing denied, but only implying the prior claim of the thing set in opposition to it (
Hos 6:6). "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice" (
1Sam 15:22). Love to God is the supreme end, external observances only means towards that end. "The mere sacrifice was not so much what I commanded, as the sincere submission to My will gives to the sacrifice all its virtue" [MAGEE, Atonement, Note 57].
23 (
Exod 15:26;
Exod 19:5).
24 hearkened not--They did not give even a partial hearing to Me (
Ps 81:11-
Ps 81:12).
imagination--rather, as Margin, "the stubbornness"
backward, &c.-- (
Jer 2:27;
Jer 32:33;
Hos 4:16).
25 rising . . . early-- (
Jer 7:13).
26 hardened . . . neck-- (
Deut 31:27;
Isa 48:4;
Acts 7:51).
worse than their fathers-- (
Jer 16:12). In
Jer 7:22 He had said, "your fathers"; here He says, "their fathers"; the change to the third person marks growing alienation from them. He no longer addresses themselves, as it would be a waste of words in the case of such hardened rebels.
27 Therefore--rather, "Though thou speak . . . yet they will not hearken" [MAURER], (
Ezek 2:7), a trial to the prophet's faith; though he knew his warnings would be unheeded, still he was to give them in obedience to God.
28 unto them--that is, in reference to them.
a nation--The word usually applied to the Gentile nations is here applied to the Jews, as being east off and classed by God among the Gentiles.
nor receiveth correction-- (
Jer 5:3).
truth . . . perished-- (
Jer 9:3).
29 Jeremiah addresses Jerusalem under the figure of a woman, who, in grief for her lost children, deprives her head of its chief ornament and goes up to the hills to weep (
Judg 11:37-
Judg 11:38;
Isa 15:2).
hair--flowing locks, like those of a Nazarite.
high places--The scene of her idolatries is to be the scene of her mourning (
Jer 3:21).
generation of his wrath--the generation with which He is wroth. So
Isa 10:6; "the people of My wrath."
30 set their abominations in the house-- (
Jer 32:34;
2Kgs 21:4,
2Kgs 21:7;
2Kgs 23:4;
Ezek 8:5-
Ezek 8:14).
31 high places of Tophet--the altars [HORSLEY] of Tophet; erected to Moloch, on the heights along the south of the valley facing Zion.
burn . . . sons-- (
Ps 106:38).
commanded . . . not--put for, "I forbade expressly" (
Deut 17:3;
Deut 12:31). See on
Jer 2:23;
Isa 30:33.
32 valley of slaughter--so named because of the great slaughter of the Jews about to take place at Jerusalem: a just retribution of their sin in slaying their children to Moloch in Tophet.
no place--no room, namely, to bury in, so many shall be those slain by the Chaldeans (
Jer 19:11;
Ezek 6:5).
33 fray--scare or frighten (
Deut 28:26). Typical of the last great battle between the Lord's host and the apostasy (
Rev 19:17-
Rev 19:18,
Rev 19:21).
34 Referring to the joyous songs and music with which the bride and bridegroom were escorted in the procession to the home of the latter from that of the former; a custom still prevalent in the East (
Jer 16:9;
Isa 24:7-
Isa 24:8;
Rev 18:23).
