1Slovo, které se stalo k Jeremjášovi od Hospodina: 2Postav se v bráně Hospodinova domu a volej tam toto slovo. Říkej: Slyšte Hospodinovo slovo, všichni Judejci, kteří vcházíte těmito branami, abyste se klaněli Hospodinu. 3Toto praví Hospodin zástupů, Bůh Izraele: Dejte do pořádku své cesty a své činy a nechám vás přebývat na tomto místě. 4Nespoléhejte na lživá slova: Toto je Hospodinův chrám, Hospodinův chrám, Hospodinův chrám. 5Avšak jestliže opravdu dáte do pořádku své cesty a své činy, jestliže mezi sebou opravdu budete jednat podle práva, 6jestliže nebudete utlačovat příchozího, sirotka a vdovu a nebudete na tomto místě prolévat krev nevinného a nebudete chodit k vlastní škodě za jinými bohy, 7pak vás nechám přebývat na tomto místě, v zemi, kterou jsem dal vašim otcům od věků až navěky. 8Hle, vy však spoléháte na lživá slova, která neprospějí. 9Cožpak můžete krást, vraždit a cizoložit, lživě přísahat, obětovat Baalovi a chodit za jinými bohy, které jste neznali, 10a potom přijít, postavit se přede mnou v tomto domě, který se nazývá mým jménem, a říci: Jsme zachráněni, jen abyste mohli dál páchat všechny tyto odporné věci? 11Cožpak se tento dům, který se nazývá mým jménem, stal ve vašich očích jeskyní lupičů? Avšak vizte, já to vidím, je Hospodinův výrok. 12Vždyť jděte k mému místu, které bylo v Šílu, kde jsem poprvé nechal přebývat své jméno, a podívejte se, co jsem s ním udělal za zlo svého lidu Izraele! 13A nyní, protože jste spáchali všechny tyto skutky, je Hospodinův výrok, a mluvil jsem k vám, stále znovu jsem mluvil, ale neslyšeli jste, volal jsem vás, ale neodpovídali jste, 14hodlám s domem, který se nazývá mým jménem, s domem, na který spoléháte, a s místem, které jsem dal vám a vašim otcům, učinit to, co jsem udělal se Šílem. 15Odvrhnu vás od sebe, jako jsem odvrhl všechny vaše bratry, celé potomstvo Efrajimovo. 16Ty se za tento lid nemodli, nepozdvihuj za ně nářek ani modlitbu, nepřimlouvej se u mne, neboť tě nevyslyším. 17Cožpak nevidíš, co páchají v judských městech a na ulicích Jeruzaléma? 18Děti sbírají dříví, otcové zapalují oheň a ženy zadělávají těsto, aby pekly koláče královně nebes. Lijí úlitby jiným bohům, aby mě rozzlobili. 19Cožpak zlobí mě? je Hospodinův výrok. Cožpak nebudou zahanbeni sami před sebou? 20Proto takto praví Panovník Hospodin: Hle, můj hněv a má zloba se vyleje na toto místo, na lidi i na zvířata, na polní stromy i na plody země. Vzplane a neuhasne. 21Toto praví Hospodin zástupů, Bůh Izraele: Jen si přidejte své zápalné oběti ke svým obětním hodům a jezte maso, 22protože já jsem vašim otcům v den, kdy jsem je vyvedl z egyptské země, ohledně zápalné oběti a obětního hodu nic neřekl ani nepřikázal. 23Toto jsem jim však přikázal: Poslouchejte mě a budu vaším Bohem a vy budete mým lidem. Choďte jenom po té cestě, kterou vám přikáži, aby se vám vedlo dobře. 24Avšak neposlouchali a nenakláněli ucho, ale žili podle rad svého umíněného a zlého srdce; otočili se ke mně zády, a ne tváří. 25Od toho dne, kdy vaši otcové vyšli z egyptské země, až dodnes jsem vám posílal všechny své otroky proroky, denně, stále znovu jsem je posílal, 26avšak neposlouchali mne a nenakláněli ucho, ale zatvrdili svou šíji a páchali větší zlo než jejich otcové. 27Budeš k nim mluvit všechna tato slova, ale nebudou tě poslouchat, budeš k nim volat, ale neodpovědí ti. 28Řekni jim: Toto je národ, který neposlouchal Hospodina, svého Boha, a nepřijímal kázeň. Zahynula věrnost, je odříznuta od jejich úst. 29Ostříhej si vlasy a odhoď je. Pozdvihni nářek na holých návrších, protože Hospodin zavrhl a opustil generaci, která provokovala jeho hněv. 30Protože synové Judy páchali to, co je zlé v mých očích, je Hospodinův výrok, postavili své ohavné modly v domě, který se nazývá mým jménem, aby jej znečistili, 31vystavěli návrší Tófet, které je v údolí Hinómova syna, aby spalovali své syny a své dcery ohněm, což jsem jim nepřikázal, ani mi nic takového nepřišlo na mysl. 32Proto hle, přicházejí dny, je Hospodinův výrok, kdy se už nebude říkat: Tófet ani údolí Hinómova syna, ale údolí zabíjení, a budou pohřbívat v Tófetu, až už nebude místo. 33Mrtvoly tohoto lidu se stanou potravou nebeského ptactva a zemské zvěře a nebude, kdo by je zaplašil. 34Způsobím, že z judských měst a z ulic Jeruzaléma zmizí hlas jásotu i hlas radosti, hlas ženicha i hlas nevěsty, protože se země stane troskami.
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).