Introduction to Jeremiah

Author: Jeremiah
Date: 626-586 B.C.
Theme: You can't have restoration without repentance
Key Words: Repentance, restoration

Author: Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, was a prophet of the priestly people of Anatoth and perhaps a descendant of Abiathar. The meaning of his name is uncertain, but it could be "Jehovah exalts". More is known of the personal life of this prophet than any other of the Old Testament, due to the indications he offers us of his thought, concerns and frustrations.

Jeremiah was prohibited from marrying or having children as a sign that judgment was near and that the next generation would be swept away. His closest colaborer and friend was the scribe Baruch. Apart from him, he had very few friends. Only Ahikam, the son of Gedaliah, and Ebed-Melech. In part, this was due to Jeremiah's message of condemnation, contrary to the hopes of the people, and because, among other things, he urged surrender to the Babylonians. In spite of this message, his devastating condemnation of the Judean leaders and his aversion for idolatry, the misfortune of his people deeply grieved him, because the salvation of Israel couldn't be separated from faith in GOD and obedience to the stipulations of the covenant.

Date: Jeremiah prophesied in Judah during the reigns of Josiah, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah. His calling took place in 626 B.C. and his ministry continued until shortly after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. The prophet Zephaniah barely preceded Jeremiah, and Nahum, Habakkuk and Obadiah were his contemporaries. Ezekiel, younger than him, prophesied in Babylon between the years 593 and 571 B.C.

Authorship and Date: (IBD) Most conservative scholars agree that the author of the Book of Jeremiah was the famous prophet of that name who ministered in the southern kingdom of Judah during the final four decades of that nation's existence.But some scholars claim the book's disjointed arrangement proves it was compiled by an unknown author some time after Jeremiah's death. The book itself gives us a clue about how it may have taken its present form.

After prophesying against Judah for about 20 years, the prophet Jeremiah was commanded by GOD to put his messages in written form. He dictated these to his scribe or secretary, Baruch, who wrote them on a scroll (36:1-4). Because Jeremiah had been banned from entering the royal court, he sent Baruch to read the messages to King Jehoiakim. To show his contempt for Jeremiah and his message, the king cut the scroll apart and threw it in the fire (36:22-23). Jeremiah promptly dictated his book to Baruch again, adding "many similar words" (36:32) that had not been included in the first scroll.

This clear description of how a second version of Jeremiah came to be written shows the book was composed in several different stages during the prophet's ministry. The scribe Baruch was probably the one who added to the book at Jeremiah's command as it was shaped and refined over a period of several years. This is a possible explanation for the disjointed arrangement of the book. Baruch must have put the book in final form shortly after Jeremiah's death. This would place its final writing not long after 585 B.C.

We can learn a great deal about the prophet Jeremiah by reading his book. He was a sensitive poet who could weep over the sins of his nation: "Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears" (9:1). But he was also a courageous man of GOD who could endure persecution and affliction. He narrowly escaped death several times as he carried out GOD's command to preach His message of judgment to a wayward people. A patriot who passionately loved his nation, he drew the tough assignment of informing his countrymen that Judah was about to fall to a pagan power. Many of his fellow citizens branded him a traitor, but he never wavered from the prophetic ministry to which GOD had called him.

With the fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C., most of the leading citizens of the nation were carried away as captives to Babylon. But Jeremiah was allowed to remain in Jerusalem with other citizens of Judah who were placed under the authority of a ruling governor appointed by Babylon. When the citizens of Jerusalem revolted against this official, Jeremiah and others were forced to seek safety in Egypt, where he continued his prophetic ministry (chaps. 43-44). This is the last we hear of this courageous prophet of the LORD.

Background: Jeremiah began his ministry during the reign of Josiah, a good monarch who was able to temporarily postpone the judgment announced by GOD because of the execrable government of Manasseh. Events hastened in the Middle East. Josiah had initiated a reform that included the destruction of the "high places" dedicated to pagan worship in all Judah and Samaria. The reform, however, had little permanent effect upon the people. Assurbanipal, the last great Assyrian king, died in 627 B.C., Assyria was weakened, Josiah expanded his territories to the north, and Babylon under Nabopolassar, and Egypt under Necho, tried to impose their hegemony on Judah.

In 609 B.C. Josiah was killed in Megiddo when he tried to keep Pharaoh Necho from coming to the assistance of the Assyrian remnant. Three sons of Josiah (Jehoahaz, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah) and a grandson (Jehoiakim) succeeded him on the throne. Jeremiah saw the political mistakes of these kings and spoke to them of GOD's plan for Judah, but none of them listened to his warnings. Jehoiachin assumed an openly hostile attitude toward Jeremiah and destroyed one of the manuscripts that him sent him, ripping the text up and throwing the pieces into the fire. Zedekiah behaved like a weak and vacillating governor who sometimes asked for Jeremiah's counsels, but on other occasions allowed his enemies to mistreat him and send him to prison.

Historical Background: (HBH) Jeremiah lived during the final days of the Kingdom of Judah. The revival under King Josiah (who ruled from 640-609 B.C.) and the fall of the Assyrian empire (in 612-609) seemingly offered some hope for Judah. The nation's rebellious spirit, however, coupled with the rise of the Babylonians as the new power of the Near East, made calamity inevitable. When Jeremiah denounced Josiah's successors, Jehoahaz (609), Jehoiakim (609-598), Jehoiachin (598-597), and Zedekiah (597-586), he was threatened, imprisoned, and humiliated. Though complaining at times to the LORD, Jeremiah continued to warn of impending judgment.

That judgment came through the Babylonians. In 612 B.C. they conquered Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. In 609 they defeated the last remnant of Assyrian power at Haran. By this time the Egyptians had allied themselves with Assyria in an attempt to stem the Babylonian tide and maintain the balance of power. When they marched northward to help the Assyrians in 609, Josiah tried to stop them and lost his life. His son Jehoahaz took the throne of Judah, but the Egyptians took him into exile three months later and replaced him with his brother Jehoiakim.

In 605 B.C. the Babylonians established themselves as the premier power of the Near East by defeating the Egyptians at Carchemish. Though loyal to Babylon for a time, Jehoiakim eventually rebelled. The Babylonians besieged Jerusalem and in 597 conquered the city. They replaced Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin, who had only ruled for three months following the death of his father, with his uncle Zedekiah. After remaining loyal to Babylon for a short time, Zedekiah also rebelled.

In 588 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah and began a long siege of Jerusalem that culminated with the fall of the city in August 586. The Babylonians carried many into exile, but some survivors were allowed to remain in the land under the authority of Gedaliah, a governor appointed by the Babylonians. However, in October 586 a small band of dissidents assassinated Gedaliah. Fearing a Babylonian reprisal, many fled to Egypt. Jeremiah, who opposed this course of action and insisted that the Babylonians would not punish the people, was forced to go with the fugitives to Egypt.

Content: The book basically consists of a brief introduction (1:1-3), a collection of oracles against Judah and Jerusalem, that Jeremiah dictated to his scribe Baruch (1:4-20:18); oracles against neighboring nations (25:15-38; chaps. 46-51), events referring to Jeremiah using the third person, probably by Baruch (chaps.26-45), and an historical appendix (chap. 52), almost identical to II Kings 24 and 25). The book's prophesies don't appear in chronological order.

Jeremiah had a compassionate heart for his people and prayed for them when the LORD told him not to do so. But he condemned the governors, priests and false prophets who caused the people to err. He also condemned the peoples' idolatry and announced the judgment they faced if they didn't repent. As he knew GOD's intentions, he favored surrender to Babylon and recommended that those who were already in exile settle down and live normally. He was accused of being a traitor by many due to his message. However, Jeremiah wanted the best for his people. He knew that if they didn't respect their covenant with GOD, the nation would be destroyed. GOD was also concerned for the people and their relationship with Him. Like Ezekiel, the LORD emphasized individual responsibility.

Jeremiah was only a youth when he was called to bring a severe message of condemnation to his people. He tried to elude this mission, but couldn't keep silent. The people became so corrupt under Manasseh that GOD had to break up the nation. Defeated and led into exile, they had to reflect upon what had happened and its causes. Then, after the corresponding sanction and repentance, GOD would bring a remnant back to Judah, punish the nations that had punished them, and fulfill his old covenants with Israel, David and the Levites. He would give them a new covenant and would write his laws on their hearts. The throne of David would be reestablished and faithful priests would serve him.

The oracles against the neighboring nations illustrate GOD's sovereignty over the entire world. All nations belong to him and must give account to him.

Literary Aspects: Jeremiah uses many literary styles and forms. His book is the longest in the Bible, with a poetic and lyric quality with no parallel in the Scriptures. The author effectively uses reiterative technique, as in the phrase "with sword, with famine and with pestilence" (14:12), or when he repeats "earth, earth, earth" (22:29) and "temple of Jehovah" (7:4) three times. He employs symbolism, as when he speaks of the linen girdle (13:1), the earthen bottle (19:1) and bonds and yokes (27:2). He also uses cryptograms in 25:26 and 51:1,41. Jeremiah is a good observer of plants and animals (2:21,23). He has regaled us with phrases filled with beauty (2:13; 7:11; 8:20,22; 31:29,33).

Literary Form: (HBH) The book contains a variety of literary types, including prophetic messages given in both poetic and prose style and biographical accounts of Jeremiah's ministry. The first half of the book includes a number of dialogues between Jeremiah and the LORD in which the prophet poured out his heart in prayer. Reports of symbolic acts are also included.

Chapters 1-24 focus on the sin and impending judgment of Judah. The scope of the book broadens in chapters 25-52, where judgment oracles against the nations and messages of Judah's ultimate restoration appear.

A comparison of the Hebrew with the ancient Greek version of Jeremiah suggests that two canonical versions of Jeremiah's prophecies might have circulated in the intertestamental period. The Greek version is about 12 to 13 percent shorter than its Hebrew counterpart, omitting single verses as well as longer sections. The Greek version also arranges the oracles against the nations (chaps. 46-51 in the Hebrew text) differently and places them earlier in the book (as chaps. 25-31).

Purpose and Theology: Jeremiah accused Judah of breaking their covenant with the LORD. He denounced the people's unfaithfulness to GOD, which was seen most clearly in their idolatry and foreign alliances. The leadership of the nation was particularly corrupt. The kings neglected to ensure justice and even persecuted GOD's prophet. At the same time, false prophets promised deliverance and prosperity.

Jeremiah warned the people not to listen to these lying prophets. The LORD was about to punish Judah for its breach of covenant by bringing upon the nation the curses Moses threatened (see Deut. 27-28). Famine and the sword would destroy multitudes, while many others would go into exile. Jeremiah's warnings of certain doom were fulfilled in 586 B.C., when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, an event described in the book's later chapters.

Though much of the book is devoted to the themes of sin and judgment, Jeremiah did see a light at the end of the tunnel. GOD would someday judge Judah's enemies, including the mighty Babylonians. He would restore His exiled people and make a new covenant with them, enabling them to willingly obey His commandments. The LORD would also restore the Davidic throne and raise up an ideal king who would ensure peace and justice in the land.

Special Considerations: (IBD) Jeremiah was a master at using figures of speech, metaphors, and symbolic behavior to drive home his messages. He carried a yoke around his neck to show the citizens of Judah they should submit to the inevitable rule of the pagan Babylonians (27:1-12). He watched a potter mar a piece of clay, then reshape it into a perfect vessel. He applied this lesson to the nation of Judah, which needed to submit to the divine will of the Master Potter while there was still time to repent and avoid GOD's judgment (18:1-11).

But perhaps his most unusual symbolic act was his purchase of a plot of land in his hometown, Anathoth, about three miles northeast of Jerusalem. Jeremiah knew this land would be practically worthless after the Babylonians overran Jerusalem, as he was predicting. But by buying the plot, he symbolized his hope for the future. Even in Judah's darkest hour, Jeremiah prophesied that a remnant would return from Babylon after their years in captivity to restore their way of life and to worship GOD again in the Temple (32:26-44). GOD directed Jeremiah to put the deed to the land in an earthen vessel so it would be preserved for the future: "For thus says the LORD of hosts, the GOD of Israel: "Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land" (32:15).

Personal Application: Jeremiah saw that religion essentially consisted of a moral and spiritual relationship with GOD, a relationship that required the personal devotion of each individual. Each person is responsible for his own sins. The new covenant (31:27-40) is a spiritual link that is established between GOD and the individual. It has to do with a new relationship of dependence through which GOD inscribes the precepts of the Law in the heart, forgives human iniquities and makes the memory of the sin be forgotten. This was all fulfilled with the incarnation of Christ and the gospel that he preached.

Much of Jeremiah's message owes its relevance to the face that it's valid for all times. Sin must always be punished, but true repentance brings salvation. Our idolatry may be called wealth, talent or social position, or any other thing, but sin and its solution are always the same. GOD calls for his commandments to be obeyed according to the specifications of the covenant agreement with his people. Sin requires repentance and restoration; obedience brings blessings and joy with it.

Christ Revealed: Through his conduct and attitude Jeremiah gives us an example like that of Jesus, so that he should be considered a prototype of Christ in the Old Testament. He showed great compassion for his people and shed tears for them. He suffered their ingratitude, but forgave them. Jeremiah is one of the personalities in the Old Testament who most resembles Christ.

In his teachings Jesus alludes to many passages of Jeremiah: "Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?" (7:11; Matt. 21:13); "which have eyes and see not, which have ears and hear not" (5:21; Mark 8:18); "you shall find rest for your soul" (6:16; Matt. 11:29); "My people have been lost sheep" (50:6; Matt. 10:6).

The Holy Spirit in Action: Fire is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. GOD assured Jeremiah, "I will make my words in your mouth fire" (5:14). There was a moment in which Jeremiah wanted to quiet the voice of GOD, but "it was in heart like a burning fire inside my bones; I tried to bear it, and couldn't" (20:9). Today we would say that the Holy Spirit was working in Jeremiah.

Aside from his normal action of inspiring the prophet and revealing GOD's message, the Holy Spirit is the one who accomplishes the promise of a new covenant, who will put the Law of GOD in the minds of his people and write it in their hearts. The commandments of the old covenant shall then be interiorized, and the believer shall receive the power to act according to each one of GOD's moral laws. Knowledge of GOD shall be universal, and other peoples shall be recipients of its blessings. Forgiveness was promised under the old covenant, but now it comes with the divine promise that the sin will be blotted out forever.

Introduction to the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah (Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible)
The Prophet Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, was of the sacerdotal race, and a native of Anathoth, a village in the tribe of Benjamin, within a few miles of Jerusalem, which had been appointed for the use of the priests, the descendants of Aaron (Josh. 21:18). He was called to the prophetic office when very young; probably when he was fourteen years of age, and in the thirteenth of the reign of Josiah, A.M. 3375, b.c. 629. He continued to prophesy till after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, which took place A.M. 3416; and it is supposed that about two years after he died in Egypt. Thus it appears that he discharged the arduous duties of the prophetic office for upwards of forty years.

Being very young when called to the prophetic office, he endeavored to excuse himself on account of his youth and incapacity for the work; but, being overruled by the Divine authority, he undertook the task, and performed it with matchless zeal and fidelity in the midst of a most crooked and perverse people, by whom he was continually persecuted, and whom he boldly reproved, often at the hazard of his life.

His attachment to his country was strong and fervent; he foresaw by the light of prophecy the ruin that was coming upon it. He might have made terms with the enemy, and not only saved his life, but have gained ease and plenty; but he chose rather to continue with his people, and take his part in all the disasters that befell them.

After the destruction of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar having made Gedaliah governor of Judea, the fractious Jews rose up against him, and put him to death; they then escaped to Tahpanhes in Egypt, carrying Jeremiah with them; who, continuing to testify against their wickedness and idolatry, at length fell a victim to his faithfulness: they filled up the measure of their iniquity, as tradition reports, by stoning the prophet to death. GOD marked this murderous outrage by his peculiar displeasure; for in a few years after they were almost all miserably destroyed by the Chaldean armies which had invaded Egypt; and even this destruction had been foretold by the prophet himself, chap. 44: “They were consumed by the sword and by the famine until there was an end of them, a small remnant only escaping” (Jer. 44:14, Jer. 44:27, Jer. 44:28).

The pitch of desperate wickedness to which the Jews had arrived previously to their captivity was truly astonishing. They had exhausted all the means that infinite mercy, associated with infinite justice, could employ for the salvation of sinners; and they became in consequence desperately wicked; no wonder, therefore, that wrath fell upon them to the uttermost. It seems that their hardness and darkness had proceeded to such lengths that they abandoned themselves to all the abominations of idolatry to avenge themselves on GOD, because he would not bear with their continual profligacy. Were ever people more highly favored, more desperately ungrateful, or more signally punished! What a lesson is their history to the nations of the earth, and especially to those who have been favored with the light of revelation!

I should have entered into a particular discussion relative to the history of those times mentioned by this prophet, had they not passed already in review in the Books of Kings and Chronicles; in which much of the historical parts of this prophet has been anticipated; and to which, in order to avoid repetition, I must refer my readers. What is farther necessary to be added will be found in the following notes.

As a writer, the character of Jeremiah has been well drawn by Bishop Lowth. On comparing him with Isaiah, the learned prelate says: “Jeremiah is by no means wanting either in elegance or sublimity; although, generally speaking, inferior to Isaiah in both. St. Jerome has objected to him a certain rusticity in his diction; of which, I must confess, I do not discover the smallest trace. His thoughts, indeed, are somewhat less elevated, and he is commonly more large and diffuse in his sentences; but the reason of this may be, that he is mostly taken up with the gentler passions of grief and pity, for the expressing of which he has a peculiar talent. This is most evident in the Lamentations, where those passions altogether predominate; but it is often visible also in his Prophecies; in the former part of the book more especially, which is principally poetical. The middle parts are for the most part historical; but the last part, consisting of six chapters, is entirely poetical; and contains several oracles distinctly marked, in which this prophet falls very little short of the loftiest style of Isaiah.” It has often been remarked, that although several of the prophecies in this book have their dates distinctly noted, and most of the rest may be ascertained from collateral evidence; yet there is a strange disorder in the arrangement. “There is,” says Dr. Blayney, “a preposterous jumbling together of the prophecies of the reigns of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah in the seventeen chapters which follow the twentieth, according to the Hebrew copies; so that, without any apparent reason, many of the latter reigns precede those of the former; and in the same reign, the last delivered are put first, and the first, last.” In order to prevent the confusion arising from this, Dr. Blayney has transposed the chapters where he thought it needful, without altering the numerals as they stand in our common Bibles.

This defect has been noticed, and attempts made to remedy it, by others. Dr. John George Dahler, Professor of Theology in the Protestant seminary of Strasburg, has just now published the first volume of a work, entitled, Jeremie, traduit sur le Texte original, accompagne de Notes Explicatives, Historiques, et Critiques, 8vo., (antedated) Strasbourg, 1824. After a preface, and very judicious historical introduction, consisting, the first of twenty-two, the second of thirty-six pages, the text and notes follow. The poetical parts of the text are translated in the hemistich manner, as the original appears in the best copies; and the whole is divided into sections; each of which is introduced with judicious observations relative to time, place, circumstances, and the matter contained in that section. The discourses or prophecies delivered under a particular reign, are all produced under that reign in their chronological order. A table of this arrangement I shall here introduce, and refer to the use of it afterwards:

TABLE I

Prophecies under Josiah

1:1-19 3:6-4:4

4,5, Jer. 6:30 17:19-27

3:1-5 47:1-7

Under Jehoiakim

7:1-9:25 20:14-18

26:1-24 23:9-40

46:2-12 35:1-19

10:1-16 25:1-38

14:1-15:21 36:1-32

16:1-17:18 45:1-5

18:1-23 12:14-17

19:1-20:13 10:17-25
Under Jeconiah

13:1-27

Under Zedekiah

22:1-23:8 34:1-7

11:1-17 37:1-10

11:18-12:13 34:8-22

24:1-10 37:11-21

29:1-32 38:1-28

27:1-28:17 39:15-18

49:34-39 32:1-44

51:59-64 33:1-26

21:1-14 39:1-10

After the destruction of Jerusalem

39:11-14 42:1-43:7

40:1-41:18 30:1-31:40

Prophecies delivered in Egypt

43:8-13

44:1-30 46:13-28

Prophecies relative to strange nations

46:1 49:23-27

49:14 49:28-33

48:1-47 50:1-51:64

49:7-22
Historical Appendix

52:1-34

The kings under whom Jeremiah prophesied succeeded each other in the following order:

Josiah;
Jehoahaz;
Jehoiachin, or Jeconiah;
Jehoiakim;
Zedekiah.

To render the transpositions evident which have taken place in these prophetical discourses, we have only to look at those which bear the date of their delivery.

TABLE II

1:1 - Delivered the 13th year of Josiah 35:1 - Under Jehoiakim

3:6 - Under Josiah

36:1 - Under Jehoiakim

21:1 - Under Zedekiah

37:1 - Under Zedekiah during the siege of Jerusalem

24:1 - After the carrying away of Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim

37:11 - Under Zedekiah

25:1 - The 4th year of Jehoiakim

38:1 - Under Zedekiah

26:1 - The beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim

39:15 - Under Zedekiah while Jeremiah was in prison

28:1 - The beginning of the reign of Zedekiah

45:1 - The 4th year of Jehoiakim

29:1 - After the carrying away of Jeconiah

46:2 - The 4th year of Jehoiakim

32:1 - The 10th year of Zedekiah

49:34 - In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah

34:1 - (Under Zedekiah) during the siege of Jerusalem

51:59 - The 4th year of Zedekiah

34:8 - (Under Zedekiah) when he had obliged his subjects to give liberty to the Israelites whom they had reduced to slavery

Taking into consideration the order of the reigns, a child may perceive that the above prophecies are not in the order of the times of their delivery; and that the sheets or skins on which the text of that MS. was written, from which the present copies have derived their origin, have been pitifully interchanged, huddled and tacked together, without connection or arrangement.

To remedy this defect, Dr. Blayney has arranged the chapters in the following order which he terms a new arrangement of the chapters in Jeremiah, from chap. 20, to chap. 46, inclusive: 20, 22, 23, 25, 26, 35, 36, 45, 24, 29, 30, 31, 27, 28, 21, 34, 37, 32, 33, 38, 39:15-18, 39:1-14, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, etc. The preceding and subsequent chapters Dr. Blayney thought sufficiently correct for all the general purposes of chronology; and it is according to this order that he prints the text in his edition and translation of this prophet.

Dr. Dahler, as we have seen, is more circumstantial. Where he has dates, as are shown in the preceding table, he produces the text in that order; where there are not positive dates, he ascertains several by circumstantial intimations, which bear great evidence of accuracy; but there is a numerous class of discourses which he is obliged to insert in this work by critical conjecture. In such a case as this, when the arrangement of the common text is so evidently defective, and in many respects absurd, this procedure is quite allowable; for although the present text as to its arrangement has the sanction of antiquity, yet when a remedy is found, it would be absurd, if not sinful, to follow an order which we may rest satisfied never did proceed from the inspired writer.

I hope none will suppose that these observations detract any thing from the Divine inspiration of the book. The prophet delivered his discourses at particular times in select portions, during forty or forty-three years; these were afterwards gathered together and stitched up without any attention to chronological arrangement. Though the Spirit of the LORD directed the prophet, yet it would be absurd to suppose that it guided the hand of every collector or scribe into whose custody these several parcels might come. Suppose a man buy a copy of the Bible in sheets, and not knowing how to collate them, stitches the whole confusedly together, so that in many places the sense cannot be made out from a preceding to a following sheet, would it not be singularly foolish for any person to say, “As GOD is the Fountain of wisdom and Author of reason, such incongruities cannot proceed from him, therefore this book was not given by Divine revelation.” A child in a printer’s office might reply, “Cut the stitching asunder, that is man’s work; collate the sheets and put them in their proper order, and you will soon see that every paragraph is in harmony with the rest, and contains the words of Divine wisdom.” Many an ancient MS., which appeared mutilated and imperfect, I have restored to order and perfection by cutting the binding asunder, and restoring the sheets and leaves to those places from which the ignorance and unskilfulness of the binder had detached them. May we not be allowed to treat the dislocations in the writings of a prophet in the same way, when it is evident that in the lapse of time his work has suffered by the hand of the careless and ignorant. But it may be asked, “After all the evidence I have, and the concessions I have made, why I have not transposed those disjointed chapters, and produced them in the order in which I think they should be read?” I answer, Were I to give a new translation with notes of this prophet separately, as Drs. Blayney and Dahler have done, I should feel it my duty to do what the objection states; but as my province as a general commentator requires me to take up all the books of the sacred volume in the order in which I find them in the present authorized version, though convinced that this arrangement is neither correct nor convenient; so I take up the parts of each, however transposed, in the same manner, directing the reader by tables and notes to regulate his use of the work so as to produce general edification with as little embarrassment as possible.

For general purposes, Dr. Blayney’s chronological arrangement may be sufficient; but for greater accuracy Table I. may be preferred. These may at least be considered in the light of helps to a better understanding of these several prophecies; but no man is bound to follow either, farther than he is convinced that it follows what is specifically set down by the prophet himself, or fairly deducible from strong circumstantial evidence.

In my notes on this prophet I have availed myself, as far as my plan would permit, of the best helps within my reach. The various readings of Kennicott and De Rossi I have carefully consulted, and occasionally strengthened the evidence in behalf of those readings, more particularly recommended by collations from my own M,SS. I regret that I have not been able, for the reasons mentioned at the conclusion of the notes on Isaiah, to produce all the various readings of importance found in these ancient MSS., and especially in the Book of Lamentations, which is contained in five of them; but like the woman in the Gospels, I have done what I could, and must leave the rest to those who, with better abilities, may possess the greater advantages of youth and strength, with unimpaired sight.

Reader! GOD designs thee a blessing by every portion of his word: in thy reading seek for this; and if these notes be helpful to thee, give Him the glory.

A.C.
Eastcott, Nov. 1, 1824.