King James Version
Jeremiah 35
19 verses with commentary
The Recabites
The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim</strong>—this narrative is chronologically displaced; Jeremiah 35 occurred during Jehoiakim's reign (609-598 BCE), before the Zedekiah events of chapter 34 (588-586 BCE). Jeremiah's editor arranged material thematically rather than chronologically, juxtaposing Rechabite faithfulness (ch. 35) against Judah's covenant b...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
XXXV.
(1) In **the days Jehoiakim.**—The prophecy that follows carries us back over a period of about seventeen of years to the earlier period of the prophet’s life and work. Jerusalem was not yet besieged. Jehoiakim had not filled up the measure of his iniquities. The armies of the Chaldæans were, however, in the meantime moving on the outskirts of the kingdom of Judah (Jeremiah 35:11) or were dr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
22. Jehovah's reply; they cannot be otherwise than miserable, since they persevere in sin. The repetition of clauses gives greater force to the sentiment.
**wise ... evil ... to do good ... no knowledge--**reversing the rule (Ro 16:19) "wise unto ... good, simple concerning evil."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The flourishing state of Christ's kingdom. (Is. 35:1-4) The privileges of his people. (Is. 35:5-10)
**Verses 1-4** Judea was prosperous in the days of Hezekiah, but the kingdom of Christ is the great subject intended. Converting grace makes the soul that was a wilderness, to rejoice with joy and singing, and to blossom abundantly. The feeble and faint-hearted are encouraged. This ...
Read full commentary →Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Go unto the house of the Rechabites</strong> (בֵּית הָרֵכָבִים, beyt ha-Rekavim)—"house" means clan or family line. The Rechabites traced ancestry to Jehonadab (Jonadab) son of Rechab, who joined Jehu's purge of Baal worship (2 Kings 10:15-23) around 841 BCE. Their name preserves their forefather's identity; they defined themselves by ancestral covenant faithfulness. For 250+ years they ma...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Go unto the house of the Rechabites . . .**—The word “house” is used throughout the chapter in the sense of “family.” Among those who had thus taken refuge were the tribe, or sect, or even fraternity known by this name. Their founder was the Jonadab, or Jehonadab, who appears as the ally of Jehu in the overthrow of the house of Ahab (2Kings 10:15). It is clear from that history that he exerc...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
23. Graphic picture of the utter desolation about to visit Palestine. "I beheld, and lo!" four times solemnly repeated, heightens the awful effect of the scene (compare Is 24:19; 34:11).
**without form and void--**reduced to the primeval chaos (Ge 1:2).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The flourishing state of Christ's kingdom. (Is. 35:1-4) The privileges of his people. (Is. 35:5-10)
**Verses 1-4** Judea was prosperous in the days of Hezekiah, but the kingdom of Christ is the great subject intended. Converting grace makes the soul that was a wilderness, to rejoice with joy and singing, and to blossom abundantly. The feeble and faint-hearted are encouraged. This ...
Read full commentary →Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah</strong> (יַאֲזַנְיָה בֶּן־יִרְמְיָהוּ בֶּן־חֲבַצִּנְיָה)—"Jaazaniah" means "Yahweh hears"; interestingly, a Rechabite bears this Yahwistic (Yahweh-name) though Rechabites were Kenite by ancestry. This demonstrates their full integration into Israelite worship while maintaining distinct identity. The mention of genealogy ("so...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah . . .**—The names (Jaazaniah = Jehovah hears, Jeremiah = Jehovah exalts, Habaziniah = Jehovah gathers) are not without significance, as showing that the Rechabites were sharers in the faith of Israel, perhaps, as an order, conspicuous witnesses for that faith. The name Jeremiah may possibly indicate that there was some previous connexion between the ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. mountains--**(Is 5:25).
**moved lightly--**shook vehemently.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The flourishing state of Christ's kingdom. (Is. 35:1-4) The privileges of his people. (Is. 35:5-10)
**Verses 1-4** Judea was prosperous in the days of Hezekiah, but the kingdom of Christ is the great subject intended. Converting grace makes the soul that was a wilderness, to rejoice with joy and singing, and to blossom abundantly. The feeble and faint-hearted are encouraged. This ...
Read full commentary →And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door: door: Heb. threshold, or, vessel
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God</strong>—the specific location matters: the chamber (<em>lishkah</em>) of Hanan, son of Igdaliah, identified as <em>ish ha-Elohim</em> ("man of God"). This phrase typically designates prophets (1 Samuel 9:6; 1 Kings 13:1; 2 Kings 4:7). Jeremiah conducts his enacted parable in...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **I brought them into the house of the Lord . . .**—The Temple of Solomon appears from 1Kings 6:5 to have had, like a cathedral, apartments constructed in its precincts which were assigned, by special favour, for the residence of conspicuous priests or prophets. Huldah the prophetess seems to have dwelt in some such apartments known as “the college” (see 2Kings 22:14). In this case the chamber...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25. no man ... birds--**No vestige of the human, or of the feathered creation, is to be seen (Eze 38:20; Zep 1:3).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The flourishing state of Christ's kingdom. (Is. 35:1-4) The privileges of his people. (Is. 35:5-10)
**Verses 1-4** Judea was prosperous in the days of Hezekiah, but the kingdom of Christ is the great subject intended. Converting grace makes the soul that was a wilderness, to rejoice with joy and singing, and to blossom abundantly. The feeble and faint-hearted are encouraged. This ...
Read full commentary →And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups</strong> (גְבִיעֵי יַיִן וְכֹסוֹת, gevi'ey yayin ve-kosot)—"pots" and "cups" suggest abundance; this wasn't a single cup but multiple vessels, perhaps ceremonial drinking bowls. Jeremiah created maximum temptation: not offering wine grudgingly but lavishly, publicly, in the temple—where refusing might seem...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**26. fruitful place--**Hebrew, Carmel.
**a wilderness--**Hebrew, "the wilderness," in contrast to "the fruitful place"; the great desert, where Carmel was, there is now the desert of Arabia [Maurer].
**cities--**in contrast to the fruitful place or field.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-10** When Christ shall come to set up his kingdom in the world, then wonders, great wonders, shall be wrought on men's souls. By the word and Spirit of Christ, the spiritually blind were enlightened; and those deaf to the calls of God were made to hear them readily. Those unable to do any thing good, by Divine grace were made active therein. Those that knew not how to speak of God or to...
Read full commentary →But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:
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KJV Study Commentary
The Rechabites' faithfulness to their ancestor Jonadab's commands stands in stark contrast to Israel's unfaithfulness to God's commands. For over 200 years, this clan maintained nomadic lifestyle and abstinence from wine as their ancestor directed. Jeremiah uses them as an object lesson - if mere humans inspire such loyalty, how much more should God's people obey Him? Faithfulness across generatio...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6-8) **We will drink no wine . . .**—We have here, as it were, the rule of the tribe or order which looked to Jonadab as its founder. Like Samson (Judges 13:4-5), Samuel (inferentially from 1Samuel 1:11; 1Samuel 1:15), and the Baptist (Luke 1:15), they were life-long Nazarites (Numbers 6:1-6). Jonadab’s intention was obviously to keep them as a separate people, retaining their nomadic form of lif...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27. full end--**utter destruction: I will leave some hope of restoration (Jr 5:10, 18; 30:11; 46:28; compare Le 26:44).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-10** When Christ shall come to set up his kingdom in the world, then wonders, great wonders, shall be wrought on men's souls. By the word and Spirit of Christ, the spiritually blind were enlightened; and those deaf to the calls of God were made to hear them readily. Those unable to do any thing good, by Divine grace were made active therein. Those that knew not how to speak of God or to...
Read full commentary →Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard</strong>—The <em>mitzvah</em> (command) of Jonadab ben Rechab prescribed radical non-settlement, rejecting agriculture (זֶרַע <em>zera'</em>, seed) and viticulture (כֶּרֶם <em>kerem</em>, vineyard) as symbols of permanent settlement. <strong>Dwell in tents</strong> (אֹהָלִים <em>ohalim</em>) echoes Israel's wilderness pilgrimag...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**28. For this--**on account of the desolations just described (Is 5:30; Ho 4:3).
**not repent--**(Nu 23:19).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-10** When Christ shall come to set up his kingdom in the world, then wonders, great wonders, shall be wrought on men's souls. By the word and Spirit of Christ, the spiritually blind were enlightened; and those deaf to the calls of God were made to hear them readily. Those unable to do any thing good, by Divine grace were made active therein. Those that knew not how to speak of God or to...
Read full commentary →Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab</strong> (שָׁמַעְנוּ בְּקוֹל <em>shama'nu b'qol</em>)—The verb <em>shama'</em> means both 'hear' and 'obey,' the same word God used of Israel's covenant obligation (Deuteronomy 6:4, the <em>Shema</em>). <strong>To drink no wine all our days</strong>—The abstinence from יַיִן (<em>yayin</em>) wasn't Nazirite asceticism (Numbers 6) but memorial discip...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**29. whole city--**Jerusalem: to it the inhabitants of the country had fled for refuge; but when it, too, is likely to fall, they flee out of it to hide in the "thickets." Henderson translates, "every city."
**noise--**The mere noise of the hostile horsemen shall put you to flight.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-10** When Christ shall come to set up his kingdom in the world, then wonders, great wonders, shall be wrought on men's souls. By the word and Spirit of Christ, the spiritually blind were enlightened; and those deaf to the calls of God were made to hear them readily. Those unable to do any thing good, by Divine grace were made active therein. Those that knew not how to speak of God or to...
Read full commentary →Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Nor to build houses for us to dwell in</strong> (בָּתִּים לָשֶׁבֶת <em>batim lashevet</em>)—The refusal to construct permanent dwellings (from בָּנָה <em>banah</em>, to build) and possess agricultural land maintained perpetual awareness of life's transience. <strong>Neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed</strong>—The triple negation (כֶּרֶם...שָׂדֶה...זֶרַע <em>kerem...sadeh...zera'...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**30. when thou art spoiled--**rather, "thou, O destroyed one" [Maurer].
**rentest ... face with painting--**Oriental women paint their eyes with stibium, or antimony, to make them look full and sparkling, the black margin causing the white of the eyes to appear the brighter by contrast (2Ki 9:30). He uses the term "distendest" in derision of their effort to make their eyes look large [Maurer]; ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-10** When Christ shall come to set up his kingdom in the world, then wonders, great wonders, shall be wrought on men's souls. By the word and Spirit of Christ, the spiritually blind were enlightened; and those deaf to the calls of God were made to hear them readily. Those unable to do any thing good, by Divine grace were made active therein. Those that knew not how to speak of God or to...
Read full commentary →But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But we have dwelt in tents</strong> (בָּאֳהָלִים יָשַׁבְנוּ <em>ba'ohalim yashavnu</em>)—The verb יָשַׁב (<em>yashav</em>, to dwell/sit) paradoxically describes stable habitation in unstable structures. <strong>And have obeyed, and done according to all</strong> (וַנִּשְׁמַע וַנַּעַשׂ <em>vanishma' vana'as</em>)—This dual formula ('we obeyed and we did') echoes Israel's covenant response a...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**31. anguish--**namely, occasioned by the attack of the enemy.
**daughter of Zion--**There is peculiar beauty in suppressing the name of the person in trouble, until that trouble had been fully described [Henderson].
**bewaileth herself--**rather, "draweth her breath short" [Horsley]; "panteth."
**spreadeth ... hands--**(La 1:17).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-10** When Christ shall come to set up his kingdom in the world, then wonders, great wonders, shall be wrought on men's souls. By the word and Spirit of Christ, the spiritually blind were enlightened; and those deaf to the calls of God were made to hear them readily. Those unable to do any thing good, by Divine grace were made active therein. Those that knew not how to speak of God or to...
Read full commentary →But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>When Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land</strong>—The Babylonian invasions (605, 597, 586 BC) forced the Rechabites to flee to Jerusalem for refuge. <strong>For fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians</strong>—Military necessity (פַּחַד <em>pachad</em>, fear/terror) drove them from tents to the fortified city, yet even this crisis didn't ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **When Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into **the **land . . .**—The statement has the character of an apologetic explanation. They had been driven, as the peasants of Judaea had been (Jeremiah 4:6; Jeremiah 8:14), to take refuge from the invading armies, probably in the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar in the eighth year of Jehoiakim (2Kings 24:1-2), bringing their flocks and their herds, a...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The flourishing state of Christ's kingdom. (Is. 35:1-4) The privileges of his people. (Is. 35:5-10)
**Verses 1-4** Judea was prosperous in the days of Hezekiah, but the kingdom of Christ is the great subject intended. Converting grace makes the soul that was a wilderness, to rejoice with joy and singing, and to blossom abundantly. The feeble and faint-hearted are encouraged. This ...
Read full commentary →Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah</strong> (וַיְהִי דְבַר־יְהוָה אֶל־יִרְמְיָהוּ <em>vayehi d'var-Yahweh el-Yirmeyahu</em>)—The formulaic prophetic introduction marks a divine oracle. The דָּבָר (<em>davar</em>, word) of Yahweh isn't mere information but performative speech that creates reality, judges nations, and accomplishes God's purposes (Isaiah 55:11).<br><br>This transiti...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah.**—Up to this time the prophet had acted on the thought which came into his mind as an inspiration, without apparently more than a partial insight into its meaning. *Now, *as the words indicate, he passes at once into the prophetic state and speaks the prophetic words. It follows from Jeremiah 35:18 that it was uttered in the presence of the Rech...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 5 Jr 5:1-31. The Cause of the Judgments to Be Inflicted Is the Universal Corruption of the People.
**1. a man--**As the pious Josiah, Baruch, and Zephaniah lived in Jerusalem at that time, Jeremiah must here mean the mass of the people, the king, his counsellors, the false prophets, and the priests, as distinguished from the faithful few, whom God had openly separated from the reprobate p...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The flourishing state of Christ's kingdom. (Is. 35:1-4) The privileges of his people. (Is. 35:5-10)
**Verses 1-4** Judea was prosperous in the days of Hezekiah, but the kingdom of Christ is the great subject intended. Converting grace makes the soul that was a wilderness, to rejoice with joy and singing, and to blossom abundantly. The feeble and faint-hearted are encouraged. This ...
Read full commentary →Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words?</strong> (הֲלוֹא תִקְחוּ מוּסָר לִשְׁמֹעַ אֶל־דְּבָרָי <em>halo tiqchu musar lishmo'a el-d'varai</em>)—The rhetorical question drips with divine exasperation. <em>Musar</em> (instruction/discipline) appears throughout Proverbs as wisdom's corrective teaching. <strong>Hearken</strong> (שָׁמַע <em>shama'</em>) again emphasizes obedient ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Will ye not receive instruction . . .**—The argument of the prophet is naturally an à *fortiori *one. The words of Jonadab had been kept faithfully as a rule of life for 300 years by his descendants or his order. The words of Jehovah, “rising early and speaking” through His prophets (we note the repetition of the characteristic phrase of Jeremiah 7:13; Jeremiah 25:3), were neglected by the ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
2. (Tit 1:16).
**swear falsely--**not a judicial oath; but their profession of the worship of Jehovah is insincere (Jr 5:7; Jr 4:2). The reformation under Josiah was merely superficial in the case of the majority.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The flourishing state of Christ's kingdom. (Is. 35:1-4) The privileges of his people. (Is. 35:5-10)
**Verses 1-4** Judea was prosperous in the days of Hezekiah, but the kingdom of Christ is the great subject intended. Converting grace makes the soul that was a wilderness, to rejoice with joy and singing, and to blossom abundantly. The feeble and faint-hearted are encouraged. This ...
Read full commentary →The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.
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KJV Study Commentary
God contrasts Jonadab's words (obeyed for 200+ years) with His own words (continually rejected). The phrase 'rising up early and speaking' emphasizes God's persistent efforts to reach His people. Yet 'ye have not inclined your ear unto me.' Human authority sometimes commands better obedience than divine authority - an indictment of hard hearts. This persistence makes judgment just.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. eyes upon the truth--**(De 32:4; 2Ch 16:9). "Truth" is in contrast with "swear falsely" (Jr 5:2). The false-professing Jews could expect nothing but judgments from the God of truth.
**stricken ... not grieved--**(Jr 2:30; Is 1:5; 9:13).
**refused ... correction--**(Jr 7:28; Zep 3:2).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The flourishing state of Christ's kingdom. (Is. 35:1-4) The privileges of his people. (Is. 35:5-10)
**Verses 1-4** Judea was prosperous in the days of Hezekiah, but the kingdom of Christ is the great subject intended. Converting grace makes the soul that was a wilderness, to rejoice with joy and singing, and to blossom abundantly. The feeble and faint-hearted are encouraged. This ...
Read full commentary →I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them</strong>—The phrase <em>hashkem v'shalo'ach</em> (השכם ושלח, 'rising early and sending') appears throughout Jeremiah, depicting God's relentless pursuit of His wayward people. The image of God 'rising early' (like a diligent workman) anthropomorphically conveys divine eagerness to save, not destroy.<br...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) R**eturn ye now every man from his** **evil way.**—The words are more than a general summary of the teaching of earlier prophets, and we find in them an almost verbal reproduction of the burden of Jeremiah’s own preaching, in Jeremiah 25:5-6, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, *i.e., *before the incident here recorded.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. poor--**rather, "the poor." He supposes for the moment that this utter depravity is confined to the uninstructed poor, and that he would find a different state of things in the higher ranks: but there he finds unbridled profligacy.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The flourishing state of Christ's kingdom. (Is. 35:1-4) The privileges of his people. (Is. 35:5-10)
**Verses 1-4** Judea was prosperous in the days of Hezekiah, but the kingdom of Christ is the great subject intended. Converting grace makes the soul that was a wilderness, to rejoice with joy and singing, and to blossom abundantly. The feeble and faint-hearted are encouraged. This ...
Read full commentary →Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father</strong> (הֵקִימוּ בְנֵי־יוֹנָדָב בֶּן־רֵכָב אֶת־מִצְוַת אֲבִיהֶם <em>heqimu b'nei-Yonadav ben-Rekhav et-mitzvat avihem</em>)—The verb הֵקִים (<em>heqim</em>, 'performed/established') means to stand up, fulfill, accomplish completely. The Rechabites didn't merely acknowledge Jonadab's command but e...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. they have known--**rather, "they must know." The prophet supposes it as probable, considering their position.
**but these--**I found the very reverse to be the case.
**burst ... bonds--**set God's law at defiance (Psa 2:3).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The flourishing state of Christ's kingdom. (Is. 35:1-4) The privileges of his people. (Is. 35:5-10)
**Verses 1-4** Judea was prosperous in the days of Hezekiah, but the kingdom of Christ is the great subject intended. Converting grace makes the soul that was a wilderness, to rejoice with joy and singing, and to blossom abundantly. The feeble and faint-hearted are encouraged. This ...
Read full commentary →Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel</strong>—The full title יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל (<em>Yahweh Elohei Tzeva'ot Elohei Yisra'el</em>) combines covenant name (Yahweh), military sovereignty (God of hosts/armies), and relationship (God of Israel). The comprehensive title underscores that judgment comes from Israel's own covenant God, not a foreign ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard.**—The prophet in part reproduces his own earlier complaint from Jeremiah 7:13; Jeremiah 25:7, a complaint which has been the ever-recurring burden of all teachers of wisdom (Proverbs 1:24) and of all true prophets (Isaiah 65:12; Isaiah 66:4).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. lion ... wolf ... leopard--**the strongest, the most ravenous, and the swiftest, respectively, of beasts: illustrating the formidable character of the Babylonians.
**of the evenings--**Others not so well translate, of the deserts. The plural means that it goes forth every evening to seek its prey (Psa 104:20; Ha 1:8; Zep 3:3).
**leopard ... watch ... cities--**(Ho 13:7). It shall lie in w...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The flourishing state of Christ's kingdom. (Is. 35:1-4) The privileges of his people. (Is. 35:5-10)
**Verses 1-4** Judea was prosperous in the days of Hezekiah, but the kingdom of Christ is the great subject intended. Converting grace makes the soul that was a wilderness, to rejoice with joy and singing, and to blossom abundantly. The feeble and faint-hearted are encouraged. This ...
Read full commentary →And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Because the Rechabites obeyed their father's commandment and kept all his precepts, God promises Jonadab shall not lack a man to stand before Him forever. This shows that God notices and rewards faithfulness to legitimate human authority when it doesn't contradict His law. Honoring parents and ancestors pleases God when their commands align with righteousness.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father.**—The words decide nothing as to the obligation of the commandment referred to upon others. The law which Jeremiah received as given by God laid down no such rule of life. A righteous life was possible without it (Jeremiah 22:15; Matthew 11:19). What he was taught to praise was the steadfastness and loyalty with which they adher...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7. It would not be consistent with God's holiness to let such wickedness pass unpunished.
**sworn by--**(Jr 5:2; Jr 4:2); that is, worshipped.
**no gods--**(De 32:21).
**fed ... to the full--**so the Keri (Hebrew Margin) reads. God's bountifulness is contrasted with their apostasy (De 32:15). Prosperity, the gift of God, designed to lead men to Him, often produces the opposite effect. The He...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The flourishing state of Christ's kingdom. (Is. 35:1-4) The privileges of his people. (Is. 35:5-10)
**Verses 1-4** Judea was prosperous in the days of Hezekiah, but the kingdom of Christ is the great subject intended. Converting grace makes the soul that was a wilderness, to rejoice with joy and singing, and to blossom abundantly. The feeble and faint-hearted are encouraged. This ...
Read full commentary →Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever. Jonadab: Heb. There shall not a man be cut off from Jonadab the son of Rechab to stand, etc
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
God rewards the Rechabites' faithfulness with an eternal promise - they would never lack a man to serve before God. This doesn't mean literal presence but continued existence and favor. Covenant faithfulness, even to human authority, when it doesn't contradict God's law, receives divine blessing. How much more does faithfulness to God Himself secure our standing before Him through Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.**—Taking the words in their simplest literal sense, they find a fulfilment in the strange unlooked-for way in which the name and customs of the Rechabites have cropped up from time to time. The Jewish historian Hegesippus (see Euseb. *Hist. Eccl. *ii. 23), in his account of the martyrdom of James the Just, names the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. in the morning--**(Is 5:11). "Rising early in the morning" is a phrase for unceasing eagerness in any pursuit; such was the Jews' avidity after idol-worship. Maurer translates from a different Hebrew root, "continually wander to and fro," inflamed with lust (Jr 2:23). But English Version is simpler (compare Jr 13:27; Eze 22:11).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The flourishing state of Christ's kingdom. (Is. 35:1-4) The privileges of his people. (Is. 35:5-10)
**Verses 1-4** Judea was prosperous in the days of Hezekiah, but the kingdom of Christ is the great subject intended. Converting grace makes the soul that was a wilderness, to rejoice with joy and singing, and to blossom abundantly. The feeble and faint-hearted are encouraged. This ...
Read full commentary →