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5 For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of 'mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.

6 Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor "cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:

7 Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.

8 Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.

9 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.

10 And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?

11 Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;

12 And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after

3 Psal. 79. 2. Chap. 7. 33, and 34. 20. 4 Or, Or, break bread for them, as Ezek. 24, 17. 7 Isa. 24. 7, 8. Chap. 7. 26. 10 Or, stubbornness. 13 Job 34. 21. Prov. 5. 21.

the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:

13 "Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour.

14 ¶ Therefore, behold, the "days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

15 But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.

16

Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. 17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.

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18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.

19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.

20 Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?

21 Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD.

mourning feast. 5 Levit. 19. 28. Deut. 14. 1. Chap. 7. 34, and 25. 10. Ezek. 26. 13. 8 Chap. 5. 19, and 13. 2. 11 Deut. 4. 27, and 28. 64, 65. 12 Chap. 23. 7, 8. Chap. 32. 19. 14 Chap. 2. 11.

Verse 6. They shall not be buried,' etc.-In what follows there is a distinct allusion to the prominent funeral observances which appear to have prevailed among the Hebrews. In the following notes we shall offer a few observations on such of those practices as have not already been noticed, or which may not more conveniently be reserved for future illustration.

'Cut themselves.'-The law forbade this manifestation of grief (Lev. xix. 28; Deut. xiv. 1); but from the present and other intimations we learn that it still continued to be exhibited, at least at times. The prohibition shews the custom. In like manner Mohammed endeavoured to

put a stop to this and other forms of the ancient mourn-
ings of ignorance,' as he called them; but the custom still
maintains its ground in Moslem countries, particularly
among the women, who, in this and many other instances,
appear to have considered themselves exempted from the
operation of the general precepts of their lawgiver, which
they seem to regard as only intended for men.
men, however, sometimes wound themselves in excess of
grief; but, when they do so, they usually employ lancets
or other instruments, whereas the women are content to
lacerate themselves with their nails. In the annual mourn-
ing in Persia for Hossein, the son of the khaliph Ali, men,

Even

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wrought to a high pitch of excitement, run about as if frantic, uttering doleful cries, and occasionally wounding themselves with lancets, till their persons were covered with blood. Similar customs prevailed to some extent among the Greeks. The women, more particularly, beat their breasts and thighs, and tore their flesh with their nails; but this practice was forbidden by Solon. Even the Spartans, although they bore the loss of their relations with great moderation, yet bewailed the death of their great men by tearing their flesh with pins and needles. (See the authorities cited in Harwood's Grecian Antiquities, p. 364.) But examples of this custom might be obtained from all parts of the world in different stages of civilisation. Among others, the ancient Huns, and the modern islanders of the South Sea, might be cited: the latter testified their grief by wounding themselves with a sharp shell or a shark's tooth.

'Make themselves bald.'-This is another custom of mourning, as ancient and as prevalent as the preceding. Its patriarchal antiquity is shewn in the case of Job, who, when he heard of the desolation of his house, arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head.' It is not clear whether more than a particular form of this practice was forbidden by the law of Moses (Deut. xiv. 1); but to the priests it was certainly altogether interdicted (Lev. xxi. 5). It seems to have been the custom of the Jews to cut, shave, or rend the hair, both of the head and beard (see Ezra ix. 3), but more particularly the former. Mohammed forbade the practice, as well as the other. The women, however, do not attend to the prohibition: but the men, having their heads habitually shaven, cannot exhibit this sign of

sorrow. In some parts of the East, however, where the men let their hair grow, they cut or shave it off on mourning occasions. It appears from the curious narrative of Peter Covillan (in Purchas) that the practice is retained in Abyssinia, where so many customs analogous to those of the Hebrews are still in operation. The party received information of the death of their king, Emmanuel of Portugal: And because it is the fashion of this country, when their friends die, to shave their heads, and not their beards, and to clothe themselves with black apparel, we began to shave one another's head, and while we were doing this, in came they which brought us our dinner; who, when they saw this, they set down the meat upon the ground, and ran to tell it unto the Prete, who suddenly sent two friars unto us, to understand what had fallen out. The ambassador could not answer him for the great lamentation which he made, and I told them, as well as I could, that the sun which gave us light was darkened, that is to say, that the king Don Emmanuel was departed this life; and suddenly all of us began to make our moan, and the friars went their way.' It was also the well-known custom of the ancient Greeks to tear, cut off, or shave the hair. Among them, the hair thus separated was sometimes laid upon the dead body as a mark of affection and regret; sometimes it was cast upon the funeral pile to be consumed with the corpse; and on other occasions it was laid upon the grave. Upon the death of men of eminence and valour, it was not unusual for whole cities and countries to be shaved. This ceremony,' says Harwood, 'was observed, because, as long hair was considered as very becoming, they might appear careless and negligent

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of their beauty, and to render the ghost of the dead person propitious by throwing the hair together with the body into the fire. In times of public mourning they extended this ceremony even to the beasts.' (Grec. Antiq. p. 363, where the authorities are given.) There was also a custom, any analogy to which among the Hebrews we do not remember, of hanging the hair of the dead person himself upon the door, to signify that the inmates were in a state of mourning.

7. The cup of consolation.'-This is doubtless the refreshment which after the funeral is supplied to the mourners, and by which they break, or are supposed to break, the fast they have maintained since the death took place. This is prepared and sent by the neighbours; the mourners being supposed to be too much absorbed in grief to think of their necessary food. The refreshment was of a very slight description, usually bread, wine, and fruits. At present it consists of eggs boiled hard, with a little salt, and a small loaf. (Allen's Modern Judaism, p. 439.) This is sometimes called the 'bread of bitterness;' and is alluded to also in 2 Sam. iii. 35; Hos. ix. 4; Ezek. xxiv. 16, 17.

8. The house of feasting.'-This appears to refer to the funeral feast with which it was customary among different nations to conclude all the ceremonies of death, except those of the continued mourning by the relatives. It is not very clear when this took place; but it could not be till after the first three days, called 'the days of weeping,' were passed, as during that time the mourner could have no food prepared in his house, nor eat anything of his own. (Lightfoot, Exercit, upon John xi. 19.) During this time he was supplied with food by his neighbours; and, as after this he might return to his customary fare, it is probable that the feast then took place. This entertainment was given by the chief mourner at his own house, if distinct from that in which the deceased had lived. Those invited were usually the friends and acquaintance of the family, including those neighbours who had sent food to the mourners during 'the days of weeping.' The custom

CHAPTER XVII.

1 The captivity of Judah for her sin. 5 Trust in man is cursed, 7 in God is blessed. 9 The deceitful heart cannot deceive God. 12 The salvation of God. 15 The prophet complaineth of the mockers of his prophecy. 19 He is sent to renew the covenant in hallowing the sabbath.

THE sin of Judah is written with a 'pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;

2 Whilst their children remember their altars and their "groves by the green trees upon the high hills.

3 0 my mountain in the field, 'I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.

4 And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.

1 Job 19. 24.
2 Heb. nail.
3 Judges 3. 7.
Psal. 2. 12, and 34. 10, and 125. 1. Prov. 16. 20.
91 Sam. 16. 7. Psal. 7. 9. Chap. 11. 20, and 20. 12.

of the funeral feast was well known to the classical ancients, was kept up in England and other European countries till a comparatively recent period, and still prevails in many parts of the world. In these cases, however, the feast usually took place after the funeral. In this country, during the plague of 1569, one of the precautions taken to prevent the spread of the contagion was to prohibit the funeral dinners. (Maitland's London, i. 260.) As our engravings are derived from classical sources, we may just mention the custom of the Greeks, which, with one or two exceptions, seem to have been similar to those of the Hebrews. When the funeral was over, it was a very ancient and long-continued custom to proceed to the house of the nearest relations of the dead, where an entertainment was provided. This ceremony was however omitted at the funeral of slaves. It seems that sometimes the entertainment preceded the funeral. The fragments that fell from the tables were considered sacred to the departed souls, and which it was therefore not lawful to eat. These were carried to the tomb and left there for the ghost. This piece of superstition we find very common among different nations, in which it is customary for a time to lay food near or upon the graves. These entertainments consisted of flesh, with all sorts of pulse, beans, peas, lettuces, parsley, eggs, etc.; and the persons present usually conversed upon the merits and qualities of the dead person. (Harwood, pp. 372, 373.) The Roman customs were very little different. Concerning the funeral banquet of the Jews, one remarkable fact is furnished by Lightfoot:-They drank ten cups in the house of mourning; two before meat, five while they were eating, and three after meat. When Rabban Simeon Ben-Gamaliel died, they added three more. But, when the Sanhedrim saw that hence they became drunk, they made a decree against this.' (Exercit. upon Matt. ix. 23.) It is hence clear that no indecent excess in drinking was considered proper at such entertainments.

5

Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

7 'Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

10 I the LORD 'search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

11 As the partridge "sitteth on eggs, and

5 Heb. in thyself. 8 Or, restraint.

Isa. 1. 29. 4 Chap. 15. 13. Isa. 30. 18. 7 Psal. 1. 3. 10 Or, gathereth young which she hath not brought forth.

hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

12 TA glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.

13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, "all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the 12fountain of living waters.

14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.

15 Behold, they say unto me, "Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.

16 As for me, "I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest : that which came out of my lips was right before thee.

17 Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.

18 Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and 17 18 destroy them with double destruction.

19 Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;

20 And say unto them, Hear ye the word the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:

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21 Thus saith the LORD; "Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;

22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.

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23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. 24 And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;

25 Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever.

26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the LORD.

27 But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.

13 Isa. 5. 19. 17 Heb. break them with a double breach. 20 Exod. 20. 8, and 23. 12, and 31. 13. Ezek. 20. 12.

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Verse 6. Heath.'-The original word yarar, is rendered heath' also in ch. xlviii. 6; but this translation is generally allowed to be erroneous. The corresponding Arabic name, arar, is applied to a totally different plant, a species of juniper, as is clearly shewn by Celsius (Hierobotanicon, ii. 195), who states that Arias Montanus is the only translator who has given it this name, which he believes to be the right one. Several species of juniper are found in Syria and Palestine. Robinson met with some in proceeding from Hebron to Wady Musa, near the romantic pass of Nemela. On the rocks above,' writes Dr. Robinson, we found the juniper-tree, Arabic, Arʼar: its berries have the appearance and taste of the common juniper, except that there is more of the pine. These trees were ten to fifteen feet in height, and hung upon the rocks even to the summit of the cliffs and needles.' He adds, in a note; This ('arʼar) is doubtless the Hebrew aroer (Jer. xlviii. 6), which both the English version and Luther read incorrectly heath. The juniper of the same translation is the Retem. See the note on 1 Kings xix.

45. In proceeding further south he states Large trees of the juniper became quite common in the wadys and on the rocks. It is mentioned in the same situations by other travellers, and is no doubt common enough, particularly in wild, uncultivated, and often inaccessible situations. It therefore well agrees with this text as well as with xlviii. 6. In the latter text, however, the Septuagint seems to have found the word i orud, and accordingly translates ovos ǎypios, 'wild ass.' Whether their reading was right and ours wrong it may be difficult to determine. We have a good and sufficient sense in that text as it stands; but it must be allowed that the Septua gint reading affords one very significant and expressive; the ass, in its natural or wild state, never seeks woody but upland pasture, mountainous and rocky retreats; and it is habituated to stand on the brink of precipices (a practice not entirely obliterated in our own domestic races) where, with protruded ears, it surveys the scene below, blowing, and at last braying with extreme excitement. The question as to the meaning of the reading in that text does not how

ever apply to the present text, where the Septuagint itself has ἀγριομυμίκη, 6 wild tamarisk.

The parched places in the wilderness...a salt land and not inhabited.'-In the wilderness south of Judea, advancing towards el-Arish, Captains Irby and Mangles passed over a plain about four miles in length, covered with thick, hard salt, resembling in appearance sheets of firmly frozen snow. The surface bore the weight of the

camels without giving way in the least. There are other such spots on the borders of the Mediterranean and of the Red and Dead Seas, and being well known to the Israelites, suggested the allusion in this and other passages of their prophetical and poetical books.

13. Written in the earth.'-See the note ou John viii. 6.

CHAPTER XVIII.

1 Under the type of a potter is shewed God's absolute
power in disposing of nations. 11 Judgments threat-
ened to Judah for her strange revolt. 18 Jeremiah
prayeth against his conspirators.

THE word which came to Jeremiah from the
LORD, saying,

2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the 'wheels.

4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he 'made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

6 O house of Israel, 'cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to 'pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, 'I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it ;

10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

13 Therefore thus saith the LORD; 'Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.

14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken ?

15 Because my people hath forgotten "me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;

12

18

16 To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.

17 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.

15

19 Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.

20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.

21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and "pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

12 And they said, "There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we 1 Or, frames, or, seats. 2 Or, that he made was marred, as clay in the hand of the potter. 4 Isa. 45. 9. Wisd. 15. 7. Rom. 9. 20. 5 Chap. 1. 10. 7 2 Kings 17. 13. Chap. 7. 3, and 25. 5, and 35. 15. 8 Chap. 2. 25. 10 Or, my fields for a rock, or, for the snow of Lebanon? shall the running waters be forsaken for the strange cold waters? 11 Chap. 2. 13, and 17. 13. 12 Chap. 6. 16. 13 Chap. 19. 8, and 49. 13, and 50. 13. 17 Heb. pour them out.

22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon

15 Or, for the tongue.

16 Psal. 109. 10.

3 Heb. returned and made. 6 Jonah 3. 10.

9 Chap. 2. 10.

14 Mal. 2. 7.

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