7. lion--Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans ([Jr 2:15]; ; [Da 7:14]).
his thicket--lair; Babylon.
destroyer of the Gentiles--rather, "the nations" ([Jr 25:9]).
8. Nothing is left to the Jews but to bewail their desperate condition.
anger ... not turned back--([Is 9:12], 17, 21).
9. heart--The wisdom of the most leading men will be utterly at a loss to devise means of relief.
10. thou hast ... deceived--God, having even the false prophets in His hands, is here said to do that which for inscrutable purposes He permits them to do ([Ex 9:12]; [2Th 2:11]; compare [Jr 8:15]; which passage shows that the dupes of error were self-prepared for it, and that God's predestination did not destroy their moral freedom as voluntary agents). The false prophets foretold "peace," and the Jews believed them; God overruled this to His purposes ([Jr 5:12]; ; [Eze 14:9]).
soul--rather, "reacheth to the life."
11. dry wind--the simoom, terrific and destructive, blowing from the southeast across the sandy deserts east of Palestine. Image of the invading Babylonian army ([Ho 13:15]). Babylon in its turn shall be visited by a similar "destroying wind" ([Jr 51:1]).
of ... high places--that is, that sweeps over the high places.
daughter--that is, the children of my people.
not to fan--a very different wind from those ordinary winds employed for fanning the grain in the open air.
12. full ... from those places--rather, "a wind fuller (that is, more impetuous) than those winds" (which fan the corn) ([Jr 4:11]) [Rosenmuller].
unto me--"for Me," as My instrument for executing My purpose.
sentence--judgments against them ([Jr 1:16]).
13. clouds--continuing the metaphor in [Jr 4:11]:. Clouds of sand and dust accompany the simoom, and after rapid gyrations ascend like a pillar.
eagles--([De 28:49]; [Ha 1:8]).
Woe unto us--The people are graphically presented before us, without it being formally so stated, bursting out in these exclamations.
14. Only one means of deliverance is left to the Jews--a thorough repentance.
vain thoughts--namely, projects for deliverance, such as enlisting the Egyptians on their side. Gesenius translates, "How long wilt thou harbor vain thoughts?"
15. For ... from Dan--The connection is: There is danger in delay; for the voice of a messenger announces the approach of the Chaldean enemy from Dan, the northern frontier of Palestine ([Jr 8:16]; compare [Jr 4:6]; [Jr 1:14]).
Mount Ephraim--which borders closely on Judah; so that the foe is coming nearer and nearer. Dan and Beth-el in Ephraim were the two places where Jeroboam set up the idolatrous calves ([1Ki 12:29]); just retribution.
16. The neighboring foreign "nations" are summoned to witness Jehovah's judgments on His rebel people ([Jr 6:18], ).
watchers--that is, besiegers (compare [2Sa 11:16]); observed or watched, that is, besieged.
their voice--the war shout.
17. keepers of a field--metaphor from those who watch a field, to frighten away the wild beasts.
18. ([Jr 2:17], 19; [Psa 107:17]).
this is thy wickedness--that is, the fruit of thy wickedness.
19. The prophet suddenly assumes the language of the Jewish state personified, lamenting its affliction ([Jr 10:19], ; , ; [Is 15:5]; compare [Lu 19:41]).
at my very heart--Hebrew, "at the walls of my heart"; the muscles round the heart. There is a climax, the "bowels," the pericardium, the "heart" itself.
maketh ... noise--moaneth [Henderson].
alarm--the battle shout.
20. Destruction ... cried--Breach upon breach is announced ([Psa 42:7]; [Eze 7:26]). The war "trumpet" ... the battle shout ... the "destructions" ... the havoc throughout "the whole land" ... the spoiling of the shepherds' "tents" ([Jr 10:20]; or, "tents" means cities, which should be overthrown as easily as tents [Calvin]), form a gradation.
21. Judah in perplexity asks, How long is this state of things to continue?
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."
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]; ).
without form and void--reduced to the primeval chaos ([Ge 1:2]).
24. mountains--([Is 5:25]).
moved lightly--shook vehemently.
25. no man ... birds--No vestige of the human, or of the feathered creation, is to be seen ([Eze 38:20]; [Zep 1:3]).
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.
27. full end--utter destruction: I will leave some hope of restoration ([Jr 5:10], ; ; ; compare [Le 26:44]).