Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_500_p.lzh/5_515.TXT

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with him, and on his side, would throw some things
in their way, at which they should stumble, and which
should hinder them from proceeding. They shall be
greatly ashamed, for they shall not prosper; when they
see their schemes are disappointed, and they don't
succeed, they shall be filled with shame and confusion:
or, because they don't deal prudently g, as the word is
rendered, Isa. lii. 13. they don't act a wise, but a
foolish part, and therefore shame will be the con-
sequence of it.  Their everlasting confusion shall never
be forgotten; neither by themselves nor others; the
memory of it will always continue, to their everlasting
grief and reproach. A very learned man connects
these words with the former, thus, they shall be greatly
ashamed, for they shall not prosper, with an everlasting
shame never to be forgotten", very rightly; so another
learned interpreter a.
Ver. l2. But, 0 Lord, that triest the righteous, and
seest the reins and the heart, &c.] That tries the cause
of the righteous, and vindicates them, rights their
wrongs, and does them justice; being the omniscient
God, the seer and searcher of the hearts and reins;
who knows the uprightness of their hearts, as well as
their ways, and the sincerity of their affections: or that
tries the faith and patience of the righteous, their con-
stancy and integrity; and upon trial finds that their
affections are real, and their souls sincere. Let me see
thy vengeance on them; his enemies and persecutors;
he does not seek vengeance himself, but desires it of
the Lord; he does not ask to see his vengeance, but the
Lord's vengeance on them, what he thought was just
and proper to inflict on them; he knew that vengeance
belonged to the Lord, and therefore left it with him, and
prayed for it from him. The Targum is, "let me see
"the vengeauce ofthy judgments on them." For unto
thee have I opened my cause; or revealed, or made it
manifest {k}; this he did in prayer, at this time, when
he laid before the Lord his whole case, and appealed
and applied to him for justice, who judgeth righteous
persons, and judgeth righteously.
Vet. 13. Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord, &c.3
The prophet, from prayer, proceeds to praise; and
from expressions of faith and confidence in the Lord,
having committed his cause to him, being assured of
success, rises up to a holy triumph and joy; and
calls upon his soul, and upon others, to join with him
in praising, and singing praises to the Lord: this is
said, as Kimchi observe. s, with respect to the saints in
Jerusalem; forthere were some good people doubtless
there at this time, a remnant according to the election
of grace; who had a regard for the prophet, and
wished well to him, and were ready to join with him
in acts of devotion, prayer, or praise. For he hath de-
livered the soul of the poor from the hand of evil-
doers; or, the life of the poor; meaning himself, a poor
destitute person, few or none to stand by him but the
Lord, who had delivered him out of the hand of
Pashur and his accomplices; and out of the hand of
those that watched for his halting; and out of the
hands of all his persecutors: or this may respect not
past deliverances, but what was to come; which the
prophet had such a believing view of, that he calls
upon hi inself and others to praise God for beforehand.
Ver. 14: Cursed be the day wherein I was born, &c.]
If this was said immediately upon the foregoing, it
was a most strange and sudden change of frame indeed
that the prophet came into, from praising God, to
cursing the day of his birth; wherefore some have
thought it was delivered at a. nother time, when in
great anguish of spirit; very likely when so ill used
by Pashur, as before related; but here repeated, to
shew in what distress he had been, and what reason
there was for praise and thanksgiving; for the words
may be connected with the preceding, thus, for he
hath delivered from the hand of evil-doers the soul of the
poor, who said {}, in the time of his distress, cursed
be the day, &c.; but, whenever it was spoke, it
shewed the impatience of the prophet, the weak-
ness of his faith, and the greatness of his folly, to
curse a day, and his birth-day too, as Job did, when
under affliction, Job iii. 1--16. Let not the day
wherein my mother bare me be blessed; to myself or
others; let it be reckoned among the unhappy and
unfortunate days; let it not be blessed with the light
of the sun, or with the light of joy and prosperity;
see Job iii. 4, 7. let it not be said on this occasion, as
commonly is, we wish you joy on your birth-day, and
may you see many happy days of this kind. Abendana
observes, that some of their Rabbins say, that Jeremiah
cursed the day of his birth, because it was the ninth of
Ab, the day on which the temple was burnt.
Ver. 15. Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my
father, &c.] The word signifies commonly good
tidings, as the news of a child born, and especially a
man-child, is to its parent. The Septuagint use the
same word the angel did, when he brought the tidings
of the birth of Christ, Luke iS. 10, 11. This was still
more foolish and sinful, to curse the man that carried
the tidings of his birth to his father; who did a right
thing, and what was acceptable, and perhaps might be
a good man. Kimchi observes, that there are some
that say, it was known to Jeremy that this man was
Pashur, the son of Iramet, and therefore he cursed
him; but this is without any foundation. Saying, a
man-child is born unto thee, making him very glad; as
the birth of a man-child usually makes glad its parent,
whether father or mother; see John xvi. 21.
Vet. 16..4nd let that man be as the cities which the
Lord overthrew, &e.] In his fury, as the Targum and
Septuagint add. Meaning `the cities of Sodore and
Gomorrah, who were utterly destroyed, and were never
recovered: and repented not; whose sentence God
never repented of, nor revoked: this was very severe
and.uncharitable, to wish for so sore a destruction upon
an innocent person. And let him hear the cry in the
morning, and the shouting at noon-tide; as soon as he is
up in the morning, the first thing that salutes his ears,
let it be the noise of an enemy invading the city he

{g} \^wlykvh al yk\^ quia non prudenter egerunt, Montanus, Piscator;
prudenter agunt, Calvin.
{h} Erubescent valde, quia non prosperabuntur, ignominia aeterna non
obliviscenda, De Dieu.
{i} Pudefient, quod non profecerint, ignominia perpetuitatis (quae)
non tradetur oblivioni, Schmidt.
{k} \^ybyr ta ytylg\^ revelavi causam meam, Junius & Tremellius,
Piscator. So Schmidt.
{i} So it is supplied by Grotius and Schmidt.