Jeremiah 18

14. Is there any man (living near it) who would leave the snow of Lebanon (that is, the cool melted snow water of Lebanon, as he presently explains), which cometh from the rock of the field (a poetical name for Lebanon, which towers aloft above the surrounding field, or comparatively plain country)? None. Yet Israel forsakes Jehovah, the living fountain close at hand, for foreign broken cisterns. Jeremiah 17:13 , 2:13 , accord with English Version here. MAURER translates, "Shall the snow of Lebanon cease from the rock to water (literally, 'forsake') My fields" (the whole land around being peculiarly Jehovah's)? Lebanon means the "white mountain"; so called from the perpetual snow which covers that part called Hermon, stretching northeast of Palestine.
that come from another place--that come from far, namely, from the distant lofty rocks of Lebanon. HENDERSON translates, "the compressed waters," namely, contracted within a narrow channel while descending through the gorges of the rocks; "flowing" may in this view be rather "flowing down" ( Solomon 4:15 ). But the parallelism in English Version is better, "which cometh from the rock," "that cometh from another place."
be forsaken--answering to the parallel, "Will a man leave," &c. MAURER translates, "dry up," or "fail" ( Isaiah 19:5 ); the sense thus being, Will nature ever turn aside from its fixed course? The "cold waters" (compare Proverbs 25:25 ) refer to the perennial streams, fed from the partial melting of the snow in the hot weather.

15. Because--rather, "And yet"; in defiance of the natural order of things.
forgotten me--( Jeremiah 2:32 ). This implies a previous knowledge of God, whereas He was unknown to the Gentiles; the Jews' forgetting of God, therefore, arose from determined perversity.
they have caused . . . to stumble--namely the false prophets and idolatrous priests have.
ancient paths--( Jeremiah 6:16 ): the paths which their pious ancestors trod. Not antiquity indiscriminately, but the example of the fathers who trod the right way, is here commended.
them--the Jews.
not cast up--not duly prepared: referring to the raised center of the road. CALVIN translates, "not trodden." They had no precedent of former saints to induce them to devise for themselves a new worship.

16. hissing--( 1 Kings 9:8 ). In sign of contempt. That which was to be only the event is ascribed to the purpose of the people, although altogether different from what they would have been likely to hope for. Their purpose is represented as being the destruction of their country, because it was the inevitable result of their course of acting.
wag . . . head--in mockery ( 2 Kings 19:21 , Matthew 27:39 ). As "wag . . . head" answers to "hissing," so "astonished" answers to "desolate," for which, therefore, MUNSTER and others rather translate, "an object of wonder" ( Jeremiah 19:8 ).

17. as with an east wind--literally, "I will scatter them, as an east wind (scatters all before it)": a most violent wind ( Job 27:21 , Psalms 48:7 , Isaiah 27:8 ). Thirty-two manuscripts read (without as), "with an east wind."
I will show them the back . . . not . . . face--just retribution: as "they turned their back unto Me . . . not their face" ( Jeremiah 2:27 ).

18. ( Jeremiah 11:19 ). Let us bring a capital charge against him, as a false prophet; "for (whereas he foretells that this land shall be left without priests to teach the law, Malachi 2:7 ; without scribes to explain its difficulties; and without prophets to reveal God's will), the law shall not perish from the prophet," &c.; since God has made these a lasting institution in His church, and the law declares they shall never perish ( Leviticus 6:18 , 10:11 ; compare Jeremiah 5:12 ) [GROTIUS].
the wise--scribes and elders joined to the priests. Perhaps they mean to say, we must have right on our side, in spite of Jeremiah's words against us and our prophets ( Jeremiah 28:15 Jeremiah 28:16 , Jeremiah 29:25 Jeremiah 29:32 , 5:31 ); "for the law shall not perish," &c. I prefer GROTIUS' explanation.
with . . . tongue--by a false accusation ( Psalms 57:4 , 64:3 , 12:4 , 50:19 ). "For the tongue" (Margin), that is, for his speaking against us. "In the tongue," that is, let us kill him, that he may speak no more against us [CASTALIO].

19. Give heed--contrasted with, "let us not give heed" ( Jeremiah 18:18 ). As they give no heed to me, do Thou, O Lord, give heed to me, and let my words at least have their weight with Thee.

20. In the particulars here specified, Jeremiah was a type of Jesus Christ ( Psalms 109:4 Psalms 109:5 , John 15:25 ).
my soul--my life; me ( Psalms 35:7 ).
I stood before thee . . . to turn away thy wrath--so Moses ( Psalms 106:23 ; compare Ezekiel 22:30 ). So Jesus Christ, the antitype of previous partial intercessors ( Isaiah 59:16 ).

21. pour out their blood by the force of the sword--literally, "by the hands of the sword." So Ezekiel 35:5 . MAURER with JEROME translates, "deliver them over to the power of the sword." But compare Psalms 63:10 , Margin; Isaiah 53:12 . In this prayer he does not indulge in personal revenge, as if it were his own cause that was at stake; but he speaks under the dictation of the Spirit, ceasing to intercede, and speaking prophetically, knowing they were doomed to destruction as reprobates; for those not so, he doubtless ceased not to intercede. We are not to draw an example from this, which is a special case.
put to death--or, as in Jeremiah 15:2 , "perish by the death plague" [MAURER].
men . . . young men--HORSLEY distinguishes the former as married men past middle age; the latter, the flower of unmarried youth.

22. cry--by reason of the enemy bursting in: let their houses be no shelter to them in their calamities [CALVIN].
digged . . . pit--( Jeremiah 18:20 , Psalms 57:6 , 119:85 ).

23. forgive not--( Psalms 109:9 Psalms 109:10 Psalms 109:14 ).
blot out--image from an account-book ( Revelation 20:12 ).
before thee--Hypocrites suppose God is not near, so long as they escape punishment; but when He punishes, they are said to stand before Him, because they can no longer flatter themselves they can escape His eye (compare Psalms 90:8 ).
deal thus--exert Thy power against them [MAURER].
time of thine anger--Though He seems to tarry, His time shall come at last ( Ecclesiastes 8:11 Ecclesiastes 8:12 , 2 Peter 3:9 2 Peter 3:10 ).