And said unto Jeremiah the prophet
That is, some one of them, as the mouth of the whole body, very
probably Johanan: let, we beseech thee, our supplication be
accepted before thee;
they treat the prophet with great respect, and are very humble
and submissive, as if they were very hearty and sincere in their
request: and pray for us unto the Lord thy God;
as if they were conscious of their own inability to pray for
themselves, and of their unworthiness to call God their God; and
as if they had a high opinion of, he prophet, as having an
interest in God, and great power with him in prayer, whom he
could not well deny anything: [even] for all this
remnant;
this poor remnant, this handful of people, left of the sword,
famine, and pestilence, left in the land by the Chaldeans, and
who had escaped the cruelty of Ishmael; and for whom it might be
hoped the Lord would still have a regard, since he had so
mercifully and wonderfully preserved them: for we are left
[but] a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us;
the number of the people had been very large, but by the
judgments of the sword, famine, and pestilence, and captivity,
they were greatly reduced; here was their whole number before the
prophet; his eyes beheld them, and the condition they were in:
this they said to move his compassion, and very likely to suggest
to him how improbable it was that they should ever be able to
continue in their own land; but that it would be better to put
themselves under the protection of a neighbouring nation, Egypt,
whither they were inclined to go; and hoped to have a word from
the Lord by the prophet, to direct them thither.