Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel
Which is an usual preface to prophecies coming from him:
saying;
as follows: ye and your wives have both spoken with your
mouths, and fulfilled with
your hand;
they had said they would burn incense to the queen of heaven, and
they had done it; they had been as good as their word, true to
it, though in a bad thing: their words and works agreed, and so
did the men and their wives: the women had before said they did
not perform worship to the queen of heaven without their men;
this is acknowledged by the Lord, and their confession is
improved against them: saying, we will surely perform our
vows that we have vowed, to burn
incense to queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings
unto her;
they thought, because they made a vow that they would do it, that
it was therefore obligatory upon them, and this would be
sufficient to justify them before God, and excuse it to him;
whereas nothing that is sinful ought to be vowed or performed;
and to vow and perform in such a case is doubly criminal: a vow
cannot make that lawful which is unlawful; and the performance of
it can never be a laudable action: ye will surely
accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows;
they were resolutely set upon it, and nothing would hinder their
performance of it; this shows the obstinacy and firmness of their
minds: though some think these words are spoken ironically.