Isa 51:13, Jer 2:6, 8 | JFB | e4.org | 13. ( ), the same argument of comfort drawn from the omnipotence of the Creator. as if . . . ready, &c.—literally, "when he directs," namely, his arrow, to destroy ( ) [MAURER ].

‏ Isaiah 51:13

13. (Isa 40:12, 26, 28), the same argument of comfort drawn from the omnipotence of the Creator.

as if . . . ready, &c.—literally, "when he directs," namely, his arrow, to destroy (Ps 21:12; 7:13; 11:2) [MAURER].

‏ Jeremiah 2:6

6. Neither said they, Where, &c.—The very words which God uses (Isa 63:9, 11, 13), when, as it were, reminding Himself of His former acts of love to Israel as a ground for interposing in their behalf again. When they would not say, Where is Jehovah, &c., God Himself at last said it for them (compare see on Jer 2:2).

deserts . . . pits—The desert between Mount Sinai and Palestine abounds in chasms and pits, in which beasts of burden often sink down to the knees. "Shadow of death" refers to the darkness of the caverns amidst the rocky precipices (De 8:15; 32:10).

‏ Jeremiah 2:8

8. The three leading classes, whose very office under the theocracy was to lead the people to God, disowned Him in the same language as the nation at large, "Where is the Lord?" (See Jer 2:6).

priests—whose office it was to expound the law (Mal 2:6, 7).

handle—are occupied with the law as the subject of their profession.

pastors—civil, not religious: princes (Jer 3:15), whose duty it was to tend their people.

prophets—who should have reclaimed the people from their apostasy, encouraged them in it by pretended oracles from Baal, the Ph nician false god.

by Baal—in his name and by his authority (compare Jer 11:21).

walked after things . . . not profit—answering to, "walked after vanity," that is, idols (Jer 2:5; compare Jer 2:11; Hab 2:18).