Chapter commentary
Jeremiah Chapter 8
서론
Untitled
日本語
English original
The prophet proceeds, in this chapter, both to magnify and to justify the destruction that God was bringing upon this people, to show how grievous it would be and yet how righteous. I. He represents the judgments coming as so very terrible that death should appear so as most to be dreaded and yet should be desired, Jer 8:1-3. II. He aggravates the wretched stupidity and wilfulness of this people as that which brought this ruin upon them, Jer 8:4-12. III. He describes the great confusion and consternation that the whole land should be in upon the alarm of it, Jer 8:13-17. IV. The prophet is himself deeply affected with it and lays it very much to heart, Jer 8:18-22.
1-3
Indignities Threatened to the Dead (606 BC)
日本語
死者に対して脅された屈辱（紀元前606年）
¹ その時――主は言われる――彼らはユダの王たちの骨と、そのつかさたちの骨と、祭司たちの骨と、預言者たちの骨と、エルサレムの住民の骨とを、彼らの墓から取り出す。
² 彼らはそれらを太陽と、月と、彼らが愛し、仕え、後に従って歩き、求め、拝んだ天の万軍、すべてのものの前に広げる。それらは集められず、葬られない。地のおもてのくそのようにされる。
³ 万軍の主が言われる。私が彼らを追いやったすべての場所に残っている、この悪い家族の残りの者で残っているすべての者にとって、死はいのちよりも選ばれる。
これらの節は、前の章の終わりにふさわしく結びつけられたであろう。カルデヤ人の軍勢が国においてなす恐ろしい荒廃のさらに詳しい描写を与えるからである。それは死そのものの性質を奇妙に変え、しかもより悪い方に。
一、死はもはや常にそうであったように――死者の休息――ではない。ヨブが墓にへつらう時、それは「そこで彼は地の王たちや議官たちと共に安息する」という希望においてである。しかし今や死者の灰、さらに「王」や「つかさ」の灰でさえ乱され、その「骨は墓の口で散らされる」（詩篇141:7）。前の章の終わりで、殺された者は葬られないことが脅された。それは怠慢によることであり、それほど奇妙ではなかった。しかしここで私たちは、入念に、悪意をもって葬られた者の墓が勝利した敵によって開かれるのを見いだす。貪欲から墓の中に宝を見つけることを望んで、あるいは国民に対する悪意とそれに対する怒りから、「ユダの王たちとつかさたちの骨を取り出した」のである。その墓の尊厳は彼らを守ることができず、いや、むしろ彼らを略奪によりさらした。しかしそのように王の塵を踏みつけるのは卑劣で野蛮であった。私たちは敬虔なヨシヤの骨が乱されなかったことを希望する。彼が偶像の祭司たちの骨を焼いた時、神の人の骨を敬虔に守ったからである（列王紀第二23:18）。祭司や預言者たちの骨も掘り起こされ、投げ散らされた。ある人々は偽りの預言者たちと偶像の祭司たちであると考える。神が彼らにこの恥辱のしるしを置かれたと。しかし、もし彼らが神の預言者と祭司であったなら、それは詩篇作者が敵の暴挙の実として訴えていることである（詩篇79:1-2）。いな、王や祭司の墓を汚すことができなかった悪意に満ちたカルデヤ人でさえ、むしろ小さな獲物で遊ぶことを選び、エルサレムの一般の「住民の骨を墓から引き出した」。野蛮な国民は征服した者に対してこのような不条理で非人間的な勝利の誇示を時に犯した。神はここでそれを許された。ご自身の怒りの世代に対する不満のしるしとして、また生き残った者への恐怖として。墓から掘り出された骨は、軽蔑して地のおもてに広げられ、非難をさらに広め、永続させるために。彼らは乾燥させるためにそれらを広げ、勝利の行列で持ち歩くため、あるいは燃料とするため、あるいは何らかの迷信的な用途のために。彼らは真昼に公然と事実を認めることを恥じないのであるから、「太陽の前に」、そして「月と」星、すなわち彼らが偶像とした「天の万軍のすべて」の前に広げられる（エレミヤ8:2）。太陽、月、星はこの悲劇の無関心な観客となるが、預言者はそこから機会を取って、彼らがいかにそれらを偶像化し、神にのみ払うべき敬意をそれらに払ったかを示す。彼らが苦難の中で拝んだ被造物はそれを見たが、顧みず、何の救いも与えず、むしろ神とされることによって乱用された者たちが、侮辱されることによって乱用されるのを見て喜んでいたことが観察されるように。彼らの偶像に対する敬意がどのように数え上げられているかを見よ。私たちが私たちの神に対してどのように振る舞うべきかを示すために。
- 彼らはそれらを「愛した」。愛すべき存在であり、気前の良い恩人として、彼らはそれらを尊び、喜んだ。それゆえ以下のすべてをした。
- 彼らはそれらに「仕えた」。その栄光のためにできる限りのことをし、何も過ぎることはないと思った。彼らは議論することなく、その迷信のすべての律法に従った。
- 彼らはそれらの「後に従って歩いた」。彼らが受け取っていたその性格と説明に従って、それらを模倣し、似ようと努めた。それは異邦人の忌まわしい悪の多くに端を発し、是認を与えた。
- 彼らはそれらを「求めた」。神託として相談し、裁判官として訴え、その恵みを切に求め、恩人として祈った。
- 彼らはそれらを「拝んだ」。主権的な支配を持つものとして、神の誉れを与えた。 彼らが求めたこれらの天の光の前に、彼らの死体は投げ出され、腐敗させられ、「地のおもてのくそのよう」に放置される。太陽がそれらの上に照らすことは、彼らをさらにいやで不快なものにするだけである。真の神以外のものを神とすることは、死と墓の向こう側においても、体のためにも、ましてや魂のためにも、私たちの助けとならない。
二、死は今やそうであったことがないもの――生者の選択――となる。その中に何か喜ばしいものが現れるからではない。逆に、彼らが快い死や人間的な葬儀を自分たちに望めない今、死はかつてないほど恐ろしい恐ろしい姿で現れる。それでもこの世のすべてのことがそれほど煩わしくなり、すべての見通しがそれほど暗く陰鬱になるので、「死はいのちよりも選ばれる」（エレミヤ8:3）。もう一つのいのちにおける幸福を信じる望みにおいてではなく、このいのちにおけるどんな安らぎの絶望的な失望において。国民は今や「家族」に減らされた。「その中に残っている残りの者」はそれほど少ない。そしてそれは「悪い家族」であり、以前と同じように悪く、その心はへりくだらず、その欲情は殺されていない。これらの者は神のさばきによって「彼らが追いやられた多くの場所」に生きたまま（それがすべてである）「残っている」。敵の国での囚人、隣人の国での物乞い、他の者はそこで、また自国で逃亡者や放浪者として。そして死んだ者は非常に惨めに死んだが、生き残ってこのように追い出された者たちはさらに惨めに生きるであろう。それゆえ彼らは「いのちよりも死を選び」、剣で倒れた者たちと共に倒れたらと千回願うであろう。これがいのちの過度の愛をいやさせるように。事態はいのちが重荷と恐怖となり、私たちがむしろ「絞殺と死を選ぶ」ほど強く誘惑されるようになるかもしれない。
English original
Indignities Threatened to the Dead (606 BC)
¹ At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:
² And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
³ And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts.
These verses might fitly have been joined to the close of the foregoing chapter, as giving a further description of the dreadful desolation which the army of the Chaldeans should make in the land. It shall strangely alter the property of death itself, and for the worse too.
I. Death shall not now be, as it always used to be—the repose of the dead. When Job makes his court to the grave it is in hope of this, that there he shall rest with kings and counsellors of the earth; but now the ashes of the dead, even of kings and princes, shall be disturbed, and their bones scattered at the grave's mouth, Ps 141:7. It was threatened in the close of the former chapter that the slain should be unburied; that might be through neglect, and was not so strange; but here we find the graves of those that were buried industriously and maliciously opened by the victorious enemy, who either for covetousness, hoping to find treasure in the graves, or for spite to the nation and in a rage against it, brought out the bones of the kings of Judah and the princes. The dignity of their sepulchres could not secure them, nay, did the more expose them to be rifled; but it was base and barbarous thus to trample upon royal dust. We will hope that the bones of good Josiah were not disturbed, because he piously protected the bones of the man of God when he burnt the bones of the idolatrous priests, 2Ki 23:18. The bones of the priests and prophets too were digged up and thrown about. Some think the false prophets and the idol-priests, God putting this mark of ignominy upon them: but, if they were God's prophets and his priests, it is what the Psalmist complains of as the fruit of the outrage of the enemies, Ps 79:1,2. Nay, those of the spiteful Chaldeans that could not reach to violate the sepulchres of princes and priests would rather play at small game than sit out, and therefore pulled the bones of the ordinary inhabitants of Jerusalem out of their graves. The barbarous nations were sometimes guilty of these absurd and inhuman triumphs over those they had conquered, and God permitted it here, for a mark of his displeasure against the generation of his wrath, and for terror to those that survived. The bones, being dug out of the graves, were spread abroad upon the face of the earth in contempt, and to make the reproach the more spreading and lasting. They spread them to be dried that they might carry them about in triumph, or might make fuel of them, or make some superstitious use of them. They shall be spread before the sun (for they shall not be ashamed openly to avow the fact at noon day) and before the moon and stars, even all the host of heaven, whom they have made idols of, Jer 8:2. From the mention of the sun, moon, and stars, which should be the unconcerned spectators of this tragedy, the prophet takes occasion to show how they had idolized them, and paid those respects to them which they should have paid to God only, that it might be observed how little they got by worshipping the creature, for the creatures they worshipped when they were in distress saw it, but regarded it not, nor gave them any relief, but were rather pleased to see those abused in being vilified by whom they had been abused in being deified. See how their respects to their idols are enumerated, to show how we ought to behave towards our God. 1. They loved them. As amiable being and bountiful benefactors they esteemed them and delighted in them, and therefore did all that follows. 2. They served them, did all they could in honour of them, and thought nothing too much; they conformed to all the laws of their superstition, without disputing. 3. They walked after them, strove to imitate and resemble them, according to the characters and accounts of them they had received, which gave rise and countenance to much of the abominable wickedness of the heathen. 4. They sought them, consulted them as oracles, appealed to them as judges, implored their favour, and prayed to them as their benefactors. 5. They worshipped them, gave them divine honour, as having a sovereign dominion over them. Before these light of heaven, which they had courted, shall their dead bodies be cast, and left to putrefy, and to be as dung upon the face of the earth; and the sun's shining upon them will but make them the more noisome and offensive. Whatever we make a god of but the true God only, it will stand us in no stead on the other side death and the grave, nor for the body, much less for the soul.
II. Death shall now be what it never used to be—the choice of the living, not because there appears in it any thing delightsome; on the contrary, death never appeared in more horrid frightful shapes than now, when they cannot promise themselves either a comfortable death or a human burial; and yet every thing in this world shall become so irksome, and all the prospects so black and dismal, that death shall be chosen rather than life (Jer 8:3), not in a believing hope of happiness in the other life, but in an utter despair of any ease in this life. The nation is now reduced to a family, so small is the residue of those that remain in it; and it is an evil family, still as bad as ever, their hearts unhumbled and their lusts unmortified. These remain alive (and that is all) in the many places whither they were driven by the judgments of God, some prisoners in the country of their enemies, others beggars in their neighbour's country, and others fugitives and vagabonds there and in their own country. And, though those that died died very miserably, yet those that survived and were thus driven out should live yet more miserably, so that they should choose death rather than life, and wish a thousand times that they had fallen with those that fell by the sword. Let this cure us of the inordinate love of life, that the case may be such that it may become a burden and terror, and we may be strongly tempted to choose strangling and death rather.
4-12
Full of Impenitent Sinners; Hardened Wickedness of Judah (606 BC)
日本語
不悔い改めの罪人に満ちている。ユダの堅くなった悪（紀元前606年）
⁴ さらに彼らに言え。主はこう言われる。彼らは倒れて、起き上がらないのか。彼は離れて、帰らないのか。 ⁵ それならなぜ、このエルサレムの民は絶えず背きによって離れ去っているのか。彼らは偽りを固く握り、立ち返ることを拒む。 ⁶ わたしは聞き、耳を傾けたが、彼らは正しく語らなかった。おのが悪を悔いて『私は何をしたのだろう』と言う者はひとりもなかった。おのがみな馬が戦いに突っ込むように、自分のコースに向きを変えた。 ⁷ 空のこうのとりも自分の定められた時を知っている。山鳩や鶴やつばめも来る時を守る。しかしわたしの民は主のさばきを知らない。 ⁸ あなたがたはどうして『私たちは知恵がある。主の律法は私たちと共にある』と言うのか。見よ、確かに彼はむなしくそれを造った。書記のペンはむなしい。 ⁹ 知者たちは恥じ、うろたえ、捕らえられた。見よ、彼らは主のことばを退けた。彼らのうちに何の知恵があろうか。 ¹⁰ それゆえ、わたしは彼らの妻を他の者に与え、彼らの畑をそれを相続する者に与える。最も小さい者から最も大きい者まで、おのがみな貪りに身を委ね、預言者から祭司に至るまで、おのがみな偽りを扱うからである。 ¹¹ 彼らはわたしの民の娘の傷を手当たりしだいに直し、『平安、平安』と言う。しかし平安はないのである。 ¹² 彼らは忌まわしい事を行って恥じたか。いや、彼らは少しも恥じなかった。赤面することもできなかった。それゆえ彼らは倒れる者の中で倒れる。彼らの訪れの時に、彼らはつまずかされると主は言われる。
預言者はここでこの民に彼らの不悔い改めの愚かさを示すように教えられる。それが彼らの上にこの滅びをもたらしたのである。彼らはここで、無限の知恵が彼らを自分自身と正しい心に立ち返らせ、彼らの上に来る滅びを防ぐために取ったすべての方法によっても賢くされない、世界で最も愚鈍で感覚のない民として描かれる。
一、彼らは理性の命じることに注意を払わなかった。彼らは他の事柄においてしたのと同じ一般的な慎みをもって、たましいの事柄において行動しなかった。罪人たちは単に人間であることを示すなら、聖徒となるであろう。そして正しい理性が許されるなら、宗教が間もなく彼らを治めるであろう。ここでそれを見よ。「来たれ、共に論じようと主は言われる」（エレ 8:4-5）。「人は倒れて起き上がらないのか」。もし人が偶然に地に倒れ、泥に倒れたなら、彼らはできるだけ早く起き上がらないのか。彼らは倒れている時にじっとしているほどの愚か者ではない。「人は右の道からそれるのか」。はい、最も注意深い旅人も道を迷うかもしれない。しかしその時、彼がそれに気づくとすぐに、彼は帰らないのか。はい、確かに彼は全速力で帰るであろう。そして自分の間違いを示してくれた者に感謝するであろう。このように人は他の事柄においてする。「それならなぜ、このエルサレムの民は絶えず背きによって離れ去っているのか」。彼らは罪に倒れた時に、悔い改めによって急いで起き上がらないのか。彼らが道を間違えたのを見る時に、自分の誤りを正し、改革しないのか。正気な人は、決して旅の終わりに彼を導かない道を知っていながら進む者はいない。それならなぜこの民は絶えず背きによって離れ去っているのか。罪の性質を見よ—それは背信である。正しい道から戻ることであり、脇道に入るだけでなく、反対の道に、いのちに至る道から完全な滅びに至る道に。そしてこの背信は、全能の恵みがそれを防ぐために介入しないなら、絶え間ない背信となる。罪人は終わりなくさまようだけでなく、滅びに向かって終わりの方向に進む。人を罪に導く誘惑者の同じ巧妙さが彼らをその中にしっかと保持する。そして彼らは自分自身の捕囚に寄与する。「彼らは偽りを固く握る」。罪は大きな欺きであり、彼らはそれを固く握る。彼らはそれを深く愛し、それに固執することを決意し、神が彼らと彼らの罪との間を分けようと取るすべての方法を挫折させる。彼らが自分たちの罪のためにする言い訳は欺きであり、そうして罰を免れるという彼らのすべての希望もそうである。しかしそれらを固く握り、欺かれないようにしようとしない。それゆえ彼らは立ち返ることを拒む。なお、罪ある道において意志的に進む者たちが固く握る何らかの欺きがある。右の手にある何らかの偽りによって、彼らは自分たちの罪を保持する。
二、彼らは良心の命じることに注意を払わなかった。良心は私たち自身と私たち自身の行ないについての理性の反映である（エレ 8:6）。見よ。1. 彼らからどのような期待があったか。彼らが自分自身を反省すること。「わたしは聞き、耳を傾けた」。預言者は彼の説教が彼らにどのような影響を与えたかを見るために耳を傾けた。神ご自身も耳を傾けられた。罪人の死を望まれない方として。悔い改めを約束する何かを聞くことを喜んだであろう方として。その傾向のある何かが語られたなら、確かにそれを聞かれたであろうし、ダビデが*「私は告白しよう」と言った時にそうしたように、すぐに慰めをもってそれに答えられたであろう方として（詩 32:5）。神は人が悪いことをした時に人を見られる*（ヨブ 33:27）。次に彼らが何をするかを見るために。神は耳を傾け、聞かれる。2. これらの期待がどのように失望したか。「彼らは正しく語らなかった」。私が彼らがするだろうと思っていたように。彼らは正しくしなかっただけでなく、正しく語らなかった。神は彼らから良いことばを得ることができなかった。彼らに好意を与える、あるいは彼らについての希望に根拠を与えるものは何も。彼らのうちのひとりも正しく語る者がなかった。自分の悪を悔いた者がなかった。罪を犯した者が悔い改めることにおいて語る時にのみ正しく語る。そして悔い改めのために多くのわざをした者たちが悔い改めのひとことも言わない時に悲しい。神は国の悪について悔いる者を見つけなかっただけでなく—それは公の罪の度を空けるのに役立ったであろうに—彼が自分が犯していると知っていた特定の悪について悔いる者もなかった。(1) 彼らは悔い改めの第一歩を取ることさえしなかった。「私は何をしたのだろう」とさえ言わなかった。それに向かう動きはなく、その最も小さなしるしも兆候もなかった。なお、真の悔い改めは自分自身についての真剣で偏りのない探求—私は何をしたのか—から始まる。私たちが悪いことをしたという確信から。(2) 彼らは自分たちの罪を悔い改るどころか、自分たちの罪において断固として進んだ。「おのがみな馬が戦いに突っ込むように、自分のコースに向きを変えた」。彼が選び、慣れ親しんだ罪のコース、その悪いコースに。行動において熱心であり、抑制されることを侮るように。馬が戦いに突っ込む様子が優雅に描かれている（ヨブ 39:21等）。「彼は恐れをあざけり、恐れない」。このように大胆な罪人は、お化けとしてことばの脅しをあざけり、死と虐殺の道具の上に激しく走り、何も彼から抑えられない。
三、彼らは摂理の命じることに注意を払わず、その中の神の御声を理解しなかった（エレ 8:7）。彼らの愚鈍さの例である。彼らは神の民であり、それゆえ神の心のいかなる示唆においても容易に理解すべきなのに、主のさばきを知らない。彼らはあわれみの意味も苦難の意味も悟らず、どちらにも自分を適応させる方法も、どちらにおいても神の意図に答える方法も知らない。彼らは神が預言者たちを遣わされる時に与えられる恵みの季節を改善する方法を知らない。また神の御声が町で叫ぶ時にある責めの下でそれを用いる方法も。彼らは時のしるしを識別しない（マタ 16:3）。神が彼らにどう対しておられるかを悟らない。神が彼らに定められた義務の道を知らない。それは彼らの心にも書にも書き記されているのに。彼らの愚鈍さを重くするのは、下等な被造物にそれほどの鋭さがあることである。空のこうのとりは来て留まる定められた時を知っている。他の季節の鳥—山鳩、鶴、つばめ—も同様である。これらは本能によって、空気の温度が変わる時に居場所を変える。春が来る時に来て、冬が近づく時に、おそらく温暖な気候へと、私たちの知らない所へ去る。ある鳥は冬と共に来て、それが過ぎる時に去る。
四、彼らは書かれたみことばの命じることに注意を払わなかった。彼らは言う。「私たちは知恵がある」。しかしどうしてそう言えようか（エレ 8:8）。どの面下げて彼らは知恵の何ごとかを装うことができようか。彼らが自分自身を獣ほどにもよく理解しない時に。まことに、彼らは自分たちが知恵があると思う。主の律法が彼らと共にあるから—律法の書とその解釈者が。そして彼らの隣人も同じ理由で彼らが知恵があると結論する（申 4:6）。しかしそのすべてにもかかわらず、彼らの主張は根拠がない。「見よ、確かに彼はむなしくそれを造った」。確かにこれほどむなしく聖書を持った民はかつてなかった。彼らがそれをよりよく用いなかったなら、律法を持たないのと同じであったでろうに。神は確かにそれを救いに至る知恵を人に与えることができるように造られたが、彼らについてはそれはむなしく造られた。彼らがそれによって決して賢くならないからである。「書記のペンはむなしい」—初めに律法を書いた者たちの、そして今その解説を書く者たちの。彼らの神の恵みも彼らの書記の労も彼らの上で失われた。彼らはその中で神の恵みをむなしく受ける。なお、恵みの手段の豊富を享受する者が多い。聖書と奉仕者の大きな豊かさを持つが、むなしく持つ。それらを持つことの目的を果たさない。しかし彼らの中に律法と書記のペンがむなかではない何人かの知者たちがいると言われるかもしれない。これに対して答えられる（エレ 8:9）。「知者たちは恥じた」。すなわち、彼らにはそうであるべき理由がある。自分たちの知恵をよりよく用いず、それにもっと生きなかったことを。「彼らはうろたえ、捕らえられた」。彼らのすべての知恵は、彼らを滅びに至る傾向のある道から保つのに役立たなかった。彼らは、それほどの知恵を装わなかった彼らの隣人の他の者たちが捕らえられるのと同じわなに捕らえられ、同じ当惑に満たされる。他の者たちよりも多くの知識を持ちながら、自分たちのたましいのために他の者たち以上に良くしない者たちには、恥じる理由がある。彼らは自分たちの知恵について語るが、「見よ、彼らは主のことばを退けた」。彼らはそれに治められず、その導きに従わず、自分たちが知ることを行わなかった。それなら彼らのうちに何の知恵があろうか。何の目的にも役立たない。その大いなる日に彼らの賛美となるために見出されるものはない。今どれほどそれが彼らの誇りに見出されても。「私たちは知恵があり、主の律法は私たちと共にある」と言った知恵の装い者たちは、祭司たちと偽りの預言者たちであった。預言者はここで彼らと率直に取り組む。1. 彼は神のさばきを彼らに対して脅す。彼らの家族と財産は滅びるであろう（エレ 8:10）。彼らの妻は他の者に与えられ、彼らが捕囚として取られる時に。そして彼らの畑は勝利した敵によって彼らから取られ、それを相続する者たちに与えられる。一度彼らを剥ぐだけでなく、彼ら自身のものとして所有し、彼ら自身のものとしての所有権を獲得し、彼らが子孫に伝えるものとして。そして（エレ 8:12）彼らの知恵と聖性へのすべての主張にもかかわらず、彼らは倒れる者たちの中で倒れる。というのも、もし盲人が盲人を導くなら、両方とも共に穴に落ちるであろうから。彼らの訪れの時に、地の悪が調査される時に、彼らが誰よりもそれに寄与したことが見出されるであろう。それゆえ彼らは必ずつまずかされ、捨てられる。2. 彼はこれらのさばきの理由を与える（エレ 8:10-12）。それは前に出会ったのと同じ悪さの報告である（エレ 6:13-15）。そこでは大いに開かれた。(1) 彼らはこの世の富を貪った。それは誰においても悪いが、預言者と祭司において最悪である。彼らはもうひとつの世界を最もよく知っているべきであり、それゆえこの世界に最も死んでいるべきである。しかし彼らは、最も小さい者から最も大きい者まで、貪りに身を委せた。祭司は報酬のために教え、預言者は金のために占う（ミカ 3:11）。(2) 彼らは真理を語ることに良心の呵責を持たなかった。いや、祭司や預言者として語る時にさえ。おのがみな偽りを扱う。一方を見てもう一方を漕ぐ。彼らの中には誠実さというものがない。(3) 彼らは人々をその罪においてへつらい、こうして滅びにへつらった。彼らは国の医師であると装ったが、その成長する病に適切な治療を適用する方法を知らなかった。彼らは彼らの傷を軽く直し、緩和的な治療で患者を殺した。彼らの恐れと訴えを*「平安、平安、すべては良く、危険はない」*と静めることによって。天の神が彼らとの論争において進んでおられた時に。それゆえ彼らに平安はあり得なかった。(4) 彼らがどれほど卑しくもごまかしたかが明らかにされた時、彼らはそれを少しも恥じず、むしろそれを誇った（エレ 8:12）。彼らは赤面することができなかった。それほどまでに美徳と名誉のすべての感覚を失っていた。彼らが最も粗野な偽造の罪に問われた時、彼らは自分たちのしたことを正当化し、彼らが欺いた者たちをあざけった。このような者たちは滅びのために熟していた。
English original
Full of Impenitent Sinners; Hardened Wickedness of Judah (606 BC)
⁴ Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
⁵ Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
⁶ I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.
⁷ Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.
⁸ How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.
⁹ The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?
¹⁰ Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
¹¹ For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
¹² Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
The prophet here is instructed to set before this people the folly of their impenitence, which was it that brought this ruin upon them. They are here represented as the most stupid senseless people in the world, that would not be made wise by all the methods that Infinite Wisdom took to bring them to themselves and their right mind, and so to prevent the ruin that was coming upon them.
I. They would not attend to the dictates of reason. They would not act in the affairs of their souls with the same common prudence with which they acted in other things. Sinners would become saints if they would but show themselves men, and religion would soon rule them if right reason might. Observe it here. Come, and let us reason together, saith the Lord (Jer 8:4,5): Shall men fall and not arise? If men happen to fall to the ground, to fall into the dirt, will they not get up again as fast as they can? They are not such fools as to lie still when they are down. Shall a man turn aside out of the right way? Yes, the most careful traveller may miss his way; but then, as soon as he is aware of it, will he not return? Yes, certainly he will, with all speed, and will thank him that showed him his mistake. Thus men do in other things. Why then has this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? Why do not they, when they have fallen into sin, hasten to get up again by repentance? Why do not they, when they see they have missed their way, correct their error and reform? No man in his wits will go on in a way that he knows will never bring him to his journey's end; why then has this people slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? See the nature of sin—it is a backsliding it is going back from the right way, not only into a by-path, but into a contrary path, back from the way that leads to life to that which leads to utter destruction. And this backsliding, if almighty grace do not interpose to prevent it, will be a perpetual backsliding. The sinner not only wanders endlessly, but proceeds end-ways towards ruin. The same subtlety of the tempter that brings men to sin holds them fast in it, and they contribute to their own captivity: They hold fast deceit. Sin is a great cheat, and they hold it fast; they love it dearly, and resolve to stick to it, and baffle all the methods God takes to separate between them and their sins. The excuses they make for their sins are deceits, and so are all their hopes of impunity; yet they hold fast these, and will not be undeceived, and therefore they refuse to return. Note, There is some deceit or other which those hold fast that go on wilfully in sinful ways, some lie in their right hand, by which they keep hold of their sins.
II. They would not attend to the dictates of conscience, which is our reason reflecting upon ourselves and our own actions, Jer 8:6. Observe, 1. What expectations there were from them, that they would bethink themselves: I hearkened and heard. The prophet listened to see what effect his preaching had upon them; God himself listened, as one that desires not the death of sinners, that would have been glad to hear any thing that promised repentance, that would certainly have heard it if there had been any thing said of that tendency, and would soon have answered it with comfort, as he did David when he said, I will confess, Ps 32:5. God looks upon men when they have done amiss (Job 33:27), to see what they will do next; he hearkens and hears. 2. How these expectations were disappointed: They spoke not aright, as I thought they would have done. They did not only not do right, but not so much as speak right; God could not get a good word from them, nothing on which to ground any favour to them or hopes concerning them. There was none of them that spoke aright, none that repented him of his wickedness. those that have sinned then, and then only, speak aright when they speak of repenting; and it is sad when those that have made so much work for repentance do not say a word of repenting. Not only did God not find any repenting of the national wickedness, which might have helped to empty the measure of public guilt, but none repented of that particular wickedness which he knew himself guilty of. (1.) They did not so much as take the first step towards repentance; they did not so much as say, What have I done? There was no motion towards it, not the least sign or token of it. Note, True repentance beings in a serious and impartial inquiry into ourselves, what have we done, arising from a conviction that we have done amiss. (2.) They were so far from repenting of their sins that they went on resolutely in their sins: Every one turned to his course, his wicked course, that course of sin which he had chosen and accustomed himself to, as the horse rushes into the battle, eager upon action, and scorning to be curbed. How the horse rushes into the battle is elegantly described, Job 39:21, etc. He mocks at fear and is not affrighted. Thus the daring sinner laughs at the threatenings of the word as bugbears, and runs violently upon the instruments of death and slaughter, and nothing will be restrained from him.
III. They would not attend to the dictates of providence, nor understand the voice of God in them, Jer 8:7. It is an instance of their sottishness that, though they are God's people, and therefore should readily understand his mind upon every intimation of it, yet they know not the judgment of the Lord; they apprehend not the meaning either of a mercy or an affliction, not how to accommodate themselves to either, nor to answer God's intention in either. They know not how to improve the seasons of grave that God affords them when he sends them his prophets, nor how to make use of the rebukes they are under when his voice cries in the city. They discern not the signs of the times (Mt 16:3), nor are aware how God is dealing with them. They know not that way of duty which God had prescribed them, though it be written both in their hearts and in their books. 2. It is an aggravation of their sottishness that there is so much sagacity in the inferior creatures. The stork in the heaven knows her appointed times of coming and continuing; so do other season-birds, the turtle, the crane, and the swallow. These by a natural instinct change their quarters, as the temper of the air alters; they come when the spring comes, and go, we know not whither, when the winter approaches, probably into warmer climates, as some birds come with winter and go when that is over.
IV. They would not attend to the dictates of the written word. They say, We are wise; but how can they say so? Jer 8:8. With what face can they pretend to any thing of wisdom, when they do not understand themselves so well as the brute-creatures? Why, truly, they think they are wise because the law of the Lord is with them, the book of the law and the interpreters of it; and their neighbours, for the same reason, conclude they are wise, De 4:6. But their pretensions are groundless for all this: Lo, certainly in vain made he it; surely never any people had Bibles to so little purpose as they have. They might as well have been without the law, unless they had made a better use of it. God has indeed made it able to make men wise to salvation, but as to them it is made so in vain, for they are never the wiser for it: The pen of the scribes, of those that first wrote the law and of those that now write expositions of it, is in vain. Both the favour of their God and the labour of their scribes are lost upon them; they receive the grace of God therein in vain. Note, There are many that enjoy abundance of the means of grace, that have great plenty of Bibles and ministers, but they have them in vain; they do not answer the end of their having them. But it might be said, They have some wise men among them, to whom the law and the pen of the scribes are not in vain. To this it is answered (Jer 8:9): The wise men are ashamed, that is, they have reasons to be so, that they have not made a better use of their wisdom, and lived more up to it. They are confounded and taken; all their wisdom has not served to keep them from those courses that tend to their ruin. They are taken in the same snares that others of their neighbours, who have not pretended to so much wisdom, are taken in, and filled with the same confusion. Those that have more knowledge than others, and yet do no better than others for their own souls, have reason to be ashamed. They talk of their wisdom, but, Lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; they would not be governed by it, would not follow its direction, would not do what they knew; and then what wisdom is in them? None to any purpose; none that will be found to their praise at the great day, how much soever it is found to their pride now. The pretenders to wisdom, who said, "We are wise and the law of the Lord is with us," were the priests and the false prophets; with them the prophet here deals plainly. 1. He threatens the judgments of God against them. Their families and estates shall be ruined (Jer 8:10): Their wives shall be given to others, when they are taken captives, and their fields shall be taken from them by their victorious enemy and shall be given to those that shall inherit them, not only strip them for once, but take possession of them as their own and acquire a property in them as their own and acquire a property in them, which they shall transmit to their posterity. And (Jer 8:12), notwithstanding all their pretensions to wisdom and sanctity, they shall fall among those that fall; for, if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall together into the ditch. In the time of their visitation, when the wickedness of the land comes to be enquired into, it will be found that they have contributed to it more than any, and therefore they shall be sure to be cast down and cast out. 2. He gives a reason for these judgments (Jer 8:10-12), even the same account of their badness which we meet with before (Jer 6:13-15), where it was opened at large. (1.) They were greedy of the wealth of this world, which is bad enough in any, but worst in prophets and priests, who should be best acquainted with another world and therefore should be most dead to this. But these, from the least to the greatest, were given to covetousness. The priests teach for hire and the prophets divine for money, Mic 3:11. (2.) They made no conscience of speaking truth, no, not when they spoke as priests and prophets: Every one deals falsely, looks one way and rows another. There is no such thing as sincerity among them. (3.) They flattered people in their sins, and so flattered them into destruction. They pretended to be the physicians of the state, but knew not how to apply proper remedies to its growing maladies; they healed them slightly, killed the patient with palliative cures, silencing their fears and complaints with, "Peace, peace, all is well, and there is no danger," when the God of heaven was proceeding in his controversy with them, so that there could be no peace to them. (4.) When it was made to appear how basely they prevaricated they were not at all ashamed of it, but rather gloried in it, (Jer 8:12): They could not blush, so perfectly lost were they to all sense of virtue and honour. When they were convicted of the grossest forgeries they would justify what they had done, and laugh at those whom they had imposed upon. Such as these were ripe for ruin.
13-22
Destruction Threatened for Sin; Despair of Sinners in Trouble; The Prophet's Lamentation (606 BC)
日本語
罪のための滅びの脅し、悩みのうちの罪人の絶望、預言者の嘆き（紀元前606年）
¹³ わたしは必ず彼らを絶ち滅ぼす、と主は告げられる。ぶどうの木にはぶどうがなく、いちじくの木にはいちじくがなく、葉はしおれる。わたしが彼らに与えたものは彼らから過ぎ去る。 ¹⁴ われわれはなぜじっとすわっているのか。集結せよ。堅固な町に入り、そこで黙ろう。われわれの神、主がわれわれを黙らせ、われわれに苦よもぎの水を飲ませられたからだ。われわれが主に対して罪を犯したからである。 ¹⁵ われわれは平和を期待したが、良いことは来ず。いやしの時を期待したが、見よ、恐怖。 ¹⁶ 彼の馬のいななきがダンから聞かれた。彼の強いもののいななきの音に、全地は震えた。彼らが来て、地とその中にあるすべてのもの、町とその中に住む者を食い尽くしたからである。 ¹⁷ 見よ、わたしはあなたがたのうちに、まじないのかけられない蛇、コブラを送る、と主は告げられる。彼らはあなたがたをかむ。 ¹⁸ わたしが悲しみに向かって自分を慰めようとするとき、わたしの心は弱る。 ¹⁹ 見よ、遠い国に住む者たちのゆえに、わたしの民の娘の叫びの声が聞かれる。主はシオンにおられないのか。彼女の王は彼女のうちにおられないのか。なぜ彼らは彫像と、見知らぬむなしいものによって、わたしを怒らせたのか。 ²⁰ 収穫は過ぎ、夏は終わった。しかし、われわれは救われない。 ²¹ わたしの民の娘の傷のゆえに、わたしは傷つき、わたしは黒ずむ。驚きがわたしを捕らえた。 ²² ギルアデに乳香はないのか。そこに医者はないのか。それならなぜ、わたしの民の娘の健康は回復しないのか。
これらの節に次のことがある。
一、罪ある民の滅びを脅かす神。神は彼らを長く耐え忍ばれたが、彼らはますます神を怒らせ、それゆえ今や彼らの滅びは決定した。わたしは必ず彼らを絶ち滅ぼす（エレ 8:13）。
- 彼らはすべての慰めを完全に奪い取られる（エレ 8:13）。ぶどうの木にはぶどうがなく、いちじくの木にはいちじくがない。
- 彼らはあらゆる苦難に襲われ、災いに囲まれる（エレ 8:17）。*見よ、わたしはあなたがたのうちに蛇を送る、*カルデアの軍勢、火の蛇、飛ぶ蛇、コブラである。
二、これらの災いの重圧の下で絶望に沈む民。悩みが遠くにあるとき恐れを持たず、それを甘く見ていた者たちは、それが彼らの上に押し寄せると希望を持たず、それに立ち向かう気力も、その下で持ちこたえる気力もない（エレ 8:14）。
- 神が彼らに対して怒っておられることを悟る。
- 敵が彼らに勝りそうなことを悟る（エレ 8:16）。
- 悩みからの救出の期待を裏切られる。(1) 悩みは予期せぬときに来た（エレ 8:15）。(2) 救出は長く期待したのに来なかった（エレ 8:20）。「収穫は過ぎ、夏は終わった。しかし、われわれは救われない。」
- 彼らが信頼し、平安を確保すると思っていたものにおいて欺かれる（エレ 8:19）。
三、預言者自身が自国の民の災難と滅びを嘆き悲しむ。彼の嘆きは「エレミヤの哀歌」と題する書に見出されるもの以上にあった。
- 彼の悲しみがいかに大きかったか。彼は自国の荒廃の目撃者であった（エレ 8:18,21）。
- 彼の望みがいかに小さかったか（エレ 8:22）。*「ギルアデに乳香はないのか。そこに医者はないのか。なぜわたしの民の娘の健康は回復しないのか。」*これは肯定で答えられる問いとして、彼らの病の不治である責任を彼ら自身に帰すものと理解できる。神は彼らを助け、いやすことがおできになる。ギルアデは彼ら自身の国の、遠くない所であった。彼らは自国のうちに神の律法と預言者たちを持っていた。彼らの回復のために、これ以上何がなされ得たか。それならなぜ彼らの健康は回復しなかったのか。確かに神のためではなく、彼ら自身のためであった。
English original
Destruction Threatened for Sin; Despair of Sinners in Trouble; The Prophet's Lamentation (606 BC)
¹³ I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.
¹⁴ Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.
¹⁵ We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!
¹⁶ The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.
¹⁷ For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.
¹⁸ When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.
¹⁹ Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?
²⁰ The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
²¹ For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
²² Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
In these verses we have,
I. God threatening the destruction of a sinful people. He has borne long with them, but they are still more and more provoking, and therefore now their ruin is resolved on: I will surely consume them (Jer 8:13), consuming I will consume them, not only surely, but utterly, consume them, will follow them with one judgment after another, till they are quite consumed; it is a consumption determined, Isa 10:23. 1. They shall be quite stripped of all their comforts (Jer 8:13): There shall be no grapes on the vine. Some understand this as intimating their sin; God came looking for grapes from this vineyard, seeking fruit upon this fig-tree, but he found none (as Isa 5:2, Lu 13:6); nay, they had not so much as leaves, Mt 21:19. But it is rather to be understood of God's judgments upon them, and may be meant literally—The enemy shall seize the fruits of the earth, shall pluck the grapes and figs for themselves and beat down the very leaves with them; or, rather, figuratively—They shall be deprived of all their comforts and shall have nothing left them wherewith to make glad their hearts. It is expounded in the last clause: The things that I have given them shall pass away from them. Note, God's gifts are upon condition, and revocable upon non-performance of the condition. Mercies abused are forfeited, and it is just with God to take the forfeiture. 2. They shall be set upon by all manner of grievances, and surrounded with calamities (Jer 8:17): I will send serpents among you, the Chaldean army, fiery serpents, flying serpents, cockatrices; these shall bite them with their venomous teeth, give them wounds that shall be mortal; and they shall not be charmed, as some serpents used to be, with music. These are serpents of another nature, that are not so wrought upon, or they are as the deaf adder, that stops her ear, and will not hear the voice of the charmer. The enemies are so intent upon making slaughter that it will be to no purpose to accost them gently, or offer any thing to pacify them, or mollify them, or to bring them to a better temper. No peace with God, therefore none with them.
II. The people sinking into despair under the pressure of those calamities. Those that were void of fear (when the trouble was at a distance) and set it at defiance, are void of hope now that it breaks in upon them, and have no heart either to make head against it or to bear up under it, Jer 8:14. They cannot think themselves safe in the open villages: Why do we sit still here? Let us assemble, and go into a body into the defenced cities. Though they could expect no other than to be surely cut off there at last, yet not so soon as in the country, and therefore, "Let us go, and be silent there; let us attempt nothing, nor so much as make a complaint; for to what purpose?" It is not a submissive, but a sullen silence, that they here condemn themselves to. Those that are most jovial in their prosperity commonly despond most, and are most melancholy, in trouble. Now observe what it is that sinks them.
1. They are sensible that God is angry with them: "The Lord our God has put us to silence, has struck us with astonishment, and given us water of gall to drink, which is both bitter and stupifying, or intoxicating. Ps 60:3, Thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment. We had better sit still than rise up and fall; better say nothing than say nothing to the purpose. To what purpose is it to contend with our fate when God himself has become our enemy and fights against us? Because we have sinned against the Lord, therefore we are brought to the plunge." This may be taken as the language, (1.) Of their indignation. They seem to quarrel with God as if he had dealt hardly with them in putting them to silence, not permitting them to speak for themselves, and then telling them that it was because they had sinned against him. Thus men's foolishness perverts their way, and then their hearts fret against the Lord. Or rather, (2.) Of their convictions. At length they begin to see the hand of God lifted up against them, and stretched out in the calamities under which they are now groaning, and to own that they have provoked him to contend with them. Note, Sooner or later God will bring the most obstinate to acknowledge both his providence and his justice in all the troubles they are brought into, to see and say both that it is his hand and that he is righteous.
2. They are sensible that the enemy is likely to be too hard for them, Jer 8:16. They are soon apprehensive that it is to no purpose to make head against such a mighty force; they and their people are quite dispirited; and, when the courage of a nation is gone, their numbers will stand them in little stead. The snorting of the horses was heard from Dan, that is, the report of the formidable strength of their cavalry was soon carried all the nation over and every body trembled at the sound of the neighing of his steeds; for they have devoured the land and all that is in the city; both town and country are laid waste before them, not only the wealth, but the inhabitants, of both, those that dwell therein. Note, When God appears against us, every thing else that is against us appears very formidable; whereas, if he be for us, every thing appears very despicable, Ro 8:3.
3. They are disappointed in their expectations of deliverance out of their troubles, as they had been surprised when their troubles came upon them; and this double disappointment very much aggravated their calamity. (1.) The trouble came when they little expected it (Jer 8:15): We looked for peace, the continuance of our peace, but no good came, no good news from abroad; we looked for a time of health and prosperity to our nation, but, behold, trouble, the alarms of war; for, as it follows (Jer 8:16), the noise of the enemies' horses was heard from Dan. Their false prophets had cried Peace, peace, to them, which made it the more terrible when the scene of war opened on a sudden. This complaint will occur again, Jer 14:19. (2.) The deliverance did not come when they had long expected it (Jer 8:20): The harvest is past, the summer is ended; that is, there is a great deal of time gone. Harvest and summer are parts of the year, and when they are gone the year draws towards a conclusion; so the meaning is, "One year passes after another, one campaign after another, and yet our affairs are in as bad a posture as ever they were; no relief comes, nor is any thing done towards it: We are not saved." Nay, there is a great deal of opportunity lost, the season of action is over and slipped, the summer and harvest are gone, and a cold and melancholy winter succeeds. Note, The salvation of God's church and people often goes on very slowly, and God keeps his people long in the expectation of it, for wise and holy ends. Nay, they stand in their own light, and put a bar in their own door, and are not saved because they are not ready for salvation.
4. They are deceived in those things which were their confidence and which they thought would have secured their peace to them (Jer 8:19): The daughter of my people cries, cries aloud, because of those that dwell in a far country, because of the foreign enemy that invades them, that comes from a far country to take possession of ours; this occasions the cry; and what is the cry? It is this: Is not the Lord in Zion? Is not her king in her? These were the two things that they had all along buoyed up themselves with and depended upon, (1.) That they had among them the temple of God, and the tokens of his special presence with them. The common cant was, "Is not the Lord in Zion? What danger then need we fear?" And they held by this when the trouble was breaking in upon them. "Surely we shall do well enough, for have we not God among us?" But, when it grew to an extremity, it was an aggravation of their misery that they had thus flattered themselves. (2.) That they had the throne of the house of David. As they had a temple, so they had a monarchy, jure divino—by divine right: Is not Zion's king in her? And will not Zion's God protect Zion's king and his kingdom? Surely he will; but why does he not? "What" (say they) "has Zion neither a God nor a king to stand by her and help her, that she is thus run down and likely to be ruined?" This outcry of theirs reflects upon God, as if his power and promise were broken or weakened; and therefore he returns an answer to it immediately: Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images? They quarrel with God as if he had dealt unkindly by them in forsaking them, whereas they by their idolatry had driven him from them; they have withdrawn from their allegiance to him, and so have thrown themselves out of this protection. They fret themselves, and curse their king and their God (Isa 8:21), when it is their own sin that separates between them and God (Isa 59:2); they feared not the Lord, and then what can a king do for them? Ho 10:3.
III. We have here the prophet himself bewailing the calamity and ruin of his people; for there were more of the lamentations of Jeremiah than those we find in the book that bears that title. Observe here, 1. How great his griefs were. He was an eyewitness of the desolations of his country, and saw those things which by the spirit of prophecy he had foreseen. In the foresight, much more in the sight, of them, he cries out, "My heart is faint in me, I sink, I die away at the consideration of it, Jer 8:18. When I would comfort myself against my sorrow, I do but labour in vain; nay, every attempt to alleviate the grief does but aggravate it." It is our wisdom and duty, under mournful events, to do what we can to comfort ourselves against our sorrow, by suggesting to ourselves such considerations as are proper to allay the grief and balance the grievance. But sometimes the sorrow is such that the more it is repressed the more strongly it recoils. This may sometimes be the case of very good men, as of the prophet here, whose soul refused to be comforted and fainted at the cordial, Ps 77:2,3. He tells us (Jer 8:21) what was the matter: "It is for the hurt of the daughter of my people that I am thus hurt; it is for their sin, and the miseries they have brought upon themselves by it; it is for this that I am black, that I look black, that I go in black as mourners do, and that astonishment has taken hold on me, so that I know not what to do nor which way to turn." Note, The miseries of our country ought to be very much the grief of our souls. A gracious spirit will be a public spirit, a tender spirit, a mourning spirit. It becomes us to lament the miseries of our fellow-creatures, much more to lay to heart the calamities of our country, and especially of the church of God, to grieve for the affliction of Joseph. Jeremiah had prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, and, though the truth of his prophecy was questioned, yet he did not rejoice in the proof of the truth of his prophecy was questioned, yet he did not rejoice in the proof of the truth of it by the accomplishment of it, preferring the welfare of his country before his own reputation. If Jerusalem had repented and been spared, he would have been far from fretting as Jonah did. Jeremiah had many enemies in Judah and Jerusalem, that hated, and reproached, and persecuted him; and in the judgments brought upon them God reckoned with them for it and pleaded his prophet's cause; yet he was far from rejoicing in it, so truly did he forgive his enemies and desire that God would forgive them. 2. How small his hopes were (Jer 8:22): "Is there no balm in Gilead—no medicine proper for a sick and dying kingdom? Is there no physician there—no skilful faithful hand to apply the medicine?" He looks upon the case to be deplorable and past relief. There is no balm in Gilead that can cure the disease of sin, no physician there that can restore the health of a nation quite overrun by such a foreign army as that of the Chaldeans. The desolations made are irreparable, and the disease has presently come to such a height that there is no checking it. Or Jer 8:22 may be understood as laying all the blame of the incurableness of their disease upon themselves; and so the question must be answered affirmatively: Is there no balm in Gilead—no physician there? Yes, certainly there is; God is able to help and heal them, there is a sufficiency in him to redress all their grievances. Gilead was a place in their own land, not far off. They had among themselves God's law and his prophets, with the help of which they might have been brought to repentance, and their ruin might have been prevented. They had princes and priests, whose business it was to reform the nation and redress their grievances. What could have been done more than had been done for their recovery? Why then was not their health restored? Certainly it was not owing to God, but to themselves; it was not for want of balm and a physician, but because they would not admit the application nor submit to the methods of cure. The physician and physic were both ready, but the patient was wilful and irregular, would not be tied to rules, but must be humoured. Note, If sinners die of their wounds, their blood is upon their own heads. The blood of Christ is balm in Gilead, his Spirit is the physician there, both sufficient, all-sufficient, so that they might have been healed, but would not.
預言者はこの章で、神がこの民にもたらそうとされる滅びを大きく示すとともに、それを正当化する。すなわち、それがいかに痛ましいものであるか、そして同時にいかに正しいものであるかを示す。一、彼は迫り来るさばいを極めて恐ろしいものとして描き、死が最も恐れられると同時に切望されるものとして現れる（エレミヤ書8:1-3）。二、彼はこの民の惨めな愚かさと頑なさを、この滅びを彼らにもたらしたものとして強調する（エレミヤ書8:4-12）。三、彼はその警報の上に国全体が陥る大きな混乱と恐怖を描写する（エレミヤ書8:13-17）。四、預言者自身が深く心を動かされ、それをひどく心に留める（エレミヤ書8:18-22）。