[41] It is against usage to divide the clause as Naegelsbach does, "Vain instruction! It is wood!" or to render with Ewald "Simply vain doctrine is the wood!" which would require the article (ha'eç).
[42] But perhaps it is rather the prophet's love for his people, which fervently prays that the oath of blessing may be observed, and Judah maintained in the goodly land.
[43] Hitzig supposed that the "vows" and "hallowed flesh" were thank-offerings for the departure of the Scythians. "It is plain that the people are really present in the temple; they bring, presumably after the retreat of the Scythians, the offerings vowed at that time." But, considering the context, the reference appears to be more general. I have partly followed the LXX. in emending an obviously corrupt verse; the only one in the chap. which presents any textual difficulty. Read: מֵעָלַיְכִי רָעָתֵכִי אָז תַּֽעֲלְֹ זִי ׃ מה לידידי בביתי עֲשׂוֹתָהּ הַֽמְזִמָּתָהּ הַנְּדָרִים ובשר קדש יַעְֽבַרוּ. The article with a noun with suffix, and the peculiar form of the 2 pers. pron. f., are found elsewhere in Jer. But I incline to correct further thus: "What avail to My beloved is her dealing (or sacrificing: עשה 2 Kings xvii. 32) in My house?" הֲמִזְבְּחוֹת הָרַבִּים ובשר קדש וגו. "Can the many altars (ver. 13) and hallowed flesh cause thine evil to pass away from thee (or pass thee by)?" This seems very apposite to what precedes. The Hebrew, as it stands, cannot possibly mean what we read both in the A. V. and R. V., nor indeed anything else.
[44] Reading בְּלֵחוֹ, with Hitzig, instead of בְּלַחְמוֹ, which is meaningless. Deut. xxxiv. 7; Ezek. xxi. 3. Perhaps it would be better to keep all the letters, and point בְּלֵחָמוֹ, understanding עֵץ as collective, "the trees."
[45] Not a vocative: xx. 12, xvii. 10.
[46] That "the swelling" or "the pride of Jordan" should rather be read "the wilds" or "jungles of Jordan," is clear from xlix. 19; Zech. xi. 3; quoted by Hitzig. גאון means "growth," "overgrowth," among other things; and the Heb. phrase coincides with the Ἰάρδην δρυμὸς of Josephus (Bell. Jud., vii. 6, 5).
[47] The form of the Heb. verbs implies the certainty of the event. Hitzig supposes that ver. 6 simply explains the expression "land of peace" in ver. 5. At Anathoth the prophet was at home; if he "ran away" (reading בורח "fleest" for בוטח "art confident") there, what would he do, when he had gone forth as a "sheep among wolves" (St. Luke x. 3)? But I think it is much better to regard ver. 6 as explaining the whole of ver. 5 in the manner suggested above.
[48] Or perhaps rather the holy land itself, as Hitzig suggested: Hos. ix. 15.
[49] Lit. "Is my domain vultures, hyenas, to me?" The dative expresses the interest of the speaker in the fact (dat. ethic.). The Heb. term צבוע only occurs here. It is the Arabic dhabu`, "hyena" (so Sept.). St. Jerome renders avis discolor. So the Targum: "a strewn" "sprinkled," or "spotted fowl."
[50] The references to "birds of prey," "beasts of the field," and "spoilers" (ver. 12), are interpreted by the phrase "mine evil neighbours" (ver. 14); and this constitutes a link between vv. 7-14 and 14-17.