Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 17:26

Charles Ellicott Commentary

Jeremiah 17:26

1819–1905
Anglican
Charles Ellicott
Charles Ellicott

Charles Ellicott Commentary

Jeremiah 17:26

1819–1905
Anglican
SCRIPTURE

"And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places round about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland, and from the hill-country, and from the South, bringing burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, and meal-offerings, and frankincense, and bringing [sacrifices of] thanksgiving, unto the house of Jehovah." — Jeremiah 17:26 (ASV)

They shall come ... —The verse has a special interest (1) as a topographical description of the country about Jerusalem, and (2) as a summary of the chief forms of sacrifice under the Mosaic Law. (1) The "plain" (Shephelah) is the lowland country of Philistia, stretching to the Mediterranean; the "mountain" the hill-country of Judah; the "south" (Negeb) the region lying to the south of Hebron, and including Beersheba (Joshua 15:28).

Each name, though descriptive in meaning, was used in almost as definite a sense as that in which we speak of the "Campagna" of Rome or the "Weald" of Kent. (2) The list includes the "burnt offerings," in which the flesh of the victim was consumed entirely on the altar; the "sacrifices," in which the flesh of the victim was eaten partly by the priest and partly by the worshipper; the "meat offerings," which were of meal and salt, not of flesh, and were always accompanied by incense (Leviticus 2:1); and, lastly, praise—the word 'sacrifice' not being found in the Hebrew—the utterance of prayer and psalm, which the Psalmist had named as more acceptable than the flesh of bulls and goats (Psalms 50:14).