5. Jehovah's reply to Jeremiah's complaint.
horses--that is, horsemen: the argument a fortiori. A proverbial
phrase. The injuries done thee by the men of Anathoth ("the footmen")
are small compared with those which the men of Jerusalem ("the
horsemen") are about to inflict on thee. If the former weary thee out,
how wilt thou contend with the king, the court, and the priests at
Jerusalem?
wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee--English Version thus fills up the sentence with the italicized words, to answer to the
parallel clause in the first sentence of the verse. The parallelism is,
however, sufficiently retained with a less ellipsis: "If (it is only) in
a land of peace thou art confident" [MAURER].
swelling of Jordan--In harvest-time and earlier (April and May) it
overflows its banks
(Jos 3:15),
and fills the valley called the Ghor. Or, "the pride of
Jordan," namely, its wooded banks abounding in lions and other wild
beasts
(Jer 49:19; 50:44;
Zec 11:3;
compare
2Ki 6:2).
MAUNDRELL says that between the Sea of Tiberias
and Lake Merom the banks are so wooded that the traveller cannot see
the river at all without first passing through the woods. If in the
champaign country (alone) thou art secure, how wilt thou do when thou
fallest into the wooded haunts of wild beasts?
JFB.
Picture Study Bible