Isa 16:11, Jer 31:20, 48:36, Hos 11:8 | JFB | STEP | 11. bowels —in Scripture the seat of yearning compassion. It means the inward seat of emotion, the heart, &c. ( ; compare ). sound . . . harp —as its strings vibrate when beaten with the plectrum or hand.

Isaiah 16:11

11. bowels—in Scripture the seat of yearning compassion. It means the inward seat of emotion, the heart, &c. (Isa 63:15; compare Isa 15:5; Jer 48:36).

sound . . . harp—as its strings vibrate when beaten with the plectrum or hand.

Jeremiah 31:20

20. Is Ephraim my dear son? &c.—The question implies that a negative answer was to be expected. Who would have thought that one so undutiful to His heavenly Father as Ephraim had been should still be regarded by God as a "pleasant child?" Certainly he was not so in respect to his sin. But by virtue of God's "everlasting love" (Jer 31:3) on Ephraim's being "turned" to God, he was immediately welcomed as God's "dear son." This verse sets forth God's readiness to welcome the penitent (Jer 31:18, 19), anticipating his return with prevenient grace and love. Compare Lu 15:20: "When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion," &c.

spake against—threatened him for his idolatry.

remember—with favor and concern, as in Ge 8:1; 30:22.

bowels . . . troubled for him— (De 32:36; Isa 63:15; Ho 11:8) —namely, with the yearnings of compassionate love. The "bowels" include the region of the heart, the seat of the affections.

Jeremiah 48:36

36. (See on Isa 15:7; Isa 16:11).

like pipes—a plaintive instrument, therefore used at funerals and in general mourning.

riches . . . gotten—literally, the abundance . . . that which is over and above the necessaries of life. GROTIUS translates, "They who have been left remaining shall perish"; they who have not been slain by the enemy shall perish by disease and famine.

Hosea 11:8

8. as Admah . . . Zeboim—among the cities, including Sodom and Gomorrah, irretrievably overthrown (De 29:23).

heart is turned within me—with the deepest compassion, so as not to execute My threat (La 1:20; compare Ge 43:30; 1Ki 3:26). So the phrase is used of a new turn given to the feeling (Ps 105:25).

repentings—God speaks according to human modes of thought (Nu 23:19). God's seeming change is in accordance with His secret everlasting purpose of love to His people, to magnify His grace after their desperate rebellion.