John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 4. And though they go into captivity before their enemies , etc.] Alluding to the manner in which captives are led, being put before their enemies, and so carried in triumph; (see Lamentations 1:5); though some think this refers to their going voluntarily into a foreign country, in order to escape danger, as Johanan the son of Kareah with the Jews went into Egypt, ( Jeremiah 43:5-7); in whom Kimchi instances: thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them ; or them that kill with the sword, as the Targum; so that though they thought by going into another country, or into an enemy’s country of their own accord, to escape the sword of the enemy, or to curry favour with them, yet should not escape: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good : this is the true reason, why, let them be where they will, they cannot be safe, because the eyes of the omniscient God, which are everywhere, in heaven, earth, hell, and the sea, are set upon them, for their ruin and destruction; and there is no fleeing from his presence, or getting out of his sight, or escaping his hand. The Targum is, “my Word shall be against them.”
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-10 - The prophet, in vision, saw the Lord standing upon the idolatrous alta at Bethel. Wherever sinners flee from God's justice, it will overtak them. Those whom God brings to heaven by his grace, shall never be cas down; but those who seek to climb thither by vain confidence i themselves, will be cast down and filled with shame. That which make escape impossible and ruin sure, is, that God will set his eyes upo them for evil, not for good. Wretched must those be on whom the Lor looks for evil, and not for good. The Lord would scatter the Jews, an visit them with calamities, as the corn is shaken in a sieve; but he would save some from among them. The astonishing preservation of the Jews as a distinct people, seems here foretold. If professors make themselves like the world, God will level them with the world. The sinners who thus flatter themselves, shall find that their professio will not protect them.
Original Hebrew ואם518 ילכו1980 בשׁבי7628 לפני6440 איביהם341 משׁם8033 אצוה6680 את853 החרב2719 והרגתם2026 ושׂמתי7760 עיני5869 עליהם5921 לרעה7451 ולא3808 לטובה׃2896
