Matthew Poole and continuators on Jeremiah 18:14

14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon, which cometh from the rock of the field ? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken ?

The Margents of our Bibles will let us know, that there is som variety in the opinions of the most learned Interpreters as to the sense of these words, the general sense is plain, and obvious, that it is a foolish thing for men to forsake God who is the fountain of all good, and refreshment, and what men do not use to do with reference to poor creature comforts not to be named with God, but for the Grammatical sense of the words it is not so obvious. The vulgar Latin Translates them, Shall the Snow of Lebanon [illegible: 1 letter]ail from the Rock of the Field? The Septuagint, shall the dugs fail from the Rocks? Or the Snow from Lebanon. The Syriac Version followeth them. The Arabick Version Translateth it, should the Snow fail from the mountain of Breasts, and from Lebanon, The Chaldee paraphrast thus glosseth, Behold as it cannot be, that the Snow water should fail from Lebanon. Pagnine seems to make Lebanon the Nominative case, and renders the sense thus, shall Lebanon leave the Snow from the rock of the Field. Our Translators supply these words a man and so make that the Nomin[illegible: 1 letter]tive case, and make Lebanon the Genitive case. Lebanon was a mountainous place in which were rocks, it had also fruitful Vallies, Snow fell upon those Rocks, and upon a thaw ran down into the lower places and was grateful to them as it moistned them▪ and made them more fruitful▪

The latter part of the verse seems as hard. Pagnine Translates them. Shall other cold flowing waters be forsak[illegible: 1 letter]n? The vulgar Latine, or can the other cold flowing waters be plucked up? The 70 and the Syriack, or shall the water fa[illegible: 1 letter]l, violently snatched up, or taken away with the wind? The Arabick, or should the forreign cool waters desist? The Chald. paraphrast glosseth, so the rain waters that come down, and the waters of the fountain that spring shall not fa[illegible: 1 letter]l. In this great variety it is very hard certainly to assert the particular sense of these phrases, the knowledge of which depends upon some affections, or customes of those places which we are not so well acquainted with. The next verse is the best guide we have, where the sin laid to the charge of this people, is their forsaking God, which sin is here aggravated by this Topick. That reason teacheth men not to forsake a greater good for a lesser, though that greater good were but a poor creature comfort not to be compared with God. This is the general sense scope and summe of this verse. So as we shall not need be very sollicitous to be able to assert the particular Grammatical sense.

Marginal references: Or, my fields for a [illegible: 1 word], or, for the snow of Lebanon: shall the [illegible: 1 letter]u[illegible: 2 letters]ing waters be forsaken for the strange cold waters.