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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comAdam Clarke Commentary - Jeremiah 31:19 - 31:19
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
After that I was turned - Converted from my sin, folly, and idolatry.
I repented - To conviction of sin, I now added contrition for sin. Conviction, in this sense of the word, must precede contrition or repentance. As soon as a man sees himself lost and undone, he is convicted of sin; when convicted, he begins to mourn. Thus contrition follows conviction.
I smote upon my thigh - My sorrow grew deeper and deeper; I smote upon my thigh through the extremity of my distress. This was a usual sign of deep affliction. See Eze 21:12. It was the same among the ancient Greeks. So Homer: -
Ως εφατ’ αυταρ Αρης θαλερω πεπληγετο μηρω
Χερσι καταπρηνεσσ, ολοφυρομενος δε προσηυδα.
IL. lib. 15:113.
“She spake: and with expanded arms, his thighs
Smiting, thus sorrowful, the god exclaimed.”
Cowper.
- αυταρ Αχιλλευς
Μηρω πληξαμενος Πατροκληα προσεειπεν.
IL. lib. 16:124.
“Achilles saw it, smote his thigh, and said.”
Cowper.
I have often seen persons in deep grief act thus.