Jeremiah 6:20 - Exposition

To what purpose … incense from Sheba ? This is the answer to an implied objection on the part of the Jews, that they have faithfully fulfilled their core-menial obligations. "To obey is better than sacrifice" ( 1 Samuel 15:22 ); "And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" ( Micah 6:8 ; comp. Isaiah 1:11 ; Amos 5:21-24 ; Hosea 6:6 ; Micah 6:6-8 ). All these passages must be read in the light of the prophets' circumstances. A purely formal, petrified religion compelled them to attack the existing priesthood, and a holy indignation cannot stop to measure its language. Incense from Sheba ; frankincense from south-west Arabia. This was required for the holy incense ( Exodus 30:34 ), and as an addition to the minkhah , or "meal offering." Sweet cane . The "sweet calamus" of Exodus 30:23 , which was imported from India. It was an ingredient in the holy anointing oil (Exodus, loc . cit .). Not to be confounded with the sugar-cane.