For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
We have heard a voice of trembling. God introduces the Jews speaking that which they will be reduced to at last, in spite of their stubbornness. Threat and promise are combined: the former briefly-namely, the misery of the Jews in the Babylonian captivity down to their "trembling" and "fear" arising from the approach of the Medo-Persian army of Cyrus against Babylon: the promise is more fully dwelt on-namely, their "trembling" will issue in a deliverance as speedy as is the transition from a woman's labour-pangs to her joy at giving birth to a child (Jeremiah 30:6).