sermo tuus de eo fuit, commovisti to.
JOHN CALVIN
He then says, that Moab was ashamed, because he was smitten And then he turns again to address their neighbors, Howl, cry, and declare in Aroer: but the
Prophet ironically exhorted others to howl and cry; for, as we have said, it was not his purpose to show that they deserved pity who had been the most cruel enemies to
God's Church, but to show that God's vengeance would be so dreadful as to call forth cryings and howlings through the whole neighborhood. And then he adds, Declare it in Aroer; and afterwards he names many cities; as though he had said, that no corner of the land would be free from fear and anxiety, because the enemies, after having made an inroad into one part, would turn to another, so as to make no end of ravaging, until they had destroyed the whole country and all the people. Of these cities and of their situation there is no need of saying much, for it would be a useless labor. For in the last place, the Prophet sufficiently shews that what he had in view was what I have stated; for he says, on all the cities of Moab, remote as well as near: he intimates that no part of the land would be exempted from destruction; for the enemies having begun to attack it, would not cease until they had gone through every part, and desolation had spread everywhere, as though the whole country had been burnt with fire. It follows, ---
Jeremiah 48:25
25. The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD.
25. Succisum est cornu Moab, et robor ejus confractum, dicit Jehova.
By another metaphor he expresses the same thing. By horn he means power, as all who are in any measure acquainted with Scripture well know that by this word is set forth power, strength, or any defense for the protection of a nation. He then says that the horn of Moab was cut off; and he adds afterwards as all explanation, that his strength was broken Hence by this second clause we understand what the Prophet meant when he said, that the horn of Moab was cut off. But he again introduces God as the speaker, because the Moabites thought that their horn could not be broken.
As then Jeremiah would not have obtained credit, had he spoken in his own name, he again brought forward God as declaring his own words. It now follows, ---
Jeremiah 48:26-27
26. Make ye him drunken; for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.
26. Inebriate ipsum, quia adversus Jehovam magnificatus est, et complosit Moab in vomitu suo (vel, involvit se,) et ipse quoque in derisum (vel, in ludibrium: adjungamus etiam alterum versum.)
27. For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.
27. Annon in risum fuit tibi Israel? an inter fures deprehensus fuit? quia ex quo sermo tuus de eo fuit, commovisti to.
The Prophet now addresses the Chaldeans, who were to be the executioners of
God's vengeance: hence he says, Make him drunk, because he has magnified himself against Jehovah, that is, raised himself in his pride against God. Then the Prophet, as God's herald, encouraged the Chaldeans, fully to execute God's judgment, who had been chosen to be his servants. And the address had more force in it when the
JEREMIAH AND LAMENTATIONS
Prophet showed that such a command was committed to him, as we have seen elsewhere; for the Prophets showed how efficacious was their doctrine, when they besieged and stormed cities, when they gave orders to armies. This then is the course which Jeremiah now follows, when as God's herald he summons the Chaldeans, and commands them vigorously to perform what God approved and what he had decreed, even to inebriate the Moabites with evils. The rest to-morrow.
PRAYER
Grant Almighty God, that we may learn, not only to consider thy judgments when they appear before our eyes, but also to fear them whenever they are announced, so that we may implore thy mercy, and also repent of our sins and patiently bear thy paternal chastisements, and never murmur when thou sparest for a time the ungodly, but wait with calm and resigned minds until the time comes when thou wilt execute vengeance on them, and when in the meantime thou wilt gather us at the end of our warfare into the blessed rest above, and give us to enjoy that inheritance which thou hast prepared for us in Heaven, and which has been obtained for us by the blood of thine only-begotten Son our Lord. --- Amen.
Lecture One Hundred and Seventy-first
We began yesterday to explain why the Prophet, denouncing on the Moabites the punishment they had deserved, directed his speech to the Chaldeans, even that his prophecy might have greater force and produce greater effect. The metaphor of drunkenness which he uses, is common; for when Scripture intimates that any are made miserable, as they say, to satiety, or more than what can be well borne, it compares them to those who are made drunk. For as a drunken man loses his senses, so they who are overwhelmed with miseries, are almost stunned with evils, so that they become deprived of reason and judgment. This then is the drunkenness which the Prophet now mentions. And following up the same idea, he adds, And
Moab is rolled in his own vomit Some by vomit understand intemperate joy, and render the words in the past tense, ``And Moab shouted in his own vomit,'' that is, he luxuriated in his own abundance, and when he gorged himself with wine and with all kinds of luxuries, he loudly exulted; and therefore he shall be also a reproach
This contrast is not unsuitable, that Moab immediately exulted when in prosperity, and that therefore God would shortly punish him, so as to make him a reproach or a derision.
But I follow what has been generally approved, that Moab shall be rolled, or shall clap hands even in his own vomit: so that by vomit the Prophet means excessive grief. For the drunkard delights in drinking, but afterwards by vomiting he suffers the punishment of his intemperance, when his head, his stomach, his legs and other members shake and tremble. So also, it is no unsuitable comparison, when the
Prophet calls sorrow, arising from calamity, vomiting. He then says, that when Moab shall clap his hands, or roll himself 372 (for the word is variously rendered) in his own
372The word has no other meaning than that of smiting, striking, or clapping the hand. A drunkard rejoices by clapping his hands, even in his filth, and thus makes himself an object of ridicule and derision; or he may strike his hands in agony: but it is by the first he renders himself ridiculous, the thing evidently intended here. It is observed justly by Blayney, that the first verb in the verse is in the singular number, used for the plural; and he regarded this verb to be the same; and his version is, — And clap at Moab in his vomiting. The objection to
JOHN CALVIN miseries, he shall be even a derision Why he says, that he would be a derision, we may learn from the next verse, for he says, Has not Israel been a derision to thee?
But the higher cause for the drunkenness mentioned here ought to be observed, even because Moab exalted himself against God. For after having spoken of the pride through which he exulted over God, he adds an explanation, Has not Israel been a derision to thee? See then how the Moabites acted proudly towards God, even because they treated his Church reproachfully. And this ought especially to be noticed; for God intimates by these words, that he is so connected with the faithful as to regard their cause as his own, as it is said elsewhere,
that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of my eye.'' (Zechariah 2:8)
God then so takes the faithful under his own protection, that whatever injury is done to them, he counts it as done to him. This connection is well expressed by the
Prophet, when he says, ``The Moabites have raised themselves against God;'' and at the same time he shews the way and manner, even because they exulted over the Israelites. Were any one to object and say, that the Moabites injured mortal men only and not God; the answer has already been given, even that God has so adopted his Church as to identify himself with it. Let us then know, that God, when he sees us suffering anything unjustly, regards the wrong as done to himself. As then the people of Israel had been a derision to the Moabites, the Prophet threatens them with a similar punishment for their pride.
And then he adds, Has he been found among thieves? It is, indeed, certain, that the people of Israel deserved very severe scourges, and that when they were subjected to so many adversities, a just reward was rendered to them for their iniquities.
With regard to God this is certain; but with regard to the Moabites, the people of Israel were innocent; for these ungodly men could not object anything to the Israelites, for they were altogether like them, or even worse. God then compares here his chosen people with aliens, and says that the Israelites were not thieves. Under one thing he comprehends everything, as though he had said, ``Of what wickedness have the
Israelites been guilty, that you have thus become so enraged against them?'' We hence see what the words of the Prophet mean, even that the Moabites were impelled by nothing but cruelty and pride, when they so basely raged against the Israelites, and so disdainfully oppressed them; for as I have already said, there was no cause why the Moabites should have been so hostile to the miserable people. Thus their crime was doubled, for they acted proudly towards God's people, and they acted thus without a cause; for with regard to them, God's people were innocent.
By saying that they were moved, or excited whenever they spoke of the Israelites, he intimates that they were carried away by malevolence, so as to wish all kinds of evil to the miserable, and then, as far as they could, to lay snares for them. As then they thus raged furiously against the Israelites, the Prophet includes everything of this is, the verb in this sense is not used without a preposition after it; see Lamentations 2:15: otherwise this would suit the passage: it was suggested by Gataker. — Ed.