Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations Volume 2 John Calvin (continued)
JEREMIAH AND LAMENTATIONS
shaking of the head;'' for we are wont to shake the head in scorn. 126
However this may be, we are to read in connection with this the following words, --- that they would be for a reproach, and a terror, and a taunt, and an execration, to all nations It is then said, on account of evil: for the preposition {,}לlamed, is to be taken here in different senses: before ``commotion,'' it means ``for;'' but here it is causal, ``on account of.'' The severe and dreadful vengeance of God would be such, that it would move and disturb all nations. He indeed mentions all kingdoms, but the meaning is the same. He then adds reproach, that is, that they would be subjected to the condemnation of all nations. They had refused to submit to God's judgment, and when he would have made them ashamed for their good, they had wickedly resisted. It was therefore necessary to subject them to the reproach of all people.
It is added, for a proverb and for a tale, or as some read, ``for a parable and for a proverb.'' The word {,}משלmeshel, means a common saying; but here it signifies a scoff, and a similar meaning must be given to, {,}שנינהshenine, a tale or a fable. By both words he means, that when the heathens wished to describe a most grievous calamity, they would take this example, ``Yes, it is all over with the Jews, no nation has become so wretched.'' The same view is to be taken of execration; for he intimates that they would become a type and a pattern of a curse, ``Yes, may you perish like the Jews; may God execute vengeance on you, as he has done on the Jews.'' He then adds, that this would happen to them in all places wherever God would drive them; as though the Prophet had said, that God would not be satisfied with their exile, though that was to be grievous and bitter; but that when driven to distant lands they would become objects of reproach, so that all would point at them with the finger of scorn, accompanied with every mark of reproach, and would be also taking them as an example of execration. He afterwards adds ---
Jeremiah 24:10
10. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.
10. Et mittam in ipsos gladium, famem et pestem, usque dum consumantur e superficie terrae, quam dedi ipsis et patribus ipsorum.
He confirms the former verse, --- that God would then with extreme rigor punish them, by allowing the city and the inhabitants who remained, to be given up to the will of their enemies. And Jeremiah still speaks as from the mouth of Moses, that his prophecy might be more weighty, and that he might frighten those men who were so refractory. There are here three kinds of punishments which we often meet with, under which are included all other punishments. But as God for the most part punishes the sins of men by pestilence, or by famine, or by war, he connects these three together when his purpose is to include all kinds of punishment.
126"Vexation," as rendered by the Vulg., and in several places in our version, is the best word. The word which follows is of a similar import, "for evil," that is, annoyance. The verse is as follows, — 9. And I will make them a vexation, an evil, To all the kingdoms of the earth, — A reproach and a proverb, A taunt and an execration, In all the places where I shall drive them. The word for "taunt" is rendered in other places "a byword:" it denotes what is sharp and cutting. They were to be objects and subjects of these things. Being a vexation and an evil, or an annoyance to others, they would become objects of reproach and execration, and subjects of proverbs and of taunts. See a note on Jeremiah 15:4; vol. 2 — Ed.