Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations Volume 2 John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
multitude, who excelled not in dignity nor in wealth; and hence the Prophet adds, that they dwelt in the desert, being a wandering people. It follows, ---
Jeremiah 25:25
25. And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the
Medes,
25. Et omnibus regibus Zimri, et omnibus regibus Elam, et omnibus regibus Medorum, He now mentions nations more remote, but whose fame was more known among the Jews. We, indeed, know that the Elamites, who dwelt between Media and Persia, had ever been people of great repute. As to Media, it was a very large kingdom and wealthy, abounding in all delicacies; and we also know how fond of display were the Medes. With regard to Zimri, 144 it was an obscure nation in comparison with the Elamites and the Medes. The Prophet, however, intimates that every part of the earth, even the smallest kingdom, known to the Jews, would be visited by God's judgment, so that the whole earth, in every direction, would become a witness that God sits in heaven as a judge. It follows, ---
Jeremiah 25:26
26. And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
26. Et omnibus regibus Aquilonis tam iis ui propinqui sunt quam qui remoti, viro (hoc est, cuique) contra fratrem suum, et omnibus regnis terrae, quae sunt super faciem terrae (mutatur quidem nomen, ponit {,}הארףponit {:}חאדמהet rex Sesach bibet post eos.
The Prophet speaks now of the kings of the north who bordered on the king of Babylon; for as to Judea, Babylon was northward. He calls all those who were towards
Chaldea the kings of the north. He then says, Whether near or remote, every one shall be against his brother, and, in short, all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the earth There is no doubt, as we shall see, but that the Prophet put in the last place the Chaldeans and their king. It is hence probable that what he here predicts was to be accomplished by the hand and power of the king of Babylon, who executed God's vengeance on all these nations. God, then, chose for himself the king of Chaldea as a scourge, and guided him by his hand in punishing all the lands mentioned here.
I have already reminded you that this was not predicted for the sake of the Jews, that they might derive any alleviation to their grief from the circumstance of having associates, because the condition of others was nothing better; but that God's design was another, that is, that in so great a confusion of all things, when heaven and earth, as they say, were blended together, they might know that nothing happens through the blind will of fortune. For God had already testified by the mouth of his servant what he would do, and from this prophecy it was easy to conclude that all these changes and violent commotions were the effects of God's judgment.
144Blayney considers Zimri to be the same with Zimran, one of Abraham's sons by Keturah, and he and his brethren were sent to "the east country." (Genesis 25:2, 6.) The Zameroeni, mentioned by Pliny as inhabiting some part of Arabia, were probably the descendants of Zimri. — Ed.