Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations Volume 2 John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
Prophet speaks according to the common practices of the people, as in many other places, when he says that young women and young men would rejoice in the dance
He then adds, I will turn their mourning to joy, I will console them and exhilarate them from their grief 257 Here the Prophet averts the thoughts of the Israelites from the evils they then had, lest their grief should so darken their minds as to prevent them to taste of God's goodness promised them. That the feeling, then, of present evils might not hinder them to come to God and receive his favor, he speaks of their grief and mourning, and intimates that the change would be easily made by God's hand, when it pleased him to deliver his people and restore them to their former state, so that their complete happiness would take place under the reign of Christ.
PRAYER
Grant, Almighty God, that as we are still in our state of pilgrimage, and as thou makest us partakers of thy goodness, according as thou knowest to be necessary for us, --- O grant, that we, being ever reminded by thy benefits, may aspire to higher things, and may, through all the temptations with which we must contend, advance towards the goal set before us, looking for that perfect felicity in heaven, of which a few sparks only now shine before our eyes, and thus carry on a warfare under the banner of thy Son, so as not to doubt but that a triumph is prepared for us in that blessed life which has been obtained by his blood. --- Amen.
Lecture One Hundred and Twentieth
Jeremiah 31:14
14. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.
14. Et satiabo animam sacerdotum pinguedine, et populus meus beneficentia mea salvabitur, dicit Jehova.
This verse is connected with the former; for what the Prophet had said generally of the whole people, he now distinctly declares respecting the priests, for they were, as it were, the heart of the people; and by this order God gave a lively representation of his favor. This is the reason why the Scripture, in setting forth God's blessing to his chosen people, speaks especially of the priests, as it appears from many places.
Then the Prophet intimates that God would be bountiful indiscriminately to all the Israelites, but that his peculiar favor would be conspicuous towards the priests, for the condition of the people would not be complete without the priesthood, for the priesthood was, as it were, the soul. They would have lived like the heathens, had not God prescribed how he was to be called upon and worshipped. And having mentioned the priests, he does not confine himself to them, but the favor of God is extended to the whole people. It is not then only of the priests that the Prophet speaks, but he declares that the people would be made blessed through God's bounty, and yet that his peculiar kindness would be manifested towards the Levitical priests, according to what we read in the Psalms: a special blessing is promised to the priests, accom-
257This clause may be rendered thus, — For I will turn their mourning into rejoicing, And I will comfort them and cheer them above their sorrow. That is, "I will give them comfort and joy more than the sorrow which they have had." The preposition {,{מhas often the meaning of above or more than. See Deuteronomy 14:2. Their sorrow had been great, but the promise here is, to give them in proportion a comfort and a joy still greater. --- Ed.