Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations Volume 2 John Calvin
JEREMIAH AND LAMENTATIONS
of Israel; the same which you may now see there shall happen to thee.'' We now perceive in what sense the Prophet says, that before God the head of Lebanon, that is, Jerusalem itself, which ruled over Lebanon, would become like Gilead 40
He then adds, If I make thee not a desert God again makes an oath; for it is, we know, an elliptical mode of expression, when the particle {,}אםam, is only used, for an imprecation is to be understood, --- ``Let me not be thought a God;'' or, ``Let my power be deemed nothing;'' or, ``Let me not be hereafter counted true and faithful.''
However this may be, God makes an oath, that the city would become a desert, as those cities which are not inhabited Thus the whole context appears consistent, --- that Jerusalem would be at length like the land of Israel, for he would no more spare
Lebanon than Mount Gilead. It afterwards follows: Jeremiah 22:7
7. And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
7. Et praeparabo (vertunt alii, sanctificabo, ut etiam {}קדשhoc significat, praeparabo igitur) adversum to perditores, (aut, vastatores; {}שחתsignificat perdere, et redigere in nihilum, et corrumpere, unde nomen {,}משחתיםquod hic ponitur,) virum et arma ejus (aut, instrumenta bellica, vasa transferunt,) et exscindent electionem cedrorum tuarum (hoc est, electissimas quasque cedros tuas,) et conjicient in ignem.
He expresses the manner, for he had only said before, that the ruin of the city
Jerusalem was nigh at hand; he adds, that destroyers would come and those well armed with warlike instruments, who would cut down all the choicest cedars and cast them into the fire But he reminds them, that those destroyers would not come of themselves or through an impulse of their own, but through the secret operation of God; for if the Jews had thought that they had to do only with the Chaldeans, there would have been nothing to call forth the exercise of a religious principle; but the Prophet distinctly declares, that the Chaldeans would be the ministers of God, for they would be roused and led by him, according to what is often taught by the Prophets.
In short, these two things ought to be noticed, --- first, that God had in readiness many ways by which he could punish the Jews. For the contempt of the ungodly arises, because they dream that God is unarmed and has not always the execution, as they say, ready at hand. Hence the Prophet shews that the Chaldeans would be ready as soon as God hissed for them, or gave them a sign. This is one thing.
Secondly, it ought to be observed, that he reminds them that the Chaldeans would be the scourge of God, that the Jews might not think that they contended with mortals, but might know that they were summoned to render an account of their life, because they had too long been rebellious against God and his Prophets. This is what we must 40That "the top (or head) of Lebanon," means Jerusalem, or the city of David, the residence of the royal family, is evident from the seventh verse, "they shall cast down thy choice cedars." This point being settled, there can be hardly a doubt respecting the correctness of Calvin's view. All the Versions give this rendering, "Gilead, thou art to me the head of Lebanon;" the meaning of which does not appear. The Targum is a paraphrase not more intelligible. It would be better to use the future tense, as that is used at the end of the verse, — Gilead shalt thou be to me, O top of Lebanon! Surely I will make thee a wilderness, Like cities not inhabited. It was to be dealt with by him as Gilead had been, which was now wholly depopulated. — Ed