Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations Volume 2 John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
understand by the word prepare 41
Now as to the choice cedars, the Prophet again alludes to Mount Lebanon and to the forest of Jerusalem, which was mentioned yesterday. The word forest may, however, be applied to the buildings; for the Jews built their chambers for the most part of cedar wood, as it is well known; we may then apply this to their splendid and sumptuous houses; but we may also take it without a figure and apply it to the trees of Mount Lebanon. But the chief ornament of the country were the noble trees on that Mount; hence, by cedars, the Prophet no doubt designated whatever was splendid at Jerusalem and in the country around it. It follows, ---
Jeremiah 22:8-9
8. And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?
8. Et transibunt gentes multae per urbem hanc, et dicent quisque socio suo (vir ad socium suum, ad verbum,) cur fecit Jehova in hunc modum urbi huic magnae?
9. Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
9. Et dicent, Quia dereliquierunt foedus Jehovae Dei sui, et sese inclinarunt coram diis alienis, et coluerunt eos.
The Prophet shews in these words how blind the Jews were as to their own ruin, in disregarding in so refractory a manner the judgment of God. The words no doubt embrace two contrasts; he compares mortal men with God, and those many nations with him alone. The Jews could not bear God as their judge, and were still refractory and strove by their perverseness to overcome him. Then the Prophet says, that as they would not endure to be judged by God, judges would come who would pronounce on them a free impartial sentence; and who were they to be? the heathens.
And then, as the Jews would not obey the one true God, the Prophet sets many nations in contrast with the one true God.
We hence see the full import of these words, Pass shall many nations through this city; 42 that is, God has hitherto adorned this city with many privileges, so that it became like a miracle to foreigners, for so conspicuous was the dignity of this city, that it attracted the notice of all, and its fame was known far and wide. Now, he says, this city shall be deprived of all its ornaments, when God shall depart from it. Pass, then, he says, shall man. nations through this city, and they will inquire, every one of his friend, Why hath Jehovah done thus to this city? Jeremiah, no doubt, indirectly condemns, not only the sloth, but also the insensibility which had so demented the Jews, that they never duly reflected on God's judgment, nor were ever touched by 41The verb is {,{קדשto sanctify, or rather to separate or to set apart for a holy purpose, to consecrate. It is rendered by the Septuagint, ``I will bring;'' by the Vulgate, ``I will sanctify;'' by the, Syriac, ``I will prepare:'' but by Blayney, ``I will commission.'' It intimates a setting apart or selecting for a holy purpose, such as the execution of the just judgment of God.
Perhaps the best rendering would be, ``I will consecrate for thee.'' The next words are ``destroyers, each man and his instrument,'' rendered by the Septuagint, ``a destroying man and his hatchet;'' by the Vulgate, ``a slaying man and his weapons;'' by the Syriac, ``wasters, each with a hatchet in his hand;'' and by the Arabic, ``a destroying man with his hatchet.'' The word ,{}כליdoes not mean specifically a weapon of war, but generally an instrument of any kind; and ``hatchet'' is the most suitable term for it here.
We might then give this version, --- 7. And I will consecrate for thee destroys, Every man and his hatchet; And they shall cut down thy choisest cedars, And shall cast them into the fire. --- Ed
42So the Versions, "through," and not, "by," as in our version; it is "nigh" in the Targ. The preposition is {,{עלupon, over, most commonly. It may mean the passing over the city when in ruins. --- Ed