Commentary on Jeremiah Volume 1 John Calvin
COMMENTARY ON JEREMIAH
reasons why he says that Israel, though a perfidious woman, was yet more righteous than her sister Judah.
The language indeed is not to be strictly taken when it is said, that she justified her soul; for God does not here excuse the Israelites, nor does he free or absolve them from guilt, (for he had severely punished them;) but this way of speaking is commonly used by the prophets; --- Sodom was righteous in comparison with Jerusalem; and Tyre and Sidon were just when compared with the Jews. (Ezekiel 16:47, 48.)
Justified then has she her soul, 81 even the treacherous or the apostate Israel, in comparison with the perfidious Judah; that is, for the reasons which I have stated.
The obstinacy of the Jews was greater and less excusable: the external worship of God, which they had retained, ought to have been a bridle to check them; and they had also seen how severe a judge God had been towards the ten tribes; but the judgments of God they despised, and derived no benefit from them.
PRAYER
Grant, Almighty God, that since thou hast deigned to adopt us as thy people, and to unite us to thyself in thine only --- begotten Son, --- O grant, that we may continue pure and chaste in our obedience to thy Gospel, and never turn aside to those corruptions which disunite that sacred bond of union, which has been confirmed between us by the blood of thy Son, but that we may so persevere in serving thee, that our whole life and all our actions may be evidences of that holy calling, by which is laid up for us the hope of eternal salvation, until we shall at length come into the possession of that kingdom which has been obtained for us by so great a price, and there enjoy the fruit of our faith, sincerity, and perseverance, through Christ our Lord. --- Amen.
Lecture Twelfth
Jeremiah 3:12
12. Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.
12. Vade et clama (hoc est, cum clamore intona) sermones hos versus Aquilonem, et dic, Revertere rebellis Israel, dicit Jehova: non, non faciam incumbere (cadere, ad verbum) iram meam (alii vertunt, faciem meam; sed metaphorice slgnificat iram) in vos, quia clemens ego, dicit Jehova, non servabo in seculum.
The Prophet, after having shewn that the tribe of Judah deserved a heavier punishment than the ten tribes, and having mentioned the cause, that they had seen their brethren severely chastised and were not moved, now turns his discourse to the Israelites themselves, or the ten tribes, and promises that God would be propitious to them. The kingdom of Israel had now been overthrown, and the people had been banished into Assyria, Persia, and Media. They had been scattered, and the name of the kingdom had been obliterated. The land had been often laid waste and the kingdom partly existed, as four tribes only were first driven to exile; but at, length
81This is the literal expression, but the word {{נפשis often taken for oneself, and ought often to be so rendered. See Numbers 30:5; Job 18:4; Psalm 7:2; God is said to swear by his soul, that is, by himself, Amos 6:8 --- Then said
Jehovah to me, --- Justified herself hath apostate Israel, More than the hypocrite Judah. Manifest and open apostasy is more honest than the double dealing of hypocrites, who combine God's worship with idolatry; nor is it so hateful to God. --- Ed.