Commentary on Jeremiah Volume 1 John Calvin (continued)
COMMENTARY ON JEREMIAH
then says ---
Jeremiah 3:17-18
17. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.
17. Tempore illo vocabunt Jerusalem solium Jehovae, et congregabuntur ad eam omnes gentes ad nomen Jehovae, Jerusalem dico; et non ambulabunt posthac (vel, amplius) post duriciem (alii vertunt, obstinationem; est etiam interdum cogitatio, {,}שררותpost duriciem) cordis sui malam.
18. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.
18. In diebus illis venient domus Jehudah cum domo Israel, venient simul e terra aquilonis ad terram, quam dedi in haereditatem patribus vestris (vel, quam dedi possidendam jure haereditario patribus vestris.)
We now understand more clearly what I have already said, --- that the Prophet promises here that there would be concord between the ten tribes and the kingdom of Judah, when both returned from exile; as though he had said, that their condition would be better than it ever had been; for the seed of Abraham had been torn as it were asunder; and the people whom God intended that they should continue in a holy union had become divided in the most shameful manner. We indeed know that there had been inveterate hatred between the Jews and the Israelites. As then there had been such disgraceful division for a long time between the children of Abraham, the Prophet now shews what would be the fruit of exile; for after having been for a time chastised by the Lord, they would return to their own country, not to entertain the same emulation as had existed, but to unite together in calling on God, in order that the Jews might be as brethren to the Israelites, and the Israelites might cultivate mutual concord with the tribe of Judah.
PRAYER
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou at this day mercifully sparest us, when yet in various ways we provoke thy displeasure, --- O grant, that we may not harden ourselves against thy chastisements, but that thy forbearance may lead us to repentance, and that also thy scourges may do us good, and that we may so truly turn to thee, that our whole life may testify that we are in our hearts changed; and may we also stimulate one another, that we may unite together in rendering obedience to thy word, and each of us strive to glorify thy name, through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Lecture Thirteenth
WE began yesterday to explain what the Prophet means, when he says, that there would be no more a remembrance of the Ark of the Covenant after the return of the Israelites into their country and their increase in it, even because there would be no discord among them as there had been before they were led into exile. For the ten tribes, we know, worshipped God after their own manner, as they had departed from the pure and simple teaching of the law. The Prophet then means, that they