Commentary on Jeremiah Volume 1 John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
happened to their brethren, the Israelites. But yet the Prophet spoke of them, as though they had been exiled and dwelt like the Israelites in the north country; Come together , he says, shall they from the land of the north 91
They might have objected and said, ``We are as yet enjoying our own inheritance, and no one can drive us hence, for it cannot be that God shall be deprived of his own temple, as he has chosen for himself a perpetual habitation among us.'' Such words were no doubt clamorously spoken by them. But the Prophet here repels their vain confidence, and says, that their only hope of deliverance was in looking forward to the restoration which the Lord would grant them after they had been for a time banished from their country. Now the Prophet here sets forth to them the benefit which would arise from exile, in order that they might bear with more submission the punishment they were to endure: for they might have a hundred times despaired, had they no hope that this exile would be only for a time, and that they would again be gathered together with their brethren the Israelites. It now follows ---
Jeremiah 3:19
19. But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.
19. Et ego dixi, Quomodo ponam to in filios, et dabo tibi terram desiderii (hoc est, desiderabilem,) haereditatem cupiditatis 92 (hoc est, quae concupiscitur,) exercitus gentium? Et dixi, Pater mi, clamabis ad me, et a me non recedes (de post me, ad verbtum, {).}מאחרי
It is not my purpose to mention all the expositions of this verse; but it is enough to shew what seems to be the meaning of the Prophet. Whenever I touch on opinions which I disapprove, this I feel constrained to do, because when they present the appearance of truth, readers may be deceived by them: but when the truth itself is sufficiently conspicuous, I am not disposed to spend labor in refuting the opinions of others.
What, then, the words of the Prophet mean is this, --- God here asks, How was it possible that the race of Abraham could again be propagated since it was nearly dead? The answer is, It shall be, when thou wilt call me Father, and turn not away from me The question was asked, that the Jews might feel as though their condition was past remedy. And doubtless, since they had so greatly and so obstinately provoked God by their wickedness, they might have seemed to have become wholly lost. God then assumes here the character of one filled with astonishment, as though he had said, ``Ye are, indeed, in a state of despair, there is no hope of your salvation; but yet, as it is my purpose again to restore you, I wish now to find out a way, by 91Calvin uses the verb "venient, "shall come, twice: but the first verb is to walk, and expresses the associating of Judah with Israel, or their union. The words are, — In those days walk will the house of Judah with the house of Israel, And come shall they together from the land of the north, To the land which I made their fathers to inherit. They would be first united, and then advance together to their own land. — Ed.
92Calvin takes the word in its Chaldee meaning; {{צביmeans in Hebrew, elation, splendor, glory; but in Chaldee, desire, what is desired; and this suits the passage best, ``The inheritance of desire to hosts of nations;'' that is, ``The inheritance desired by hosts of nations;'' This is the meaning preferred by Gataker I would render the whole verse thus, --- 19.
But I, said have I, ``How shall I put thee among the children, And give thee the land of delight, The inheritance desired by hosts of nations?'' Said have I also, ``My Father shalt thou call me, And from me thou wilt not turn away.'' When the pronouns are given before verbs in Hebrew, as {}אנכיI, here, they are ever emphatical. ``But I,'' or, ``as for me,'' or, ``even I have said.'' --- Ed