Commentary on Jeremiah Volume 1 John Calvin
JOHN CALVIN
that is, ``Thou, Jerusalem, shalt find that thou wilt have to do with military men.'' The Prophet means, in short, that the Jews most foolishly trusted in their own strength, and thus heedlessly despised the threatenings of the prophets. But as their security was of this kind, he says that they would at length really find out how stupid they had been, for the Chaldeans would come with dreadful violence, prepared for war --- against whom? Against thee, he says, O daughter of Sion I cannot proceed further, on account of some other business.
PRAYER
Grant, Almighty God, that as we cease not daily to give thee occasion of offense, and as thou ceasest not, in order to promote our salvation, to call us to the right way, --- O grant, that we may be attentive to thy voice, and suffer ourselves to be reproved by it, and so submit ourselves to thee, that we may continually go on towards the mark to which thou invitest us, and that having at length finished our course in this life, we may enjoy the fruit of our obedience and faith, and possess that eternal inheritance which has been obtained for us by Jesus Christ our Lord. --- Amen.
Lecture Twenty-Sixth
Jeremiah 6:24
24. We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
24. Audivimus famam ejus, dissolutae sunt manus nostrae, angustia apprehendit nos, dolor tanquam parturientis.
Jeremiah proceeds in the same strain; for he sets before the eyes of the Jews the judgment of God, and draws them, as it were against their will, into the middle of the scene. And this was done by the prophets, as it has been already said, because by plain words they could not move the hearts of the people on account of their contempt of God, and of the long obduracy in which they had settled. Hence he says, that heard had been the report of the enemy, and that immediately dissolved had their hands When the Prophet spoke, the Jews did not think that their enemies were so near. But the phrase is to be thus explained: ``As soon as ye shall hear the report, your hands shall be relaxed, and lay hold on you shall distress.''
The similitude of a woman in travail is often found in Scripture; and what is to be understood in most places is sudden and unexpected pain: but in this place the Prophet refers rather to the violence of pain; though the other meaning, which I have just stated, is not to be excluded; for it is probable, that when he saw that the hardness and obstinacy of the people were so great, he adopted this similitude, in order to shew, that however heedlessly they despised the punishment due to them, it could not yet be avoided, as it would seize them suddenly like that of a woman in childbearing. He afterwards adds ---
Jeremiah 6:25
25. Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.
25. Ne exieritis in agrum, et per iter ne ingrediamini; quia gladius hostis, terror undique (vel, in circuitu, {).}מסביב felt. — Ed.