Commentary on Jeremiah Volume 1 John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
remarkable evidences of God's vengeance. Stood then did the wild asses on the rocks, and thence drew in wind like serpents: for great is the heat of serpents; on account of inward burning they are constrained to draw in wind to allay the heat within. The Prophet says, that wild asses were like serpents, for they were burning with long famine, so that they were seeking food in the wind itself, or by respiration.
He then adds, Failed have their eyes, for there was no grass 365
We now understand the object of this prediction: It was God's purpose not only to foretell the Jews what was soon to be, but also to point out, as it were, by the finger, his vengeance, that they might not have recourse, as usual, to secondary causes, but that they might know that they suffered punishment for their sins; for the scarcity would be so extraordinary as far to exceed what was usual. It now follows ---
Jeremiah 14:7
7. O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
7. Si iniquitates nostrae testificantur contra nos, Jehova, fac propter nomen tuum; quia multiplicatae sunt aversiones nostrae, in te scelerate egimus.
The Prophet, no doubt, intended here to exhort the Jews by his own example to seek pardon; nor does he so assume the character of others, as though he was free himself from guilt; for he was not more righteous than Daniel, who, as we find, testified that he confessed before God, not only the sins of the people, but also his own sins. (Daniel 9:4, 5) And Jeremiah, though not one of God's despisers, nor of the profane, who had provoked God's wrath, was yet one of the people; and here he connects himself with them; and he did this in sincerity and not in dissimulation.
But he might have prayed silently at home; why then did he make public his prayer?
What was his purpose in consigning it to writing? It was that he might rouse the people, as I have already said, by his example, so that they might flee as suppliants to God's mercy, and seek forgiveness for their sins. This then was the Prophet's object. Thus we see that the prophecy concerning the scarcity and the famine was announced, that the people might through repentance escape the wrath of God; for we know that when God has even taken his sword he may possibly be pacified, as he is in his nature merciful: and besides, the design of all such predictions is, that men, conscious of their sins, may by faith and repentance escape the destruction that awaits them. We now then understand the design of the Prophet in this passage.
He says first, Even though our iniquities testify, etc. The verb {,}ענהone, properly means to answer; but it means also to testify, as in this place. O Jehovah, 366 he says, there is no reason now to contend with thee, or to expostulate, or to ask why thou denlest so severely with us; let all such excuses be dismissed, for our sins
365The three foregoing verses I render as follows, — 4. On account of the ground being cracked, As there has been no rain in the land, Ashamed were the husbandmen, They covered their heads: 5. When also the hind was in the field, It brought forth young, and it was forsaken, Because there was no grass: 6. And the wild asses, they stood on the cliffs; They drew in the wind like serpents; Fail did their eyes, Because there was no herbage — Ed.
366All the versions connect "Jehovah" with the next words; and so do Veema, Gataker, and Blayney. The particle {{אםif, or though, is omitted by the Septuagint and the Arabic; but is retained by the Vulgate, Syriac, and the Targum. It may be rendered verily, or truly, --- Verily, our perversities, they have responded against us. The word
perverse or headstrong wickedness. There is an allusion in responding to a trial. ``They have stood against us,'' is the Septuagint. See Job 15:6. --- Ed.