Commentary on Jeremiah Volume 1 John Calvin
JOHN CALVIN
be hostile to them, and be the executioners of God's vengeance.
Some render the verb {,}פקדpekod, to visit, but improperly, as I think; for they must give this version, ``I will visit four families upon them;'' but there is no sense in this, nor can any sense be elicited from it. The meaning most suitable here is to set over, 387 ``I will set over them four kinds;'' which he calls ``four families.'' And there is to be understood here a contrast: as they thought it hard to obey God, they were now to have over them dogs and wild beasts, and the birds of the air, and the sword.
The meaning is, that there would be no end to God's vengeance, and to various punishments, until the Jews were wholly destroyed. He further intimates, that he would have in readiness many to execute his wrath, as he had all creatures under his control. As then he would employ in his service dogs, and birds, and animals, as well as men, it behoved the Jews to feel assured that they in vain had recourse to this or that refuge. We indeed know that men impiously confine the power of God, both with regard to their salvation and the punishment of their sins, for when he passes by any evil they think that they have escaped, and promise themselves impunity, as though God indeed were not able every moment to inflict many and various scourges. This then is the reason why the Prophet speaks here of four kinds of judgments. It follows ---
Jeremiah 15:4
4. And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
4. Et ponam eos in commotionem omnibus regnis terrae propter Manasse, filium
Ezechiae, regem Jehudah, (vel, regis Jehudah, parum interest,) propter ea quae fecit in Jerusalem.
Jeremiah speaks now of exile. He had hitherto spoken of the sword and famine, and mentioned also other punishments, that their carcases would be dragged about by dogs, and also devoured by wild beasts and ravenous birds; but he now refers to one kind of punishment only --- that God would drive them into exile. And he seems to have taken these words from Moses, for so he speaks in Deuteronomy 28, except that {,}וvau, is placed before {,}עain, in the word ``commotion,'' but such a change is common. In other respects there is a perfect agreement.
I will set them, he says, for a commotion to all the kingdoms of the earth; that is, I will cause them to wander in constant fear and trembling. He amplifies the grievousness of exile by the circumstance that they should have no safe rest. They who leave their country for exile do at least find some corner where they take breath; but God declares that the Jews would be everywhere unsettled and wanderers, so that no place would receive them. And hence God's vengeance became more fully by Calvin. It is more descriptive of what is done by dogs, and conveys a more horrid idea, and intended doubtless to terrify the Jews. Blayney renders it "to drag about," and no doubt correctly. Our version is the Vulgate: the Syriac is to draw or drag about. — Ed.
387So Gataker, "I will set over them, etc., as in Leviticus 26:16; a borrowed speech from officers set over people." The Syriac expresses the idea, "I will punish them with four scourges." Blayney's version is — And I will commission against them four species. But the best rendering is that of Calvin, which is also adopted by Venema. I give the following version — And I set over them four kinds, saith Jehovah, — The sword to kill, and dogs to drag about, And the bird of heaven and the beast of the earth To devour, and to pull to pieces. The "devouring" refers to "the beast of the earth," and the "pulling to pieces" to the bird of heaven, according to the usual style of the Prophets, the order being reversed. — Ed.
COMMENTARY ON JEREMIAH
manifest, for these miserable men never found an asylum when scattered through various countries. Though they had habitations in those parts allotted to them by the king of Babylon, they were yet everywhere without any rest. It was not therefore in vain that Moses threatened them with such a punishment, nor was it to no purpose that Jeremiah repeated what had been said by Moses. 388
He adds the cause, On account of Manasseh But Manasseh was now dead, why then did God transfer the vengeance which he merited to posterity? And this seems inconsistent with another passage found in Ezekiel, ``The soul that sinneth it shall die.'' (Ezekiel 18:8)
But doubtless God justly punished the wickedness of the people even after the death of that ungodly king, for they ceased not to accumulate evils on evils; as however their impiety appeared especially at that time, he particularly noticed it, that the Jews might understand that they had been long worthy of destruction, and that punishment was not delayed except through the great mercy of God, who had not immediately treated them as they deserved. The Prophet therefore commends the long forbearance of God because their ruin was suspended until that time. And, on the other hand, he shews that they were not so severely treated but that they were worthy of greater and more atrocious punishment; for such had been their obstinacy that they did all they could to draw upon themselves destruction many times.
But another question arises: Manasseh pretended repentance, and God seemed to have forgiven him and the whole people, (2 Kings 21:2 Chronicles 33:12) why does he now declare that he would take vengeance on sins which had been already buried? But the answer is evident, for the Jews from that time had been in no way better. As then they had continued to pursue the same sinful courses with Manasseh, it was right that they should at length be rewarded as they deserved; for, had they become really changed, there would have been a change in God's dealings with them, but inasmuch as their impiety had ever remained the same, and as they gave themselves up to the same vices, a heavier judgment was nigh them, and justly so, because they had abused God's forbearance, who had spared the king as well as themselves on the condition of receiving the pardon offered to them. But since they had hardened themselves, it was riglit to take such account of their ingratitude and perverseness as to treat them with greater severity.
Farther, Manasseh is called the son of Hezekiah, and that for the purpose of en-
388Blayney rightly observes that the word rendered "to be removed," in our version, has no such meaning. The verb means to move, to agitate, to disquiet, but not to move from one place to another. The noun as found here is rendered "vexation" in Isaiah 28:19, and "trouble" in 2 Chronicles 29:8. The idea of removing is not given in any of the versions, nor in the Targum. It is used in two other places by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 24:9; Jeremiah 29:18). In both places "vexation, trouble, or disquietude," would be the best rendering. This sentence may be thus translated — And I will render them a vexation to all the kingdoms of the earth. Literally it is, "I will give them for a vexation," etc. And so they became, they were a trouble and a disquietudewherever they were; and hence they became, as it is said in Jeremiah 29:18, a curse, a hissing, and a reproach among all nations. Venema gives this rendering — And I will give them for a shaking to all the kingdoms of the earth. Which he understands to mean, that they would be given to be shaken, agitated, and disquieted in all the kingdoms of the earth. Blayney's version is — And I will give them up to vexation in all kingdoms of the earth. But this is what the original will hardly bear; the preposition before "kingdoms" is not in, but to. — Ed.