Commentary on Jeremiah Volume 1 John Calvin
COMMENTARY ON JEREMIAH
18. Ut quid erit dolor meus fortis, (vel, durus) et plaga mea aegra (aut, valida, aut, insanabilis, doloris plena; dicemus postea de voce,) renuit curari? (hoc est, non admittit remedium:) eris mihi sicut mendacium aquarum non fidelium. (alli vetrunt, eris mihi mendax, aquae infideles, hoc est, tanquam aquae infideles.)
Before we proceed, we shall shortly refer to the meaning of the passage. Jeremiah has before shewn that he possessed an heroic courage in despising all the splendor of the world, and in regarding as nothing those proud men who boasted that they were the rulers of the Church: but he now confesses his infirmity; and there is no doubt but that he was often agitated by different thoughts and feelings; and this necessarily happens to us, because the flesh always fights against the spirit. For though the Prophet announced nothing human when he declared the truth of God, yet he was not wholly exempt from sorrow and fear and other feelings of the flesh.
For we must always distinguish, when we speak of the prophets and the apostles, between the truth, which was pure, free from every imperfection, and their own persons, as they commonly say, or themselves. Nor were, they so perfectly renewed but that some remnant of the flesh still continued in them. So then Jeremiah was in himself disturbed with anxiety and fear, and affected with weariness, and wished to shake off the burden which he felt so heavy on his shoulders. He was then subject to these feelings, that is, as to himself; yet his doctrine was free from every defect, for the Holy Spirit guided his mind, his thoughts, and his tongue, so that there was in it nothing human. The Prophet then has hitherto testified that he was called from above, and that he had cordially undertaken the office deputed to him by God, and had faithfully obeyed him: but now he comes to himself, and confesses that he was agitated by many thoughts, which betokened the infirmity of the flesh, and were not free from blame. This then is the meaning.
He says, Why is my grief strong, or hard? He intimates that his grief could not be eased by any soothing remedy. He alludes to ulcers, which by their hardness repel all emollients. And for the same purpose he adds, And my wound weak, as some render it, for it is from {}אנשanesh, to be feeble; and hence is {}אנושanush, which means man; and it expresses his weakness, as {}אדםadam, shews his origin, and {}אישaish, intimates his strength and courage. Others render the words, ``and my wound full of pain;'' and others, ``strong,'' as he had before called his grief strong. He afterwards thus explains what he meant by the terms he used, It refuses to be healed There is no doubt, as I have already intimated, but that the Prophet here honestly expresses the perturbations of his own mind, and shews that he in a manner vacinated; the wickedness of the people was so great, that he could not so perseveringly execute his office as he ought to have done. 407
He adds, Thou wilt be to me as the deception of inconstant waters I wonder why some render the words, ``Thou wilt be to me deceptive as inconstant waters.'' The word may indeed be an adjective, but it is doubtless to be rendered as a substantive, ``Thou wilt be to me as the deception,'' and then, ``of unfaithful waters.'' that is, of 407It is better to retain throughout the figurative language, — Why has my sore become perpetual, And my stroke incurable, refusing to be healed? He mentions "sore" first, the effect; then the "stroke" which casued it. He refers doubtless to the state of his mind: therefor "the sore" and "the stroke" were the sorrow and the grief which he experienced. — Ed.