Commentary on Jeremiah Volume 1 John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
or excellency or pride there may be in the world. 409 It then follows ---
Jeremiah 15:20
20. And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
20. Et posui te huic populo in murum aeneum (aeris, ad verbum) munitum: ergo pugnabunt contra te, sed non praevalebunt tibi; quia tecum ego sum ad servandum te et ad liberandum te, dicit Jehova.
As Jeremiah might have objected and said, that the burden was too heavy for him, if he only attempted to break down the contumacy of the people, for he was alone, and we have seen how great was the ferocity and also the cruelty of his adversaries, --- as he might have shunned his commission, it being too much for his strength, hence God comes to his aid and bids him to take courage, for he was fortified by a help from heaven, I have set thee, he says, for a brazen fortified wall to this people
The word for ``fortified'' is from {,}בצרbetsar; were it {}בצרהbetsare, derived from {}צורtsur, to besiege, it would much better suit this place. I know not whether the passage has been corrupted: however, I will not depart from the common reading.
As then interpreters agree in this, I will change nothing; and indeed the difference is not very material. 410
We see then what God meant by these words: As the Prophet was almost alone, and God had bidden him to contend with many and powerful enemies, he promises to stand on his side; as though he had said, --- ``Though thou art defenceless and unarmed, and they are furnished with wealth and great power, thou shalt yet be like a well-fortified city; thou shalt indeed be impregnable, notwithstanding all their assaults and whatever they may attempt against thee.''
But God proceeds lay degrees; for he first declares that his Prophet would be like a brazen and a fortified wall, that is, like an invincible city: for by stating a part for the whole, a wall means a city that is impregnable. It then follows, They indeed will fight against thee. This warning was very necessary; for Jeremiah was doubtless willing to serve God in exercising authority over teachable and humble men, and in gently inducing them to render obedience to God; but he is reminded here that he would 409It is extraordinary what shades of difference appear in the expositions of this verse: but a literal rendering would, I conceive, dissipate them, — 19. Therefore thus said Jehovah, — If thou returnest and I restore thee, Before me shalt thou stand; And if thou bringest forth the precious from the worthless, As my mouth shalt thou be; Return shall they to thee, But thou wilt not return to them. The return at the beginning of the verse was from the state of mind in which he was, to an entire submission to God. The future is here used in the sense of the present. The "Precious" was the godly, and the "worthless" the ungodly. The three last lines are promises. See Jeremiah 42:2. Houbigant's explanation of the fourth line is too refined, though approved by Horsley. He considers that there is an allusion to Judges 14:14. Jeremiah himself was "the worthless" or the mean, being so regarded by the Jews, and "the precious" was the prophetic word. And Horsley renders the line thus, — And if thou wilt bring forth the precious from the mean. He also approves of Blayney's version of the second line, and considers it as expressive of a prompt execution of what is commanded, — If thou wilt turn as I shall turn thee. But the first verb is in Kal, and the second in Hiphil, and therefore cannot be rendered the same. — Ed.
410All the ancient versions are in favor of the common reading, and there are no MSS. favorable to the proposed emendation. The Septuagint, the Vulgate, the Syriac, and the Targum, render it "strong;" and the Arabic "fortified." "A strong wall of brass," is the version of Blayney. — Ed.