_________________________________________________________________

   Title: Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations - Volume 1
   Creator(s): Calvin, John (1509-1564)
   (Alternative)
   (Translator)
   Rights: Public Domain
   LC Call no: BS491
   LC Subjects:

   The Bible

   Works about the Bible
     _________________________________________________________________

   COMMENTARIES

   ON THE

   BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH

   AND

   THE LAMENTATIONS


   BY JOHN CALVIN



   TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN, AND EDITED

   BY THE REV. JOHN OWEN,

   VICAR OF THRUSSINGTON, LEICESTERSHIRE



   VOLUME FIRST



   CHRISTIAN CLASSICS ETHEREAL LIBRARY
   GRAND RAPIDS, MI

   [1]http://www.ccel.org
     _________________________________________________________________

   TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE.

   The Commentaries On Jeremiah, like those on The Minor Prophets, were
   delivered as Lectures In The Theological School At Geneva, taken down by
   some of the Pupils, and afterwards read to Calvin, and corrected. We find in
   them the production of the same vigorous and expansive mind: The Divine
   Oracles are faithfully explained, the meaning is clearly stated, and such
   brief deductions are made as the subjects legitimately warrant. Though the
   Lectures were extemporaneously delivered, there is yet so much order
   preserved, and such brevity, clearness, and suitableness of diction are
   found in them, that in these respects they nearly equal the most finished
   compositions of Calvin as proof that he possessed a mind of no common order.

   The Ministry Of Jeremiah extended over a large space of time from the
   thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign till after the final overthrow of the
   nation; but for how long after that period, it is not known. [1] Between the
   thirteenth year of Josiah and the destruction of the city and Temple, there
   were about forty years. This was a remarkable period, and Jeremiah nearly
   alone labored among the people. Their sins had been for the most part the
   same for a long time — for nearly two centuries, as it appears from the
   testimonies of his predecessors, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Joel, Micah, Nahum,
   and Zephaniah; for these seven had in this order preceded him. Zephaniah And
   Habakkuk were probably for a time his contemporaries, the first at the
   commencement, and the other near the end of his ministry. The contumacy with
   which Jeremiah often charged the Jews was here evident, as they continued in
   their evil courses after so many urgent remonstrances by the former
   Prophets.

   What an example of blindness and of the power of superstition does the
   history of the Jews at this period exhibit! No past nor present calamities,
   and no threatenings of still greater calamities, and no promises of Divine
   favor and of temporal blessings, were sufficient to keep them from
   idolatrous and immoral practices — and such practices, too, as were plainly
   and explicitly condemned by that very Law which they professed to receive!
   Such inconsistency might have been deemed impossible, had it not been
   exemplified in the Jews: but it is an inconsistency which is still exhibited
   in the conduct of many calling themselves Christians.

   As to The Style Of Jeremiah, the opinion of the accurate and elegant Lowth
   is as follows:

   “Jeremiah, though not wanting either in elegance or sublimity, is yet in
   both inferior to Isaiah. Jerome seems to charge him with some measure of
   rusticity as to his expressions; but of this, I truly confess, I have found
   no traces. In thoughts, indeed, he is somewhat less elevated, being for the
   most part more loose and diffuse in his sentences, as one more conversant
   with the more tender feelings, being especially capable of expressing sorrow
   and sympathy. This, indeed, appears mainly in The Lamentations, where these
   feelings alone predominate; but it is also often found in his Prophecies,
   and particularly in the first part of his Book, which is chiefly poetical.
   The middle part is nearly all historical; and the last, consisting of six
   chapters, is altogether poetical, and contains several oracles plainly
   expressed, in which the Prophet nearly approaches the sublimity of Isaiah.
   But of the whole Book of Jeremiah, hardly the half do I consider to be
   poetical.” — Proel, 21.

   Venema mainly agrees with Lowth: he blames Jerome for ascribing rusticity of
   diction to our Prophet, and says that he was no good judge (peritus Judex)
   of such matters. Speaking of Jeremiah’s style, he says, “His diction is not
   so lofty and sublime as that of Isaiah, though in the six last chapters,
   46-51., it seems to me to be nearly equal to it, being no less pure,
   expressive, and copious, besprinkled also with tropes and metaphors as with
   lights, and fitted to move the feelings and to stimulate the heart to
   repentance, for which it was designed. The Lamentations alone are sufficient
   to defend Jeremiah against the charge of ignorance and rusticity; for
   antiquity, as Sanctums rightly observes, has nothing more grave, more
   harmonious, more expressive.” Com. ad Jer., p. 8.

   “He is admirably pathetic,” says Scott; “his descriptions of approaching
   judgments are peculiarly vivid; and his eloquence is very vigorous and
   impressive, when inveighing against the shameless audacity of the people in
   rebellion against God.”

   Of Jeremiah as a Prophet, Henry mentions these particulars: 1. That he was
   made a Prophet when young;-2. That he continued long a Prophet;-3. That he
   was a reproving Prophet;-4. That he was a weeping Prophet; — and, 5. That he
   was a suffering Prophet, having been persecuted by his own nation more than
   any other.

   There are several references in the New Testament to Jeremiah and to his
   writings. See Matthew 2:17, 18; Matthew 16:14; Hebrews 8:8-13; Hebrews
   10:15-17. “These last references, “observes Scott, “are peculiarly
   important; for in one of them God himself is mentioned as speaking the words
   referred to; and in the other it is said, ‘Whereof the Holy Ghost is a
   witness to us.’ This is decisive, as to the judgment of the inspired
   Apostles, respecting the Book on which we now enter, and is peculiarly
   suited to put us on our guard against those professed friends of the
   Scriptures, who speak of these books as venerable, authentic, or genuine
   remains of antiquity, of great value and high authority, but hesitate to
   vindicate them as divinely inspired.” Pref. to Jer.

   Nothing is with any certainty known as having been written by Jeremiah,
   except this Book and the Lamentations. Ascribed to him has been a funeral
   song on the death of Josiah, (2 Chronicles 35:25) which, Josephus says, was
   extant in his day. It has been also said by some that he wrote the 137th
   Psalm (Psalm 137), and in connection with Ezekiel, the 46th Psalm (Psalm
   46). His Letter to the captives in Babylon in the Apocrypha, appended to the
   book of Barite, is no doubt spurious: its style is very different from that
   of Jeremiah.

   It is universally admitted that the Chapters in this Book are not in their
   right order. How this has happened, none have been able to conjecture; but
   the fact is evident. According to Blayney, whose account seems correct, the
   twelve first chapters contain prophecies delivered in the reign of Josiah.
   Those in the thirteenth, and in the following chapters to the twentieth
   inclusively, were delivered in the reign of Jehoiakim. Now begins the
   disorder; the twenty — first contains what was spoken in the time of
   Zedekiah, the last king: and afterwards we have what was delivered in a
   former reign. The kings of Judah, during Jeremiah’s ministry, were these:
   Josiah; Shallum or Jehoahaz, his second son; Jehoiakim, his eldest son;
   Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim; and Zedekiah, the youngest son of Josiah.
   Blayney thinks that no prophecies were delivered in the reigns of Shallum
   and of Jeconiah. Then his classification may be stated as follows:-During
   the reign of

   Josiah, were delivered, chapters 1-12, inclusively.

   Shallum, none.

   Jehoiakim, chapters 13-20, inclusively, 22, 23, 25, 26, 35, 36, 45, 46, 47,
   48, and 49 to verse 33 inclusively.

   Jeconiah, none.

   Zedekiah, chapters 21, 24, 27 -34, 37-39, 49: from verse 34 to the end, 1,
   and 51.

   The 40-44, inclusively, were written after the destruction of Jerusalem and
   the captivity of the people; and the 52, the last, during the same time, or
   as it is commonly supposed, by Ezra; it is an epitome of the progressive and
   final overthrow of the kingdom.

   There were several circumstances worthy of notice, with regard to The Jews,
   during the ministry of Jeremiah:

   1. The means which God employed to lead them to repentance, and to a
   reformation of their conduct, both as to religion and morals: he gave them a
   pious and a reforming king in Josiah; the Book of the Law was providentially
   discovered and widely made known; a reformation was carried on according to
   its requirements, while idolatrous practices were in a great measure put an
   end to; the people had also before their eyes the awful judgment of God on
   their brethren, The Israelites, in banishing them from their country; and
   the powerful preaching of Jeremiah sounded in their ears.

   2. The manifest evidences of God’s displeasure: their good king, Josiah, was
   suddenly taken from them, no doubt as a judgment for their ingratitude; his
   successor, Suallum, was, after three months’ reign, taken prisoner by the
   Egyptians, and the country was put under tribute; the country was visited
   with grievous famine, as recorded in chap. 14.; and Jeremiah, by God’s
   command, denounced on them the punishment of an entire extinction as a
   nation.

   3. The extremely corrupted state of the people: they were both most
   idolatrous and most immoral, unfaithful to God and to man in a degree hardly
   credible. During Josiah’s reign they pretended to cast away their gross
   superstitions, but after his death they returned to them, as it were, with
   increased avidity; and with these superstitions was combined the prostration
   of every moral principle, and of every natural feeling. Superstition ever
   destroys morality, and enfeebles all the social and natural sympathies of
   men. What a picture of the effects of superstition is given by Jeremiah in
   chapter 9!

   4. Notwithstanding this extremely degenerated state of things, The Jews
   harbored the conviction that their ruin, as denounced by Jeremiah, was
   impossible. While practically denying God, they yet rested their confidence
   on his promises respecting the perpetuity of David’s kingdom, and on their
   outward privileges; taking as unconditional what was conditional, and
   regarding the mere possession of divine institutions as a sufficient
   security. And in this vain confidence they were encouraged and confirmed by
   false Prophets and corrupt Priests, in opposition to God’s messages by his
   Prophet Jeremiah, and to the plain declarations of that Law, the authority
   of which they still ostensibly acknowledged!

   These things have been recorded for our instruction.

   Some of Jeremiah’s Prophecies were fulfilled in the days of many of those
   who heard them; such as those which refer to the Captivity of the people,
   and to the destruction of the neighboring nations by the king of Babylon.
   Other prophecies extend farther, to times more remote, to the destruction of
   Babylon, to the restoration of the Jews after the term of seventy years, and
   to the destinies of various nations. There are also Prophecies respecting
   The Messiah, as The Lord Our Righteousness, The Evangelical Covenant, The
   Call of the Gentiles, and final Restoration of The Jews. So that there are
   in this Book some Prophecies which were soon fulfilled, others at a more
   distant time, and some which are still to be fulfilled. Who but GOD, the
   Sole and the Supreme Ruler of the world, and the regulator and disposer of
   all events, could have announced such Prophecies? All those which refer to
   the past have been fulfilled, fully and completely; and with no less
   certainty shall all such as refer to what is future be in due time
   fulfilled. Nothing can intercept the exercise of Divine Faithfulness;
   nothing can obstruct the working of Infinite Power.

   Facsimile copies of the old Latin, French, and English title — pages follow
   this Preface, with a reprint of the Dedication by Clement Cotton to the
   Countess Of Bedford, prefixed to his English Translation of 1620.

   J. O.
   Thrussington, September 1850.
     _________________________________________________________________

   [1] According to an ancient tradition, mentioned by Jerome and others,
   Jeremiah was stoned to death by the Jews at Tahpanhes in Egypt, (see
   Jeremiah 43:8) shortly after their removal there, subsequent to the
   destruction of Jerusalem. So that he did not live long after that event: it
   may be two or three years.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Facsimile of the title page to the 1589 Latin Edition
     _________________________________________________________________

   Facsimile of the title page to the 1565 French Edition
     _________________________________________________________________

   Facsimile of the title page to the 1620 English Translation

     _________________________________________________________________

   TO THE NOBLE

   AND VERTVOVS LADY,

   THE LADY LVCIE, COVNTESSE

   of Bedford: And to the Right Honorable and highly honored Lady, the Lady
   Anne Harrington, Barrones: mercy
   and peace be multiplied

   Right Honorable: The holy Prophet Jeremiah (according to the diuers subjects
   he had to work upon in his ministerial function) is forced sometimes, with
   Isaiah his forerunner, to lift up his voice like unto a Sonne of Thunder;
   (Isaiah 58:1) and eftsoones, with the same Prophet againe, to altar and
   change the same into the still and soft voice of a Sonne of Consolation: (1
   Kings 19:20) wherein, as God’s faithful messenger, hee carries himself
   faithfully: For as a Sonne of Thunder, he sharply inueyes against the sinnes
   and sinners of his time, boldly denouncing God’s judgements against them;
   and as a Sonne of Consolation, (for their sakes whom the Lord had appointed
   to bee heires of sahation,) hee sweetly preacheth Christ, mixing often with
   the terrible threats of the Law the sauing promises of the Gospel; that if
   any came, by the ministry of the one, to be pricked in conscience and
   humbled, (Acts 2:37) he readily, like the good Samaritan, powreth in the
   mollifying and healing oyle of the other to cure and reuiue them. And thus,
   as a wise disposer and dispenser of the manifold secrets of God, (Psalm
   101:1) his song (in a manner) throughout his Prophesy (like Aaron’s Bels —
   Exodus 28:33) soundeth forth judgement and mercy; preaching judgement to
   such as were and would be sinners in Sion, (Isaiah 33:14) and mercy to such
   as he saw to be mourners in Sion. (Isaiah 61:3). In which respects he may
   serue as a liuely patterne for all Preachers to follow in their ordinary
   course of preaching. These Sermons of his (many of them) doe notably sute to
   our times; and therefore ought to be read, and read againe, of all estates
   high and low.

   But for as much as in reading the Prophets sundry difficulties are met
   withall, which euery one hath not the skill of himself to dissolue, it would
   (as I think) be very beneficial for such if they had an holy helper, such an
   one as this, ready at hand: An interpreter; One (indeed) of a thousand, (Job
   33:23) that might help to dissolve their doubts, and unloose their hard
   knots for them; that so understanding what they read, they might (by the
   blessing of God) with the more ease come to profit by their reading. This
   hath our Philip (Acts 8:34-35) faithfully performed (according to that light
   of understanding wherewith the Lord had extraordinarily endowed him)
   throughout the Prophets; and pity it is that so great light should after a
   sort he buried in darkness from many well minded Christians, onely because
   they are not (as they might be) turned into our owne natiue language.

   Not many yeeres since, a Lampe (if I may so speake) began to be kindled, for
   giuing them some insight into the harder passages of the Prophets, by
   translating this Author’s Commentaries vpon the Prophecie of Isaiah into
   English; but much more cleere would the light haue now shined if thereunto
   had been added the translation of all his Lectures vpon the Prophesie of
   Ieremiah also. For mine owne part, seeing sufficiency of oyle hath failed me
   to furnish out this second Lampe vnto the end, I haue for the present
   proceeded onely through the flue first Chapters.

   The which (Right Honorable) as a testimony of that seruice and duty I owe
   your Honors, I have presumed (as one ouertaken with Ahimaaz his hast,
   sorewhat abruptly, I confesse) to dedicate vnto you: And if in token of your
   favorable acceptance thereof you shall be pleased to suffer the same to
   passe vnder your Honorable names and patronage, many may be occasioned
   thereby to blesse God for you, and my selfe still to pray, that the blessing
   of him who was ready to perish may come vpon you.

   Your Honor’s humbly
   at commandment,

   CLEMENT COTTON.
     _________________________________________________________________

   TO THE

   MOST ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE,

   D. FREDERICK,

   LORD PALATINE OF THE RHINE, AND ELECTOR OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, ETC.,

   AND HIS MOST BENEVOLENT LORD,

   JOHN CALVIN

   WISHES ALL HAPPINESS.

   As your heroic valor, Most Illustrious Prince, has been acknowledged by
   superior men and competent judges, and especially your singular piety, your
   labor to cherish and to promote true Religion, and uniform moderation
   through life; and also your great courtesy, such as can hardly be found in a
   private individual, and which I have not only known by report, but have also
   myself experienced, I have long wished by some public act to testify to
   posterity the high regard I entertain for you, being not satisfied with
   having it only in secret. This is well known to the noble — minded Edward,
   the Count or Espach, whom I have consulted on the subject.

   But to discharge this duty at this time, not only an opportunity seems to be
   offered to me, but a certain necessity appears to constrain me; for, as you
   have reverently embraced the sound and orthodox doctrine concerning the Holy
   Supper of Christ, and have not hesitated freely and wisely to avow the same
   in your dominion, so turbulent and unreasonable men rage against you, as
   though you had upset all Germany! Hence they rush headlong to assail your
   Highness with violent clamors; and as they cannot prevail by authority and
   power, being full of presumption and insolence, they hesitate not to vomit
   forth their curses, of which men in their right mind would be ashamed; and
   not only so, but as it is not in their power to kill you, they fabricate
   shameful rumors respecting your death, as though a plot of flies were
   sufficient to darken the sun. And you, indeed, Most Illustrious Prince,
   according to the magnanimity of your mind, and in accordance with the high
   dignity in which God has placed you, do altogether disregard their mad
   conduct; but as they so busily labor to provoke you, and at the same time
   bring in my name to create an ill — will to you, I have thought it my duty,
   in refuting these calumnies, to set up as a shield against them the very
   name which they wish to make so odious; for certainly they are wholly
   unworthy that your Highness should raise your little finger against them, or
   utter the smallest word. Were I indeed disposed to expostulate with them on
   account of their madness in hating so much a man who has done something for
   the Church of God, and of whose labors they avail themselves with the
   unlearned, though they acknowledge it not, they would have no plea for their
   ingratitude. While, then, they endeavor, by bringing forward Calvinism, to
   affix to your Highness some mark of infamy, they do nothing more than betray
   their own perversity, and also their folly and disgrace. But if they think
   that they gain something among those who are like themselves, my voice, on
   the other hand, in speaking of your just praises, will, I hope, be attended
   to by the godly, the well — informed, and men of calm minds and sound
   judgment.

   Unprincipled men of this character do indeed pretend and loudly exclaim that
   they fight for God and their country; but whether it be so, it is easy for
   any one to judge: and I will not indeed discuss at large their delirious
   notions, as the greater part of them understand not what they vainly talk; I
   will only touch briefly on the main points in which we differ from their
   masters, for whom, nevertheless, I have a sincere regard.

   That we really feed in the Holy Supper on the flesh and blood of Christ, no
   otherwise than as bread and wine are the aliments of our bodies, we freely
   confess. If a clearer explanation is asked, we say, that the substance of
   Christ’s flesh and blood is our spiritual life, and that it is communicated
   to us under the symbols of bread and wine; for Christ, in instituting the
   mystery of The Supper, promised nothing falsely, nor mocked us with a vain
   shew, but represented by external signs what he has really given us.

   Now the question rests on the mode of communication; and hence the conflict
   arises, because we refuse to subscribe to their fancy respecting a local
   presence. We say, that though Christ is in heaven, yet through the hidden
   and incomprehensible power of his Spirit, this favor comes to us that His
   flesh becomes life to us, so that we become flesh of his flesh and bones of
   his bones. (Ephesians 5:30.) By them, on the contrary, it is maintained,
   that except Christ comes down on earth, there is no participation. That they
   may, however, get rid of the absurdity of a local presence, it has been
   found necessary to fabricate the strange notion of ubiquity; which, if we
   think it not possible to reconcile to the principles of faith, we must beg
   them at least to pardon our ignorance. Here we follow not our own
   understanding; but according to the knowledge given us from above, we cannot
   comprehend that it is at all agreeable to Scripture to say that the body of
   Christ is everywhere. Both Christ himself and His Apostles clearly shew that
   the immensity of God does not belong to the flesh; a personal union is what
   they teach; and no one, except Eutyches, has hitherto taught, that the two
   natures became so blended, that when Christ became man, the attributes of
   Deity were communicated to his human nature. I am not indeed disposed to
   raise an odium against them by means of a man who has been condemned; they
   are yet to be reminded to think more attentively, and to consider how
   contention leads astray even good, learned, and acute men, when they are led
   away only by a desire to defend their own cause. Doubtless the best and the
   shortest way of confronting Nestorius at the Council of Ephesus would have
   been to say, that personal union communicates to two natures what is
   peculiar to each: to adduce this no one thought of doing on account of its
   absolute absurdity. I therefore greatly wonder that they who oppose us do
   not consider into what labyrinth they plunge themselves.

   For if the infinity of God appertains to the flesh of Christ, because God
   was manifested in the flesh, with equal reason His Divinity may be said to
   have grieved and to have been thirsty, and to have been subject to death,
   and, in short, to have died; for they cannot escape, as it is a similar mode
   of reasoning. Christ, while yet a mortal, declared that He knew not when the
   day of judgment would be. Does He not in these words clearly and distinctly
   ascribe something to His human nature which could not justly be ascribed to
   His Divinity? What they bring forward as to the communication of properties,
   it is unreasonable, and what I may say without offending them, they mistake
   in a matter that is very simple and plain; for to ascribe what is peculiar
   to Deity to the Son of man, and again to attribute to Deity what belongs
   only to humanity, is very improper and rash. To prevent the ignorant from
   stumbling by blending together different things, and to take away from the
   dishonest any occasion for contending, orthodox writers have called this
   figure, “The communication of properties.” [2]

   What they have said of certain expressions, has been with little thought
   applied to the subject. While Christ was on earth he said that the Son of
   man was in heaven. That no one, ill — informed, might think Christ’s body to
   be infinite, it has been deemed necessary to meet this case by a plain
   admonition, that on account of the unity of person what is suitable only to
   Divinity has been said of the Son of man. Paul says, as it is recorded by
   Luke, that God redeemed the Church by His own blood. (Acts 20:28.) Lest no
   one may hence conceive that God has blood, the same admonition ought to be
   sufficient to untie the knot; for as Christ was man and God, what is
   peculiar to His human nature is ascribed to His Divinity. As it was the
   Father’s design to employ this figure of speech for the purpose of teaching
   the simple and ignorant, it is absurd and even shameful to apply it for a
   different purpose, and to say that the communication of properties is the
   real blending of two natures.

   But Christ, it is said, sits at the Father’s right hand, which is to be
   taken as meaning everywhere, confined within no limits. I indeed allow that
   God’s right hand is unlimited, and that wherever it is there is the kingdom
   of Christ; which is metaphorically represented in Scripture by the tern
   sitting: for whatever is declared of God is beyond controversy to be now
   ascribed to Christ; and therefore to sit, which means to govern the world,
   is what Christ has in common with the Father; and still more, as the Father
   by Him sustains the world, rules all things by His power, and especially
   manifests the presence of His grace in governing His Church, He may be said,
   strictly speaking, to reign in His own person. It hence follows, that he in
   a manner is everywhere; for He can be limited to no place who sustains and
   protects all parts of heaven and earth, and rules and regulates by His power
   all things above and below. When now I name Christ, I include the whole
   Person of the only — begotten Son, as manifested in the flesh. He, I say,
   God and man, is everywhere as to his authority and incomprehensible power,
   and infinite glory, according to what the faithful experience by evident
   effects, as they know and feel His presence. It is not then without reason
   that Paul declares, that He dwells in us. (Ephesians 3:17.) But to distort
   what is said of His infinite power, which is evident in His spiritual gifts,
   in the invisible aid which He affords, and in the whole of our salvation,
   and to apply it to His flesh, is by no means reasonable or consistent.

   I wish that many of those who are with little reason angry with us, were at
   least to recall to mind that common and notable saying used in the Papal
   Schools, “Christ is whole everywhere, but not altogether.” [3] They may
   repeat’ it as it is in the barbarous language of Peter Lombard, which is not
   pleasant to their tender and delicate ears. It is yet wisely expressed, from
   whomsoever it may have come, and I willingly adopt it. But I wonder whence
   is this daintiness! Seeing the Recantation of Berengarius delights
   Westphalus and those who are like him that Christ’s body is broken by the
   teeth and digested by the stomach — why is this sober distinction to be
   loathed, that Christ our Mediator is every — where entire, but not as to His
   flesh, which is confined within certain limits, while this power is
   infinite, and its operation felt on earth as well as in heaven?

   There are two words commonly used, Union (unio) and Unity (unitas;) the
   first is applied to the two Natures, and the second to the Person alone. To
   assert the unity of the flesh and of Divinity, those would be ashamed to do,
   if I am not deceived, who yet inconsiderately adopt this absurdity; for,
   except the flesh differs and is distinct in its own peculiar properties from
   the Divine nature, they are by blending together become one. They,
   cavilling, facetiously ask, “In what region of the empyreal heaven does
   Christ sit?” let them indeed enjoy these fine speculations. I am taught by
   the Holy Spirit, that He is above all heavens, (Ephesians 4:10) according to
   the common mode of speaking in Scripture, I call whatever is beyond the
   world heaven. Hence it is enough for me, when Christ is to be sought, that
   our minds are to be raised above, that they may not remain on the earth and
   be entangled in gross superstitions.

   This, then, is the sum and substance of the whole controversy, which the
   chief leaders of the adverse party too pertinaciously agitate, unless,
   indeed, we add another subject that the wicked, as they contend, partake of
   the flesh and blood of Christ no less than the true servants of God. And we
   indeed allow that they are equally offered to both; and that whatever may be
   the difference between men, yet God ever continues like himself the same;
   and that hence the difference in those who presumptuously thrust themselves
   does not arise from the nature of the sacrament. When, therefore, Christ
   gives his body to the unworthy, the difference proceeds from the manner in
   which it is received. But we deny that those are capable of receiving Christ
   whom the devil holds as his slaves, and in whom he has his habitation. We do
   not, however, reject the usual mode of speaking, that Christ is received by
   them sacramentally, provided absurd interpreters pervert not the words of
   Augustine, in which sacramental eating is said to be the reception of the
   substance without the grace; but this is a foolish remark, and unknown to
   Augustine. The reason they adduce, as it is weak, may easily be refuted.
   They say, that Christ came not only for salvation to the elect, but also for
   condemnation to the reprobate, because the Gospel being not received, but
   rejected, is the savor of death unto death to those who perish. But who has
   ever heard that the participation of Christ produces death? But if Christ be
   the occasion of condemnation to unbelievers because He is rejected by them,
   I see not how it can be that they procure for themselves condemnation by
   receiving his flesh. They answer and say, that they are, nevertheless,
   closed up so as not to admit His grace. But that they may gain credit to
   what they say, they must first prove their strange notion that those who are
   alienated from Christ eat His flesh, while it is to those without life
   destitute of its own virtue, and empty.

   I have now faithfully and plainly explained why they who boast themselves to
   be the followers of Luther so hastily contend with us at this day. For the
   same reason they pour forth their execrations on Phillip Melancthon, now
   dead, a man who, for his incomparable knowledge in the highest branches of
   literature, his deep piety, and other endowments, deserves to be remembered
   by all ages, and whom they have hitherto regarded as their leader: and it is
   strange, that in order to obtain the favor of the public, they pretend to
   adopt that noble Confession Of Augsburg, of which he was especially the
   author, and ought to be deemed its true interpreter. I regard them as
   turbulent and unprincipled men, who possess no common courtesy, and feel no
   shame.

   But there are those who, in this respect, are different, and observe some
   moderation: and yet I have a just reason to complain, for some of them have
   acted so unfairly as to give my name in what they have published in German,
   and to withhold it in the Latin editions. Now this is to curse the deaf!

   But, to omit other things, I revert again to their violent clamors, which
   are similar to the clamors of those frantic zealots, mentioned by Josephus,
   through whose excesses a cruel war was kindled, which involved Judea in
   entire ruin. (De Bell. Jude., lib. 14 et 15.) They can find nothing more
   atrocious by which they can irritate your Highness, Most Illustrious Prince,
   than the word Calvinism. But whence this bitter hatred towards me it is not
   difficult to conjecture. For as they have thought the shortest way to
   victory to be by suppressing and concealing the real state of the case, and
   by dazzling the eyes of the simple, it is no wonder that they burn with rage
   when the clouds of ignorance in which they securely exulted were dissipated;
   and what especially drives them even to madness, is the fact, that they find
   that the whole subject is fully and really known by you, so that the
   doctrine, for which they triumphed while it was unknown, having obtained the
   patronage of high authority, and being supported by the pious and strong
   defense of a wise Prince, makes a freer progress.

   It would indeed be superfluous to exhort you, who are of yourself
   sufficiently disposed, to persevere. That you may, however, disregard their
   impotency, and pursue the object so happily as well as judiciously
   undertaken, it seems not an useless attempt to confirm you in your course by
   leaving a pledge of the high regard I entertain for you. And I thought it no
   act of ingratitude for your incredible courtesy to dedicate to your renowned
   name my Commentaries On Jeremiah. I indeed confess that it has not been
   elucidated with that care which so excellent a Book deserves; for as I
   delivered the Lectures from the pulpit, they were taken from my mouth; and I
   have indeed been before ashamed, that what might have been more accurately
   revised and polished by a longer meditation has come forth to light. I am
   also afraid lest the malevolent should accuse me of arrogance, for having
   obtruded on the public discourses extemporaneous and unwritten, and designed
   for a small auditory. It is easy to reply to the latter charge, for the
   first volume was sent to press against my will. That I may not, however, be
   without excuse, what I have to say is, that I have been led by the judgment
   of others. I hear of impartial and plain readers, who declare that they have
   received no small benefit from this kind of labor. And further, some think
   that a good end may be attained by making known my extempore mode of
   teaching, as its simplicity may cure many, who are too anxious of display,
   of that vice. Though learning and aptness to teach cannot satisfy all, I
   have yet carefully endeavored that Religion and Faith should not be found
   wanting by the impartial and well disposed. Nor do I, indeed, fear the
   charge of arrogance, when I fully avow, that I would have by no means
   suffered this Book to go forth to the public had I not thought that it would
   be useful and profitable to the Church of God.

   But it may be that some rigid and severe critics will deem it a present
   unworthy of your Highness; but relying on your rare courtesy, Most
   Illustrious Prince, I hope it will be favorably accepted. And if Jeremiah
   himself were now alive on earth, he would add, if I am not deceived, his
   recommendation; for he would acknowledge that his Prophecies have been
   explained by me not less honestly than reverently; and further, that they
   have been usefully accommodated to present circumstances. I feel not,
   however, over anxious to find an excuse, provided I know that I have done no
   wrong, except through an excessive desire to testify the veneration with
   which I regard your Highness.

   But, to omit now what I have slightly mentioned at the beginning, I should
   condemn myself for ingratitude, were I not to consider myself under
   obligations to you for being so ready and disposed to receive The Christian
   Exiles who flee to you. It is the saying of a heathen woman, as mentioned by
   a poet-

   “Being acquainted with evil, I learn to aid the miserable.” [4]

   Let all who worship God and serve Christ be not ashamed, under similar
   circumstances, to be at least of the same mind. As my power of aiding is not
   equal to my wish, it becomes me at least to regard every kindness shewn to
   them as done to myself. Thirty years have passed away since my voluntary
   exile from France, because thence were exiled the truth of the Gospel, pure
   Religion, and the true Worship of God. I am now become so inured to my
   peregrination, that I feel no desire to return to my country. I am indeed
   here so far a stranger, (though once banished, I was yet so recalled, that I
   never feel ashamed,) that they deem me no more a foreigner than if I could
   name my ancestors as the citizens of this place. But the more kindly God has
   dealt with me, the greater concern ought I to feel for my brethren from
   France as well as from Flanders: and as they have been received with the
   same kindness by your Highness, this stimulates and constrains me to avow my
   gratitude to one so much entitled to it.

   Nor let it cause you any regret, Most Illustrious Prince, that you have been
   sometimes deceived in foreigners, and indeed in men of our language, but go
   on in your wonted course of benevolence. All know how basely you have been
   deceived by that most audacious and unprincipled man, at the same time vile,
   proud, and perfidious-in short, a monster, made up of a mass of filthy
   materials, even Francis Baldwin, and yet a skillful collector of the Civil
   Law. For having been in The University Of Heidelberg, and having, under the
   pretext of the Gospel, been received under your patronage, and being made a
   Professor of the Civil Law through your liberality in The University Of
   Heidelberg, he ought to have considered himself as altogether bound by
   kindness to so munificent a Prince; but he regarded his elevation as
   advantageous to him to seek, after his own manner, a new situation. Hence,
   as soon as hope appeared, he deserted his station, having despised the
   honorable office which he had fraudulently attained, and passed over to the
   enemies of true and pure Religion, the name of which he had assumed. And
   first indeed (as though he retained some portion of shame) he went on
   stealthily in a clandestine manner, he discussed some secret treacheries
   with The Cardinal of Lorraine, into whose favor he had insinuated himself.
   The object of the whole was to subvert the Churches Of France by means of a
   spurious doctrine and a mixture of ceremonies. But as there appeared no
   reward for masked and hidden perfidy, he not only rushed headlong into open
   defection, but so insolently boasted of his wickedness, that he has
   surpassed similar apostates in canine wantonness. It is however well, that
   the perfidy of one unprincipled man does not stop the course of your
   kindness towards others; and you have some recompense for your perseverance,
   for among the ornaments of your University are to be found some foreigners
   well known for their high character, whom it is unnecessary for me to name.

   Though I can add nothing to the character of your Highness, either by my
   praise or by the dedication of this Work, yet I could not restrain myself
   from doing what I thought to be my duty. Farewell, Most Illustrious Prince.
   May God enrich you more and more with His spiritual gifts, keep you long in
   safety, and render your dignified station prosperous to you and yours.

   GENEVA, July 23, 1563.
     _________________________________________________________________

   [2] Idiomatōn koinōnian, which may be rendered “The communication of
   peculiarities.” — Ed

   [3] “Christus ubique totus est, sed non totum.” Lib. 3, Senten. dist. 22.

   [4] Non ignora mali, miseris succurrere disco
     _________________________________________________________________

   THE PRINTER TO THE CHRISTIAN READER,

   HEALTH.

   Though Readers were sufficiently reminded, when the Lectures of the beloved
   and learned John Calvin, on The Minor Prophets and on Daniel, were
   published, by what means and by whom they had been attained, so that it is
   to no purpose to sing the same song, for so would I seem to do, were I again
   to explain at large what has been before set forth; it is yet necessary, if
   I am not mistaken, to add now, that these Lectures On Jeremiah and the
   Lamentations were taken down by our two brethren, John Budeus and Charles
   Jonville, with the same care, fidelity, and diligence as the former
   Lectures, which cannot but appear to every one who will attentively read
   them.

   The Hebrew Text has not been inserted; and among other things, for this
   reason, because it is already possessed by those who understand the
   language, and to others it would be of no advantage. We were also afraid,
   that by increasing the Volume and the expense, we should unnecessarily
   charge the buyer.

   But that I may not be prolix and tedious, I pass by the great and manifold
   benefit that may be derived from this Volume, which will appear to each one
   better when it is read: for it is so replete with the precious wealth of
   heavenly Truth, that from it, as from a storehouse, may be drawn the sum and
   substance of Religion; and so it will no doubt be of great service to the
   whole Church of God.

   It remains for you, Christian Reader, to ascribe to God alone whatever
   benefit you may derive from these Commentaries; and to pray for Calvin, who
   well deserves this from all the godly, until he shall at length enjoy his
   eternal inheritance. Make use also thankfully of this so valuable a
   treasure, and judge kindly and impartially of what is cordially presented to
   you.

   GENEVA, July 23, 1576.
     _________________________________________________________________

   THE PRAYER
   WHICH JOHN CALVIN WAS WONT TO USE AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS LECTURES:

   MAY the Lord grant, that we may engage in contemplating
   the mysteries of his heavenly wisdom with really increasing devotion,
   to his glory and to our edification. AMEN.
     _________________________________________________________________

   CALVIN’S PREFACE

   TO THE BOOK OF

   THE PROPHET JEREMIAH.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Lecture First.

   After having explained The Twelve Minor Prophets, we reached at length to
   the end of Daniel. I now undertake to explain The Book Of Jeremiah, provided
   life be spared and leisure be given me. But if through God’s grace time will
   be allowed, there will remain still one Prophet, that is, Ezekiel; which I
   hope will be undertaken by a more competent Interpreter.

   As to Jeremiah, it must be first observed, that he commenced his office as a
   Prophet under Josiah, and in the thirteenth year of his reign, who was a
   sincere servant of God, and yet the state of things was then very confused:
   the Book of the Law was unknown; so that every one indulged his fancy in
   inventing many impious forms of worship. No doubt at a time when such
   liberty prevailed, there were many turbulent men laboring to pervert the
   worship of God and pure doctrine, and fabricating for themselves many absurd
   things. For if the priests taught rightly, they must have derived all their
   knowledge from the Law: and though it is probable, that the memory of it was
   not wholly lost, yet a few fragments only remained, so that they could not
   with certainty learn how the Church was to be regulated according to what
   had been received from above. For it is related in sacred history, that the
   Book was found in the eighteenth year of Josiah, (2 Chronicles 34:8, 15;) so
   that Jeremiah had been then teaching for four, and even for five years.

   Now this fact clearly proves how great is the carelessness and sloth of men
   in the great concerns of Religion. God had commanded Moses, that a copy of
   the Law should not only be kept reverently and carefully in the Temple, but
   also by the kings themselves, (Deuteronomy 17:18;) and there was also added
   a command, that the whole Law should be read to the people at their
   festivals. (Deuteronomy 31:11.) But when the kings departed from the true
   worship of God, no copy of the Law was preserved by them: and at length the
   whole Law became as it were extinct. No doubt this happened through the
   tyranny of King Manasse, who cruelly raged against the priests and against
   all the other servants of God. Wherever only a spark of religion appeared,
   he was intent on slaughter; so that blood, as sacred history testifies,
   flowed through all the streets of Jerusalem. (2 Kings 21:16.) It was then no
   wonder, if he took away from the Temple all the copies of the Law found
   there, in order to extinguish all memory of true doctrine. However, a book,
   which had been hid, was found, as we are told, by the priest Hilkiah.

   The first thing then to be observed is the time when he began to teach: as
   religion was then so corrupted, and every one invented errors to suit his
   own humor, the office of Jeremiah must have been hard and arduous.

   Secondly, the termination of his ministry must be noticed. He says, that
   from that time he pursued his office until the transmigration. He therefore
   continued in his course for forty years. We shall hereafter see what hard
   contests he had to undergo during his life. But had the people been
   teachable, he could not have performed what God had commanded him without
   great pain and even weariness: for we shall presently see what was the
   doctrine which he was commanded to proclaim. As then he was assiduous in his
   labor for forty years, we hence perceive with what a courageous spirit he
   was endued. If we further consider what storms had been raised, calculated
   to cast him down from his high station, and even wholly to drive him from
   the right way, more clearly still will shine forth the invincible firmness
   of his mind and his zeal; for he never desisted from executing the office
   committed to him.

   We must further observe, that after the city was cut off, and the
   inhabitants of Jerusalem were led captives into Babylon, Jeremiah still
   continued to discharge his office. He was indeed drawn into Egypt, as we
   learn from the end of his Book, especially from chapter 44 (Jeremiah 44);
   nay, he was taken there by force, while yet he pronounced a curse on all the
   Jews who sought hiding — places in Egypt. Though he was forced to go there,
   yet it much lessened his authority; for we know that ungodly men lay hold on
   any pretense for evil — speaking. There was here a specious pretense; “He
   cursed, “they said, “all who went to Egypt, and now where does he dwell
   himself? In Egypt with the other refugees.” No doubt the faith of the holy
   man was shaken by these banterings: ungodliness has been wanton in all ages.
   There, then, after the destruction of the city, Jeremiah was constrained to
   bend his course: and it may be, that he persevered in his work and labor
   beyond fifty years. It is said, that he was stoned to death, and not
   unlikely, for he inveighed with no less severity against the Jews who had
   fled into Egypt, than against the city while it was standing; and despair
   might have roused them into madness. It is hence probable that they slew the
   holy Prophet, and thought this lawful because he upbraided them with their
   miseries, while his object was to correct their perverseness, which was
   untamable; and this they did not consider.

   I come now to The Contents of the Book. As Isaiah and the other Prophets
   spent their labor almost in vain, nothing remained for Jeremiah but briefly
   to announce this sentence, — “There is now no pardon, but it is the time of
   extreme vengeance, for they have too long abused God’s forbearance, who has
   borne with them, kindly and even sweetly exhorted them to repent, and
   testified that he would be exorable and propitious, provided they returned
   to the right way.” Since then God’s kindness had been despised by them, it
   became necessary for Jeremiah to fulminate against them as men lost and in a
   hopeless state of perverseness. The main thing then in his teaching was
   this:

   “It is all over with the kingdom and the priesthood; for the Jews have so
   often and in such various ways, and for so long a time, provoked God’s wrath
   and rejected the pious warnings of his servants.”

   Isaiah also in his time used threatenings; but we see that to mitigate what
   was terrible, some hope of pardon was added whenever he spoke with severity.
   But after the ten tribes had been carried into exile, and the kingdom had
   been visited with various calamities, while the Jews still continued
   impenitent, and even hardened themselves more and more under God’s scourges,
   it was necessary, as I have said, that he should deal more sharply with
   them. God had contended with them by Isaiah and the other prophets; by
   Jeremiah and also by Ezekiel, he proved them guilty, and denounced on them
   the sentence of condemnation. This difference between the teaching of Isaiah
   and that of our Prophet, ought to be noticed. [5] At the same time, that
   Jeremiah’s teaching might not be imperfect, it was God’s purpose that he
   should be also the herald of his grace and of the salvation promised in
   Christ. This exception, however, ought to be borne in mind, that he offered
   them no hope of mercy until they had suffered the punishment due to their
   sins.

   We now then understand what Jeremiah mainly taught: but particulars will be
   better and more distinctly understood by readers by following the course of
   the text. And I do not now treat in general of what is to be found in the
   prophets; for this is what I have done elsewhere. I now then say only, that
   Jeremiah was sent by God to proclaim to the people their last calamity; and
   also to speak to them of their future redemption, and at the same time, ever
   to remind them of the interposition of seventy years in exile. I come now to
   the words.
     _________________________________________________________________

   [5] Scott says that Jeremiah “entered upon the prophetic office almost
   seventy years after the death of Isaiah.” — Ed
     _________________________________________________________________
     _________________________________________________________________

   CHAPTER 1
     _________________________________________________________________

   Jeremiah 1:1-3

   1. The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in
   Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:

   1. Verba Jeremiae filii Helkiae, ex sacerdotibus qui erant in Anathoth, in
   terra Benjamin,

   2. To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon
   king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

   2. Nempe (אשר explicative hic ponitur) fecit sermo Jehovae ad ipsum, in
   diebus Josiea, filii Amon, regis Jehudah, decimo tertio anno regm ejus;

   3. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah,
   unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of
   Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

   3. Et fuit (hoc est, perrexit in, cursum vocationis suae) diebus Joakim,
   filii Josiae, regis Jehudah, usque ad complementum undecimi anni Zedechiae,
   filii Josiae, regis Jehudah, ad transmigrationem Jerusalem, mense quinto.


   I Have said that the time, when Jeremiah began to discharge his office of a
   Prophet in God’s Church, is not stated here without reason, and that it was
   when the state of the people was extremely corrupt, the whole of Religion
   having become vitiated, because the Book of the Law was lost: for nowhere
   else can be found the rule according to which God is to be worshipped; nor
   can right knowledge be obtained from any other source. It was then, at the
   time when impiety had by a long custom prevailed among the Jews, that
   Jeremiah suddenly came forth. There was then laid on his shoulders the
   heaviest burden; for many enemies must have risen to oppose him, when he
   attempted to bring back the people to the pure doctrine of the law, which
   the greater part were then treading under their feet.

   He calls himself the son of Hilkiah The Rabbins think that this Hilkiah was
   the priest by whom the Book of Moses was found five years after: but this
   seems not to me probable. The conjecture also of Jerome is very frivolous,
   who concludes that the Prophet was a boy when he began to prophesy, because
   he calls himself נער (nor,) a child, a little farther on, as though he did
   not use the word metaphorically. [6] At what age he was called to the
   prophetic office, we do not know; it is, however, probable that he was of
   mature age, for it was a work of high authority; and further, had he been a
   youth, doubtless such a miracle would not have been passed over in silence,
   that is, that he was made a prophet before the age of maturity.

   With regard to his father, it is nothing strange that the Rabbins have
   regarded him as the high priest; for we know that they are always prone to
   vain boastings. Ambition possessed them, and hence they have said that
   Jeremiah was the son of the high priest, in order to add to the splendor of
   his character. But what does the Prophet himself say? He declares indeed
   that he was the son of Hilkiah, but does not say that this was the high
   priest; on the contrary he adds, that he was from the priests who were in
   Anathoth in the land of Benjamin Now we know that this was a mean village,
   not far from Jerusalem; and Jeremiah says, that it was in the tribe of
   Benjamin. Its nearness to Jerusalem may be gathered from the words of
   Isaiah, who says that small Anathoth was terrified. (Isaiah 10:30) He
   threatened Jerusalem by saying that the enemy was near.

   “What,” he says, “is your security? Ye can hear the noise of your enemies
   and the groans of your brethren from your very gates; for Anathoth is not
   far from you, being only three miles distant.”

   Since then Jeremiah only says, that he came from Anathoth, why should we
   suppose him to be the sort of the high priest? And frivolous is what the
   Chaldee paraphraser adds here, that Hilkiah had possessions in the town of
   Anathoth, as though it was allowed the priests to possess land: God allowed
   them only what was necessary to feed their flocks. We may then take it as
   certain, and what the Prophet indeed expressly declares, that he came from
   the village of Anathoth. [7]

   He further says, that he was of the priestly order. Hence the prophetic
   office was more suitable to him than to many of the other prophets, such as
   Amos and Isaiah. God took Isaiah from the court, as he was of the royal
   family, and made him a prophet. Amos was in a different situation: he was
   taken from the shepherds, for he was a shepherd. Since God appointed such
   prophets over his Church, he no doubt thus intended to cast a reflection on
   the idleness and sloth of the priests. For, though all the priests were not
   prophets, yet they ought to have been taken from that order; for the
   priestly order was as it were the nursery of the prophets. But when gross
   want of knowledge and ignorance prevailed among them, God chose his prophets
   from the other tribes, and thus exposed and condemned the priests. They
   ought, indeed, to have been the messengers of the God of hosts, so as to
   keep the law in their lips, that the people might seek it from their mouth,
   according to what is said by Malachi. (Malachi 2:7) But as they were dumb
   dogs, God transferred the honor of the prophetic office to others; but
   Jeremiah, as I have already stated, was a prophet as well as a priest.

   He begins in the second verse to speak of his calling. [8] It would have,
   indeed, been to little purpose, had he said that he came forth and brought a
   message; but he explains, in the second verse, that he brought nothing but
   what had been delivered to him by God, as though he had said, that he
   faithfully declared what God had commanded him. For we know that the whole
   authority belongs entirely to God, with regard to the doctrine of religion,
   and that it is not in the power of men to blend this or that, and to make
   the faithful subject to themselves. As God, then, is the only true teacher
   of the Church, whosoever demands to be heard, must prove that he is God’s
   minister. This is, then, what Jeremiah is now carefully doing, for he says
   that the word of Jehovah was given to him.

   He had before said, the words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah; but any one
   of the people might have objected and said, “Why dost thou intrude thyself,
   as though any one is to be heard? for God claims this right to himself
   alone.” Hence Jeremiah, by way of correction, subjoins, that the words were
   his, but that he was not the author of them, but the minister only. He says,
   then, that he only executed what God had commanded, for he had been the
   disciple of God himself, before he undertook the office of a teacher.

   As to the beginning of his time and its termination, it has been briefly
   shewn, why he says that he had been chosen a prophet in the thirteenth year
   of Josiah, and that he discharged his office till the eleventh year of
   Zedekiah.

   Now that Josiah is called the son of Amon, it is doubtful whether Josiah was
   properly his son. Amon began to reign in his twenty-second year, and reigned
   only two years. Josiah succeeded him in the eighth year of his age. If we
   number the years precisely, Josiah must have been born when Amon was in his
   sixteenth year; but it does not appear likely, that Amon was a father when
   he was sixteen years of age, for in this case he must have begotten a son in
   his fifteenth year; as the birth must have taken place nine months after.
   Then Josiah must have been begotten in the fifteenth year of Amon’s age. It
   is hence a probable conclusion, that he was a son by law and not by nature,
   according to what is afterwards said of Zedekiah, that he was Josiah’s son,
   because he was his successor, while he was, as many think, his nephew, a
   brother’s son. But it was a common thing to call the successors of kings
   their sons, who were their sons by law, and not, as I have said, by nature.
   It now follows-
     _________________________________________________________________

   [6] The word does not properly mean a “child,“ as in our version, or
   “puer,“ as rendered by Calvin, but a youth, or rather a young man.
   Abraham’s trained servants were thus called, Genesis 14:24, and his servant
   who dressed the calf for the angels, Genesis 18:7, and his “young men” who
   accompanied him to Mount Moriah, Genesis 22:5. Joshua had this name given
   him, when he was attending Moses at the tabernacle, Exodus 33:11. It is
   rendered “(neōteros)-a youth or a young man,“ by the Septuagint The most
   probable thing is, that he was, not as Adam Clarke supposes, about 14, but a
   young man verging on maturity. The length of time during which he
   prophesied, would lead us to conclude that he was young when he was
   appointed to his office. There are two remarkable resemblances between
   Jeremiah and Moses. They both made an excuse for declining the office to
   which God called them, and made a similar excuse. The other resemblance is
   what Lightfoot has noticed, that Moses was a teacher of the people for forty
   years before they entered the land of Canaan, and that Jeremiah was their
   teacher for forty years before they were banished from it and driven into
   exile. — Ed.

   [7] The reasons alleged against Jeremiah being the son of the high priest
   are by no means conclusive: indeed, all the circumstances being considered,
   the probability is in favor of that supposition. The family of the high
   priest resided no doubt at Anathoth; what is said in 1 Kings 2:26,
   respecting Abiathar, is a proof of this. That the high priest resided at
   Jerusalem during the term of his office forms no objection; nor is the
   genealogy of the high priests as given in 1 Chronicles 6:1-17, any
   objection; for though in verse 13, Azariah is said to be the son of Hilkiah,
   yet Jeremiah might have been one of his younger sons. Most commentators
   agree indeed with Calvin, -Gataker, Henry, Scott, Blayney, etc.; but they
   adduce no satisfactory reasons, sufficient to invalidate the opinion of the
   Rabbins and the intimation contained in the Targum: and this opinion is what
   the translators of the Geneva Bible have adopted. — Ed.

   [8] The second verse begins with אשר which Calvin renders “nempeeven,“ and
   takes it in an exegetic sense: but this is not its meaning. Our version is
   no doubt correct, “to whom;” though there is no preposition before it, it is
   yet found before the personal pronoun “to him,“ that comes afterwards. It is
   an idiom of the language, and the very same exists in Welsh, in which the
   version is literally the same with the Hebrew a relative pronoun without a
   preposition followed by a personal pronoun with a preposition profixed to
   it. It would be literally in English, “whom the word of Jehovah came to
   him.” The Welsh also retains the peculiarity of the Hebrew, in having
   prepositions prefixed to pronouns and attached to them, though this is not
   the case generally with nouns, Yr hwn y daeth gair Jehova atto. The verb
   too, as in the Hebrew, precedes its nominative; “came” is before “the word
   of Jehovah.” It is rather singular that the Septuagint have rendered this
   relative by “hōs — as,” which shews that the Hebrew idiom was not understood
   by them. — Ed.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Jeremiah 1:4-5

   4. Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

   4. Et fuit sermo Jehova ad me dicendo,

   5. Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest
   forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto
   the nations.

   5. Antequam formarem to in utero novi to, et antequam egressus esses e vulva
   sanetificavi to, Prophetam in gentibus constituite.


   Here Jeremiah explains more fully what he had already mentioned that he had
   been called from above, for otherwise he would have presumptuously obtruded
   himself: for no one, as the Apostle says, takes this honor to himself; but
   the call of God alone raises up prophets and teachers to their dignity {see
   Hebrews 5:4}. Hence, that Jeremiah might secure attention, he declares that
   he had been called to the prophetic office, and that by the clear voice of
   God. For this purpose, he says, that this word was given him, Before I
   formed thee in the womb [9] I knew thee He introduces God as the speaker,
   that what he declares might be more emphatical, that it might be of more
   weight and more forcible: for, if he had said simply in his own person, that
   he had been made a prophet by God’s voice, it would not have so much moved
   the hearers; but when he brings forward God as the speaker, there is
   necessarily more weight and force in what is said.

   I pass by here what might be more largely said on what is necessary in
   one’s call, so that he may be attended to by God’s people; for no one, by
   his own and private right, can claim this privilege of speaking, as I have
   already said, inasmuch as this is what belongs to God alone. But I have
   elsewhere spoken at large on the prophetic call; it is therefore enough now
   to point at such things as these as it were by the finger: and particular
   discussions must be sought elsewhere; for were I to dwell at large on every
   subject, my work would be endless. I will, therefore, according to my usual
   practice, give a brief exposition of this Prophet.

   Jeremiah then says, that he had been called by God, for this end, that he
   might on this account gain a hearing from the people. God declares that he
   knew Jeremiah before he formed him in the womb. This is not said specially
   of the Prophet, as though other men are unknown to God, but it is to be
   understood of the prophetic office, as though he had said, “Before I formed
   thee in the womb, I destined thee for this work, even that thou mayest
   undertake the burden of a teacher among the people.” And the second part is
   a repetition, when he says, Before thou camest forth from the womb I
   sanctified thee Sanctification is the same as the knowledge of God: and thus
   we perceive that knowledge is not mere prescience, but that predestination,
   by which God chooses every single individual according to his own will, and
   at the same time appoints and also sanctifies him; for no one, as Paul
   declares, (2 Corinthians 2:16,) is according to his own nature fitted for
   the work. Since then this fitness is the gratuitous gift of God, it is
   nothing strange that God declares that he had sanctified Jeremiah, as though
   he had said, “I formed thee man in the womb, and at the same time appointed
   thee for this particular work; and as it was not in thy power to bring with
   thee a qualification for the prophetic office, I formed thee not only a man,
   but a prophet.” This is the import of the passage.

   But they refine too much, who think that the Prophet was sanctified from the
   womb as John the Baptist was, for the words mean no such thing; but only
   that is testified of Jeremiah, which Paul also affirms respecting himself in
   the first chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians, that he was known by God
   before he was born. Jeremiah then was not actually sanctified in the womb,
   but set apart according to God’s predestination and hidden purpose; that is,
   God chose him then to be a Prophet. It may be asked, whether he was not
   chosen before the creation of the world? To this it may be readily answered,
   that he was indeed foreknown by God before the world was made; but Scripture
   accommodates itself to the measure of our capacities, when it speaks of the
   generation of any one: it is then the same as though God had said of
   Jeremiah, that he was formed man for this end that in due time he might come
   forth a Prophet.

   And no doubt the following clause is added exegetically, A prophet for the
   nations I made thee His sanctification, then, as I have said, was not real,
   but intimated that he was appointed a Prophet before he was born.

   It however seems strange that he was given a Prophet to the nations God
   designed him to be the minister of his Church; for he neither went to the
   Ninevites, as Jonah did, (Jonah 3:3,) nor traveled into other countries, but
   spent his labors only among the tribe of Judah; why then is it said that he
   was given as a Prophet to the nations? To this I answer, that though God
   appointed him especially for his Church, yet his teaching belonged to other
   nations, as we shall presently see, and very evidently, as we proceed; for
   he prophesied concerning the Babylonians, the Egyptians, and the Moabites;
   in short, he included all the nations who were nigh and known to the Jews.
   This was indeed as it were accidental: but though he was given as a Prophet
   especially to his own people, yet his authority extended to heathen nations.
   No doubt nations are mentioned, including many, in order that the power and
   dignity of his teaching might appear more evident. It follows-
     _________________________________________________________________

   [9] More strictly, “in the inside,” or belly, בטן. The specific term for
   womb is in the next sentence, רחם. — Ed
     _________________________________________________________________

   Jeremiah 1:6-7

   6. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.

   6. Et dixi, Ahah, Domine Jehova, ecce non novi loqui, quia puer ego.

   7. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to
   all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

   7. Et dixit Jehova ad me, Ne dicas, Puer ego (id est, sum puer,) quia ad
   quaecunque to misero, ibis, et quaeunque tibi praecepero, loqueris.


   After having spoken of his call, the Prophet adds, that he at first refused
   his office, and he states this for two reasons; first, that he might clear
   himself from every suspicion of rashness, for we know how much ambition
   prevails among men, according to what James intimates, that many wish to be
   teachers, (James 3:1) and there is hardly one who is not anxious to be
   listened to. Since, then, most men too readily assume the office of
   teaching, and many boldly intrude into it, Jeremiah, in order to avoid the
   very suspicion of rashness, informs us that he was constrained to take the
   office. Secondly, he says that he refused the office, that he might gain
   more esteem, and render his disciples more attentive. But why did he refuse
   to obey God, when called to the prophetic function? Because its difficulty
   frightened him: and yet this very reason ought to rouse readers to a greater
   attention, as it no doubt awakened hearers when Jeremiah spoke to them.

   If any one asks, whether Jeremiah acted rightly in refusing what God
   enjoined? the answer is, that God pardoned his servant, for it was not his
   design to reject his call, or to exempt himself from obedience, or to shake
   off the yoke, because he regarded his own leisure, or his own fame, or any
   similar considerations: Jeremiah looked on nothing of this kind; but when he
   thought of himself, he felt, that he was wholly unequal to undertake an
   office so arduous. Hence the excuse that is added is that of modesty. We
   then see that God forgave his timidity, for it proceeded, as we have just
   said, from a right feeling; and we know that from good principles vices
   often arise. But it was yet a laudable thing in Jeremiah, that he thought
   himself not sufficiently qualified to undertake the prophetic office, and
   that he wished to be excused, and that another should be chosen endued with
   more courage and with better qualifications. I shall proceed with what
   remains tomorrow.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Prayer

   Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast not only provided for thine ancient
   Church, by choosing Jeremiah as thy servant, but hast also designed that the
   fruit of his labors should contilme to our age, O grant that we may not be
   unthankful to thee, but that we may so avail ourselves of so great a
   benefit, that the fruit of it may appear in us to the glory of thy name; may
   we learn so entirely to devote ourselves to thy service, and each of us be
   so attentive to the work of his calling, that we may strive with united
   hearts to promote the honor of thy name, and also the kingdom of thine only
   — begotten Son, until we finish our warfare, and come at length into that
   celestial rest, which has been obtained for us by the blood of thine only
   Son. Amen.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Second

   We mentioned yesterday the reason why Jeremiah refused the office of
   teaching, even because he thought himself unequal to the work; and for this
   reason he called himself a child, not in age, but in knowledge. Hence the
   word “child” is to be taken metaphorically; for thereby the Prophet
   confessed that he was not sufficiently qualified as to knowledge and
   practice. Some, as I have said, have unwisely applied this to his age.
   Though then he was of a mature age, yet he called himself a child, because
   of his unskillfulness, and because he possessed not the gifts necessary for
   an office so important. [10]

   Now follows the answer given to him, Say not, I am a child; for thou shalt
   go, etc. God not only predicts here what the Prophet was to do, but declares
   also what he designed him to do, and what he required from him, as though he
   had said, “It is thy duty to obey, because I have the right to command: thou
   must, therefore, go wheresoever I shall send thee, and thou must also
   proclaim whatsoever I shall command thee.” By these words God reminds him
   that he was his servant, and that there was no reason why a sense of his own
   weakness should make him afraid; for it ought to have been enough for him
   simply to obey his command.

   And it is especially necessary to know this doctrine: for as we ought to
   undertake nothing without considering what our strength is, so when God
   enjoins anything, we ought, immediately to obey his word as it were with
   closed eyes. Prudence is justly praised by writers; and it is what ought to
   be attended to by all generally; they ought to consider what the shoulders
   can bear, and cannot bear. For whence is it that many have so much audacity
   and boldness, except that they hurry on through extreme self — confidence?
   Hence, in all undertakings, this should be the first thing, that every one
   should weigh well his own strength, and take in hand what comports with the
   measure of his capacity. Then no one would foolishly obtrude himself, and
   arrogate to himself more than what is right. But when God calls us, we ought
   to obey, however deficient we may in all things be: and this is what we
   learn from what God says here, Say not, I am a child; that is, “though thou,
   indeed, thinkest thyself destitute of every qualification, though thou art
   conscious of thine own weakness, yet thou shalt go, thou must go wheresoever
   I shall send thee.” God, then, requires this honor to be simply conceded to
   him, that men should obey his commands, though the qualification necessary
   to execute them be wanting. It afterwards follows —
     _________________________________________________________________

   [10] The words admit of two meanings. לא-ידעתי דבר-I have not known word,
   or, I know not word. The phrase may signify, I have no word to say, or, I
   know not how to say a word. The first meaning is what the context seems to
   countenance. The answer given to him refers to his two objections — that he
   had no word to say, and that he was a young man. The last is first answered,
   according to the usual mode of writing adopted by the prophets, “To every
   one whom I shall send thee to, thou shalt go;” and then the first objection
   is removed, “and everything that I shall command thee, thou shalt speak.”
   The answer goes on, and refers to the points in the same order, “Fear
   not;” and then to remedy the want complained of; Jehovah is represented as
   putting his words in his mouth, so that he might have what was necessary for
   him to say. God promised courage though he was young, and gave him a message
   to deliver: thus his two objections were removed. We meet with a similar
   phrase in Jeremiah 6:15; Jeremiah 8:12, which is, literally, “and shame they
   know not.” — Ed.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Jeremiah 1:8

   8. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith
   the LORD.

   8. Ne timeas a facie ipsorum, quia tecum ego (id est, ego sum tecum) ad
   eripiendum to, dicit Jehova.


   We may learn from this verse that Jeremiah, when he observed the heavy and
   hard conflicts he had to undertake, was greatly disturbed; for he had not
   courage enough firmly and boldly to assail enemies so many and so violent.
   He indeed saw, that he had to do with a degenerated people, who had almost
   all departed from the law of God: and since they had for many years shaken
   off the yoke, and were petulantly exulting in their freedom, it was
   difficult to bring them back to obedience, and to a right course of life. It
   hence appears that the Prophet was restrained by this difficulty, so as not
   to venture to undertake the prophetic office. But God applied a suitable
   remedy to his fear; for what does he say? Fear not their face It appears,
   then, that when Jeremiah said that he was a child, he had in view, as I have
   already hinted, the difficulty of the undertaking; he could hardly bear to
   carry on contests so severe with that rebellious people, who had now become
   hardened in their wickedness. We hence see how he refused, in an indirect
   manner, the burden laid on him, for he ventured, not openly and ingenuously,
   and in plain words, to confess how the matter was; but God, who penetrates
   into the hearts of men, and knows all their hidden feelings and motives,
   heals his timidity by saying, Fear not their face. [11]

   Now this passage shews that corruptions had so prevailed among the chosen
   people, that no servant of God could peaceably perform his office. When
   prophets and teachers have to do with a teachable people, they have no need
   to fight: but when there is no fear of God, and no regard for him, yea, when
   men are led away by the violence of their lusts, no godly teacher can
   exercise his duty without being prepared for war. This, then, is what God
   intimates, when he bids his Prophet to be courageous; for he saw that there
   would be as many enemies as professed themselves to be the children of
   Abraham.

   The reason, also, for boldness and confidence, that is added, ought to be
   noticed, For I am with thee to deliver thee By these words God reminds the
   Prophet, that there would be sufficient protection in his power, so that he
   had no need to dread the fury of his own nation. It was, indeed, at first, a
   formidable undertaking, when Jeremiah saw that he had to carry on war, not
   with a few men, but with the whole people; but God sets himself in
   opposition to all men, and says, I am with thee, [12] fear not. We hence see
   that due honor is then conceded to God, when being content with his defense
   we disregard the fury of men, and hesitate not to contend with all the
   ungodly, yea, though they may rise up in a mass against us: and were their
   forces and power the strongest, we ought yet to feel assured that the
   defense of God alone is sufficient to protect us. This is the full meaning
   of the passage. It now follows-
     _________________________________________________________________

   [11] The proper rendering is, “Fear not before them,” or, on their account:
   סמני is invariably a preposition, before, from before, because of, on
   account of, for, by, through; Deuteronomy 2:21; Exodus 14:19; Deuteronomy
   7:19; Jeremiah 6:13; and it is often, though not always, so rendered in our
   version. The very same phrase is found in Joshua 11:6, and rendered, “Be not
   afraid, because of them;” and also in this book, Jeremiah 41:18, “They were
   afraid of them.” It may, indeed, be rendered, “Fear them not,” or, “Be not
   afraid of them.” To introduce “face” or “faces” is by no means right.
   Gataker’s rendering is, “Fear not before them;” and Blayney’s, “Be not thou
   afraid because of them.” — Ed

   [12] “Earthly kings and sovereigns,” observes Gataker on this verse, “are
   not wont to go with those whom they send on embassage; God goeth along with
   those whom he sends, and is by his powerful protection, at all times and in
   all places, present with them.” — Ed.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Jeremiah 1:9-10

   9. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said
   unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

   9. Et extendit Jehova manum suam, et tetigit os meum; et dixit Jehova ad me,
   Ecce posui verba mea in ore tuo:

   10. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to
   root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and
   to plant.

   10. Vide, constitui to (vel, praefeci) hodie super gentes et super regna, ad
   evellendum et ad destruendum et ad eruendum et ad perdendum, ad aedificandum
   et ad plantandum.


   Here Jeremiah speaks again of his calling, that his doctrine might not be
   despised, as though it proceeded from a private individual. He, therefore,
   testifies again, that he came not of himself, but was sent from above, and
   was invested with the authority of a prophet. For this purpose he says, that
   God’s words were put in his mouth.

   This passage ought to be carefully observed; for Jeremiah briefly describes
   how a true call may be ascertained, when any one undertakes the office of a
   teacher in the Church: it is ascertained even by this when he brings nothing
   of his own, according to what Peter says in his first canonical epistle,

   “Let him who speaks, speak as the oracles of God,”
   (1 Peter 4:11)

   that is, let him not speak doubtingly, as though he introduced his own
   glosses; but let him boldly, and without hesitation, speak in the name of
   God. So also Jeremiah in this place, in order that he might demand to be
   heard, plainly declares that the words of God were put in his mouth. Let us,
   then, know, that whatever proceeds from the wit of man, ought to be
   disregarded; for God wills this honor to be conceded to him alone, as it was
   stated yesterday, to be heard in his own Church. It hence follows, that none
   ought to be acknowledged as God’s servants, that no prophets or teachers
   ought to be counted true and faithful, except those through whom God speaks,
   who invent nothing themselves, who teach not according to their own fancies,
   but faithfully deliver what God has committed to them.

   A visible symbol was added, that there might be a stronger confirmation: but
   there is no reason to make this a general rule, as though it were necessary
   that the tongues of all teachers should be touched by the hand of God. There
   are here two things — the thing itself, and the external sign. As to the
   thing itself, a rule is prescribed to all God’s servants, that they bring
   not their own inventions, but simply deliver, as from hand to hand, what
   they have received from God. But it was a special thing as to Jeremiah, that
   God, by stretching out his hand, touched his mouth; it was, that he might
   openly shew that his mouth was consecrated to himself. It is therefore
   sufficient as to the ministers of the word, that their tongues be
   consecrated to God, so that they may not mix any of their own fictions with
   his pure doctrine. But it was God’s will, as to Jeremiah, to add also the
   visible signs of the thing itself, by extending his hand and touching his
   mouth.

   God having now shewn that Jeremiah’s mouth was consecrated to himself, and
   separated from common and profane use, proceeds to invest him with power:
   See, he says, I have set thee this day over nations and over kingdoms By
   these words God shews how reverently he would have his word received, even
   when conveyed by frail mortals. There is no one who pretends not, that he
   desires to obey God, but yet hardly one in a hundred really receives his
   word. For as soon as he speaks, almost all raise a clamor; or if they dare
   not furiously, and in a hostile manner, oppose it, we yet see how some evade
   it, and others secretly oppose it. The authority, then, which God ascribes
   to his own word, ought to be noticed by us: Behold, I have set thee over
   nations and kingdoms

   Farther, by saying, See, I have set thee, he encourages the Prophet to be
   magnanimous in spirit. He was to remember his calling, and not timidly or
   servilely to flatter men, or to shew indulgence to their lusts and passions:
   See, he says. We may hence perceive, that teachers cannot firmly execute
   their office except they have the majesty of God before their eyes, so that
   in comparison with him they may disregard whatever splendor, pomp, or power
   there may be in men. Experience indeed teaches us, that the sight of men,
   whatever dignity they may possess, be it the least, brings fear with it. Why
   are prophets and teachers sent? That they may reduce the world to order:
   they are not to spare their hearers, but freely reprove them whenever there
   may be need; they are also to use threatenings when they find men perverse.
   But when there is any dignity connected with men, the teacher dares not to
   offend; he is afraid of those who are invested with power, or who possess
   wealth, or a high character for prudence, or who are endued with great
   honors. In such cases there is no remedy, except teachers set God before
   their eyes, and regard him to be himself the speaker. They may thus with
   courageous and elevated minds look down on whatever height and pre —
   eminence there may be among mortals. This, then, is the object of what God
   says here, See, I have set thee over nations and kingdoms; for he shews that
   there is so much authority in his word, that whatever is high and exalted on
   earth is made subject to it; even kings are not excepted.

   But what God has joined together let no man separate. (Matthew 19:6; Mark
   10:9) God indeed extols here his Prophets above the whole world, and even
   above kings; but he has previously said, Behold, I have put my words, in thy
   mouth; so that whosoever claims such a power, must necessarily bring forth
   the word of God, and really prove that he is a prophet, and that he
   introduces no fictions of his own. And hence we see how fatuitous is the
   boasting of the Pope, and of his filthy clergy, when they wickedly dare to
   appropriate to themselves what is here said. “We are, “they say, “above both
   kings and nations.” By what right? “God hath thus spoken by the Prophet
   Jeremiah.” But these two things are to be joined together — I have put my
   words in thy mouth, and, I have set thee over nations and kingdoms Now let
   the Pope shew that he is furnished with the word of God, that he claims for
   himself nothing that is his own, of apart from God; in a word, that he
   introduces nothing of his own devices, and we shall willingly allow that he
   is pre — eminent above the whole world. For God is not to be separated from
   his word: as his majesty shines eminently above the whole world, yea, and
   above all the angels of heaven; so there is the same dignity belonging to
   his word. But as these swine and dogs are empty of all true doctrine and
   piety, what effrontery it is, yea, what stupidity, to boast that they have
   authority over kings and nations! We, in short, see from the context, that
   men are not here so much extolled, though they be true ministers of
   celestial truth, as the truth itself; for God ascribes here the highest
   authority to his own word, though its ministers were men of no repute, poor
   and despised, and having nothing splendid connected with them. The purpose
   for which this was said I have already explained; it was, that true prophets
   and teachers may take courage, and thus boldly set themselves against kings
   and nations, when armed with the power of celestial truth.

   He then adds, To root up, to destroy, to pull down, to lay waste God seems
   here to have designedly rendered odious his own word and the ministry of the
   Prophet; for the word of God in the mouth of Jeremiah could not have been
   acceptable to the Jews, except they perceived that it was for their safety
   and welfare: but God speaks here of ruin and destruction, of cutting down
   and desolation. But he subjoins, to build and to plant God then ascribes two
   effects to his word, that on the one hand it destroys, pulls down, lays
   waste, cuts off; and that on the other it plants and builds

   But it may, however, be rightly asked, why does God at first speak of ruin
   and extermination? The order would have seemed better had he said first, I
   set thee to build and to plant, according to what is said by Paul, who
   declares that vengeance was prepared by him and the other teachers against
   all despisers, and against all the height of the world, when your obedience,
   he says, shall be completed. (2 Corinthians 10:5, 6.) Paul then intimates
   that the doctrine of the gospel is properly, and in the first place,
   designed for this end — to call men to the service of God. But Jeremiah here
   puts rhin and destruction before building and planting. It then seems, as I
   have said, that he acts inconsistently. But we must ever bear in mind what
   the state of the people was: for impiety, perverseness, and hardened
   iniquity had for so long a time prevailed, that it was necessary to begin
   with ruin and eradication; for Jeremiah could not have planted or have built
   the temple of God, except he had first destroyed, pulled down, laid waste,
   and cut off. How so? Because the Devil had erected there his palace; for as
   true religion had been for many years despised, the Devil was there placed,
   as it were, on his high throne, and reigned uncontrolled at Jerusalem, and
   through the whole land of Judea. How, then, could he have built there a
   temple for God, in which he might be purely worshipped, except ruin and
   destruction had preceded? for the Devil had corrupted the whole land. We
   indeed know that all kinds of wickedness then prevailed everywhere, as
   though the land had been filled with thorns and briers. Jeremiah then could
   not have planted or sown his heavenly doctrine until the land had been
   cleansed from so many vices and pollutions. This is no doubt the reason why
   in the first place he speaks of cutting off and ruin, of exterminating and
   eradicating, and afterwards adds planting and building.

   The heap of words employed shews how deep impiety and the contempt of God
   had fixed their roots. God might have said only, I have set thee to pull
   down and to destroy; he might have been content with two words, as in the
   latter instance — to plant and to build. But as the Jews had been obstinate
   in their wickedness, as their insolence had been so great, they could not be
   corrected immediately, nor in one day, nor by a slight effort. Hence God
   accumulated words, and thus encouraged his Prophet to proceed with unwearied
   zeal in the work of clearing away the filth which had polluted the whole
   land. We now then understand what is here said, and the purpose of using so
   many words. [13]

   But he speaks again of kingdoms and nations; for though Jeremiah was given
   as a Prophet especially to his own nation, yet he was also a Prophet to
   heathen nations, as they say, by accident, according to what we shall
   hereafter see: and it seems that, God designedly mentioned nations and
   kingdoms, in order to humble the pride of that people who thought themselves
   exempt from all reproof. Hence he says, that he gave authority to his
   servant, not only over Judea, but also over the whole world; as though he
   had said, “Ye are but a small portion of mankind; raise not then your horns
   against my servant, as ye shall do this without effect; for he shall
   exercise power not only over Judea, but also over all nations, and even over
   kings, as the doctrine which I have deposited with him is of such force and
   power that it will stand eminent above all mortals, much more above one
   single nation.”

   We at the same time see that though the treachery of men constrains God to
   use severity, yet he never forgets his own nature, and kindly invites to
   repentance those who are not wholly past remedy, and offers to them the hope
   of pardon and of salvation; and this is what celestial truth ever includes.
   For though it be the odour of death unto death to those who perish, it is
   yet the odor of life unto life to the elect of God. It indeed often happens
   that the greater part turn the doctrine of salvation to their ruin; yet God
   never suffers all to perish. He therefore makes the truth the incorruptible
   seed of life to his elect, and builds them up as his temples. This is what
   we must bear in mind. And so there is no reason why the truth of God should
   be disliked by us, though it be the occasion of perdition to many; for it
   always brings salvation to the elect: it so plants them, that they strike
   roots into the hope of a blessed immortality, and then it builds them for
   holy temples unto God. It now follows —
     _________________________________________________________________

   [13] The whole of this verse is arranged according to the usual manner of
   the Prophets. The word “nations” comes first, and then “kingdoms.” Three
   lines follow; the first word in each line refers to “kingdoms,” and the last
   to “nations.” The ו, vau, in the second line is omitted in many copies, and
   there seems to be no need of it; and it is not true what Blayney says, that
   there are MSS. which supply the ו before the last line, though it be
   supplied by the Septuagint To preserve the distinct meaning of each verb, I
   offer the following rendering: — See, I have set thee this day
   Over nations and over kingdoms,
   To root up, and to break down,
   To destroy, and to erase,
   To build up, and to plant. He was to root up kingdoms, and to break down
   nations; then he adds stronger words, for he was to destroy, or wholly to
   destroy kingdoms, and to erase or to obliterate nations. The reason for the
   repetition is well stated by Calvin. As to his other work, two words only
   are used: he was to build up kingdoms, and to plant nations. A nation, of
   course, exists before a kingdom, and this order is observed in the second
   line; but the order, as it is usual with the sacred writers, not only of the
   Old, but also of the New Testament, is then reversed. See an instance in
   Romans 10:9, 10, where indeed the true order is given last, the ostensible
   act being in the first instance stated, and then the principle from which it
   proceeds. — Ed.}
     _________________________________________________________________

   Jeremiah 1:11-12

   11. Moreover, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what
   seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.

   11. Et (hoc est, postea) factus est sermo Jehovae ad me (datus est mihi,
   fuit, ad verbum,) dicendo, Quid tu vides, Jeremia? Et dixi, Baculum vigilis
   (aut, amigdali) ego video.

   12. Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my
   word to perform it.

   12. Et dixit Jehova ad me, Bene fecisti ad videndam (hoc est, recte
   vidisti,) quia vigilo (aut, festino, vigilans ego, ad verbum) super sermonem
   meum ut ipsum faciam (hoc est, ut compleam.)


   God confirms in this passage what he had previously said of the power of his
   word. These two verses, then, are to be taken as explanatory, for no new
   subject is introduced; but the former part is confirmed — that the Prophets
   spoke not in vain, or to no purpose, because they were invested with
   celestial power to plant and to build, and, on the other hand, to pull down
   and to root up, according to what we have quoted from Paul, who says that
   true teachers are armed with such power. (2 Corinthians 10:5, 6) We have in
   readiness, he says, vengeance against all the unbelieving, however proud
   they may be: and though their height may terrify the whole world, yet we
   have a sword in our hands which will stay them; for God’s word has
   sufficient power to destroy the rebellious.

   God then proceeds with the same subject when he says, What seest thou,
   Jeremiah? He had set before him a staff or a rod of almond, as some render
   the word: and שקר, shaked, means an almond; but as it comes from a verb
   which means to watch or to hasten, we cannot fitly render it here, almond. I
   do not, however, deny that the Hebrew word has this meaning. But it is
   written here with Kamets; the participle which afterwards follows has Holem:
   we hence see what affinity there is between the two words. The word שקר,
   shaked, an almond, is derived from the verb, שקר, shakad, to watch; and it
   has been thought that this tree is so called, because it brings forth fruit
   earlier than other trees; for almonds, as it is well known, flower even in
   winter, and in the coldest seasons. Now, were we to say in Latin, I see a
   rod or a staff of almond; and were the answer given, Thou hast rightly seen,
   for I watch, the allusion in the words would not appear, the sentence would
   lose its beauty, and there would indeed be no meaning. It is hence necessary
   to give another version, except we wish to pervert the passage, and to
   involve the Prophet’s meaning in darkness. It should be, “I see the rod, “or
   the staff, “of a watcher.” Let us grant that the almond is intended; yet the
   tree may be called watchful, according to what etymology requires, and also
   the sense of the passage, as all must see. [14]

   God then caused his servant to see the staff of a watcher. For what purpose?
   The answer is given: Thou hast rightly seen the staff of a watcher, because
   I watch over my word to execute (or, fulfill) it Interpreters seem to have
   unwisely confined this to the punishments afterwards mentioned: they think
   that what is intimated is, that the threatenings which the Prophet announced
   would not be without effect, because God was prepared to inflict whatever he
   would denounce. But this, as I think, is too restricted a view; for God, I
   have no doubt, extols here his own word, and speaks of its accomplishment;
   as though he had said, that he spoke not by his servants, that what they
   said might vanish into air, or fall to the ground, but that power would
   accompany it, according to what is said in Isaiah,

   “Not return shall my word to me empty, but shall prosper in all things,”
   (Isaiah 55:11)

   that is, “I will cause the prophetic doctrine to take effect, that the whole
   world may know that I have not spoken in vain, and that my word is not an
   empty sound, but that it has real power, which in due time will appear.”

   Hence I have said that these verses ought to be connected with the last, in
   which God said, that he sent his Prophet to root up and to plant, to
   demolish and to build. He then gives a proof of this in other words, and
   says that he would watch over his word, that he might execute whatever he
   had announced by his servants; as though he had said, “I indeed allot their
   parts (so to speak) to the prophets; but as they speak from my mouth, I am
   present with them to fulfill whatever I command them.” In short, God
   intimates that the might and the power of his hand would be connected with
   the word, of which the prophets were ministers among men. Thus it is a
   general declaration which refers not only to punishments, but also to
   promises. Rightly, then, hast thou seen, he says; for I am watching.

   God does not here resign his own office to Jeremiah, though he employs him
   as his teacher; for he shews that the power to accomplish what the Prophet
   would declare remained with him. God indeed does not here ascribe to
   Jeremiah anything as his own, or apart from himself, but sets forth only the
   power of his word; as though he had said, “Provided thou be my faithful
   minister, I will not frustrate thy hope, nor the hope of those who shall
   obey thee; for I will fulfill whatever thou and they may justly hope for:
   nor shall they escape unpunished who shall resist thee; for I will in due
   time bring on them the punishment they deserve.”

   He therefore uses the word to watch, or to hasten, in order to shew that he
   stood ready to give effect to his word at the appointed time. The effect
   does not indeed always appear to us: it is on this account said by Habakkuk,
   that if prophecy delays, we are to wait;

   “for it will not be,” he says,
   “beyond its time; but coming it will come.” (Habakkuk. 2:3)

   God then bids us with quiet minds to wait for the accomplishment of his
   word; but he afterwards adds, in order to modify what he had said, “coming
   it will come;” that is, “I will accomplish and really perform whatever my
   prophets have spoken by my command.” So there shall be no delay, for the
   suitable time depends on God’s will, and not on the judgment of men. It then
   follows, — but as the clock strikes, I cannot proceed farther today.
     _________________________________________________________________

   [14] The word is rendered “a rod of almond” by the Septuagint, the Arabic
   version, and Theodotion; and also by Piscator, Drusius, Grotius, and
   Blayney; and “the rod of the watcher” by Sym., Aq., and the Vulgate The
   latter is no doubt more suitable in a translation. Some conclude, from what
   is related in Numbers 17, that the head of each tribe carried a wand or a
   staff made of the almond tree as a token of watchfulness: if so, the
   probability is, that this wand was presented to the view of the Prophet. It
   being a well-known emblem of watchfulness, and called perhaps the watchful
   rod or staff, it was most suitable to the purposes here designed. The verb
   שקד does not mean to hasten, but to watch, or to be awake. Then the version
   of the passage would be the following: - 11. And the word of Jehovah came to
   me, saying, “What seest thou, Jeremiah?” and I said, “The rod of a watcher
   is what I see.” 12. Then Jehovah said to me, “Thou seest rightly, for I am
   watching over my word to do it.” — Ed.
     _________________________________________________________________

   PRAYER

   Grant, Almighty God, that since thou art pleased kindly to invite us to
   thyself, and hast consecrated thy word for our salvation, — O grant that we
   may willingly, and from the heart, obey thee, and become so teachable, that
   what thou hast designed for our salvation may not turn to our perdition; but
   may that incorruptible seed by which thou dost regenerate us into a hope of
   the celestial life so drive its roots into our hearts, and bring forth
   fruit, that thy name may be glorified; and may we be so planted in the
   courts of thine house, that we may grow and flourish, and that fruit may
   appear through the whole course of our life, until we shall at length enjoy
   that blessed life which is laid up for us in heaven, through Christ our
   Lord. — Amen.

     _________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Third
     _________________________________________________________________

   Jeremiah 1:13-14

   13. And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What
   seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward
   the north.

   13. Et fuit sermo Jehovae ad me secundo, dicendo, Quid tu rides? Et dixi,
   Ollam ferventem ego video, facies ejus a facie Aquilonis.

   14. Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth
   upon all the inhabitants of the land.

   14. Et dixit Jehova ad me, Ab Aquilone aperietur (alii vertunt, pendetur;
   alii, solvetur; erumpet, proprie) malum super cunctos habitatores terrae.


   Jeremiah begins now to address the people to whom he was sent as a Prophet.
   He has hitherto spoken of his calling, that the authority of his doctrine
   might be evident: and he spoke generally; but now he accommodates his
   teaching specially to the people. Hence he says, that he had a vision, and
   saw a boiling-pot, whose face was towards the north. By God asking, and the
   Prophet answering, the design was to confirm the prediction; for if it had
   been only said that he saw a boiling-pot, and if an explanation of the
   metaphor had been given, there would not have been so much force and weight
   in the narrative. But when God is set forth as being present, and explaining
   what the boiling-pot signified, the prediction becomes more certain: and the
   Prophet no doubt gave this narrative, in order to shew that God, being as it
   were present, thereby proved himself to he the Author of this prophecy.

   Now the import of the whole is, that the Chaldeans would come to overthrow
   the city Jerusalem, to take away and abolish all the honor and dignity both
   of the kingdom and of the priesthood.

   This indeed had been previously announced by Isaiah as well as by other
   prophets; but all their threatenings had been despised. While indeed Isaiah
   was living, the king of Babylon had secured the friendship of Hezekiah; and
   the Jews thought that his protection had been opportunely obtained against
   the Assyrians. But they did not consider that the hearts of men are ruled by
   the hand of God, and are turned as he pleases: nor did they consider that
   they had for many years provoked God, and that he was become their enemy.
   Since, then, all threatening had been despised and regarded with derision,
   Jeremiah came forth and declared, that the northern nations would come, the
   Assyrians as well as the Chaldeans. For we know that the one monarchy had
   been swallowed up by the other; and the Chaldeans ruled over the Assyrians;
   and thus it happened that the whole eastern empire, with the exception of
   the Medes and Persians, had passed over to them; and with respect to Judea,
   they were northward. Hence the Prophet says, that he saw a boiling-pot,
   having its face towards the north.

   By the pot many understand the king of Babylon; but they seem not rightly to
   understand what the Prophet says: and I could easily disprove their
   interpretation, but I shall be satisfied with a simple statement of what is
   true; and the meaning will become evident as we proceed. The pot, then, as
   it will be presently seen more clearly, is the nation of the Jews: I say
   this now, as I do not wish to heap together too many things. They are said
   to be like a boiling-pot, because the Lord, as it were, boiled them, until
   they were reduced almost to nothing. It is said also, that the face of the
   pot was towards the north; because there, as Jeremiah immediately explains,
   was the fire kindled. And the comparison is very apposite; for when a pot is
   set on the fire, it boils on that side nearest the fire, and all the scum
   passes over to the other side. Hence he says that it boiled, but so that its
   mouth was on the north side; for there was the fire, and there was the
   blowing. In short, God intended to shew to his Prophet, that the people were
   like flesh which is cast into the pot, boiled, and afterwards burnt, or
   reduced after a long time almost to nothing. The Prophet saw the mouth or
   the face of the boiling-pot, and on the side on which it boiled it looked
   towards the north; hence God, the interpreter of the vision which he
   presented to his servant, answers and says, From the north shall break forth
   evil on all the inhabitants of the land, that is, of Judea. In these words
   God declares, that the fire was already kindled by the Chaldeans and the
   Assyrians, by which he would boil, as it were, his people like flesh, and at
   length wholly consume them, as it is commonly the case, when the flesh
   remains in the pot, and the fire is continually burning, and blowing is also
   added; the flesh must necessarily be reduced to nothing when thus boiled or
   seethed. [15]

   And thus God testifies that the fire was already kindled in Chaldea and
   Assyria, which was not only to boil the Jews, but also reduce them to
   nothing. And then he expresses the same in other words — that evil would
   come from the north upon all the Jews. We shall hereafter see that there is
   presented here a brief summary of the truth which was committed to Jeremiah;
   at least it is a summary of one half of it; for God designed also to provide
   for his own elect; and he thus terrified them, that they might be subdued,
   and submit to him, and not that they might abandon themselves to despair. At
   the same time, this half of the prediction was — that there was no hope of
   pardon, because the Jews had with extreme obstinacy provoked God’s wrath,
   and had so abused his patience, that their impiety could no longer be
   tolerated. Hence, what other prophets had denounced Jeremiah now confirms
   more strongly, and points it out, as it were, by the finger. It afterwards
   follows —
     _________________________________________________________________

   [15] Most agree with Calvin, that the pot means the Jewish nation; so the
   learned Gataker in the Ass. Ann., Grotius, Henry, and Scott. There is some
   difference as to “its face.” The first of these authors, followed by the two
   last, thinks that the face means the front of the fire or the hearth, and
   therefore the front of the pot. This face or front was towards the north,
   signifying that the fuel and the blowing would be from that quarter, as it
   is afterwards stated. As to the metaphor, the pot, or cauldron, see Ezekiel
   11:3, 7; 24:3, 5. The version of the Geneva Bible is, “I see a seething-pot
   looking out of the north;” and the Chaldean army is regarded as the pot: and
   Blayney, following the marginal reading of our version, has given a similar
   rendering, “and the face thereof is turned from the north.” But מפני is a
   preposition, and rendered often, “from before,” and, “before,” (see [2]note
   on verse 8;) and to say that its face was before the north means the same as
   towards the north: and this is the rendering of Jun. and Trem , and
   Piscator, “versus Aquilonem.” “The boiling-pot” is a pot “kindled
   under-hupokaiomenon,” by the Sept The literal rendering of סיר נפוח is, “a
   pot blown,“ meaning the fire under it. It was a pot set on a fire that was
   blown, and the front of it was toward the north, from whence the blowing
   came. The same word as a noun is used by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 6:29, and
   signifies an instrument for blowing, and is rendered “bellows” in our
   version. It was then a pot set on a fire that was blown, which intimated the
   severe calamities which the Jews were soon to endure, as Grotius observes.
   — Ed.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Jeremiah 1:15

   15. For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north,
   saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne
   at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof
   round about, and against all the cities of Judah.

   15. Quoniam ecce ego voco omnes familias regnorum Aquilonis, dicit Jehova,
   et venient; ponent quisque solium suum in ostio postarum Jerosolymae, et
   super omnes muros ejus in circuitu, et super omnes urbes Jehudah.


   This verse contains an explanation of the last; for God more dearly and more
   specifically expresses what he had before referred to — that the evil would
   come from the north. He says that he would be the sender of this evil, and
   speaks thus of it: Behold, I call all the families of the kingdoms of the
   north The prediction would not have been so effectual had not this
   declaration been expressly added — that the Chaldeans would come by the
   authority of God; for men are ever wont to ascribe to fortune whatever takes
   place: and we shall hereafter see in the Book of Lamentations (Lamentations
   3:37, 38) that the Jews were so besotted, that in their calamities they
   attributed to the events of fortune the destruction of the temple and city,
   and the ruin of the kingdom. Hence God sharply expostulated with them,
   because they were so blind in a matter so clear, and did not acknowledge his
   judgments. The Prophet, then, after having testified that the evil would
   come from the north, now adds, that this evil would by no means be by
   chance, but through that war which the Chaldeans would bring on them; that
   God would be the chief commander, who would gather soldiers from all parts,
   and prepare an army to destroy the Jews.

   The Prophet uses the word, to cry: Behold, he says, I will cry to all the
   kindreds, or families, etc. [16] God employs various modes of speaking, when
   he intends to teach us that all nations are in his hand, and subject to his
   will, so that he can excite wars whenever it pleases him. He says, “Behold,
   I will hiss (or whistle) for the Egyptians;” and he compares them sometimes
   to bees. (Isaiah 5:26; Isaiah 7:18.) Again, in another place he says,
   “Behold, I will blow with the trumpet, and assemble shall the Assyrians.”
   All these modes of speaking are intended to shew, that though men make a
   great stir, and disturb the whole world, yet God directs all things by his
   sovereign power, and that nothing takes place except under his guidance and
   authority. We then see that the Prophet does not speak as an historian; nor
   does he simply predict what was to be, but also adds a doctrine or a great
   truth. It would have been a naked prediction only, had he said, “An evil
   shall break forth from the north: “but he now, as I have already said,
   performs the office of a teacher, that his prediction might be useful, and
   says that God would be the chief commander in that war: Behold, then, I will
   cry to all the families [17] of the kingdoms of the north.

   There was then indeed but one monarchy; but as the self — confidence of the
   Jews was so great, and hence their sottishness, so that they dreaded no
   evil, God, in order to arouse them, says that he would assemble all the
   families of the kingdoms: and doubtless those belonged to many kingdoms whom
   God brought together against the Jews. A regard also was had to that vain
   confidence which the Jews entertained, in thinking that the Egyptians would
   be ever ready to supply them with help. As, then, they were wont to set up
   the Egyptians as their shield, or even as a mountain, God here exposes their
   folly, — that trusting in the Egyptians, they thought themselves
   sufficiently fortified against the power and arms of the whole Chaldean
   monarchy. For these reasons, then, he mentions the families, and then the
   kingdoms, of the north.

   It follows, And they shall come, and set each (man, literally) his throne
   [18] at the entrance of the gates The Prophet here means that the power of
   the Chaldeans would be such, that they would boldly pitch their tents before
   the gates, and not only so, but would also close up the smaller gates, for
   he mentions the doors (ostia) of the gates [19] And by speaking of each of
   them, he meant the more sharply to touch the Jews: for they, relying on the
   help of Egypt, thought themselves capable of resisting, while yet the
   Chaldeans, who had conquered the Assyrians, would be irresistible. Hence he
   says, that not only the army itself would encamp before the gates, but that
   each individual would fix himself there, and set up his tent as in a place
   of safety. In short, God intimates that the Chaldeans and Assyrians would be
   victorious, that they would entirely rule and rest themselves as at their
   own homes, in the fields and before the gates of the city Jerusalem. These
   things are afterwards more distinctly expressed, and many circumstances are
   added: but God intended at first to announce this declaration, that the Jews
   might know that it would be all over with them.

   He then says, On its walls around, and on all the cities of Judah The
   Prophet here declares, that the whole country would be laid waste, as though
   he had said, “The Jews in vain trust to their own resources, and help from
   others, for God will fight against them; and as the Chaldeans and the
   Assyrians shall be armed by him, they shall be victorious, whatever force
   the Jews may oppose to them.” It follows —
     _________________________________________________________________

   [16] Perhaps the more literal rendering would be, “I will call to,” or for.
   The version of Septuagint is, “sunkalō-I will summon;” of Vatablus,
   “invitabo — I will invite;” of Piscator, “vocabo — I will call;” and of
   Blayney, “I will call for.” — Ed

   [17] They are called “families,“ say some, because kings are called fathers;
   but probable it is a mode of speaking retained from primitive times, as we
   find that those called “families” in Genesis 12:3, are called “nations” in
   Genesis 22:18. — Ed.

   [18] The original word, כסא, not only means a throne, but a seat; see 1
   Samuel 1:9; 1 Samuel 4:18; and 2 Kings 4:10, where it is rendered in our
   version “a stool.” Grotius renders it here “praetorium castrense — a camp’s
   tent.” The “throne” is derived from the Septuagint. — Ed

   [19] Literally it is “The opening of the gates.” The preposition at is not
   in the original; and the word in some other places is found without it. See
   Genesis 19:11; Genesis 43:17. The preposition epi is given by the
   Septuagint, “epi ta prothura-at or in the vestibules,“ etc. We have the
   fulfillment of this expressly recorded in Jeremiah 39:3. The idea suggested
   by Adam Clarke, that they would sit as judges in the gates, as these were
   the courts of justice, is evidently not intended here; for they would also
   fix their tents or their seats by or on the walls, and in all the cities of
   Judah. The latter portion of the verse may be thus rendered, — And they
   shall come, and set, each his seat,
   At the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem,
   And on all its walls around,
   And on all the cities of Judah. The description betokens an entire
   possession of the whole land. — Ed.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Jeremiah 1:16

   16. And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their
   wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burnt incense unto other gods,
   and worshipped the works of their own hands.

   16. Et loquar (vel, proferam) judicia mea cum ipsis super omni malitia
   eorum; quia (nam אשר hic ponitur vice כי valet causalem particulam, quia)
   dereliquerunt me, et suffitum fecerunt diis alienis et prostrati fuerunt
   (vel, se prostraverunt) coram operibus manuum suarum.


   God now assigns the reason why he had resolved to deal so severely with the
   Jews. It was necessary to teach them two things, — first, that the Chaldeans
   would not of themselves come upon them, but through God, who would gather
   and arm them; and secondly, that God Would not act in a cruel manner, nor
   forget his covenant, in becoming a rigid avenger, but that he would thus be
   angry, because there was extreme iniquity in the Jews, so that it was
   needful to distress and wholly to break them down, as moderate corrections
   had availed nothing. God, then, after having testified that he would be the
   leader in that war, now explains the reasons why he would chastise the Jews,
   and shews that his conduct towards them could not be ascribed to cruelty,
   inasmuch as that they had provoked him by their impious superstitions.

   Hence he says, I will speak my judgments with them This is referred by many
   interpreters to the Chaldeans and Assyrians, as though God would prescribe
   to them what was to be decreed, as chief judges are wont to do to those who
   are under them: but this exposition is strained, and confuted by what
   follows, on account of their wickedness What, then, is to speak judgments?
   It is done, when God summons the wicked before his tribunal, and executes
   the office of a judge. And this mode of speaking is common in Scripture,
   according to what we read at the end of this book, — The king of Babylon
   spoke judgments with the King Zedekiah, (Jeremiah 52:9) that is, he dealt
   judicially with him, as we commonly say. [20] So now God declares that he
   would be the judge of the people, as though he had said, that hitherto he
   had been silent, not that the sins of the people were not known, but because
   he had borne with them, in order to try whether there was any hope of
   repentance. But he says now that he would become their judge, as he had
   found by long experience that they were past remedy.

   There is, then, to be understood a contrast between the forbearance of God,
   which he had long exercised while he dealt with the people, not as he might
   have justly done, but deferred his vengeance, and the time of vengeance
   which was now at hand; I will then speak my judgments with the Jews; that
   is, “I will now ascend my tribunal: I have hitherto abstained from
   exercising my right, and waited for them to return to me; but as there is no
   return, and I see that they are men wholly irreclaimable, and their
   disposition is so depraved that they continually add evils to evils, I will
   now begin to undertake mine office, the office of a judge.” But we must bear
   in mind, as I have already said, the design of God in this declaration; for
   it was his object to clear himself from every charge, and from all
   calumnies, inasmuch as even the worst of men usually clamor against his
   judgments when he chastises them. Hence he presented before them his own
   judgments, as though he had said, “They shall not be able to blame me for
   dealing with them in a severe and cruel manner; for however severe I may be,
   I shall yet be an equitable judge.” Hence he adds, on account of all their
   wickedness

   He afterwards shews what kind of wickedness it was, They have forsaken me,
   and burnt incense to strange gods The Jews had, indeed, in various ways,
   provoked his vengeance; but he mentions here one kind of wickedness, because
   it was the very fountain of evils, — they had departed from the law and the
   pure worship of God; and yet he mentions generally all wickedness The word
   all is not here without meaning, “on account of all their wickedness:” for
   he intimates that they were not only in one way wicked, but that they had
   heaped together various sins. And then he adds, for they have forsaken me
   Here God introduces their defection; for it may be, as we daily see, that
   one offends in this thing, and another in that, and each one for different
   causes may expose himself to God’s judgment; but God shews here that the
   Jews were become so depraved, that there was nothing sound or pure in them:
   hence he charges them with all wickedness; and then he mentions their
   defection, they have forsaken me; as though he had said, “They have wholly
   denied me; I say not that one is a thief, another an adulterer, and another
   a drunkard; but they are all become apostates, they are all perjurers and
   violators of the covenant: thus I am wholly forsaken by them, and they are
   in every respect alienated from me.” We hence see how greatly the Prophet
   enhances the guilt of his own nation.

   It is afterwards added, for the sake of illustration, that they burnt
   incense to strange gods They had fallen away from God, and joined themselves
   to idolatry. He also adds this, — that they bowed down before the works of
   their own hands The Prophet divests the Jews of every excuse, and more fully
   discovers their shame and baseness, — “they prostrated themselves before the
   works of their own hands.” Whenever Scripture uses these expressions, it
   intimates that there is extreme madness in those men, who worship in the
   place of God not only the sun and moon, and other created things, but also
   the idols which they form for themselves. For how is it that they worship
   their own idols, except that they have formed for them a nose, and hands,
   and ears? A log of wood no one worships; a piece of brass or of silver all
   disregard; no one thinks a stone to be God: but when a thing is sculptured
   and artificially formed by the hand of man, miserable and blind idolaters
   immediately prostrate themselves; — how is this? Because they have formed
   for their statues and pictures noses, eyes, and ears! hence they themselves
   have made gods. We now see the meaning of the Prophet, when he says, that
   the Jews bowed down before the works of their own hands But I pass over such
   things as these lightly, as ye must be well informed on the subject
   generally. It now follows —
     _________________________________________________________________

   [20] The idea conveyed by the Septuagint is somewhat different, and I
   believe that it is what the original words mean, “lalēsō pros autous meta
   kriseōs — I will speak to them with judgment.” The original literally is,
   “and I will speak my judgments to them;” that is, I will not speak words but
   judgments: or, I will not address them with words, but with actual
   judgments. Then in the following words the reason is assigned. The verse may
   be thus rendered, — 16. And I will speak by my judgments to them, On account
   of all their wickedness, Because they have forsaken me, And have burnt
   incense to strange gods, And have bowed down to the work of their own hands.
   It is better to retain the outward act as expressed by the last verb, “bowed
   down.” or, more literally, “bowed down themselves,“ as the verb is in the
   reflective mood, than to adopt the abstract term “worshipped.” So the verb
   is rendered in the second commandment, Exodus 20:5; Deuteronomy 5:9. The
   first, line is rendered by Grotius, “Proedicam illis decreta mea — I will
   declare to them my decrees, “that is, by Jeremiah and others, — by Jun. and
   Trem., “I will speak my judgments against them,” that is, by the prophets,
   — by Henry. “I will pass sentence upon them,” — by Blayney, “I will
   pronounce my judgments against them;” and Scott gives the same view. But
   Gataker says, “It seems rather to import an efficacious and actual decree
   that God would, in his own appointed time, pass upon them, and put in
   execution by the Chaldeans.” Hence he renders the phrase like Henry, “I will
   pass sentence,“ or, “give judgment, upon them.” — Ed.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Jeremiah 1:17

   17. Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all
   that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee
   before them.

   17. Et tu accinge lumbos tuos et surge, et loquere ad ipsos quaecunque (vel,
   omnia quae) ego mandavero tibi; ne timeas a facie ipsorum, ne to conteram
   (vel, timere faciam) a facie ipsorum (est enim verbum sumptum ex eadem
   radice.)


   God first bids his Prophet to be the herald of the dreadful judgment, which
   we have already noticed: for it was not his purpose to speak only as it were
   in a corner, or secretly, to Jeremiah, but he committed to him what he
   intended should be proclaimed audibly to the whole people. It hence follows,
   And thou, etc. We therefore see that the Prophet had been taught by the
   Lord, that he might confidently and boldly declare what we shall hereafter
   see. These things should then be connected, — that God would ascend his
   tribunal to execute the vengeance he had deferred, — and also that Jeremiah
   would be the herald of that vengeance he was prepared to inflict. Thou then,
   — an illative is to be added here, for the copulative is to be thus taken in
   this place, — Thou then; that is, as thou hast heard that I shall be now the
   avenger of the people’s sins, and that the time of vengeance is at hand; and
   also as thou knowest that this has been told thee, that thou mightest warn
   them to render them more inexcusable, — Thou then, [21] gird thy loins We
   see why God addressed his servant Jeremiah privately; it was, that he might
   publicly exercise his office as a teacher.

   And hence we learn, that all who are called to rule the Church of God cannot
   be exempt from blame, unless they honestly and boldly proclaim what has been
   committed to them. Hence Paul says that he was free from the blood of all
   men, because he had from house to house and publicly declared whatever he
   had received from the Lord, (Acts 20:26, 27;) and he says in another place,

   “