John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 12:13

"They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns; they have put themselves to pain, and profit nothing: and ye shall be ashamed of your fruits, because of the fierce anger of Jehovah." — Jeremiah 12:13 (ASV)

Most interpreters understand this to refer to the prophets, who had been disappointed after faithfully cultivating God's field and sowing good seed, only to have thorns and briers spring up; but this is a strained exposition.

I do not doubt that the Prophet proclaims the curse of God, which the people were soon to experience. I readily admit that when he speaks of sowing and reaping, the expression is metaphorical. But I have no doubt that the Jews are described as sowing when they seek aid from various sources, strengthen themselves through confederacies, and devise means to repel dangers.

Therefore, he says, by way of concession, that they had sown wheat; for they had resorted to false counsels.

But he speaks according to what they themselves thought. They imagined they were safe when they found the Egyptians ready to help them; and when they procured assistance from various sources, they considered themselves to be acting wisely, thus flattering themselves with a prosperous outcome.

The Prophet now derides this vain confidence, yet in words he allows that they were proceeding successfully. Just as a farmer, while sowing, expects to have a good harvest, so also the Jews thought they would have good fruit after having sown in this way.

But the Prophet says that they would be disappointed, for instead of wheat, briers and thorns would grow, so that the outcome would not meet their expectations. Thus the Prophet's words would harmonize well. But to explain the passage as referring to the prophets would by no means be suitable, as will appear more clearly later.

He then says that they had sown wheat (he uses the plural form) and reaped thorns. He intimates that they hoped for a good harvest, because they sowed wheat, as they thought. That is, they wisely, or rather astutely, provided for themselves, leaving nothing undone that was necessary for their safety.

But they reaped, or will reap, thorns; for he speaks of what was future. He means that God would frustrate their expectation, because their sowing, from which they promised themselves so much, would prove fruitless.

He then adds that they had obtained an inheritance, or had endured grief, but were not enriched. Some render the first clause a little more harshly, that “they were tormented.” But I readily excuse its harshness if it suits the context.

Then the meaning would be — that they tormented themselves with continual labors, and thus became rich; for we know that those who are extremely anxious about anything wear themselves out and, in a way, become their own executioners. And this interpretation would not be unsuitable to this context.

However, a different view may be taken — that the Prophet uses the expression that they had obtained an inheritance not in its ordinary sense, not signifying that God gave them the land of Canaan as their hereditary possession, or that they had accumulated wealth.

Instead, it means that they had thus increased in their own esteem because they had the Egyptians as their friends, looked for help from neighboring nations, and thought they could by various stratagems prevent the Chaldeans from coming near them.

Their inheritance then was that they were able to collect from various sources such assistance as would make them safe and repel all dangers. God then concedes that they had obtained an inheritance; but what then, he says? All this will not avail them, nor will they be enriched by it.

In short, he intimates that they would be deceived in this way by trusting in aid so laboriously and diligently acquired. For the aid in which they proudly trusted would vanish, as well as all their counsels and designs. In a word, the vain attempts by which they thought to secure everything for themselves are derided.

He adds, for the same purpose, that they were confounded on account of their produce. Those who understand this to refer to the prophets read it thus: “they were ashamed,” that is, “of their own labors;” but this is entirely foreign to the subject. He then continues in the same vein — that the Jews were ashamed when they found the outcome contrary to what they expected.

He mentions “produce”: the noun comes from בא (ba), which means to come or to enter; it also has other meanings. But the Hebrews call it produce because it comes every year. He says then, that they were ashamed of their produce, because they received no fruit such as they expected.

Thus Jeremiah carries on the same metaphor: they had sown, but thorns were found instead of wheat; they also obtained for themselves an inheritance, or they wearied themselves with labor, but it was useless: they further promised themselves a great and rich produce, but it came to nothing. We now, then, understand the meaning of the words.

But we must at the same time consider what the Prophet had in view. Doubtless, he intended to shake the Jews free from the arrogance by which they blinded themselves, as though he had said — “I see that I accomplish but little, for the Egyptians who are to come to your aid are still strong. You think that they are prepared to oppose the Assyrians and Chaldeans, and you also have other confederacies. Since, then, you are so well fortified, you consider yourselves to be out of the reach of danger. But the Lord will make you ashamed of this presumption, for all your produce or provision will come to nothing.”

The “produce,” we know, was the successful outcome with which they flattered themselves, so that they thought nothing would harm them. This, then, is the Prophet's meaning.

He adds, Through the burning of the wrath of Jehovah. They could not have been awakened otherwise, unless they were made to realize that God was angry with them. The Prophet then says that though the whole world might deride him, nothing would avail them, since God fought against them.

We must at the same time notice the change of person: They have been ashamed of your produce. Some have on this account applied the verb בשו (beshu), “they have been ashamed,” to the prophets.

But it is an anomaly often found, and in this instance, it is very emphatic. Had he said, in the third person, “They were ashamed of their fruits,” it would have been less effective in rousing their minds.

But having previously spoken in disdain of the Jews, whom he knew to be deaf, he now, as he proceeds, turns his discourse to them and says that they were ashamed. Yes, he says, “You were ashamed of your fruits.” It is therefore a kind of modification, used only so that the Prophet might more sharply touch their feelings, for they needed this kind of speaking, as a plain discourse would have produced no effect.