John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 13:26

"Therefore will I also uncover thy skirts upon thy face, and thy shame shall appear." — Jeremiah 13:26 (ASV)

He continues the same subject — that God did not treat His people with such severity without the most just cause. For it could not be expected that He should treat them with more gentleness, since they rejected Him and resorted to empty reliances.

I also, He says; for the particle גם, gam, denotes something mutual, as if He had said, “I also will have My turn, for I have it in My power to avenge Myself: I will retaliate.” He seems to say, “This your ingratitude; for as you have despised Me, so I will expose you to reproach and shame.”

For God was shamefully despised by the Jews when they substituted the Egyptians and their idols in His place. They could not have done Him more dishonor than by transferring His glory to the ungodly and to their own figments.

We therefore see that there is an emphasis in the particle also, I will also make bare, or discover, thy skirts on thy face; that is, I will cast your skirts on your face.

This manner of speaking often occurs in the Prophets. As I have explained elsewhere, it means the uncovering of shameful parts. It is as if a vile woman were condemned to bear the disgrace of being stripped of her garments and exposed to the public, so that all might abhor such a base and disgraceful spectacle.

God, as we have previously seen, assumed the role of a husband to His people. Since He had then been so shamefully despised, He now says that He had ready the punishment of casting the skirts of His people over their faces, so that their reproach or baseness might appear by exposing their shameful parts.