John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 13:27

"I have seen thine abominations, even thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, on the hills in the field. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! thou wilt not be made clean; how long shall it yet be?" — Jeremiah 13:27 (ASV)

Here the Prophet explains at length what I have previously stated—that the people were justly punished by God, though very grievously, because they had provoked God, not at one time only, but for a long time, and had obstinately persisted in their evil ways. Moreover, as their sins were various, the Prophet does not mention them all here; for we have seen elsewhere that they were not only given to superstitions, but also to sexual immorality, drunkenness, plundering, and violent acts. However, here he only speaks of their superstitions—that having rejected God, they followed their own idols. For by adulteries he no doubt means idolatries; and he does not speak here of whoredom, which yet prevailed greatly among the people, but he only condemns them for having fallen away into ungodly and false forms of worship. What follows also refers to this: thy neighings. For by this comparison, we know, that furious passion with which the Jews followed their own inventions is set forth elsewhere as a reproach. The word indeed sometimes means exultation, for the verb צהל, tsel, is to exult; but here, as in Jeremiah 5, it signifies neighing.

He then says, Thy adulteries and thy neighings, etc. Now this is far more shameful than if he had said your lusts, for by this comparison we know their crime was enhanced, because they were not merely inflamed by a violent natural lust, such as adulterers feel towards prostitutes, but they were like horses or bulls: Thy adulteries then and thy neighings; and he adds, the thought of thy whoredom, etc. The word זמת, zamet, is to be taken here for thought, and this is its proper meaning.

It is indeed taken sometimes in a bad sense; but the Prophet, I have no doubt, meant here to expose a false appearance the Jews presented, for they said that they intended to worship God, while they accumulated rites which were not prescribed in the law. The Prophet therefore condemns them here as being inwardly full of unchastity, as though he had said, “I do not only accuse you of open acts of wickedness, but you also burn within with lust, for impiety has taken such hold on all your thoughts that God has no place at all in you; you are like an unchaste woman who thinks of nothing but her filthy lovers and goes after her adulterers: you are thus wholly given up to your whoredoms.”

Some read the words by themselves and put them in the nominative case, “Thy adulteries and thy neighings, and the thought of thy whoredom on the mountains;” and then they add, “In the field have I seen thine abominations.” But I prefer to take the whole together, and thus to include all as being governed by the verb ראיתי, I have seen: “Thy adulteries and thy neighings, the thought of thy whoredom on the mountains, in the field have I seen, even thy abominations.” The last word is to be taken in apposition with the former words. But the Prophet introduces God here as the speaker, so that the Jews might not seek evasions and excuse themselves. He therefore shows that God, whose proper office it is to examine and search the hearts of men, is the fit Judge.

He mentions hills and field. Altars, we know, were then built on hills, for they thought that God would be better worshipped in groves; and so, there was no place, no wood, and not even a tree, in which they did not imagine something divine. This is the reason why the Prophet says that their abominations were seen by God on the hills as well as on the plains. And he adds fields, as though he had said that the hills did not suffice them for their false worship, by which they profaned the true worship of God, but that the level fields were also filled with their abominations.

We now perceive the meaning of what is said here: that the Jews tried in vain to escape with evasions, since God declares that he had seen them; as though he had said, “Cease to produce your excuses, for I will allow nothing of what you may bring forward, as the whole is already well known to me.” And he declares their doings to be abominations, and also adulteries and neighings.

At length he adds, Woe to thee, Jerusalem! The Prophet here confirms what we have previously observed: that the Jews had no just ground of complaint, for they had provoked God extremely. Hence the particle woe intimates that they were now justly given up to destruction. And then he says, Will they never repent? But this last part is variously explained, and I do not know whether it can be fully expounded today. I will, however, briefly glance at the meaning.

Jerome seems to have read אחרי, achri, as “after me,” rendering it, “Wilt thou not then return after me?” as though God here intended to exhort the Jews to return eventually to him, as he was ready to be reconciled to them. But as it is simply אחרי, achri, and he may have read without the points, I do not wish to depart from what is commonly received.

There is a further difficulty in the words that follow, for interpreters vary as to the meaning of the words מתי עד, mati od, “how long yet?” In whatever sense we may take the words, they are sufficient to confute the opinion of Jerome, which I had forgotten to mention, because the malediction in that case would be improper and without meaning: “Woe to thee, Jerusalem, wilt thou not be made clean after me?” For what can this mean?

It is therefore necessary to read it so as to include all the words in the sentence: “Wilt thou not hereafter or at length be made clean?” Some, however, read the words affirmatively: “Thou shalt not be cleansed hereafter,” as though it was said, “Thou shalt not be cleansed until I first drive thee into exile.” But this meaning is too refined, I think.

I therefore take the words in their simple form: Wilt thou not at length be made clean? How long yet? It is as though God again reproved the hardness of the people, as indeed he did reprove it. Hence he says, “Wilt thou not at length be made clean?” for I take אחרי, achri, as meaning “at length.”

Then follows an amplification, מתיעד, mati od, “how long yet?” That is, “Wilt thou never make an end? And can I not at length obtain this from thee, since I have so often exhorted thee, and since thou seest that I make no end of exhorting thee? How long yet shall thy obstinacy continue, so that I cannot subdue thee by my salutary admonitions?” This is the meaning.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as you have once cleansed us by the blood of your only-begotten Son, so that we might worship you in true sincerity of heart, and also strive to regulate our whole life according to the rule of righteousness—O grant that we, being mindful of our vocation, may labor to be found approved by you, so that your name may be glorified through us. May we, casting far from us all pollutions, retain the simple worship of you and preserve ourselves within the limits of your word, so that we may not be led astray after vanities and the sinful superstitions of this world, but advance towards the mark which you have been pleased to set before us, until we are at last gathered into that celestial kingdom where we shall enjoy the inheritance that your only-begotten Son has provided for us. Amen.