John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 24:9

"I will even give them up to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them." — Jeremiah 24:9 (ASV)

Here the Prophet borrows his words from Moses to secure authority for his prophecy. For the Jews were ashamed to reject Moses, as they believed that the Law came from God; it would at least have been deemed by them an abominable thing to deny credit to the Law.

And yet they boldly rejected all the prophets, though they were merely faithful interpreters of the Law, as is the case with the Papists of the present day, who, though they dare not deny that the Scripture contains celestial truth, yet furiously reject what is argued from it. Similar was the perverseness of the Jews. Therefore, the prophets, to gain more credit for their words, often borrowed his very words from Moses, as though they were reciting from a written document what had been dictated to them. For in Deuteronomy and in other places Moses spoke in this way: that God would give up the people to a concussion or a commotion, for a reproach, for a proverb, for a taunt, to all the nations of the earth (Deuteronomy 28:37; 1 Kings 9:7).

It is, then, as though Jeremiah had said that the time would finally come when the Jews would find that so many maledictions had not been pronounced in vain by Moses. They no doubt read Moses; but, being so stupid, they felt no fear, no reverence for God, even when He terrified them with such words as these. The Prophet then says that the time was now near when they would know by experience that God had not threatened them in vain.

I will set them for a commotion. The verb זוע, zuo, means to move and to be noisy. Many render the noun here as “noise,” others as “perturbation,” and others as “the shaking of the head,” for we are accustomed to shake the head in scorn.

However this may be, we are to read in connection with this the following words: that they would be for a reproach, and a terror, and a taunt, and an execration, to all nations. It is then said, on account of evil; for the preposition ל, lamed, is to be taken here in different senses: before “commotion,” it means “for,” but here it is causal, “on account of.”

The severe and dreadful vengeance of God would be such that it would move and disturb all nations. He indeed mentions all kingdoms, but the meaning is the same. He then adds reproach, that is, that they would be subjected to the condemnation of all nations.

They had refused to submit to God’s judgment; and when He would have made them ashamed for their good, they had wickedly resisted. It was therefore necessary to subject them to the reproach of all people.

It is added, for a proverb and for a tale, or as some read, “for a parable and for a proverb.” The word משל, meshel, means a common saying, but here it signifies a scoff; and a similar meaning must be given to שנינה, shenine, a tale or a fable. By both words he means that when the heathens wished to describe a most grievous calamity, they would use this example: “Yes, it is all over with the Jews; no nation has become so wretched.”

The same view is to be taken of execration; for he intimates that they would become a type and a pattern of a curse: “Yes, may you perish like the Jews; may God execute vengeance on you, as He has done on the Jews.”

He then adds that this would happen to them in all places wherever God would drive them. It is as though the Prophet had said that God would not be satisfied with their exile, though that would be grievous and bitter. Instead, when driven to distant lands, they would become objects of reproach, so that all would point at them with the finger of scorn, accompanied by every mark of reproach, and would also take them as an example of execration.

He afterwards adds: