John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 31:18

"I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself [thus], Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a calf unaccustomed [to the yoke]: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art Jehovah my God." — Jeremiah 31:18 (ASV)

The Prophet here speaks more distinctly of a blessed outcome and shows that the punishment—by which God had already chastised the people and by which He was prepared to chastise the tribe of Judah—was wholly necessary, which He would give them as medicine.

For as long as the wrath of God is set before us, we necessarily, as has already been said, try to avoid it, because we wish ourselves well and endeavor to remove to a distance, as much as we can, whatever is adverse to us. Hence, the punishment God inflicts is never pleasant to us; our sorrow in evils and adversities is never mitigated, nor do we quietly submit to God, unless we direct our minds to the fruit which distresses and chastisements bring forth.

We now, then, perceive the Prophet's purpose: the Jews always murmured and said, “Why does God not spare and forgive us? Why does He not deal more gently with us?” The Prophet therefore shows that God had a regard for the well-being of His people in chastising them; for if He had indulged them in their sins, their pride and perverseness would have increased.

The intention of these words, then, is this, and it is for this purpose the Prophet speaks—that the Jews might know that all their punishment, which would have been otherwise bitter and grievous, was a kind of medicine by which their spiritual diseases were to be healed.

He therefore says, Hearing I have heard Ephraim, after having transmigrated, etc. The participle מתנודד, metnudad, is in Hithpael and comes from נוד, nud, or from נדד, nedad. Some render it “transmigrating,” and others, “lamenting.”

But נוד, nud, means to move, to wander, to migrate from one place to another; it also means to complain, to tell of adversities, though it is often applied to those whose object is to console the miserable and the mournful.

If anyone prefers the rendering, “I have heard Ephraim lamenting,” I do not object, for there is sufficient probability in its favor. But it may also be derived from נוד, nud, as well as from נדד, nedad; the most suitable sense would then be, “after having moved into exile,” or literally, “after having transmigrated”—that is, after God had driven Ephraim, even the ten tribes, into exile.

After Ephraim, then, had thus transmigrated, or had been driven into exile, he then began to say, Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastened, for I was an untamed bullock: Turn thou me and I shall be turned; for thou, Jehovah, art my God. The Prophet, no doubt, as I said before, meant here to check the murmurs that prevailed among the Jews, who said that God was too rigid and severe. He shows not only that they were worthy of the very grievous punishment they were suffering, but also that it was a testimony of God’s favor that He thus intended to cleanse them from their sins; for they would have a hundred times grown putrid in their wickedness, had God not thus brought them to a sound mind.

He at the same time presents Ephraim as an example, so that the Jews might resignedly follow their brethren and not discontentedly bear their exile, since it had already been profitable to their brethren.

When, therefore, they perceived that their punishment was useful to the Israelites and brought forth good fruit, they should have submitted themselves willingly to God. They should not have murmured against Him for punishing them for their sins, but rather should have endured their exile as a paternal correction.

Then he says, “I have heard Ephraim”—at what time? This circumstance ought to be especially noticed: it was after he had transmigrated. When they were quiet in the land, they were, as it follows, like untamable steers.

The Prophets also use this mode of speaking when they describe the Israelites before their dispersion; they call them fat and well-fed oxen. Affluence produced luxury, and luxury pride. Thus, then, they kicked, as it were, against God, according to what is said by Moses:

My people having grown fat kicked (Deuteronomy 32:15).

Since they were like this, it was necessary that they should be tamed. And the time that is mentioned refers to this: when Ephraim was forcibly driven from his own country, then he began to acknowledge his wrongdoings and to be touched with a penitent feeling. “Thou hast chastised me,” he says, “and I was instructed.”

The verb יסר, iser, means to instruct as well as to chastise, and is applied to princes, counselors, fathers, and magistrates. The word 'chastise' is more restricted in Latin. But יסר, iser, properly means to teach, and yet it often means to chastise, for that is one way of teaching or instructing.

He then says that he was chastised, though in a different sense. In the first clause, when he says, “Thou hast chastised me,” he refers to the punishment by which God had humbled His people. In the second clause, he says, “I was instructed,” that is, “I begin now at length to become wise.”

For it is the wisdom even of fools not to become hardened under their calamities, because those who become hardened are altogether in a hopeless state. It is the chief part of wisdom to acknowledge what is right and willingly to follow it; but if we are unwilling to regard our own good, God will then chastise us.

When our diseases are healable, we turn to God; but the perversely wicked bite and champ the bridle and contend with God’s judgment. The Prophet here, however, refers to the faithful alone, for punishment does not have the same effect on all indiscriminately.

God, indeed, calls all men by punishment to repentance, so that even the reprobate are without excuse when they harden their hearts and do not profit under the rod.

But punishment is peculiarly useful to the faithful; for God not only scourges them but also, by His Spirit, bends their minds to docility, so that they willingly allow themselves to be corrected by Him.

Hence I said that this clause properly refers to the faithful, when the Prophet says that Ephraim was instructed, after having been warned by punishment, to turn himself to God.

He compares himself to an untamable steer, for steers are wanton before they are accustomed to the yoke. Such also is the wantonness of men before God subdues them by various kinds of punishment, and not only subdues them but also makes them tractable and submissive. Next week I shall lecture instead of Beza.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as we are always carried away by our own vanities, and as the licentiousness and insolence of our flesh are such that we never follow You and submit to Your will—O grant, that we may profit more and more under Your scourges, and never perversely harden ourselves, but learn to know that even when You appear rigid, You have a regard for our salvation, so that we, turning to You, may strive during the rest of our life to glorify Your name through Your only-begotten Son. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

In the last lecture, the Prophet told us that Ephraim, until he had been chastised by God’s hand, was like an untamed bullock, and that, therefore, exile was useful to him. He now adds, Turn me, and I shall be turned.

This second clause does not seem to be in accordance with the former, for the Israelites had previously confessed that they had turned, and now they pray God to turn them. Why is this said? For it seems useless to ask for what we have already obtained. But the solution is obvious.

It may first be answered that men never repent so thoroughly that they cease to need the continual aid of God; for we must be renewed from day to day and by degrees renounce the lusts of our flesh; nor is it in one day that we put off the old man.

And when the Prophet in the Psalms speaks of the deliverance of the people, he says that it was a miracle, that the people had been restored beyond all hope. “We were,” he says, “like those who dream.” He afterwards adds, “Turn our captivity, O Lord” (Psalms 116:1, 4).

And this he said because God had restored but a small number. The same also happens regarding spiritual turning, both with regard to the whole body and to individual members. We turn, as I have already said, little by little to God, and by various steps, for repentance has its progress.

There is, therefore, nothing improper when we say that the Prophet, in the name of the ten tribes, asks God to continue His work. But as this explanation is rather strained, I prefer a simpler view of the words, “Turn me, and I shall be turned.”

They mean the same thing as though the Prophet had said, “O Lord, this is Your work.” He does not then simply refer to a future time, but speaks of God’s favor, as though he had said that men do not turn by their own impulse, but that God, by the hidden power of His Spirit, turns them.

The Israelites had previously confessed that they had been profitably chastised by God’s hand, because punishment had instructed them; but now he adds that this was the singular kindness of God.

However, as we previously observed, punishment is what the elect and the reprobate have in common, yet the outcome and fruit of punishment are very different. For the reprobate become more and more hardened, the very opposite of being submissive to God.

But the elect are subdued, for God not only smites them with His rods but also tames them within, subdues their pride, and, in a word, bends their hearts to obedience by His Spirit.

We now, then, understand the Prophet's purpose: for in the name of the people, he first confesses that punishment inflicted by God had been useful. Secondly, he adds that it was not through human power that they willingly returned to a right mind, but that God had bent their hearts by His Spirit, so that they did not become hardened by punishment, nor obstinately resist, as is most commonly the case.

Hence, then, we conclude that repentance is the work of the Holy Spirit. God, indeed, invites us and even urges us by external means to repent; for what is the purpose of punishment, if not to lead us to repentance? But we must still remember that if God were only to chastise us, it would have no other effect than to render us inexcusable, for our perverseness could never be corrected in this way.

It is, then, necessary to add the second favor: that is, that God should subdue us within and restore us to obedience. This the Prophet testifies when he says, “Turn me, and I shall be turned,” as though he had said that men indeed turn when God reminds them of their sins, but that they do this not by their own power, for it is the peculiar work of God.

He therefore adds, For thou, Jehovah, art my God. By this clause he intimates that God favors only His elect with this privilege. It is as though he had said that it does not happen to all indiscriminately that they repent and submit to God when He punishes them for their sins, but that it is a benefit peculiar to His chosen people.

We should then especially notice the reason by which the Prophet confirms the previous sentence, for from this we learn the manifest difference that exists between the elect and the reprobate. Some rebel and kick against the goads, and obstinately rush headlong into ruin, but others calmly and quietly submit to God. The reason is that some are reprobate and the others are the elect.