John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 32:21

"and didst bring forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror;" — Jeremiah 32:21 (ASV)

Jeremiah now comes closer to the matter at hand; for, after having spoken of the unequalled power of God, he now extols his righteous judgment in inflicting punishment on an ungodly and wicked people. To this end, he refers to the favor of redemption, and he then adds that the land had been given to Israel which had been promised to their fathers. He afterwards states that this favor had been conferred on the ungrateful, for they immediately shook off the yoke and despised God their redeemer, together with his Law.

He then says that the people had been brought up from the land of Egypt with signs and wonders. This is an amplification, for God had in an unusual manner made it sufficiently evident that without his favor the people could not have been delivered from Egypt. For had it not been for the manifest display of God’s power in miracles and wonders, the Israelites might have appropriated to themselves the favor of God, or attributed it to some worldly means; but God’s favor appeared so resplendent in signs and wonders, that the liberation of the people could not have been ascribed either to fortune, or to the efforts of men, or to any other means. And for the same purpose he mentions the strong hand and the extended arm. He intimates by these words that the people had been so delivered that the hand of God, indeed, his extended arm, openly appeared, that is, his power, as we have explained elsewhere, was manifested far and wide.

He refers at last to great terror: such was the haughtiness of their enemies, that they would never have allowed the people to depart, had they not been filled with great terror. Since the Egyptians had been subdued by terror, Jeremiah amplifies by this circumstance the favor of redemption, as though he had said that God’s favor was not obscure, because the Israelites might have known by these extraordinary evidences that they were delivered by a divine power. For so great was the power, the valor, and cruelty of their enemies, that no hope of a free departure could have been entertained, had not God put forth his hand from heaven.