John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 32:30

"For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only that which was evil in my sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith Jehovah." — Jeremiah 32:30 (ASV)

He amplifies the sin of the people, showing that they never departed from their vices. He mentions the ten tribes and also the tribe of Judah. The ten tribes, we know, had departed from the pure worship of God when true religion still continued at Jerusalem. By mentioning then the children of Judah, he no doubt aggravated their guilt, intimating that they had fallen along with the Israelites, even though they had been preserved for a time. The Israelites had become degenerated; afterward, the whole seed of Abraham became implicated in the same defection, so that they forsook the true worship of God.

But afterward he mentions only the children of Israel, though he also includes the tribe of Judah. For it ought to be observed that when Scripture connects Israel with Judah, Israel then means the ten tribes, and for the sake of honor or reproach, the house of Judah is referred to separately from the kingdom of Israel. However, when Israel is mentioned alone, it generally includes all the children of Abraham without exception. So it is in this place, when he says that the children of Israel and the children of Judah had done nothing but provoke God. Afterward, he mentions only Israel and includes the twelve tribes.

But he says that the children of Israel and of Judah had only provoked Him from their youth. The particle אך ak, is sometimes taken as an affirmative and sometimes as an adversative—'but,' or 'nevertheless'—and this latter sense would be suitable if the context allowed it. I am inclined to agree with those who render it 'only'.

The Prophet seems to have removed all ambiguity, for He not only says that they had done evil, but that they had been doing evil, which is a mode of speaking that intimates a continued action. They had then been doing evil; that is, they never ceased. He confirms this declaration by saying אך, ak, only, that is, their purpose had been nothing else, or all their study had been no other than to provoke Me without end and measure.

Therefore, we see that every ground of complaint is taken away from the Jews, because God, by long forbearance, had deferred His vengeance, for He might have punished them many ages before. Since they had never ceased to provoke God, the rigor shown to them could not have seemed excessive, for He had, in His goodness, invited them to repentance, but with no effect.

And from their youth here is not to be understood of individuals but is to be extended to the whole people; and so youth is to be taken for the time of their redemption, as we will see later. For the Church was, in a manner, then born, and in the desert, when they had been recently brought to the light, for God had delivered them from the darkness of death. In their very childhood they began to provoke God; from that time they had always been perverse in their wickedness.

The meaning then is that the people of Israel had been of such a perverse disposition that it eventually became necessary to punish them severely, for they did not cease to add evils to evils. And the particle אך ak, shows their aggravated guilt, because they applied their whole minds to provoke God and had been ingenious in devising superstitions by which they polluted the worship of God: They have then, he says, been only doing evil.

And he adds, with the work of their hands. This explanation is added because the Israelites might have raised a clamor and asked what that evil was. God had indeed sufficiently shown that seeking evasions was of no avail to them, for He had made Himself their judge when He said, before My eyes; for by these words, the Prophets intimate that a right judgment of people's works cannot be formed by people themselves, for whether they are willing or unwilling, they must stand or fall according to the judgment of God.

Whenever, then, God declares that people have sinned before His eyes, He means that it is in vain for them to seek subterfuges by alleging their good intentions, as they usually say. This is because with Him is the authority to judge.

But this truth He confirms when He says that they had provoked Him by the work of their hands. By 'the work of their hands,' the Prophet means the superstitions the people had invented for themselves.

And we must always bear in mind the contrast between God’s commands and the works of our hands, for whatever we impose on God besides His Law is the work of our hands; but obedience is better than sacrifice.

Therefore, God here expressly condemns all human inventions, as though He had said that however people may delight in their own superstitions, they are yet impious and detestable, for it is not lawful to devise anything. For God, having given us His Law, has left nothing for us to do except to follow what He has commanded; and when we turn aside and add something of our own, we do nothing but what is sacrilegious.