John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 34:4-5

"Yet hear the word of Jehovah, O Zedekiah king of Judah: thus saith Jehovah concerning thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword; thou shalt die in peace; and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings that were before thee, so shall they make a burning for thee; and they shall lament thee, [saying], Ah Lord! for I have spoken the word, saith Jehovah." — Jeremiah 34:4-5 (ASV)

Here Jeremiah adds some comfort: that Zedekiah himself would not be killed by the sword, but that he would die in his bed and, as they commonly say, yield to his fate. It was indeed some mitigation of punishment that God extended his life and did not allow him to be immediately struck with the sword.

And yet, if we consider all circumstances, it would have been a lesser evil to be put to death at once than to prolong life only to be doomed to pine away in constant misery. When the eyes are pulled out, we know that the principal part of life is lost. When, therefore, this punishment was inflicted on Zedekiah, was not death desirable? And then he was not only deprived of his royal dignity but was also bereaved of all his offspring and was afterwards bound with chains. From this, we see that what remained for him was not so desirable; indeed, he might have preferred to die ten or a hundred times over. God, however, intended it as a favor that he was not killed by the sword.

A question may be raised here: Should violent death be so much dreaded? We indeed know that some pagans have wished for it. They tell us of Julius Caesar that, the day before he was killed, he discussed at supper what death was the best, and that he considered it the easiest death (εὐθανασίαν) when one is suddenly deprived of life—the very thing that happened to him the next day.

Thus, he seemed to have gained his wish, for he had said that it was a happy kind of death to be suddenly extinguished. There is, however, no doubt that natural death is always easier to bear, other things being equal, as they say. For it is natural that people always dread a bloody death, and it is regarded as a monstrous thing when human blood is shed; but when anyone dies quietly from disease, as is common, we do not feel so much horror.

Then the sick are granted time to think of God’s hand, to reflect on the hope of a better life, and also to flee to God’s mercy, which cannot be done in a violent death. When, therefore, all these things are duly weighed, it should not be considered strange that God, willing to mitigate Zedekiah’s punishment, should say, Thou shalt not die by the sword, but thou shalt die in peace. To die in peace is to die a natural death, when no violence is used, but when God himself calls people, as though he stretched out his hand to them.

It is indeed certain that it is much better for some to be killed by the sword than to pine away from disease. For we see that many are either seized with frenzy on their bed, or rage against God, or remain obstinate; in short, there are dreadful examples that occur daily where the Spirit of God does not work or rule.

For then there is no tenderness in a person, especially when facing the fear of death; he then flares up, as it were, into a rage against God. But, on the other hand, many who are brought into affliction acknowledge that they are justly condemned and, at the same time, acknowledge the punishment inflicted to be medicine, so that they may obtain mercy before God. To many, then, it is better to die a violent death than to die in peace; but this happens through people's own fault. At the same time, natural death, as I have said, justly deserves to be greatly preferred to a violent and bloody death, and I have briefly stated the reasons. The subject might indeed be discussed more fully, but it is enough to briefly touch on the main point as the passage requires.

In peace, he says, shalt thou die, and then adds, with the burnings of thy fathers shall they burn thee, and lament over thee, “Alas! Lord.” Here another comfort is added: that when Zedekiah died, there would be some to bury him, not only humanely but also honorably.

And burial in many places is counted as one of God’s favors, just as in life God shows himself kind and bountiful to us when we are in health and vigor. For as health and food sufficient for the necessities of life are evidence of God’s love, so is burial after death; for burial distinguishes humans from animals.

When a wild beast dies, its carcass is left to putrefy. Why are people buried, except in hope of the resurrection, as though they were laid up in a safe place until the time of restoration? Burial, then, as it is a symbol of our immortality, makes a distinction between us and animals after death.

In death itself there is no difference; the death of a human and the death of a dog have no certain marks to distinguish the one from the other. Then it is God’s will that there should be some monument, so that people might understand how much more excellent their condition is than that of animals.

Thus, when God favors us with a burial, he shows his paternal care towards us. On the contrary, when the body of anyone is cast away, it is in itself a sign of God’s displeasure, as it appeared before, when the Prophet said of Jehoiakim that his burial would be that of an ass (Jeremiah 22:19). Just as Jehoiakim was threatened with the burial of an ass, so now he promises an honorable burial to Zedekiah.

I said that this is true when the matter is considered in itself. For it sometimes happens that the most wicked are buried with honor and great pomp, while the children of God are either burned or torn by wild beasts. That complaint of the Psalmist is well known, that the bodies of the saints were cast away and became food for birds and wild beasts (Psalms 79:2).

And it is said of the rich man, who lived in splendor, that he died and was buried, but there is no mention made of the burial of Lazarus (Luke 16:22). We should not, then, simply conclude that those who are not buried are miserable, and that those who obtain the honor of a burial are blessed.

As the sun is said to rise on the children of God and on strangers, so also after death, since burial is a temporal benefit, it may be considered as belonging indiscriminately to the good and to the bad. On the contrary, it may be that God deprives his children of a burial; yet still, that truth remains fixed: that burial in itself is evidence of God’s favor, and that when anyone is cast away and denied a burial, it is a sign of God’s displeasure.

Yet when we come to individuals, the Lord turns a temporal punishment into a benefit for his own people, and makes his temporal blessings serve for a heavier condemnation to all the reprobate and ungodly. Hence, those who dared to deride burial, as the Cynics did, who treated burial with contempt, were barbarous. This was inhumanity.

But we ought to hold these points: that as God supplies us with bread, wine, water, and other necessities of life, in order to feed us and to preserve us in health and vigor, so we should also regard burial. But when the faithful are exposed to hunger, when they die from cold or exposure, or when they are subjected to other evils, and when they are treated ignominiously after death, all this turns out for their salvation, for the Lord intends their good even when he seems to afflict them with adversities.

This, then, is the reason why the Prophet now in some measure mitigates Zedekiah’s sorrow by saying, They shall bury thee, and with the burnings of thy fathers shall they burn thee. This was not a common but a royal mode of burial. He then promises that after many degradations and reproaches, God would at length show him, when dead, some favor.

But one may say, what good would this do Zedekiah? For his body would then be without sense or feeling. But it was well to hear of this kindness of God, for he might thereby conclude that God would at last be merciful to him, if he really humbled himself. There is then no doubt that a hope of pardon was promised to him, though he was to be sharply and severely chastised even until his death.

God then intended that Zedekiah should always remember this symbol, so that he might not wholly despair. So now we understand why the Prophet promised this to Zedekiah: not that it would be of material benefit to him to be buried with honor, but that he might have some conception of God’s kindness and mercy.

Now we know that the dead bodies of kings were subject to burnings at great expense; many precious aromatics were procured, a fire was kindled, and the bodies were dried—not that they were reduced to ashes (for this was not the custom, as it was among the Romans and other nations who burned the bodies of the dead and gathered the ashes). But among the Jews, the body was never cremated; they only kindled a fire around the dead body to prevent putrefaction. The bodies of the dead were dried by a slow fire. This was not indeed commonly done, but only at the burials of kings, as it appears from the case of Asa and others (2 Chronicles 16:14).

Then he says, With the burnings of thy fathers shall they burn thee, and they shall lament thee, “Alas! Lord.” It may be asked whether these lamentations were approved by God. To this there is a ready answer: the Prophet does not here commend immoderate mourning, crying, and exclamations when he says, they shall lament thee; but he took the expression from what was commonly done, as though he had said, “They shall perform for you this act of humanity, such as is usually done for the remains of kings in full power, in the day of their prosperity.” God, then, in speaking here of lamentation and mourning, does not commend them as virtues or as worthy of praise, but refers only to what was then commonly done.

But we know what Paul especially teaches us: that we are to moderate our sorrow, so as not to be like the unbelieving, who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13), for they think that death is the death of the soul as well as of the body. They therefore lament their dead as forever lost; and they also murmur against God and sometimes utter horrid blasphemies. Paul then would have us be moderate in our sorrow. He does not condemn sorrow altogether, but only requires it to be moderate, so that we may show what influence the hope of resurrection has over us.

And yet there is no doubt that people, in this respect, exceed moderation. It has commonly been the case in almost all ages to mourn ostentatiously for the dead. For they are not only without genuine feeling when lamenting their friends or relatives, but they are also carried away by a sort of ambition while burying the dead with great noise and lamentation.

When they are alone, they control themselves, so that at least they make no noise; but when they go out before others, they break forth into noisy lamentations. Hence, it appears that, as I have said, mourning is often ostentatious. But as people have gone astray in this respect from the beginning, we ought to take greater care, so that each of us may check and restrain himself.

Still, as I have said, it is natural to weep for the dead; but doubtless, it may be said, the exclamations mentioned by the Prophet cannot be approved. For what purpose was there in crying, “Alas, Lord! Our king is dead,” and things of the same kind? But we ought to bear in mind that Eastern nations were always excessive in this respect, and we find them to be so to this day.

The warmer the climate, the more people are given to gestures and ceremonies. In these cold regions, gesticulations and crying out, “Alas, Lord! Alas, father!” would be considered impertinent and foolish. But where they tear off their hair, and also cut themselves and tear their cheeks not only with their nails but also with knives—where they do these things, they also utter these exclamations spoken of by the Prophet.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as it is always fitting for us to be often chastised by your hand—O grant that we may learn to bear your scourges patiently and with quiet minds. May we so acknowledge our sins that we do not at the same time doubt that you will be merciful to us. And may we with this confidence always flee to seek pardon, and may it also serve to increase our repentance, so that we may strive more and more to put off all the vices of the flesh and to put on the new man, so that your image may be renewed in us, until at last we come to partake of that eternal glory which you have prepared in heaven for us, through Christ your Son. Amen.