John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 39:10

"But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, that had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time." — Jeremiah 39:10 (ASV)

He now adds that some were left to inhabit the land, even the poor and those who had nothing. He says that these were made, as it were, the lords of the land when the Chaldeans returned to their own country. We here see that poverty is often an advantage, for the nobles, as we have seen, were killed; many also of the middle class were killed in the siege of the city, and some of them were treated a little more humanely.

Still, the exiles were miserable, driven to a distant land without any hope of return. The land was now left to the poor alone. Those who previously did not possess even a foot of ground now lived very comfortably, because their number was small enough that each of them had some extent of land, as we will see later.

So, while these miserable men, who previously lived very meagerly and perhaps begged for their bread, remained secure in the land of Judah, the former possessors of the land were torn away and driven into exile. And since Nebuzaradan had assigned vineyards and fields to each of them, it therefore appears how much better it was for them to have suffered hunger for a time, to have been in an ignoble condition, and to have been, as it were, trodden underfoot by others, than to have lived in pomp and splendor.

Thus God often shows His care for us when He does not allow us to rise high but keeps us in an obscure and humble condition. And the outcome eventually proves that He thus had regard for our salvation.

At the same time, a woeful change is here set before our eyes. The king is led bound in chains and is also blind. All the rest, having left their own property, are driven into exile. On the other hand, the poor alone, and needy men who had nothing, dwell freely, as it were, in their own possessions.

Since, then, they had their quiet dwellings and large fields, and enjoyed such a fertile and rich land, there is no doubt that Nebuzaradan meant by this to rouse the envy of the exiles. For they saw that needy and worthless men lived in that land from which they themselves had been banished. Hence, their indignation was increased when they saw that they were more severely and cruelly treated than these lowliest of men.