John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 40

Here Jeremiah elaborates on what he had briefly touched upon before. The Hebrews were accustomed, in a few words, to state the substance of the whole, and then to explain more extensively what they had briefly said.

Jeremiah had previously told us that some of the Babylonian generals had been sent to release him from prison, and he added that he had been committed to the care of Gedaliah, who had been appointed over the poor of the land. He now tells us that he, still bound with chains, had been brought out to Ramah in that miserable condition.

These things appear inconsistent, but, as I have said, we must remember that there is an omission in the summary mentioned earlier. For, in the first instance, Jeremiah only said that he had been freed from his chains; but he now states the manner more distinctly, and, as it were, the different parts of the transaction. Therefore, this order should be especially noted.

Moreover, this chapter begins in such a way that he seems throughout the chapter to have forgotten the introduction. He says that a word came to him; he afterwards declares historically how he had been brought to Ramah, then that he had been released there, and also that Gedaliah was appointed over the remainder of the people.

In short, there is not in this long passage any mention of prophecy. Instead, a whole historical narrative is inserted before the Prophet expresses what God had committed to him, after the city was taken and after he had been restored to his former liberty.

Therefore, when he says here that a word came to him, we must wait until he has completed what we find in this chapter, for he will then return to this prophecy.

Let us now consider the words. He says, After Nebuzaradan dismissed him from Ramah, etc.; Jeremiah had been brought to this place by the guards, when he was still bound with chains.

There is then no doubt that the leaders of the army had ordered Jeremiah to be brought there after he was taken out of the court of the prison, and that he was brought there in the presence of all the people. It is also probable that all the Jews who were to be led into exile were brought there too. They were mustered there so that none might escape, for they would have slipped away here and there if they had not been delivered to guards.

When, therefore, all the captives were there, Nebuzaradan ordered Jeremiah to be brought out, not for the sake of degrading him, for, as we have seen, the king had been concerned about his life. No doubt this courtier wished to gratify his king in every way.

But it was, on the contrary, for the purpose of an indirect reproof to all the people. It was as if he would honor the servant of God, who had so faithfully warned them for so long a time—even over forty years—and would set before them their wickedness and also their ingratitude for having so cruelly treated God’s servant.

This then was the reason why Nebuzaradan wished Jeremiah to come bound with chains and to be released in the presence of all the people: it was so that the Jews might at last be ashamed of their pride and impiety against God, and of their ingratitude towards the holy Prophet.

Nebuzaradan then did not treat Jeremiah reproachfully; but he brought him out in chains so that he might publicly expose the wickedness of the whole nation.

He says that an option was given him by Nebuzaradan. If Jeremiah wished, he could remain in his own country and choose the best place for himself, and the situation most agreeable to him. But if he preferred to go to Babylon, he could go there. This, certainly, was a liberal offer.

The Prophet was not only freed from prison and loosed from his chains, but liberty was given to him in such a way that he alone was free, while the whole nation was reduced to bondage. For those who remained had no liberty to go elsewhere.

But Nebuzaradan here gave a free option to Jeremiah, so that he was free either to live in Chaldea, to remain in any place he wished, or to go to any part of the earth.

But before he says this, he administers reproof to the people, and says, Jehovah thy God hath spoken evil on this city; and he hath brought it, and made it to come. Here Nebuzaradan undertook the prophetic office and spoke highly of God’s righteous vengeance on the people.

There is no doubt that God had raised up such a teacher for the Jews, for they had for more than forty years obstinately rejected celestial truth. God had not ceased kindly to invite them to repentance and to promise them pardon and salvation, if they repented.

Since God had not ceased for so long a time, and continually to address them according to His paternal goodness, and at the same time had spoken to the deaf, they deserved to hear such a preacher as Nebuzaradan. He now contemptuously upbraided them that they had brought this evil on themselves, because they had been disobedient and rebellious against God, as they had not obeyed His word.

A remarkable example is presented to us here, so that we may learn that when God addresses us by His servants, we ought immediately to render obedience to Him. Let us learn to fear when He threatens us, and learn to entertain hope when He offers His favor to us.

For if we reject the Prophets when they are sent to us, other teachers will arise who will deride us; and though they may be ungodly themselves, they will still upbraid us with our impiety.

This then is the doctrine we ought to gather from this passage, in which we see that Nebuzaradan, as if gifted with the prophetic spirit, severely rebuked the people.

He, indeed, addressed Jeremiah and seems to have included him with the people when he said, Thy God hath spoken—because ye have sinned and have been rebellious.

But Nebuzaradan, no doubt, thus highly commended the faithfulness of Jeremiah because he had been true and faithful in his vocation and office. He then did not count him as one of the people, nor did he mean that Jeremiah had sinned with others or had been rebellious against God.

But, in the first place, he addressed Jeremiah, Thy God, he said. This was expressed by way of honor, meaning that God was the God of Jeremiah.

For though the people boasted that they were holy, Nebuzaradan here indirectly condemned their foolish boastings, since he intimated that Jeremiah alone was worthy of being considered one of God’s servants. It was as if he had said that the Jews were unworthy of the honor of glorying in God’s name, or of professing it: Thy God then hath spoken.

The rest tomorrow.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as You have promised that we shall be to You as the apple of Your eye—O grant, that we may ever flee under the shadow of Your mercy, and that this alone may be our tranquility in times of confusion and misery. May we, at the same time, rely in confidence on Your help, so that we may, in sincerity, perform what You command us and what is our duty, so that we may, by experience, find that all those who obey Your voice are really sustained by Your hand, and that those are never disappointed who look for the certain reward of their obedience from You. And may we carry on the warfare so perseveringly in this life, that we may know that there is a reward laid up for us in heaven, when Christ Your only-begotten Son shall appear. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

We began yesterday to explain the words of Nebuzaradan which he spoke before all the Jews. We have said that though he directed his words to Jeremiah, yet what he said referred to the whole people.

For he spoke in praise of Jeremiah and endorsed his prophecies; he therefore concluded that the people deserved their extreme punishment.

He says that God had spoken, not that he had faith in the words of Jeremiah, but only so far as he saw that they were useful for his purpose.

He gladly laid hold of what he approved, as ungodly men do, who embrace what is useful for them in God's Law and the Prophets, though they do not regard them with much reverence; and yet they pretend a great concern for religion.

Such was the case with Nebuzaradan. When he had gained the victory over the Jews, he boasted that he was the minister of God.

Jehovah, he says, has spoken, as if he had said that the Jews suffered such punishment as they deserved, because God had long before declared that He would punish them.

And then he adds that God had done as He had spoken, because they had sinned and hearkened not to His voice. Nebuzaradan was no better; but as I have already said, he boldly reproved others.

This is a common thing with hypocrites and all despisers of God; they are judges in another’s cause, but do not look, as one has said, on the other side of the wallet. Thus all are keen and ready enough to condemn others.

We have an example of this here in Nebuzaradan, for, as if he were the lawful judge of the people, he declared that the destruction of the city and Temple had not happened by chance. Instead, it was a just punishment inflicted by God on the wicked, because they had obstinately rejected the prophetic doctrine and had been intractable and disobedient.

Nor is there indeed any doubt, as we hinted yesterday, that God, in order to expose the Jews to greater shame, raised up this prophet for them.

For when Jeremiah addressed them for their safety, while there was still time to repent, they had perversely rejected that favor from God.

They then deserved to be addressed by a foreign teacher who offered them no benefit, but instead exulted over them, as this unbelieving heathen did in the present instance.

As for the option given to Jeremiah, we said yesterday that it was made openly in the presence of the Jews, so that Nebuzaradan might wound them more deeply.

But at the same time, it was God’s purpose to make the perseverance of His servant an example, as we shall see later.

Jeremiah continues his account, stating that Nebuzaradan dealt generously with him and permitted him to go wherever he wished. We therefore conclude that Nebuchadnezzar was fully convinced of Jeremiah's honesty and uprightness. For Nebuchadnezzar knew how Jeremiah was regarded among his own people, and that he might stir up great disturbances unless he was upright and quiet.

Since, then, Nebuchadnezzar had no doubt about Jeremiah's character, he wished to grant him complete freedom to choose his own dwelling place in any city he pleased, or to move wherever it seemed good to him. Jeremiah was invited to go to Babylon, and a promise of favor was added; but he was also permitted to remain in his own country.

I have said that this was done according to the divine purpose, so that the Prophet might give proof of his faith. For if he had gone to Chaldea, the confidence of many might have failed, and their faith in the promises might have vanished, because they might have considered it a sign of hopeless despair if the Prophet had gone there.

Therefore, so as not to disturb weak minds, he considered it his duty to remain in his own country. And so God inclined the mind of Nebuchadnezzar and the minds of his leaders to grant freedom to the holy Prophet to remain in Judea, as if for the purpose of raising a standard for the captives and of bringing about their return after seventy years.

We will, however, see shortly that he was led away elsewhere. But that did not in any way invalidate his prophecies, because violent men led him away as a captive, and he eventually died in Egypt.

He did not, however, willingly leave Judea, even though he found nothing but grief and sorrow there. For he did not seek his own pleasure, nor could he indulge in any pleasures, such as an abundance of food and drink; instead, he was always lamenting the overthrow of his own nation, and especially the destruction of the Temple.

Since, then, he preferred Judea to all other countries and submitted to being a constant witness to so many miseries, he gave remarkable proof of his faith and patience. In this way, he strengthened the faith of the suffering exiles, so that they might know that God would still be merciful and gracious to His people.

The account continues with the words of Nebuzaradan, but first introduces this clause: He was not yet gone back; that is, because he had not yet gone back. Then Nebuzaradan said, “Return to Gedaliah”—that is, “If you prefer to live here rather than to follow me, then go to Gedaliah.”

Here Nebuzaradan shows how he wanted Jeremiah to live in safety in that land, which was still like a den of robbers, namely, that he should be with Gedaliah.

And we see how concerned Nebuzaradan was to preserve the Prophet's life, for he wished Gedaliah to be his guardian, as he had briefly said before. But he now explains the matter more fully and in more detail to him: Return, he says, to Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon hath set over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him. He implies that Jeremiah would be safe if he lived with Gedaliah, because Gedaliah had been set over Judah by the king of Babylon.

What we have observed before is also repeated here: it was in the Prophet's power either to go to Gedaliah or to go anywhere else. Whatever place, he says, it seems right in thine eyes to go to, go there. He did not, therefore, assign him any specific place, but gave him permission to go anywhere, so that the Prophet was to choose for himself a dwelling place either in Judea or outside Judea.

It follows that Nebuzaradan gave him food; for that is how I translate the Hebrew word ארחה (areche), though some render it as “a present.” But it means food, as we will see later in chapter fifty-one, where Jeremiah speaks of daily bread. The second Hebrew word, משאה (meshae), I regard as meaning a gift or a present.

Then Nebuzaradan bestowed food and other gifts on God's servant. As for food, the Prophet could well have accepted it, for after the city was taken, we know that he must have been in need of everything. Even before, he lived very meagerly and miserably, having only a piece of bread daily.

And now, when Nebuzaradan supplied him with food, there was no reason why the holy man, in such need, should not receive what was given to him.

But as for the presents, Jeremiah might seem to have forgotten himself. For it was a disgrace for him to receive a present or gifts for his doctrine from an enemy of God's people. For from where did this benevolence and generosity toward the Prophet come, except from Nebuzaradan's knowledge that his prophecy referred to the destruction of Jeremiah's own nation?

It seems, then, that for this reason Nebuzaradan wished to reward the holy man; Jeremiah, therefore, should have refused these presents.

But it is probable that Jeremiah was not enriched by a large sum of money or by costly things; Nebuzaradan likely only gave him some token of benevolence. And the Prophet could have received the present without suspicion, not as a reward for his doctrine, but rather as a confirmation of it offered by God.

This was because the Jews had been hostile to him as long as he had been faithfully laboring among them; for when he bitterly reproved them, he had no other goal than to secure their safety.

But since he had been so inhumanely treated by the Jews, God intended that more humanity should be shown to him by a heathen and barbarous nation than by the children of Abraham, who boasted of being the holy people of God.

It was for this reason, then, that Jeremiah received gifts from Nebuzaradan's hand.

This shows us the Prophet's firmness, in that he did not hesitate to reject what Nebuzaradan kindly offered him, even though he might have committed a great offense by making light, as it were, of Chaldea. Chaldea was, as we know, a very pleasant and fertile country; and tyrants cannot bear for their generosity to be despised, for when they choose to honor someone, however little they may offer, if that person refuses, they consider it a dishonor to them.

The Prophet, then, might have been overcome by modesty and fear, and so moved to Chaldea. That he dared simply to refuse the offer and ask to dwell in his own country was proof and evidence that he had more concern for religion and more care for God’s Church than for all human favors and all he might have hoped for from the wealth of Babylon and Chaldea.

Hence, we see that the Prophet, in receiving presents, accepted nothing but what he knew would be for the benefit of God’s Church.

At the same time, he made light of the offense he might have given when he chose to remain in his own country. For, as we have said, it was as though he erected a standard to invite the Jews to return and thus to prove the truth of his prophecy that their exile was temporary, the end of which was to be hoped for after seventy years. For this reason, he says that he went to Gedaliah and dwelt among the people, even among those who remained in the land.

Gedaliah has been mentioned before. We have seen that the Prophet was once rescued from death through his kindness, for he intervened for him when almost all by common consent condemned the holy Prophet to death. And God bestowed on him no ordinary honor, that while he was seeking nothing, Nebuchadnezzar appointed him as governor over the land. Indeed, he did not enjoy power for very long; but it was still God’s will to extend His hand to the devout man, so that he might have, at least for a time, some evidence of His favor. Eventually, as we shall see, he was killed by treachery.

The Prophet now tells us that the leaders of the forces, previously scattered with their troops, had now come to him. When the Prophet says that they were in the field, I do not think, as some do, that they were those who fled when the city was taken. Instead, they were probably those who were forced to flee from the cities at the first entrance of the Chaldean army.

Nor does it seem probable that they escaped, especially since all the king's companions were overtaken and caught in the plain of Jericho, as we have already seen. Therefore, I think that they were those who had been scattered here and there, having deserted the cities committed to them at the first approach of their enemies.

Since they had been wanderers from their own country and exiles, they now returned to Gedaliah. By saying that the leaders of the forces had heard, he does not mean that they now had an army, but rather that they had been put in charge of cities and towns in Judea along with their troops.

So they and their men came to Gedaliah when they heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, over Judea, and that men, women, and children were committed to his authority or care. And then he adds, from the poverty of the land, that is, from the dregs of the people, even from those who had not been removed to Babylon. Then they came, including Ishmael and others, who, as we shall see later, became a traitor.

He was, as the Prophet says, of the royal family. He was still very arrogant and, influenced by envy, killed Gedaliah, though he had been kindly received by him. He had, at the same time, received a reward for his treachery from the king of Amon. But all these things we shall see in what follows.

He names here the fugitive chiefs: the first was Ishmael, and among them were the sons of Kareah, who had pledged their faith to Gedaliah. But Gedaliah was too credulous and, at the same time, closed his ears to wise counsels and warnings. The Prophet proceeds to tell us how Gedaliah dealt with his own nation.

Here, as I have hinted, is explained the great humanity of Gedaliah, and also his pious concern for his own nation, so that the treachery and cruelty of the son of Nethaniah might appear the more detestable, who slew a man so deserving in his conduct toward him and others, having been led to do so by a reward.

The Prophet says that he swore to them; and it was not strange to make an oath in such a disturbed state of affairs. Ishmael and the rest could hardly have any confidence, since the Chaldeans had been so extremely hostile to them; indeed, they must have been in the greatest trepidation.

Therefore, there was need of a remedy: Gedaliah had to assure them of his integrity. This was the reason he made an oath; for if it had been in times of tranquillity, an oath would not have been necessary. But as their life hung, as it were, by a thread, and they saw many dangers on every side, there was need of confirmation. Nor did Gedaliah receive them without some danger, for it was not pleasing to the Chaldeans that such men should continue in the land.

For we have seen that the princes had been killed for this reason, and then all the chief men among the people had been removed to Chaldea, to prevent any of them from attempting new disturbances. It was, therefore, Nebuchadnezzar's aim to keep the country quiet, and this was the best way to prevent any unrest.

Gedaliah, then, undoubtedly saw that this would not be very pleasing to the Chaldeans. Yet his humanity and his concern for his own nation prevailed, so that he not only hospitably received them but also promised them by an oath that there would be safety for them. He therefore urged them to be confident and also to serve the Chaldeans.

Indeed, it was especially expected of them that they should surrender themselves, since their situation was hopeless. Then Gedaliah promised that the Chaldeans would be content with a voluntary submission, and he also promised them that there would be a safe dwelling for them in the land.

And he ordered them to gather wine, corn, and fruit, and to store them up, as there would be no danger from war. He also ordered them to dwell in the cities which they had taken, or to which they had been driven. The verb here is ambiguous, but I prefer its most literal meaning, which you have taken. Indeed, they could not have taken a city by force of arms, as they had only a few men and could never have been a match for their enemies.

So, the forcible taking of cities is not what is meant; rather, Gedaliah’s meaning was that they could safely remain wherever they were, or that they could dwell in any city they came to. But it was a great thing when he said to them that he would stand for them, for in this way he laid down his own life, as though he had said that he would be a guarantor that nothing grievous would happen to them.

And from this it is more clearly seen that he was not focused on himself, but that he used the power given to him for the public good. For if he had been ambitious, he would doubtless have been more careful to ingratiate himself with the king of Babylon. He would also have resolved to deal with such a hard and refractory people no less cruelly than their enemies had.

But when he extended his wings like a hen to gather under them the remnant of his own nation, it becomes quite evident that he had no concern for his own private safety. Instead, whatever power had been given to him by King Nebuchadnezzar, he used it entirely for the public good.

Therefore, these words should be especially noted: And I, behold, I will dwell in Mizpah, that I may stand, etc.; that is, that I may meet the Chaldeans who may come to us, meaning, to prevent them from coming upon you for any hostile purpose.