John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 40:5

"Now while he was not yet gone back, Go back then, [said he], to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wheresoever it seemeth right unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a present, and let him go." — Jeremiah 40:5 (ASV)

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.