John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 49:8

"Flee ye, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I shall visit him." — Jeremiah 49:8 (ASV)

The Prophet shows here how great the pride of that nation was, and sets it, as it were, before their eyes. Flee, he says. The language is abrupt, yet the meaning is not ambiguous. The meaning is that when anyone warned the Idumeans to flee, none of them would move. Indeed, they would remain fixed in their own country, because they thought they would have lasting tranquility there. The citizens of Dedan have made deep their habitation. He names another city not far from Teman. He then adds, in God’s name, But I will bring destruction on Esau in the time of his visitation.

We now understand the Prophet's purpose: he wished to set before our eyes how proudly the Idumeans trusted in their defenses, as they never could be persuaded to flee. The Prophet then, as God’s herald, declares that they would have to flee. But what did they do?

They made deep their habitation; that is, they would remain secure in their own country, as though they were fixed in the center of the earth and therefore unassailable. By saying, then, that they made deep, he reveals their obstinacy, so that no one could terrify them, even though he announced extreme dangers.

But his purpose in this was to strengthen confidence in his prophecy, because most of the faithful could only judge according to the present appearance of things, and the Idumeans proudly laughed at all threats. So that the faithful, then, might not think that the Idumeans would be safe, he afterwards adds, in God’s name, Behold, I will bring ruin on Esau. He mentions their father; and the Idumeans, as we know, descended from Esau, the first-born of Isaac. Therefore, they were of the same blood as the Israelites.

But the Prophet, by bringing forward the name of a reprobate man, undoubtedly intended to renew the memory of a curse, because Esau had been rejected, and his younger brother Jacob succeeded in his place. Therefore, the Prophet, so that he might gain more credibility for his words, brought before the people what was well known to them: that Esau had been rejected by God. For on the rejection of Esau depended their gratuitous election and adoption.

And he says that God would be the avenger of that nation at the time of visitation. For, as I have reminded you before, what we have read was not immediately fulfilled. Therefore, when the Israelites suffered extreme calamities, their hope might have failed them a hundred times, on seeing the Idumeans still remaining, as it were, asleep in their pleasures, and these judgments of God, as it were, buried. For it might have occurred to them that everything Jeremiah had declared had vanished like smoke.

Therefore, to sustain their hope and patience, he sets before them here the time of visitation, as though he had said that the Idumeans also would have their turn, after God had patiently endured their impiety and spared them for a long time. But we shall see more of this later.

Now, as I have shown elsewhere, the words that remind us of the time of God’s visitations ought to be noted, so that we may not, by rushing, fall headlong, as is usually the case. For those who are in a hurry fall at the first step. So that we may then learn to wait for the opportune time, let this remain fixed in our minds: that God has His settled seasons of visitations.