John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 5

In this verse, as in those which follow, God shows that he was not too rigid or too severe in denouncing utter ruin on his people, because their wickedness was wholly incurable, and no other way of treating them could be found. We, indeed, know that it is often testified in Scripture that God is patient and waits until sinners repent.

Since then God everywhere extols his kindness and promises to be merciful even to the worst if they repent, and since he of his own accord anticipates sinners, it may appear strange that he rises with so much severity against his own Church. But we know how stubborn the ungodly are; therefore they do not hesitate to protest to God and willfully accuse him, as if he treated them cruelly.

It is for this reason, then, that God now shows that he was not, as it were, at liberty to forgive the people. "Even if I would," he says, "I could not." He speaks, indeed, in human terms; but in this way, as I have said, he shows that he tried all measures before he resorted to extreme severity, but that there was no remedy, because of the desperate wickedness of the people. This is what the words fully express.

Go round, he says, through the streets of Jerusalem, and see, please, and know; inquire through all the crossroads. Jeremiah might have said in one sentence, "If one man is found in the city, I am ready to forgive." But God here permits the whole world to inquire diligently and carefully what was the state of the holy city, which always gloried in that title.

But he now, as also in the next verse, speaks of Jerusalem. He had also spoken of the neighboring cities; but as the holiness of the whole land seemed then to have its seat and dwelling place in Jerusalem, God here addresses that city, which still retained some appearance of holiness and excelled other cities.

He then says, Inquire, see, know, look, whether there is a man, etc. He allows all people here to form a judgment, as if he had said, "Let all be present, since the Jews seek to stir up animosity against me and complain of too much severity, as if I treated them inhumanly. Let all who wish come as judges; let them inquire, ask, make a thorough search. When it is discovered that there is not even one just man in it, what else can be done but for the city to be destroyed? For what can be done with those who are abandoned and irredeemable, except for me to execute my judgment on them?"

We now understand the Prophet’s purpose; for he intended here to shut the mouths of the Jews and to expose their slanders, so that they might not protest loudly against God or blame His judgment, as if it exceeded the limits of moderation. He also shows that, though God was inclined to pardon, there was still no room for pardon, and that His mercy was excluded by their untamable stubbornness, since there was not one man in Jerusalem who had any regard for uprightness.

Here, however, a question arises: Why does Jeremiah say that no good man could be found, since he himself was at Jerusalem, and his friend Baruch, and some others, an account of whom we shall find later? There were then in the city some true servants of God, and some still remained who had true religion, though the number was small. It appears then that the language is hyperbolic.

But we must note that the Prophet here speaks of the people, excluding the faithful. To make this clearer, we must remember a passage in Isaiah chapter 8:

Seal the law and bind the testimony for my disciples,
(Isaiah 8:16)

Here it appears that God saw that he sent his Prophet in vain, and that his labors were in vain among a people completely irredeemable. Hence he says, Bind the testimony and seal the law among the disciples.

We see that God gathered together, as it were, the few in whom any seed of true religion remained, indeed, in whose hearts any religion was found. They were not then numbered with the people. So now Jeremiah did not consider Baruch and a few others as forming a part of that reprobate people; and he speaks, as has been stated, of the community in general, for there were some separated from the rest, not only by the secret counsel of God, but according to the judgment that had been pronounced. He therefore truly declares that there was not one just man.

We should also consider with whom he was then contending. On one side were the king and his counselors, who, puffed up by the promises which they perverted, did not think it possible that the throne of David would fall.

This is my rest forever — As long as the sun and moon shall be, they shall be my witnesses in heaven, that thy seed shall never fail. (Psalms 132:14; Psalms 89:37, 38)

With such words they were armed. But as hypocrites falsely claim God’s promises, so these unprincipled men boasted that God was on their side. Jeremiah also had to fight with another party, as we shall see later: that is, with a host of false prophets, for there was a greater number of them, as is always found in the world.

The whole priestly order was corrupt and openly carrying on war with God; and the people were nothing better. So he says that there was not one man among them who sought to appease God’s wrath.

To seek judgment is the same as to strive for uprightness: for the word משפט, meshephet, means rectitude, equity, or the rule of acting justly. He says then that there was no one who practiced what was just, and no one who sought the truth.

Truth, as in a following verse, is to be understood as integrity or honesty; as if he had said that all were given to falsehoods, frauds, and deceptions. It was therefore impossible that God should have been propitious to the city; for the relative ה after ל, being feminine, can only apply to Jerusalem. God then says that he would be merciful to it if a just man could be found among the king’s counselors, or among the priests, or among the prophets; but they had all united in opposition to everything just and right.

This is added to anticipate an objection. For the Jews, as is well known, thought they had a cover for all their vices, since they had God’s name continually in their mouths. Because they professed to worship the God of Abraham, they believed this pretext was sufficient to cover all their wickedness.

The Prophet counters this objection and shows that this disguise was useless because, in using God’s name this way, they profaned it. He goes still further, for he shows that the Jews, not only in common practice, were entirely lacking the fear of God, but also that when anything of a religious kind appeared among them, it was sacrilegious.

This is far worse than when God’s name is forgotten, and wretched people give themselves full permission to sin, as if they could not hide their wickedness. For when they openly provoke God and, as it were, dishonor Him to His face, how detestable and how monstrous is their impiety! This, then, is what Jeremiah sets forth: Though they say, Live does Jehovah, yet in this they swear falsely.

We now understand the Prophet’s meaning. In the first place, he strips hypocrites of their vain confidence in thinking that God would be favorable to them, provided they professed His name. They did this without considering how precious God’s name is, instead regarding it as a trivial matter to swear carelessly by His name.

But the Prophet not only condemns the hypocrisy of the Jews, but, as I have said, he also emphasizes the severity of their wickedness. For they did not hesitate to profane God’s sacred name and to carry on, so to speak, an open war with Him by abusing His name in swearing.

By mentioning, Live does Jehovah, he refers to the words that godly people also use when they take an oath. For when they appeal to the living God, it is as if they stood before His tribunal. At the same time, they declare their knowledge that even though God may delay His vengeance, an account must still be given, because He lives forever.

Thus, godly people acknowledge that if they swear falsely, nothing is gained by any delay, even if God suspends His vengeance. But the Prophet, as I have already said, applies this to hypocrites, who seemed to ascribe great honor to God—for nothing is more specious than their words. Gall indeed was in their heart, while honey was on their lips.

Therefore, the Prophet derides this false pretense and says, “Even when they swear most solemnly as to the words used, and show a high concern for religion, nevertheless they swear falsely.” Some translate לכן, lacen, as “surely” or “certainly,” but the meaning will be clearer if we translate it as “nevertheless.”

Some give a strained interpretation of the beginning of the verse, or rather pervert it, as if the Prophet had said that God would not turn His eyes from what was right, because He would rigidly execute His vengeance on His people. But Jeremiah continues here with the same subject, for there is no importance to be attached to the division of the verses.

Those who have divided them have often unknowingly perverted the meaning. The divisions then are not to be heeded; only the number is to be retained as a help to the memory. But as to the context, they often are a hindrance to readers, for it is preposterous to blend things which are separate and to divide what is connected.

This remark has just occurred to me, and it is necessary, as this passage calls for it. For the Prophet, after having said that the Jews were perfidious and guilty of duplicity, and destitute of all integrity, immediately adds, "But the eyes of God regard fidelity;" as if he had said that they in vain pretended to profess God’s name and made a show of religion by ceremonies and by an outward display, for God searches the heart and cares nothing for those external masks by which men’s eyes are captivated.

The Prophet very significantly turns his discourse to God, to show that he was weary of addressing the people, for he saw that he achieved nothing with the obstinate. If there had been any teachable spirit in the Jews, he would no doubt have exhorted them to practice integrity. He might have said, “They are mistaken who swear falsely in God’s name and persuade themselves that He will be their Father, for His eyes regard fidelity and uprightness of heart.” This would have been a regular way of proceeding, and this mode of teaching would have been most suitable.

But Jeremiah abruptly breaks off his address and leaves his own people. "O God," he says, "your eyes look on fidelity;" as if he had said, “What more can I have to do with this wretched people? I address words to rocks and stones; therefore I bid you farewell and will have no more to do with you; I will now turn to God.” We now see how much more forcible and striking this turning from the people to God is than if the Prophet continued his address to the Jews and sought to instruct them.

For he now shows that he was broken down with weariness, because he saw that his labor was useless and that all whom he had addressed were altogether refractory. Nor did he, at the same time, intend to speak these words at random and to no purpose; nay, his object was more sharply to touch those who were stupid by letting them know that he left off addressing them because he had no hope respecting them.

But what I have said elsewhere should be kept in mind—that the Prophets did not write all that they preached, but collected the substance of what they had delivered to the people; and this collection now forms the prophetic books. There is therefore no doubt that Jeremiah had spoken at large on repentance—that he had exposed the sins of hypocrites, that he had exposed the fallacious pretenses of the people, and that he had severely reproved their obstinacy.

But after having done all these things, he found it necessary to desist from pursuing his course, for he saw that no fruit could be hoped for from his labors and his preaching. Now, when the Jews knew this, they should have been deeply affected; and this should be the case with us now, when we see that God’s Spirit is provoked by our perverseness. And as this is a dreadful thing, it is what should more than anything else touch our hearts.

Consider what it is: God daily invites us most kindly to Himself; but when He sees that our hearts and heads are so extremely hard, He leaves us, because we grieve His Spirit, as it is said by Isaiah (Isaiah 63:10). It was not, then, a usual or common mode of teaching which the Prophet adopted; but it was calculated to have more effect than plain instruction, for he shows that the wickedness of the people could no longer be endured.

Jehovah, he says, are not your eyes on the truth? In this address to God there is an implied contrast between God and men. The most wicked, we know, flatter themselves while they can retain the good opinion and applause of the world; and as long as they continue in honor, they slumber in their vices.

This foolish confidence is what the Prophet evidently exposes, for he intimates that the eyes of God are different from those of mortals: men can see a very little way, hardly three fingers before them; but God penetrates into the inmost and the most hidden recesses of the heart. And the Prophet speaks thus of God’s eyes in order to show how worthless are the opinions of men, who regard only a splendid outward appearance. By truth, the Prophet means, as in the first verse, integrity of heart. Hence, they philosophize here without reason who seek to prove from this passage that we are made acceptable to God by faith only, for the Prophet does not speak of the faith by which we embrace free reconciliation with God and become members of Christ.

The meaning indeed is in no way obscure, which is this—that God cares not for that external splendor by which men are captivated, according to what is said in 1 Samuel 16:7: Man sees what appears outwardly; but God looks on the heart.

There the Holy Spirit expresses the same thing by “heart” as He does here by fidelity or “truth.” For Samuel shows that David’s father was mistaken, because he brought forward his sons who excelled in their outward appearance: Man sees, he says, what appears outwardly; but God looks on the heart.

We now understand the true meaning of the Prophet—that though hypocrites flatter themselves, and the whole world encourages them by their adulations, all this will not avail them; for they must at last come before the tribunal of God, and before God truth only will be approved and honored.

He afterwards adds, You have smitten them, and they have not grieved. The Prophet here reproves the hardness of the people, for they had been smitten, but they did not repent. Experience, as they say, is the teacher of fools; and it is an old proverb that fools, when corrected, become wise.

Both poets and historians have uttered such sayings. Since, then, the Jews had such a perverse disposition that even scourges did not lead them to repentance, it was an evidence of extreme wickedness. And thus the Prophet here confirms what he had said before, that God would be merciful to them if one just man could be found in the city: he confirms that declaration when he says, You have smitten them, but they have not grieved. The Jews, no doubt, groaned under their scourges; yes, they howled and poured forth grievous complaints, for we know how petulantly they spoke evil of God.

They then had grieved; but grief here is to be taken in a special sense, according to what Paul says of repentance, that its beginning is grief or sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:9–10). In this sense it is that the Prophet says here that those who had disturbed minds did not grieve, for they did not feel that they had to do with God.

He then means by this word what another Prophet means when he says that they did not regard the hand of Him who struck them (Isaiah 9:13). For he does not say that they were so senseless as not to feel the strokes, but that the hand of God was not seen by them; and yet this is the principal thing in our sorrow.

For if we blindly and violently cry out in our troubles, and cry, "Woe," a hundred times, what is it all? Our lamentations are only those of brute animals. But when we regard the hand of Him who strikes us, our grief then is of the right kind. Jeremiah says that the Jews did not grieve in this manner, for they did not perceive that they were justly chastened by God’s hand.

He afterwards enlarges on the subject: You have consumed them, he says, and they refused to receive correction. By saying that they had been consumed, he proves them guilty of extreme perverseness; for when God lightly chides us, it is no great wonder if, through our tardiness and sloth, we are not immediately roused.

But when God doubles His strokes, yes, when He not only strikes us with His rods but draws His sword to consume us entirely; yes, when He thus deals with us and executes His vengeance by terrible judgments, if then we are still torpid in our sins and feel not how dreadful it is to endure His judgments, must we not be indeed wholly blinded by the devil?

This is then the stupor which the Prophet now deplores in the Jews; for not only were they without a right feeling of grief when God struck them, but when they were even consumed, they did not receive or admit correction. And in this second clause he shows what we have already said—that the grief he speaks of is not to be taken for any sort of grief, but for that which regards God’s judgment and proves that we fear Him.

He adds, They have hardened their faces as a rock, and lastly, they have refused to return. The Prophet means that the Jews were not only refractory but that they were also without any shame. If, indeed, they had given every evidence of being ashamed, it would have been still useless, unless there was, as we have said, an integrity of heart.

But it often happens that even the worst, though inwardly full of impiety and of contempt towards God, and of perverseness, do yet retain some measure of shame. In order to show that the Jews had arrived at extreme impiety, the Prophet says that they had hardened their faces, that is, that they were wholly without shame, for they had cast away everything like reason and made no difference between right and wrong, between honesty and baseness. As, then, they had cast off every human feeling, he says that nothing remained to be done but that God, as he had previously declared, should execute on them extreme vengeance.

And he repeats what he had said—that they refused to turn. He means that they sinned and went astray, not through mistake or want of knowledge, but that they disregarded their own safety through willful and deliberate wickedness, and that they knowingly and avowedly rejected God, so that they would not endure either His teaching or His corrections.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as the devil does not cease to soothe us by his allurements, so that we may become torpid and stupefied—O grant, that Your word may so shine in our minds and hearts that we may not grow torpid in darkness. And do You also so rouse us by Your Spirit, that we may attend to those warnings of Your prophets, by which You would bring us to the right way, that we may not perish. And may we so assiduously exercise repentance through the whole course of our life, that we may ever be displeased with ourselves on account of our sins; and may we judge ourselves daily, that we may turn away Your wrath from us, until having at length finished our warfare, which we have to carry on continually with our sins, we will come to that blessed rest which has been procured for us in heaven by Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Some think that the Prophet here makes an excuse for the people and, as far as he could, extenuates their fault; but they are greatly mistaken. For there is no doubt that he, by this comparison, more clearly shows how past remedy the state of things was then. The sum, then, of what he says is this: corruptions so prevailed, not only among the multitude but also among the chief men, that there remained no soundness, as they say, from the head to the sole of the foot.

Nearly the same thing, only in other words, is stated by Isaiah in Isaiah 28. For after having spoken generally against the people, he assails the leading men and says that they were inebriated no less than the common people—that they were inebriated with wine and strong drink. But the meaning is that they were like drunken men because they felt no shame while they abandoned themselves to the most disgraceful deeds.

Jeremiah says something to the same purpose here when he declares that he thought it was the poor who had thus sinned—obscure men of no repute—but that he had found the same thing among the chief men as among the common people. He might, indeed, have only said, “Not only the lowest orders, the multitude, have become corrupt, but also the chief men, who ought to have excelled the rest.” But much more striking is the comparison when he says, “It may be that these miserable men have thus sinned because they did not understand the law of God, nor is this surprising; but greater integrity will be found in the chief men.”

By speaking thus, the Prophet brings the reader into the midst of the scene and shows him that not only all the people were guilty, but also the priests, the prophets, and the chief men in the state. The Prophet’s design is thus evident.

He says, I said—not that he actually thought so, for he saw that all things were in such disorder that nothing better could be hoped for from the chief men than from the common people. This was clearly seen by the Prophet; but, as I have said, he wished to show here, by a striking representation, how wretched the condition of the whole people was.

He says, Surely. The particle אך, ak, is an affirmative or, as in the next verse, an adversative. Some, indeed, take it here in the sense of אולי, auli, perhaps or it may be, and regard it as signifying a concession. “Let us grant this,” he says; “they are the poor, they are of no account, they are, as it were, the offscourings, who have thus sinned. It is not strange if they conduct themselves so foolishly, for they know not the way of Jehovah, nor the judgment of their God.”

The law was, indeed, given to all without any difference, so that the common people had no excuse. But this evil has prevailed in almost all ages: that few attend to the teaching of the law, for everyone is inclined to shake off this yoke. The common people, indeed, think that they have some excuse for neglecting it because they have no leisure and are not born for high stations.

The Prophet then speaks according to this prevailing opinion. But he does not extenuate the fault of those who pleaded ignorance as an excuse because they had not been taught in schools; for, as has been said, God intended His law for the whole people without exception.

By the way of Jehovah and the judgment of God, the Prophet means the same thing; such a repetition is very common in Hebrew. God, in prescribing to us the rule of life, shows us the way in which we are to walk. Our life, indeed, is like a course; and it is not God’s will that we should run at random, but He sets before us the goal to which we are to proceed and also directs us in the only way that leads to it.

For it is the office of the law to call us back from our wandering and to lead us to the mark set before us. Hence the law is called the way of Jehovah; and judgment (משפת, meshephet), as was said yesterday, means rectitude or a rule of life.

What he calls in the first clause the law of Jehovah, he calls in the second the judgment of God. And thus he shows that they were inexcusable who made the objection that they were miserably ignorant and knew nothing, for it was God’s purpose to show them, no less than to the most learned, how they were to live.

He now adds, I will go to the great. By “the great” he meant the priests and the prophets, as well as the king’s counselors and the king himself. I will go, then, he says, to the great, and will speak to them.

It is as though he had said that everywhere his labor was in vain, for he spoke not only to the deaf when addressing the illiterate vulgar but also when addressing the chief men. I have said that the Prophet did not make the inquiry as one who was doubtful, but his purpose was to make the chief men ashamed of themselves and also to confirm what he had said before: that not one just and upright man could be found in Jerusalem.

For they know, he says, etc. He declares the same thing in the same words. But we must always remember that the Prophet did not believe this; rather, he speaks of it as a thing that appeared probable. For who could have then thought that there was so much ignorance in the chief men, since they were in great esteem among the people? Since the opinion then prevailed that all those who were rulers were well acquainted with the law, Jeremiah speaks according to what was commonly thought and says that they knew the way of Jehovah.

He afterwards adds, But (for אך, ak, is to be taken here adversatively, and its proper meaning is “nay” or “but”) they have alike broken the yoke, they have burst the bonds. That is, “If anyone thinks that the rulers are better than the common people, he is much deceived; for I have proofs enough to show that their conduct is the same. They have broken the yoke of God no less than the most ignorant.” By this repetition he more fully confirmed their defection and at the same time reminded them how shameful it was that prophets, priests, and rulers, who occupied the first places in the state, had become so unbridled in their vices.

Here, finally, God shows that he was moderate in his judgments, so that the wicked in vain charged him, as is usual with them, with too much severity.

Some translate the words in the past tense and think the meaning to be that the Prophet reminds the Jews that they had not been afflicted without reason by so many evils, because they had deserved heavier punishments. But another view may betaken, for we know that in Hebrew the tenses often change; and I am inclined to regard the future tense as intended, for the Prophet seems not here to record what they had already suffered, but to remind them of the heavy punishment that was awaiting them: Smite them shall the lion from the forest

The wolf is called the wolf of solitudes because of his coming out from the desert. Some translate the words as “the wolf of the evening;” and this may be allowed. We indeed know that in other places hungry wolves are called the wolves of the evening, for after having sought their prey in the daytime and finding nothing, they become in the evening almost mad, and their hunger causes them to run furiously in all directions. This explanation, then, can be accepted. But as he says first that the lion would come from the forest, it is more probable that the wolf is described as coming from the desert. Regarding the general meaning of the passage, there is not much difference.

He mentions here three wild beasts—the lion, the wolf, and the leopard. By these wild beasts he undoubtedly means the enemies, who would soon attack them with the greatest cruelty. It is indeed true that the Jews, before the time in which Jeremiah spoke to them, had been afflicted with many evils; for God had not punished them only once, but had given them frequent warnings. Had there been any hope of repentance, they might have still continued in safety, though considerably reduced.

But Jeremiah seems to predict future punishment: he therefore refers not only to the Egyptians and the Assyrians but also to other enemies. For that people, we know, were hated by all their neighbors and had suffered grievous wrongs even from their own kindred. Since, then, many nations were hostile to the Jews, it is not strange that the Prophet enumerates here three sorts of wild beasts, as if he had said that enemies would come from every direction, who would, like lions, wolves, and leopards, vent their fury on them, because they had so often and for so long a time provoked God’s wrath.

At the same time, God does here check those false complaints which are often alleged by the wicked, and shows that he is a righteous Judge, and that the punishments he inflicted could not be blamed by the Jews: and it was for this purpose that he used the particle, Wherefore—על-כז, ol-kan.

He also adds, A leopard shall watch, that he may tear all who shall go out of the cities. This language is no doubt metaphorical; and what he means is that when the enemies would occupy the land, the Jews would be shut up in their cities and would not venture to go out, for dangers would await them everywhere.

At the end of the verse he repeats, and speaks more fully of what he meant by “Wherefore—על-כז,” at the beginning of the verse; for he says, Because multiplied have their transgressions, and increased have their defections.

By these words he further proves what he had said: that God is a righteous judge, even when he seems too severe. For it could not have been otherwise; he had to visit with extreme vengeance a people so abandoned and irreclaimable.

Nor does he only call them wicked and apostates, but he says that their iniquities, or evil deeds, were many, and that their defections had increased. And by this last expression he amplifies their guilt: for though פשע, pesho, does not mean simply to offend but to act wickedly, yet to fall away from God is a baser and more atrocious sin.

We therefore learn that such was the wickedness of the Jews that it could not be corrected by common means or moderate punishment.

He afterwards adds—