John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 5:18

"But even in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you." — Jeremiah 5:18 (ASV)

Different views can be held regarding the meaning of this verse. However, most interpreters believe that a hope is given here to the faithful; indeed, nearly all share this opinion, and I know of no one who takes another view. They therefore think that God moderates here what he had previously said, and that he gives some ground of hope to his servants, so that they would not imagine that the Church would be so reduced as to have no seed remaining. And כלה, cale, as was said yesterday, is often taken in this sense.

But when I now carefully consider the context, I feel compelled to take another view: namely, that God here enhances the severity of his vengeance. The particle גם, gam, meaning "also" or "even," favors this view; as though he had said, "Do not think that it will be all over when your enemies plunder you of all your possessions, deprive you of your children, and reduce you to extreme want. For you will not by any means be freed from all evils in this way, as I will pursue my vengeance still further."

Later, promises will follow to moderate these threats, so that the hearts of the faithful do not despair. But in this place, I have no doubt that the Prophet introduces God as a Judge executing vengeance, as though there were no place for mercy.

Then also, he says—for the particle גם, gam, is intensifying and emphatic—then also, in those days—that is, "When your enemies strip your land of its produce, of all its animals, and of its inhabitants, I will not even then cease to pursue you. I will not make an end with you, for scourges will still remain when you think that rest has been given to you and that the end of evils and of all calamities has come."

This is how God is accustomed to deal with the impenitent. For their perverseness is such that when they are struck, they become more and more hardened and chafe against restraint, like a horse champing the bit, according to the old proverb. And their hardness stems from this: they think that God is, so to speak, disarmed once he has punished them for their sins. He therefore declares that he has in his power different kinds of punishment and various ways of punishing.