John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 51

He proceeds with the same subject. Jeremiah seems, indeed, to have used more words than necessary; but we have stated the reason why he spoke at length on a matter so clear. His object was not only to teach, for he could have done this in a few words and thus included all that we have seen until now and will find in this entire chapter. But because it was an event scarcely credible, it was necessary to illustrate the prophecy about it with many figures, to impress with many repetitions what had already been said, and also to confirm by many reasons what hardly anyone admitted.

He then says, Behold, I will, etc. God is presented as the speaker, so that the word might have more force and power. Behold, he says, I will raise up a destroying wind against the Chaldeans. The comparison to wind is very appropriate, for God thus briefly reminded them how easy it was for him to destroy the whole world with even a single blast. The wind is, indeed, indirectly set in opposition to instruments of war. For when anyone seeks to overcome an enemy, he collects many strong forces and procures auxiliaries from every side; in short, he will not dare to attempt anything without making every possible preparation. So, just as men dare not attack their enemies without making strenuous efforts, God here extols his own power, because it is enough for him to raise up a wind. We now perceive, then, the purpose of this comparison, when he says that he would raise up a wind to destroy or scatter the Chaldeans.

The following words contain an obscurity; literally, they are, the inhabitants of the heart. For since the word ישבי, ishebi, is in a construct state, another word necessarily follows it, for instance, the country of the Chaldeans. But the relative, ה, He, referring to Babylon, should have been written down.

Yet as the words stand, we are compelled to read, and against the inhabitants of the heart. Some propose that the relative, אשר, asher, is to be understood, but that is harsh, for it is an unnatural way of speaking. They, however, give this rendering of אשר לב, asher leb, "those who in heart rose up against me." But what if we read the words inhabitants of the heart metaphorically, as meaning those who gloried in their own wisdom? For the Babylonians, as is well known, thought other men dull and foolish, and were so pleased with their own astuteness, as though they were fortified by enclosures on every side. They then dwelt in their own heart; that is, they thought themselves well fortified all around through their own wisdom. In this sense the Prophet seems to call the Babylonians the inhabitants of the heart.

He adds, at the same time, that they rose up against God, specifically because they had cruelly treated his people and nearly destroyed them. And we know that God took up the cause of his Church, and therefore regarded it as war waged against him by the ungodly whenever they molested the faithful. It is also generally true that all who arrogate wisdom to themselves rise up against God, because they rob God of the honor due to him. But this should properly be related to the union that exists between God and his Church, when he charges the Chaldeans that they rose up against him. It follows—

Here he explains himself more clearly, without the metaphor he had previously used. He no longer uses the likeness of wind when he declares that he would send fanners. At the same time, some take זארים (zarim) to mean aliens who would banish her; but this interpretation would be harsh. I then do not doubt that the Prophet alludes to the previously mentioned wind. He does not, indeed, continue that metaphor; but what he says still corresponds with it. Instead of wind, he now mentions fanners, or winnowers; but this can only be understood as referring to enemies. A clearer explanation is still found in the word empty, after he said that the Persians and the Medes would fan or winnow Babylon. He compares her, no doubt, to chaff. Just as chaff, when winnowed, falls to the ground, so he says a similar thing would happen to the Babylonians.

But he adds, And shall make empty her land—that is, the land of Babylon. He says that the whole country would be so plundered that nothing would be left. And he confirms this declaration: because they shall be, he says, around her. By this expression, he intimates that there would be no escape for the Chaldeans.

It often happens that people stealthily escape when pressed by their enemies; for though enemies may watch all passages, they often do not find all the hiding places. But the Prophet says that their enemies would so surround them that the Chaldeans would not be able to take anything with them that they might save from their enemies’ hands. He adds, in the day of evil. By this phrase, he again intimates that the Chaldeans were already devoted by God to destruction. It is, then, as if he had said that as soon as her enemies came, it would be all over with Babylon and the whole nation. How so? Because it would be the day of her utter ruin.

Interpreters offer various explanations of this verse. Some understand him who bends the bow to mean a light-armored soldier; and by him who elevates himself in his coat of mail, they understand a heavy-armed soldier.

There is also another point of difference: some take אל (al) for לא (la) when it is said ואל יתעל (veal itol), because a copulative follows. The words do not seem to be well connected if we read them this way: “As to him who raises himself up in his coat of mail, and spare you not,” etc. For this reason, they take the particle אל (al) negatively, instead of לא (la), to mean, “and he may not raise himself up in his coat of mail.”

However, it is probable that the copulative in the second instance is redundant. The simple meaning would therefore be: As to him who bends the bow, and who raises himself up in his coat of mail.

Indeed, I do not offer such a refined interpretation as some do regarding the light-armored and heavy-armed soldiers. I have no doubt, then, that he points out the archers and those clad in mail. If, however, anyone prefers the other explanation, let him enjoy his own opinion. As for the main point, it is evident that the Prophet exhorts the Persians and the Medes not to spare the young men among the Chaldeans, but to destroy their entire army, so that no part of it should be left.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that since you were formerly so concerned for the salvation of your people as to undertake war for their sake against a most powerful nation—O grant that we also, today, may know that we will be safe and secure under the protection of your hand. May we so experience your power that we may have a just reason for glorying in you, and that our enemies may be confounded, so that your glory may shine forth more and more, and that the kingdom of your only-begotten Son may also be promoted in this way.—Amen.

He proceeds with what we began yesterday to explain—that the time was near when God would take vengeance on the Babylonians.

Since, then, this could not happen without great destruction in a city so very populous, and as it could not be overthrown unless calamity extended itself throughout the whole country, therefore, he says that though Babylon should prepare great and powerful armies, it would yet be in vain, because they shall fall, he says, wounded everywhere in the land; and then he adds, and pierced through in her streets.

By these words he means that the Chaldeans would be slain not only in the open fields but also in the midst of the city.

He afterwards adds—

The Prophet here shows why God had resolved to treat the Babylonians with so much severity: specifically, because He would be the avenger of His own people. He also addresses a doubt that might have disturbed weak minds, for He seemed to have forsaken His people when He allowed them to be driven into exile.

As this was a kind of repudiation, as we have seen elsewhere, the Prophet now says that Israel had not been wholly widowed, nor Judah, by His God; as if he had said that the Jews and the Israelites were indeed, for a time, like widows, but this was not to be perpetual.

For, as we have said, the divorce was temporary, when God so forsook His Temple and the city that the miserable people were exposed to plunder. As long, then, as the will of their enemies prevailed, God seemed to have forsaken His people. It is of this widowhood that the Prophet now speaks; but he nevertheless testifies that Israel would not be wholly widowed by Jehovah His God.

He indeed alludes to that spiritual marriage, of which frequent mention is made. For God had, from the beginning, united the Church to Himself, as it were, by a marriage-bond; and the people, as is well known, had been so received into covenant that a spiritual marriage, as it were, was contracted.

Therefore, the Prophet now says that they were not widowed, in which he refers to the hope of deliverance. For it could not be denied that God had repudiated His people. But he shows that their chastisement would not be perpetual, because God would at length reconcile to Himself the people from whom He had been alienated and would restore them to the ancient condition and honor of a wife. He speaks of both kingdoms.

Then he adds, by Jehovah of hosts. By this title he sets forth the power of God, as if he had said that as God is faithful in His promises and constantly keeps His covenant, so He is not so lacking in power as to be unable to save His people and to rescue them, when it pleases Him, from death itself. He confirms this truth when he says, for the land of the Chaldeans is filled with sin on account of the Holy One of Israel, as if he had said that the land was abominable because it carried on war against God.

For when he speaks of the Holy One of Israel, he shows that God had such care for His people that He was prepared, when the suitable time came, to show Himself as their avenger. We now perceive, then, what the Prophet means when he says that Chaldea was filled with sin: specifically, because it provoked God when it thought that the wrong was done only to men.