John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 6:10

"To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of Jehovah is become unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it." — Jeremiah 6:10 (ASV)

The Prophet here shows there was no reason for him to labor any longer trying to reform the people, for he spoke to the deaf. He had said before, according to our lecture yesterday, that God was still ready to be reconciled to the Jews, if they repented; but now, referring to himself, he says that his words were wholly lost. Therefore he asks a question regarding something strange or unexpected. To whom, he says, shall I speak? and to whom shall I protest? He had indeed, as we found yesterday, exhorted the people to repent: but there is nothing inconsistent in all this; for he wished, as far as he could, to secure the safety of the people. Even God had commanded this; and it was His will, as was stated yesterday, that a testimony should be given that, according to what had been taught, it was not His fault that He was not reconciled to the people.

We now see then that the whole passage is consistent; for Jeremiah performed his office in trying to find out whether the people were curable. But when he saw that their stubbornness was such that it allowed for no remedy, he exclaims as one astonished, To whom shall I speak? and to whom shall I protest? The meaning is that the people were so given over to ungodliness that the prophets labored in vain while trying to reform them. And he confirms the first clause with another, To whom shall I protest? He implies that they had despised not only what had been plainly taught them but also protestations, which carry much greater weight. He means that their wickedness could be cured by no remedies; they had not only rejected plain truth and serious warnings but had also stubbornly resisted solemn protestations.

That they may hear, he says. He implies that though he had faithfully performed his office, yet his labor was fruitless, for all the Jews were deaf. Therefore, he adds, Behold, uncircumcised is their ear. This metaphor is common in the prophets. The uncircumcised ear is that which rejects all true doctrine.

An uncircumcised heart is that which is perverse and rebellious. But we should understand the reason for this: as circumcision was a sign of obedience, so Scripture calls those uncircumcised who are unteachable, who cast away all fear of God and all sense of religion, and follow their own lusts and desires.

But the Jews greatly disliked being called this; for circumcision gave them significant confidence, since it was the symbol and pledge of adoption, and since they knew that by it they were separated from other nations to be called God’s holy people. But the Prophet stripped them of this vain conceit by calling them uncircumcised in heart and ears, because they had dealt treacherously with God when they promised to be obedient to His will.

The external sign in itself was nothing when its purpose was disregarded. It was God’s will to consecrate His ancient people to Himself by circumcision; but when they became satisfied with the visible sign alone, the reality was no longer there, and God’s covenant was profaned. It is the same today with respect to baptism; those who wish to be considered Christians boast of it, while at the same time they show no fear of God, and their whole life erases the true character of baptism.

It is therefore evident that they are sacrilegious, because they pollute what is holy. And for this reason Paul calls the letter [the outward rite] of circumcision, a sign without the reality (Romans 2:27). So today, baptism may be called the “letter” in all the profane, who have no regard for its design. For God receives us into His Church on the condition that we are members of Christ and that, being ruled by His Spirit, we renounce the lusts of our flesh.

But when we seek under the cloak of baptism to associate God with the Devil, it is a most detestable sacrilege. Such was the stupid presumption of the Jews. This was the reason why the prophets so often charged them with being uncircumcised in hearts and ears: “You are God’s holy people; give proof of this. You indeed boast that you have been circumcised; surely, the cutting off of a small piece of skin does not satisfy God. Show that your hearts and ears have been circumcised. But uncircumcision remains in your hearts, and it remains in your ears; you are then heathens.”

So now we see the meaning of the Prophet, and also the reason why Scripture speaks so much of the uncircumcision of hearts and ears. It was this: to prove the Jews guilty of profaning that sign, which ought to have been a pledge of their adoption and should have served as a profession of a new life.

It was not to lessen their guilt that Jeremiah said, They could not attend or give ear. If anyone objects and asks, “Should it be considered a crime that they could not pay attention?” The Prophet, as I have said, did not lessen their guilt but, on the contrary, showed that they were so sunk in their vices that they were not masters of themselves; as is the case with a drunkard, who is not in his right mind. But since he has acquired this vice of intemperance, his going astray or his ignorance is in no way excusable. So also the Prophet says that the Jews could not pay attention to the word of the Lord because they had surrendered themselves to the Devil, so that they had become his slaves; as Paul says of those who were without the grace of God, that they were sold under sin (Romans 7:14); and Scripture says the same elsewhere.

In short, Jeremiah here teaches us that the Jews had contracted such a habit of sinning that they were no longer free to do what was right; for the Devil led them here and there at his pleasure, as though they were bound in his chains. And thus he presents their depravity as hopeless.

Even Aristotle—though he is no authority regarding the power of the will, as he holds to free will (for he knew nothing of original sin and the corruption of nature)—yet allows that those who are otherwise wholly free cannot do what is right when they become so hardened in their vices that intemperance (ἀκράτεια) rules in them: for intemperance is a tyrant, which so subdues all the feelings and senses of men that all liberty is destroyed.

So now we see what the Prophet had in view: he did not mean that the Jews sinned because they lacked the power to resist, but because they had so plunged themselves into the abyss of wickedness that they had, as it were, sold themselves to the Devil, who held them fast bound and furiously drove them along as he pleased.

And this we learn more fully from what follows; for he says, Behold, the word of Jehovah has been to them a reproach; and it has not pleased them, or they have not delighted in it; for חפף means to take delight in a thing. The Prophet now more clearly shows that the fault lay with the Jews themselves, because they had despised God.

From where, then, came the powerlessness of which he had spoken? It came from their licentiousness, because they considered God and His prophets as nothing. Since, then, their minds were so hardened as to impiously despise the truth, it followed that they could not hear and pay attention, inasmuch as they were deprived of all right knowledge. From where did this come? It was because they had closed their eyes and deafened their ears, and given themselves up entirely to the Devil, so that he led them into every kind of madness. In short, he shows at the end of the verse what was the beginning of all their evils, namely, because the word of God did not please them, that is, because they had cast aside every care for true religion, because they were not pleased when the prophets came and offered to them the favor of God. As then the truth had become distasteful to them, so that they rejected it, when it ought to have been especially delightful to them, so it happened that they became entirely stupid and devoid of all judgment and reason; and from this also came the uncircumcision of the ears of which mention has been made.