John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 6:2-3

"The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will I cut off. Shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place." — Jeremiah 6:2-3 (ASV)

As the place where the Prophet was born was pastoral, he retained many expressions derived from his education, for God did not divest his servants of every natural endowment when he appointed them to teach his people. Hence the Prophet here speaks according to notions imbibed in his early age and childhood. The daughter of Zion, he says, is like a quiet maiden, that is, one dwelling at leisure and enjoying herself; and yet she would be exposed to many indignities, for shepherds shall come and fix their tents around, and the whole country would be subjected to plunder. But it is doubtful whether the Prophet says that the daughter of Zion might be compared to a maiden, tender and delicate, dwelling at ease and cheerful, or whether he means that rest had been granted to the people for a time. There seems, indeed, to be no great difference, though there is some, between the two explanations.

If we take the verb דמיתי, damiti, in the sense of comparing, as interpreters do, then it is as though the Prophet had said, “I seem to see in the state of Jerusalem the image of a tender and delicate maiden.” Thus Jeremiah speaks in his own name. But the sentence may be more fitly applied to God—that he had made the daughter of Zion quiet for a time, and had given her peace with her enemies, so that she lived at ease and cheerfully.

Though these two views differ, yet the subject itself is nearly the same. The Prophet, no doubt, condemns the Jews here for their extreme lethargy, since they had completely misused the quietness granted them by God. He then proves that they were very thoughtless and stupid in thinking that their tranquility would be perpetual, for it was God’s favor, and only for a time.

Hence he says that the Jews were, up to that very day, like a tender maiden. For though the country of the ten tribes had been laid waste, and all had been driven away into exile, yet the kingdom of Judah continued safe. They had, indeed, been plundered by enemies, but in comparison with their brethren, they had been very kindly treated. This, then, is the reason why he says that they were like a maiden, delicate and tender.

But he afterwards adds, Come shall shepherds, etc.; that is, there is no ground for the Jews to deceive themselves because God has until now spared them and restrained the assaults of enemies, for now shall come shepherds. He keeps to the same metaphor: “Come,” he says, “shall shepherds,” together with their flocks; that is, leaders of armies shall come with their forces.

But I have already reminded you that the Prophet here is mindful of the city where he had been born and adopts a pastoral language. Come then shall shepherds with their flocks; fix shall they their tents, and feed shall each in his place. He means that the whole of Jerusalem would be so much in the power of enemies that each one would freely choose his own part or his own portion.

For when there is any fear, then the shepherds gather their flocks that they may assist one another; but when everything is in their own power, they move here and there as they please. This free acting then intimates that the Jews would have no strength and would be helped by no aid, but that the shepherds would surround the whole city and besiege it: every one, he says, would be in his own place.