John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 7:5-7

"For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbor; if ye oppress not the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your own hurt: then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even for evermore." — Jeremiah 7:5-7 (ASV)

Interpreters do not agree regarding the meaning of this passage. Some translate כי אם, ki am, as "But rather," or "But." I indeed acknowledge that it is taken this way in many places; but those who read כי אם, ki am, as one word are mistaken. For the Prophet, on the contrary, repeats what he had said: that God would not be gracious to the Jews unless their life proved that they had truly repented.

The words are sometimes taken as one in Hebrew and mean "but"; yet in other places they are often taken as separate words, as we found in the second chapter, "Though you wash yourself with nitre"; and for the sake of emphasis, the particle 'surely' is put before 'though.' But in this place, the Prophet simply means that the Jews were deceived in seeking to prescribe a law for God according to their own will, since it belongs only to Him either to approve or to reject their works.

And this meaning is confirmed by the latter part of the verse, for we do not read there כי אם, ki am, but אם, am; "If by doing you shall do judgment"; and then in the same form he adds, "If you will not oppress the stranger, the orphan, and the widow"; and at last he adds, "Then (I acknowledge a copulative is here, but it is to be understood as an adverb) I will make you dwell in this place."

The main point of the whole is—that sacrifices are of no importance or value before God, unless those who offer them wholly devote themselves to God with a sincere heart. The Jews sought to bind God, as it were, by their own laws: He shows that He was thus impiously put under restraint. He therefore lays down a condition, as though He had said, "It belongs to Me to prescribe to you what is right. Away, then, with your ceremonies, by which you think to expiate your sins; for I regard them not, and esteem them as nothing." What then is to be done? He now shows them, "If you will rightly order your life, you shall dwell in this place."

For yesterday the Prophet exhorted the people to repent, and he employed the sentiment which he now repeats. He commanded the people to come to God with an upright and pure mind; he afterwards added another sentence, "Trust not in words of falsehood, saying, The Temple of the Lord, etc." He now again repeats what he had said, "If you will make your ways good." He shows now more clearly that no wrong was done to the people when God repudiated their ceremonies, for He required a pure heart, and external rites without repentance are vain and useless.

This then is what the Prophet had in view: "Though God seems to treat you with great severity, He yet promises to be kind to you if you order your lives according to His law: is this unjust? Can the condition which God proposes to you be liable to any false accusations, as though God treated you cruelly?" This then is the meaning of the Prophet.

If you will make good your ways (that is, if your life is amended), and if you will do judgment, etc. He now comes to particulars, and first he addresses the judges, whose duty it was to render to everyone his right, to redress injuries, and to pronounce what was just and right when any contention arose. If, then, he says, you will do justice between a man and his neighbor—that is, if your judgments are right, without favor or hatred, and if no bribes lead you from what is right and just while pronouncing judgment on a case between a man and his brother.

Then he adds, "If you will not oppress the stranger and the orphan and the widow." This also belonged to the judges, but God no doubt shows here generally that injustice greatly prevailed among the people, as He condemns the cruelty and perfidy of the judges themselves.

As for strangers, orphans, and widows, they are often mentioned, for strangers—as well as orphans and widows—were almost destitute of protection and were subject to many wrongs, as though they were exposed as prey.

Hence, whenever a just government is referred to, God mentions strangers, orphans, and widows. For from this it might be easily understood what kind of public administration of justice existed; for when others obtain their right, it is no matter of wonder, since they have advocates to defend their cause, and they also have the aid of friends. Thus, everyone who defends his own cause obtains at least some portion of his right.

But when strangers, orphans, and widows are not unjustly treated, it is evidence of real integrity, for we may therefore conclude that there is no respect of persons among the judges. But as this subject has been dealt with elsewhere, I only touch on it lightly here.

"And if you will not shed," he says, "innocent blood in this place." Here the Prophet accuses the judges of a more heinous crime and calls them murderers. They had, however, no doubt some plausible pretexts for shedding the blood of the innocent. But the Prophet, speaking here in the name of God and by the guidance of His Spirit, regards all these as entirely vain, though the judges might have thought them sufficient excuses. By saying, in this place, he shows how foolish was their confidence in boasting of God's worship, sacrifices, and Temple, while yet they had polluted the Temple with their cruel murders.

He then passes to the first table of the law: "If you will not walk after foreign gods to your evil." By stating a part for the whole, he condemns every kind of impiety, for what is it to walk after alien gods but to depart from the pure and legitimate worship of the true God and to corrupt it with superstitions?

We see then what the Prophet means: he recalls the Jews to the duty of observing the law, that they might thereby give genuine evidence of their repentance. "Prove," he says, "that you have repented from the heart." He shows how they were to prove this: even by observing the law of God. And, as I have said, he refers to the first Table by stating a part for the whole. As for the second Table, he mentions some particulars intended to show that they violated justice and equity, and also that cruelty, treachery, frauds, and plundering greatly prevailed among them.

Then follows the latter part, "Then I will make you dwell, etc." God sets this clause in opposition to the false confidence of the people, as though He had said, "You wish Me to be gracious to you; but do not mock Me by offering sacrifices without sincerity of heart, without a devout feeling. Be consistent, and do not think that I am pacified by you when you come to the Temple with empty display and pollute your sacrifices with impure hands. I therefore do not allow this state of things; but if you come on the condition of returning into favor with Me, then I will make you dwell in this place and in the land which I gave to your fathers."

The last part of the verse, from age to age, ought to be connected with the verb "I will make you dwell." The Hebrew שכנתי, shekanti, means "I will make you dwell from age to age"; that is, as your fathers formerly dwelt in this land, so shall you remain quiet in it, and you shall have a peaceable possession there, but not in any other place. We must bear in mind the contrast which I noticed yesterday, for he indirectly denounces exile on the Jews because they had contaminated the land by their vices and gloried only in their sacrifices.