John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 8:13

"I will utterly consume them, saith Jehovah: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf shall fade; and [the things that] I have given them shall pass away from them." — Jeremiah 8:13 (ASV)

He confirms, as I have said, what he had declared in the last verse. He had said that there would be the ruin of the whole people; for the same purpose he now adds, Destroying I will destroy them.

The verb אסף, asaph, properly means 'to collect,' but metaphorically, 'to destroy,' as we say in our language, Trousser; Je les trousserai tous ensemble. And from this it more fully appears that the Prophet explains what he had said: that destruction was near them all, so that none would remain—that is, with regard to the people as a body, as a community, for God always preserved a remnant.

We have, indeed, said elsewhere, and we shall have to notice the same thing often again, that the prophets, regarding the people as a body, threatened them all with destruction. But when they addressed the elect and the faithful, they added a modification: Destroying I will then destroy them.

He afterwards shows the manner: No grapes shall be on the vines, and no figs on the fig-trees. The word for 'fig' means the fruit as well as the tree, as is well known.

To more fully set forth God’s vengeance, he says that the very leaves would wither. The meaning is that God would soon come as an avenger, however securely the Jews might be resting in their sins. He shows the kind of vengeance that awaited them: God would deprive them of all sustenance and support. By mentioning a part for the whole, he includes everything necessary for life.

He does not speak of wine, corn, and oil; but by figs and grapes, as I have said, he comprehends every kind of sustenance. Even the leaves would wither and fall.

In the second place, he adds, Even, what I shall give them shall pass away from them. Some apply this to the fruit in the granaries and cellars, as if he had said, 'Even if they should have provisions in their storehouses and cellars, and be furnished with plenty, all this will still avail them nothing, for it will all be taken away.' For 'to pass away' often has this meaning; and the מ, mem, affixed, is the same as if it were מהם, meem, 'from them'.

Others render the words, 'they shall pass over them,' but this is too strained. They refer to the precepts granted to the Jews, which they had rendered void or neglected, but this interpretation cannot suit the passage. As for the first explanation, it seems too limited to me.

I therefore take this to be the meaning: 'Even if the grapes and figs come to maturity, yet what they shall consider as already prepared will be taken away.' The Prophet then means that there would be various ways by which the Jews would be reduced to penury and want: for either the enemies would rob them of their grapes and figs, or God Himself would send sterility, or, when they thought their provisions were secured to them, they would still not be allowed to enjoy them.

This is the import of the whole.