John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 9:25-26

"Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will punish all them that are circumcised in [their] uncircumcision: Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners [of their hair] cut off, that dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart." — Jeremiah 9:25-26 (ASV)

The Prophet, after having removed the obstacle which he saw hindered the Jews from reverently receiving the truth of God, now speaks more sharply and fulfills the role of a herald in denouncing the vengeance that was near: Behold, come shall the days, in which I will visit all the uncircumcised in uncircumcision.

This passage has two possible meanings. Some interpreters take as distinct these two words, מול mul, the circumcised, and בערלה, beorle, in uncircumcision; as though Jeremiah had said, “I will visit the Jews, who are circumcised, as well as the heathen nations, who are uncircumcised.” Others interpret them together—that God threatens vengeance on the Jews and Gentiles, because they were circumcised and still retained uncircumcision.

The passage may, however, be suitably explained this way: there was a mixture that corrupted the sacredness of circumcision and made it like the uncircumcision of the Gentiles. It is as though it were expressed, “I will visit the circumcised with the uncircumcision,” that is, indiscriminately and without any difference, as we might say, pell-mell. For it follows afterwards that all were uncircumcised in heart; that is, all the Jews.

We therefore see that the Prophet makes circumcision and uncircumcision the same, and that he intended to make profane the sacred symbol of adoption. He was referring to the Jews, who, having degenerated, thus corrupted God’s covenant and at the same time violated circumcision, so that it was no different from uncircumcision. I therefore think that the Jews are grouped with the Gentiles, so that he ascribes even to them uncircumcision: I will then visit all the circumcised with the uncircumcision; that is, the circumcision of each is vain and is like uncircumcision.

However this may be, the Prophet here denounces ruin not only on the Jews but also on the Egyptians and on other neighboring nations. Yet, he speaks to his own people, for his message was not intended for the Egyptians, nor for the Idumeans and the Moabites. But as the Jews were accustomed to turn to the Egyptians when any danger arose from the Assyrians and Chaldeans, the Prophet here connects the Egyptians with the Jews, and for the same reason, the other nations.

We indeed know that the Idumeans and the Moabites were most hostile enemies of the Jews. However, as circumstances changed, they were at one time their enemies, at another their friends. When they saw that the Chaldeans were extending their power, they also saw that they themselves were exposed to plunder, and so it happened that they willingly helped the Jews. Since, then, the Hebrews hoped that their neighbors on every side would aid them, the Prophet says that a visitation was near for all of them.

From this is confirmed what I have already said: he does not distinguish the Jews from the Egyptians and other nations. On the contrary, as they had made alliances with them, he intends to group them together in one body: I will visit, he says, the circumcised with the uncircumcision. For the Jews did not keep in mind that God was the protector of their safety and that they had been set apart by him from other nations. He names the circumcised together with the uncircumcision because the Egyptians, the Idumeans, the Ammonites, and the Moabites were deemed circumcised on account of the covenant they had made with the Jews; and the Jews were deemed uncircumcised because they had forsaken God and thus profaned themselves.

It is indeed true that the Idumeans were circumcised, for they were the descendants of Esau and had no doubt retained this external symbol; but their circumcision was entirely a mockery, as Esau had departed from the Church of God. The circumcision of the elect people was in itself efficacious; but as they had similarly fallen into superstitions, they were like the uncircumcised, according to what Paul says—that the letter of the circumcision, that is, the external rite, was nothing.

We therefore see that the Prophet's words are particularly fitting when he denounces vengeance on the Jews as well as on the Egyptians, and names the circumcised with the uncircumcision. For the latter had uncircumcision, the former circumcision, and thus they had mixed profane and sacred things together, so that there was nothing pure or uncorrupted. For this reason, he mentions Egypt, Judah, Edom, the children of Ammon, and Moab. We have before stated why he listed all these nations: he did so because they expected help from one another, so that they all despised God.

He afterwards adds, And all the extreme ones in a corner. The word קף, kots, means the end; therefore, they take קצוצים, kotsutsim, here for extremities; and פאה, pae, signifies a corner and an end. We might then, if the propriety of language would allow it, render the words thus, “the cornered in the corner.” But the meaning is not at all ambiguous: it is that though the Moabites and others had hidden retreats, they could not be spared from the calamity.

God’s vengeance shall come, says Jeremiah, into their remotest corners, where they think that they dwell in safety. And what follows is explanatory: the inhabitants of the wilderness, or, those who dwell in the wilderness. He thus shows what he meant by קצוצי פאה, kotsutsi pae, the extremities of the corner. For when people inhabit remote places, they consider themselves safer on that account, being secure in their hiding places. This confidence the Prophet mocks, and he says that punishment would reach them also.

He then adds, For all the nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart. By saying that all nations were uncircumcised, he doubtless includes the Israelites, and thus, as a reproach, he removes the chosen people's unique distinction. It is as though he had said that Israel was so mixed with the nations that they were merely a part of them. The Jews would otherwise have denied that they deserved to be grouped with the Gentiles, but the Prophet strips them of every excuse and says that they were but one people, with no difference between them.

All these nations then are uncircumcised. And so ה, He, before גוים, guim, nations, may be taken as a demonstrative pronoun, and not a relative: “All these nations.” He had spoken not only of the Egyptians and the Idumeans and of other neighboring nations, but had also mentioned Judah. He then says, “All these nations are uncircumcised.” And as I have already said, he condemns Israel because they were no different from the nations, though God had consecrated them to himself; for there was a complete mingling, which made them all alike.

But as some objection might still be raised, he says the Jews are uncircumcised in heart. He had indeed already included them in the nations, but it was necessary to emphasize this point more, for they might have pleaded circumcision as a defense. Therefore, the Prophet says that though they had the visible symbol in their flesh, they were yet uncircumcised in heart and therefore deserved to be grouped with the nations. We see how sharply he reproves them: though he separates them from other nations, he yet shows that they justly deserved to be numbered with them, for God does not care for the external symbol but regards what is most important: the circumcision of the heart.

It is a common practice for Moses and the Prophets to call an unrenewed heart uncircumcision, and to say that the people are uncircumcised in heart. For circumcision, while an evidence of free salvation in Christ, at the same time initiated the Jews into the worship and service of God and demonstrated the necessity of a new life; in short, it was a sign of both repentance and faith.

When, therefore, the Jews presented only the sign, they were justly mocked by Moses and the prophets, for they seemed as though they sought to pacify God with something worthless, without considering its purpose. The same is true now when we boast of baptism alone and are at the same time lacking repentance and faith: our boasting is absurd and ridiculous.

And for this reason, Paul calls the external rite, when the sign is separated from its reality and substance, "the letter of the circumcision"; and conversely, he calls true circumcision that which is secret and in the spirit. We may also say the same of baptism—that literal baptism benefits hypocrites nothing, for they receive only the bare sign. Therefore, we must come to the spirit of baptism, to the reality itself; for the inner power is renewal, when our old man is crucified in us, and when we rise again with Christ into newness of life.