16 Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured; and all your adversaries, everyone of them, shall go into captivity; and those who despoil you shall be a spoil, and all who prey on you will I give for a prey.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Here, again, the Prophet promises that God would be gracious to his people, but after a long time, when that perverseness would be subdued, which could not be soon cured. We ought, then, ever to bear in mind the difference between the promise of favors, of which Jeremiah was a witness and a herald, and those vain boastings, by which the false prophets deceived the people, when they encouraged them to expect a return in a short time, and said that the term of deliverance was at hand. And this difference ought to be noticed on this account, because a most useful doctrine may hence be gathered: the unprincipled men who basely pretend God's name, have this in common with his true and faithful servants, -- that they both hold forth the favor of God: but those who falsely use God's name bury the doctrine of repentance; for they seek only to soothe people with flatteries: and as they hunt for favor, they wholly omit the doctrine that may offend, and is in no way sweet and pleasant to the flesh. Jeremiah did not, indeed, deal so severely with the people, but that he gave them some hope of pardon, and always mitigated whatever severity there was in the doctrine of repentance: but at the same time he did not, by indulgence, cherish the vices of the people, as was wont to be done by the false prophets. But what did these do? they boasted that God was merciful, slow to wrath, and ready to be reconciled to sinners: hence they concluded that exile would not be long; and at the same time, as we have said, they perfidiously flattered the people. So then, it ought to be borne in mind, that we are not fit to receive the favor of God, nor are capable of it, so to speak, until all the pride of the flesh be really subdued, and also all self-security be corrected and removed. We now see why the Prophet subjoined the promise of favor, after having spoken of the dreadful judgment of God. But the illative, lkn laken, does not seem suitable; for how can this verse be connected with the threatenings which we have noticed? Therefore they who devour thee shall be devoured But therefore refers to what he had before said. [1] It is not then strange, that he draws the inference, -- that God having taken vengeance on the wickedness of the people, would also execute vengeance on their enemies. Then the illative is not unsuitable, because the time of mercy had arrived when the Jews became subdued, so as to humble themselves before God and to repent of their sins. But there is here a common doctrine which we meet with everywhere in the Prophets, even that God, after having made a beginning with his Church, becomes then a judge of all nations; for if he by no means spares his elect, his own family, how can he leave aliens unpunished? And it is the perpetual consolation of the Church, that though God employs the wicked as scourges to chastise his people, vet their condition is not better, for when they have triumphed for a moment, God will soon bring them to judgment. There is, therefore, no reason why the faithful should envy their enemies when they are chastened by God's hand, and when their enemies exult in their pleasures; for their prosperity will soon come to an end, and with the same measure will God mete unto them the reward of the wrong done to his people. Whosoever, then, devours thee shall be devoured, and all thine enemies, yea, all, shall go into captivity; and, lastly, they who plunder thee, etc., which is rendered by some, "they who tread thee shall be for treading." But as the verb means plundering, to avoid repetition, I prefer the former meaning: "They, then, who spoil thee shall become a spoil, and they who plunder thee shall be for plunder." The reason follows, --
1 - What seems to be his meaning is, that as God had punished his people, therefore he would punish the nations. The versions and the Targ. render it "therefore;" but Lowth gives "yet surely;" and Blayney, "afterwards." But we may render it "therefore," or for this reason, as anticipative of what is contained at the end of the next verse, "Because an outcast have they called thee. Sion, whom no one seeks." Venema, apprehending this to be the sense of the passage, supposed that the two verses have been transposed: but this kind of construction is not unfrequent in Scripture. -- Ed.
Therefore - i. e., Because thou hast undergone thy punishment and cried out in consciousness of thy guilt.
They that devour thee - The Chaldeans.
Shall be devoured - By the Medes and Persians.
All that prey upon thee will I give for a prey - The Assyrians were destroyed by the Babylonians; the Babylonians, by the Medes and Persians; the Egyptians and Persians were destroyed by the Greeks, under Alexander. All these nations are now extinct, but the Jews, as a distinct people, still exist.
Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured,.... Thus rendering the words, they are to be connected with Jeremiah 30:10; and all between to be put into a parenthesis: but rather, in connection with the preceding words, they should be rendered "nevertheless", or "notwithstanding" (y); though they had sinned at so great a rate, and were so much afflicted and chastened by the Lord, yet their enemies should not go unpunished, and mercy in the issue would be showed to them. Jarchi calls it an oath, that so it should be; the Romans that devoured them, and ate up their substance, were devoured by the Goths and Vandals; for this may be carried further than to the destruction of the Babylonish empire by the Persians;
and all thine adversaries, everyone of them shall, fro into captivity; or be conquered and subdued, as were the Assyrians, Egyptians, Chaldeans, Grecians, Romans; and not only Rome Pagan has been destroyed, but Rome Papal also will go into captivity; see Revelation 13:10;
and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey: they shall be used according to the law of retaliation; the same measure they have measured shall be measured to them again.
(y) "verumtamen, vel nihilominus", Gataker. So Kimchi and Abarbinel.
Therefore--connected with Jeremiah 30:13, because "There is none to plead thy cause . . . therefore" I will plead thy cause, and heal thy wound, by overwhelming thy foes. This fifteenth verse is inserted to amplify what was said at the close of Jeremiah 30:14. When the false ways of peace, suggested by the so-called prophets, had only ended in the people's irremediable ruin, the true prophet comes forward to announce the grace of God as bestowing repentance and healing.
devour thee . . . be devoured . . . spoil . . . be a spoil . . . prey upon . . . give for a prey--retribution in kind (see on Jeremiah 2:3; Exodus 23:22; Isaiah 33:1).
*More commentary available at chapter level.