He goes on with the same subject. He had said before that it would not be a difficult or an arduous work for God to deliver his people; he now says, Jehovah will redeem his people, and will redeem them from the hand of one more powerful than themselves Jeremiah again obviates the doubt which might have dejected the minds of the godly; for this thought ever recurred to them, "How can God redeem us? he might indeed have cheeked the Chaldeans, but now they rule over the whole East; this monarchy is like a gulf in which the whole world is swallowed up: since then God has thus exalted the Chaldean power, we are wholly without hope." They might then have despaired when they compared this evil with all the remedies that might occur to them. But the Prophet here confirms what he had just stated, that God would be more powerful than the Chaldeans and all other enemies; as though he had said, "Though your enemies are strong, and ye are like sheep in the jaws of wolves, yet nothing can hinder God from redeeming you." [1] To the same purpose is what God says often by his Prophets, "Ye have been sold for nothing, and redeemed shall ye be without price," (Isaiah 52:3) as though he had said, "I am not bound to pay anything to the Chaldeans, for I did not sell you to them as by a contract, but I sold you on account of your sins; as to them, they have given me no price: let nothing, therefore, terrify you as though they could oppose your deliverance against my will." How so? "Because they have no right to detain you; therefore, if ye only accept my favor, the strength of your enemies, which appears so formidable, shall not hinder your redemption." This is the reason why he says that the Chaldeans were stronger or more powerful than the Israelites. This truth is also of no little use to us at this day; for when we consider how great is the strength of our enemies, despair must overwhelm our minds; but this promise comes to our aid -- God testifies that he will in such a way be the Deliverer of his people, that the power of men shall not prevent nor delay his work. It follows, --

Footnotes

1 - The difference between the two verbs seems to be this:, phdh is to rescue, to free, to deliver, either by force or by a ransom; but g'l is to recover what one has a right to, and this also either by force or by a ransom. So that the latter implies a claim or right which is not intimated by the former, -- For Jehovah will deliver Jacob, And recover him from a hand stronger than his own. Forcible deliverance is no doubt meant here; and the latter verb is very striking, as it implies that God was vindicating his own right in extricating Jacob from the grasp of a hand stronger than his own. -- Ed.

For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand (p) of [him that was] stronger than he.
(p) That is, from the Babylonians and other enemies.

For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob,.... Not the patriarch Jacob singly and personally, though he no doubt was a redeemed one; nor his carnal posterity, at least not all of them, only a remnant among them, and especially not them only; but the Gentiles also, even all the elect of God, his church and people, of whatsoever nation, which frequently go by this name in the prophetic writings: and this redemption of them by Christ, which, though future, is spoken of as past, because of the certainty of it; and is the ground and foundation of their being gathered in effectual calling, and of their final perseverance; for redemption has its certain effect, and Christ will never lose the purchase of his blood; see Zac 10:8;
and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he; meaning Satan, the strong man armed; who is stronger than man, as appears by his possession of the bodies of men, inflicting diseases on them, and death itself, of which he had the power when permitted; and by his influence over the minds of men; by his temptations to sin, in which he so much succeeds; and even by the prevalence of his temptations over the saints themselves; and by the power which he had over our first parents in innocence, whom he prevailed upon to eat the forbidden fruit, which brought ruin on themselves, and on their posterity; by which means he got them into his hands, and God's elect among the rest, whom he leads captive at his will; and being enfeebled by sin, are so weak as not to be able to rescue themselves out of his hands; for he is stronger than they; but Christ is stronger than the strong man armed; he is the Redeemer that is mighty, and has taken the prey out of his hands, and has led captivity captive: and this he has done, not only by power and conquest, spoiling Satan and his principalities and powers; but by paying a "ransom" price for these captives into the hands of God; and which is no other than his precious blood, his life, himself; and so must be a sufficient ransom for them. This redemption was typified by the deliverance of the Jews out of the hands of the Chaldeans, a mighty nation, and stronger than they; and is the ground, reason, and foundation, of the restoration of that people in the latter day.

ransomed . . . from . . . hand of . . . stronger--No strength of the foe can prevent the Lord from delivering Jacob (Isaiah 49:24-25).

Hath redeemed - God will as certainly do it, as if he had already done it. In their deliverance as well from Babylon as Egypt, they were types of the deliverance of God's people, by Christ; as well as in their entering into Canaan, they were types of the saints, entering into heaven.