Jeremiah 25 commentary

JEREMIAH 25 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Seventy Years of Captivity
1 The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the
people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim
son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first
year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
BARNES, "The fourth year - See Dan_1:1 note. This invasion of Judaea, in which
Daniel was carried captive to Babylon, was according to the date of the years the fourth,
but according to the actual time the third, year of the Jewish king. Nebuchadnezzar was
not yet fully king, but associated with his father Nabopalassar.
CLARKE, "The word that came to Jeremiah - to the fourth year - This
prophecy, we see, was delivered in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and the chapter that
contains it is utterly out of its place. It should be between chapters 35 and 36.
The defeat of the Egyptians by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish, and the subsequent
taking of Jerusalem, occurred in this year, viz., the fourth year of Jehoiakim.
The first year of Nebuchadrezzar - This king was associated with his father two
years before the death of the latter. The Jews reckon his reign from this time, and this
was the first of those two years; but the Chaldeans date the commencement of his reign
two years later, viz., at the death of his father.
GILL, "The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of
Judah,.... Not only in the city of Jerusalem, but in the whole land of Judea. This
prophecy concerns them all; their repentance and reformation, to which they are
exhorted; or their invasion, desolation, and captivity, with which they are threatened.
Before the prophet was sent to the king of Judah only, Jer_22:1; now to all the people:
in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; in the latter
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part of the third, and beginning of the fourth year of his reign; see Dan_1:1;
this was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon: in which he began to
reign with his father, for he reigned two years with him; who is the Nabopolassar of
Ptolemy. This was in the year of the world 3397, and before Christ 607, according to
Bishop Usher (f).
HENRY 1-4, "We have here a message from God concerning all the people of Judah
(Jer_25:1), which Jeremiah delivered, in his name, unto all the people of Judah, Jer_
25:2. Note, That which is of universal concern ought to be of universal cognizance. It is
fit that the word which concerns all the people, as the word of God does, the word of the
gospel particularly, should be divulged to all in general, and, as far as may be, addressed
to each in particular. Jeremiah had been sent to the house of the king (Jer_22:1), and he
took courage to deliver his message to them, probably when they had all come up to
Jerusalem to worship at one of the solemn feasts; then he had them together, and it was
to be hoped then, if ever, they would be well disposed to hear counsel and receive
instruction.
This prophecy is dated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim and the first of
Nebuchadrezzar. It was in the latter end of Jehoiakim's third year that Nebuchadrezzar
began to reign by himself alone (having reigned some time before in conjunction with
his father), as appears, Dan_1:1. But Jehoiakim's fourth year was begun before
Nebuchadrezzar's first was completed. Now that that active, daring, martial prince
began to set up for the world's master, God, by his prophet, gives notice that he is his
servant, and intimates what work he intends to employ him in, that his growing
greatness, which was so formidable to the nations, might not be construed as any
reflection upon the power and providence of God in the government of the world.
Nebuchadrezzar should not bid so fair for universal monarchy (I should have said
universal tyranny) but that God had purposes of his own to serve by him, in the
execution of which the world shall see the meaning of God's permitting and ordering a
thing that seemed such a reflection on his sovereignty and goodness.
Now in this message we may observe the great pains that had been taken with the
people to bring them to repentance, which they are here put in mind of, as an
aggravation of their sin and a justification of God in his proceedings against them.
I. Jeremiah, for his part, had been a constant preacher among them twenty-three
years; he began in the thirteenth year of Josiah, who reigned thirty-one years, so that he
prophesied about eighteen or nineteen years in his reign, then in the reign of Jehoahaz,
and now four years of Jehoiakim's reign. Note, God keeps an account, whether we do or
no, how long we have enjoyed the means of grace; and the longer we have enjoyed them
the heavier will our account be if we have not improved them. These three years (these
three and twenty years) have I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree. All this while, 1. God
had been constant in sending messages to them, as there was occasion for them: “From
that time to this very day the word of the Lord has come into me, for your use.” Though
they had the substance of the warning sent them already in the books of Moses, yet,
because those were not duly regarded and applied, God sent to enforce them and make
them more particular, that they might be without excuse. Thus God's Spirit was striving
with them, as with the old world, Gen_6:3. 2. Jeremiah had been faithful and
industrious in delivering those messages. He could appeal to themselves, as well as to
God and his own conscience, concerning this: I have spoken to you, rising early and
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speaking. He had declared to them the whole counsel of God; he had taken a great deal
of care and pains to discharge his thrust in such a manner as might be most likely to win
and work upon them. What men are solicitous about and intent upon they rise up early
to prosecute. It intimates that his head was so full of thoughts about it, and his heart so
intent upon doing good, that it broke his sleep, and made him get up betimes to project
which way he might take that would be most likely to do them good. He rose early, both
because he would lose no time and because he would lay hold on and improve the best
time to work upon them, when, if ever, they were sober and sedate. Christ came early in
the morning to preach in the temple, and the people as early to hear him, Luk_21:38.
Morning lectures have their advantages. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning.
II. Besides him, God had sent them other prophets, on the same errand, Jer_25:4. Of
the writing prophets Micah, Nahum, and Habakkuk, were a little before him, and
Zephaniah contemporary with him. But, besides those, there were many other of God's
servants the prophets who preached awakening sermons, which were never published.
And here God himself is said to rise early and send them, intimating how much his heart
also was upon it, that this people should turn and live, and not go on and die, Eze_
33:11.
JAMISON, "Jer_25:1-38. Prophecy of the seventy years’ captivity; and after that
the destruction of Babylon, and of all the nations that oppressed the Jews.
fourth year of Jehoiakim — called the third year in Dan_1:1. But probably
Jehoiakim was set on the throne by Pharaoh-necho on his return from Carchemish
about July, whereas Nebuchadnezzar mounted the throne January 21, 604 b.c.; so that
Nebuchadnezzar’s first year was partly the third, partly the fourth, of Jehoiakim’s. Here
first Jeremiah gives specific dates. Nebuchadnezzar had previously entered Judea in the
reign of his father Nabopolassar.
K&D 1-2, "The prediction of this chapter is introduced by a full heading, which
details with sufficient precision the time of its composition. Jer_25:1. "The word that
came (befell) to (‫ל‬ַ‫ע‬ for ‫ל‬ ֶ‫)א‬ Jeremiah concerning the whole people of Judah, in the
fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that is, the first year of
Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon; Jer_25:2. Which Jeremiah the prophet spake to
the whole people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying." - All the
discourses of Jeremiah delivered before this time contain either no dates at all, or only
very general ones, such as Jer_3:6 : In the days of Josiah, or: at the beginning of the
reign of Jehoiakim (Jer_26:1). And it is only some of those of the following period that
are so completely dated, as Jer_28:1; Jer_32:1; Jer_36:1; Jer_39:1, etc. The present
heading is in this further respect peculiar, that besides the year of the king of Judah's
reign, we are also told that of the king of Babylon. This is suggested by the contents of
this prediction, in which the people are told of the near approach of the judgment which
Nebuchadnezzar is to execute on Judah and on all the surrounding nations far and near,
until after seventy years judgment fall on Babylon itself. The fourth year of Jehoiakim is
accordingly a notable turning-point for the kingdom of Judah. It is called the first year of
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, because then, at the command of his old and decrepit
father Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar had undertaken the conduct of the war against
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Pharaoh Necho of Egypt, who had penetrated as far as the Euphrates. At Carchemish he
defeated Necho (Jer_46:2), and in the same year he came in pursuit of the fleeing
Egyptians to Judah, took Jerusalem, and made King Jehoiakim tributary. With the first
taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, i.e., in 606 b.c.,
begins the seventy years' Babylonian bondage or exile of Judah, foretold by Jeremiah in
Jer_25:11 of the present chapter. Nebuchadnezzar was then only commander of his
father's armies; but he is here, and in 2Ki_24:1; Dan_1:1, called king of Babylon,
because, equipped with kingly authority, he dictated to the Jews, and treated them as if
he had been really king. Not till the following year, when he was at the head of his army
in Farther Asia, did his father Nabopolassar die; whereupon he hastened to Babylon to
mount the throne; see on Dan_1:1 and 1 Kings 24:1. - In Jer_25:2 it is again specified
that Jeremiah spoke the word of that Lord that came to him to the whole people and to
all the inhabitants of Jerusalem (‫ל‬ַ‫ע‬ for ‫ל‬ ֶ‫א‬ again). There is no cogent reason for
doubting, as Graf does, the correctness of these dates. Jer_36:5 tells us that Jeremiah in
the same year caused Baruch to write down the prophecies he had hitherto delivered, in
order to read them to the people assembled in the temple, and this because he himself
was imprisoned; but it does not follow from this, that at the time of receiving this
prophecy he was prevented from going into the temple. The occurrence of Jer 36 falls in
any case into a later time of Jehoiakim's fourth year than the present chapter. Ew., too,
finds it very probable that the discourse of this chapter was, in substance at least,
publicly delivered. The contents of it tell strongly in favour of this view.
It falls into three parts. In the first, Jer_25:3-11, the people of Judah are told that he
(Jeremiah) has for twenty-three years long unceasingly preached the word of the Lord to
the people with a view to their repentance, without Judah's having paid any heed to his
sayings, or to the exhortations of the other prophets, so that now all the kings of the
north, headed by Nebuchadnezzar, will come against Judah and the surrounding
nations, will plunder everything, and make these lands tributary to the king of Babylon;
and then, Jer_25:12-14, that after seventy years judgment will come on the king of
Babylon and his land. In the second part, Jer_25:15-29, Jeremiah receives the cup of the
Lord's wrath, to give it to all the people to drink, beginning with Jerusalem and the cities
of Judah, proceeding to the Egyptians and the nationalities in the west and east as far as
Elam and Media, and concluding with the king of Babylon. Then in the third part, vv.
30-38, judgment to come upon all peoples is set forth in plain statement. - The first part
of this discourse would have failed of its effect if Jeremiah had only composed it in
writing, and had not delivered it publicly before the people, in its main substance at
least. And the two other parts are so closely bound up with the first, that they cannot be
separated from it. The judgment made to pass on Judah by Nebuchadnezzar is only the
beginning of the judgment which is to pass on one nation after another, until it
culminates in judgment upon the whole world. As to the import of the judgment of the
Babylonian exile, cf. the remm. in the Comm. on Daniel, Introd. §2. The announcement
of the judgment, whose beginning was now at hand, was of the highest importance for
Judah. Even the proclamations concerning the other peoples were designed to take
effect in the first instance on the covenant people, that so they might learn to fear the
Lord their God as the Lord of the whole world and as the Ruler of all the peoples, who by
judgment is preparing the way for and advancing the salvation of the whole world. The
ungodly were, by the warning of what was to come on all flesh, to be terrified out of their
security and led to turn to God; while by a knowledge beforehand of the coming
affliction and the time it was appointed to endure, the God-fearing would be
strengthened with confidence in the power and grace of the Lord, so that they might
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bear calamity with patience and self-devotion as a chastisement necessary to their well-
being, without taking false views of God's covenant promises or being overwhelmed by
their distresses.
CALVIN, "his prophecy no doubt preceded the vision which we have just explained,
and which had just been presented to Jeremiah when Jehoiakim died, and when
Zedekiah reigned in the place of Jeconiah; who, being the last king, was substituted
for his nephew Jeconiah. But related now is the prophecy which Jeremiah was
bidden to proclaim in the fourth year of Jehoiakim; and he reigned, as we shall
hereafter see, eleven years. We hence conclude that his book is composed of various
addresses, but that the order of time has not always been preserved. Now the sum of
the whole is, that when God found that the people could not be amended and
restored to a right mind by any warnings, he denounced final ruin both on the Jews
and on all the neighboring nations: but why he included the heathens we shall
hereafter see.
He then says, that this prophecy was committed to him in the fourth year of
Jehoiakim; and he adds, that the same year was the first of King Nebuchadnezar
This seems inconsistent with other places, where the third of Jehoiakim is
mentioned for the fourth year; and hence a long time is allotted for the first year of
Nebuchadnezar. But a solution of this is not difficult, if we consider that
Nebuchadnezar suddenly returned into Chaldea to settle his affairs at home, when
the report of his father’s death was brought to him; for he feared, lest in his absence
a tumult should arise, as it often happened. He was therefore anxious to secure his
own affairs; and having settled things at home, he brought Jehoiakim into
subjection, and in the fourth year of his reign he compelled him to open his
treasures, and also led away captive those whom he wished. And it was at this time
that Daniel and his companions were led away into exile, and the precious vessels of
the Temple were removed. As to the first year of Nebuchadnezar’s reign, he reigned
first with his father; and then when he reigned alone, the beginning of a new reign is
justly mentioned as the first year. Though then he was made king, yet as he did not
exercise the chief power until his father’s death, it was not until that event that he
was really king; this is the reason why mention is made of his first year. But we
ought especially to notice what the Prophet says, — that the word came to him, not
for his own sake, but that he might be the public herald of God. It now follows, —
COFFMAN, "Verse 1
JEREMIAH 25
PROPHECY OF THE SEVENTY YEARS OF CAPTIVITY
This remarkable chapter records the prophecy of Jeremiah which came at the end
of twenty-three years of his ministry, during which he had continuously pleaded
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with Judah for their repentance and whole-hearted return unto the worship of their
true God. Judah never heeded him.
The message here was stark and terrible. Judah's day of grace had expired; the
longsuffering mercy of God could no longer postpone the deserved judgment of the
rebellious nation; the calamity stored up for the Chosen People could no longer be
averted or postponed; the time of judgment was at hand!
The chapter falls into three divisions: (1) The judgment of Judah and the eventual
doom of Babylon (Jeremiah 25:1-14), (2) the cup of God's wrath upon the nations
(Jeremiah 25:15-29), and (3) the judgment of the whole world (Jeremiah 25:30-38).
In the first division, we have the sensational prophecy that the captivity of Israel
would last seventy years. This amazing prophecy foretold the exact duration of the
Babylonian exile; and, "There was no possible way for Jeremiah to have known a
thing like that except by the direct revelation of Almighty God."[1]
We are aware of the glib manner in which many present day scholars speak of this
prophecy of seventy years being a "round number," not meaning seventy years at
all, but "a very long time." But such comments are worthless, being only the best
that unbelievers can come up with in the form of denial. As Keil noted, "The term of
seventy years mentioned is not a so-called `round number,' but a chronologically
exact prediction of the Chaldean supremacy over Judah."[2] Oh yes, we are aware
that an exact calculation of the "seventy years" embraces the time from the battle of
Carchemish in 605 B.C. to the 1st year of Cyrus, some sixty-seven years; but the
additional three years were required for the establishment of the first wave of
returnees; and besides that, as Dummelow pointed out, "The Jews, because of their
love of round numbers, would have considered the number seventy here as standing
for any approximation of that number."[3]
However, Keil pointed out that, "The captivity should be reckoned from the first
year of Jehoiachim (606 B.C.), till the first year of the sole supremacy of Cyrus over
Babylon (536 B.C.), a period of exactly seventy years, this number being confirmed
by the dates given by both profane and Scriptural historians."[4] Many
commentators miss the point here, namely, that the "captivity" should be dated
from the first year of Jehoiachim, not the third or fourth year. With the first day of
the accession of Jehoiachim, Judah was no longer an independent nation.
We find no fault whatever with Keil's calculations; and, additionally, the sacred
Scriptures themselves refer to this prophecy as having an "exact fulfillment." 2
Chronicles 36:20-23 states that God required Israel's captivity to last seventy years
in order that the violation of the divine requirement that the land should enjoy a
sabbath every seven years might be confirmed and "made up" by Israel. In the 490
year time period between the accession of king Saul and the Babylonian captivity,
Israel did not observe the commanded sabbaths for the land. The inspired writer of
2Chronicles stated categorically that the captivity lasted seventy years, "Until the
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land had enjoyed its sabbaths: for as long as it lay desolate, it kept sabbaths, to
fulfill the threescore and ten years" (2 Chronicles 36:21). Too bad they had never
heard of all those round numbers! One year out of every seven for 490 years equals
exactly "seventy years."
Also, notice in this connection that Daniel the prophet (Daniel 9:2), in the first year
of the Median king Darius, took note of the seventy years which God, according to
the prophet Jeremiah, would accomplish for the desolation of Jerusalem.
"Furthermore, Daniel's seventy prophetic weeks are based upon the seventy years
of the captivity (Daniel 9:2,24)."[5]
For all of these valid reasons, we reject as worthless the speculations that would rob
this remarkable prophecy of its specific meaning. We are aware that "many current
scholars" agree that the prophecy means only "a very long time"; but, it is a
foregone certainty that when "many scholars" agree on some such an
interpretation, only one of them is doing any thinking, and the rest are merely going
along with the crowd. It is also probable that in such a concurrence of denial, there
may not be very many believers.
Jeremiah 25:1-3
"The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth
year of Jehoiachim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (the same was the first year of
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon), which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the
people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: From the thirteenth
year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even unto this day, these three and
twenty years, the word of Jehovah hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you,
rising up early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened."
"The fourth year of Jehoiachim ..." (Jeremiah 25:1). Daniel gives this date as "the
third year of Jehoiachim" (Jeremiah 1:1); but this is not a conflict. "There were two
methods of reckoning `the year' of kings of the Near East during that period, as
proved by archeology."[6] The year of accession to the throne was not counted in
one of the methods. (See my discussion of this "alleged contradiction" in Vol. 4 of
the Major Prophets Series of my commentaries, pp. 17,18.) By the Babylonian
method of calculating, it was the third year of Jehoiachim, and this reckoning was
followed by Daniel. The Jewish calculation gave the year as the fourth of
Jehoiachim. Both statements are correct.
The duration of twenty-three years up to this point in Jeremiah's ministry was made
up of nineteen years of the reign of Josiah and four years of the reign of Jehoiachim,
including the three-months reign of Jehoahaz.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 25:1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people
of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that [was]
the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;
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Ver. 1. In the fourth year of Jehoiakim.] See on Jeremiah 1:2. Above twenty years
had Jeremiah spent his worthy pains upon them, illi vero ne teruntio quidem
meliores facti sunt, but they were nothing the better; here, therefore, is their doom
most deservedly denounced.
That was the first year.] This first year of Nebuchadnezzar, reigning alone after his
father’s death, fell out part of Jehoiakim’s third, and part of the fourth. [Daniel 1:1]
WHEDON, " INTRODUCTORY, Jeremiah 25:1-3.
1. This chapter is dated with unusual exactness, not only the year of Jehoiakim king
of Judah, but also that of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, being specified. Other
examples of dates similarly complete are Jeremiah 26:1; Jeremiah 28:1; Jeremiah
32:1; Jeremiah 39:1, etc. The mention of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon marks
the overshadowing influence of this great eastern power. Fourth year of Jehoiakim,
etc. — In Daniel 1:1, the third year of Jehoiakim is identified with the first year of
Nebuchadnezzar. The explanation of this discrepancy — which is so slight as to be
really a confirmation — is, that the fourth year of Jehoiakim was but partly
coincident with the first year of Nebuchadrezzar. Hales, in his Chronology, makes
Jehoiakim’s reign commence July, 607 B.C., and Nebuchadrezzar’s in January, 604
B.C. It hence appears that the prophecy dates in that memorable year which was the
turning point in the history of the East. The decisive battle of Carchemish
established the ascendency of Babylonian Syria and Palestine, and sealed the fate of
the Jewish nation. Immediately thereafter Jerusalem was taken, and her principal
inhabitants carried away captive. Shortly after this capture of Jerusalem, by the
death of Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar succeeded to the throne, January, 604 B.C.
Thus is the general date of this prophecy most memorable; marking the battle of
Carchemish, the capture of Jerusalem, the beginning of the seventy years’ captivity,
the accession of Nebuchadnezzar to the Babylonian throne, and the permanent
ascendency of the power of the Euphrates over that of the Nile: for never again does
Egypt resume her old place among the great nations of the earth.
COKE, "Jeremiah 25:1. The word that came to Jeremiah— This chapter contains a
new discourse, different from that which precedes and follows it. The prophesy that
it contains is prior in time to that in the former chapter, and posterior to that in the
26th. At the commencement of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah denounced
the evils which this prince was to bring upon Judah and the neighbouring states.
The prophet reproves the Jews for their disregard of the divine calls to repentance;
Jeremiah 25:1-7. He foretells their subjugation, together with that of the
neighbouring nations, to the king of Babylon for seventy years, and the fall of the
Babylonish empire at that period; Jeremiah 25:8-14. The same is foreshewn under
the symbol of the cup of God's wrath, with which Jeremiah is sent to all the nations,
which are enumerated at large, to make them drink of it to their utter subversion;
Jeremiah 25:15-29. And the like prophesy is the third time repeated in a strain of
sublime and poetic imagery; Jeremiah 25:30—to the end.
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PETT, "Verse 1
‘The word which came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth
year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (the same was the first year of
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon,)’
This is the first oracle to be so accurately dated, and it indicates that the oracle came
to Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim which was the first year of
Nebuchadrezzar. Thus it was around 604 BC. Egypt were now licking their wounds
after Carchemish and Hamath, and Jehoakim would have had to submit to
Nebuchadrezzar and would be paying tribute. It was no doubt in the light of this
that Jeremiah came to the feast and spoke these words.
Daniel dates it in the third year of Jehoiakim but that was because he was excluding
the accession year according to Babylonian practise (the ‘first year’ always being the
second year because the accession year was only a partial year.). Jeremiah was
including the accession year.
Verses 1-38
Subsection 8). Jeremiah Summarises His Ministry Before The People And After
Declaring What Is To Come On Judah Proclaims The Judgment Of YHWH That Is
Coming On All Nations (Jeremiah 25:1-38).
This final subsection of Section 1 commences with ‘The word that came to Jeremiah
concerning all the people of Judah --’ (Jeremiah 25:1), and contains Jeremiah’s own
brief summary, given to the people in a sermon, describing what has gone before
during the previous twenty three years of his ministry. It [provides a suitable
conclusion to the whole Section but is also in preparation for what is to follow. He
warns them that because they have not listened to YHWH’s voice the land must
suffer for ‘seventy years’ in subjection to Babylon, but he then goes on to bring out
that YHWH’s wrath will subsequently be visited on Babylon, and not only on them,
but on ‘the whole world’. For YHWH will be dealing with all the nations in
judgment, something which will be expanded on in chapters 46-51. There is at this
stage no mention of restoration, (except as hinted at in the seventy year limit to
Babylon’s supremacy), and the chapter closes with a picture of the final desolation
which is to come on Judah as a consequence of YHWH’s anger.
PULPIT, "Verses 1-38
EXPOSITION
This chapter may be illustrated by a comparison of it with Jeremiah 46:1-28. There
Jeremiah exults ever the destruction of a nation (Egypt) which was one of the chief
enemies of God's people, and on hearing or reading the inspired eloquence of the
9

prophet the heart of a Jew could not but be moved with the liveliest sympathy. But
it is another strain which meets us in this chapter, and one which to a Jew would
certainly neutralize the favorable feelings which prophecies like that referred to
must have awakened. Here Jeremiah announces that the last moment of grace for
Judah is past, and the time for judgment come. The long-suffering of Jehovah has
been exhausted; the fall of the commonwealth cannot any longer be delayed. Such
was the strange destiny of the prophet; he was sent to "pull down" and "to build,"
but the destructive element (as Jeremiah 1:10 suggests) was largely predominant.
Specially predominant is it in this important chapter, in which the prophet begins to
fulfill the mission to the heathen with which twenty-three years ago he had been
entrusted. One by one, "all the nations" directly or indirectly connected with Israel
are called up to hear their punishment. There is no indulgence, no respite; only a
gleam of hope in the promised final destruction of the tyrant-city Babylon (verses
12-14). The prophecy falls naturally into three parts, verses 15-29 forming the
center. The date assigned to this chapter in the first verso is remarkable; it is the
fatal year of the battle of Carchemish, which brought Syria and Palestine within the
grasp of Babylon.
Jeremiah 25:1
The first year of Nebuchadnezzar.
2 So Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of
Judah and to all those living in Jerusalem:
GILL, "The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of
Judah,.... Perhaps at one of the three feasts, at which all the males appeared in
Jerusalem; for it cannot be thought that he went up and down throughout all parts of the
land to deliver this prophecy, but to as many of them as he found in Jerusalem in any
place, at any time; and none so likely as what is mentioned:
and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: to whom he had an opportunity of
speaking frequently:
saying; as follows:
10

K&D 1-2, "The prediction of this chapter is introduced by a full heading, which
details with sufficient precision the time of its composition. Jer_25:1. "The word that
came (befell) to (‫ל‬ַ‫ע‬ for ‫ל‬ ֶ‫)א‬ Jeremiah concerning the whole people of Judah, in the
fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that is, the first year of
Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon; Jer_25:2. Which Jeremiah the prophet spake to
the whole people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying." - All the
discourses of Jeremiah delivered before this time contain either no dates at all, or only
very general ones, such as Jer_3:6 : In the days of Josiah, or: at the beginning of the
reign of Jehoiakim (Jer_26:1). And it is only some of those of the following period that
are so completely dated, as Jer_28:1; Jer_32:1; Jer_36:1; Jer_39:1, etc. The present
heading is in this further respect peculiar, that besides the year of the king of Judah's
reign, we are also told that of the king of Babylon. This is suggested by the contents of
this prediction, in which the people are told of the near approach of the judgment which
Nebuchadnezzar is to execute on Judah and on all the surrounding nations far and near,
until after seventy years judgment fall on Babylon itself. The fourth year of Jehoiakim is
accordingly a notable turning-point for the kingdom of Judah. It is called the first year of
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, because then, at the command of his old and decrepit
father Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar had undertaken the conduct of the war against
Pharaoh Necho of Egypt, who had penetrated as far as the Euphrates. At Carchemish he
defeated Necho (Jer_46:2), and in the same year he came in pursuit of the fleeing
Egyptians to Judah, took Jerusalem, and made King Jehoiakim tributary. With the first
taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, i.e., in 606 b.c.,
begins the seventy years' Babylonian bondage or exile of Judah, foretold by Jeremiah in
Jer_25:11 of the present chapter. Nebuchadnezzar was then only commander of his
father's armies; but he is here, and in 2Ki_24:1; Dan_1:1, called king of Babylon,
because, equipped with kingly authority, he dictated to the Jews, and treated them as if
he had been really king. Not till the following year, when he was at the head of his army
in Farther Asia, did his father Nabopolassar die; whereupon he hastened to Babylon to
mount the throne; see on Dan_1:1 and 1 Kings 24:1. - In Jer_25:2 it is again specified
that Jeremiah spoke the word of that Lord that came to him to the whole people and to
all the inhabitants of Jerusalem (‫ל‬ַ‫ע‬ for ‫ל‬ ֶ‫א‬ again). There is no cogent reason for
doubting, as Graf does, the correctness of these dates. Jer_36:5 tells us that Jeremiah in
the same year caused Baruch to write down the prophecies he had hitherto delivered, in
order to read them to the people assembled in the temple, and this because he himself
was imprisoned; but it does not follow from this, that at the time of receiving this
prophecy he was prevented from going into the temple. The occurrence of Jer 36 falls in
any case into a later time of Jehoiakim's fourth year than the present chapter. Ew., too,
finds it very probable that the discourse of this chapter was, in substance at least,
publicly delivered. The contents of it tell strongly in favour of this view.
It falls into three parts. In the first, Jer_25:3-11, the people of Judah are told that he
(Jeremiah) has for twenty-three years long unceasingly preached the word of the Lord to
the people with a view to their repentance, without Judah's having paid any heed to his
sayings, or to the exhortations of the other prophets, so that now all the kings of the
north, headed by Nebuchadnezzar, will come against Judah and the surrounding
nations, will plunder everything, and make these lands tributary to the king of Babylon;
and then, Jer_25:12-14, that after seventy years judgment will come on the king of
11

Babylon and his land. In the second part, Jer_25:15-29, Jeremiah receives the cup of the
Lord's wrath, to give it to all the people to drink, beginning with Jerusalem and the cities
of Judah, proceeding to the Egyptians and the nationalities in the west and east as far as
Elam and Media, and concluding with the king of Babylon. Then in the third part, vv.
30-38, judgment to come upon all peoples is set forth in plain statement. - The first part
of this discourse would have failed of its effect if Jeremiah had only composed it in
writing, and had not delivered it publicly before the people, in its main substance at
least. And the two other parts are so closely bound up with the first, that they cannot be
separated from it. The judgment made to pass on Judah by Nebuchadnezzar is only the
beginning of the judgment which is to pass on one nation after another, until it
culminates in judgment upon the whole world. As to the import of the judgment of the
Babylonian exile, cf. the remm. in the Comm. on Daniel, Introd. §2. The announcement
of the judgment, whose beginning was now at hand, was of the highest importance for
Judah. Even the proclamations concerning the other peoples were designed to take
effect in the first instance on the covenant people, that so they might learn to fear the
Lord their God as the Lord of the whole world and as the Ruler of all the peoples, who by
judgment is preparing the way for and advancing the salvation of the whole world. The
ungodly were, by the warning of what was to come on all flesh, to be terrified out of their
security and led to turn to God; while by a knowledge beforehand of the coming
affliction and the time it was appointed to endure, the God-fearing would be
strengthened with confidence in the power and grace of the Lord, so that they might
bear calamity with patience and self-devotion as a chastisement necessary to their well-
being, without taking false views of God's covenant promises or being overwhelmed by
their distresses.
CALVIN, "He shews more clearly in this verse what he had just said, — that he was
not taught from above, that he might suppress what he had heard, but that he might
proclaim it as from the mouth of God; and hence he gives himself the honorable title
of a Prophet, as though he had said, that he came furnished with the indubitable
commands of God, and was at the same time honored with the office of a Prophet;
and he came thus, that no one might dare despise his doctrine. Now follows his
sermon, —
3 For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth
year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until
this very day—the word of the Lord has come to
me and I have spoken to you again and again, but
you have not listened.
12

BARNES, "The three and twentieth year - i. e., nineteen under Josiah, and four
under Jehoiakim. This prophecy divides itself into three parts,
(1) the judgment of Judah Jer_25:3-11, and Babylon’s doom Jer_25:12-14;
(2) the wine-cup of fury Jer_25:15-29;
(3) the judgment of the world Jer_25:30-38.
GILL, "From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah,
even unto this day,.... The year in which Jeremiah began to prophesy, Jer_1:2;
(that is, the three and twentieth year); for Josiah reigned one and thirty years; so
that Jeremiah prophesied nineteen years in his reign; and now it was the fourth of
Jehoiakim's, which make twenty three years; so long the prophet had been prophesying
to this people:
the word of the Lord hath come unto me; from time to time, during that space of
twenty three years; and which he diligently, constantly, and faithfully delivered unto
them; as follows:
and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking: as soon as ever he had a
word from the Lord, he brought it to them, and took the most proper and seasonable
time to inculcate it to them; in the morning, and after, he had had a vision or dream in
the night from the Lord;
but ye have not hearkened; they took no notice of it; turned a deaf ear to it; however,
did not obey or act as they were directed and exhorted to.
HENRY, "Yet all was to no purpose. They were not wrought upon to take the right
and only method to turn away the wrath of God. Jeremiah was a very lively affectionate
preacher, yet they hearkened not to him, Jer_25:3. The other prophets dealt faithfully
with them, but neither did they hearken to them, nor incline their ear, Jer_25:4. That
very particular sin which they were told, of all others, was most offensive to God, and
made them obnoxious to his justice, they wilfully persisted in: You provoke me with the
works of your hands to your own hurt. Note, What is a provocation to God will prove, in
the end, hurt to ourselves, and we must bear the blame of it. O Israel! thou hast
destroyed thyself.
JAMISON, "From the thirteenth year of Josiah, in which Jeremiah began to
prophesy (Jer_1:1), to the end of Josiah’s reign, was nineteen years (2Ki_22:1); the three
months 2Ki_23:31) of Jehoahaz’ reign, with the not quite complete four years of
13

Jehoiakim (Jer_25:1), added to the nineteen years, make up twenty-three years in all.
K&D 3-7, "The seventy years' Chaldean bondage of Judah and the peoples. - Jer_
25:3. "From the thirteenth year of Josiah, son of Amon king of Judah, unto this day,
these three and twenty years, came the word of Jahveh to me, and I spake to you, from
early morn onwards speaking, but ye hearkened not. Jer_25:4. And Jahveh sent to you
all His servants, the prophets, from early morning on sending them, but ye hearkened
not, and inclined not your ear to hear. Jer_25:5. They said: Turn ye now each from his
evil way and from the evil of your doings, so shall ye abide in the land which Jahveh
hath given to your fathers from everlasting to everlasting. Jer_25:6. And go not after
other gods, to serve them and to worship them, that ye provoke me not with the work of
your hands, and that I do you no evil. Jer_25:7. But ye hearkened not to me, to provoke
me by the work of your hands, to your own hurt. Jer_25:8. Therefore thus hath said
Jahveh of hosts: Because ye have not heard my words, Jer_25:9. Behold, I send and
take all the families of the north, saith Jahveh, and to Nebuchadrezzar my servant (I
send), and bring them upon this land, and upon its inhabitants, and upon all these
peoples round about, and ban them, and make them an astonishment and a derision
and everlasting desolations, Jer_25:10. And destroy from among them the voice of the
bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the mill and the light of the lamp.
Jer_25:11. And this land shall become a desert, a desolation, and these peoples shall
serve the king of Babylon seventy years."
The very beginning of this discourse points to the great crisis in the fortunes of Judah.
Jeremiah recalls into the memory of the people not merely the whole time of his own
labours hitherto, but also the labours of many other prophets, who, like himself, have
unremittingly preached repentance to the people, called on them to forsake idolatry and
their evil ways, and to return to the God of their fathers - but in vain (Jer_25:3-7). The
23 years, from the 13th of Josiah till the 4th of Jehoiakim, are thus made up: 19 years of
Josiah and 4 years of Jehoiakim, including the 3 months' reign of Jehoahaz. The form
‫ים‬ֵ‫כּ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ַ‫א‬ might be an Aramaism; but it is more probably a clerical error, since we have
‫ם‬ ֵ‫כּ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ַ‫ה‬ everywhere else; cf. Jer_25:4, Jer_7:13; Jer_35:14, etc., and Olsh. Gramm. §191,
g. For syntactical reasons it cannot be 1st pers. imperf., as Hitz. thinks it is. On the
significance of this infin. abs. see on Jer_7:13. As to the thought of Jer_25:4 cf. Jer_
7:25. and Jer_11:7. ‫ֹר‬‫מ‬‫א‬ֵ‫ל‬ introduces the contents of the discourses of Jeremiah and the
other prophets, though formally it is connected with ‫ח‬ַ‫ל‬ָ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫,ו‬ Jer_25:4. As to the fact, cf.
Jer_35:15. ‫בוּ‬ ְ‫,וּשׁ‬ so shall ye dwell, cf. Jer_7:7. - With Jer_25:6 cf. Jer_7:6; Jer_1:16, etc.
(‫ע‬ ַ‫ר‬ ָ‫,א‬ imperf. Hiph. from ‫.)רעע‬ ‫י‬ִ‫סוּנ‬ ִ‫ע‬ ְ‫כ‬ ַ‫ה‬ cannot be the reading of its Chet., for the 3rd
person will not do. The ‫ו‬ seems to have found its way in by an error in writing and the
Keri to be the proper reading, since ‫ן‬ַ‫ע‬ ַ‫מ‬ ְ‫ל‬ is construed with the infinitive.
CALVIN, "Jeremiah now expostulates with the Jews, because they had not only
perfidiously departed from the true worship of God, and despised the whole
teaching of his Law, but because they had shaken off the yoke, and designedly and
even obstinately rejected all warnings, being not moved by reproofs nor even by
14

threatenings. He does not then simply charge them with impiety and ingratitude,
but adds the sin of perverseness, that they were like untameable wild beasts, and
could by no means be corrected.
He says, that from the thirteenth year of Josiah king of Judah, to that year, which
was the twenty-third year, he had not ceased faithfully to perform the office
committed to him, but had effected nothing. It hence appears how incorrigible was
their wickedness. We have seen, at the beginning of the book, that he was called by
God to be a Prophet in the thirteenth year of King Josiah; and he had now been
engaged in his calling, as he declares, for twenty-three years.
He had spent his time in vain, he had consumed much labor without any fruit. It is
then no wonder that he now accuses them of perverseness, and that in the name of
God; for he pleads not his own cause, but shews what the Jews deserved,
considering how much God had labored in reclaiming them, and that they had
rejected all his warnings and refused all his remedies. Then from the thirteenth year
of Josiah, he says, to this day; and afterwards in a parenthesis he adds, that he had
already discharged his office for twenty-three years.
We learn that the Prophet spoke thus seventeen years before the destruction of the
City and Temple; for he had accomplished forty years before the people were driven
into exile, and before they who thought themselves safe, miserably perished. He
continued to the death of Josiah; and afterwards about twenty-two transpired; for
Jehoiakim reigned eleven years; and without reckoning the short time of Jeconiah,
Mathaniah, called also Zedekiah, was in the eleventh year removed, and
disgracefully and reproachfully put to death. Thus it appears that the Prophet
constantly labored for forty years.
Hence, also, we learn how diabolical was the madness of that people in rejecting so
many admonitions. And if we connect another thing, to which I lately referred, that
they had been taught by many examples, it will appear still more evident that the
disease of impiety as to that people was altogether incurable.
But this passage deserves special attention; for we here learn that we ought
immediately to return to God when he invites us; for faith is known by its
promptitude. As soon then as God speaks, it behoves us to be attentive, so that we
may immediately follow him. But if God ceases not for a whole year to warn and
exhort us, while at the same time his doctrine is despised, we become guilty of
intolerable sin. Let us then remember that days are here in a manner mentioned as
well as years, that the Jews might consider how many days are included in every
year; and let us also know that years are mentioned by Jeremiah, that they might,
understand that they had no excuse, inasmuch as God had for so long a time ceased
not to promote their welfare, while in the meantime they persisted in their impiety,
and continued obstinate to the last. This is the reason why the Prophet relates again
when it was that he began to discharge his prophetic office, even from the thirteenth
year of Josiah.
15

He then adds, that it was their own fault that they had not repented; spoken, he
says, has Jehovah to me, and I to you. By saying that the word of God was deposited
with him, he no doubt intended to assert his authority against the unbelievers, who
clamored that he presumptuously pretended God’s name, and that he had not been
sent by God. For we have elsewhere seen that the Church was then miserably torn,
having intestine broils, and many were boasting that they were prophets; and we
shall hereafter find the same thing in other places. Thus, then, Jeremiah was not
received by the whole people, and his authority was disputed. Since then he had to
contend with many ungodly men, he here testifies that he came not of himself, but
that the prophetic office had been committed to him.
After having asserted the authority of his call, he adds, that he had faithfully
promoted the welfare of the whole people; for he declares how faithful and diligent
he had been when he says, that he had spoken and rose up early; for to rise up early
means that he had been assiduous in his work. The Prophet then shews that he had
not been tardy or idle, and that he had not spoken carelessly as many do, who seem
to do what God commands, but display no fervid zeal and no sedulity. The Prophet
then, after having declared that he had been sent from above, adds that he had
exercised fidelity and diligence, that he had strenuously served God and his Church.
I have spoken to you, he says, as the Lord had spoken to me, — how? rising up early
WHEDON, "3. From the thirteenth year of Josiah, etc. — Appropriately marking
the crisis, the prophet takes a retrospective glance. For twenty-three years he had
patiently and persistently preached repentance to this unwilling and persecuting
people; and hence they cannot now say that their calamities come without warning.
These three and twenty years are made up of nineteen under Josiah and four of
Jehoiakim, including the three months’ reign of Jehoahaz.
PETT, "Verses 3-11
Jeremiah’s Warning To The People Concerning Their Future (Jeremiah 25:3-11).
Jeremiah 25:3
‘From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this
day, these three and twenty years, the word of YHWH has come to me, and I have
spoken unto you, rising up early and speaking, but you have not listened.’
He pointed out to them that he had now been engaged in his ministry for twenty
three years, diligently (‘rising up early’ - a typical Jeremaism) bringing to them the
word of YHWH. But he points out that they had not listened.
16

4 And though the Lord has sent all his servants
the prophets to you again and again, you have not
listened or paid any attention.
GILL, "And the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets,.... Not
only him, but many others, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, and others:
rising early and sending them; not only the prophet, but the Lord himself is said to
rise early, and send his prophets to them; which denotes his great care and concern for
this people for their good; see Jer_7:25;
but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear; which is an
aggravation of their sin; that whereas they had one prophet after another sent to them,
and sent by the Lord himself; he rising early, and sending them; and they rising early,
being sent to do their message; and yet were not hearkened and attended to.
JAMISON, "rising early — (See on Jer_7:13). “The prophets” refer to Urijah,
Zephaniah, Habakkuk, etc. It aggravates their sin, that God sent not merely one but
many messengers, and those messengers, prophets; and, that during all those years
specified, Jeremiah and his fellow prophets spared no effort, late and early.
CALVIN, "He then adds, I have spoken, and ye heard not He complains here that
his work had been useless, and at the same time shews that the whole fault was in
the people. He confirms the same thing in other words, Jehovah has sent to you all
his servants the prophets, rising. up early, etc He enhances their sin, — that they
had not only rejected one Prophet but even many; for God had not employed
Jeremiah alone to teach them, but had joined others with him, so that they were less
excusable. We hence see that their sin is in this verse exaggerated; for the Jews had
not only despised God in the person of one man, but had also rejected all his
servants. He might, indeed, have simply said, that God had sent his servants, but he
adds the word prophets, in order that their ingratitude might appear more evident.
It was, indeed, very wicked to neglect God’s servants; but as prophecy was an
invaluable treasure, and a singular pledge and symbol of God’s favor, it was a
double crime when they thus despised the prophets, whose very name ought to have
been held sacred by them.
He afterwards applies to God what he had said of himself, rising up early It is
17

certain that God does not rise up, as he sleeps not in the night; but the language is
much more expressive and forcible, when God himself is said to rise up early. And
it, was not without reason that the Prophet spoke so emphatically; for though the
Jews were sufficiently convicted of ingratitude for having disregarded God’s
servants, it was yet a monstrous impiety to shew no regard for God. But when the
unbelieving are proved guilty, they ever fix their eyes on men, “He! it is with a
mortal that I have to do; far be it from me ever to rise up against God; but why is
this so much blamed, since I do not immediately perish? since I am not suddenly
cast down at the nod of man? what! am I not free to inquire, and to discuss, and to
examine every part of what is said? why do the prophets so imperiously treat us,
that it is not lawful to doubt any of their words?” Thus, then, did the ungodly speak.
But God on the other hand answered them and said, that he was despised, as also
Christ said,
“He who hears you hears me,
and he who despises you despises me.” (Luke 10:16)
So also the Prophet sets forth God himself as rising up early, exhorting the people
and manifesting every care for their wellbeing. This, then, is the design of the
metaphor, when he says, that God had sent to them and rose up early; he rose up
early while sending his servants.
Now as God fulminates against all despisers of his doctrine, so from these words we
may gather no small consolation; for we certainly conclude that God watches over
our safety whenever sound and faithful teachers go forth: it is the same as though he
himself descended from heaven, rose up early, and was intent in securing our
salvation. This we learn from the very words of the Prophet, when he says, that God
rose up early. But as this testimony of God’s favor and paternal care towards us is
delightful, so to the same extent dreadful is the vengeance that awaits those who
neglect this favor, who sleep when God is watching, who hear not when he is
speaking, who continue in their sloth and torpor when God of his own accord meets
them, and kindly and gently invites them to himself.
COFFMAN, ""And Jehovah hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising
up early and sending them (but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to
hear), saying, Return ye now everyone from his evil way, and from the evil of your
doings, and dwell in the land which Jehovah hath given unto you and to your
fathers, from of old, and even forever more; and go not after other gods, to serve
them, and to worship them, and provoke me to anger with the work of your hands;
and I will do you no hurt. Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith Jehovah; that
ye may provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own hurt."
"Jehovah hath sent ... all his servants the prophets ..." (Jeremiah 25:4). Not merely
the words of Jeremiah, but those of all of God's true prophets had been ignored and
disregarded by apostate Judah. All these servants included Daniel, Ezekiel, Uriah
(who was murdered) and Jeremiah.
18

"And go not after other gods ..." (Jeremiah 25:6). The unwavering passion of the
Israelites for the licentious worship of the pagan idols proved to be the eventual
destruction of the people.
"Ye have not hearkened unto me ..." (Jeremiah 25:7). The people simply would not
receive correction. They stubbornly determined to Walk in their own way,
regardless of the consequences; and that attitude resulted in the sentence that
Jeremiah would announce in the next four verses.
PETT, "Jeremiah 25:4
‘And YHWH has sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and
sending them, (but you have not listened, nor bent your ear to hear,)’
Indeed YHWH had previously been diligent (rising up early) in sending many
prophets among them who had been equally diligent and had proclaimed His word
to them. But they had not listened to them either.
5 They said, “Turn now, each of you, from your
evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay
in the land the Lord gave to you and your
ancestors for ever and ever.
BARNES, "Turn ye - i. e., Repent ye; the great summons of God to mankind at all
times (Luk_24:47; Act_2:38; compare Mat_3:2).
GILL, "They said,.... The prophets: this was the substance of their discourses and
prophecies, what follows:
turn ye again now everyone from his evil way, and from the evil of your
doings; repent of sins, and reform from them; particularly their idolatries, to which
they were prone, and are after mentioned:
19

and dwell in the land that the Lord hath given unto you to your fathers for
ever and ever; that is, the land of Canaan, which was given to them, and their fathers
before them, by the Lord, for an everlasting inheritance, provided they behaved towards
him aright; for they held the possession of it by their obedience to his law; and now,
notwithstanding all that they had done, or had been threatened with; yet, if they
repented and reformed, they should still dwell in the land, and enjoy it, and all the
blessings and privileges of it.
HENRY, "All the messages sent them were to the purpose, and much to the same
purport, Jer_25:5, Jer_25:6. 1. They all told them of their faults, their evil way, and the
evil of their doings. Those were not of God's sending who flattered them as if there were
nothing amiss among them. 2. They all reproved them particularly for their idolatry, as a
sin that was in a special manner provoking to God, their going after other gods, to serve
them and to worship them, gods that were the work of their own hands. 3. They all
called on them to repent of their sins and to reform their lives. This was the burden of
every song, Turn you now every one from his evil way. Note, Personal and particular
reformation must be insisted on as necessary to a national deliverance: every one must
turn from his own evil way. The street will not be clean unless every one sweep before
his own door. 4. They all assured them that, if they did so, it would certainly be the
lengthening out of their tranquillity. The mercies they enjoyed should be continued to
them: “You shall dwell in the land, dwell at ease, dwell in peace, in this good land, which
the Lord has given you and your fathers. Nothing but sin will turn you out of it, and
that shall not if you turn from it.” The judgments they feared should be prevented:
Provoke me not, and I will do you no hurt. Note, We should never receive from God the
evil punishment if we did not provoke him by the evil of sin. God deals fairly with us,
never corrects his children without cause, nor causes grief to us unless we give offence to
him.
JAMISON, "Turn ... dwell — In Hebrew there is expressed by sameness of sounds
the correspondence between their turning to God and God’s turning to them to permit
them to dwell in their land: Shubu ... shebu, “Return” ... so shall ye “remain.”
every one from ... evil — Each must separately repent and turn from his own sin.
None is excepted, lest they should think their guilt extenuated because the evil is general
CALVIN, "He afterwards explains what God required them to do, Turn ye, I pray,
every one from his evil way and from the wickedness of your doings, and dwell in
the land which Jehovah has given to you and your fathers from age even to age
What God required was doubtless most just; for he demanded nothing from the
Jews but to repent. There was also a promise added; God not only exhorted them to
repent, but wished also to be reconciled to them, and having blotted out all memory
of their sins, to shew them kindness: had they not been harder than stones, they
must have been turned to his service by so kind a treatment. God might have indeed
sharply reproved them, he might have threatened them, he might, in short, have cut
off every hope of pardon; but he only required them to repent, and at the same time
added a promise of free forgiveness. As then they had despised so great a favor, it
follows that they must have been men of reprobate minds and of irreclaimable
20

habits.
When they were bidden to repent of their evil way and of the wickedness of their
doings, it was done for sake of amplifying; for the Prophet wished to take away
from them every pretense for evasion, lest they should ask what was the wickedness
or what was the evil way. He then intimates that they were fully proved guilty; and
for this purpose he made the repetition. By way is designated a continued course of
life; but as they had fully shewed themselves perverse in many ways, he refers to
their fruits, as though he had said, that they in vain contended with God, by
inquiring what had been their evil way, for their whole life sufficiently testified that
they were wholly given to wickedness.
Now there is a striking alliteration in the verbs ‫שבו‬ and ‫ושבו‬ : the verb ‫,שבו‬ shebu,
means sometimes to rebel, it means to return to the right way, and it means to rest
or dwell in. He uses the same verb, though the sense is different when he says,
“Return ye,” and “ye shall dwell.” (128)
He also emphatically uses the word ‫איש‬ , aish “every one:” it means properly
“man;” but it is taken in Hebrew for every one or each one, “each one from his evil
way.” The Prophet exempted none, lest they thought that their fault was extenuated,
had not the evil been universal. He hence says, that every one was given to
wickedness; as though he had said, that impiety not only prevailed among the whole
people, as the case commonly is, but that every one had become corrupt, so that
there was not one sound or upright among the whole people.
And this is what ought to be observed; for we are wont, in a cold manner, to confess
our sins, and to pray to God when we are proved guilty, except when each one is
touched with the sense of his own guilt, and owns himself to be justly exposed to
God’s judgment; for while every one mingles with the multitude, it so happens that
no one acknowledges the heinousness of his own sins. Therefore, for true and
sincere repentance this peculiar examination is necessary, so that every one may
repent and not regard his friends.
When he says, Dwell ye in the land, though it be the imperative mood, yet it is a
promise, by which God declared that he was ready to receive the Jews into favor,
provided they returned from the heart to him: he proposed to them, as a symbol of
his paternal layout, the possession of the land; for that land was as it were the
pledge of their adoption; and the Jews, while they dwelt there, might have felt
assured that God was their Father. He adds, From age even to age; as though he had
said, “I am prepared to do you good not only for one day, or for a short time, but
also to shew you kindness from age to age. It will then be your fault if ye be not
happy, and if this happiness will not pass on from you to your children and
grandchildren.” But the more delightful the invitation was, the more detestable
became the impiety of the people, as it will be stated hereafter. He now adds, —
21

SIMEON, "RELIGION IS NOT A SOURCE OF EVIL TO THOSE WHO
EMBRACE IT
Jeremiah 25:5-6. Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil
of your doings.. …And I will do you no hurt.
SIN is the greatest of all evils; because it is the source from which all evils flow. Nor
can the miseries which it has introduced be ever remedied, but by a thorough
turning unto God. This, Jeremiah tells us, was the remedy prescribed by all the
prophets [Note: ver. 4. with the text.]: and certainly it is the only one that can ever
prove effectual.
The passage, from whence the text is taken, contains, in addition to the words which
we have cited, a dehortation or dissuasion from idolatry; together with an
intimation that a continuance in that sin would accelerate their ruin, and insure
their exclusion from the promised land: they would persist in it “to their hurt [Note:
ver. 7.].” On the contrary, if they would return to God, he would forbear to inflict
upon them his threatened judgments, and “do them no hurt.”
But we omit that which related to the temporal state of the Jews, in order that we
may fix your attention more immediately upon that part of the subject which is
applicable to all persons in all ages of the world.
The text consists of,
I. An exhortation—
As idolatry was at that time the national sin of the Jews, so every one has some evil
way to which he is more particularly addicted. We cannot pretend to trace all the
shades of difference that are found in different men: we will rather arrange the
whole under three great and comprehensive classes; to one or other of which, all,
except true Christians, belong. We therefore say, Turn,
1. From profaneness—
[That this is a common sin amongst us, needs no proof: we cannot open our eyes or
our ears, but we must be speedily convinced of it — — —
Let then as many of you as have entertained licentious principles, or indulged in
vicious practices, “turn from the evil of your doings,” yea, turn from it speedily, and
with utter abhorrence.]
2. From worldliness—
[While the young and gay are rushing into vice, and pouring contempt upon every
thing that is serious, a great part of mankind are immersed in worldly cares, and are
22

as regardless of religion as their more dissipated brethren — — —
True it is, that these persons have more specious grounds on which to vindicate their
conduct, inasmuch as it seems nearly allied to prudence and diligence. Still,
however, while we highly approve of those virtues, we cannot but condemn a
worldly spirit as evil; since it is declared to be incompatible with the love of God
[Note: 1 John 2:15-17.]: and therefore we say to all, “Turn from it,” lest you deceive
yourselves to your utter ruin.]
3. From formality—
[There is a very considerable number of persons, whose strictness of principle, and
correctness of manners, screen them effectually against any charge of profaneness;
while their indifference to riches and aggrandizement shews, that they are not open,
in any great degree, to the imputation of worldliness, But their religion consists in a
mere round of duties, in which they have no real enjoyment of God, but only a self-
righteous, self-complacent approbation of their own minds — — —
That this also is evil, we cannot doubt, if only we bear in mind that God requires
our hearts [Note: Proverbs 33:26.]; and that every service, in which the heart is not
engaged, is declared to be vain and worthless in his sight [Note: Matthew 15:8-9.
Compare 2 Timothy 3:5.].
In exhorting such persons to turn from the evil of their doings, we would by no
means be understood to discourage diligence in attending on divine ordinances,
whether public or private; but only to guard against a resting in the performance of
duties, and a substituting of that in the place of Christ. In appreciating our religious
observances, let us judge of them by their spirituality, and by our enjoyment of God
in them: and, if they be ever so devout, still let us remember that they make no
atonement for sin, nor do they confer any obligation whatever upon God: yea,
rather the more devout they are, the more we are indebted to God for that grace
whereby we are so enabled to worship him.]
To confirm the exhortation, God has been pleased to add,
II. A promise—
At first sight the promise appears to be unworthy of God, and incapable of
affording any great encouragement to those to whom it is made. But, if taken
altogether abstractedly, it surely is no light matter for those who deserve all the
judgments that God can inflict, to be assured, that he will never do them any hurt:
and, if considered in connexion with our fears and apprehensions, it will be found to
contain the richest consolation. In this view, we observe, God will do us no hurt in
respect of,
1. Our intellect—
23

[When we begin in earnest to be religious, our friends are ready to suppose that we
are, or shall soon be, beside ourselves [Note: See Mark 3:21. Acts 26:24. 2
Corinthians 5:13.]: nor can we altogether wonder at their judgment, when we
consider how great the change is, (like a river turning back to its source,) and how
unable they are to account for it. But they may spare themselves their fears; for God
gives his people, not a spirit of delusion, but “of a sound mind [Note: 2 Timothy
1:7.].” The prodigal’s return to his father’s house was the first proof of sanity, not of
insanity: nor has any person a spark of true wisdom in him, till he begin to fear the
Lord [Note: Psalms 111:10.]. In conversion, a man is made to form a correct
judgment respecting his most important concerns; and not only to view things in the
same light that God views them, but to act agreeably to those views. As well
therefore might the man whose eyes Jesus had opened be said to have suffered
injury in his organs of vision, as a person thus enlightened in his judgment be said
to have suffered in his intellect [Note: That people who are insane, may fix their
thoughts upon religion, or that a person may become distracted by
misapprehensions of religion, is confessed: but if religion would drive a man mad,
the more religious he was, the more likely to be mad. Who does not shudder at the
consequences that would result from that opinion?].]
2. Our friends—
[We are taught to expect, that, on our becoming decided followers of Christ, “our
greatest foes will be those of our own household [Note: Matthew 10:35-36.]:” and
experience accords with the declarations of Scripture on this head. But are we
therefore injured in this respect? Our Lord has told us, and experience accords with
that also, that if we lose any friends for his sake, he will repay us in kind, as it were,
an hundred-fold [Note: Mark 10:29-30.]. A merchant who should part with his
goods to such an advantage as this, would surely not be thought to have sustained
any loss. But besides this recompence in the present world, God himself will be our
friend, both now and for ever. And would not this amply repay the loss of all earthly
friends?]
3. Our reputation—
[Though the whole of our conduct be visibly improved, yet snail we, on turning to
God, be loaded with opprobrium and contempt; and though something may be
gained by prudence, or conceded to us on account of our celebrity in learning, there
is no religious person that occupies the same place in the estimation of the world
that he would do if he were not religious. If our Lord himself was “despised and
rejected of men [Note: Isaiah 53:3.],” and the Apostles were deemed “the off-
scouring of all things [Note: 1 Corinthians 4:13.]”, it is in vain for us to expect
honour from man [Note: Matthew 10:24-25. with John 5:44.]. But are we therefore
without honour? No: our very disgrace, when so procured, is a very high honour,
inasmuch as it assimilates us to Christ [Note: 1 Peter 4:13.], and is a testimony to us
of our fidelity [Note: Luke 21:13.]. But suppose that ignominy had nothing to
24

counterbalance it here, should we have any reason to regret it when Christ
“confessed us before his Father, and his holy angels;” and when they who despised
us, shall “awake to shame and everlasting contempt [Note: Daniel 12:2.]?”]
4. Our interests—
[The laws of the land certainly afford us a very great protection. Nevertheless it is
no uncommon thing at this day for children and servants to be called to make very
great sacrifices for the Gospel sake. But be it so: they are forced, like St. Paul, to
serve the Lord “in coldness and nakedness,” and in a privation of all earthly
comforts. But are they eventually “hurt?” What if their spiritual consolations be
proportioned to their temporal afflictions; have they not made a good exchange? Is
not peace in the bosom incomparably better than money in the purse? The riches of
this world are easily appreciated: but those which Christ imparts, are
“unsearchable.” Their despisers would, at a future day, give all the world for a drop
of water only to cool their tongue. How rich then must they be who are drinking
living waters eternally at the fountain head!]
5. Our happiness—
[Doubtless the godly have grounds of mourning peculiar to themselves: but are they
therefore losers in respect of happiness? No: their sorrows, if I may so speak, are
sources of joy: they would on no account be without them: they rather regret that
they cannot sorrow more: they mourn because they cannot mourn, and weep
because they cannot weep: and if at any time they have been enabled to abase
themselves before God in dust and ashes, they look back upon such seasons as the
most precious in their whole lives, But if they have sorrows unknown to others, have
they not “joys also, with which the stranger intermeddleth not?” Let a promise be
applied with power to their souls, or “the love of God be shed abroad in their
hearts,” have they not a very foretaste of heaven upon earth? Compare their state
with that of others, on a dying bed: follow them in the instant of their departure
from the body: see them welcomed to the bosom of their Lord: contemplate their
eternal state, in contrast with that of those who despised them; and then say
whether they have any reason to complain, that their fidelity to God occasioned on
the whole a diminution of their happiness?]
Address—
1. Those who are yet following their evil ways—
[One question I beg leave to put to you: Will God “do YOU no hurt?” Inquire, I
pray you: search the sacred records: see what God has spoken respecting sin and
sinners: Will it do you no hurt to bear his wrath, and to drink of the cup of his
indignation to all eternity? — — — We inquire not, What are the ways you follow?
If you do not turn from every evil way to God, and devote yourself unreservedly to
your Lord and Saviour, the issue will be the same, whatever course you take. Your
25

guilt may be more or less aggravated, and your misery be apportioned accordingly:
but, without entering into the different degrees of punishment, let me ask, Will not
sin be visited with the wrath of God? and will that do you no hurt? — — — On the
other hand, would not God do you good, if you would return unto him? — — —
“Turn then from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin [Note:
Ezekiel 18:30.].”]
2. Those who are turning from their evil ways—
[Halt not between two opinions: strive not to reconcile the inconsistent services of
God and mammon [Note: Matthew 6:24.]. “If Baal be God, follow him: but if the
Lord be God, then follow him.” There is a certain kind of turning unto God, by
which you will suffer hurt on every side, and receive no benefit whatever. If your
“heart be not whole with God,” no good can accrue to you, nor can any evil be
averted from you. The world will not approve of you, because you are too precise
for them: and God will not approve of you, because you are not upright before him.
Be not then temporizing and hypocritical, But open, decided, and consistent
characters. “Follow your Lord fully:” “follow him without the camp, bearing his
reproach [Note: Hebrews 13:13.]”. Thus, though “your life may be accounted
madness, and your end to be without honour, yet shall you be numbered among the
children of God, and have your lot among his saints [Note: Wisd. 5:4, 5.].”]
‘Saying, “Return you now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your
doings, and dwell in the land which YHWH has given to you and to your fathers,
from of old and even for evermore,’
So he now with great patience calls on them, as the previous prophets had called on
them (compare 2 Kings 17:12-14), again to return from their evil ways, and from the
evil of their doings (for they needed to be right in both their behaviour and their
attitude) if they wished to dwell ‘for evermore’ in the land which YHWH had of old
given to their fathers.
6 Do not follow other gods to serve and worship
them; do not arouse my anger with what your
hands have made. Then I will not harm you.”
26

GILL, "And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them,.... So
long as they served the Lord God, they continued in their own land, in the comfortable
enjoyment of all the blessings of it; for their government was a theocracy; God was their
King; and as long as they served and worshipped him only, he protected and defended
them; but when they forsook him, and went after other gods, and served and worshipped
them, then they were threatened to be turned out of their land, and carried captive into
other lands; and yet, after all, if they returned from their idolatries, and left off
worshipping idols, the Lord was ready to receive them kindly, and continue his favours
to them:
and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; their idols, which
their own hands made, and then fell down to worship them; than which nothing can be
more provoking to God:
and I will do you no hurt; by sword, or famine, or pestilence, or captivity; signifying
the hurt he had threatened them with should not be done, provided they forsook their
idolatrous worship; God does no hurt to his true worshippers; yea, he makes all things
work together for their good.
JAMISON, "He instances one sin, idolatry, as representative of all their sins; as
nothing is dearer to God than a pure worship of Himself.
BI, "I will do you no hurt.
No hurt from God
I. The import of the promise.
1. Such a promise can apply to none but the people of God.
2. The Lord’s people are apt to fear He should do them hurt, and hence He kindly
assures them of the contrary. We want more of that love to God which beareth all
things at His hand, which believeth all good things concerning Him, and hopeth for
all things from Him.
3. As God will do no hurt to them that fear Him, so neither will He suffer others to
hurt them. If God does not change their hearts, He win tie their hands; or if for wise
ends He suffers them to injure you in your worldly circumstances, yet your heavenly
inheritance is sure, and your treasure is laid up where thieves cannot break through
nor steal.
4. More is implied in the promise than is absolutely expressed; for when the Lord
says He will do His people no hurt, He means that He will really do them good. All
things to God’s people are blessings in their own nature, or are turned into blessings
for their sake; so that all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep
His covenant and His testimonies to do them (Gen_50:20; Jer_24:5-6; Rom_8:28).
27

II. The assurance we have that this promise will be fulfilled.
1. The Lord thinks no hurt of His people, and therefore He will certainly do them no
hurt. His conduct is a copy of His decrees: He worketh all things according to the
counsel of His own will, and therefore where no evil is determined, no evil can take
place.
2. The Lord threatens them no hurt; no penal sentence lies against them.
3. He never has done them any hurt, but good, all the days of their life. Former
experience of the Divine goodness should strengthen the believer’s confidence, and
fortify him against present discouragements (Jdg_13:23; Psa_42:6; Psa_77:12; 2Co_
1:10). (B. Beddome, M.A.)
CALVIN, "The Prophet mentions here one kind of sin; for though the Jews in
many, and even in numberless ways kindled God’s wrath, yet they especially
procured a heavy judgment for themselves by their superstitions. They indeed
manifested their contempt of God by adultery, theft, and plunder, but in a way not
so direct; for when they abandoned themselves to the superstitions of the Gentiles,
they thus shook off the yoke of God, as though they openly testified that he was no
longer their God. And we know that nothing is so much valued and approved by
God as a sincere attention to real piety; hence the Church is taught in the first table
of the Law how he is to be worshipped. This is the reason why the Prophet
especially reminds the Jews here that they had, in this respect, been rebellious
against God, because he could not bring them back from their corrupt superstitions.
He does not at the same time absolve them of other sins; but he mentions this one
kind, in order that they might understand, that they were not only in part, but
altogether rebellious against God; for they wholly departed from him when they
vitiated his worship with wicked superstitions. We must then bear in mind, that the
Jews were not condemned for some small offenses, but accused of the most heinous
of sins; for they had become covenant-breakers and apostates, and had forsaken
God himself and his law.
He says, Walk ye not after foreign gods to serve them and to worship them He
pointed out as by the finger, how gross had been their impiety; for they had given
themselves up to idols, that they might basely serve them; they had wholly devoted
themselves to them. It was not then an excusable error, but a manifest treachery. He
adds, Provoke me not by the work of your hands No doubt the Prophet meant by
these words to confirm what has been already stated, that idolatry is before God an
intolerable wickedness: and at the same time he shews, that they had not sinned
through ignorance, for they had in time been reminded of the atrocity of this sin. As
then they had not ceased from their superstitions, they were thus proved guilty of a
diabolical madness, for they feared not to provoke God against them. And he says,
by the work of your hands; and thus he speaks contemptuously or rather
reproachfully of idols. They called them gods, not that they were ignorant that they
were statues curiously made of wood and stone, or of some other material; but still
28

they thought that divinity was connected with them, for they believed that God was
thus rightly worshipped. Now, then, the Prophet calls them the work of hands, as
though he had said, “If the Jews themselves are nothing, the idols are less than
nothing; for they are only the work of hands.” And this way of speaking often
occurs in the Prophets, by which God intended to shake off the stupidity of men,
who were become quite senseless in their own devices; as though he had said, “Have
you not a particle of a right understanding in you? do you not know, that this which
ye worship is the work of your own hands? and what can your hands do? for what
are ye yourselves?” We now perceive what the Prophet had in view in using these
words.
There is, again; a promise given, I will not do you evil God declares by these words
that they would be exempt from all trouble and distress, if they continued to walk
according to the rule of true religion; and thus he intimates that whatever evils they
had already endured, and would have hereafter to endure, could not be imputed to
anything but to their own perverseness, for God had of his own free-will promised
to spare them, provided they departed from their wicked ways. And such a hope
ought especially to encourage us to repent, for we see that God is ready to receive us
and seeks reconciliation with us, and is always prepared to forgive all our sins,
provided we from the heart return to him; and he seems as one unwilling to inflict
punishment. Here again the impiety of the people is more fully proved, for they
refused to receive from God this invaluable favor. It follows, —
‘And do not go after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and do not
provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will do you no hurt.”
For YHWH’s promise was that if they did not go after other gods to worship and
serve them, and did not provoke Him to anger by breaking the requirements of the
covenant, then He would bring no harm upon them. This was still in the stage when
repentance was seen as possible, and was looked for.
‘The work of your hands’ may indicate the idols that they had made, or it may be
pointing to their general behaviour, or indeed both.
7 “But you did not listen to me,” declares the
Lord, “and you have aroused my anger with what
your hands have made, and you have brought
29

harm to yourselves.”
CLARKE, "That ye might provoke - Ye would not hearken; but chose to provoke
me with anger.
GILL, "Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord,.... Though it was he
that spake unto them by his prophets; and though it was so much to their own good and
advantage; and the neglect of him and his word were so much to their disadvantage, and
even ruin:
that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, to your
own hurt: which, though not signed to do either, yet eventually did both; both
provoked the Lord, and brought destruction upon themselves; for whatever is against
the glory of God is to the hurt of man; and whatever provokes him is pernicious to them
in its consequences.
JAMISON, "Though ye provoke Me to anger (Deu_32:21), yet it is not I, but
yourselves, whom ye thereby hurt (Pro_8:36; Pro_20:2).
CALVIN, "He proves what he had said before, that the Jews had been wholly
disobedient, though God had kindly offered and shewed that he would be reconciled
to them, provided they turned from the heart to him. The fact that this message was
not received by the Jews, was an evidence of extreme and irreclaimable obstinacy.
And he enhances their guilt by saying, that ye might provoke me; for he intimates
that they were led away to evil by a voluntary purpose, as though they wished to
provoke God. The Prophet, then, by saying that ye might provoke me, accuses them
of deliberate wickedness. It, indeed, often happens that men go astray through
ignorance, and do not attend because no one warns them; but since God had so
many times exhorted the Jews to repent, no other opinion could have been formed of
them, but that they designedly wished, not only to despise God, but also to provoke
him to the contest.
And this is what we ought carefully to notice, for whosoever has been taught the will
of God, unless he obeys, he cannot escape the charge of a voluntary obstinacy, as he
has resolved, as it were, to carry on war with God. Though the ungodly do not
confess this, yet the fact is evident; and God, who is a righteous judge, has declared
that they who despised the prophetic doctrine were so regarded.
And he says, for evil to you, in order that they might know that God did not plead
his own cause because he stood in need of their service, but that he cared for their
welfare. For there is to be understood here an implied contrast, as though the
Prophet had said, “What loss has God suffered by your perverseness? Ye have,
30

indeed, tried to deprive him of his glory, for ye have adorned your idols by spoils
taken from him; but it is not in men’s power to subtract anything from the rights of
God; he remains ever perfect: then it only turns out to your ruin when ye are
rebellious. When, therefore, God now reproves you, he does not maintain his own
right, as though he received any gain or loss from you; but it is an evidence of his
mercy, because he would not have you to perish, though he sees that you are led into
destruction by an insane impulse.” It afterwards follows, —
“Yet you have not listened to me, the word of YHWH, that you may provoke me to
anger with the work of your hands to your own hurt.”
But YHWH now charges them with the fact that they had not listened to any of the
prophets, and had also certainly not listened to Jeremiah. And therefore they had
not listened to Him. This was the sure ‘word of YHWH’. And the consequence was
that they had provoked Him to anger by what they had been doing, and especially
by their idolatry, in such a way as would bring hurt upon them.
8 Therefore the Lord Almighty says this:
“Because you have not listened to my words,
GILL, "Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... Of armies above and below; and
so can do what he pleases in heaven and in earth:
because ye have not heard my words; by the prophets, so as to obey them; they
had heard them externally, but did not observe to do them.
HENRY, "Here is the sentence grounded upon the foregoing charge: “Because you
have not heard my words, I must take another course with you,” Jer_25:8. Note, When
men will not regard the judgments of God's mouth they may expect to feel the judgments
of his hands, to hear the rod, since they would not hear the word; for the sinner must
either be parted from his sin or perish in it. Wrath comes without remedy against those
only that sin without repentance. It is not so much men's turning aside that ruins them
as their not returning.
K&D 8-10, "For this obstinate resistance the Lord will cause the nations of the north,
31

under Nebuchadrezzar's leadership, to come and lay Judah waste. "All the families of the
north" points back to all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, Jer_1:14. ‫ל‬ ֶ‫א‬ ְ‫ו‬ ‫נבוך‬
cannot be joined with "and take," but must depend from ַ‫ח‬ֵ‫שֹׁל‬ in such a way that that
verb is again repeated in thought. Ew. proposes to read ‫ת‬ ֵ‫א‬ ְ‫ו‬ according to some codd.,
especially as Syr., Chald., Vulg. have rendered by an accusative. Against this Graf has
justly objected, that then Nebuchadnezzar would be merely mentioned by the way as in
addition to the various races, whereas it is he that brings these races and is the
instrument of destruction in God's hand. Ew.'s reading is therefore to be unhesitatingly
rejected. No valid reason appears for pronouncing the words: and to
Nebuchadrezzar...my servant, to be a later interpolation (Hitz., Gr.) because they are not
in the lxx. There is prominence given to Nebuchadnezzar by the very change of the
construction, another "send" requiring to be repeated before "to Nebuchadrezzar." God
calls Nebuchadnezzar His servant, as the executor of His will on Judah, cf. Jer_27:6 and
Jer_43:10. The "them" in "and bring them" refers to Nebuchadnezzar and the races of
the north. "This land" is Judah, the ‫זּאת‬ ַֹ‫ה‬ being δεικτικῶς; so too the corresponding
‫ה‬ֶ‫לּ‬ ֵ‫א‬ ָ‫,ה‬ "all these peoples round about;" so that we need have no doubt of the
genuineness of the demonstrative. The peoples meant are those found about Judah, that
are specified in Jer_25:19-25. ‫ים‬ ִ‫תּ‬ ְ‫מ‬ ַ‫ֲר‬‫ח‬ ַ‫,ה‬ used frequently in Deuteronomy and Joshua
for the extirpation of the Canaanites, is used by Jeremiah, besides here, only in the
prophecy against Babylon, Jer_50:21, Jer_50:26; Jer_51:3. With ‫ה‬ ָ‫מּ‬ַ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫ל‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫ק‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫ל‬ ְ‫ו‬ cf. Jer_
19:8; Jer_18:16; the words cannot be used of the peoples, but of the countries, which
have been comprehended in the mention of the peoples. With "everlasting desolations,"
cf. Jer_49:13, Isa_58:12; Isa_61:4. - With Jer_25:10 cf. Jer_16:9; Jer_7:34. But here the
thought is strengthened by the addition: the sound of the mill and the light of the lamp.
Not merely every sound of joyfulness shall vanish, but even every sign of life, such as
could make known the presence of inhabitants.
COFFMAN, ""Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Because ye have not heard
my words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith Jehovah,
and I will send unto Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will
bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and make them an
astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from
them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, and the voice of the bridegroom
and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. And
this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall
serve the king of Babylon seventy years."
"All the families of the north ... Nebuchadrezzar ..." (Jeremiah 25:9). The meaning
of this is that the king of Babylon and all of his allies would come against Judah.
The north was the direction from which all of the military operations against
Jerusalem were to come, due to geographical considerations; and this does not mean
that all of the enemies mentioned here lived in areas north of Jerusalem, for, in fact,
many of them came from the east.
32

"The voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, and the sound of the
millstones, and the light of the lamp ..." (Jeremiah 25:10). The destruction about to
come upon the last vestiges of the Old Israel was a very significant and historical
event, because the Old Israel was a type of the New Israel, which would eventually
be the Church "in Christ Jesus." Sadly enough, the scriptures teach that just as the
Old Israel finally and completely rejected God, so will it be also with the New Israel
when the fourth and final judicial hardening of the human race occurs, as fully
prophesied in Revelation 16, at which time, God's New Israel, at that time, having
become the shameless Whore of Revelation 17, and corresponding exactly to the
final apostasy of Judah, then God will destroy them in the same manner that he
destroyed Judah, many of these very expressions being woven into the prophecy
that concludes with the last portion of Revelation 18. Those who are interested in a
further study of this may wish to read our discussion of Revelation 9-11 in my
commentary (Volume 12 in the New Testament Series).
"These nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years ..." (Jeremiah 25:11).
See the chapter introduction for a full discussion of this prophecy.
"Perpetual desolations ... a desolation ..." (Jeremiah 25:9,11). A well known fact of
history is that the majority of those nations which became slaves of Babylon did
indeed become "perpetual" desolations, whereas, the mention of "a desolation" in
Jeremiah 25:11 seems to avoid such a prophecy regarding Jerusalem; for that city
would indeed be rebuilt, and God's servant Cyrus would significantly aid the
restoration. Yes, Jerusalem would indeed become "a desolation"; but it would
continue as a city until the Son of God should appear in her midst.
"Nebuchadrezzar, my servant ..." (Jeremiah 25:9). This glorious title was first given
by God to Moses; and, in the Bible, it is usually reserved to the noblest and most
faithful worshippers of the True God; but here it is thrice applied to
Nebuchadrezzar, and also to Cyrus (in Isaiah). Such men were not servants of God
in the highest sense of the word; but they were, nevertheless, very important
servants, being, in truth, the instruments by which God punished his own rebellious
children. Significantly, such persons did not consciously serve God but yet they
executed his divine judgment upon others. As a rule, such "servants" became in
time God's enemies and were in turn judged and punished by the will of God. As in
Zechariah (Zechariah 1:18ff), the same nations might be either horns or smiths
depending upon the circumstances.
A characteristic of human power is seen in the punishment that Babylon executed
upon Judah. That punishment was aggravated by human lust and sadistic cruelty,
greatly increasing sorrow and suffering; and the arrogant conceit and boastfulness
indulged by such "instruments" of God inevitably led to their own destruction. It is
this principle that led to the judgment announced in the next paragraph.
33

9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and
my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,”
declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against
this land and its inhabitants and against all the
surrounding nations. I will completely destroy[a]
them and make them an object of horror and
scorn, and an everlasting ruin.
BARNES, "The term families is probably used here to signify the widespread empire
of Nebuchadnezzar.
My servant - This title, so remarkable in the Old Testament as the especial epithet,
first of Moses, and then of the Messiah, is thrice given to Nebuchadnezzar, and marks
the greatness of the commission entrusted to him.
CLARKE, "Behold, I will send - At this time Nebuchadrezzar had not invaded the
land, according to this Version; but the Hebrew may be translated, “Behold I am
sending, and have taken all the families;” that is, all the allies of the king of Babylon.
Instead of ‫ואל‬ reel, “and To Nebuchadrezzar,” as in the common Hebrew Bible, seven
MSS. of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s, and one of my own, have ‫ואת‬ veeth, “And
Nebuchadrezzar,” which is undoubtedly the true reading.
GILL, "Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,
saith the Lord,.... The Targum is, the kingdoms of the north, the same with those in
Jer_1:15; even all those kingdoms which were subject to the king of Babylon, and lay
north of Judea:
and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon my servant: though a great king, he
34

was a servant of the Lord of hosts; his servant, both as a creature of his make, and as a
king that ruled under him; and as he was an instrument in his hand to chastise his
people the Jews; though it was not knowingly and with intention that he served the
Lord:
and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof;
the land of Judea, and its inhabitants; this was the Lord's doing; it was he that stirred,
up the king of Babylon, and by his secret instinct and powerful providence brought him
and his armies into Judea to spoil it, and the inhabitants of it Jehovah as it were
marched at the head of them, and led them on, and brought them against the Jews, and
delivered them into their hands:
and against all these nations round about; Egypt and others; so that the Jews
could have no help from them; nor would application to them, and alliance with them,
signify anything:
and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an
hissing, and perpetual desolations; both the Jews and their neighbours; who
should be an astonishment to some, and a hissing to others, and remain desolate for a
long time; even till the seventy years were ended after mentioned.
HENRY 9-11, " The ruin of the land of Judah by the king of Babylon's armies is here
decreed, Jer_25:9. God sent to them his servants the prophets, and they were not
heeded, and therefore God will send for his servant the king of Babylon, whom they
cannot mock, and despise, and persecute, as they did his servants the prophets. Note,
The messengers of God's wrath will be sent against those that would not receive the
messengers of his mercy. One way or other God will be heeded, and will make men know
that he is the Lord. Nebuchadrezzar, though a stranger to the true God, the God of
Israel, nay, an enemy to him and afterwards a rival with him, was yet, in the descent he
made upon his country. God's servant, accomplished his purpose, was employed by him,
and was an instrument in his hand for the correction of his people. He was really serving
God's designs when he thought he was serving his own ends. Justly therefore does God
here call himself The Lord of hosts (Jer_25:8), for here is an instance of his sovereign
dominion, not only over the inhabitants, but over the armies of this earth, of which he
makes what use he pleases. He has them all at his command. The most potent and
absolute monarchs are his servants. Nebuchadrezzar, who is an instrument of his wrath,
is as truly his servant as Cyrus, who is an instrument of his mercy. The land of Judah
being to be made desolate, God here musters his army that is to make it so, gathers it
together, takes all the families of the north, if there be occasion for them, leads them on
as their commander-in-chief, brings them against this land, gives them success, not
only against Judah and Jerusalem, but against all the nations round about, that there
might be no dependence upon them as allies or assistants against that threatening force.
The utter destruction of this and all the neighbouring lands is here described, Jer_
25:9-11. It shall be total: The whole land shall be a desolation, not only desolate, but a
desolation itself; both city and country shall be laid waste, and all the wealth of both be
made a prey of. It shall be lasting, even perpetual desolations; they shall continue so
long in ruins, and after long waiting there shall appear so little prospect of relief, that
every one shall call it perpetual. This desolation shall be the ruin of their credit among
their neighbours; it shall bury their honour in the dust, shall make them an
35

Jeremiah 25 commentary

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