lows, with all sincerity of soul: when ye shall search for
me with all your heart; which, as Calvin rightly ob-
serves, does not design perfection, but integrity and
sincerity; when they draw nigh with a true heart, and
call upon him in truth, and search for him with eager-
ness, with a hearty desire to find him, as men search
for gold, and silver, and hid treasure.
Ver. 14. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord,
&c.] As he is; when his fayour is shewn, his presence
is enjoyed, and the blessing sought for is obtained: and
I will turn away your captivity; this designs the capti-
vity of Jeconiah, or of the Jews that were carried cap-
tive with him; and which had its accomplishment
when the Jews returned to their own land, upon the
edict of Cyrus: and I will gather you from all the na-
tions, and from all the places whither I have driven you,
saith the Lord; for though the greatest part might be
carried to Babylon, and continue there; yet others
might be removed or remove into other countries; and
besides, this may respect their brethren who should
come into captivity, and return with them at the end
of the seventy years; for the expressions are very large
and general: and I will bring you again into the place
whence I caused you to be carried away captive; that is,
Jerusalem, and' the land ofJudea; though the Vulgate
Latin version renders it," and I will make you to return
"from the place to which I have caused you to go
ú ' captive;" meaning Babylon. The sense comes to
the same; but the common rendering is most agreeable
to the Hebrew text.
Ver. 15. Because ye have said, &c.] That is, some
of them; for here the Lord, by the prophet, turns
from the godly among the captives, whom he had been
advising, encouraging, and comforting before, to those
who gave heed to the false prophets, who promised
them. a speedy return to their own land, and which
they believed; and therefore rejected and despised the
prophecies of Jeremiah, and others: the Lord hath
raised us up prophets in Babylon; and therefore stood
ú in no need of other prophets that were in Judea, or in
Jerusalem, nor should hearken to them; but believe
those that were raised up among themselves, rather
than others at a distance; and though these were false
prophets, yet, being such that prophesied to them
things that were agreeable, they were willing to believe
them, and to consider them, and receive them, as
prophets sent of God, when they were not.
Ver. 16. Know that thus saith the Lord, &c.] Or
for, or wherefore thus saith the Lord{x}; for the word
know is not in the text, and seems needless; though it
is also supplied by other interpreters {y}. The words are
iliatire, and follow upon the former; and the sense is,
that since they gave heed to their false prophets in Ba-
bylon, who told them that they should quickly return;
therefore the Lord sent the following message to them,
informinlug them that it was so far from being true
that they should in a short time return to Jerusalem,
that, on the other hand, they that were there should
soon be wi'th them in captivity, or be destroyed: of,
or concerning the king that sitteth on the throne of David;
that is, King Zedekiah, who was then the reigning
king at Jerusalem: and of all the people that dwellelh
in this city; the city Jerusalem, where Jeremiah was,
and from whence this letter was written, in the name
of the Lord, to the captives at Babylon: and of your
brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;
that lived in the several parts of the land of Judea,
who were left behind, and not carried captive, when
those were to whom these words are directed.
Ver. 17. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold, I willsend
upon them the sword, &c.] The sword of the Chaldeans,
by which many of them should fall, as they did. The
Targum is, "I will send upon them those that kill with
"the sword :" who, though they were prompted to
come against the Jews, through a natural and ambi-
tious desire of conquering and plundering, yet were
sent of God; nor would they have come, had he not
willed and suffered it: the famine and the pestilence;
to destroy others that escaped the sword; both these
raged whilst Jerusalem was besieged by the Chaldeans:
and will malce them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten,
they are so evil; to which they are compared, oh.
xxiv. 8. The sense is, that as they had made them-
selves wicked and corrupt, like naughty and rotten
figs, so the Lord would deal with them as men do
with such, east them away, as good for nothing. The
word {z} for vile signifies something horrible; and de-
signs such figs so bad, that they even strike the eater
of them with horror.
Ver. 18. And I will persecute them with the sword,
with the famine, and with the pestilence, &c.] Or, fol-
low after {a} them; such as should make their escape out
of the city, and go into Egypt, or other countries, for
shelter and safety, should be pursued by the vengeance
of God, and should fall by sword, famine, or pestilence,
in other places: and will deliver them; such as should
not perish by the above-mentioned calamities: to be
removed to all the kingdoms of the earth; where they
should be scattered, and live in exile: or for a shaking
to all the kingdoms of the earth {b}; who should shake
and tremble at such a dreadful spectacle of vengeance;
or rather they should shake and tremble at the wrath
of God upon them; or else their enemies, among whom
they should be, should shake their heads at them, by
way of insult and triumph over them: to be a curse,
and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach,
among all the nations whither I have driven them; where
men shall look at them with amazement, and curse
theft, and hiss at them, and reproach them, as the
offscouring of the world.
Ver. 19. Because they have not hearkened to my words,
saith the Lord, &c.] Which were spoken to them by
the prophets; not hearkening to them, but despising
them, were the same as not hearkening to him, and
despising him; contempt of God, and his word, was
the cause of their ruin; see 2 Chron. xxxvi. 15, 16:
which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets; such
as Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, and others: rising
up early, and sending them; which denotes the fre-
quency of their mission; the diligent care of God to-

{x} \^rma hk yk\^ nam sic ait, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius;
ideo, Calvin; its namque, Schmidt.
{y} Seitote quod, Vatablus.
{z} \^Myrevh Mynatk\^ tanquam ficus horrendas, Junius & Tremellius,
Piscator; so Stockius, p. 1129.
{a} \^Mhyrxa ytpdrw\^ & persequar post eos, Calvin, Piscator.
{b} \^hewzl\^ in commotionem, Pagninus, Montanus, Schmidt.