Teks -- Jeremiah 46:26-28 (NET)

46:26 I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar and his troops, who want to kill them. But later on, people will live in Egypt again as they did in former times. I, the Lord, affirm it!”

A Promise of Hope for Israel

46:27 “You descendants of Jacob, my servants, do not be afraid; do not be terrified, people of Israel. For I will rescue you and your descendants from the faraway lands where you are captives. The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace. They will be secure and no one will terrify them. 46:28 I, the Lord, tell you not to be afraid, you descendants of Jacob, my servant, for I am with you. Though I completely destroy all the nations where I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will indeed discipline you but only in due measure. I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.”

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

JFB: Jer 46:26 - afterward . . . inhabited

Under Cyrus forty years after the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, it threw off the Babylonian yoke but has never regained its former prowess (Jer 46:11; Eze 29:11-15).

JFB: Jer 46:27-28

Repeated from Jer 30:10-11. When the Church (and literal Israel) might seem utterly consumed, there still remains hidden hope, because God, as it were, raises His people from the dead (Rom 11:15). Whereas the godless "nations" are consumed even though they survive, as are the Egyptians after their overthrow; because they are radically accursed and doomed [CALVIN].

Clarke: Jer 46:26 - Afterward it shall be inhabited

Afterward it shall be inhabited - That is, within forty years, as Ezekiel had predicted, Eze 29:13.

Clarke: Jer 46:27 - Fear not - my servant Jacob

Fear not - my servant Jacob - In the midst of wrath God remembers mercy. Though Judah shall be destroyed, Jerusalem taken, the temple burnt to the ground, and the people carried into captivity, yet the nation shall not be destroyed. A seed shall be preserved, out of which the nation shall revive.

Clarke: Jer 46:28 - I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee; but I will not make a full end of thee

I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee; but I will not make a full end of thee - The Jews still remain as a distinct people, while the Assyrians, Chaldeans, Egyptians, etc., are no more

On this subject, I cannot withhold from my readers the following very judicious remarks of Bp. Newton, in his Dissertations on the Prophecies

"The preservation of the Jews through so many ages, and the total destruction of their enemies, are wonderful events; and are made still more wonderful by being signified beforehand by the spirit of prophecy, as particularly in the passage before us. Their preservation is really one of the most illustrious acts of Divine Providence. They are dispersed among all nations, yet not confounded with any. The drops of rain which fall, nay the great rivers which flow into the ocean, are soon mingled with and lost in that immense body of waters. And the same, in all human probability, would have been the fate of the Jews; they would have been mingled and lost in the common mass of mankind: but, on the contrary, they flow into all parts of the world, mix with all nations, and yet keep separate from all. They still live as a distinct people; and yet they nowhere live according to their own laws, nowhere elect their own magistrates, nowhere enjoy the full exercise of their religion. Their solemn feasts and sacrifices are limited to one certain place; and that hath been now for many ages in the hands of strangers and aliens, who will not suffer them to come thither. No people have continued unmixed so long as they have done; not only of those who have sent colonies into foreign countries, but even of those who have remained in their own country. The northern nations have come in swarms into the more southern parts of Europe: but where are they now to be discerned and distinguished? The Gauls went forth in great bodies to seek their fortune in foreign parts; but what traces or footsteps of them are now remaining any where? In France, who can separate the race of the ancient Gauls from the various other people who from time to time have settled there? In Spain, who can distinguish between the first possessors, the Spaniards, and the Goths and Moors, who conquered and kept possession of the country for some ages? In England, who can pretend to say certainly which families are derived from the ancient Britons, and which from the Romans, Saxons, Danes, and Normans? The most ancient and honorable pedigrees can be traced up only to a certain period; and beyond that there is nothing but conjecture and uncertainty, obscurity and ignorance. But the Jews can go up higher than any nation; they can even deduce their pedigree from the beginning of the world. They may not know from what particular tribe or family they are descended; but they know certainly that they all sprang from the stock of Abraham. And yet the contempt with which they have been treated, and the hardships they have undergone in almost all countries, should, one would think, have made them desirous to forget or renounce their original: but they profess it; they glory in it; and after so many wars, massacres, and persecutions, they still subsist; they are still very numerous. And what but a supernatural power could have preserved them in such a manner as no other nation upon earth has been preserved? Nor is the providence of God less remarkable in the destruction of their enemies, than in their own preservation. For, from the beginning, who have been the great enemies and oppressors of the Jewish nation, removed them from their own land, and compelled them into captivity and slavery? The Egyptians afflicted them much, and detained them in bondage several years. The Assyrians carried away captive the ten tribes of Israel; and the Babylonians, afterwards, the two remaining tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The Syro-Macedonians, especially Antiochus Epiphanes, cruelly persecuted them; and the Romans utterly dissolved the Jewish state, and dispersed the people so as that they have never been able to recover their city and country again. And where are now those great and famous monarchies, which in their turn subdued and oppressed the people of God? Are they not vanished as a dream; and not only their power, but their very names, lost in the earth? The Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians were overthrown and entirely subjugated by the Persians; and the Persians, it is remarkable, were the restorers of the Jews as well as the destroyers of their enemies. The Syro-Macedonians were swallowed up by the Romans; and the Roman empire, great and powerful as it was, was broken into pieces by the incursions of the northern nations; while the Jews are subsisting as a distinct people at this day. And what a wonder of providence is it, that the vanquished should so many ages survive the victors; and the former be spread all over the world, while the latter are no more! Nay, not only nations have been punished for their cruelties to the Jews, but Divine vengeance has pursued even single persons who have been their persecutors and oppressors. The first-born of Pharaoh was destroyed; and he himself with his host, drowned in the sea. Nebuchadnezzar was stricken with madness, and the crown was transferred from his family to strangers. Antiochus Epiphanes and Herod died in great agonies, with ulcers and vermin issuing from them. Flaccus, governor of Egypt, who barbarously plundered and oppressed the Jews of Alexandria, was afterwards banished and slain; and Caligula, who persecuted the Jews for refusing to do Divine honors to his statue, was murdered in the flower of his age, after a short and wicked reign. But where are now, - since they have absolutely rejected the Gospel. and been no longer the peculiar people of God, - where are now such visible manifestations of a Divine interposition in their favor? The Jews would do well to consider this point; for, rightly considered, it may be an effectual means of opening their eyes, and of turning them to Christ our Savior."See Bp. Newton on the prophecies, dissert. 8 sect. 2. And see the notes on Ezekiel, where the calamities of these miserable people are largely detailed.

Calvin: Jer 46:26 - NO PHRASE

Jeremiah pursues the same subject, and continues to speak in God’s name, that he might more powerfully impress minds otherwise tardy; I will give them, he says, into the hand of enemies, and those deadly enemies; for we have said elsewhere that to “seek life” is not to spare it. Expressed here then is the cruelty of the Chaldean army, as though he had said that they would be deadly enemies to the Egyptians. And he explains himself more fully, and says, Into the hand of the king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants, so that not only Nebuchadnezzar was to be victorious over Egypt, but also his servants, which was still more degrading.

A promise is at length added, not to shew favor to that heathen nation, but that God might shew that he would be so far merciful towards the Egyptians as not wholly to destroy them. It shall be inhabited, he says, as in ancient days. Ezekiel says that the kingdom would be small and humble or abject. (Eze 29:14.) But our Prophet seems to promise to Egypt the same prosperity as it had before its overthrow. We have already said that restoration was promised to the Egyptians, not because God was pacified towards them, but because his purpose was that his mercy should be made evident in the judgments he executed even on foreign nations; and further, it served to confirm prophecy, when to Egypt, after having been destroyed, was granted that restoration of which Jeremiah had prophesied. The truth, then, of what the Prophet had said became more evident through the two changes, than if he had only said, “God shall destroy Egypt.” We now, then, perceive why the Prophet spoke of the future condition of Egypt. It follows, —

Calvin: Jer 46:27 - Fear not, O Jacob,

The Prophet now directs his discourse to the Israelites; for we have already said that he was not appointed a teacher to heathen nations. Whatever, then, he spoke of heathen nations had a reference to the benefit of his people; and for this purpose, as we have said, the Prophets extended their prophecies respecting God’s judgments to all nations; for otherwise the Israelites would have been disheartened, as though their condition was worse than that of others: “What can this mean? God has chosen us as his peculiar people; in the meantime we alone are miserable: God pours forth on us his whole rigor, and yet he spares the unbelieving. It would have been better for us to have been rejected wholly by him, for the covenant which he has made with us only renders us more miserable than others.” Thus the miserable Israelites might have rushed headlong into despair, had nothing been done in time to relieve them. And then the Prophets, or rather the Spirit of God who spoke by them, regarded another thing; for if nothing had been predicted they would have passed by, with closed eyes, those judgments which God executed on all their neighbors, for all that Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel had predicted was fulfilled. Had they been silent respecting the ruin of Egypt, of the Philistines and the Moabites, the people, owing to their torpor, would not have considered God’s judgments, but would have thought them to have all happened by chance. The Prophets then represented as in a mirror the power of God, that the Israelites might know that it extended to the whole world and to every nation.

This is the reason why Jeremiah now turns his discourse to the chosen people, and says, Fear not, my servant Jacob He still speaks in God’s name. Now God calls Jacob his servant, not on the ground of obedience, but because he had chosen him. Then by this word God sets forth the favor of adoption, and not the obedience of the people, for we know how refractory and disobedient they were; we know that they were continually shaking off the yoke, that they insulted as it were God himself; very far were they from quietly submitting to his authority as it became servants. Here, then, the obedience of the Israelites is not commended, but that election is set forth by which God had set them apart from other nations. How then was Jacob God’s servant? not because he deserved that honor by his own merits, but because God had been pleased gratuitously to choose him for himself. So also David says,

“I am thy servant, the son of thy handmaid,”
(Psa 116:16)

He means that he was as it were a hereditary servant, who had been already dedicated to God before he was conceived in his mother’s womb. But as this mode of speaking often occurs, I pass it by with only a few words.

Fear not, O Jacob, he says, and be not broken in mind, O Israel There are indeed two names used, but God thus addresses his people often; and why? because I wall save thee We now then see why God called Jacob his servant, even because the salvation of the elect people depended on this peculiar privilege, that God had chosen them for himself; I will save thee, he says, from far The ten tribes, as it is well known, had already been driven far, and a part of Judah had been led into exile. Distance took away the hope of a return. Hence God here declares that a long distance would be no hindrance to him to restore his people when it seemed good to him; Behold, I will save thee He then obviates this objection; “What! why then does God thus suffer us to be driven to foreign lands? why have we not staid in our own land?” God, he says, will not be less able to save thee in the remotest places, than if thou hadst remained in thy native country, and in thine own habitation. And he adds, and thy seed, from the land of their captivity

We hence learn, that though the Prophet spoke of the temporal restoration of the people, he yet had a regard to higher and greater things, even that the captives should recumb on God’s mercy, and believe that he would be propitious to them even when dead. This passage then shews that the hope of God’s children is not confined to this life, but extends farther, in order that they may know that God will be propitious to them after death, and that they may sustain themselves with the assurance of his favor, for otherwise this promise that God would restore their children after their death would have been absurd. “But why is he implacable to us? why does he not restore us sooner?” The Jews might have raised this objection; but the Prophet reminds them, that though they were not to be restored immediately to their country, yet the covenant of God would remain valid, and its stability would appear after seventy years.

We now perceive why the Prophet said, Jacob shall return and rest, and shall be secure I wonder that some have rendered the last words, “and shall be happy,” for שאנן , shanun, means to be secure, or to rest; and then the Prophet explains himself, nor will there be any to terrify We indeed know that it is the main part of happiness when no fear disturbs us, when our minds are in a composed and quiet state. Further, by these words he intimates the continuance of God’s favor, as though he had said that his favor would not only be evident in restoring the people from exile, but in restoring the miserable in such a way as to grant them full and continued happiness. It follows, —

Calvin: Jer 46:28 - NO PHRASE

He repeats the same thing, and no wonder, for under circumstances so hopeless it was not easy to raise up and sustain the minds of the people, so that they might patiently wait for the time of their redemption. He had to raise them to light as it were from the lowest depths, for captivity was little short of death, according to what Ezekiel says, (Eze 37:0) who shews that the common saying among them was,

“Can God raise the dead from their graves?”

Whenever the Prophets promised that God would become their Redeemer, they said, “Oh, will God raise us up again? It is all a fable.” For this reason God commanded dead and dry bones to rise and to assume their own skin and flesh, at least this was shewn to the Prophet in a vision.

We now then understand why the Prophet repeated twice what was in itself sufficiently clear, Fear not, my servant Jacob, even because they could not apprehend God’s mercy, except they looked off from their great difficulties, and further, because it was not enough for them once to embrace this promise, without recumbing on it constantly. Hence the Prophet, in order to encourage them firmly to hope, and at the same time to render them persevering, and to confirm them, says twice, Fear not, my servant Jacob He then adds, I am with thee And this promise, as it has been said, depends on gratuitous adoption, because God had chosen that people for himself, that they might be a priestly kingdom.

He afterwards adds, For I will make a consummation among all the nations, etc. By this comparison he softens and alleviates all sorrow: for however bitter the condition of the people might be, yet when they considered that fled would deal milder with them than with other mortals, it was a cause of ample consolation. The Prophet, then, seeing that the Jews, while their minds were embittered, could not accept God’s favor, shews here, that however severely God might chastise them, he yet would be more merciful to them than to other nations: how so? because, he says, I will make a consummation among other nations, that is, they shall be destroyed without any remedy; as though he had said, that the wound he would inflict on other nations would be deadly, but that he would not make a consummation as to his chosen people.

This seems not to agree with what he had said before, that Egypt should be again inhabited as in days of old. How can the restoration of Egypt be consistent with the words of the Prophet here? To this I answer, that when God mitigates his rigor towards the unbelieving, he is not yet propitious to them, nor is the indulgence shewn to them a proof of his paternal favor, as I have before observed. Though then there were Egyptians who remained alive after the ruin of their kingdom, yet God made a consummation in Egypt, for there his vengeance continued after that, time. Now, when we come to the chosen people, God says in many places, I will not make a consummation There seems to be here again some contrariety, when any one attends only to the words; for God is said to have made a consummation as to his elect people: but this was the case, when he destroyed the whole body of the people; and that consummation was external; there ever remained at the same time some hidden root.

In short, when God says, that he makes a consummation as to heathen nations, it ought to be understood, that God curses them from the root. As when a tree stands, when its root is dead; so also heathen nations, as it were, stand, but in the meantime they are consumed, for God has doomed them to eternal ruin. But consummation is said to be as to God’s children, when nothing appears on the surface, but perhaps a dry trunk; yet a living root remains, which will again grow up, and from it branches will arise. We hence see how God makes a consummation as to all the unbelieving, and yet does not make a consummation as to his chosen people.

Defender: Jer 46:28 - I am with thee

Despite all of Jeremiah's prophecies of calamity and exile on Israel, he repeatedly assured the people that God had not forsaken them.

Defender: Jer 46:28 - full end

This remarkable prophecy has been fulfilled again and again through the long history of Israel's dispersion and persecution, with numerous examples (Assyria, Edom), and it is still being fulfilled today (Nazi Germany, Soviet Union).

Defender: Jer 46:28 - correct thee in measure

This prophecy and similar prophecies throughout the Bible constitute one of the most remarkable of all prophecies. Despite millennia of exile and unparalleled persecution, the people and the nation of Israel have survived, even today ranking as one of the most strategically important nations on earth."

TSK: Jer 46:26 - I will // and afterward

I will : Jer 44:30; Eze 32:11

and afterward : Jer 48:47, Jer 49:39; Eze 29:8-14

TSK: Jer 46:27 - fear // I will save // and be

fear : Jer 30:10,Jer 30:11; Isa 41:13, Isa 41:14, Isa 43:1, Isa 43:5, Isa 44:2

I will save : Jer 23:3, Jer 23:4, Jer 29:14, Jer 31:8-11, Jer 32:37; Isa 11:11-16; Eze 34:10-14, Eze 36:24; Eze 37:21, Eze 37:22, Eze 39:25; Amo 9:14; Mic 7:11-16

and be : Jer 23:6, Jer 33:16, Jer 50:19; Eze 34:25, Eze 34:26

TSK: Jer 46:28 - for I am // make // but I will not // correct // will I // not leave thee wholly unpunished

for I am : Jer 1:19, Jer 15:20, Jer 30:11; Jos 1:5, Jos 1:9; Psa 46:7, Psa 46:11; Isa 8:9, Isa 8:10, Isa 41:10, Isa 43:2; Mat 1:23, Mat 28:20; Act 18:10; 2Ti 4:17

make : Jer 25:9; Isa 45:23; Dan 2:35

but I will not : Jer 4:27, Jer 5:10,Jer 5:18, Jer 30:11, Jer 32:42-44, Jer 33:24-26; Amo 9:8, Amo 9:9; Rom 11:15-17

correct : Jer 10:24; Hab 3:2; 1Co 11:32

will I : Isa 27:7, Isa 27:9; Heb 12:5-10; Rev 3:19

not leave thee wholly unpunished : or, not utterly cut thee off

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Jer 46:26

The former part of this verse is but the same which the prophet hath often before said. The latter part is a promise for the restoration of Egypt to some degrees of its former prosperity and liberty. The determinate time for the fulfilling of this prophecy is told us, Eze 29:13,14 , viz. at the end of forty years. This we are told by civil historians fell out in the time of Amasis, a king of Egypt coevous with Cyrus, who was overcome by Cyrus’ s son Cambyses, who brought Egypt to be a province belonging to the Medes and Persians; by the fulfilling of which prophecy the truth both of Jeremiah’ s and Ezekiel’ s prophecies are justified.

Poole: Jer 46:28 - See Poole "Jer 30:10"

See Poole "Jer 30:10" , See Poole "Jer 30:11" , where is the substance of what is said in these two verses, and almost the very words are repeated. The great thing to be observed by us is the difference which the just and righteous God maketh betwixt his punishments of his church and own people, and his punishments of wicked men, who are their enemies: as there is a great difference in the root of such dispensations, God dealing them out to his people out of love, that they might not be condemned with the wicked; so there is a great deal of difference in the measure and duration of their punishments, the rod of the wicked shall not always lie upon the backs of the righteous, and they are corrected in measure.

Haydock: Jer 46:26 - Afterwards

Afterwards, forty years being expired (Ezechiel xxix. 14.) from the time when Apries made his unsuccessful attack on Cyrene, and his subjects revolted.

Haydock: Jer 46:27 - Off

Off from all countries, (Calmet) particularly from Egypt; (Haydock) on occasion of which country's deliverance, that of Jacob is foretold. (Calmet) ---

If God would bring the Egyptians back, much more would he deliver the Jews. (Worthington)

Haydock: Jer 46:28 - Nations

Nations of Assyria, Chaldea, &c., chap. xxx. 11. (Calmet)

Gill: Jer 46:26 - And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives // and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants // and afterwards it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the Lord

And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives,.... Into the hands of the Chaldeans; that is, the king of Egypt, and all his people, and those that trusted in him:

and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants; his general officers, that commanded in his army under him. Berosus ^s, the Chaldean, makes mention of Nebuchadnezzar's carrying the Egyptians captive into Babylon;

and afterwards it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the Lord; after forty years, as Ezekiel prophesied, Jer 29:13; not that it should rise to the same glory and dignity as before, for it would be but a base kingdom; but whereas it was desolate and uninhabited after this destruction, it should now be inhabited again.

Gill: Jer 46:27 - But fear thou not, O my servant Jacob; and be not dismayed, O Israel // for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land their captivity // and Jacob shall return, and be in rest, and at ease, and none shall make him afraid

But fear thou not, O my servant Jacob; and be not dismayed, O Israel,.... The same things are said in Jer 30:10; See Gill on Jer 30:10;

for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land their captivity; Grotius thinks the Jews carried into Egypt by Pharaohnecho, along with Jehoahaz, are meant; but it does not appear that any were carried captive along with him, 2Ki 23:33. Jarchi supposes these to be the righteous in Egypt, who were carried thither by Johanan against their will; but though they may be included, even that small remnant that should escape, Jer 44:28; yet the Jews in Babylon, and other provinces, are chiefly designed; and the words are intended to comfort them in their captivity, with a promise of their return, lest they should be discouraged, in hearing that the Egyptians should inhabit their own land again, and they not theirs:

and Jacob shall return, and be in rest, and at ease, and none shall make him afraid: this will have its full accomplishment hereafter in the latter day; when the Jews will be converted, and return to their own land, and never be disturbed more, as they have been, ever since their return from the Babylonish captivity. So Kimchi says this passage respects time to come.

Gill: Jer 46:28 - Fear thou not, O Jacob, my servant, saith the Lord, for I am with thee // for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee // but I will not make a full end of thee // but correct thee in measure // yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished

Fear thou not, O Jacob, my servant, saith the Lord, for I am with thee,.... Though afar off, in foreign lands, and in captivity: this exhortation is repeated, to strengthen their consolation, and them, against their fears of being cast off by the Lord:

for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee; the Babylonians and Chaldeans are no more:

but I will not make a full end of thee; the Jews to this day remain a people, and distinct from others, though scattered about in the world:

but correct thee in measure; with judgment, and in mercy:

yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished; See Gill on Jer 30:11.