Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 25:5
They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers forever and ever:
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).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The substance both of their and my sermons hath been to persuade you to leave off those sinful courses wherein you have lived, and which you might have amended by virtue of that common grace which I did not deny you. We have not differed in our doctrine, to the practice of which you have also been encouraged both by them and me, with an assurance from God that if you did it, you should enjoy this good land, which the Lord promised and gave to you and your fathers, and you have now possessed from age to age.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. Turn . . . dwellIn Hebrewthere is expressed by sameness of sounds the correspondence betweentheir turning to God and God’s turning to them to permit themto dwell in their land: Shubu . . . shebu, “Return“. . . so shall ye “remain.”
every one from . . .evilEach must separately repent and turn from hisown sin. None is excepted, lest they should think their guiltextenuated because the evil is general.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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:
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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
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 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, —
(128) This is not quite correct: the verbs are not the same, though in some moods and tenses they are formed the same; the one is שב, and the other is ישב — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(5) Turn ye again now . . .The sum and substance of the work of all true prophets has always been found, it need scarcely be said, in the call to repentance and conversion; but there is, perhaps, a special reference to the substance of their preaching as recorded in 2Ki. 17:13. The words are interesting as showing that Jeremiah was probably seconded in his work by other prophets whose names have not come down to us.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
DISCOURSE: 1063
RELIGION IS NOT A SOURCE OF EVIL TO THOSE WHO EMBRACE IT
Jer 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 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: 1Jn 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: Pro 33:26.]; and that every service, in which the heart is not engaged, is declared to be vain and worthless in his sight [Note: Mat 15:8-9. Compare 2Ti 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
[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 Mar 3:21. Act 26:24. 2Co 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: 2Ti 1:7.]. The prodigals return to his fathers 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: Psa 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: Mat 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: Mar 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: Isa 53:3.], and the Apostles were deemed the off-scouring of all things [Note: 1Co 4:13.], it is in vain for us to expect honour from man [Note: Mat 10:24-25. with Joh 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: 1Pe 4:13.], and is a testimony to us of our fidelity [Note: Luk 21:13.]. But suppose that ignominy had nothing to 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: Dan 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 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: Eze 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: Mat 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: Heb 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.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 25:5 They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
Ver. 5. They said, Turn ye again. ] This was the sum of all the prophet’s sermons, as of the apostles’, “Repent ye and believe the gospel.,” Mar 1:15
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
evil = calamity. Hebrew. ra’a. App-44.
in the land = on the soil. Hebrew. ‘adamah.
for ever and ever = from age to age. This must be read with “given”, and refers to God’s counsel. See note on Isa 44:7 (“ancient”).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Turn: Jer 18:11, Jer 35:15, 2Ki 17:13, 2Ki 17:14, Isa 55:6, Isa 55:7, Eze 18:30, Eze 33:11, Jon 3:8-10, Zec 1:4, Zec 1:5, Luk 13:3-5, Act 26:20, Jam 4:8-10
for: Jer 7:7, Jer 17:25, Gen 17:8, Psa 37:27, Psa 105:10, Psa 105:11
Reciprocal: Lev 25:18 – and ye 2Ch 24:19 – Yet he sent Jer 4:1 – then shalt Jer 23:22 – then Jer 36:7 – and will Hos 7:10 – and they Zep 3:7 – so Zec 1:3 – Turn Mar 12:2 – a servant
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 25:5. They said means these lesser prophets who did not write their exhortations. They admonished the people to return to the faithful service for the Lord in order to retain His protection from the enemy.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
25:5 They {d} said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given to you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
(d) He shows that the prophets, wholly with one consent laboured to pull the people from those vices, which then reigned, that is, from idolatry and the vain confidence of men: for under these two all others were contained, 2Ki 17:13, Jer 18:11; Jer 35:15, Jon 3:8 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The message of all these prophets had been to turn from evil lifestyles and activities. If the people did, the Lord would allow them to remain in their land indefinitely. They were to reject the pagan deities and handmade gods that they served and worshipped, because these angered Yahweh (cf. Mat 4:10). If they did, He would do them no harm. It is possible that "the work of your hands" is a general reference to their actions. The expression is ambiguous.