Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 4:4
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench [it], because of the evil of your doings.
4. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord ] Literal circumcision was the condition of admission to the external covenant. “Jeremiah demands an inward circumcision, a cleansing and dedication of the heart. Such a doctrine naturally points the way to his supreme contribution to religious thought, his epoch-making conception of the New Covenant (Jer 31:31-34).” Pe.
These two vv. prove a worthy climax to the whole section. Co. however is hardly justified in omitting Jer 4:1-2 on the ground of comparative weakness.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
See the Deu 10:16 note. Nature, such as it is in itself, unconsecrated to God, is to be removed from our inner selves, that a new and spiritual nature may take its place.
Lest my fury … – God is long-suffering, but unless this change take place, the time of judgment must at length come to all as it came to Jerusalem – like fire (compare 1Co 3:13; Phi 2:12-13).
Jer. 4:56:30 Gods Judgment upon the Unrepentant
A group of prophecies now commences, extending to Jer 10:25, but broken at the beginning of Jer. 7 by a new heading. The subject of them all is the same, namely, the approaching devastation of Judaea by a hostile army in punishment of its persistence in idolatry. The prophecy of Jer. 7 was probably written in the first year of Jehoiakim, while as regards the rest they probably extended over a considerable period of time. This group, which we may reasonably believe to have come down to us much as it stood in Jehoiakims scroll, gives us a general view of the nature of Jeremiahs efforts during that important period, when under Josiah a national reformation was still possible, and the exile might have been averted. The prophecy Jer. 7, spoken in the first year of Jehoiakim, when the probation of Judah was virtually over, was the solemn closing of the appeal to the conscience of the people, and a protest, while the new king was still young upon his throne, against that ruinous course upon which he so immediately entered.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 4. Circumcise yourselves] Put away every thing that has a tendency to grieve the Spirit of God, or to render your present holy resolutions unfruitful.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Circumcise yourselves; put away your natural corruptions; which was signified by the sacrament of circumcision, Col 2:11; see 1Pe 3:21; the same thing with the other, but expressed in other words.
To the Lord; or, to me, viz. so as I will approve. Take away the fore-skins of your heart; let it be inward, not outward, viz. in the flesh only, (in which you so much glory in the sight of men,) but take away that brawniness and obstinacy that (having to do with God, who hath respect unto the heart) is upon your hearts, Deu 10:16; Eze 44:9; Act 7:51; Rom 2:29.
Lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it; not only fierce and consuming, like fire, Deu 4:24; but unquenchable, especially when it gets among your thorns, Jer 4:3, which are very apt to kindle, Isa 10:17; lest you proceed so far in your obstinacy that I will not be appeased, Jer 21:12; Amo 5:6; there being nothing that stirs up God to anger but sin, as in the next clause, which is an explication of those metaphors of thorns and foreskins.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. Remove your naturalcorruption of heart (Deu 10:16;Deu 30:6; Rom 2:29;Col 2:11).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,…. Or, “be ye circumcised”, as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it. This is to be understood of the circumcision of the heart, as Kimchi observes; and as appears from the following words:
and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; this is the true spiritual circumcision; and they that are possessed of it are the circumcision, the only truly circumcised persons; and they are such who have been pricked to the heart, and thoroughly convinced of sin; who have had the hardness of their hearts removed, and the impurity of it laid open to them; which they have beheld with shame and loathing, and have felt an inward pain on account of it; and who have been enabled to deny themselves, to renounce their own righteousness, and put off the body of the sins of the flesh: and though men are exhorted to do this themselves, yet elsewhere the Lord promises to do it for them, De 30:6, and indeed it is purely his own work; or otherwise it could not he called, as it is, “circumcision without hands”, and “whose praise is not of man, but of God”, Col 2:11, and the reason of this exhortation, as before, is to convince those Jews, who were circumcised in the flesh, and rested and gloried in that, that their hearts were not circumcised, and that there was a necessity of it, and they in danger for want of it; as follows:
lest my fury come forth like fire; to which the wrath of God is sometimes compared, Na 1:6 and is sometimes signified by a furnace and lake of fire, even his eternal wrath and vengeance:
and burn that none can quench it; such is the fire of divine wrath; it is unquenchable; it is everlasting, Mr 9:43:
because of the evil of your doings; which are so provoking to the eyes of his glory; the sins of men are the fuel to the fire of his wrath, and cause it to burn to the lowest hell, without the least degree of mercy. The Targum is,
“turn to the worship of the Lord, and take away the wickedness of your hearts, lest my fury burn as fire, and consume without mercy, because of the evil of your doings.”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Prophet expresses here more clearly what he had before said metaphorically or by a figure; for he had bidden them to eradicate their vices, according to what is usually done by breaking up the fallow ground; but now dropping that figure, he clearly shews what was to be done, and yet the clause contains what is figurative. He calls their attention to circumcision, which was a symbol of renovation, as though he had said, — That they sufficiently understood what they were to do, except they were wholly unteachable; “For why, “he says, “has circumcision been enjoined? Does not God by this symbol shew, that if a man rightly aspires after true religion, he ought to begin by putting off all the evil propensities of his flesh? Is he not to deny himself, and to die as it were both to himself and to the world? for circumcision includes all this.” Then the Prophet shews that the Israelites had no excuse, that they went not astray through mistake or through ignorance; but they were acting perversely and deceitfully with God; for circumcision, by which they had been initiated into God’s service, sufficiently taught them, that God is not rightly nor faithfully served, except when men deny themselves.
We now then see what the Prophet meant by these words, when he bids them to be circumcised to God, and to take away the foreskin of their heart: Be ye circumcised, he says, to Jehovah Circumcision was their great boast; but only before men; for nothing but ambition and vanity ruled in them, while they openly exulted and boasted that they were God’s holy and peculiar people. Hence the Prophet bids them not to value what was of no importance, but to become circumcised to Jehovah; that is, he bids them not to seek applause before the world, but seriously to consider that they had to do with God. And hence he adds, Take away the foreskin of your heart, as though he had said, “When God commanded the seed of Abraham to be circumcised, (Gen 17:10,) it was not his object to have a small portion of skin cut off, but he had regard to something higher, even that ye should be circumcised in heart.”
The Prophet, in short, teaches us here what Paul has more clearly explained, (Rom 2:29,) even this, — that the letter is of no value before God, but that the spirit is what he requires: for Paul in these words means, that the external sign is worthless, except accompanied by the reality within; for the literal circumcision mentioned by Paul is merely the external rite; in the same manner baptism with us may be called the letter, when there is no repentance and faith. But the spirit, or spiritual circumcision, is the denial of self; it is renovation, and in a word, that true conversion to God, of which the Prophet speaks here. Nor has Moses been silent on this point; for in the tenth chapter of Deuteronomy he shews that the Jews greatly deceived themselves, if they thought that they did all that God required, when they were circumcised in the flesh; “Circumcise, “he says, “your hearts to the Lord.” He indeed reminds us in another place, that this is altogether the work of God; but though God circumcises the heart, yet this exhortation, that men are to circumcise themselves, is not superfluous: and the same is the case with baptism; for when Paul exhorts the faithful to fear God and to lead a holy life, he refers to baptism. It is yet certain that men do not bestow on themselves what God signifies by the sign of baptism; but he counsels them to seek from God the grace of his Spirit, that they might not in vain be sealed by the external rite of baptism, while destitute of its reality. When therefore the Prophet bids the Israelites to take away the foreskin of their heart, it is the same as though he had said, that they were indeed liberal enough with regard to ceremonies and outward worship, but that these were empty masks unless preceded by a right disposition within.
And he addresses the Jews, and also the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for they thought that they far excelled the Israelites, on whom God had inflicted so grievous a punishment. He then shews that the tribe of Judah, nay, that the very inhabitants and citizens of Jerusalem were not better than others, and that they could not be exempted, as it were, by privilege, except they returned to a right mind, except they seasonably and from the heart repented.
He then adds, Lest my fury go forth like fire The Prophet here expressly declares, that the Jews were not to wait until God came forth as an avenger; for then, he says, if, would be too late to repent: in short, he bids them to anticipate in due time the judgment of God; for if once his fury went forth, it would burn like fire so as to consume them, and there would be no extinguishing of it. But if they repented, he holds forth to them the hope of pardon; for the fury of God had not yet gone forth.
He afterwards subjoins, On account of the wickedness of your deeds (101) By these words the Prophet again reproves them sharply, and shews that they gained nothing by their evasions; for when God ascends his tribunal and begins to execute his vengeance, then all vain excuses will come to an end, such as, that they deserved no such thing, or, that the atrocity of their sins was not great: “God, “he says, “will, with his own hand, teach you how grievous has been the atrocity of your vices; he will not, then, deal with you in words.” It then follows —
(101) Rather, “On account of the evil of your doings.” Their doings were evil or wrong, both as to God and man. Impiety seems to be the special evil intended, as their defection from God had been more particularly referred to. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) Circumcise yourselves to the Lord.The words show that the prophet had grasped the meaning of the symbol which to so many Jews was merely an outward sign. He saw that the foreskin of the heart was the fleshly, unrenewed nature, the flesh as contrasted with the spirit, the old man which St. Paul contrasts with the new (Rom. 6:6; Rom. 8:7). The verbal coincidence, with Deu. 10:16; Deu. 30:6 shows the influence of that book, of which we find so many traces in Jeremiahs teaching.
Lest my fury come forth like fire . . .The words, which describe the righteousness of Jehovah as a consuming fire, have their parallel in Jer. 7:20, Amo. 5:6, and form the transition to the picture of terror which opens in the next verse.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 4:4. Circumcise yourselves Circumcision, as well as baptism, had a moral import, and denoted the obligation of putting away all sinful lusts of the flesh, every irregular and inordinate affection and appetite. Compare Deu 10:16; Deu 30:6. Rom 2:29. Col 2:11.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jer 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench [it], because of the evil of your doings.
Ver. 4. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord. ] There is a twofold circumcision, corporis et cordis, outward and inward: that without this availeth nothing. Gal 6:15 See the inward described Col 2:11 . It is the putting off the old Adam with his actions. It is purgatio animae et aliectio vitiorum, saith Origen; the cleansing of the soul, and the casting away of sin, that filthy foreskin, that “superfluity of naughtiness.” Jam 1:21 It is a wonderful work of the Holy Spirit wrought by the Word upon the saints at their first conversion, whereby corruption of nature is wounded, beloved sins cast away with sorrow, and the sinner received into an everlasting communion with God and his saints. Those that are not thus circumcised are not Israelites, but Ishmaelites; whereas Jether, though by nature an Ishmaelite, 1Ch 2:17 yet, being thus inwardly circumcised, he was, for his faith and religion, called and counted an Israelite. 2Sa 17:25 See Phi 3:3-5 .
And take away the foreskin of your heart.
And burn that none can quench it.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Circumcise. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 10:16; Deu 30:6). Spiritual circumcision in the O.T. is confined to these three passages.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
take: Jer 9:26, Deu 10:16, Deu 30:6, Eze 18:31, Rom 2:28, Rom 2:29, Col 2:11
lest: Jer 21:5, Jer 21:12, Jer 23:19, Jer 36:7, Lev 26:28, Deu 32:22, Isa 30:27, Isa 30:28, Isa 51:17, Lam 4:11, Eze 5:13-15, Eze 6:12, Eze 8:18, Eze 16:38, Eze 20:33, Eze 20:47, Eze 20:48, Eze 21:17, Eze 24:8, Eze 24:13, Amo 5:6, Zep 2:2, Mar 9:43-50
Reciprocal: Gen 17:10 – Every Lev 26:41 – their uncircumcised 1Sa 7:3 – prepare 2Ch 34:25 – shall not Job 36:10 – commandeth Psa 89:46 – thy wrath Isa 10:17 – for a flame Jer 4:1 – wilt return Jer 6:10 – their ear Jer 6:19 – even Jer 15:14 – a fire Jer 44:6 – my fury Lam 2:3 – he burned Lam 2:4 – he poured Eze 5:4 – shall a fire Eze 44:7 – uncircumcised in heart Hos 10:12 – break Amo 7:4 – called Nah 1:2 – is furious Zec 1:6 – according to our ways Mat 13:7 – General Act 7:51 – uncircumcised Rom 2:25 – circumcision Phi 3:3 – we Heb 10:27 – fiery
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 4:4. When circumcise is used figuratively it means to cut off the deeds of unrighteousness and be consecrated to God. Lest my fury come does not mean the national captivity might be prevented, but Gods wrath against Individual sinners is based upon the phrase from the standpoint of their personal conduct. If we consider the captivity then test my fury come means for the individuals to reform before that fury comes. All who did so fared better even though they had to share in the national disgrace of the captivity. Here is another place where the reader should see the note and comments at 2Ki 2:17 in Vol. 2 of this Commentary.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Changing the figure, they should make a radical and permanent change in their commitments, a change that sprang from their innermost being (cf. Jer 9:25-26; Deu 10:16; Deu 30:6; Rom 2:28-29). Removing the foreskins of the heart means removing the evil lusts and longings of the heart. [Note: Keil, 1:104.] Unless they did this, they could count on God’s judgment-that would burn and consume them like unquenchable fire-because their deeds were so evil. Breaking the covenant carried very serious consequences.
By repenting as the Lord and His prophet urged, Judah could have experienced a postponement of divine judgment. But Isaiah, over a century earlier, had announced that the Southern Kingdom would fall to Babylon sometime in the future. The Lord had revealed to him that Judah would not repent.
This sermon clarifies that the essence of repentance is turning.
". . . the key to life is to be found in the direction in which one faces; if that direction is wrong, one must turn to seek the true direction and walk in that path of life." [Note: Craigie, p. 68.]
Gary Yates saw Jer 2:1 to Jer 4:4 as a single message.
"The opening message in Jer 2:1 to Jer 4:4 portrays Israel as an unfaithful wife, and the remainder of the book explores how Yahweh will ultimately restore that broken relationship." [Note: Gary E. Yates, "Jeremiah’s Message of Judgment and Hope for God’s Unfaithful ’Wife,’" Bibliotheca Sacra 167:666 (April-June 2010):165.]