Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 5:18
Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.
18. Du. for metre and style excludes the whole remainder of the ch. from Jeremiah’s authorship. Without such drastic treatment of the text, we may yet hesitate to accept this v. as it seems an unwarranted interruption of the sequence of thought. See on Jer 4:27.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 18. I will not make a full end] There are more evils in store for you. You shall not only be spoiled, and all your property destroyed, but ye shall be carried into captivity; and ye shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours, Jer 5:19.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
See this verse explained Jer 4:27, save only that I think here it is taken in the first sense there mentioned; for it is not said only, as in that verse,
I will not make a full end, or a full end of you, but a full end with you: q.d. I have not done with you yet. See Lev 26:14-40.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. Not even in thosedays of judgments, will God utterly exterminate His people.
I will not make a full endwith you (Jer 5:10;Jer 4:27).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Nevertheless, in those days,…. When these things should be done by the king of Babylon and his army:
saith the Lord, I will not make a full end with you: this was to be done at another time, not now; [See comments on Jer 4:27],
[See comments on Jer 5:10], though some think that this is a threatening of more and greater calamities; that this would not be all he would do to them; he had not yet done; he had other evils and calamities, to bring upon them, particularly a long captivity.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Different views may be taken as to the meaning of this verse; but the greater part of interpreters think that a hope is here given to the faithful; yea, nearly all are of this opinion; indeed I know not any one who takes another view. They then think that God moderates here what he had previously said, and that he gives some ground of hope to his servants, lest they should imagine that the Church would be so reduced as to have no seed remaining: and כלה, cale, as it was said yesterday, is often taken in this sense. But when I now carefully consider the context, I feel constrained to take another view, even this — that God here enhances the severity of his vengeance. And the particle גם, gam, “also, “or even, favors this view; as though he had said, “Think not that it will be all over when your enemies shall thus plunder you of all your possessions, deprive you of your children, and reduce you to extreme want; for ye shall not by any means be thus freed from all evils, as I shall pursue my vengeance still further.” There will hereafter follow promises to moderate threatenings, that the hearts of the faithful may not despond: but in this place the Prophet, I have no doubt, introduces God as a Judge, executing vengeance, as though there was no place for mercy.
Then also, he says; for the particle גם, gam, is inhansive and emphatic; Then also, in those days; that is, “When your enemies shall strip your land of its produce, and of all its animals, and of its inhabitants, I shall not even then cease to pursue you: I will not make an end with you, for there will still remain scourges, when ye shall think that rest is given to you, and that the end of evils and of all calamities had come.” In this manner is God wont to deal with the impenitent; for such is their perverseness, that being smitten they become more and more hardened, and champ the bit, according to the old proverb. And hence is their hardness, because they think that God is, as it were, disarmed when he has punished them for their sins. He therefore declares that he has in his power different kinds of punishment and different ways of punishing. (147) And to the same purpose is what follows —
(147) See note on Jer 4:27. Even if the design pleaded for by Calvin be admitted, there is no necessity to give the expression a meaning different from what it has in other places, —
Yet even in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make with you a completion,
that is,
I will not wholly destroy you.
It depends on the context what the bearing of this may be, while the sentence itself retains the same meaning. “I will not wholly destroy you, for I intend to preserve a Church for myself,” he might also say, “I will not wholly destroy you, for I have other punishments in reserve for you:“ and the latter, as Calvin maintains, seems to be the purport of the expression in this passage. Still the words themselves have the same meaning. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(18) I will not make a full end.As before, in Jer. 4:27, and in this chapter, Jer. 5:10, what seems the extremest sentence is tempered by the assurance that it is not absolutely final. It is intended to be reformatory, and not merely penal.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. Not make a full end How often does this merciful refrain come in!
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 5:18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.
Ver. 18. I will not make a full end with thee. ] In the midst of judgment, God remembereth mercy. See Jer 4:27 ; Jer 5:10 . Howbeit, from this text some gather, that now in this last captivity of theirs, God hath made a full end with the Jews, and that “wrath is come upon them to the utmost,” or to the end , as the Greek hath it. 1Th 2:16
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 5:18-19
18Yet even in those days, declares the LORD, I will not make you a complete destruction. 19It shall come about when they say, ‘Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’
Jer 5:18-19 This is a statement of hope, forgiveness, and restoration to
1. the faithful remnant, see Special Topic: The Remnant, Three Senses
2. all of the seed of Abraham who will repent of their idolatry
The phrase I will not make a complete destruction (cf. Jer 4:27; Jer 5:10) implies #1.
YHWH is addressing His prophet (Jer 5:19) about how to respond to the obvious question, Why has God allowed this destruction and exile? (cf. Jer 16:10-13; Deu 29:24-28; 1Ki 9:8-9). It is theologically crucial in an ANE setting that the reason for the exile is not YHWH’s weakness, but His people’s idolatry!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
I will not make: Jer 5:10, Jer 4:27, Eze 9:8, Eze 11:13, Rom 11:1-5
Reciprocal: Neh 9:31 – for thy great Jer 30:11 – though Jer 46:28 – but I will not Eze 20:17 – neither Hab 1:12 – we
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 5:18. Not make a full end is a prediction referring to the remnant that was to be spared from the captivity or from its destructive effect. Ezr 2:64 states the number as 42,000 whereas the previous population was about three million.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
5:18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with {q} you.
(q) Here the Lord declares his unspeakable favour toward his Church, as in Jer 4:27 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
In spite of such a thorough destruction, the Lord promised not to wipe out His people completely (cf. Jer 5:10). He would be faithful to His covenant promises, even though His people were unfaithful to their covenant responsibilities (cf. 2Ti 2:13).