Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 6:30
Reprobate silver shall [men] call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.
30. Refuse rejected ] There is a play on the words in the Hebrew. Refuse refused.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Reprobate – See the margin; not really silver, but the dross.
The Lord hath rejected them – This then is the end. The smelter is Gods prophet: the bellows the breath of inspiration: the flux his earnestness in preaching. But in vain does the fervour of prophecy essay to melt the hearts of the people. They are so utterly corrupt, that no particle even of pure metal can be found in them. All the refiners art is in vain. They have rejected all Gods gifts and motives for their repentance, and therefore Yahweh has rejected them as an alloy too utterly adulterate to repay the refiners toil.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Reprobate silver; or, Refuse silver; such as will be rejected in payments; they are not to be purged or reformed.
Shall men call them; or, be called, i.e. they shall be esteemed such as will not pass for current before God or good men, Lam 3:45.
Because the Lord hath rejected them; the prophet gives the reason of their being accounted such refuse stuff, viz. because God, who knew their hypocrisy in boasting of themselves, had rejected them, Lam 5:22; therefore every one else would.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
30. Reprobatesilver so fullof alloy as to be utterly worthless (Isa1:22). The Jews were fit only for rejection.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Reprobate silver shall men call them,…. Or, “call ye them” i, as the Targum; so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions; by whom are meant the Jews, who thought themselves of some account, as silver; being the seed of Abraham, and having the law, the covenant and promises, and service of God; when those that tried them, as the prophets, found them to be nothing but dross; and therefore, if they must be called silver, they could call them no other than reprobate silver; or what is of no account and value; and which is confirmed by the following reason, which contains the judgment and conduct of him that cannot err:
for the Lord hath rejected them; from being his people; and therefore cast them out of their own land, and caused them to go into captivity.
i , “vocate eos”: V. L. Pagninus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The final statement of the case: They call them (the whole people) rejected silver, i.e., they are recognised as such; for Jahveh has rejected them, has given over trying to make anything of them.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Jeremiah concludes his subject by saying, — that if the Jews had been cast a hundred times into the furnace, they would not be improved, as they would never become softened on account of their hopeless obstinacy. He uses the word silver, by way of concession; for they were not worthy of that name, and we have already seen that there was nothing soft or tender in them.
But the prophets often conceded some things to hypocrites; yet not without some appearance of a taunt, as the case seems to be here. The Jews wished to be regarded as silver, and to appear as such: “Let them then be silver, “that is, “Let them claim the name, by boasting themselves as the holy seed of Abraham; but they are a reprobate silver;” according to what we say, Faux or faux argent; which yet is neither silver nor gold; but the words are used not in their strict meaning, and we afterwards shew that what we have so called is not silver. Even so does the Prophet say, “They are silver in their own esteem, and take pride in the title: but they are a reprobate silver. ” How so? For Jehovah has rejected them He shews that it belongs to God to pronounce sentence on men, and that they gain nothing by their vain flatteries, and by securing some esteem in the world: for God alone is the true judge. The Prophet then shews that the Jews were a reprobate silver, in order that they might know that they in vain gloried, while they boasted themselves to be God’s people and heritage. Now follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(30) Reprobate silver.Better, as in the margin, refuse silver; the dross and not the metal; so worthless that even Jehovah, as the great refiner, rejects it utterly, as yielding nothing. The adjective and the verb have in the Hebrew the emphasis of being formed from the same root, Refuse silver . . . because Jehovals had refused them.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
REFLECTIONS
Lord Jesus! look upon thy Church, thy vineyard, thy Benjamin, beloved: and place her in times of danger, in the Beth-haccerem of safety in thyself. Remember thou dear Lord, what thou hast said, and what thou hast promised, and say still: I the Lord do keep her. I will water her every moment, lest any hurt her. I will keep her night and day.
And surely thou blessed Lord! if thou hast likened thy Church to a comely and delicate woman: it must be so from being comely in thine eyes, from the comeliness thou hast put upon her. Precious Lord Jesus! though I am in myself black, yea, full of spots; but if comely in thine eyes, it is thy robe of righteousness hath made me so. Oh! for grace to eye thee, and love thee, and to be living upon thee, and to thee as the Lord my righteousness!
Do thou, Almighty Refiner and Purifier of thy Church and people: sit by me as my Refiner, that men may no longer call me reprobate silver, when thou hast refined me as silver is refined, and tried me as gold is tried. Oh! Lord God! by the fire of thy blessed Spirit, consuming all the dross of my corrupt affections, and with thy special influences refining and purging away all the seam of a nature foul and spotted, do thou so cleanse me for thyself and thy glory, that I may offer to my Lord an offering in righteousness, and be so purified like the sons of Levi, to be among thy priests, in thy salvation forever!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 6:30 Reprobate silver shall [men] call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.
Ver. 30. Reprobate a silver shall men call them.] Dross and refuse, rather than pure metal; “silver” they would seem to be, but their hypocrisy shall be made known to all men, who shall count them and call them “reprobate,” because impurgabiles and inexpiabiles, uncounsellable and incorrigible; b a sure sign of reprobation, as Aquinas noteth from Heb 6:7-8 .
For the Lord hath rejected them.
a A , unapproved.
b Jerome, Lyra.
c Deus est sapiens nummularius, God is a wise banker.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Reprobate . . . rejected. Note the Figure of speech Paronomasia (App-6). Hebrew. nim’as . . . ma’as: i.e. rejected (silver) . . . rejected (them). Compare Isa 1:22. Eze 22:18.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Reprobate silver: or, Refuse silver, Psa 119:119, Pro 25:4, Isa 1:22, Isa 1:25, Eze 22:18, Eze 22:19, Mat 5:13
the Lord: Jer 14:19, Lam 5:22, Hos 9:17, Rom 11:1
Reciprocal: 1Sa 16:1 – seeing 2Ki 17:20 – rejected Psa 53:5 – because Isa 5:4 – General Jer 2:30 – In vain Jer 6:28 – they are brass Jer 7:28 – nor Jer 7:29 – for Jer 9:7 – I will Jer 13:23 – Ethiopian Dan 5:27 – Thou Amo 6:12 – horses Rom 1:28 – a reprobate mind 1Co 9:27 – a castaway 2Co 13:5 – reprobates Tit 1:16 – unto Heb 12:17 – he was Rev 16:9 – blasphemed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 6:30. This verse continues the Illustration of the refiner except that a change is made in the kind of ore to he refined. The result, however, is the same as it was with the lead ore. After the heat has done its work the metal will prove to be reprohate which means worthless. If a refiner should have such an experience with a quantity of silver ore he would just abandon the whole mass. A spectator would conclude that (he smelter was dissatisfied with the whole mass since he had gone away and left it. That explains the verse of this paragraph as it shows the men saying the silver is worthless and rejected by the Lord.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Because the people were impure, the Lord would reject them, as a silversmith rejects dross or slag. The implication is that He would toss them aside out of His land.
". . . the imagery is employed not to indicate that judgment would be a refining process but rather to convey its terminal nature; since no purity could be found, no solid silver, the mixture would be cast away as dross." [Note: Craigie, p. 110.]
Because of the possibility of repentance that Jeremiah referred to in chapters 2-6, most scholars believe that these messages date from the reign of Josiah and possibly the early years of Jehoiakim. This would place their origin between 627 and 609 B.C., or a little later. The possibility of repentance disappears later in the book, probably indicating that Jeremiah delivered those prophecies later in his ministry.
Other recurring themes in chapters 2-6, which Jeremiah introduced in chapter 1, include the nations, uprooting and tearing down, destroying and razing, building and planting, and Yahweh watching over His Word. The coming invader from the north, wickedness, forsaking Yahweh, idolatry, and Judah’s leaders and ordinary citizens are also prominent themes. [Note: See Thompson, pp. 268-69, for further discussion.]