I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending [them], saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.
All … the prophets – The Rechabites had had but one lawgiver: the Jews had had a succession of messengers from God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
God, in this revelation of his mind to the prophet, expoundeth to him why he had set him to bring the Rechabites into the temple, and commanded him to set wine before them, and invite them to drink of it, viz. that by their refusal of doing according to the invitation, in obedience to their father Jonadab, he might convince the Jews of their disobedience to his commands, though Gods commands were more advantaged than the commands of Jonadab, in that,
1. Jonadab was but an earthly parent, and so had no absolute universal sovereignty over his children; but God was the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel.
2. Jonadabs command was not for the performance of a moral duty, but the doing of a thing which they might do, or leave undone; God required of them what was but their moral duty, and for which was the highest reason.
3. Jonadabs command had no promise annexed; Gods precept had a promise annexed, yet they had not yielded him that obedience which the sons of Jonadab had yielded him: he was their Father, but where was his honour?
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. In Jer35:15 and in 2Ch 36:15, adistinct mode of address is alluded to, namely, God sending Hisservants. (Jer 18:11; Jer 25:5;Jer 25:6). I enjoined nothingunreasonable, but simply to serve Me, and I attached to the command agracious promise, but in vain. If Jonadab’s commands, which werearbitrary and not moral obligations in themselves, were obeyed, muchmore ought Mine, which are in themselves right.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets,…. One after another, ever since the times of Moses, to explain and enforce the laws given; a circumstance not to be observed in the case of the Rechabites; who yet, without such intimations, kept the charge their father gave them:
rising up early, and sending [them]; see Jer 7:13;
saying, return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them; all which were of a moral nature, and what were in themselves just and fit to be done; that they should repent of their sins, refrain from them, and reform their lives, and abstain from idolatry, and worship the one only living and true God, which was but their reasonable service; whereas abstinence from wine, enjoined the Rechabites, was an indifferent thing, neither morally good nor evil; and yet they obeyed their father in it, and when they had not that advantage by it, as is next promised these people:
and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: a land flowing with milk and honey; and in which they might build houses, plant vineyards, sow fields, and possess them; which the Rechabites might not do:
but ye have not inclined your ear, and hearkened unto me; they did not listen to his precepts, nor obey them; they would not so much as give them the hearing, and much less the doing.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He afterwards adds, that he was assiduous in teaching them, rising early and speaking By speaking, he intimates that he had daily repeated the same things, so that forgetfulness might not be pleaded by the Jews as an excuse: I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking, and ye obeyed me not Then follows an explanation,wthat God had sent the Prophets: the Jews would have otherwise been ready to object and say, that God had never appeared to them. Hence he says, that he had spoken to them by his Prophets. I have sent, he says, and indeed many — I have sent all my servants, etc.; for if Moses only had commanded the Jews what was right, they might have pretended that the Law was buried and forgotten, and that they had no recollection of what Moses had taught. Hence to meet such evasions, he says shortly, that he had sent all his servants, that is, that he had sent many Prophets, and so many, that he continually proclaimed in their hearing the doctrine of the Law. He again repeats the words, rising early and sending, so that he never ceased to warn and exhort them. Now they who are otherwise tardy and also refractory, yet become gentle when they are recalled to their duty every day and hour. Since God then thus urged them by his Prophets, their mad obstinacy became more evident when they still refused to obey.
Now follows that easy requirement, which still more aggravated their sin, Turn ye now, every one from his evil way, and make right your doings, (literally, make good) Here God shews the difference between his Law and the precepts of Jonadab; for he simply required of the Jews what they ought willingly to have done; for had no Law been written, natural light was sufficient to teach the Jews that it was their duty to obey God; for the law of obedience is so written on our hearts, as a testimony, that no one can justly plead ignorance as an excuse. God then here declares that he required nothing but what nature itself dictated, even that the Jews should repent and form their life according to the rule of obedience; though no Prophet were among them, yet every one ought to have been in this respect his own teacher.
It follows, And walk not after alien gods to serve them This admonition still more clearly proves how moderate was what God required; for he souhlt nothing more than to retain the Jews under his authority and protection, that he might be a Father to them. Jonadab might have demanded obedience from his posterity, and yet have allowed them the free use of wine, and also the possession of fields and vineyards; but he wished to cut them off as it were from mankind, so that their condition became worse than that of all the nations and people among whom they dwelt; for they became, no doubt, objects of ridicule to their neighbors, endured many reproaches, and were grievously harassed. God shews that he had abstained from exercising rigid authority, and from requiring unbearable servitude, and demanded nothing from his people, but that he might be acknowledged by them as a Father. As, then, he did not tyrannically force the Jews to render him service, and his Law was moderate in its demands, it hence appears still more clear, as I have said, how incorrigible was the wickedness and depravity of that people.
He further adds a promise, which ought by its sweetness to have allured them, so as to become more disposed and prompt to obey. Though he might by authority have commanded, “Turn ye from your superstitions, and faithfully serve me,” it would yet have been a command just and equitable; but when he is pleased to add a promise, which ought to have disposed the Jews to obedience, and yet gains nothing from them, their wickedness is rendered again by this circumstance still more detestable. We hence see that there is something important in every clause, and that it is not without meaning that he here adds, Ye shall dwell in the land which I gave to you and to your fathers God here sets forfth his own bounty, and then promises a perpetual fruition of it, provided the Jews obeyed. He says that he gave that land to them, and before to their fathers, had they never partaken of God’s bounty, yet the promise alone ought to have induced them to submit to his authority. But God had been already liberal to them. Then experience ought to have convinced them, for they knew that they had obtained the promised land by no other right than by a promise made by God; they knew that the nations, into whose place they had entered, had been cast out by God’s mighty hand. As, then, they had by experience found God to be bountiful, and as he had promised to be in future the same, how great and how monstrous nmst have been their madness when they would not turn to obedience? Then it is also a circumstance of weighty importance, when God reminded them that it was he who gave the land to them and to their fathers.
He adds, Ye have not inclined your ear, nor obeyed me We have stated elsewhere the import of these words, “Not to incline the ear:” they removed the plea of ignorance or of the want of knowledge. God, then, charges the Jews here with deliberate wickedness; for they had obstinately rejected the doctrine of the Law, and all the warnings given by the Prophets; for when doctrine is set before any people, and God is pleased familiarly to teach them, and nothing is effected, their perverseness is thus more fully made known. God then intimates here that the Jews had not gone astray through ignorance, for they sufficiently understood what was right. Whence, then, was there so great a hardness? even because they had designedly closed their ears, that is, they had wickedly denied obedience to God, and had been refractory, as it were, through a long-cherished resolution, so that they could never be brought to a sound mind. It afterwards follows again, —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(15) Return ye now every man from his evil way.The words are more than a general summary of the teaching of earlier prophets, and we find in them an almost verbal reproduction of the burden of Jeremiahs own preaching, in Jer. 25:5-6, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, i.e., before the incident here recorded.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 35:15 I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending [them], saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.
Ver. 15. I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets. ] But all to no purpose. See on Jer 35:14 .
Saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way.
And go not after other gods.
And ye shall dwell in the land.
But ye have not inclined your ear.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
every man. Hebrew ‘Ish. App-14.
evil. Hebrew. raa. App-44.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I have: Luk 10:16, 1Th 4:8
Return: Jer 3:14, Jer 4:14, Jer 7:3-5, Jer 17:20-23, Jer 18:11, Jer 25:5, Jer 26:13, Jer 44:4, Jer 44:5, Isa 1:16-19, Eze 18:30-32, Hos 14:1-4, Zec 1:3, Zec 1:4, Act 26:20
ye shall dwell: Jer 7:5-7, Jer 17:24, Jer 17:25, Jer 22:4, Jer 25:5, Jer 25:6, Deu 30:20
ye have: Luk 13:34, Luk 13:35
Reciprocal: Exo 20:3 – General 2Ki 17:13 – Turn ye 2Ch 36:15 – the Lord Isa 50:2 – when I came Jer 7:13 – and I spake Jer 11:7 – in the Jer 11:8 – obeyed Jer 17:23 – nor Jer 19:15 – because Jer 22:21 – I spake Jer 23:22 – then Jer 25:3 – rising Jer 25:4 – rising Jer 32:33 – rising Jer 36:3 – they may Hos 7:10 – and they Hos 9:17 – because Zec 7:11 – they refused Mat 21:34 – he sent Mat 22:3 – sent Mat 23:37 – how Mar 12:2 – a servant Luk 20:10 – sent Rom 10:21 – All day long
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
INDIFFERENCE TO DIVINE APPEALS
Ye have not inclined your ear.
Jer 35:15
There can be no more convincing proof of the power of sin to harden the heart than the indifference with which multitudes have always received the declarations of Divine wisdom and the appeals of Divine love. It was so in the remote days of Jeremiah, and it is so now.
I. The disobedience of Israel appeared aggravated when compared with the loyal obedience of the Rechabites.These persons, constituting a sort of sect, were quoted by the prophet as an illustration of filial reverence and loyalty. They scrupulously kept the ordinances they had received from their forefather. Yet Israel was regardless of the voice of God!
II. The disobedience of Israel was shown by their contempt of Gods messengers, the prophets.There is something very condescendingly human and touching in the representation of the Eternal as rising early, in His solicitude for the salvation of His people, and sending messenger after messenger to instruct and admonish them. Let it be remembered by the hearers of the Gospel, that He Who spake in times past by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son!
III. By their defiance of Gods just and asserted authority.He spoke to Israel, and He speaks to us, as one Who has a right to reverent attention and cheerful obedience.
IV. By their disregard of Gods gracious promises.His language was not simply language of authority and command, it was language of gracious assurance and promise. The guilt is aggravated, and the condemnation is the sorer, in the case of those who resist the mercy and despise the promises of heaven.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Jer 35:15. This passage is another where the apparent disagreement appears which has been mentioned a number of times. The explanation lies chiefly in distinguishing between the nation as a whole and certain individuals in it. See the note at 2Ki 22:17 in volume 2 of this COMMENTARY.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
The Lord had also sent His servants the prophets to His people-again and again-urging them to repent, to change their thoughts and actions, and to stop worshipping idols. If they did, they could continue to dwell in the land the Lord had given their forefathers. But the people had refused to listen.