Jeremiah 1:5 Kommentar

In this chapter we have, I. The general inscription or title of this book, with the time of the continuance of Jeremiah's public ministry (Jer 1:1-3). II. The call of Jeremiah to the prophetic office, his modest objection against it answered, and an ample commission given him for the execution of it (Jer 1:4-10). III. The visions of an almond-rod and a seething-pot, signifying the approaching ruin of Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldeans (Jer 1:11-16). IV. Encouragement given to the prophet to go on undauntedly in his work, in an assurance of God's presence with him (Jer 1:17-19). Thus is he set to work by one that will be sure to bear him out.

This chapter contains the title or inscription of the book; the call of the prophet to his office, and the encouragement he had to enter upon it. In the inscription the prophet is described by his name, by his descent, by the place of his birth, and the time of his prophesying, Jer 1:1, the appointment and ordination of him to his office, which was very early, and the signification of it to him, are in Jer 1:4, his excuse, on account of his childhood and weakness, Jer 1:6, the encouragement given him, notwithstanding this, from the mission and command he had from the Lord, and the promise of his presence with him, Jer 1:7, and not only is he encouraged by words, but also by signs; by the Lord's touching his mouth with his hand, as a symbol of putting his words into his mouth, and setting him over nations and kingdoms, to publish in a prophetic way their destruction, Jer 1:9, and by a vision of an almond tree, signifying the quick and hasty performance of the word of the Lord by him, Jer 1:11, and by another vision of a seething pot northwards, intimating the coming of the Chaldeans from the north against Jerusalem, and their taking it, and carrying the Jews captive because of their wickedness, which was a principal part of the message he was sent with, Jer 1:13 and the chapter is concluded with an exhortation to him to take heart, and be of good courage, and not be dismayed; since he was made a defenced city, an iron pillar, and brasen wall, against the whole land of Judea, its kings, princes, priests, and people; who, though they should fight against him, should not prevail, because God was with him, Jer 1:17.

The Word of God is the one who forms us in the womb, as he says to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you came forth from the belly, I sanctified you and appointed you to be a prophet among the nations.” And Paul, too, says this in the same way, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, that I might declare him among the nations.”

Read the word of God that was spoken to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” God not only forms us in the womb; he also breathes on us as he did at the first creation, when “the Lord God formed man and breathed into him the breath of life.” And God could not have known a person in the womb, except in his entire nature: “And before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you.” Well, was it then a dead body at that early stage? Certainly not. For “God is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

The embryo therefore becomes a human being in the womb from the moment that its form is completed. The law of Moses, indeed, punishes with due penalties the one who shall cause an abortion, inasmuch as there exists already the rudiment of a human being that has imputed to it even now the condition of life and death, since it is already liable to the issues of both, although, by living still in the mother, it for the most part shares its own state with the mother.

We forget that the words “Let us make man according to our image and according to our likeness” apply to each person. When we fail to remember the one who formed a person in the womb, and formed all people’s hearts individually and understands all their works, we do not perceive that God is a helper of those who are lowly and inferior, a protector of the weak, a provider of shelter of those who have been given up in despair and Savior of those who have been given up as hopeless.

Concerning Jeremiah, God says, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” … If such terms are used in Scripture of things created, but the term ever is used of the Word, then it follows, O enemies of God, that the Son did not come out of nothing, nor is he to be numbered at all among created things, but he is the Father’s image and eternal word, never having not existed, but never existing as the eternal radiance.

So, if God still forms human beings, shall we not be guilty of audacity if we think of the generation of children as something offensive when even the Almighty is not ashamed to make use of them in working with his undefiled hands.

In the first place we testify that he was born twice: first, in the spirit, later in the flesh. It is said in Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” And again, “who was blessed before he was born,” which happened to no other besides Christ.

Just as the spiritual bosom of the Father is understood as a certain inner secret of paternal love and nature, in which the Son is always present, so also the spiritual bosom of the Father is the womb, the secret of the innermost mystery, from which the Son has proceeded as though from a generative womb. Finally, we read in diverse ways, sometimes the womb of the Father, sometimes his heart from which he uttered a word, sometimes his mouth from which justice proceeded, from which wisdom came forth, as he himself says: 'From the mouth of the Most High, I came forth.' (Sirach 24:5) Thus, just as we understand that generation from the Father, let us also understand the generation of Mary, the mother, when the womb of the mother is blessed, certainly the virginal womb of Mary, who gave birth to the Lord Jesus for us. Concerning which the Father says through the prophet Jeremiah: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; and before you came forth from the womb, I sanctified you (Jer. I, 5). Therefore, the prophet declared the dual substance in Christ, of divinity and flesh: one from the Father, the other from the Virgin; in such a way, however, that he did not lack his divinity when he was born of the Virgin and was in the body.

To show them, however, the weakness and transparency of their objection, though it has no real relation to any truth, divine or human, I will prove to them that people have existed before they were born. Let them show that Jacob had not been appointed and ordained, even before he was born. While yet hidden in the secret chamber of his mother’s womb, he supplanted his brother. Let them show that Jeremiah had not likewise been so, before his birth, “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb, I knew you; and before you came forth from the belly, I sanctified you, and appointed you for a prophet amongst the nations.” … What do you [Arians] mean by your principle that “before he was begotten he did not exist”? Was the Father engaged for some time in conception, so that certain epochs passed away before the Son was begotten?

(Vers. 4, 5.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you: I have made you a prophet to the nations. Not that Jeremiah existed before his conception, as some heresy suspects, but that the Lord foresaw him to be. To whom things not yet made already exist, according to what the Apostle spoke: Who calls those things that are not, as those that are (Rom. IV, 17). But what is sanctified in the womb, we should understand according to the words of the Apostle: But when it pleased him, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me; that I might preach him among the Gentiles (Galatians 1:15). John the Baptist is also sanctified in the womb, and receives the Holy Spirit, and is stirred in the womb, and speaks through the mouth of his mother (Luke 1). And when it is said, I have made you a prophet to the nations, it means that we are going to read about the prophet in him later, that he prophesied not only in Jerusalem, but also to many nations around.". Some understand this place to be about the Savior, who was specifically the Prophet of the Gentiles; and through the Apostles, he called all nations. For he was truly sanctified in the womb before being formed in the virgin womb, and before coming out of his mother's womb; and he was known to the Father, who is always in the Father, and in whom the Father is always.

It was not that Jeremiah existed before he was conceived, as some heretics suppose, but that the Lord foreknew Jeremiah to be coming, the Lord to whom what does not yet exist is already present, in accordance with what the apostle said of him: “who calls that which is not as though it were.” But we also ought to understand Jeremiah’s consecration in the womb according to the apostle’s word: “When it pleased him, he set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might proclaim him to the nations.” John the Baptist similarly was consecrated in the womb, where he received the Holy Spirit and leaped and spoke through his mother’s mouth. Furthermore, when the Lord says, “I appointed you a prophet to the nations,” he wants it to be understood that we will eventually read in him the prophet who will prophesy not only to Jerusalem but also to a multitude in the entire company of nations. Some understand this as referring to the Savior, who was himself a prophet to the nations and called all peoples through the apostles. For it is certainly true of him that before he was formed in the virginal womb of his mother and before he came forth from her, he was consecrated in the womb and was known to the Father, he, indeed, who is always in the Father and the Father always in him.

Moreover, this calling, which works through the opportune circumstances of history, whether this calling is in individuals or in peoples or in humankind itself, comes from a decree both lofty and profound. To this relates the following passage: “In the womb have I sanctified you.”

He is not ashamed to assume flesh, who is the creator of those very parts. Who tells us this? The Lord said to Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you. Before you came forth out of the womb, I made you holy.” If, then, in making humanity he was not ashamed of the contact, was he ashamed in making for his own sake the holy flesh, the veil of his Godhead? It is God who even now creates children in the womb, as it is written in Job, “Didn’t you pour me out as milk and curdled me like cheese? You have clothed me with skin and flesh and have knit me together with bones and sinews.” There is nothing polluted in the human frame unless a person defiles it with fornication and adultery. God, who made Adam, also made Eve. Both male and female were formed by God’s hands. None of the parts of the body as formed from the beginning are polluted.

God’s choice of Jeremiah was not without basis: knowledge preceded it. Notice it says that God had knowledge and then he consecrated, for he knows everything before it happens. Now, he employed the word consecrated, meaning “he appointed.” Then God also mentions the task for which he selected him: “I appointed you as prophet to the nations.” Thus, he prophesies not only concerning the fortunes of the Jews but also the other nations. “I replied, O Lord and Master that you are, see, I do not know how to speak, because I am a child.” The prophet recognized the one addressing him. This is why he called him by a title having to do with lordship. When the mighty Moses was once speaking, remember, and wanted to learn the divine name, the Lord said, “I am the one who is.” He imitates Moses’ timidity by saying youth is not up to prophesying. The Lord, however, urges him not to put forward the excuse of youthfulness but to do as he is told.

Through the Holy Spirit we are reborn the children of promise, not in the mother’s womb but in the power of baptism. For this reason David, who certainly was a son of promise, says to God, “Your hands have made and fashioned me.” And to Jeremiah the Lord says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.”

This, too, seems unworthy to pass over in silence in praise of John. Although he was not yet born, yet already he prophesies and, while still in the enclosure of his mother’s womb, confesses the coming of Christ with movements of joy since he could not do so with his voice.… In this regard I think that the prophetic phrase is appropriate that says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” We ought not to marvel that after he was put in prison by Herod, from his confinement he continued to announce Christ to his disciples, when even confined in the womb he preached the same Lord by his movements.

(Jer 1:1-3, probably prefixed by Jeremiah, when he collected his prophecies and gave them to his countrymen to take with them to Babylon [MICHAELIS]) Anathoth--a town in Benjamin, twenty stadia, that is, two or three miles north of Jerusalem; now Anata (compare Isa 10:30, and the context, Isa 10:28-32). One of the four cities allotted to the Kohathites in Benjamin (Jos 21:18). Compare Kg1 2:26-27; a stigma was cast thenceforth on the whole sacerdotal family resident there; this may be alluded to in the words here, "the priests . . . in Anathoth." God chooses "the weak, base, and despised things . . . to confound the mighty."

knew--approved of thee as My chosen instrument (Exo 33:12, Exo 33:17; compare Isa 49:1, Isa 49:5; Rom 8:29). sanctified--rather, "separated." The primary meaning is, "to set apart" from a common to a special use; hence arose the secondary sense, "to sanctify," ceremonially and morally. It is not here meant that Jehovah cleansed Jeremiah from original sin or regenerated him by His Spirit; but separated him to his peculiar prophetical office, including in its range, not merely the Hebrews, but also the nations hostile to them (Jer. 25:12-38; 27:1-21; 46:1-51:64), [HENDERSON]. Not the effect, but the predestination in Jehovah's secret counsel, is meant by the sanctification here (compare Luk 1:15, Luk 1:41; Act 15:18; Gal 1:15; Eph 1:11).