Jeremiah 26:13

Jer 26:13 Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.

Ver. 13. Amend your ways.] Fall out with your faults, and not with your friends. See Jer 7:3.

And the Lord will repent him of the evil.] This he often inculcateth. Ideo minatur Deus ut non puniat. Therefore God will threaten so as not to punish. See Jer 18:8.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jer 26:13-16. Amend your ways, and the Lord will repent, &c. — It appears here again that God’s determination to give up Jerusalem to destruction was conditional: see note on Jer 18:7-10. If the people had repented of their sins, and reformed their conduct, their ruin would have been prevented, and they would have enjoyed a continuance of peace and prosperity. As for me, behold I am in your hand — I have neither any power, nor can make any interest to oppose you; do with me as seemeth good in your sight — I am content even to lose my life, if God be pleased to permit you to take it. But know ye for certain, &c. — Be fully assured; if you put me to death — Who, as you well know, am not guilty of any crime; ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, &c. — You may think that by killing the prophet you will defeat the accomplishment of the prophecy, but you will find yourselves wretchedly deceived: such an act will at once greatly add to your guilt, and aggravate your ruin. Their own consciences could not but tell them that if Jeremiah was (as certainly he was) sent of God to bring them this message, it was at their utmost peril if they treated him for it as a malefactor. For of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you, &c. — Such is Jeremiah’s justification of himself. He reduces all to this, that God had sent him; and his adversaries were able to make no reply. “If God hath sent me, you can have nothing to say against me.” It is upon this that he is declared innocent in the following verse, This man is not worthy to die — Which was the sentence pronounced by the princes and all the people: for the people, who before were forward to condemn him, now, upon hearing his apology, were as forward to acquit him.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(Jer 26:3, Jer 26:19).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 13. Therefore now amend your ways] If ye wish to escape the judgment which I have predicted, turn to God, and iniquity shall not be your ruin.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He not only confirms here what he had taught, but also reproves the hardness and obstinate wickedness of the priests and prophets; for though he addressed the princes and the people, he yet no doubt designed to touch more sharply those ungodly men who set themselves up against God; and at the same time his discourse referred to them all, when he said, “How have I sinned? I have endeavored to promote your safety, must I therefore die?” We hence see that the Prophet not only confirmed what he had said, but also accused his adversaries of ingratitude; for nothing could have been more kind, and ought to have been more acceptable, than to be called to repent, that they might receive mercy from God: “What was the object of my doctrine? even that ye might repent; and what does repentance bring? even salvation; for God is ready to forgive you. Now ye cannot bear to hear, that God would be merciful to you. What madness is this?” We now then see the design of the Prophet.

And this passage deserves to be noticed; for God will render to all the ungodly their own reward; not only because they harden themselves against every instruction, but also because they are manifest and, as it were, sworn enemies to their own salvation, inasmuch as they refuse the necessary remedy, and do not allow themselves to be restored to the right way, that they may be forgiven. Very weighty, then, is what he now says, that no fault could be found in his doctrine, except that it proved galling to the wicked, but that they could yet obtain peace, provided they sought reconciliation with God.

He adds, Hear ye the voice of Jehovah, in order to shew that he required nothing new from the people, that he imposed on them no hard yoke, but only called them to the duty of obeying the Law; and he adds to this, your God, in order to take away from them every excuse, lest they should object and say that what Jeremiah alleged was unknown to them. Here, then, he triumphantly declares that he had taught them nothing that was alien to the Law, and that the Jews were inexcusable who professed Jehovah to be their God, and yet hearkened not to his voice, which ought to have been familiar to them.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(13) Therefore now amend your ways . . .—The prophet’s apologia consists in repeating the substance of his message. He had not denounced an irreversible doom. He had held out the assurance of pardon on repentance. He had threatened only to bring about repentance. The whole history reminds us of the accusation brought against One greater than Jeremiah. He had foretold a destruction of the Second Temple as complete as that of Shiloh (Luk_19:44). He, too, was accused of having said that He would destroy the Temple (Mat_26:61). And He, foreseeing that the people would not repent, had pronounced, though not publicly, a sentence on the Temple which succeeded that against which Jeremiah had prophesied, which was irrevocable (Mat_24:2; Mar_13:2; Luk_19:44).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. your ways and your doings] See on Jer_7:3.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore now amend your ways and your doings,.... Make them good; leave your evil ways, and walk in good ways; forsake your evil works, and do good works:

and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and that because he is your God, as well as what his word directs to is good, and for your good:

and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you; will do as men do when they repent, change their method of acting, and manner of behaviour; so the Lord is said to repent or turn, when he changes the method and conduct of his providence towards men, though he never changes his mind or counsel.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

It is not I that have pronounced evil against you, but the Lord, who made both you and me: you rage against me, who am but God’s instrument, by whom he lets you know his mind and will; it were more advisable for you to reform your wicked lives and practices; and that by a full obedience to what the Lord hath commanded you in his law, and by me speaketh to you. If you will do this, the Lord will change the course of his providence, and do that which in men is called a repenting, and not bring those evil things upon you which he, by me his servant, hath pronounced against you.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13-15. Amend your ways — Even now he has for them a message of love and hope. He speaks as a man eager for one thing — the good of the commonwealth.

I am in your hands — His individual life was but a trifle, and they could do with him according to their pleasure. His only protest is against being esteemed a false prophet, for to reject him would be to reject his message.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

repent

(See Scofield "Zec 8:14").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

your ways ... your practices

These two phrases mean almost the same thing. AT: "the things you do" (See: Doublet)

listen to the voice of Yahweh

The voice is a synecdoche for the person, and the same word can be translated "listen" or "obey." AT: "obey Yahweh" (See: Synecdoche)

Do to me what is good and right in your eyes

The words "good" and "right" mean the same thing. The eye is a metonym for the person's thoughts. AT: "Do to me whatever you think is the right thing to do" (See: Doublet and Idiom)

you are bringing innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and its inhabitants

Blood is a metonym for violent death, and to bring blood on someone is to make them guilty of violent death. AT: "you are making yourselves and this city and its inhabitants guilty of the violent death of an innocent person" (See: Metonymy)

this city and its inhabitants

These are two ways of speaking of the same people, perhaps first as a group and then as individuals. The city is a metonym for the people in the city. AT: "all the people in the city and every one of the people who live here" (See: Doublet)

for your ears

The ear is a metonym for what the ear hears. AT: "for you to hear" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

voice

God

preach

hand

good

know

innocent

blood

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.