Ver. 23. "_And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:_ Ver. 24. _Dost thou not see what this people are speaking, and say: The two families which the Lord hath chosen, He hath now rejected them, and my people they despise, that they should still be a people before them._"
It is scarcely conceivable how modern interpreters can assert that by "this people," not the Israelites, but Gentiles, the Egyptians or Chaldeans, or the "neighbours of the Jews on the Chaboras," (_Hitzig_), or the Samaritans (_Movers_), are to be understood. In advancing such assertions, it is overlooked [Pg 473] that the Prophet has here quite the same persons in view as in the whole remaining section, and as in these chapter's throughout, viz., those among Israel--and to them more or less all belonged, even those most faithful--who, because they saw Israel prostrate, for ever despaired of its deliverance and salvation; and, indeed, for the most part, in such a manner as to give to this despair a good aspect, viz., that of humility. They imagined, and said that the people had sinned in such a manner against God, that He was free from all his obligations, and could not at all receive them again. To those the Prophet shows that such a thought is, notwithstanding the fair appearance, blasphemy. All despair abases God into an idol, into a creature. Faith holds fast by the word, by the promise. It says: Although sin abounds with us, the grace of God does much more abound. As truly as God always remains God, so surely His people will always remain His people. He indeed chastises them, but He does not give them over to death. One need only consider the תפרו in ver. 20.--The expression "this people," is contemptuous, comp. Is. viii. 11. The Prophet thereby intimates that those who use such language, cease thereby to be members of the people of God. The "two families" are Judah and Israel. These had, in the preceding verses, likewise been, in substance, the subject of discourse; for the election and rejection of the tribe of Levi, and of the house of David, had been treated of in so far only, as they stood in relation to the election or rejection of the people; so that here only the same thing is repeated in a different form, in consideration of the fact, that weak faith and despair are so slow to hear. The words: "He hath now rejected them," were, in a certain sense, true; but not in the sense of the speakers. They, on the contrary, maintained, in opposition to the election, a rejection for ever, which was tantamount to: Jehovah, the eternal and unchangeable One, is no more Jehovah; He is a man that He lieth, and a son of man that He repenteth. As surely as God is Jehovah, so surely also ἀμεταμέλητα τὰ χαρίσματα καὶ ἡ κλῆσις τοῦ θεοῦ, Rom. xi. 29. The expression "_my_ people," directs attention to how God is now despised in Israel. On the contrast between "_my_ people" and "a people," compare remarks on chap. xxxi. 36.