Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
Ver. 11. Jeremiah, what seest thou?] It was great kindness and familiarity thus to parley with him, and to call him by his name.
And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.] Which hath its name in Hebrew from watching, because it watcheth, as it were, to bud and bear before other trees, even in the deep of winter, and when it is at coldest. Hereby the prophet is animated, though but young, and assured that he shall have the fruit of his so early labours. God careth not for those arbores autumnales Jdg 1:12 trees which bud not till the latter end of harvest. The truth of all his predictions is designed, though little believed by the most; the speediness also of their performance, Jer 1:12 Eze 7:10-11 a good comment upon this text. The sins of God's people, saith one, are sooner ripe than of the heathens, because they have the constant light and heat of his Word to hasten their maturity. This was typified by the basket of summer fruits, and by the almond tree in this text. As the almond tree, saith another, hath a bitter rind, but a sweet kernel, so hath affliction sanctified; and again, as the almond tree is made more fruitful by driving nails into it, letting out a noxious gum that hindereth the fruitfulness thereof, so is a good man made better by afflictions. a
a Jerome, Theod., Just. Mart.