Then he adds, Judah also has set a plantation for thee That I may finish the chapter, I will briefly notice this verse. Interpreters render it thus, “Also Judah, thou hast set for thyself an harvest:” but the verb, as it is evident, is in the third person; it cannot then be rendered otherwise than, ‘Also Judah has set.’ They who render it in the second person, “Thou hast set for thyself an harvest,” elicit this sense, “Thou also Judah, whom I have chosen for myself, hast set for thyself an harvest, that is, thou hast prepared a miserable harvest for thyself; for thou sowest ungodliness, whose fruit thou shalt hereafter gather:” but this is strained. Now since the word קציר, kotsir, signifies in Hebrew not only “harvest,” but also “a plant,” it may properly be so taken in this place, Also Judah, while I was returning the captivity of my people, did set for himself a plant; that is, he propagated his own impieties. God indeed addresses here the Israelites, and complains of Judah; for the Jews, we know, were retained by the Lord, when the ten tribes separated. This defection of the ten tribes did not cause religion to fail wholly among the whole people. There remained the pure worship of God, at least as to the outward form, at Jerusalem. The Lord then complains not here of Judah without a cause. He had said before, ‘Judah shall be saved by his God;’ but now he says, ‘Judah also has set for himself a plant;’ that is, “superstitions have been long and widely enough springing up among all Israel, they have spread through all the corners of the land: and now Judah also,” he says, “is planting his own shoots, for he draws the Israelites to himself;” there is therefore a new propagation, and this is done, While I am returning the captivity of my people; that is, “while I am seeking to restore the scattering of my people.”
In a word, God shows here that there was no part any longer whole. When one undertakes the cure of a diseased body, and when he sees at least some parts whole, he has some hope of applying a remedy; but when not even a finger remains sound, what can the physician do? So also the Lord says in this place, “There was at least some hope of Judah, for some form of my worship remained there, and the purer teaching of the law continued; but now Judah propagates superstitions for Israel; observing that the whole land of Israel is full of superstitions, he takes from thence shoots and slips, and corrupts the remaining portion of the land, which has hitherto remained sacred to me.” We now perceive, as I think, the genuine meaning of the Prophet.