He now adds another circumstance, that they had sent him under the pretense of rare piety, as though they were in every way ready to render obedience to God. But he first says that they had deceived themselves, or had been deceived. The verb תעה, toe, from which the Hithpael comes, means to err or go astray. But interpreters do not agree; for some give this explanation, that they deceived the Prophet in their hearts, that is, that they craftily retained their perverse design of going to Egypt, and at the same time professed that they were ready to obey. But as the Prophet’s name is not mentioned here, this explanation seems unnatural. I therefore prefer the other explanation, that they deceived themselves; and ב, beth, is here redundant, as in many places: Ye deceived, then, your own souls, when ye sent me, he says, to Jehovah The Prophet intimates that when they sought to act craftily they were deceived; for God is wont to discover the astute, and when they devise this or that, they only weave snares and toils for themselves; and we see that craftiness ever brings the ungodly to ruin. The Prophet, according to this sense, derides that perverse affectation of astuteness, when the ungodly seek to deceive God; and he says that they deceived themselves, as we see also daily. Then he says that they themselves had been the authors of the evil, for they had brought themselves to ruin by their astute and crafty counsel, when they sent him to Jehovah. The כי , ki, is to be taken here as an adverb of time, When ye sent me to Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us. (129)
He reproves them not only for perfidy, but also for sacrilege, because they wickedly profaned the name of God. For it. was not to be endured that they should pretend a regard for religion, and testify that they would be obedient to God, and should at the same time cherish in their hearts that perverse intention which afterwards they discovered. And hence he not only relates that he had been sent, but that he had also been solicited to intercede for them. It was then a twofold sacrilege, for they had asked what would please God, and afterwards disregarded the prophecy, — and then they offered a prayer, and when God gave them an answer by his servant., they counted it as nothing! We now perceive why Jeremiah so expressly mentioned these two things.
Pray for us to our God, and according to all which Jehovah our God shall say, relate thou to us: the people seemed to act with wonderful sincerity; they exhorted the Prophet to dissemble nothing, to add nothing and to diminish nothing’. What better can be wished than that men should lay aside all ambiguity and all evasions, and not wish God’s words to be corrupted? And this the Jews expressed in high terms, Whatever Jehovah our God shall answer, declare thou to us Here they seemed to have more zeal than Jeremiah himself; for they enjoined a law, that he should add nothing and diminish nothing, but that he should be a faithful interpreter of God’s will. They seemed then to be half-angels. They afterwards testified that they would do whatever God should command them.
(129) All the versions and the Targum differ as to the construction of these two verses, the 19 and the 20, and modern authors too. I offer the following rendering, —
19. The word of Jehovah to you, the remnant of Judah, is this, Enter not into Egypt; knowing, know (or, surely know,) that I make this pro-
20. test to you this day. Verily, ye do go greatly astray against your own selves; for ye sent me to Jehovah your God, etc., etc.
The first clause is according to the Vulg. The express message was, not to enter into Egypt. What they were to know and remember was the protest he made to them. Then in verse 20, he charges them with inconsistency, that they went astray from their own professions, and afterwards he specifies what they had promised. There is, according to this view, a consistency in the whole passage. The word soul is often taken for the person: “against your own selves,” is literally “against your own souls.” The meaning of the phrase is, that they belied themselves, as it is evident from what follows. The past tense in Hebrew may often be rendered by the present, as it refers to time up to the present and including the present. The future also in Hebrew may be rendered by the present, because it refers often to what is now and continues to be. — Ed.