Jeremiah 4:1
If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.
If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord,.... To which they had been encouraged, and as they had promised they would, and said they did, Jeremiah 3:14:
return unto me; with thy whole heart, and not feignedly and hypocritically, as Judah did, Jeremiah 3:10. Some render the words (and the accents require they should be rendered so) "if thou wilt return to me, O Israel, saith the Lord, thou shalt return" {l}; that is, to thine own land, being now in captivity; or, "thou shalt rest" {m}; or "have rest"; so Kimchi interprets the last word; see Jeremiah 30:10, and these words may very well be considered as the words of Christ, and as spoken by him, when he entered upon his ministry, who began it with calling the people of the Jews to repentance, and promising to give them rest; and all such who return to God by repentance, and come to Christ by faith, find spiritual rest for their souls now, and shall have an eternal rest hereafter, Matthew 4:17:
and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight; not only their sins, but their self-righteousness, and dependence upon it; the rites and ceremonies of the old law abolished by Christ, together with the traditions of the elders, by which they made void the commandments of God; all which were abominations in the sight of the Lord, Isaiah 1:13,
then shalt thou not remove; from thine own land again when restored, or further off, into more distant countries, for they were now in captivity; or rather the words may be rendered, not as a promise, but as a continuation of what is before said,
and not move to and fro {n}; or be unstable and wavering, tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, and precept of men; but be established in the faith of the Gospel, and steadfast and immovable in every good work. The Targum is:
"if thou wilt return, O Israel, to my worship, saith the Lord, thy return shall be received before thy decree is sealed; and if thou wilt take away thine abominations from before me, thou shalt not be moved;''
or wander about.
{l} bwvt yla hwhy Man larvy bwvt Ma "si reverteris ad me, O Israel, dicit Jehovah, reverteris", Gataker,
{m} bwvt "quiescas", Vatablus; "quiesce apud me", Calvin.
{n} dwnt alw "et non vagaberis", Gatatker; "et non instabilis fueris", Cocceius,