Israel is holy to the Lord, the first fruits of his increase: all they that devour him offend: evils shall come upon them, saith the Lord.

“Here begins the prophecy of Jeremiah himself, now established in the prophetic office; and it is divided into three parts. In the first he foretells the captivity to come; in the second he laments it now accomplished, in the Lamentations; in the third he brings in those now taken captive, unto punishment, in the book of Baruch. The first, into two. In the first he foretells the captivity by way of prophecy; in the second he narrates it by way of history, in chapter 53: a son of twenty-one years. The first, into two. In the first he prophesies to the people of the Jews; in the second to the various peoples of the nations, since he was established as a prophet to them also, as is clear from the preceding part; and this in chapter 46: the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the nations. The first, into two. In the first is set forth the prophecy to the people about to be led captive, before the captivity; in the second to the remnants of the captivity after the captivity, chapter 39: in the ninth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah. The first, into two. In the first is set forth the preaching of Jeremiah; in the second the contradiction of those who heard him, chapter 34: the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord. The first, into two. First he sets forth the threat; second, the consolation, chapter 30: this word, that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, et cetera. The first, into two. In the first he sets forth the true threat; second, he excludes the false consolation, in chapter 27: In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah. The first, into two. In the first is set forth the threat to the people universally; in the second to the leaders specifically, chapter 20: and Pashhur, son of Immer the priest, who had been made ruler in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these words. The first, into two. In the first he sets forth the threat; in the second the prophet, as it were sympathizing, interposes his own prayer, chapter 14: the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the matters of the drought. The first, into two. In the first he convicts the fault by judgment; in the second he calls back to penitence, chapter 3: it is commonly said, et cetera. The first, into two. In the first he assigns the reason for so great a condescension, namely that he does not inflict vengeance immediately after the fault, but proceeds by judgment, so as to call back; in the second he pursues the order of judgment, there: hear the word of the Lord, house of Jacob. Concerning the first, two things. First he takes the reason from the piety of God: cry out, proclaim openly, to Jerusalem, its inhabitant. And he sets down three things that move to piety. The first is the purity of age: thy youth, in which brides are loved more vehemently, when thou didst follow, when they were going out of Egypt. Hosea 2: and there she shall sing according to the days of her youth, and according to the days of her coming up out of the land of Egypt. The second is the memory of former love and charity, namely by which I espoused thee to myself in the giving of the law. Below, chapter 31: with an everlasting love have I loved thee, therefore having mercy I have drawn thee. The third is the obedience of deed: when thou didst follow me in the desert, in a land that is not sown; which cannot be sown. Hence thou wast not held back by the difficulty of the journey, although certain ones murmuring said, Numbers 20: thou hast brought us into this most wretched place, which cannot be sown, et cetera. Second, he takes the reason from the dignity of the people: hence first he sets forth the dignity of the people: holy, as it were dedicated to the worship of the Lord, and consecrated to the Lord. Firstfruits, because the Lord chose thee out of all peoples, as firstfruits out of the crops. Deuteronomy 7 and 32: but the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob the lot of his inheritance. Hosea 9: as the first fruit of the fig tree in its top, I saw their fathers. Second, he excludes the threat of the enemy: all that devour him: according to the law that is found in Leviticus 7, that it was lawful for the priests alone to eat the firstfruits. Psalm 13: who devour my people as the food of bread.”

“Israel was holiness unto the Lord,.... When first brought out of Egypt into the wilderness, by the Lord's choice and separation of them to be a holy people to him above all others; by covenant with him, and profession of him; and by his giving them holy laws, and placing a sanctuary among them; and by their high priest, who represented them in the most holy place; and had on the front of his mitre written, holiness unto the Lord; so the spiritual Israel are chosen in Christ to be holy, and he is made sanctification to them; they are sanctified in him, and by his Spirit; they are called with a holy calling, and unto holiness; and, under the influence of grace, live holy lives and conversations, which the grace of God teaches, and young converts are remarkable for; their consciences being just awakened, and their hearts tender: and the firstfruits of his increase; Israel was the first nation that God separated for himself; and this being the firstfruits, shows that he would separate others also, and take out of the Gentiles a people for his name, which he has since done; and the elect of God among the Israelites were the firstfruits of his chosen ones elsewhere; it were some of them that first believed in Christ, and received the firstfruits of the Spirit; and all converted ones are a kind of firstfruits of his creatures; the grace they receive at conversion is the firstfruits of a later increase of it, and even of eternal glory: all that devour him shall offend; or, "all that eat him shall be guilty" (x); and be condemned and punished, who eat up the Lord's people, as they eat bread; see Psa 53:4, these shall not go unpunished; for his people are as the apple of his eye, and whoever touches and hurts them fall under the divine displeasure, and will be looked upon as criminals and offenders, and will be judged and condemned as such. The allusion is to the eating of the firstfruits, which only belonged to the priests; nor might any of the increase be eaten until the firstfruits were brought to them, Lev 23:10. This is expressed in the Chaldee paraphrase of the text, "whosoever eats of them (the firstfruits) is guilty of death; for as the beginning of the harvest, the sheaf of oblation, whoever eats of it before the priests, the sons of Aaron, have offered of it upon the altar, shall be guilty or condemned; so all that spoil the house of Israel shall be guilty or condemned;'' so Jarchi and Kimchi: evil shall come upon them, saith the Lord; that is, the evil of punishment, either in this world, or in that which is to come, or in both. (x) "rcos fuisse", Junius & Tremellius; "rei peragebantur", Piscator; "rei fiunt", Cocceius.”

“holiness unto the Lord--that is, was consecrated to the service of Jehovah (Exo 19:5-6). They thus answered to the motto on their high priest's breastplate, "Holiness to the Lord" (Deu 7:6; Deu 14:2, Deu 14:21). first-fruits of his increase--that is, of Jehovah's produce. As the first-fruits of the whole produce of the land were devoted to God (Exo 23:19; Num 18:12-13), so Israel was devoted to Him as the first-fruit and representative nation among all nations. So the spiritual Israel (Jam 1:18; Rev 14:4). devour--carrying on the image of first-fruits which were eaten before the Lord by the priests as the Lord's representatives; all who ate (injured) Jehovah's first-fruits (Israel), contracted guilt: for example, Amalek, the Amorites, &c., were extirpated for their guilt towards Israel. shall come--rather, "came."”