Jeremiah 1:5 - Exposition

Knew thee; i . e . took notice of thee; virtually equivalent to selected thee (comp. Genesis 39:6 ; Amos 3:2 ; Isaiah 58:3 ; Psalms 144:3 ). Observe, the predestination of individuals is a familiar idea in the Old Testament (comp. Isaiah 45:4 ; Isaiah 49:1 ; Psalms 139:16 ). It was also familiar to the Assyrians: King Assurba-nipal declares at the opening of his ' Annals ' that the gods "in the body of his mother have made (him) to rule Assyria." Familiar, too, to the great family of religious reformers. For, as Dean Milman has truly observed, "No Pelagian ever has or ever will work a religious revolution. He who is destined for such a work must have a full conviction that God is acting directly, immediately, consciously, and therefore with irresistible power, upon him and through him He who is not predestined, who does not declare, who does not believe himself predestined as the author of a great religions movement, he in whom God is not manifestly, sensibly, avowedly working out his pre-established designs, will never be saint or reformer". Sanctified thee ; i . e . set thee apart for holy uses. Ordained ; rather, appointed . Unto the nations . Jeremiah's prophecies, in fact, have reference not only to Israel, but to the peoples in relation to Israel (verse 10; Jeremiah 25:15 , Jeremiah 25:16 ; 46-49; Jeremiah 50:1-46 ; Jeremiah 51:1-64 ?).