Commentary on Jeremiah 1 part 6/12

'Shall a man hide himself, and I not see him? says the Lord.'

Then he teaches that he is uncircumscribed.

'Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord.' If then I am present everywhere, how do men suppose that I am ignorant of any of the things that happen? And again he intensifies his accusation against the false prophets, as men who recount dreams, and deceive the people, and dare to do the very things done by the prophets of Baal.

Then he commands that a comparison be made between the true prophet and the false prophet.

'The prophet who has a dream,' he says, 'let him tell his dream;'

'and he to whom my word comes, let him tell my word in truth.'

And he teaches the difference figuratively.

'What is the chaff to the wheat? says the Lord.' (Chapter 29)

'Are not my words like fire, says the Lord, and like an axe that cleaves the rock?' Through these comparisons he showed the power of the divine word.

Then he teaches the difference among the false prophets;

for some, he says, like thieves and footpads, steal certain prophetic words, and corrupt them by distortions;

others fabricate a false prophecy;

and others recount dreams which they have not seen, and by variously deceiving the thrice-wretched people, they prepare them to persist in wickedness.

Then he commands the prophet:

'If this people, or a priest, or a prophet, should ask you, saying, What is the burden of the Lord? you shall say to them:'

'You are the burden of the Lord, and I will cast you off, says the Lord.'

'And as for the prophet and the priest who shall say, The burden of the Lord, I will punish that man and his household.'

The impious called the prophets 'epileptics,' and the prophecy a 'burden.'

God therefore exhorts them not to use this appellation, and threatens punishment upon those who will not obey.

He commands them to inquire thus: What has the Lord answered? What has the Lord spoken? and no longer to name it 'the burden of the Lord';

but against those who transgress his commands he threatens, saying:

'Behold, I will take you up as a burden, and I will cast you off, and the city which I gave to you and to your fathers, from before my face.'

'And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach, and everlasting dishonour, which shall not be forgotten.'

But having threatened the captivity, he also promises the return, and says that it will become so renowned that the exodus which took place from Egypt will be given over to forgetfulness, on account of the splendour of this return.

But let us, I beseech you, follow both the prophetic and the apostolic words, and worship him who spoke through those men and these, and keep his life-giving laws;

that we may enjoy the good things that have been promised, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory, together with the all-holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.

Again he makes his prophecy through parables and symbols;

and he sees, in a certain revelation, two baskets of figs set before the divine temple.

He also states the time of the prophecy;

for it was after the deportation of Jeconiah and during the reign of Zedekiah that he says he saw these things.

And the one basket held figs excellent and early-ripe;

but the other, figs exceedingly foul and utterly useless for eating.

Then, having received a divine inquiry concerning these things, he declared the difference between what had been shown him;

and thereafter he is taught the things signified by them.

For the God of all likened to the early figs those who had already been taken captive, and He promises them their return from thence, and His own providential care, and, together with piety, prosperity.

But to the ill-favoured figs He likens not only those left behind in Judea, but also those who had fled into Egypt, and with them King Zedekiah and the rulers; and He threatens them with the army of the Babylonians, and the woeful things that spring from war—famine, and pestilence, and slaughter, and captivity.

Having thus foretold these things, he sets down the prophecy that came before them;

for these things were spoken after Jeconiah,

but the things he is about to say were in the time of Jehoiakim the king, who happened to be the father of Jeconiah.

And he states the time plainly.

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah;

that same year being the first of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

In that year Nebuchadnezzar marched against Jerusalem, and some he led away into slavery, while upon others he imposed tribute, and returned.

He then states also what were the words spoken.

In the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amos king of Judah (and to this day, three and twenty years) the word of the Lord came to me, and I spoke to you rising up early, and you did not hearken.

He made mention of the multitude of years, showing the long-suffering of God, that though they were disobedient He bore with them for so long a time.

For I sent to you, He says, my servants the prophets;

I charge you to forsake the way of destruction and to come to the other way, which is the procurer of life;

and I promised you good things if you did this, and you did not hearken;

but you chose rather the service of idols.

And reproving the aim of their disobedience, he added:

That you might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. For provoking me to wrath, you dared those things;

but indeed you yourselves long ago reaped the harm.

Wherefore, He says, together with Nebuchadnezzar I will gather the kings who are subject to him, both against you and against your neighbours, from whom you learned the worship of idols; and I will deliver to utter desolation both your land and theirs, and I will strip them of all gladness;

for peculiar to this gladness is the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride,

the sound of the mill, and the light of the lamp. And He limits the desolation to a period of seventy years.

For after the seventy years, He said, He would require of the king of Babylon himself, and of his subjects, the penalties for their impiety and lawlessness, and would confirm every prediction of Jeremiah.

Straightway, then, he is commanded to take the cup of the unmixed wine from the hand of the Lord, and to give it to drink to all the nations, To which, He says, I send you forth unto them.

And they shall drink, and shall vomit, and shall go mad, because of the sword which I send among them.

By the cup of unmixed wine He calls the just punishment;

and by 'they shall go mad' He hints at the grievousness of the punishment.

Then the prophet relates how he gave the cup to Jerusalem to drink, and to the cities subject to her, together with their kings and rulers;

and he teaches the things signified by the cup.

To make them a desolation, and a waste, and a hissing, and a curse, as at this day. That is, at this present time.

And in calling it a waste, he signifies the desolation;

and by the hissing he signifies the astonishment of those who behold it.

For when we see changes for the worse, we are wont to hiss;

and consequent upon these is the curse;

for some are wont to say, 'May you suffer such things as such-and-such a one has suffered.' And he adds that He has given to drink also to Pharaoh king of the Egyptians, and to his commanders, and to all his subjects;

and besides the native inhabitants, also the sojourners;

for he calls those the mixed multitude.

And by these things he hints that the Jews who had fled will also fall into the same evils.

And he says that He has given to drink also to the kings of the Chaldeans, and to all Arabia, and to all the kings of the land of Uz;

and it is Idumea that he has thus named;

and this the same prophet teaches more plainly in what follows.

And Buz, a Persian nation, and all who shave round about the face. He means the Saracens.

And all the kings of Arabia, and all the mixed kings who dwell in the wilderness.

And all the kings of Zambri.

In the Hebrew and the Syriac we have found 'Zembran';

and this was a son of Keturah;

and these indeed dwelt in the wilderness.

And all the kings of Elam. This too is a Persian nation.

And all the kings of the Medes and the Persians.

And all the kings toward the setting sun, those near and those far off;

and each one against his brother.

That is, so that they should give one another satisfaction for their impiety.

And all the kingdoms of the earth, which are upon the face of the earth;

and the king of Sheshach shall drink last of them. I judge that the Babylonian was thus named;

for it was through him that those aforenamed also drank;

and after a little while He says that this one shall drink last.

For after the punishment brought upon the others through him, he himself paid the penalty.

Then to those unwilling to drink He threatens that even against their will they shall drink.

For I will begin, He says, from the city upon which my name has been named; from it I begin to bring evil;

and shall you be cleansed with cleansing? You shall by no means be held guiltless.

The city that is set apart, He says, I deliver over;

and shall you escape the punishment? This cannot be.

And you shall prophesy against them all these words, and shall say to them, The Lord shall utter His oracle from on high, and from His holy place He shall give forth His voice.

He has made both clear: that He brings forth the verdict from heaven, and that He makes His manifestation in the consecrated temple.

He shall utter an oracle from His place, and, like those who tread the winepress, they shall answer against all who dwell upon the earth. By the answer he means the deed;

for the deed follows upon the divine word.

Destruction is come upon a part of the earth;

for the Lord has a controversy among the nations;

He Himself enters into judgment with all flesh;

but the ungodly are given over to the sword, says the Lord.

Once again He displays His ineffable goodness.

For He did not say, 'He will judge all flesh,' but, 'He enters into judgment with all flesh'; for He is showing His own acts of kindness and convicting the ingratitude of those who received them.

They shall lie slain, and shall be as dung upon the ground.

Howl, you shepherds, and cry out, and lament, you rams of the flock, for your days are fulfilled for slaughter, and your dispersions are come, and you shall fall like choice rams.

And flight shall perish from the shepherds, and deliverance from the rams of the flock.

By 'shepherds' he called the kings, by 'sheep' the subjects, and by 'rams of the flock' the rulers;

and to all he threatens flight and deportation.

He foretells the lamentations both of the kings and of the rulers.

Because, he says, the good things of peace have ceased from before the face of the wrath of the Lord's fury.

Now the good things of peace are farming, planting, commerce, the practice of crafts, the exchange of contracts, marriages, assemblies, feasts, merriments, and whatever is like these.

After this he sets forth yet another prophecy, which he was commanded to bring to the people in the reign of King Jehoiakim.

He was commanded to stand in the divine court, and to deliver the oracle to the people, and to convey all the divine words.

'Do not omit a word,' He says. Then He teaches the reason for what was to come.

Perhaps they will hear, and each will turn back from his evil way, and I will cease from the evils which I purpose to do to them because of their wicked practices.

He said 'perhaps' not as one who is ignorant;

for He knew their disobedience;

but He set down the note of doubt, so that they might not, fixing their attention on the divine sentence, despair of salvation;

and to this is like also that which is said through Ezekiel:

'If perchance they will hear, if perchance they will see.' For that is not a matter of ignorance;

but lest they should say, 'He has foretold our disobedience, and He is unerring; how then is it possible for us to be changed?' He teaches through what is said that it is possible, if they are willing, to receive a change of manner.

For this reason He also adds the threat:

Because if you will not hearken to My words, which I bring to you through the prophets.

I will also give this city over to a curse for all the nations of the earth.

When the priests, and the false prophets, and all the people heard these things, they threatened the prophet with death;

but the rulers, when they learned of it, ran from the palace to the divine temple;

and when the priests together with the false prophets had lodged accusations of blasphemy against the prophet, on the ground that he had uttered his prediction against the city and the divine temple, the prophet said that he had been sent by the God of all, and that the words uttered by him were divine oracles;

and he offers them also an exhortation:

'Amend,' he says, 'your ways and your doings.'

Hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will cease from the evils which He has spoken against you.

But if you are disobedient, and follow your accustomed disposition:

Behold, I am in your hands;

do to me as is expedient, and as seems better to you.

Then he points out the fruit of the bloodshed.

But know for certain, if you put me to death, that you are bringing innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city.

'For being commanded,' he says, 'by God, I have spoken these words.'

When the rulers and the people heard these things, they condemned the unjust verdict of the priests and the false prophets, declaring the prophet innocent, as one who had ministered to the divine words.

Then some of the elders remind them of an ancient prophecy, and say that Micah the Morasthite once prophesied that Zion should be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem should become like a storehouse for fruit, and the mountain of the house should be like a wooded grove;

and that though he had said these things, he suffered nothing dreadful.

Fearing the threat at that time, by a change of life they escaped the wrath;

'but you,' he says, 'have dared deeds altogether grievous.'

For Uriah too, the son of Shemaiah, having once given similar oracles, then fearing King Jehoiakim and fleeing into Egypt, we saw put to death by King Jehoiakim;

for bringing him back from there, he had him struck down.

He makes clear also the one who employed pious words, and says:

Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that he should not be delivered into the hands of the people to put him to death.

Having thus completed this narrative, he passes on to another one earlier than this.

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came from the Lord to Jeremiah, saying.

Then he tells how he was commanded to put yokes about his neck, and to send these to the neighboring kings, whose names also he sets down.

And he was ordered to send out these words also through the envoys.

I made the earth, and man, and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth, by My great strength and by My uplifted arm.

And I will give it to whomever it seems good in My eyes.

The phrase 'by My great strength and by My uplifted arm' He set down because of the magnitude of the elements and the weakness of the hearers;

for the mere willing suffices to bring into being whatever He wills.

I have given this land into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon My servant, and the beasts of the field also I have given him to serve him.

By 'the beasts of the field' he means the barbarian nations.

And all the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land come.

He clearly taught that just as He would use the Babylonians as executioners, and through them exact penalties from the other nations, so afterward He would give them over also to utter destruction;

and He threatens those who contradict and thrust off the yoke with famine and slaughter and enslavement.

He charges them not to trust in soothsayers, and diviners, and augurs, and interpreters of dreams, but to yield and accept the yoke of the Babylonian;

and He promises peace to those who obey.

These things He said also to King Zedekiah, and He charges him not to trust the false prophets who promise peace, and the restoration of the divine vessels that had been carried off to Babylon.

But if they are prophets, and there is a word of the Lord in them, let them intercede with the Lord of hosts, that the vessels left behind in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon.

The phrase 'let them intercede with the Lord' stands for 'let them hinder, and prevail against the divine predictions, and show the divine predictions to be idle and void.'

For you shall see all the remaining holy vessels carried off to Babylon, and after this seventy-year period sent back from there, restored to Me in the house consecrated to Me;

and the third book of Kingdoms makes mention also of the Mechonoth (bases);

and they fulfilled the function of lavers.

After these things he narrates how, in the reign of Zedekiah, in the fourth year, Hananiah the false prophet, in the presence of the people and the priests, dared to say:

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:

And that within two years I will also restore the holy vessels that were carried off.

'And I will bring back Jechoniah together with all the captives.'

But the prophet Jeremiah himself, wishing to show that he prays for these things to come to pass, said:

'May the Lord establish,' he said in the hearing of all, 'your word which you prophesy, to bring back the vessels of the Lord's house, and all the exiles from Babylon to their own place.'

Nevertheless he did not allow the false prophecy to be confirmed by his assent.

'Only hear this word which I speak in your ears, and in the ears of all the people:'

'The prophets who were before me, and who were before you from of old, they also prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of death.'

'The prophet who prophesied peace—when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then shall the prophet be known, whom the Lord has truly sent.'

'The outcome of events,' he says, 'will demonstrate the truth of the prophecy.'

'We shall see, then, whether, according to my prophecy, we shall be handed over to the Babylonians.'

But that false prophet gained nothing from these things;

rather, he broke the yoke-bars which the prophet was carrying, declaring that in this manner the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar would be broken, when two years had passed.

But the God of all charged the prophet to say to Hananiah:

'You have broken wooden yoke-bars, and I will make in their place bars of iron.' He calls the yoke of the Babylonians iron, since because of their disobedience the punishment would be the heavier.

Then the prophet, indignant, since he had learned precisely of Hananiah's false oracle-mongering, said to him:

'Hear now, Hananiah: the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in lies.' And he foretells also his death within a few months.

'Because,' he says, 'you have spoken turning-away against the Lord.' That is: You have prepared the people to turn away from the divine oracles, and to believe your falsehood.

Then he related also the death of the false prophet, and the immeasurableness of the divine long-suffering;

for God did not at once deprive him of life, but awaited his repentance;

yet when he persisted in his wickedness, after seven months He delivered him over to death.

From here he passes to another narrative, and teaches how—by God's counsel—he sent a letter to those held captive in Babylon, after the captivity of King Jechoniah.

He also names the titles of those who carried the writings.

The letter contained these things: how the God of all commands those who had already become captives both to beget children and to build houses, and to give their daughters in marriage to husbands and to bring wives for their sons, and to be concerned for the increase of their race, and to pray on behalf of those who had led them into captivity.

'For in their peace,' He says, 'you shall have peace.' In agreement with this saying is also the ordinance of the Apostle, who charges us to make prayers and supplications on behalf of kings and all who are in eminence and authority, that we may lead a calm and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. These things, indeed, the God of all commanded to be done, teaching them not to obey the false prophets, but to await the appointed time;

for this He made clear through what follows, saying:

'Do not let your false prophets who are among you persuade you, and do not let your diviners deceive you;'

'And do not listen to your dreams which you yourselves dream.'

'For these prophesy to you unjustly in My name;'

'I did not send them,' says the Lord.

He promises also to deem them worthy of all care, and to grant good things to those who pray;

'For when,' He says, 'you seek Me with all your heart, I will appear to you, says the Lord. And know this also, that those who escaped the former captivity, I will deliver over both to famine and to slaughter.'

'And I will make them like the figs souarim, which cannot be eaten because of their badness.' What He called above 'vile,' here He named souarim.

Now souarim, in the Hebrew tongue, means the things that grow in the woods—that is, the wild things, the uncultivated, those not deemed worthy of cultivation, useless for eating.

'And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth;'

'And for a curse, and for a hissing, and for a reproach, among all the nations where I have scattered them.' Many are accustomed to say, 'May I not suffer what so-and-so has suffered!'

This, then, is what He means by 'for a curse';

and as for 'for a hissing,' we have spoken of it many times.

'We have become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to those around us;' and again:

For He did not hold this as a secondary matter, but made their care for it exceedingly earnest.

Then he foretells also the destruction of the two false prophets, Ahab and Zedekiah.

'And from them shall be taken a curse in all the captivity of Judah, and in Babylon, saying: May the Lord make you as He made Zedekiah and Ahab.'

From this we plainly learn the interpretation of the curse;

and he tells also the manner of the punishment.

'Whom the king of Babylon roasted in fire.'

'And they committed adultery with the wives of their fellow-citizens, and spoke in My name an unjust word, which I did not command them. And I am the One who knows, and the witness, says the Lord.' 'For nothing of what is done,' He says, 'escapes Me;'

'but I see also the things dared in secret.'

He threatens also Shemaiah the Elamite, as one who had dared to utter oracles contrary to God, and to send a letter to Zephaniah the priest, and to the priests who served under him.

'The Lord has appointed you priest, in the place of Jehoiada the priest.'

Jehoiada the high priest was much renowned;

wishing therefore to lift up the mind of Zephaniah, he made mention of that man's office.

'That you should become an overseer in the house of the Lord over every man who prophesies, and over every man who raves;'

'that you may put him into the confinement Sinoch, and into the dungeon.' And we have already said before that they called the prophets 'epileptics';

for he classed the prophet together with the madman;

and the Syriac interpreted 'Sinoch' as 'prison.'

For this he makes clear through what follows.

'Why then,' he says, 'did you not rebuke Jeremiah, who dared to write such things, so that you both build buildings and plant gardens?' This letter Zephaniah the high priest read to the prophet;

and immediately the God of all bids the prophet to write back, and to signify to the people in Babylon that Shemaiah has prophesied falsehood, not having been sent by the God of all.

'For which cause I will deliver him, root and branch, together with all his kindred, to death, and he shall not see the change of these grievous things.'

…of Jesus Christ, with whom, to the Father, be glory, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages.

First, however, he foretells the mournful things.

(vv. 5, 6) 'Thus says the Lord:'

'fear, and there is no peace.'

'Ask now, and see whether a male has given birth.' He has plainly shown the exceeding measure of the anguish;

for he compared the greatness of the calamity to the pangs of a woman in labour.

For this is what 'Ask and see whether a male has given birth' signifies. And what follows is in agreement.

'And concerning fear, in which they shall clutch their loins;'

'because I have seen every man with his hands upon his loins, as of a woman giving birth.' Here, showing the anguish, he sets before us the image of a woman in labour;

but elsewhere, teaching of mourning, he said that each had his hands folded upon his head.

'All faces are turned to jaundice.' And this too is indicative of dread.

'For great is that day, and there is none like it;'

'and it is a time of straitness and of tribulation for all Jacob.'

From the magnitude of the punishment he named the day 'great.'

Then he joins consolation to the mournful tidings.

'And from this he shall be saved.' And he promises to break the yoke of their servitude.

He foretells also the change of their manner of life.

'And they shall no longer labour for strangers.' (verse 9)

'But they shall serve the Lord their God.'

By 'strangers' he designated the idols.

Having promised these things, he again consoles them, announcing their recall from exile.

And to the Babylonians he threatens destruction.

'For I will make,' he says, 'a full end among all the nations into which I scattered you there.' But to them he offers promises of good things.

'For you,' he says, 'I will not make a full end, but I will chasten you in judgement, and in acquitting I will not acquit you.' That is to say: I will chasten you and console you, and I will neither leave you untaught nor abandon you without help.

For 'in acquitting I will not acquit you' means this: I will not leave you untried by adversities.

And wishing by the greatness of the threat to change their wickedness, he adds this also:

'There is none to judge your cause.'

For no man reproved the injustice of Nebuchadnezzar.

'You have been healed unto pain,' that is, with suffering.

'There is no benefit for you.' Here he has set 'benefit' not with respect to the soul, but with respect to human aid.

'All your friends have forgotten you; they will not enquire after you.'

'Because I have struck you with the blow of an enemy.'

For I did not use my accustomed long-suffering, but I gave a deep incision.

This a physician also does, when he sees the ailment to be grievous.

And teaching the justice of the punishment, he added:

'A firm chastisement upon all your injustice,'

'because your sins have multiplied.' And what follows agrees with these things.

'Why do you cry out over your affliction? Your pain is grievous.' That is, it is severe—yet nonetheless just.

'Because your sins have grown strong, I have done these things to you.' Nonetheless he threatens the enemies who came upon them with slaughter and servitude.

For those who had escaped death became slaves of the conquerors.

And he persists in consoling her with kindly promises.

'For I will open your healing; from a painful blow I will heal you, says the Lord.'

And he employed the incision, the sponge, and both the harsher and the gentler remedies.

'Because Zion was called an outcast.' For the neighbouring nations mocked her, casting up to her the captivity and the servitude.

'She is your prey, for there is none seeking after her.' When, he says, I overlooked her and did not defend her, she lay exposed to those warring against her as a ready prey.