Commentary on Jeremiah 1 part 8/12

But the God of all commands Jeremiah to write the former words in another book.

For the papyrus was burned, but the divine law remained unharmed.

So too, when the body that was assumed suffered, the Word remained impassible;

and the prophet was commanded to speak these things also to Jehoiakim.

For even though Jeconiah his son reigned, yet after three months he was led away captive.

And He threatens destruction against him and his whole house, desolation against the city, and against the people the evils that had been foretold.

And the prophet again fulfilled what was commanded, and wrote the prophecy anew, with Baruch serving as his amanuensis.

But let us, I beseech you, both fear the divine threats and trust in the good promises, and walk worthily of the calling with which we have been called, that we may both escape the experience of the threats and enjoy the good things that are promised, by the grace and love toward mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father belongs the glory, together with the all-holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.

As the divinely-inspired prophet is about to recount the events surrounding the capture of the city, he first teaches at what age Zedekiah began his reign, and how long a time he reigned;

and that at the time of the siege, having learned the predictions spoken by the prophet against himself and the city, he sent certain men to entreat him to offer supplications on his behalf to God;

and at that time he was not dwelling in prison, but was passing his life freely in the city.

And while the Babylonians were besieging the city, the Egyptians came to the aid of the Jews, evidently because the king had summoned them into alliance.

And the Chaldeans, learning this, withdrew from the siege.

For the Egyptians will most swiftly regain their own homeland, and the Chaldeans, turning back again, will both besiege the city and deliver it to the fire.

But even if you should smite the whole force of the Chaldeans who war against you, and there be left among them only certain wounded men, each in his own tent, these shall rise up and burn this city with fire.

For do not suppose that the strength of the Chaldeans prevails.

For even a few wounded men, left in the tents on account of weakness, suffice for your utter destruction;

for it is sin that has made you weak.

Then he teaches that, a certain truce having come about for them through the withdrawal of the Chaldeans, he himself went out to his own kinsfolk, wishing to buy loaves of bread;

but a certain Seruia, suspecting that he had fled to the enemy, denounced him before the rulers;

and they, on hearing this, shut him up, not in the public prison—for that one, he says, was full—but in the house of Jonathan the scribe;

and after many days had passed, Zedekiah secretly sends for him and asks whether there is a word from the Lord;

and the prophet foretells to him the capture;

and after the prediction, he complains of the injustice that had been done to him.

For what wrong, he says, have I done to you and to your servants, that you have put me into the prison house?

And where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying:

The king of Babylon shall not come against you, upon this land? Since events, he says, have demonstrated the truth of my prophecy and the falsehood of your prophets, it was fitting to judge justly, and to exact penalties from those who lied, not from the one who foretold the truth.

Then he entreats to be released from the house of the scribe.

And Zedekiah brought him out from there, but sent him into the public prison, and ordered that one loaf of bread be supplied to him each day.

But certain of the rulers, being displeased at the predictions made by the prophet against the city—

(for he said that those who deserted to the Chaldeans would obtain safety, but those who endured the siege would be delivered over to destruction)—incited the king against the prophet, saying that he was slackening the eagerness of those able to fight by such oracle-mongering.

And the senseless king handed the prophet over to those who had denounced him;

and they, having received the authority, vented their wrath upon him, and let him down into a pit that had foul-smelling mire.

And not one of the Jews came to the aid of the prophet, who was suffering such penalties on behalf of the divine oracles.

But Ebed-melech the eunuch, an Ethiopian man, reproaches the king, and cries out with boldness of speech;

and he, taking others as helpers, and casting old rags to the prophet, and ordering that these be placed under the rope beneath his armpits, drew him up out of the pit of Chereth.

By Chereth he means the pit.

And when he had been brought up and was dwelling in the prison, the king again sent for him, and brought him in to himself, into the house of Asalisael, which is in the house of the Lord. But the Syriac rendered this 'within the three ways';

and he asks the prophet to declare to him a divine word, and not to hide the truth.

If I declare it to you, will you not put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will surely not listen to me.

For as a prophet he knew the things that would come to pass, and he had experience as his teacher.

And when the king had sworn that he would surely not hand him over to the impious men, he said again:

the commander of the king of Babylon, your soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you shall live, you and your house.

'But if you do not go out to the princes of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape out of their hand.'

These things he has often foretold.

But it is necessary to inquire why exactly, to those who go out he promises salvation, but to those who do not go out he threatens destruction.

Zedekiah had given oaths to Nebuchadnezzar, when the latter set him up as king, that he would pay the tribute and would keep good faith toward the one who had appointed him.

But when a little time had passed, transgressing the agreements, he neither paid the tribute and took refuge with the Egyptians.

Zedekiah, however, says to the prophet:

'I have a concern regarding the Jews who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest they give me into their hands, and they mock me.'

Nevertheless the prophet again exhorts him, and to him who is disobedient he presents the threat.

'For behold,' he says, 'all the women who are left in the house of the king of Judah are being led out to the princes of the king of Babylon, and these women are saying:'

'Your men of peace have deceived you and have prevailed against you; they will make you sink your foot in the mire and will overpower you.'

After these things, when the city has been captured, you will see women dragged out of the palace, reminding you of the deceit of the false prophets, and saying that these calamities were procured for you by those who promised peace, who enjoyed honor at your hand, and who for this very cause caused you to slip away from the divine laws.

'And all your wives and your children they will bring out to the Chaldeans.'

'And the city also,' he says, 'shall be set on fire, and you shall be led away captive at the point of the spear.'

But the stupefied king continued in his disobedience.

To the prophet, however, he gave charge to disclose nothing of what had been said to any of the princes;

but to say that 'I entreated the king not to send me back to that most grievous prison.'

Then he relates how they came and attempted to learn what had been said to the king, and how he persuaded them by expounding the matters concerning the prison.

From here onward he then narrates the events concerning the capture, and says that in the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah the Babylonians made their campaign;

and in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, the wall was thrown down, and the enemy rushed against the city.

When this had happened, Zedekiah fled away, and all those who prided themselves in their strength.

But the Chaldeans pursued and overtook him, and seized him near the city of Jericho.

By 'Araboth of Jericho' he means the region to the west of Jericho.

They led him away to Riblah of Hamath. This lies under Emesa;

so that it is clear that by 'Hamath' here he calls Emesa.

'And he spoke judgments with him.'

That is to say, he convicted him of the transgression of his oaths — of his ill will and ingratitude toward the one who had done him good and had appointed him king.

And first, in his sight, he slaughters his sons, and all the officials and the most eminent men;

and having thus punished him by the sight of these grievous things, he took away his sight of seeing.

They demolished the encircling walls of the city;

and the rest Nebuzaradan, the king's chief cook, led away into slavery.

But a few who lived in poverty he left behind, commanding them to till the land.

'And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan, saying:'

'Take him, and set your eyes upon him, and do him no harm;'

'but only as he shall speak to you, so shall you deal with him.'

Nebuchadnezzar the king, and Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, increased the accusation against the Jews.

For being of foreign race, they showed reverence for the prophet;

but the Jews, though nurtured on the prophetic words, neither were willing to give heed to the divine words, and subjected the prophets to punishments of every kind.

Nevertheless the promise of God received its fulfillment;

for having appointed the prophet, He promised to show him invincible, and like an iron pillar and a wall of bronze, so that they would indeed war against him, but would not prevail over him.

Nebuzaradan, however, and the whole company of the princes, sent for Jeremiah out of the prison, and delivered him to Gedaliah, whom the king had appointed to rule over those left behind in Judea.

The prophet deemed worthy of record also the things concerning Ebed-melech, which had been foretold by God and had reached their fulfillment.

For nothing with Him is neglected, nor unrewarded;

and at that time, he says, God made a promise, speaking thus:

'Behold, I am bringing my word upon this city for evil, and not for good;'

'and they shall be before your face in that day.'

(17, 18) 'And I will save you in that day,' says the Lord;

'and I will not give you into the hands of the men whose face you fear.'

'For surely saving I will save you, and you shall not fall by the sword;'

'and your life shall be to you as a prize, because you trusted in me,' says the Lord.

Truly blessed is he whose helper is the God of Jacob;

and whose hope is in the Lord his God; and, Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord. For what did his kingship profit Zedekiah? And what harm did his servitude do to Ebed-melech? For the one suffered all those things because of his impiety;

but the other, because of his piety, made no trial of the evils.

Then the prophet teaches what things Nebuzaradan the chief cook says to him: 'The Lord your God pronounced these evils against this city.'

(3) 'And the Lord brought it and did as he had spoken, because you sinned against him and did not hearken to his voice, and this thing has come upon you.'

And from this it is clear that God from the beginning chose Israel for the benefit of the other nations;

for the miracles that were done on their account astounded all men, and plainly taught that the God of these people is alone the true God;

and again, on the other hand, the calamities that befell them denounced their own transgression and proclaimed the righteous verdict of God.

Straightway, then, Nebuzaradan said that these people too had paid the penalty deservedly, and that God had acted justly.

Then he gives the prophet a choice, and promises on the one hand attendance in Babylon, if he should prefer to dwell there;

and on the other hand undertakes to leave him behind, if he should prefer this, and says:

'Behold, all the land is before you;'

'wherever it be good and pleasing to you to go, go there.'

(5) 'And before I depart, do you turn back and return to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has set over the land of Judah, and dwell with him in the midst of your people;'

'but if not, go to whatever is good in your eyes to go, go there.'

'You are your own master,' he says; 'you are outside my authority, you are under the divine sovereignty; do what seems good to you.'

Having used these and suchlike words, and having given him very many gifts, he set him free.

Then the prophet relates how those of the princes who had fled away, having learned the matters concerning Gedaliah, hastened together to him, and how Gedaliah persuaded them by an oath that they would suffer nothing grievous at the hands of the Chaldeans, and exhorted them to gather the fruits from the land, and in peace to enjoy the good things of peace.

There returned also those who had taken refuge with the Idumeans, and Moabites, and Ammonites, since they learned that Gedaliah had been made ruler.

Then he teaches how Johanan, together with the other princes, disclosed to Gedaliah a certain plot that was being contrived by Ishmael;

but though they gave the information, they did not persuade him that they were speaking the truth.

And how Johanan secretly sought to slaughter Ishmael.

'Lest he strike your soul, and all the Jews who are gathered to you be scattered, and the remnant of the Jews perish.' But Gedaliah, though he heard these things, would not tolerate them, but forbade the undertaking, calling the accusation a false slander.

But when seven months had passed, Ishmael came again.

He happened to be of the royal lineage, and having shared a table with him, he slew Gedaliah and all who had been left with him, both Chaldeans and Jews.

'There came,' it says, 'men from Shechem, and from Salem, and from Samaria, eighty men with their beards shaved and their garments rent, and beating themselves;'

'and manna and frankincense were in their hands, to bring into the house of the Lord.'

Salem is what both the Hebrew and the Syrian call Shiloh.

But certain others, ten in number, having fallen in with him, they too besought Ishmael to hold back from the slaughter, promising to disclose to him certain treasures.

But having done all these things, he took all who were left and departed, and fled to the Ammonites.

But Johanan, together with the other commanders, having learned what had happened, gathered a multitude and marched against Ishmael.

And those who had been taken captive by Ishmael, when they saw those who had marched against him, rejoiced and went over to them.

But Ishmael, with eight men, fled to the Ammonites.

And these things also the divine decree was bringing upon the Jews.

For when they supposed that their enemies had fled, they were delivered into one another's right hands.

Johanan, however, having gathered together the multitude of these, came to a certain village near Bethlehem, wishing to flee into Egypt;

for he feared the Chaldeans, on account of the slaughter of Gedaliah.

In common, however, all — both the rulers and the people — beseech the prophet, saying these words:

'Let our petition for mercy fall before your face, and pray to the Lord your God concerning these that are left, for we are left few out of many, as your eyes behold us.'

'And let the Lord your God declare to us the way in which we should walk, and the word which we should do.'

They entreat rightly indeed, and they desire to learn what ought to be done.

But they disobey, as was their custom, and speak against the divine laws.

The prophet, however, promises both to entreat and to make known what is commanded.

And they promised to yield in all things, and confirmed the pledge with an oath.

'For let the Lord,' it says, 'be among us as a righteous and faithful witness, that according to the word which the Lord your God shall send you to us, so will we do.'

'Whether it be good or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send you, that it may be well with us, because we will obey the voice of the Lord our God.'

The words indeed are full of piety, but the deeds do not agree with the words.

And I consider that the delay in the answer came about for the benefit of those who had made the request.

The prophet himself then says that God has commanded them to remain in this land.

'For I will deem you worthy,' He says, 'of all care.'

'And I will build you up, and will not pull you down; and I will plant you, and will not root you out.'

'Because I have rested from the evils which I said I would do to you.' And He casts out their fear also, and enjoins them to take courage.

'For fear not,' He says, 'from before the face of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid before his face;'

'because I am with you, to deliver you and to save you out of his hand.'

And He promises also the recall of those who had been made captives.

'But if you resist my words,' He says, 'and seize hold of Egypt, seeking to escape the enemy by that route, there I will send against you the enemies whom you dread.'

'For the sword,' He says, 'which you fear before its face, there shall it find you in the land of Egypt;'

'and again the famine, at which you shudder, shall fall upon you in that land.'

And having stated the same things more expansively, He adds these words also:

'As my wrath and my anger dropped down upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,'

'so shall my wrath drop down upon you when you enter into Egypt;'

'and you shall become a desolation, and a thing subjected, and a curse, and a reproach, and you shall see this place no more.'

He showed, so far as it is possible for men to perceive, the magnitude of His power.

For the evils brought upon the Jews He called drops of His wrath, that is, of His punitive activity.

Then the prophet reminds them also of the oaths.

'For you,' he says, 'sent me to the Lord your God, saying:'

'Pray concerning us, and whatever the Lord our God shall speak, declare it to us, and we will do it;'

'and I have declared to you this day, and you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, according to all that He sent me to you.'

'And now know assuredly that by sword, and by famine, and by pestilence you shall perish in this place, into which you desire to enter to dwell there.'

'For these things, which you seek to escape, you shall find in Egypt.'

When those who presided over the people heard these things, they lived with recklessness and arrogance, and forgot the exhortations and the oaths, and dared to say to the prophet, [verses 2, 3]:

'The Lord our God has not sent you to us, saying, Do not enter into Egypt.'

'But Baruch, the son of Neriah, is setting you against us, that you may deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, to put us to death and to carry us away captive to Babylon.'

Having said these things to the prophet, and having openly transgressed the oaths they had made, they rushed toward Egypt with all the assembled people;

and they carried away with them both the prophet and Baruch.

Then in Tahpanhes (this is a city of Egypt) the prophet is commanded to take stones and to hide them before the gates of the royal palace, while the Jews looked on, and to foretell these things:

'Behold, I send and bring Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant, and he shall set his throne upon these stones, and shall lift up his weapons against them.'

'And some of the Egyptians he shall deliver to death, and others he shall enslave and transplant;'

'and he shall also burn the temples of the idols, and shall take these very idols as spoils of war.'

And teaching that he will not make the campaign against Egypt a mere incidental matter, but will destroy it thoroughly, He likens him to a shepherd gathering the lice from his garment.

And shepherds do this carefully, enjoying a great deal of leisure.

'And he shall delouse Egypt,' He says, 'as a shepherd delouses his garment, and he shall go forth from thence in peace.'

(verse 13) 'And he shall break in pieces the pillars of Heliopolis, and those in On;'

'and the houses of their gods he shall burn with fire.'

For it was called both On and Heliopolis.

This the book of Exodus also taught us;

for it said that the sons of Israel built cities for Pharaoh, namely Pithom and Rameses, and On, which is Heliopolis.

God calls Nebuchadnezzar His own servant, not as being a servant by relationship and disposition, but as being a servant by nature;

for the thing made is the servant of its maker;

and He teaches at the same time that it was by His permission that he did these things.

And first He reminds them of the evils that had occurred in Judea, on account of the lawlessness of its inhabitants; then He reproaches these very people, as daring the like things and drawing down the divine wrath upon themselves.

For behold, He says, you are doing great evils against your own souls, so as to cut off from among Judah man and woman, infant and suckling child, so that none of you may be left remaining.

To provoke Me to bitterness by the works of your hands, by burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have entered to sojourn, that you may be cut off and become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth.

He reminds them, as those who retain the memory vividly, of the evils that were rashly perpetrated both by their fathers and by their kings, and indeed by their mighty men as well.

And of the manifold calamities brought upon them because of these things.

And to these He adds the threat, naming Himself Lord of hosts and God of Israel.

So that, both hearing the greatness of His authority and learning of His care for their forefathers, they might be put to shame and be afraid.

Behold, I set My face against you for evil. It is characteristic of those who are angered to look grim, to fix the eye intently, and to gaze for a long while upon those who provoke them.

Accordingly He frames the threat after the manner of human beings, and says:

I set My face against you for evil, to utterly destroy all Judah. Then He says that they will be handed over to famine and to the sword, and be destroyed with all their kindred, and become an oath and a perdition and a curse and a reproach, and will suffer the very same things as those besieged in Jerusalem.

Of these, however, none shall escape, nor return to the land of Judea. Yet none of these things struck terror into those wretched—thrice-wretched—men.

But outright they all cried aloud, both men and women, and especially the Babylonians, saying that:

We will not endure your words. And what was more grievous than this, that even reckoning these as divine, they openly contradicted:

For as for the word, he says, which you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken to you.

But we will surely do everything that goes forth out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her, just as we and our fathers and our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem.

By 'queen of heaven' they mean Aphrodite, whom the Greeks also address as Urania (the Heavenly One).

Doing these things, they say, we enjoyed good things to the full.

But when we forsook her worship, we were handed over both to war and to famine.

Then the women, still more shamelessly, cried out:

For if we sacrificed to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes and pour out drink offerings to her apart from our husbands? The deed was impious, but the saying was true.

They kindle fire, and their women knead fat, to make cakes for the host of heaven.

For these are the fruits of the transgression of the Law.

But you, even seeing these people, have gone mad after the same error.

Abide, then, by your covenants, and surely perform your vows.

(v. 26) Nevertheless, hear the word of the Lord:

Behold, I have sworn by My great name, says the Lord God, that My name shall no more be invoked in the mouth of any man of Judah, saying, 'As the Lord lives,' in all the land of Egypt.

Again the oath showed that He who swore has nothing superior to Himself.

And He threatens utter destruction upon the Jews who dwell in Egypt.

For this He has made plain through the words that have been spoken.

For He threatens them with both famine and the sword, and, for those who escape these, with removal into exile.

And all the remnant of the Jews who sojourn in the land of Egypt shall know whose word abides, Mine or theirs.

And this shall be the sign to you, says the Lord, that I will visit you in this place for evil, so that you may know that My words shall surely stand against you for evil.

The outcome of events will show the truth of the words.

For just as I delivered up Zedekiah to the king of the Babylonians,

so will I deliver up Pharaoh Hophra, to whom you flee for refuge, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.

He calls Pharaoh 'Hophra,' teaching that this was his proper personal name, while 'Pharaoh' is indicative of the kingship.

So too we name our own emperors: Tiberius Caesar and Claudius Caesar.

And the one is the proper name, while the other belongs to the kingship.

Having thus brought to a close this prophecy interwoven with narrative, he recalls an earlier prediction, which in the days of Jehoiakim he was commanded to speak to Baruch.

Thus said the Lord God of Israel:

For the Lord has added grief upon my toil.

I have fallen asleep amid groanings, and found no rest.

Thus said the Lord: Behold, what I have built I will pull down, and what I have planted I will pluck up;

and that too the whole of that land.

And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing evils upon all flesh, says the Lord;

but I will give your life to you as a prize, in every place wherever you may go.

And he charges him to bear nobly a life full of grief.

For if, He says, all the people whom I brought out of Egypt and planted in this land, I now uproot and cut off and hand over to so many punishments, are you distressed that you alone do not pass your days in cheerfulness? But you ought not to do this;

yet I will nonetheless care for you, and even while bringing punishment upon these, I will bring you consolation;

and wherever you may sojourn, you shall obtain My protecting care.

It befits us, therefore, having learned these things, not to be resentful when anything grievous befalls us, but to ask of God the better things, and to bear the things at hand;

for He will, together with the temptation, also make the way of escape, that we may be able to endure it;

to whom belong glory and majesty, together with His only-begotten Son and the all-holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The word that came from the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet against all the nations.

First, however, he treats of Egypt;

and he also teaches the time of the prophecy;

for the prediction comes after the death of Pharaoh Necho;

and this man had slain Josiah by the river Euphrates;

but he himself was also slain by the king of the Babylonians.

Take up weapons and shields, and draw near to battle.

And saddle the horses; mount, you horsemen; take your stand in your helmets; hold forth the spears, and put on your breastplates.

Since they took courage in these—in cavalry skill and in full armament—He bids them make use of these things, teaching that they are of no avail.

In flight they fled, and did not turn back, being hemmed in round about, says the Lord.