Commentary on Jeremiah 1 part 3/5

For after the return from Babylon, they have become entirely emigrants from the land.

This prophecy, then, is ambiguous [read: unambiguous] concerning Christ.

"Behold, days are coming." [He means] our Lord Jesus Christ, who is before the ages from the Father, and from David according to the flesh.

"...shall be saved." [Meaning] Judah — he who is a Jew in secret.

He who receives circumcision in the spirit, the spiritual Israel, who through Christ has acquired a mind that beholds God.

"Josedek." Josedek is interpreted as "Joa is righteous," that is, "our righteousness" —

or, "Joa" [means] "the one who is and shall be" — hence "Josedek."

And also because of the identity of name with the son of Josedek, who led the sons of Israel back from the captivity —

for Scripture often judges matters even from names,

as in the case of Melchizedek, who is interpreted as king of peace.

"Among the prophets" — since also, insofar as he became man, the Son of God, the Master of the prophets, deigned to be called a prophet, according to the oracle given through Moses which says, "A prophet will the Lord your God raise up for you like me —"

"...in all things you shall listen to him."

"My heart is broken." The prophet was struck with dread, having beheld in a riddle the mystery concerning Christ.

"Because of the presence of..." [He means] the false prophets and false teachers,

by whom the rational flocks are fed.

"And their strength." They did not, he says, have as much strength as they had intended.

For they wished, had they been able, to do even worse things.

"And in my house." For they set up idols in the divine temple, as Ezekiel also beheld.

"Therefore let their way become..." Since they set themselves outside the light, they walk in darkness and gloom.

"For they make their own vision vain?" They present vain and demonic visions as though they were true.

"For who shall stand in the council?" Not only, he says, did they prophesy falsely, but also, slandering the true prophets, they said:

"For who has drawn near to God, that he might also hear his words?" And, "until it be established out of the undertaking." Until, he says, God brings into effect the plan he had determined beforehand, that is, what he willed.

"And if they had stood in my council." Instead of: "if they had drawn near to me" —

if they had had the foundation of prophecy from me, that is, if they had been made wise by me, they would have turned my people away from their evil practices.

"The prophet with whom there is a dream." Since there are also dreams from God, he again sets forth as a proof the outcomes of false and true dreams: that the dreams from God are always true, but those from demons are not always so.

The statement, then, applies to both kinds of prophets, both the true and the false.

"What is the chaff to the wheat?" Chaff is food for fire — the word of the false prophets;

but wheat bestows life-giving power upon man — the word of the true prophet.

"For what fellowship has falsehood with truth?" "Are not my words..." — that is, effective and powerful.

"And those slumbering their slumber." That is, not partaking of sober watchfulness.

"What is the burden of the Lord?" "Burden" [lēmma] means wrath together with fury, [derived] from the stronger, having seized [the weaker], crushing him down.

And "burden" is also used to mean an oracle.

"And I will avenge that man." It is used instead of "I will punish."

"And the burden of the Lord." The wrath, he says, is fashioned for man out of their own mouth;

for God is without wrath, since he is also without passion.

For this reason he commands that it not be called "the burden of the Lord."

For it is not God who is angered, but we ourselves fashion the wrath against ourselves.

"The Lord showed me two baskets." More fittingly [understood] with reference to the freedom [brought] through Christ [perhaps...]

"And I will fix my eyes." Note that God's "fixing his eyes" is used of both — the good and the evil —

for indeed above he also said:

"I will fix my eyes upon them for evil."

"In the thirteenth year of Josiah." For twenty-three years, he says, I have earnestly testified, urging you to abstain from idolatry, and you did not listen;

therefore I will hand you over to the Chaldeans for seventy years.

"And I spoke to you, rising early." "Rising early" instead of "with earnestness" —

since, from then on, the time of wrath was already drawing near.

A tribe from the north. [This means] the Babylonians.

The scent of perfume. He signified the complete disappearance of their splendor, and of all joy and prosperity.

Take the cup. The cup stands for retribution.

And I gave [them] to drink. That is: 'I received full assurance that punishment would certainly come upon them.'

And everyone shaved round about the face. That is, those who have the outward form of piety, but walk according to their own wills.

And all the mingled peoples. Beyond the historical sense, understand [by this] those who do not belong to the faith.

And it shall be, when they are not willing to receive the cup. Since there are some who do not receive divine discipline gratefully.

For in the city. He says: 'The city upon which my name has been invoked, I punish when it sins;'

how much more those who do not know me? 'From his dwelling place.' It is clear that this means from heaven.

Upon the place. In his own place, where he utters his oracle.

Those worthy of being saved, he says, to whom God gives answer, will respond, beseeching that [a reprieve] be granted them, until they should fully bear fruit;

for he calls those who bear fruit 'harvesters.'

the holy ones are caught up together in the utter destruction

These things are also fitting to be understood with reference to God's universal judgment.

Behold, evils. After the events that happened at the hands of the Babylonian, he now speaks also of the events at the consummation [of the age];

For nation shall rise up against nation.

And a whirlwind. Great confusion and turmoil in the last times of the age.

And they shall be. Beyond the literal sense, understand also those who have been wounded by sin.

Cry aloud. Here he speaks of a war-cry not for victory over enemies, but for lamentations.

The shepherds are the leaders of the people.

The rams of the [flock]. Those who are preeminent among the people.

And you shall fall. Since the one who slaughters will slaughter the well-fattened [victim].

For he was destroying. With reference to the Jews, [this means] the sacrifices and all the other observances of the law;

but in the general sense, [it means] their conduct, their way of life.

He has forsaken. With reference to the Jews, the Lord has forsaken his own temple;

but with reference to the consummation, just as a lion has left its lair, so Satan is permitted to go forth against mankind.

For it has become. Since men have become brutish, and Satan is a wild beast, they are permitted to graze together as in a desert, because love has grown cold.

Stand in the court of the house of the Lord. God commands the prophet to solemnly charge the Jews to keep the divine ordinances, so that wrath might not come upon them.

And I will give the city over to a curse. So that it may be accursed, and so that people might invoke it [as a curse formula], wishing their own enemies to suffer the same fate.

And they heard. Do you see how savage and indignant they become? And yet for this very reason he ought not to have been put to death.

For if God commanded it, one must obey.

Does this word grieve you, while to insult the one who is more precious than the temple is neither wicked nor impious? What was said stung them exceedingly.

And an assembly was gathered. All the people, together with the elders of the surrounding land, were gathered together.

And the mountain. The mountain on which the temple stands, [shall become] a desolation.

Except the hand of Ahikam. This Ahikam was one of the powerful men, who stood as protector of Jeremiah.

Make for yourself bonds. God commands the prophet to put yokes on his own neck, and to send them to the kings whom he mentions.

And the beasts. Here by 'beasts of the field' he means the animals suited for farming.

If they are prophets. If the word is from God, understand it as follows:

'If I sent them, let them be able to escape me, let them flee the wrath;'

but if the word is from the prophet, let them come, he says, and contend with me.

Truly, may the Lord do so. That is: 'May it be so; let it happen as you say.'

They shall know. That is, the outcome of events will show the truth of the words.

Go and say to Hananiah. He serves the one who commands him for the rebuke of impiety, apprehending no danger.

For the saints have no regard for temporal life, whenever God commands;

but Hananiah, by his opposition, provoked God to judgment.

But the prophet seems to say things other than what had been commanded him.

Peter later said something of equivalent force: 'Ananias,' he says, 'why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?' Hence, along with the rebuke, came the threat of punishment, manifesting the justice of the penalty.

Therefore the words spoken by the prophet are from God;

and the outcome bears witness to the prophecy.

Later, after Jeconiah had gone forth. After Jeconiah had been carried away into exile.

By the hand of Elasah. Through these men the letter was sent.

Thus said the Lord. Such is the beginning of the letter.

Therefore, in refuting their deception, he says that the time of their exile will be very long.

And he commands them to pray even for [their] enemies.

For this, he says, will also serve your own peace.

Thus also Paul commands us to pray for all who are in positions of authority, that, he says, we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all piety and dignity.

For it is the same God, who in the last days has spoken to us by [his] Son.

How then is the Creator evil? Or how does this [teaching] differ from what is said in the Gospel:

'Love your enemies, and pray for those who mistreat you'? Were not, then, the people of —

— [the inhabitants of] Jerusalem, at the hands of the Babylonians? Yet nevertheless they pray on their behalf.

And seek peace. Pray, he says, for peace for the Babylonians, so that you too may be at peace.

Note that one must pray for those in power, even if they are pagans.

And I will confirm it. That is: 'You shall see the truth of my words.'

The Lord has appointed prophets for us. There were false prophets also in Jerusalem, deceiving the people.

But there were also [false prophets] in the captivity, deceiving those in exile.

Concerning Ahab and concerning Zedekiah. These are said to be the elders [who appear] in [the story of] Susanna.

The Lord has made you priest. God says to Shemaiah: 'I did not appoint you a prophet, nor did I command you to write to Zephaniah against Jeremiah.'

Behold, I will visit you. [This refers to] the appointed time of the recall [from exile].

That which was written by Shemaiah himself.

A voice of fear you shall hear. [This refers to] the voice of the gospel precepts.

And there is no peace. For, says the Lord, 'I did not come to cast peace upon the earth, but a sword.'

Ask. 'Ask,' he says, 'the Scriptures, and learn from them whether a male will be born to you' — that is, the Lord.

For since through the one Adam the world came into sin, he fittingly prophesies concerning the second Adam, through whom is the redemption.

And concerning fear. By nature those who are afraid are disposed to grip their loins.

Fear, therefore, he says, will be fear of the evangelical precepts, through which fear it will have strength, and will be saved.

Because I have seen. For all shuddered at the strictness of the evangelical precepts, and being inwardly troubled by that shuddering, they gripped their loins.

But according to the [spiritual] sense, he grips his loins who tightly restrains the seminal parts, and abstains from intercourse.

For great is the day. [This means] the time of the Lord's incarnation, and of the cross, and of the resurrection;

for he calls his whole economy 'day.'

I have raised up the ruin. Since, he says, your wound is great, and no one was able to come to your aid, but even your friends forgot you because of your sin;

and by 'friends of the soul' you should understand the law, and the prophets, and the holy angels.

Since, then, he says, no one was able to come to your aid, I, through my own Son, David according to the flesh, will raise up your ruin.

For the wound of an enemy. Since, he says, I forsook you because of your sins, through my own loving-kindness I heal you.

Therefore all who devour you. Your enemies, he says, the demons, shall devour their own flesh;

and by this he indicates the bitterness of the punishment against them.

For the multitude. They combined against you, he says, on account of the multitude of your sins.

And they shall be. Those who led you about shall be scattered.

For I will bring up [your healing]. For the Word of God, having become man, healed humanity.

You have become their prey. Because they scattered you … away from God.

Whoever wished, he says, hunted her, since she had no shepherd.

Thus said the Lord. The word indeed contains the announcement of the return from Babylon;

but it foretells the redemption of the nations through Christ.

And it shall be built. According to the literal text, [this is] Jerusalem, which had been overthrown;

but according to the [spiritual] sense, the Church.

And the people. They shall order their life according to the ordinances;

the one, from the sensible captivity, according to the Mosaic [ordinances];

but the people of the Church, according to the evangelical [precepts].

And there shall go forth from them those who sing. For the captives, the word contains a promise of joy;

By 'those who sing' he means those who hymn God in the church;

and by 'those who make merry,' those who deride the demons.

And the ruler. No longer, he says, shall strangers rule over the people.

Or also thus: for the rulers of the Jews had failed;

he says that the devil, the former ruler of souls, shall go forth—that is, shall depart from the people of the Church.

I found warmth. Since the majority have died on account of sin, and lie cast down as though in a desert;

I found, he says, among those lying [dead], one still warm—that is, half-dead—having hope of repentance and life;

and he means either Israel, or indeed anyone able to be saved.

The Lord from afar. He who is now far off will later be seen by her.

By 'sensible Jerusalem,' understand the Church.

For there is a day. This is a sign of dwelling.

Because God has given, he says, a time for repentance, in which, by making your defense, you will be called to salvation.

On the mountains of Ephraim. He speaks of the one [Ephraim] according to grace.

And Scripture calls this people by various [names].

Therefore also [it is called] Ephraim, from the many tribes;

for those who are saved come from all [the tribes].

Rise up and go up. Be awakened, he says, from earthly thoughts, and ascend to the heavenly things, being lifted up by the wings of the Spirit.

Behold, I lead [them]. Exult, he says, treading upon the heads of the nations.

'For behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions,' said the Lord.

He means those from the nations, and those from Israel who have been scattered among all the nations, and who will later also themselves obtain salvation.

At the feast of Phasek. 'Phasek' is interpreted as meaning 'release.'

He says, therefore, that they shall be saved in Christ's remission of sins.

With weeping. Because sin is the cause of weeping, but conversion is the cause of salvation and comfort.

Lodging by the water-courses. Causing them to dwell by the streams of baptism.

Hear the word. For indeed through Christ we were taught to say:

Our Father who art in the heavens.

As the one who shepherds. The Lord, who says:

And they shall come. To the Church, where the precious body and blood of Christ are offered.

And of cattle. These are signs of peace.

And elders. The churches, in the assembly of souls flourishing in Christ, and of those grey-haired in prudence.

I will make drunk. I will fill the priests with divine words, so that they are able to gladden [the people] with the word…

For there is a reward. Either that dying for Christ carries a reward, or that you will have Paul bearing much fruit.

And they shall return. Either the children who have died, rising again and being in Christ, or that Paul turned many from the nations.

Lasting for your children. And it shall be, he says, an enduring reward for your children who have been slain, or also for Paul.

Rachel is always taken as a figure of the Church, whom the word also comforts in her lamenting over the persecutions and the killings on account of Christ.

I have surely heard, Ephraim. By 'Ephraim' he means the people from the nations.

I was not taught, like a calf. As a calf, he says, reared in my own sins, I was not taught the divine oracles.

Turn me back. For what fruit, he says, do you have from the things of which you are now ashamed? He calls the days of sin, therefore, days of shame.

And I have shown you. This is placed in between [parenthetically];

as [I have shown you] the people being saved by God;

that is: 'I will make you a good example, so that through your example others also may be saved.'

Set yourself up, O Zion. Rise up from the fall of sin.

Arise — through the trophy of the cross.

Give exact account of the things concerning yourself;

Be judged in relation to yourself, and test/examine yourself.

Execute punishment. Through faith in Christ and repentance, punish the base deeds, and the very demons who work them.

Give [your] heart. Take up, he says, the cross of the Lord upon your shoulders.

Do not hide the base things, but make them manifest through confession.

Give her over to the labor of repentance.

The way in which you went. Since you have gone toward base things, turn back to the good things.

Turn back. Return to the manner of life praised from the beginning, and mourn over your former sins with that mourning which is called blessed.

How long will you turn back? He rebukes her as being slow to obey.

For the Lord created me [as] salvation. Aquila and Symmachus rendered it: 'For the Lord created a new thing in the female.'

Clearly through these words the new man — the Word made flesh, born of the Virgin — was proclaimed beforehand.

In salvation. Through Christ, he says, men will return to paradise, whence they fell.

Such a doxology the children also sent up concerning the Savior.

Blessed is the Lord upon the just. This hymn, he says, the peoples of the Church will send up together with their teachers;

such a voice will be raised among the flocks of the Church.

Therefore I awoke. Because, he says, I the prophet received the vision faithfully, therefore I beheld the events as though present.

And my sleep. The manner of the resurrection.

It also signifies freedom from sin.

The prophecy is also referred to the Lord;

to him who made death a sleep, and who beholds the multitude of the faithful, and rejoices over the death that came upon him willingly.

Behold, days are coming. Perhaps he speaks of the confusion of the heresies, and of those who choose bestial ways.

'For I indeed will sow' — laying claim to the wheat.

but these the enemy sows in besides.

But according to the idiom of Scripture, since the things which God permits men to do by their own choice he himself is said to do, as in, 'He gave them up to passions of dishonor' — God not having done this, but they themselves having chosen it;

thus also here is set down, 'I will sow the seed of beast.'

But it is also possible to understand [it] thus:

'Men' are the wiser and more perfect, who hold the faith with reason and knowledge; 'cattle' are those who have run to the faith with simplicity and without over-curious inquiry.

I therefore, he says, will plant both these and those in the Church.

But each one shall die in his own sin. The sin of Adam, passing through into the human race, came also upon those who had not sinned, as the Apostle said.

Christ, therefore, having remitted this [sin] through the washing of forgiveness, the ancestral sin was cleansed; but each one is accountable for his own personal sins.

And I will make a covenant with the house of Israel. [Namely] the covenant, the evangelical one.

The Apostle also used these [words] as proof that the legal worship had [not] been cast out.

Giving I will give. The reminders given through the Spirit.

If it be lifted up. As it is impossible, he says, for the heaven to ascend higher, or for the earth to descend lower;

so it is impossible for me to reject Israel;

for the gifts of God are irrevocable, as the Apostle says.

If they should cease. They cannot, he says, [that is —

— 'they cannot,' he says, 'not exist'] — [namely] the fixed ordinances of the sun and moon, nor [can] the race of Israel, which now exists before me by grace, [cease to be].

From towers. From the grace of God;

for thus is 'Hananel' interpreted.

As far as the gate. As far as the completion.

For having reached as far as the corner, the wall is completed.

Of chosen stones. He signified the Church, gathered together from all the nations, being built up out of chosen stones — the prophets, and the apostles, and the saints who followed after.

As far as the torrent-valley. As far as, he says, the eastern quarter, the house that has been marked out will be a sanctuary to the Lord.

And the horses of the East are the apostles.

He signified, therefore, that the Church is built up from the grace of God and the holy apostles.

For as the divine Scriptures are read, we are built up/edified.

And he will speak. Zedekiah, to the Babylonian [king].

Thus he said. I caused the deeds of purchase, he says, to be written;

and perhaps at that time also those making the purchase signed their names in the deeds of purchase.

So that those who come after may also learn [from it], that it might not be destroyed.

Therefore [it was put] in an earthen vessel, so that when they returned they might see that these things had been foretold long before, so that not the words alone, but also the deeds/facts might bear witness.

Showing mercy. Because his mercy is manifold.

And repaying. From Adam until the coming of Christ, those who imitated the sins of their fathers fell under punishments, because the redemption from sin had not yet come to be.

But after the coming of Christ, each one henceforth will reap what he sows, because [transgression] no longer extends in the same way from ancestrally-transmitted conduct unto transgression [ἐπὶ υιδετυρ αβυνδαρε — text corrupt].

And among the earth-born. The impious, those who mind earthly things;

or also the Egyptians themselves, [who spring] from that very land.

And you did/performed [wonders]. Until today, he says, [you are] renowned, whether for the ancient portents,

I [am] the Lord. He who is about to judge all, and to repay each according to his deeds.

Because they were. For the most part, the whole earth at that time was full of godless [people];

but these alone are said to sin, since, having been instructed in the divine laws, they sinned with knowledge.

...me... As though this city, he says, had been built for this very purpose — to provoke me to anger — so that on this account I might make it vanish, not wishing to see it.

And they turned their back to me. This is a sign of utter insolence and contempt.

And I taught them. Instead of [meaning]: 'with all diligence.'

Things which I did not command them. 'Let it be [granted],' he says —

though they ought to offer sacrifices to me, they offer them to demons;

why do they also commit murders? But I have not judged it holy for men to be sacrificed even to myself.

As though not content, therefore, he says, with their former sins, they have also invented in addition this monstrous deed.

Behold, I gather them. God promises to bring back the sons of Israel from the captivity;

At the same time he also foretells the coming of Christ, and the grace of the Spirit.

'And they shall be to me a people.' This is common concerning all the faithful.

'And I will give them another way.' The coming of the Lord.

'And another heart.' The grace of the Spirit.

since the word was hard to believe

'And I will covenant.' [Referring to the covenant] concerning the resurrection from the dead.

'Thus said the Lord, who makes the earth.' According to the creation from the beginning, making man from earth.

Refashioning [him] through the washing of regeneration.

'To set her upright.' Through the precious cross, since she lay cast down by sin.

'The Lord is [his] name.' Concerning whom the Apostle said:

'One Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things.'

'And cry out to me.' Entreat me fervently.

'And I will announce to you.' The things that have come to pass through the coming of Christ.

'Of the houses that were torn down.' Though the Jews ought to have submitted to the Babylonian, since this was God's judgment, they tore down their own houses and made ramparts and battlements in order to fight against the Chaldeans.

For this reason they are condemned to death.

'Behold, I bring [them] up.' After the historical [sense], through the coming of Christ.

'And I will make peace.' On account of faith in me I grant them peace.

'And into greatness.' For never has there been such greatness as that which came through the incarnate coming of the Word of God.

'And they shall fear.' Either the demons, on account of the good things that have come to men, or also those very ones who receive the benefit, because they previously did not know such a Master.

'The voice of the bridegroom.' Of the Word, the bridegroom of the soul, saying:

'Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.'

'The voice of those saying.' Of [the soul] rejoicing and saying:

'My Lord and my God.'

'For I will bring them back.' As were Abel, and Seth, and Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham, being justified by faith and not by law.

'Lodgings.' In which are the Churches:

in which their shepherds give rest to the rational flocks

'In cities.' After the historical [sense], understand the Churches:

he calls it 'hill country' with reference to the [Church] from the nations, because of its former unfruitfulness

'Yet the sheep shall pass by again.' Of [God] visiting, and not neglecting, but numbering and inquiring whether any of the rational sheep has perished.

'Go to Zedekiah.' 'It is I who deliver [the city] up,' says God, 'and the city shall be delivered up not by the power of the Babylonian.'

'And they shall lament you as far as Hades.' He mocks Zedekiah, so that he might suspect release from the enemies.

But the oracle was saying that not as a man in battle array, but having been taken captive, he would undergo the common death in Babylon, a city at peace.

And 'they shall lament you as far as Hades' means, instead, bitterly, as [one laments] a king who died in captivity.

'The word that came.' After the covenant concerning release had been drawn up in writing.

'And you turned back.' Those who had released them as free again dragged them back into slavery.

'Whom you sent away.' By choice, by will.

For this is proper to freedom.

'The calf which they made, to worship it.' Instead of [meaning]: on account of the calf:

that is, on account of the idolatry I will hand them over

He calls the Egyptian 'calf,' on account of the Egyptians' god Apis.

'Them, then,' he says, 'and also the Egyptian whom they called to alliance, I will hand over to the Babylonians.'

'...of the king.' Perhaps, [as] they were breaking camp and beginning to flee, God threatens to make them turn back.

'Storeroom.' 'Storeroom' [pastophorion], that is, treasury-chamber.

'We and our wives.' Note the obedience of children and wives in the keeping of such great precision.

'You shall in no way receive correction.' Will you not, then, feel shame, and turn to hear my words? [New chapter]

'Take for yourself a paper of a book.' A paper-sheet of a book, or a papyrus book; or, in ancient times they used to write on scrolls, and they used scrolls instead of books.

'All the evils.' The painful things, the afflicting things:

the [things] ... that through discipline summon them to correction

'There shall not be for him one sitting on the throne.' Above he had already threatened Jehoiakim with this:

and now he threatens him again, because he burned the scroll

'And many more words were added to it.' Since Jehoiakim thought to obliterate the prophecy by the burning of the book, God commands that the former [words] be written again, and adds others.

'And even if you should strike down.' Not that this happened, but from examples he foretells to them the utter hopelessness of being able to escape.

'To buy there.' Either to buy a place to dwell in, or 'to buy' means, instead: to buy, and to prophesy in the marketplace:

or even there to risk danger, and by his own dangers to purchase the salvation of those being saved

'Let mercy fall.' That is: 'Be merciful toward me.'

'And he ordered.' He says this, [meaning] coarse bread, apart from that baked for the free, that is to say, the [bread] provided to household servants, or even to dogs:

or since there was a famine, as in war, and each person openly received something, the king secretly sent [it] to the prophet, so that no one might meet with him:

for they feared his teaching

'For the king was not able against him.' Instead of [meaning]: to win over his soul.

It is clear, then, that [the king] wished the prophet not to be put to death, just as neither did Pilate wish it concerning Jesus, the Lord of the prophets.