Letters (CSEL) 2 part 24/24

Now all this is done that those who were seeing might understand that Jerusalem was to be inhabited again and fields to be possessed; which, although without the speech of Jeremiah they ought to have understood of themselves, yet they are admonished by the words of the Lord, and it is said to them: 'Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall yet be possessed in this land.' This is that which Jeremiah had said a little before: 'I understood that it was the word of the Lord'; and therefore he bought the field which he was not going to possess. 'And I prayed to the Lord, after I had delivered the book of the possession to Baruch, the son of Neriah, saying: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God — or, Thou who art, O Lord God —, behold, thou hast made heaven and earth by thy great strength and by thy outstretched — or lofty — arm;'

No word shall be difficult for you — or rather impossible — nor (as the Septuagint has it) is anything hidden from you: you who show mercy to thousands and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them; most strong, great, mighty — which in Hebrew is called 'gibbor' — the Lord of hosts (or of powers) is your name! Great in counsel and incomprehensible in thought, whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the children of Adam — or of men — that you may render to each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his devices.

After the purchase of the field had been lawfully carried out, and after the Lord's declaration by which He promised that houses, fields, and vineyards would thereafter be possessed, the prophet prays to the Lord and expresses the grief of his heart with groanings, saying: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God! — for which the Seventy rendered 'O ōn,' that is, 'you who are, O Lord God,' according to what was said to Moses: Go, tell the people of Israel, He Who Is has sent me. Not that there are no other beings, but it is one thing to exist by the benefaction of the Creator, and another to exist by the eternity of one's nature. He praises God and proclaims Him to His creatures as Creator: and first he extols with his voice His power, mercy, and justice toward the whole human race; then he passes to Israel and describes in a celebrated discourse how great things He bestowed upon it.

And after so many benefits, he says that they, forgetful of His good things, provoked His clemency into bitterness, so that the city is besieged and, before the enemy makes its irruption into it, is consumed by sword and famine and pestilence. All these things he set forth beforehand, so as fittingly to draw the conclusion which seemed to lie in reproach of the divine decree: And you say to me, O Lord God: Buy the field with silver and call in witnesses — when the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans? This, for the present, is the entire scope (perikopē) of this passage; now let us return to the particulars. You have made heaven and earth by your great might. And John says of the Son: All things were made through Him, and without Him was made nothing that was made.

For this is the 'might' of the Lord, as the Apostle confirms: the power of God and the wisdom of God (in reproach to men). And with your arm stretched out, or lifted high — both of which are a token of one who strikes; this is that 'arm' of which Isaiah too speaks: And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? No word shall be difficult for you — for the things which are impossible with men are possible with God — or rather, from whom nothing is hidden, according to that saying of the Psalmist: For darkness shall not be darkened by you, and night shall be lit up like day. You who show mercy to thousands and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them.

Great is the clemency of the Creator, to extend His mercy to a thousand generations and to display His justice at once in the second generation — which yet is itself mingled with mercy; for He does not at once punish the offender, but awaits repentance, so that, if the children have imitated their parents' vices, the long-deferred penalty may be exacted. Most strong, great, mighty; the Lord of hosts (or of powers) is your name! These names indicate the Creator's power; but properly the name of God is 'Father,' which is revealed in the Gospel by the Lord when He says: Father, I have manifested your name to men. Great in counsel: and does anyone dare to intrude himself into the Lord's secret and to pass judgment on His judgments!

And incomprehensible in thought: whom thought does not comprehend, how can speech comprehend Him? Whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the children of Adam: in vain, therefore, does man suppose that he can hide himself from God's knowledge. And what he adds — that you may render to each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his devices — this indicates that at times, by reason of an excess of wisdom, His judgments may seem unjust: a passage which the Apostle expounds more fully to the Romans: Do you not know that the kindness of God urges you to repentance? But according to your hardness and impenitent heart you treasure up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath and of the revelation of the just judgment of God.

The later, therefore, the vengeance upon sinners, the more just it is — after the likeness of Pharaoh, who, warned by ten plagues yet not punished, and persisting in his hardness, was at last overwhelmed by the waves of the Red Sea. You who set signs and portents in the land of Egypt unto this day, both in Israel and among men — or the earth-born — and made yourself a name, as it is this day. And you led out your people Israel from the land of Egypt with signs and with portents, and with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror. And you gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers, that you would give them a land flowing with milk and honey. And they entered in and possessed it; and they did not obey your voice, and in your law they did not walk.

All that you commanded them to do, they did not do; and all these evils have befallen them. From the general he passes to the particular and, in a brief discourse, runs through what He specially bestowed upon Israel. You who set, he says, signs and portents in the land of Egypt — by which Egypt was afflicted — unto this day, both in Israel and among men or the earth-born. This phrase, 'unto this day,' is to be joined to what follows, so that we read: 'and in Israel and among all mortals your signs are daily fulfilled'; or otherwise: 'not only in Egypt did you work signs and portents, but even to this day the same might of your mercy has saved your people, and by the Creator's power you come to the aid of the whole human race.'

And this too is to be noted, that he separates 'Israel' from 'men' and 'the earth-born,' according to that saying: Israel is my firstborn son. And you made yourself a name, as it is this day: 'your praises,' he says, 'are celebrated in the speech of the whole world.' And you led out your people Israel from the land of Egypt: beautifully did he say 'your people'; for at that time, when it was led out, it served the Lord's commands. 'And you led them out with signs and portents, by which Egypt was smitten, and with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and great terror,' when the Red Sea gave a path to the passing people of Israel and overwhelmed the Egyptian army.

And you gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers that you would give them — namely, to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Therefore it was not by their own merit, but by the virtues of their fathers, that they received the land of promise, a land flowing with milk and honey; for they could not yet take solid food, but were nourished with the milk and honey of infancy — or certainly with milk and honey in the sense of the plenty and abundance of all things. And they entered in and possessed it. And at once, between possession and disobedience, there was no middle ground; for abundance breeds security, security negligence, negligence contempt. And they did not obey, he says, your voice, and in your law they did not walk. In vain, therefore, did they promise in the wilderness, saying:

'All whatsoever the Lord commands, we will do' — for the reward lies not in the promise but in the deed; this to beat down the impudence of those who suppose that a man can fulfill all that he has promised to do. All that you commanded them to do, they did not do; and yet they had promised that they would do it. And all these evils have befallen them; 'evils' to those who suffer them, but according to the Lord's declaration 'good things,' which He renders to each according to his ways. Behold, siege-works have been raised up against the city that it may be taken; the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who fight against it, before the face of the sword and the famine and the pestilence; and whatsoever you have spoken has come to pass, as you yourself perceive; and you say to me, O Lord God:

Buy the field with silver and call in witnesses — when the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans? It was the tenth year of King Zedekiah; for so it is written: The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah; at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison. And now it is rightly said: 'Behold, siege-works have been raised up against the city that it may be taken. And the city has been delivered into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they have no one left to conquer, but only to capture; for already they have been consumed by sword, famine, and pestilence, and we see that whatsoever you have said is fulfilled. How then do you say to me, O Lord: Buy the field with silver and call in witnesses, when the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans?'

Therefore he does not reproach, but inquires; nor does he wish to learn so much for himself as for others, who were sitting in the court of the prison and were perhaps silently reproaching how the same prophet, whom they believed to announce the truth, could both say that the city was to be taken and yet buy a field as though he would possess it. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; shall any word be difficult — or impossible — for me, or hidden from me? Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will deliver this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.

And the Chaldeans will come — or will enter in — fighting (or the Chaldeans will come) against this city, and will set it on fire and burn it, together with the houses on whose roofs they sacrificed to Baal and poured out drink-offerings to strange gods, to provoke me. To sad things He joins glad ones, and after the overthrow of Jerusalem He promises a return to the captive people. And first He sets forth the causes of the offense and of the just anger of God, so that the greater the guilt of the sinners, the more abundant the clemency of the Creator toward the sinners. I, He says, am the Lord, the God of all flesh; by no means only of all nations, or of the people of Israel, or certainly, as He is often wont to say concerning the saints:

'The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,' but He says, the God of all flesh, so that He may be believed to have made both rational and brute living creatures. For there are those who confess the providence of the Creator only as far as rational beings, but assert that the brutes perish or live by chance happenings; yet the prophetic word declares that there is nothing which escapes the providence and knowledge of God — since some things are created for their own sake, others for the use of men. Shall any word be difficult for me — or impossible, or certainly hidden from me? And we said above: The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. But 'word' here, as in many other places, we ought to understand for 'things.' And what is the meaning of 'the word came':

'Therefore thus says the Lord'? For what had preceded, that he should place the causal conjunction, saying: Therefore thus says the Lord? 'Because,' He says, 'it is my care to govern all things, to order all things, and to render to each according to his ways, therefore I will deliver this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of the king of Babylon, and they shall take it'; for first it is surrounded by the army and is captured while Nebuchadnezzar is absent, and Zedekiah is led away to Riblah, and there handed over to the king. And the Chaldeans, He says, will come fighting against this city. Better does Aquila, who, for what is written 'they will come,' rendered eiseleusontai, that is, 'they will enter' the city; for they were not absent.

For how could they 'come,' seeing that they had surrounded Jerusalem, as Scripture testifies: Then the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and afterward: Behold, siege-works have been raised up against the city that it may be taken, and the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans. How then shall they 'come,' who were already present?

But these who were besieging the city, He says, 'shall enter in and shall take it and set it on fire and burn it down to the ground' — for the Hebrew word 'bau,' by its ambiguity, sounds both 'they will come' and 'they will enter' — 'and the houses, on whose roofs they sacrificed to Baal,' the idol of the Sidonians, 'and poured out drink-offerings to strange gods to provoke me,' so that they seemed to commit outrages against the Creator not out of an error of religion, but out of a certain contentiousness. And just as the world is written to perish, according to what is written: Heaven and earth shall pass away, because it lies in the evil one, so too the very houses and places in which crimes were committed lie subject to the wrath of God. There are those who, contentiously, refer that which is written:

'The place where the Lord and Savior was crucified is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt' — referring it to those very places. But others suppose that the whole world is signified under the name of Egypt and Gomorrah; for as Gomorrah was destroyed by divine fire, so too the world is to be consumed by the judgment of God. For the children of Israel and the children of Judah were continually — or 'alone' — doing evil in my eyes from their youth. The Hebrew word 'ach' Aquila interpreted as plēn, which signifies the conjunction 'nevertheless'; Symmachus's first edition, and the Seventy, and Theodotion interpreted it 'alone'; but Symmachus's second edition rendered it diolou, which we too have followed in the present instance, so as to say 'continually.'

Let us therefore first say, according to the Hebrew: The children of Israel and the children of Judah continually doing evil. 'Both the ten,' He says, 'and the two tribes did evil without ceasing, and continual was their perseverance in the worst of deeds.' But if it was continual and always throughout the whole people, where is everlasting justice? Further, according to the Seventy, who said: 'alone doing evil,' a question arises: had not other nations also done evil at the time when Israel and Judah were sinning? This is resolved thus: he who has knowledge of God and withdraws from Him, alone sins in the eyes of God; but those who remained unbelieving offend as though He does not see and neglects it.

Whence David also, a holy man, because he had fallen into the sin of the death of Uriah and of Bathsheba, afterward doing penance, says: Against you alone have I sinned and done evil before you — that is, 'in your sight.' Finally it is joined: alone doing evil in my eyes and in my sight from their youth. And what follows: the children of Israel, who even now exasperate me by the work of their hands, says the Lord — this is not found in the Seventy and has been added from the Hebrew. But because from their youth even to the present day they have continually transgressed, therefore the sentence of God is just, and rightly does Scripture weave in:

In my fury and in my indignation has this city been to me, from the day when they built it even to this day, when it is taken away from my sight. If from the time when the foundations of the city were laid, even to this day, when it was captured and burned and taken away from the sight of the Lord, it was ever in vice and provoked the indignation of the Lord against itself — where is (as we have often already said) the sinners' repose? Because of the malice, He says, of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they did, provoking me to anger — they themselves and their kings, their princes and their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Because He had said above:

In my fury and in my indignation has this city been to me, from the day when they built it even to this day, when it is taken away from my sight; and He had shown that no one in general was without sin, so now He enumerates them by parts — both the kings and the princes and the priests and their prophets — and, comprehending all in a single phrase, He says: the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And beautifully He did not say: 'my kings and my princes and my priests and my prophets,' but, because they had sinned: their kings and their princes and their priests and their prophets. And they turned their backs to me, and not their faces. According to that which is written elsewhere: And they turned toward me the withdrawing shoulder.

For he who prays, with bowed neck falls prostrate to the earth; but he who turns his back indicates by the very gesture of his body that he neglects the one who threatens. 'And this,' He says, 'they were doing.' When I taught them at daybreak and instructed them, and they would not hear, so as to receive discipline. 'When the darkness of error had been put to flight and all worship of idols, I desired daily to enlighten their hearts, my declaration being confounded, and to teach them the things that are right.' And, that He might preserve free will, He joins and says: and they would not hear, so as to receive discipline. There follows: And they set their idols in the house in which my name has been invoked, that they might defile it.

Not only at that time did Judah set up in the temple of God the statue of the idol which we read of at the beginning of Ezekiel, but even to this day an idol is set up in the house of God — which is interpreted as the Church — or in the heart and soul of believers, whenever a new dogma is constructed and, according to Deuteronomy, is worshiped in secret; Do you not know, He says, that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you? And they built high places — or altars — to Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to initiate their sons and their daughters to Moloch. For 'to initiate,' the Hebrew has 'ebir,' which Aquila and Symmachus interpreted 'to lead across,' the Seventy and Theodotion 'to offer.'

Concerning the 'valley of the sons of Hinnom,' which in Hebrew is called 'Gehenna,' we have spoken more fully above — how it lies below the springs of Siloam and, by its pleasantness, because the place is well-watered, provoked the people to luxury, upon which follows the worship of idols. And it is to be noted that 'altars' and 'high places' are called in the Hebrew tongue 'bamoth,' for the sake of those who, in the book of Samuel and of Kings, are in doubt as to what this word signifies. Moloch is the idol of the Ammonites, which is translated 'king'; and the divine Scripture signifies that the people served in that very place not only the idol Baal, but also Moab and all the demons. Which I did not command them, nor did it enter into my heart, that they should do this abomination and lead Judah into sin.

Properly, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin worshiped in the shrine of Baal and Moloch the images of the demons; but it is clear that the golden calves in Bethel and Dan were worshiped by the ten tribes, which were called Samaria, Joseph, and Ephraim. And so great was the evil done by the people, that God testifies He never thought of, nor did it ascend into His heart, the things which they were to do. But all these expressions are anthropopathōs (spoken after the manner of human feeling). And now, on account of these things, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to this city, of which you say that it will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword and by famine and by pestilence.

Just as to those hoping for help and trusting in the strength of their walls it is prophesied that Jerusalem is to be overthrown and the people are now on the very point of being captured and, before the captivity, are to perish by sword and famine and pestilence, so to those who despair and, after the overthrow of the city, expect no safety, He promises His help — so that both confidence and pride may deserve the just sentence, and despair and humility may deserve the help of God. Behold, I will gather them from all the lands into which I have driven them in my fury and in my anger and in great indignation, and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in confidence, and they shall be to me for a people, and I will be to them for a God.

And I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me all their days, and that it may be well with them and with their children after them. And I will make with them an everlasting covenant — or, I will establish an eternal testament — and I will not cease to do them good, and I will put my fear in their heart, that they may not depart from me. And I will rejoice over them when I have done them good — or, I will visit them to do them good — and I will plant them in this land in truth — or, in faith — with my whole heart and with my whole soul. Many suppose this to have been fulfilled in the time of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and of Jeshua, son of Jozadak the high priest, when Haggai and Zechariah prophesied under Ezra the priest.

...having been fulfilled, when both the temple was built and, under Nehemiah, the walls were built round about, so that those whom He had before driven out in fury and anger and great indignation from Jerusalem and had scattered throughout the whole world, He afterward, having brought them back, made to dwell in confidence, and they were the people of God and the Lord was their God, and the rest which Scripture weaves together. But how this can be fitted to that time — I will make them dwell in confidence and I will make with them an everlasting covenant, or I will establish for them an eternal testament — can in no way be approved, seeing that we have read, and sacred history relates, that they were often captured not only by neighboring nations but also by the Persians and Macedonians and Egyptians and Romans, and are in servitude even to this day.

All these things, therefore, are to be referred to the coming of the Savior, which we see fulfilled in our own time and in the time of faith; and the election — according to the Apostle — of the remnant has been made safe, and in Christ they dwell in confidence, and there has been given to them one heart, according to what is written: And of the multitude of believers there was one heart and one soul. And one way, He says — namely, of Him who says: I am the way and the life and the truth. That they may fear me all their days; for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. All their days, He says: and if this does not fit the Jews, it must be understood of our people, with whom it has been, and is, and shall be well — not only they themselves, but their children after them; for with us He has struck an everlasting covenant, nor will He cease henceforth to do us good.

And what follows: And I will put my fear in their heart, that they may not depart from me — He so grants free will that nevertheless the very fear which is bestowed remains the grace of the Giver. 'And when I have done them good,' He says, 'I will rejoice and be glad,' namely that His creature has been saved; whence also there is joy among the angels in heaven over one sinner doing penance. And I will plant them, He says, in this land in truth, or — as the Seventy have rendered it — in faith, so that it may properly signify the Christian people, whose religion is faith. With my whole heart and with my whole soul: if these are the words of the Lord and Savior, His heart and soul are rightly believed of, who says in the Gospel:

'I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it up again'; but if we take them from the person of God the Father, they are to be understood according to that: Your new moons and sabbaths and feast-days my soul hates. For thus says the Lord: Just as I have brought upon this people all this great evil, so I will bring upon them all the good that I speak to them. And fields shall be possessed in this land, of which you say that it is desolate because neither man nor beast remains, and it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans. Fields shall be bought with money and written down in a book.

A seal shall be imprinted and a witness called in, in the land of Benjamin and round about Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the lowlands — or the Shephelah — and in the cities of the Negeb — that is, which are toward the south — for I will restore their captivity, says the Lord. Although these things according to the letter preceded, as in a type, after the return from the Chaldeans, when at the command of King Cyrus the people returned into Judea, nevertheless they are more truly and more fully fulfilled spiritually in Christ and in the apostles. Then were both men and beasts brought back into the Church, according to what is written: Men and beasts you will save, O Lord — that is, both the rational and the simple.

Then were fields bought with money, that we might make ourselves friends of the unjust mammon, who would receive us into the eternal tabernacles. And they were written in a book — doubtless the book of the living — and the sign of the standard of the Lord's cross and victory was imprinted, and witnesses were called in: the martyrs and the whole choir of the saints. In the land of Benjamin, where is the 'might' of the Lord; and round about Jerusalem, in which is the 'vision of peace' and eternal security; in the cities of Judah, in which is the true 'confession' of Christ; and in the cities of the mountains, of which the grape comes, of which He says: A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden;

and in the cities of the lowlands — which in Hebrew are called 'Shephelah' — that from the deep and low places we may, through the level of the plains, ascend to the heights; and in the cities which are toward the south — which the Seventy rendered 'Negeb' — where is the 'noonday' and the full light of truth. And when all these things shall have been done, that shall be fulfilled which is written: I will restore their captivity, says the Lord — of whom it is written: Ascending on high, He led captivity captive; He received, or — as the Apostle says — He gave gifts to men.