Letters (CSEL) 2 part 5/24

The second book on Jeremiah, brother Eusebius, we dictate in hasty speech, turning away our ears for a little while, lest we hear the judgment of blood and lament the souls of the slain, who by an opinion of their own virtues daily fall into pride and think themselves like unto God, so that they attribute to all men that equality which the impious heresy of the Arians denies in the Son, and set their mouth against heaven, and leave nothing more to the future beatitude of the saints. To their fury we have responded as we were able; and, if the Lord grant us life, we shall respond more fully.

Now the road we have begun must be traversed, and short notes must be dictated, neither drawing out the work to excessive length nor cutting off understanding by immoderate brevity; for the one burdens the mind of readers, the other cuts short the eager student's desire. 'Declare this in the house of Jacob, and make it heard in Judah, saying: Hear, O foolish people, who have no heart; who having eyes see not, and having ears hear not!' In many ways He draws back to salvation those who sin, and He calls the people foolish, who have forsaken the author of wisdom; and He likens them to idols, of which it is written: 'They have eyes and see not; they have ears and hear not. Let those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them.'

He speaks properly to Judah and to the house of Jacob — for Israel had already for a long time been in exile among the Assyrians — and at the same time He gives understanding: that even apart from any commandment we ought by natural sense to understand what things are right. 'Will you then not fear Me, says the Lord, and will you not tremble (or fear) before My face? I who set the sand as a boundary for the sea, an everlasting decree which it shall not pass over. And they shall be moved and shall not prevail (or it shall be troubled and shall not prevail), and its waves shall swell (or shall roar) and shall not pass over it. But this people has become an unbelieving and provoking heart, and they have departed and gone away, and have not said in their heart:'

'Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives us the early and the latter rain in its season, keeping for us the fulness of the yearly harvest!' He recounts His benefits in order to convict the ungrateful. 'Me,' He says, 'will you not fear, who have bestowed such great things upon you? I do not desire the love of the perfect, but the fear of beginners; I who set the sand as a boundary for the sea, who by My command have curbed within its shores that so mighty element and the vast masses of the deep, according to that which is written: He set a decree, and it shall not pass over. Things that have no faculty of hearing hear Me and perceive Me; yet the people once Mine, made foolish by its own fault, not only despises but even provokes its gentle God.'

'They have departed,' He says, 'from Me and turned their backs on Me, and gone away with hasty step; nor did a silent conscience draw them back, that they might say in their hearts: Let us fear Him who gives us the early and the latter rain!' Through all these things He has shown the good things, 'the fulness of the yearly harvest' — for which the first edition of Aquila and Symmachus rendered 'weeks'; for in Hebrew it is written 'sabaoth,' which, on account of the ambiguity of the word, signifies both 'weeks' and 'fulness.' 'Our iniquities have turned these things aside, and our sins have withheld good from us.'

Therefore if at any time the sea also oversteps its bounds and the rain is withheld, the Lord's hand has by no means been shortened that it should not do these things; rather our sins, coming to us, have turned them aside, so that they proceed to others who have not sinned. 'And they have withheld,' He says, 'the good that was already coming to us,' according to that which is written literally: 'I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.' We may, moreover, take the early and the latter rain as the Law and the Gospel and the diverse callings from the first hour even to the eleventh, in which He promises to the laborers of the vineyard one reward of eternal life. 'For there are found among My people impious men lying in wait like fowlers, setting snares and traps to catch men!'

'As a cage is full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit.' In order that the early and the latter rain might turn aside from them and all good things might not come, the causes are set forth: 'because there are found among his people impious men.' He did not say 'unjust' and 'sinners,' as the new heresy would have it, but 'impious.' Impiety openly denies God; iniquity and sin, if it confesses its error, easily bends God to mercy. And that which we rendered:

'lying in wait like fowlers,' which is not found in the LXX, Aquila and Symmachus translated the word 'iasir' as it were 'a fowler's net,' meaning that even he who among them seems good and upright stretches out snares after the manner of a fowler, while they hunt one another to death and fill their own houses with the losses and ruin of others, so that that saying of the philosophers is fulfilled: 'Every rich man is either unjust or the heir of one who is unjust.' And would that these things were done only by those who seem to be outside and whom the Lord judges, and were not fulfilled in our own assemblies, in those whom avarice, the root of all evils, possesses, so that we do not look upon the faces of those who come to us, but upon their hands! 'Therefore they are magnified and enriched.'

'They have grown fat and gross, and they have transgressed My words most wickedly. They have not judged the cause, they have not directed the cause (or the judgment) of the orphan — and the plea of the poor (or the judgment) they have not judged. Shall I not visit for these things? says the Lord; or shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?' If I should wish to note down one by one the things omitted in the Septuagint edition, it would become lengthy. 'Those who stretch out,' He says, 'snares and rejoice in the nakedness of others, therefore they are magnified and enriched.' Because they did the foregoing things, 'they have grown fat and gross,' according to that which is written: 'The beloved grew fat and gross and kicked. And they have transgressed My words.'

For, in the consciousness of their riches, they said that saying from the Gospel: 'Soul, you have many good things laid up for many years; take rest, eat, drink, be merry!' But they passed over to their own hurt, and despising all men, they did not set the judgment of God before their eyes. They despised the orphan and the poor — for which the Septuagint said 'widows,' which is not in the Hebrew; for 'hebionim' properly sounds 'poor,' not 'widows.' And as for what follows: 'Shall I not visit for these things? says the Lord; or shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?' — it has already been discussed above. 'Astonishment and marvels have come to pass in the land:'

'The prophets prophesied falsehood (or unjust things), and the priests applauded with their hands, and My people loved such things! What then will you do at the last (or after these things)?' Above He had said: 'I will go to the great men and speak to them; perhaps they have known the way of the Lord. And behold, these together have all the more broken the yoke and burst the bonds.' Now He describes who the great men are, namely the prophets and the priests, of whom some foretell things to come, others decree from the Law what is to be done. 'And behold,' He says, 'while these prophesied falsehood, the priests applauded with their hands.' And to show that not even the people is without fault, being led astray by such men, it is written: 'And My people loved such things' — once My people.

But after it loved them, it ceased to be Mine. What then will they do when the last time of judgment comes, or the necessity of captivity? Whence 'astonishment and marvels' arise, because neither among the princes nor among the people was there found one who thought aright. 'Take courage, sons of Benjamin, in the midst of Jerusalem, and in Tekoa blow the trumpet, and over Beth-haccerem raise (or lift up) a signal (or standard), for evil has been seen (or has appeared) from the north, and great destruction!' No one is ignorant that Jerusalem is situated in the tribe of Benjamin. Tekoa also we daily behold with our eyes to be a village set on a mountain and separated by twelve miles from Jerusalem.

Between these there is another village which in the Syriac and Hebrew tongue is called Beth-haccerem, and it too is set on a mountain. What He says, then, is this: 'Because from the north Nebuchadnezzar is now at any moment about to come, and the neighboring captivity is at hand, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, seize your arms and in Tekoa sound the trumpet, and in Beth-haccerem raise the standard,' He says, 'that you may be able to resist against the enemy!' Benjamin is interpreted 'son of the right hand,' Tekoa 'trumpet,' Beth-haccerem 'house of the vineyard.' Let us refer all these things to the Church, that, if she has offended and the onslaught of persecution has come, she may prepare herself to resist. 'To the comely and delicate one I have likened the daughter of Zion.'

'To her shall come shepherds and their flocks; they have pitched (or shall pitch) their tents against her round about; each shall feed those who are under his own hand. Sanctify (or prepare) war against her, arise, and let us go up at noon!' The beauty of Jerusalem is described, which is Zion itself, so that it may signify one thing as the whole city, another as the citadel of the city. For Zion is interpreted 'citadel,' that is, watchtower, and is compared to a comely woman; and as lovers gather to her, so shepherds are said to gather to this one.

And quite elegantly, in the Hebrew the word which is written with four letters 'resh, ayin, yod, mem,' if it be read 'reim' signifies 'lovers,' if 'roim,' 'shepherds,' so that either according to the metaphor of the beautiful woman lovers, or according to the overthrow of the city shepherds, may be understood — of whom some hasten to defile the harlot, others to besiege and overthrow the city. By the shepherds and their flocks let us understand the princes and the army of the Chaldeans. And they shall pitch their tents round about in the siege of the city, and each shall feed those who are under his own hand, namely his own troops and companies. These princes or shepherds shall say to their flocks: 'Sanctify war against Jerusalem; for it is the command of the Lord.'

'Arise and let us go up at noon, not by night and by ambushes, but let us fight in full light; for no one can resist us.' 'Woe to us, for the day has declined, for the shadows of evening have grown longer (or have failed). Arise and let us go up by night and destroy her houses (or foundations)!' Those say: 'Arise and let us go up at noon and fight in clear light'; these answer: 'Woe to us, for the shadows of evening have grown longer,' according to that Virgilian line: 'And now the topmost roofs of the farmsteads smoke afar, and greater shadows fall from the high mountains.' And the sense is: 'If we suffer these things by day, what shall we suffer by night?' And again those who had said above:

'Sanctify war against her and arise!' — now these very ones provoke themselves to battle, saying: 'Arise and let us go up by night, that the adversaries may know that the victory is not of time but of strength, and let us destroy the houses which are in vain fortified by the strength of walls.' 'For thus says the Lord of hosts: Cut down her wood (or trees), pour out (or carry together) a rampart around Jerusalem!' 'Therefore,' they say, 'we are secure of victory, because it is the command of the Lord commanding the Chaldeans: Hew down the trees and for the coming siege-works carry together a rampart!' By this it is shown that before it comes, the city is not at once to be taken by assault, but by a long siege, as we read afterward.

'This is the city of visitation (or the lie of all calumny) — or oppression is in the midst of her. As a cistern (or pool) keeps its water cold, so she has kept her wickedness cold.' The Lord commands that the trees be cut down, that ramparts be laid all around, because the time of her visitation has come, that she may receive recompense for her sins, the greatest of which is sycophancy (false accusation), so as to oppress the innocent by calumny. As, then, a cistern or pool keeps its water cold, so in the midst of Jerusalem the wickedness which is in her has lost all the warmth of life. And this is to be noted, that the saints are called fervent in spirit, but evils are cold:

whence also that is written, that in the last days, when iniquity is multiplied, the love of many shall grow cold. This too I think that saying signifies: 'I am become like those going down into the pit.' But let the Latin reader understand, so that it may suffice to have said it once, that 'lacus' does not sound 'stagnum' (a standing pool) according to the Greeks, but 'cisterna' (cistern), which in the Syriac and Hebrew tongue is called 'gubba.' In the present place, however, for 'lacus,' which all have translated alike, in the Hebrew it is said 'bor.' 'Iniquity and lawlessness shall be heard in her; before Me continually is weakness and wound. Be instructed, O Jerusalem, lest perhaps My soul depart from you, lest perhaps I make you a desert, an uninhabitable land!' The LXX:

'Impiety and misery shall be heard in her against her face. Through every sorrow and scourge shall you be instructed. O Jerusalem, lest perhaps My soul depart from you, lest I make you a trackless land which shall not be inhabited.' By these things we learn that the Lord scourges every son whom He receives; and therefore Jerusalem is instructed by blows and torments, that she may be corrected and that the soul of God may not depart from her and she be reduced to solitude. Whenever, then, we lie under frequent straits, let us remember for our consolation this little verse: 'Through every sorrow and scourge shall you be instructed, O Jerusalem.' 'Thus says the Lord of hosts: They shall gather the remnants of Israel even to the last cluster, as in a vineyard; turn back your hand as a grape-gatherer to the basket!' The LXX:

'For thus says the Lord of powers: Glean, glean the remnants of Israel as in a vineyard; return as a grape-gatherer to his basket!' Some take these words in a good sense, others in a bad. In a good sense: 'When Jerusalem has been laid waste, let the remnants be saved.' In a bad sense thus: 'Let not even one cluster and small bunch remain in the vineyard; let all be gathered; and whatever you find, cast it like a grape-gatherer into the basket, so that, as he draws the clusters to the winepress, so you may drag the captives to Babylon.' 'To whom shall I speak, and whom shall I call to witness, that he may hear? Behold, their ears (or your ears) are uncircumcised, and they cannot hear!'

'Behold, the word of the Lord has become to them a reproach, and they will not receive it!' They cannot hear, because they were unwilling to circumcise their ears; yet the impossibility does not exempt them from punishment, since it proceeds from contempt and unbelief. If, then, anyone does not receive the words of God nor has understanding of His commandments, he is of uncircumcised ears. And at the same time it is to be noted that circumcision in the Scriptures is spoken of in three kinds: in the foreskin, in the heart, and in the ears; whence the Lord also says: 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear.' By our own will, therefore, we do not receive the word of God; and therefore it becomes to us a reproach, so that what had been given for salvation is, by our fault, turned into punishment.

'Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord, laboring to endure it.' The LXX: 'And I have fulfilled My fury and endured it, and I have not consumed it.' According to the Hebrew, it is spoken in the person of the prophet, that he foresees the coming wrath of God and is full of the Lord's fury and indignation, and can no longer endure it, nor dares to entreat the Lord on behalf of the sinners. But according to the LXX a new sense is set forth, that the Lord Himself speaks and says: 'I have fulfilled My fury by striking the sinful people, and yet have restrained it and not poured it all out, that the remnants may be saved.' This seems to me to be contradictory to itself; for if He has fulfilled His fury, how has He restrained it, that He might not fulfill it?

'Pour out (or He poured out) it upon the little one abroad and upon the assembly of young men together; for the man with his wife shall be taken, the old man with him who is full of days, and their houses shall pass over to others, their fields and their wives together.' Either the prophet in the spirit commands the coming Chaldean to pour out the fury of the Lord upon the little ones and to spare not even the harmless age, or else he narrates what has been done upon the assembly of young men together, who had seized arms to fight back. For the man shall be taken with his wife — names most sweet to each other shall alike feel captivity — the old man with him who is full of days. Therefore old age is not the last stage of life, but that of those who are 'full of days,' whom in our speech we call 'the worn-out' or 'the decrepit.' There follows:

'And their houses shall pass over to others' by the evil of captivity, their fields and their wives together, so that both the spouse and the possession may pass over to the enemies. Whatever we understand literally concerning Jerusalem, let us refer according to the spiritual understanding to the Church, if she has offended God. 'For I will stretch out My hand upon the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord. For from the least even to the greatest, all are eager for avarice, and from the prophet even to the priest, all practice deceit. And they healed the breach of the daughter of My people with ignominy, saying: Peace, peace! and there was no peace.' What in the Hebrew is said:

'I will stretch out My hand upon the sinners or the inhabitants of the land,' among the LXX is always written 'I will lift up,' each of which is the posture of one striking, according to that which is written: 'And still His hand is stretched out,' or 'raised on high.' And the inhabitants of the land are always in fault; whence also in the Apocalypse it is more frequently said: 'Woe to the inhabitants of the earth!' From the least even to the greatest all are eager for avarice, according to that apostolic saying: 'Avarice is the root of all evils.' And from the prophet even to the priest all practice deceit — some in prophesying falsehood, others in perversely interpreting the law of God; for the prophet also says in another place: 'Seek the law from the priests.'

'And while they did such things,' He says, 'they announced prosperous things to My people, and as it were desired to heal the wound and ignominy of My daughter, saying: Peace, peace, when there was no peace at all.' This is properly to be understood of the priests and teachers who promise prosperity to the rich and to those whom they see set in the highest honor, and preach a merciful God, all the more preparing those men for punishment and wrath. 'Were they confounded, because they committed abomination? Nay rather, they were not confounded with confusion, and they knew not how to blush.' This is to be read more closely according to the Hebrew. 'And though they did such things,' He says, 'were they confounded? Did they blush at their crimes?'

'Nay rather, they increased their contempt and knew not how to blush' — 'they knew not' here He put for 'they were unwilling' — 'or, by excessive contempt and the fault of ingrained evil, they could not even understand.' 'Wherefore they shall fall among those who fall; in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, says the Lord.' 'Since,' He says, 'they knew not how to blush, and not only had not the deed but not even the knowledge and the sense of repentance, therefore they shall fall who before stood among them; they who shall be cast down by their own vices and, when the time of their visitation and punishment comes, shall be joined to all who fall.' And great is the impiety not only not to beware, but not even to be willing to understand one's sins, and to have no distinction between good and evil works.

'Thus says the Lord: Stand upon the ways and see, and ask concerning the ancient paths, which is the good way, and walk in it! And you shall find refreshment (or purification) for your souls. And they said: We will not walk (or we will not go). And I appointed watchmen over you; hear the sound of the trumpet! And they said: We will not hear. Therefore hear, O nations (or they heard), and know, O congregation (or you who feed the flocks; or according to Symmachus: and know the testimony which is among them), how great things I will do to them! Hear, O earth!' The Gospel parable, if it be understood, will furnish the understanding of this place;

in which the good merchant is said to sell all his pearls, that from their price he may buy one most precious pearl — namely, that through the patriarchs and prophets we may come to Him who says: 'I am the way.' We must therefore stand among the prophets and most diligently contemplate and inquire concerning the ancient (or everlasting) paths — which have been worn by the footsteps of many saints, and which are more significantly called in Greek 'triboi' — which is the good way in the Gospel, and we must walk in it; which way, when it has been found, furnishes refreshment or purification for the souls of believers. But they, on the contrary, answered: 'We will not walk by the way of the Gospel,' this prophet speaking properly of the perfidy of the Jews. And at once he adds:

'And I appointed watchmen over you' — there is no doubt that the choir of the apostles is indicated, according to Ezekiel: 'Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel' — 'and I commanded that you should hear the sound of the trumpet, either the precepts of the Gospel or the doctrine of the apostles, according to that of Isaiah: Go up onto a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Zion; lift up your voice like a trumpet, you who announce to Jerusalem.' They who said: 'We will not hear,' and who, being invited to the supper, were unwilling to come; therefore it is said: 'Hear, O nations!' — which the apostles also followed, when they say in Lycaonia: 'It was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to you; but since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.'

'And know, O congregation' — by no means the Jewish one, but that of all nations — 'or you who feed the flocks,' the bishops and presbyters and every ecclesiastical order, 'or know the testimony which is among them'; for the testimony of God is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones. To whom the Lord also speaks: 'Fear not, little flock,' and: 'Behold, I and the children whom God has given me.' 'Know therefore how great things I will do to the unbelieving people.' And as for what is added: 'Hear, O earth,' the whole world is called to hear, as we read also at the beginning of Isaiah: 'Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth,' namely what the Lord is about to do to the people of the Jews. 'Behold, I will bring evils upon this people,'

'the fruit of their thoughts (or of their apostasy), because they have not heard My words and have rejected My law.' He calls 'evils' the punishments and penalties of those who suffer — not upon the nations, which are called to the truth of the Gospel, but upon the people who answered: 'We will not hear.' And it shall receive the fruit of its thoughts or of its apostasy, as David says: 'You shall eat the labors of your hands.' And the cause is manifest, because they did not hear the words of the Lord and cast away His law. 'To what purpose do you bring Me frankincense from Sheba and the sweet-smelling cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not accepted, and your victims have not pleased Me.' That frankincense comes from Sheba, no one doubts; whence also is that Virgilian line:

'And a hundred altars glow with Sabaean frankincense.' But 'calamus' (cane), which in Hebrew is called 'cane,' for which the LXX and Theodotion translated 'cinnamon,' the prophetic word shows to come from a far country, so that we may understand India, from which through the Red Sea many aromatics come. This kind of pigment the physicians call 'cassia syrinx.' And the sense is: 'In vain do you bring together for Me, in the compounding of unguents which are commanded by the Law, the pigments of most sweet odor, and kindle burnt offerings, you who do not do My will in the Law,' according to what was said above: 'They have not heard My words and have cast away My law.'

But this properly applies to those who offer sacrifices out of the plunder and stripping of the wretched, and who think to redeem their sins by alms given out of iniquity, since the Scripture says: 'The redemption of a man's soul is his own riches' — riches which are gathered not out of iniquity, but out of labor and justice. 'Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will give ruins to this people, and they shall fall upon them (or weakness, and they shall be weakened in it) — fathers and sons together, neighbor and friend, and they shall perish.' We see fulfilled all the things which the Lord threatened against that people: for daily they fall in their blasphemies and have nothing strong in themselves, but all is weakness among them. The sons follow the blasphemies of the fathers and daily receive that imprecation:

'His blood be upon us and upon our children'; and not only they themselves, but also their neighbors and friends, all who follow the Law and the prophets according to the killing letter and not according to the life-giving spirit, and all alike shall perish, because they have alike sinned. 'Thus says the Lord: Behold, a people comes from the land of the north, and a great nation shall rise up from the ends of the earth. It shall seize the arrow and the shield (or the sibyna, a javelin); it is cruel (or shameless) and will not have mercy; its voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall mount upon horses, prepared like a man for battle against you, O daughter of Zion.'

This is properly prophesied concerning the Babylonians, who are to come against the people of Jerusalem, and the whole array of armament and the onset of the warriors is described, so that, shaken by the terror of the voice, they may do penance and appease the most merciful God. Finally He gives occasion for entreaty when He says: 'against you, O daughter of Zion.' We may make use of this testimony in the time of persecution, when all the fury of the devil is roused against us and there is no mercy, and, like the most violent waves of the sea, they thus overwhelm those who resist. 'We have heard the report of it; our hands are slackened; tribulation has laid hold of us, pains as of a woman in travail.'

The people answer, to whom the prophet — or rather through the prophet the Lord — threatened the Babylonians, that, before they come, they are overcome by fear and cannot lift up their hands, and anguish has seized them like the pain of a woman in travail; than which pain they affirm nothing to be more grievous, of the things they have felt. 'Go not out into the fields, and walk not in the way, for the sword of the enemy, terror is round about!' The Gospel teaches that one must not go out into the field nor come down from the height of the housetops, but must hear that word: 'Save yourself in the mountain,' to which in Isaiah and Micah we are bidden to run and to ascend. But according to the letter it is commanded that they should not go outside, that they should not desert the walls, but that they should defend themselves with firm fortifications.