耶利米書註 第 1 章 第 2/5 段

For sinners find the righteous burdensome not only while they live, but even after they have died.

Do you see Herod — how, though he had put John to death, he still carried within himself fear of him as of one living? So great a thing is virtue, so great a thing is wickedness: thus is wickedness cowardly and unmanly, [variant reading: cowardly and unmanly],

while virtue is courageous and outspoken.

To you I revealed my just cause. For, being reviled, he did not revile in return; suffering, he did not threaten;

but he committed himself to him who judges justly, according to the holy apostle.

Against those dwelling in Anathoth. The prophet's fellow townsmen, who also plotted against him.

Righteous are you, Lord, that I should plead my case before you.

"Nevertheless." "I know," he says, "that you are righteous;"

yet I seek an account concerning your judgments.

I must first confess to you, Lord, that you are righteous, and only then seek out the cause of what perplexes me.

Why does the way of the ungodly prosper? You know that I speak not out of envy, but in inquiry.

You planted them. That is, you created them, as maker of all things, and they were not cut off even while sinning.

You are near to their mouth, but far from their inward parts. You know, he says, that they honor you only as far as their lips, and you do not bring trials upon them, so as to test the depths of their mind.

Set them apart for the day of slaughter. He says this not as one calling down a curse upon them, but as one fully convinced that, even if it be slow in coming, punishment will surely come upon them.

And "set apart" stands for "prepare, make ready," as is said of those about to be sacrificed.

Cattle and birds have vanished. On account of the barrenness of the land.

But according to the spiritual sense, you may understand by "cattle and birds" men who are perishing: they, as birds, long for the things of heaven, yet, as cattle, do not depart from the things of earth.

Your feet run, and they exhaust you. The word is addressed to sinners;

for, he says, by running after wicked things, you relax the sinews of virtue.

How will you prepare yourself with horses? How, while offending God, can you believe you will be saved by the help of cavalry? But according to the spiritual sense, the horses bearing the divine Word mounted upon them are the apostles and prophets.

How then, he asks, can you prepare yourself to benefit from these, while pursuing the works of wickedness? "And do you trust in the land of your peace?" Do not be confident, he says, in the present peace of the land;

for war will surely come, so long as you keep transgressing.

How, he says, can you be confident in the knowledge of piety while sinning? For piety is the land of peace, through which we are at peace with God.

What will you do amid the swelling of the Jordan? The boast of the Jordan is the divine baptism.

How then can you, while sinning, boast in your baptism? "They have gathered themselves against you from behind; do not trust in them." If the word is addressed to the prophet, he speaks concerning his fellow citizens in Anathoth, who wished to kill him;

but if it is addressed to the sinner:

those, he says, who of old were bound to you through piety, now abhor you, and have become your enemies, and pursue you.

Is my heritage a hyena's den? The hyena's den is full of uncleanness, and of dead men's bones from various bodies.

Such were the leaders of the Jews: whitewashed tombs, full within of dead men's bones, that is, filled with every uncleanness.

Let them come to devour her. All the things that war against man because of sin;

but according to the historical sense, he means the Romans.

Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard. The shepherding that is according to God is one.

But the many shepherds — whether Jews, or Greeks, or heretics — introduce diverse teachings, and each wishes to establish his own;

whence also arise the diverse ways of those being taught.

Because of me all the land has been utterly laid waste. Spoken in the person of the Lord, this shows that, because of the slaughter inflicted upon him, the land of the Jews was laid waste;

but spoken from the common person of humanity, it signifies that, because man has given himself over to every kind of teaching, the land has been laid waste.

"There is," he says, "no man who considers that God is the Lord of men, and that they ought not, through their own teaching, to make those they teach into their own possession, so as to lord it over them."

Upon every byway in the wilderness. The captives of the Jews.

but according to the spiritual sense, those who accept the fruitless teaching of the many shepherds.

For the sword of the Lord will devour from one end of the earth to the other. According to the historical sense, the hand of the Romans ravaging the land of the Jews;

but according to the spiritual sense, the Lord's permission, on account of the free will of both shepherds and flock; you are to understand the "sword of the Lord" as destroying those in every land who are persuaded by the varied teachings — men who do not even live at peace with one another,

the statement concerns those who, by plausible argument, supposing that they are setting forth nourishing teaching, reap destruction for themselves.

Their portions shall not profit them. The pastoral charges will profit the shepherds nothing.

Be ashamed of your boasting. Such boasting, he says, is worthy of shame and reproach before God.

For thus says the Lord concerning all the wicked neighbors. The wicked neighbors are those who counterfeit the divine word, and who also create byways, diverting the divine teaching from its course.

Behold, I will tear them away. "I will pluck out," he says, "those of my people who are being saved, from the land of the wicked neighbors";

that is, from idolatry and false teaching.

By "Judah" he means the people who confess him and are being saved, whom he also promises to bring out from that wicked land.

And it shall be, after I have cast them out, that I will turn again and have mercy on them. "And these too," he says, "I will have mercy on" — meaning the Gentiles — bestowing on them the forgiveness that comes through the holy washing.

And it shall be ... that they swear by my name. So that they may no longer swear by idols, but hold the Master Christ as the one by whom they swear.

Go, and get for yourself a linen girdle. A linen girdle is one that can be washed many times;

and it signifies those who have often been forgiven, and yet have not repented.

And behold, it had been ruined — which was not... The water ruined the loincloth:

Now water is sin, being altogether moist and running off, and rendering those who make use of it useless.

Those who are unwilling to obey my words, and who have gone after strange gods. It is an outrage against God to offer to idols the worship that belongs to him.

And you shall say to this people:

Every wineskin shall be filled with wine. He compares them to wineskins, either because they are empty and possess only the outward form of human beings, or because, if they should so wish, they are able once again to receive the divine teachings of faith in Christ.

Behold, I fill the priests with strong drink. By way of punishment for their wrongdoing.

Give glory to your Lord before it grows dark. Your Lord Jesus Christ is light:

Therefore, he says, while you have the light, believe in it.

And before your feet stumble... The dark mountains are the evil powers, and the diabolical energies.

Therefore, he says, before the devil's boldness [is unleashed], believe in the light.

And you will wait for light, and there is the shadow of death, and they will be set in darkness. For false teachings, though they promise light, prove to be the agents of death.

My soul shall weep in secret. Either the word is addressed to the teachers, meaning: Being ashamed of those whom you have deceived, weep in secret;

or else it is addressed to the captives, meaning: Such will be your captivity, whether intelligible or sensible, that you will not even dare to show it openly.

The cities toward the south have been shut up. These are the ways of life according to piety, which stand opposed to the north understood in its spiritual sense.

Judah has been carried into exile; they have completed a total deportation. Along with the sensible sense, he means that it has departed from the ways of piety.

Lift up your eyes, Jerusalem. That is, take note, consider.

What will you say when they come to inspect you? When the sensible, or also the intelligible, enemies set upon you.

And you yourself taught them lessons against yourself, unto dominion. For unless we hand ourselves over to sin, it does not rule over us.

Your heels. Your ways, and your earthly pursuits.

Can the Ethiopian change [his skin]? He compares sin arising from long habit to a natural fact, in order to show that the grace of the washing of regeneration is necessary.

And your neighing. By the neighing he signifies the desire for intercourse with the female.

This, then, he says, that: both in consent, and in the very deed itself, you have committed sin.

On the hills, and in the fields, I have seen your abominations. That is, in many ways.

Judea has mourned. After the sensible sense, [this is] the knowledge of piety.

And her gates have been emptied. The introductions and teachings, having none who are being taught.

And they have grown dark upon the earth. For when vice prevails, virtue is hidden.

but the cry of her lamentation...

And her great ones sent their young men for water. The priestly thrones sent to inquire of God concerning what was profitable.

And he called them 'young men' because they were held fast by worldly and youthful desires.

They came to the wells and found no water. This would never have happened, had it not been from divine wrath.

For they did not find the living water that is given from God.

The farmers. Those who ought to have labored.

And they abandoned [their work], because there was no vegetation. For there were none who listened.

For the food of the saints is their disciples.

Wild asses stood upon the wooded valleys. They groaned over those who were perishing.

Those who are free from worldly affairs.

Why have you become like a sojourner upon the earth? Why, he says, do you not care for us as a Master, but look past us as though a sojourner? Turning aside to a lodging-place. One who is hastening to reach a lodging-place, even if he sees people in some way in need of help, looks past them and runs on by.

They loved to move their feet. To move in a disorderly manner, to run toward evils.

Behold, their prophets prophesy. As though pleading on the people's behalf, the prophet says: The false prophets are deceiving them;

and from this he accomplishes two things:

he transfers the wrath onto the prophets, and he prompts God to say: I did not send them.

They shall die by a sickly death. By a protracted illness, since a swift death would be the more preferable.

And they shall be cast out in the thoroughfares of Jerusalem. The thoroughfares are the most shameful ways.

Do not reject [us]. A supplication of the prophet to God, and a confession on behalf of the people, and God's answer to him.

And has your soul withdrawn from Zion? Just as Scripture, in human terms, gives form to God who is without form, so also, as though speaking of a human being, it says: Your soul has died.

Or [it is spoken] prophetically, [signifying] that God the Word was destined for our sake to become man.

And if the heaven should give its abundance, is it not you yourself [who gives it]? Not even the heavenly powers, he says, are able to bestow good things apart from your sanction.

And we will wait for you, O Lord, for you have made all these things. It is you, he says, and no other, who supply to us both the sensible rain and the spiritual.

And the Lord said to me: Even if Moses and Samuel should stand [before me]. Moses, who said: If indeed you will forgive them their sin, forgive it;

otherwise blot me also out of this book of yours which you have written;

and Samuel, who likewise mourned over the sin of Saul.

Send them away, and let them go out. It is not God who casts them out, but our sins that create a separation between us and him.

A sword for slaughter, and the dogs. After [the sensible sword — variant reading:

after the sensible sword], he also understands a spiritual sword: knowledge falsely so called.

And by 'the dogs' [he means those] concerning whom the Apostle said:

Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers.

And by 'the wild beasts of the earth' [he means] those who sow into us earthly ways of thinking;

and by 'the birds of heaven' [he means] those who sow into us lofty notions, together with the knowledge of God.

Because of Manasseh. This man led the Jews into idolatry in an outrageous manner.

And it is said that he himself sawed the prophet Isaiah [in two].

Or who will turn back to give you peace? Who is there to fear, so as to do you harm? That is, no one.

Or, he says, who is going to make peace with you, while I am waging war against you? And I will destroy you, and I will no longer spare them. The 'you' and the 'them' refer to one and the same [subject];

that is, he speaks of Jerusalem, and of those who are being threatened.

In the gates of my people they have been made childless. The cities that once thronged with crowds have become desolate.

More than the sand of the sea. The expression is hyperbolic.

Wretchedness at midday. From Chrysostom [— variant reading:

See how he brought on the punishment, so that these [afflictions] should not be thought to be the ordinary ones, but truly some that were sent by God.

I have suddenly cast trembling upon her. Unexpectedly.

The sun went down upon her while it was still midday. Because of the multitude of the enemies;

or because, being suddenly overtaken by calamities, they do not even see the sun on account of their confusion.

...contending and disputing with all the earth. With respect to the literal text: because he opposed the false prophets, and contended against those who transgressed the law;

but with respect to the underlying sense: because sin in many ways tears at goodness.

Nor has anyone helped me. Because the prophetic word freed no one at all from sin, so that of necessity there was need of the redemption that comes through Christ.

My strength has failed among those who curse me. [That is,] those who plot against me.

May it be, Master, when they walk uprightly. Would that, he says, they had walked uprightly, and turned back to you, just as I again prayed on their behalf, and asked good things for them — and this though they were my enemies and foes.

Will iron be known, and will a covering of bronze be your strength? The word is from God to the people.

Even if you are strong, he says, like iron or bronze, I shall prevail over you.

And your treasures I will give over to plunder, as a recompense, on account of all your sins. What does 'recompense' mean? In exchange for your sins I will give up your wealth and your strength, since you trusted in them.

Know that I have suffered reproach for your sake. Quickly — do not delay.

And your word shall become to me a gladness and the joy of my heart. That I may proclaim your words with joy, no longer contradicted by them.

Of those making merry, etc. [That is,] of those doing things worthy of derision.

My wound is severe. [Attributed to] Theodoret [otherwise—

For is my wound not for their benefit? For what reason then do you spare them? From where shall I be healed? [Attributed to] Olympiodorus.

[Attributed to] Theodoret.] He speaks the word on behalf of humanity in common, which is able to be healed from nowhere except by our Savior alone.

It became to me, in its becoming, like deceitful water that has no faithfulness. [That is,] the deceit of the false prophets, which also struck the people;

or sin itself, being faithless, and resembling water that drowns those caught up in it.

And the deceitful water that has no faithfulness is the baptisms of the heretics.

If you return, I will also restore you;

and you shall stand before my face. For if, he says, you depart from sin, you shall be as Adam was from the beginning, deemed worthy of my contemplation/vision.

And if you bring forth what is precious out of what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. If you bring forth a precious word — that is, the confession of faith — out of one who was formerly worthless and faithless, and cause him to believe, you shall be as the mouth of the Savior who said:

O woman, great is your faith.

And they shall turn back to you, but you shall not turn back to them. Strive, he says, O prophet, to be such as to draw them toward virtue, and not to be dragged down by their wickedness.

And you shall not take [a wife]. It is related that the prophet was a virgin, as one commanded by God not to marry.

Do not enter into a company/gathering. [That is,] into a banquet of gladness or even of mourning.

They shall not lament themselves [with cutting]. [That is,] gashes, lacerations.

And voice. He speaks of the complete removal of joy.

Babylon lies more to the north in relation to Jerusalem;

so he speaks, according to the history, of sensible Babylon, or also of the intelligible captivity of souls.

Behold, I send. He speaks of the apostles.

I send the many. [That is,] the presidents of the Churches.

[To draw them] out from the diabolical workings.

And they shall hunt. [Namely,] the demons, or also the ways of wickedness.

And above every [height]. [That is,] the unseen and hardly comprehensible workings of wickedness.

And I will repay. If indeed against the demons, then also the twofold punishment brought upon them, because they both turned men away from the true God and made gods of themselves;

but if against men who sin after [having received] knowledge, they are for this reason punished doubly.

Among the dead carcasses. [That is,] among the dead works of sin;

and the Law also abominates dead carcasses.

To you [shall come] the nations. To the Lord Jesus, concerning whom it is written:

And in him shall the nations hope.

Will he make? [Refers] to the incarnation.

And I will make known. It is the Father who is speaking, concerning the Only-begotten.

Accursed. Upon himself, or also upon some other;

or also he who supposes the Savior Christ to be a mere man, and not God become man.

And relies. [That is,] and is confident in his own power.

He shall be like the wild tamarisk. This plant, even while alive, is half-dead and scorched;

and it is said to die whenever rain falls upon it.

He who does not believe that Christ, having become man, is God, shall not enjoy the good things of his coming.

And shall dwell. It is the saltwort plant, and moreover of many kinds.

And shall not fear. In the time of trial, he says.

And it shall be. [That is,] the flourishing fruits of virtue, covering him round about in his trials.

In the year. The year is a cycle;

therefore, he says, in the time of a universal trial he shall not fear.

Deep is the heart. The mystery of the incarnation of the Only-begotten is deep and incomprehensible;

for while remaining God, he also became man.

Who then shall know, he says, either his begetting from the Father, or the ineffable dispensation that took place with the flesh? The partridge cried out. The partridge, as they say, being arrogant, calls to itself, by its voice, the chicks of others;

who, when they later realize that they do not belong to it, abandon it;

so also men who were deceived by the devil, when they come to know their own Creator and Master, God, depart from him.

And not at the end. Since he desired the things of others without judgment, later, being convicted, he shall be shown to be foolish.

Throne. You are, he says, Lord, who have the exalted throne of glory, and who grant both our being and our continuance.

Let them be put to shame. Let those who have departed from God, he says, be inscribed not in heaven, but on earth, according to: 'Earth you are, and to earth you shall go.'

And a day. In place of: none of the things that are man's.

Do not become to me. In the toilsome and testing day of judgment, do not stand opposed to me as a stranger and adversary, O Lord, but sparing me, forgive me my sins.

And let them be put to shame. He curses the demons;

for the holy one does not wish to hand men over to perpetual punishment;

because they are also the inventors, the compellers, and the teachers of wickedness for men.

Not to bring in [burdens]. They used to walk according to a clearly defined measure;

for to travel a distance was considered to be work, and this is what is spoken of in the Acts: 'having a Sabbath day's journey.'

And I will kindle. By mentioning unquenchable fire, the text sends us on to spiritual contemplation, teaching that eternal fire receives the soul which does not put away the burdens of sin.

And again. He hints at the re-formation that comes through baptism.

As it pleased [him to make]. Not good was its disposition, but evil.

For this belongs to free choice and to self-determination;

indeed, even those who sin are bidden to repent;

We are taught, then, not to pry curiously into the unattainable ways of [God's] creating.

“And at last I will speak.” If I pronounce…

“Behold, I fashion.” According to the punitive afflictions, he says; and since men do not remember all their sins,

I bring them before your eyes, that through the punishments you may be reminded of the sins you have committed.

“And they said.” They spoke shamelessly, saying, “We will stubbornly persist in what we are doing.”

“You say,” he says, that “having turned away from good works, we have followed after base things;”

we will go on following after those very base things.

“Shall they fail?” The rock is Christ, and the breasts are the nourishing word;

and the snow is the cleansing of sins.

The breasts are also understood as the New and the Old Testament.

Have I then in any way failed to do good to them, and to nourish their souls? “Shall it turn aside?” What does he mean? Are they not, in this present life, tossed about like waves, as water carried along by a violent wind? And yet they took no account either of my benefactions or of the instability of the present life;

but they go on in this life walking thus, treading the uneven course of this life, as though they supposed that they would remain here forever.

Therefore they shall also grow faint in their ways, burning incense to God in vain, with a base disposition.

By “paths” and “cords” he means the same thing, in place of “the ways.”

“And a hissing.” Because men, whether marveling or mocking, are naturally inclined to hiss.

“As a wind.” I will afflict all alike—

for the wind burns up all alike.

It is characteristic of those taken captive by the spear to bow down toward the earth, so as to show the neck rather than the face.

Or, because in the case of those who have turned away, it is not the face but the neck that we see, which signifies God's turning away.

“That it shall not perish.” They took counsel, saying:

“Jeremiah is a priest, and of necessity knows the law; and being a prophet, he knows what is to come;

and being prudent, he knows what is fitting.

Come, therefore, he says, let us provoke him with words, and he will certainly tell us what is to come to pass.

“And the punishment.” While uttering other things with the tongue, they were secretly contriving destruction against me.

“His ears shall ring.” That is, he shall be thrown into confusion.

For a sound falling upon the ears produces confusion.

“The polyandrion.” A polyandrion is a grave; and since it had perhaps caved in, the collapse was so called—the burial-place of the son of Hinnom.

“And I will slaughter.” That is, those who devised the evil counsel.

“In the siege.” When the enemies encompass the city;

“As the place.” In ruined places men are wont to throw their filth.

Thus, therefore, he says, I will cause the city to become, together with the houses in which they practiced idolatry.

“Tapheth.” Tapheth is interpreted “collapse”; whence the prophet, having come there, foretells these same evils;

and they hardened their neck, just as beasts of burden that toss their head back against the yoke.

“And Pashhur heard.” This Pashhur was a priest, and the first among the false prophets.

“Into the stocks.” In a secluded place of the temple.

“With all your friends.” Those who work together with you in prophesying falsely.

“You have deceived me.” Here he calls “deception”—indeed, a good deception—the change from worse to better;

“You enticed me, and I was enticed”—so he rendered it.

What he means is this:

“You promised me, Lord, to shield me, and yet you let me remain in such circumstances.”

He says this not blaming God, but just as Paul also says: “Concerning this I besought the Lord three times.”

“I was deceived,” thinking that they would become better through your predictions, and they have not become so.

“For with my bitter word I will laugh at faithlessness.” For there is a bitter laughter, brought forth from the anguish of the soul.

And by this laughter, he says, I show that I am afflicted because of them.

“I will no longer speak.” Because there is no one who obeys.

“And it became like fire.” The zeal on behalf of God.

“Gather yourselves together against [him].” This is what those plotting against the prophet were saying: “Watch all his words, [to see] whether they are consistent;”

so that, if he should be found in any way contradicting himself, they might destroy him as a liar.

“Therefore they persecuted [me].” Because God is with me, and because they do things worthy of dishonor.

“The day on which my mother bore me.” As one making light of things that have no substance and are already past, things that cannot receive a curse, he utters these words;

in order only to show the trial that had befallen him.

“Cursed [be that day].” They say that Julius wrote in his own works that Ananias the false prophet was himself the very first to tell Hilkiah, the father of Jeremiah, that a male child had been born to him.

Justly, therefore, he curses him, as having become to the people a cause of destruction.

But according to the [spiritual] sense, understand it thus:

Scripture in many places calls the devil “a man.”

“Cursed,” therefore, he says, “be the devil,” who said to our Father, God, “Behold, the human being is male”—that is, courageous;

“Let him hear a cry.” According to the literal text: swiftly;

but according to the [spiritual] sense: “Let the devil,” he says, “be terrified at the manifestation, and at the rising of the true sun, Jesus our Lord.”

“And of a war-cry.” According to the literal text: “Still,” he says, “while being brought to account, Ananias will hear the voice of the enemies;”

but according to the [spiritual] sense: “At midday the Lord is crucified;”

when also the devil was utterly defeated;

for a war-cry is a shout raised over fallen enemies.

“That he did not kill me.” This Ananias was not able to do;

so that it is more fitting to view it in its spiritual sense.

“And my mother became to me [my grave].” Why, he says, did it remain fixed in that intention, and was the reasoning dissolved, and I did not carry the purpose into effect? Why this? “I came forth.” Sin has become the cause of toils and hardships;

and it also produces remorse in the one who sins.

The word, therefore, laments this reversal.

“When King Zedekiah sent to him.” Zedekiah, having become a captive of the Babylonian [king], was again established by him to reign over Jerusalem, having given him oaths that he would not break faith with him;

But when he transgressed the covenants, the Babylonian again marched against him.

"And he who trades." As one not setting himself against the divine judgment, which justly determined that they be handed over to the Babylonians.

"And his soul shall be..." — that is, "he shall gain his soul." "Judge in the morning" — "in the morning" means, repent quickly.

"And it shall be burned." He speaks of the food, for the Babylonian took that too.

"And I will bring upon you." Since he next mentions cedars, signifying those of high rank, he necessarily also spoke of an axe.

"You have built." Understand "upper chambers" as the heights that are lifted up against the knowledge of God.

"He who weaves," therefore, he says, weaves for himself doctrines of false opinion.

"Shall you reign?" You have emulated, he says, your father Ahaz, and have striven to surpass him in impiety.

"He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey." Instead of: the bellies of carrion-eating birds and dogs shall become his tomb —

that is to say, that his burial shall be cast away.

But according to the spiritual sense, he who lives together with irrationality, and dies together with it, is buried with the burial of a donkey.

"For they have been shattered." "The lovers of Jerusalem" — you shall understand these to be both the demons, and also the false prophets, who, though seeming to love her, deceived her.

"I spoke to you." [He means] the true prophets, whom you did not listen to when they told you of your transgressions.

"All your shepherds the wind shall shepherd." Instead of: they shall be scattered.

"You who dwell in Lebanon." In the land of the promise.

"Nesting among the cedars." Trusting in, and fleeing for refuge to, the powerful men among you.

"As I live, says the Lord." Even if such a hypocrite should compose himself outwardly unto godliness, and perform good deeds — for this is what is meant by "upon my right hand" — I, God, knowing that he is only feigning for the occasion, will not spare him.

"Signet" — he means a ring.

And a ring in the hand of God is a good deed unmixed with evils.

Even if he should flee up into heaven — which is impossible — from there I will pluck him out and hand him over to his enemies.

"O earth, earth, hear." He calls the earth to witness, upon which he had committed the acts of injustice.

"And you drove out." From the godly way of life.

"And I will establish." So that they might again reap the divine teachings.

"And I will raise up." The presidents of the churches.

"Nor shall they be terrified." The Jews have nothing to say against this.