Thomas Aquinas

Here he takes his argument from the prophets' foretelling. And first the prophet's plea is set down: "Ah, ah, ah," for the threefold punishment which he had just touched upon. The prophets: false ones. The peace: true, lasting, and not feigned by the enemies. Above, ch. 4: "Have you then deceived this people, and Jerusalem, saying: Peace shall be to you? And behold, the sword has reached even to the soul." Second, the Lord's answer is set down: "And the Lord said." And first he shows the falsity of the prophets as to the action which they take upon themselves: "I did not send" — to carry it out; "I did not command" — by enjoining the office; "nor have I spoken" — by inspiring the gift of prophecy. Below, ch. 23: "I did not send the prophets, and they ran; I did not speak to them, and they prophesied." And as to the peace which they preached: "a lying vision," "a seduction of the heart," that is, words devised to seduce. Ezekiel 13: "They see vain things, and divine a lie, saying — says the Lord — when the Lord has not sent them." Second, he threatens punishment both to the prophets who preach and to the people who believe: "therefore thus says the Lord." Isaiah 9: "They who call this people blessed shall be seducers, and they who are called blessed shall be cast down headlong." Third, the prophet's compassion for the people is announced: "and you shall say to them: let my eyes (or: your eyes) let fall a tear." And thus a lament of repentance is enjoined. Lamentations 2: "Let tears run down like a torrent." The reason for this is assigned: "with a breaking" — because of the multitude of the slain; "most grievous" — because of incorrigibility; "vehemently" — because of its continuance. Isaiah 30: "I will break them in pieces as the potter's vessel is broken, with a very strong breaking." And he assigns the manner of the breaking, as to the punishment of slaughter: "if I go out," outwardly; and "if I enter in," by reflection. Lamentations 1: "Outside the sword shall slay them, and within, terror; the young man together with the virgin, the suckling with the old man." As to the captivity, the prophet too. Above, ch. 9: "I will utterly destroy them among the nations which they have not known, neither they nor their fathers."