Thomas Aquinas

This is the lover of the brethren, and of the people of Israel; this is he who prays much for the people and the whole holy city, Jeremiah, prophet of God. 2 Mach., last chapter. These are the words of Onias the high priest to Judas Maccabeus, commending Jeremiah in a vision. From these, four things can be gathered concerning the present work which is at hand; namely, the author, the matter, the method, and the usefulness. Concerning the author, the present authority indicates three things: namely, office, affection, and act. In the office, the prophetic dignity is shown: hence he says, Jeremiah, prophet of the Lord. In the affection, fraternal charity: hence he says, this is the lover of the brethren. In the act, the piety of compassion: hence he says, this is he who prays much for the people, and the whole holy city.

Now he is called a prophet of God to distinguish him from others who are not prophets of God. For there are some prophets of heaven, some prophets of the Devil, some prophets of God. Prophets of heaven are those who strive to conjecture future things from the configurations of heaven in the movements of the stars; and of these it is said, Isaiah 47: let the augurs of heaven stand and save thee, who contemplated the stars, and calculated the months, that from them they might announce to thee the things that are coming. And to this mode of prophecy is reduced all divination, which is done through certain causes or signs found in natural things. Prophets of the Devil are those who know certain future things from the revelation of demons, which things, as Augustine says, the demons themselves know by the experience of a long time, or by the keenness of their nature, or by the revelation of higher spirits. And of these it is said below, chapter 2: the prophets prophesied in Baal, and followed idols. But the prophets of God are those who, through the mediation of angels, as Dionysius says, receive illumination from God concerning future things. Hence Cassiodorus says that prophecy is a divine inspiration announcing the outcome of things with unchanging truth. And therefore it is said, Luke 1: thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High, et cetera.

The first prophecy is to be despised, because it is vain: for it does not have unchanging truth. For effects receive contingency from proximate causes, not necessity from first causes. And therefore it is said below, chapter 10: be not afraid of the signs of heaven. The second is to be fled altogether, because it is deceptive and pernicious. Zechariah 13: I will take away the false prophets, and the unclean spirit, out of the land. The third is to be followed and held, because it is illuminative. 2 Peter 1: we have a more firm prophetic word, to which you do well to attend, as to a lamp shining in a dark place.

Now these holy prophets are called prophets of God for three reasons. First, because they are inspired by God. Joel 2: I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. On the contrary, of false prophets, who speak by their own spirit, it is said, Ezekiel 13: woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and see nothing. Second, because they are sent by God. Matthew 23: behold I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes. Isaiah 29: and now the Lord hath sent me, and his spirit. On the contrary, of false prophets, below chapter 23: I did not send them, and they ran; I did not speak to them, and they prophesied. Third, because they testified of God (Acts 10): to him all the prophets give testimony, et cetera. Isaiah 44: you are my witnesses.

Now the affection is shown to be fervent with fraternal charity: hence he says, this is the lover of the brethren. Now the affection of prophets varies in three ways. For some are lovers of gain. Isaiah 56: sleeping, and loving dreams, and most impudent dogs, they never had enough, et cetera. Some are lovers of human favor, of whom Matthew 23: they love the first places at feasts. But the third are lovers of the people, fulfilling that word of the apostle, to the Hebrews, last chapter: let the charity of brotherhood remain in you, and do not forget hospitality. The first despoiled them of riches. Micah 3: thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets who seduce my people, who bite with their teeth, and preach peace. Ezekiel 13: they violated me before my people for a handful of barley and a piece of bread, to kill souls that do not die, and to save alive souls that do not live, lying to my people who believe in lies. The second deceived by flatteries. Ezekiel 22: her prophets daubed them without tempering, seeing vain things and divining lies to them. But the third instructed with true doctrines. Below, chapter 3: I will give you shepherds according to my own heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine.

Now in his act, his pious compassion toward his people is shown, there: this is he who prays much. His prayer is much, or great, in three ways. First, by the height of contemplation. Below, chapter 18: remember that I stood before thy sight, to speak good for them, and to turn away thy indignation from them. To stand in his sight is to be present through contemplation. Second, it was great from the greatness of compassion. Lamentations 2: my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured out upon the earth. Third, it was great by the constancy of time, because it continued before the captivity, and after. Hence James, last chapter: the continual prayer of a just man availeth much.

And these three, namely prophetic dignity, fraternal charity, and the piety of compassion, are necessary for a prophet. Since, then, the prophet is constituted as it were a mediator between God and the people, as it is said, Deuteronomy 5: I was the go-between and mediator between God and you: it is necessary that through the gift of prophecy he be joined to God, as it is said, Wisdom 7: through nations she transfers herself into holy souls; and that through the bond of charity he be joined to the people. Ephesians 4: careful to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. And thus by praying they refer the cause of the people to God, and by preaching, the cause of God to the people.

Now from these three, three others at once appear. For from the office, the method is evident: for he proceeds by similitudes and figures, which is the proper method of prophets. Numbers 12: if there be among you a prophet of the Lord, I will appear to him in a vision, and I will speak to him in a dream. From the affection, the usefulness is evident: for as it is said, Ecclesiasticus 6: a faithful friend is the medicine of life and of immortality. For the end is to live well, and to attain to the glory of immortality. But the matter appears from the act: for the matter, according to the historical sense, is the captivity of the people, which excited the prayer of compassion. Hence it is said, Baruch 3: the soul in anguish, and the troubled spirit, cry out to thee.

Now here, in the book of Jeremiah, he who translated the book from Hebrew into Latin prefixes a proem in which, in the theoretical manner, he does three things. First, he renders them attentive; second, he makes them docile, there: here as a child he began to prophesy; third, well-disposed, there: which we have rendered according to the measure of meter and in verses. Now he renders them attentive in two ways. First, from the depth of Scripture; second, from the authority of the writer, there: a priest from among the priests. Concerning the first, he does two things. First, he commends the depth of the mystery, in which he equates him to the other prophets, there: but equal in meaning. And he shows the cause, the unity of the inspiring spirit, there: since indeed he prophesied by the same spirit. 1 Corinthians 14: it is the spirit that speaks mysteries. Job 32: the inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding. Second, he excuses the rusticity of his speech, there: moreover, the simplicity of his speech happened to him from the place in which he was born. And therefore he himself says below, chapter 1: I know not how to speak, for I am a child.

Now he shows the authority of the writer from three things. First, from lineage together with dignity, there: a priest from among the priests: hence it was his own to teach the law. Malachi 2: the lips of the priest keep knowledge, and they seek the law from his mouth. Second, from privileged sanctity: and sanctified in his mother's womb. Hence it is said, chapter 1: before thou camest forth from the womb, I sanctified thee. Third, from the integrity of the flesh, that is, virginity, which is proved from what is said below, chapter 16: thou shalt not take a wife in this place, and thou shalt not have sons.

Here as a child he began to prophesy. Here he renders them docile, determining the time: he beheld the captivity of the city not only in the spirit, as future, but also with the eyes of the flesh, as present; and determining the matter, namely that he prophesied not to the ten tribes, but only to the two. Already the Assyrians had transferred the ten tribes of Israel into the Medes. For it is clear from 4 Kings 17, that the ten tribes were taken captive by the king of the Assyrians in the time of Achaz, king of Judah. Colonists, that is, foreigners brought in to inhabit the land. He lamented, in the Lamentations. Which we have rendered according to the measure of meter, and in verses.

Here he renders them well-disposed from his own person, in three places. First, concerning the good things done by himself without arrogance, saying: which we, according to measure — namely, prefixing the letters in order for each verse, as regards the Lamentations; in order, as regards the book of Jeremiah itself. Second, he clears away the accusation brought against him, excusing himself concerning Baruch, which he omitted. But we have omitted the book of Baruch his secretary, which among the Hebrews is neither read nor possessed. Third, he shows what difficulties press upon him from the contradiction of his rivals: hence, first, he sets down their envy, for all these things; second, he sets down the cause of the labor undertaken, and I suffer these things, because you compel me. Moreover; as if to say: were it not for your prayers, I could, by translating nothing, escape their rage.