Commentary on Jeremiah (In Jeremiam)

Here he shows the dignity of the people from their adherence to God. And it is divided into two parts. In the first he sets down a likeness; in the second, the application of the likeness, where it says, "And the word of the Lord came to me." Concerning the first, three things.

First is signified the taking up of the people into divine familiarity, where the Lord's command is set down: "Go" — literally, to the place where such things are sold — because God himself came first to the people. 1 John 4: not as though we had loved God, but because he first loved us. "Possess," from me, namely that you may possess it by your own right, as a lord an inheritance. Isaiah 19: but my inheritance is Israel. "For you," for your use, just as the people are for the glory of God. Isaiah 43: this people have I formed for myself, it shall declare my praise. "The waistcloth," which clings to the loins, in which is the desire of love: thus is the people taken up into divine love. Hosea 11: I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bands of love. "Linen," which is taken raw from the earth, but is adorned by human cultivation: thus that people by divine cultivation. Ezekiel 16: and passing by you, I saw you trodden down in your blood, etc. "And into the water you shall not bring it." Job 38: gird up your loins like a man; I will question you, and answer me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? etc. And because divine things are mystically expressed not only through words but also through the deeds of the prophets — hence it is said in Hosea 12: I have been likened in the hands of the prophets — the fulfillment of the precept is also set down, "I possessed," in which the obedience of the prophet is noted. Genesis 6: Noah was a just and perfect man in his generations, he walked with God, etc.

Second is signified the rejection of the people: "and the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying." "Take," from yourself; thus I will cast the people away from me: "go to the Euphrates," by which is signified the power of the Assyrians and Chaldeans, by whom the people was taken captive. Isaiah 8: the Lord will bring upon them the strong and many waters of the river, the king of the Assyrians, and all his glory. And it will rise above all its channels, and flow over all its banks, and will go through Judah, overflowing, and passing through will come even to the neck. "Hide it": thus the people, as though hidden by the waters, will be swallowed up: below, 51: he has swallowed me up, like a dragon he has filled his belly with my tender flesh, and cast me out, "in the hole," lest it flow away with the water; in which is signified that there would be remnants of the people in time to come, and that not all would perish. Above, 4: but I will not make a full end.

Third is signified the restoration of the people, where first the restoration itself is signified: "and it came to pass after many days," to signify that they would be many years in captivity. Below, 29: when the seventy years shall begin to be fulfilled in Babylon, I will visit you, and will raise up over you my good word, that I may bring you back to this place. "Take it from there": thus I will bring back the people. Ezekiel 36: for I will take you from among the nations, and will gather you out of all the lands, and will bring you into your own land. Second is signified the condition of the people: "and behold, it had rotted": thus the power and beauty of the people had been consumed. Ezekiel 15: will it be useful for any work? Even when it was whole it was not fit for work; how much more when fire has devoured it and burned it, nothing at all will be made of it for work?

Here the application of the likeness is set forth; and concerning this he does two things. First he applies the likeness as to the punishment: thus I will make it rot, so that all vigor and beauty pass away. Joel 1: the beasts will rot in their own dung. And as to the cause of the punishment, namely disobedience: a just people. Exodus 33: the Lord said to Moses: speak to the children of Israel. You are a stiff-necked people, etc. And they will be like a waistband. Isaiah 30: it will be broken as a potter's vessel is crushed with a very strong crushing. And as to the grace of divine familiarity: for as the waistband clings to the loins of a man, so I have glued to myself the whole house of Israel. Deuteronomy 30: behold, heaven is the Lord your God's, and the heaven of heaven, the earth, and all things that are in it; yet the Lord was joined to your fathers, and loved them, and chose their offspring after them; that is, you, out of all nations, as is proved today.

Second he pursues in particular the order of the punishment: therefore you shall say; and concerning this two things. First he shows the imminent danger, setting forth an example: every small flask, that is, each one of the people, will be filled with wine, of tribulation. Isaiah 41: you will thresh the mountains, and crush them, and carry them off as it were like dust. The contempt of the example: and they will say. Job 12: for who is ignorant of these things which you know? And its exposition: and you shall say to them: as to the blindness of heart, by drunkenness, so that they do not know what they are doing. Isaiah 29: be troubled, and stagger; be drunk, and not with wine, etc. And as to the captivity: and I will scatter, lest they console one another mutually. Hosea 13: consolation is hidden from my eyes, for he shall make a division among his brothers. As to the severity of the sentence: I will not spare, and I will not yield, as if to move them, because they are obstinate, or to convict them, because they are openly evil. Proverbs 6: the zeal and fury of the man will not spare in the day of vengeance, nor will he yield to anyone's prayers, nor will he accept many gifts for redemption.

Second he gives them useful counsel for escaping, namely that they humble themselves: hear; and first, to the whole people, setting forth counsel against the vice of pride: do not be lifted up, through pride. He has spoken — this counsel, or the punishments which I have foretold. Psalm 74: do not lift up your horn on high, do not speak iniquity against God; and against God's precept, which are the beginnings of all sin: give glory to the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 32: give greatness to our God: the works of God are perfect, and all his ways are judgments. Resuming the imminent danger of the blindness of heart: before it grows dark, that is, before tribulations come upon you, in which you would not know what to do. John 12: walk while you have the light, that darkness may not overtake you. Of captivity: before they stumble, led into captivity, to the darkened mountains, namely of Babylon, on account of their height, or from a defect of sight, or from a multitude of vapors. Isaiah 13: upon the dark mountain lift up a sign, raise the voice, etc. And of the severity of the sentence: you will wait for light, that is, divine consolation, and you will not have it. Above, 8: we waited for peace, and there was no good; for a time of healing, and behold dread. And designating the punishment against contempt of the counsel, setting forth the prophet's compassion: for if you will not hear, your soul will weep in secret; as if, lest the victors be offended. Isaiah 22: depart from me, I will weep bitterly. Do not press to console me over the devastation of the daughter of my people. Ezekiel 24: you shall not mourn nor weep; but you shall waste away in your iniquities. And the reason for the compassion: weeping it will weep, and my eye will pour down tears, because the flock of the Lord has been taken captive. Below, 50: my people has become a lost flock; their shepherds have seduced them, and made them wander on the mountains.

Second he gives the same counsel to the king, inviting him to humility — here to the king, namely Jeconiah, and to the mistress, namely his mother, because he surrendered himself to Nebuchadnezzar together with his mother. 4 Kings, second-to-last: sit on the ground, in a sign of humility. Isaiah 47: come down, sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground. And he assigns the reason from the loss of the kingdom: for the crown has come down from the head. Lamentations, last: the crown of our head has fallen. From the siege of the cities: the cities of the South, because Judah's lot was toward the South. Joshua 15: who may open, releasing the siege, namely the Egyptian. And from the captivity of the people: she has been carried away. Lamentations 1: Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and the multitude of servitude; she has dwelt among the nations, and found no rest.

Third he sets forth the same counsel to the royal city; and first he leads to humility, second he marvels at the obstinacy, there, woe to you Jerusalem. Now he leads to humility from four considerations. First from the power of the enemies, setting forth the might of the enemies: lift up, by consideration — you who come from the North — against the strong. Above, 6: behold, a people comes from the land of the North, a great nation will rise up from the ends of the earth. And excluding the confidence of subjects: where is the flock? As if the multitude of the people which was subject to you; as if he were to say: the royal and priestly city will not be able to profit you. Ezekiel 34: behold, I myself am against the shepherds. I will require my flock at their hand, and I will make them cease from feeding my flock any longer, nor shall the shepherds feed themselves anymore; and I will deliver my flock from their mouth, and it shall no longer be food for them. And assigning the cause why she is handed over into the hands of the enemies, taking away excuse: what will you say? As an excuse for yourself. Job 9: if he wishes to contend with him, he will not be able to answer him. And assigning the reason: for you have taught them, in that, calling them to your aid, you made them know your conditions. Above, 2: moreover, you have taught your wickednesses to be your ways. Or he touches upon the showing of the treasure made by Hezekiah to the messengers of the king of Babylon. Isaiah 39. Second, from the affliction of pains, threatening pain: shall not pains take hold of you? Above, 4: I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor, anguish as of one giving birth. And assigning the reason from the multitude of sins: for if you shall say in your heart: why have these things come upon me? In punishment. The more shameful things — the most disgraceful sins; the soles — the affections. Job 22: because of your abundant malice, and your unending iniquities. Or he touches here on the fact that they were led into captivity on foot, and also in the crossing of rivers they had to bare their shameful members, and their feet bare; and therefore their soles were defiled with mud and dust. Isaiah 47: uncover your shame, bare your shoulder, reveal your legs, cross the rivers; your disgrace will be revealed, and your reproach will be seen. And from the obstinacy of sinners: if... to change; as if he were to say, you can with difficulty be converted — the Ethiopian, on account of the natural infection of sin; the leopard, on account of deceitfulness, or the diversity of sins; since you have learned, on account of habit. Proverbs 22: it is a proverb: a young man according to his way, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Third he leads to humility from the future captivity, threatening the dispersion of captivity: and I will scatter. Psalm 82: my God, make them like a wheel, and as stubble before the face of the wind. And Psalm 58: scatter them in your power. And he assigns the reason: this is your lot, owed to you for your sins, in a lie. Isaiah 27: in measure against measure, when it shall have been cast off he will judge it, etc. Fourth, from the revelation of sins. And first he sets forth the threat: and I have bared, the shame of your sins, against your face, that you might recognize yourself. And it has appeared — to others also. Ezekiel 16: I will bare your disgrace before them, and they will all see your shame. And he assigns the reason: upon the hills in the field I have seen your abominations; as if he were to say: because you have sinned publicly, you will be punished publicly. Above, 2: on every high hill, and under every leafy tree, you lay down as a harlot. Lastly he marvels at the obstinacy: woe to you. How long — do you come after me, or do you boast that you walk after me? Psalm 4: sons of men, how long will you be heavy of heart? Why do you love vanity, and seek a lie?

Note, that wine mystically is in one sense good, in another evil. For there is a good wine of the contemplation of wisdom. Proverbs 9: drink the wine which I have mixed for you. Of divine love. Song of Songs 8: I will give you a cup of spiced wine, and the new wine of my pomegranates. Of compunction, Psalm 59: you have given us to drink the wine of compunction. But there is an evil wine of fraudulent deception. Deuteronomy 32: their wine is the gall of dragons, and the incurable venom of asps. Of carnal delight. Apocalypse 18: all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her. Of divine indignation. Apocalypse 14: if anyone shall have worshiped the beast, and its image, and received its mark on his forehead, or on his hand; he shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed with unmixed wine in the cup of his wrath.

Likewise it should be noted that the Holy Spirit is called the South Wind on account of heat. Job 37: are not your garments warm, when the earth is blown upon by the South wind? On account of splendor. Habakkuk 3: God will come from the South, and the Holy One from Mount Pharan. His glory covered the heavens. On account of the elevation of flight. Job 39: does the hawk grow feathers by your wisdom, spreading its wings toward the South? On account of the increase of rains. Psalm 125: turn again, O Lord, our captivity, as a stream in the South. On account of the fruitfulness of trees. Song of Songs 4: come, South wind, blow through my garden, and its spices will flow.