Commentary on Jeremiah (In Jeremiam)

Here the prophet begins to interpose his prayer for them to God, that they may obtain mercy in some way, at least after some scourges. And it is divided into two parts. In the first is set forth a certain debate of the prophet with the Lord, for the sake of obtaining it; afterward, in the second, is set forth the final determination, chapter 15: "and the Lord said to me," et cetera.

Concerning the first, two things. In the first is set forth the affliction of the people, which is the occasion of the prayer; in the second is set forth the debate of the prophet with God, there, "if our iniquities."

Concerning the first, two things. First he sets down the title of the prophecy — that is, "the word" refers to the interior revelation, which came to pass concerning "the words," to be announced outwardly, "of the drought," which came upon them as the captivity was imminent. Or, "of the words of the drought," that is, concerning a drought worthy of words.

Second, he pursues the hardship of the drought: and first as to the affliction of men, as to the lack of drink, setting forth the sorrow: "Judah hath mourned," afflicted with thirst. Isaiah 24: "the vintage hath mourned, and the vine is sick, and all that rejoiced in heart have groaned." "The gates" — the judges who sat in the gates — "have fallen" from their former gladness; "are grown dark" — that is, wrapped in the darkness of tribulation. Lamentations 2: "her gates are sunk into the ground, he hath destroyed and broken her bars." Or because, from the excessive drought, the walls were dissolving, and thus, with the gates falling, they could not be repaired for want of water. "The cry" — of complaint and lament. Isaiah 24: "there shall be a crying for wine in the streets, all mirth is forsaken, the joy of the earth is gone away." And he assigns the cause of the sorrow: "the great ones sent their lesser ones for water." Isaiah 41: "the needy and the poor seek water, and there is none, their tongue hath been dried up with thirst." And as to the barrenness of the land, the plague in their possessions: "they were confounded and afflicted, and covered their heads," in a sign of confusion. Above, 12: "you shall be confounded because of your fruits, on account of the wrath of the fury of the Lord." And in the tillers: "because it came not." Joel 1: "the husbandmen are confounded, the vinedressers have howled for the wheat and for the barley, because the harvest of the field is perished; the vine is confounded, and the fig tree hath languished."

Second, he sets forth the affliction of the wild animals, as to the deer: "for the hind also brought forth in the field, and left it" — she who is much concerned about the guarding of her young. Job 39: "knowest thou the time when the wild goats bring forth among the rocks, or hast thou observed the hinds when they fawn?" And as to the wild asses. "And the wild asses" — who nevertheless endure thirst for a long time: Psalm 103: "the wild asses shall wait in their thirst" — "on the rocks," where the wind stands more strongly, "they drew," for the relief of their thirst, "like dragons," which draw in the wind on account of thirst. Above, 2: "a wild ass accustomed to the wilderness, in the desire of her soul, hath snuffed up the wind of her love."

Here he begins to pray to God for the people: and first he brings forward an argument for mercy from the divine condition; second, from the prophets' foretelling, at: "and I said, Ah, ah, ah"; third, from the people's former love, at: "Have you utterly cast away Judah?"

Concerning the first, two things. First he sets down the prophet's prayer, in which he sets forth three things, confessing mercy: "if our iniquities have answered," as to punishment. Isa. 59: "our iniquities have been multiplied before you, and our sins have answered against us, etc." Ps. 45: "a helper in the tribulations that have found us exceedingly."

Then he sets forth constancy: "why will you be like a tenant-farmer in the land?" As if he were to say: it is unworthy of your constancy that you should abandon your vineyard, as a tenant-farmer abandons another's field, as a traveler abandons your house, as a traveler abandons a night's lodging. "Why will you be like a wandering man?" — your inheritance, as a wandering man, one of unsettled abode, abandons his own dwelling. Above, ch. 12: "I have left my house, I have forsaken my inheritance."

He also sets forth power: "and mighty, who cannot save"; as if he were to say: it is unbecoming to your power that you should not save those whom you once took under your protection. Num. 14: "the Egyptians will say: he was not able to bring the people into the land for which he had sworn; therefore he slew them in the wilderness." And he sets forth that their care is owed to him: "but you are in us," as in an inheritance; and "your name," just as subjects are defended under the name of a king. 2 Corinth. 6: "I will dwell in them, and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." And he concludes: "do not forsake us," lest your constancy and power be blasphemed. Psalm. 26: "do not forsake me, Lord, nor despise me, God of my salvation."

Second, the Lord's response is set down: "thus says the Lord." And first he sets forth the fault: "who has loved to move his feet" — the affections — on account of inconstancy in good, and from evil to evil. Prov. 7: "a wandering woman, impatient of rest, and not able to stay at home with her feet." Or: sending into Egypt for help. Isa. 30: "Egypt will help in vain and to no purpose." Therefore, "I have cried out over this: it is only pride"; be still. Second, he threatens punishment: "then he will remember," inflicting punishment. Psal. 88: "I will visit their iniquities with a rod, and their sins with stripes."

Third, he excludes remedies: and first, of prayers. And "the Lord said: do not pray for this people, unto good." Above, ch. 7: "therefore do not pray for this people, nor take up praise and prayer for them, and do not stand against me: for I will not hear you." Second, of fasting: "when they shall fast." Isa. 58: "why have we fasted, and you have not regarded it; we have humbled our souls, and you did not know it?" Third, of sacrifice. "If they shall offer" — Malach. 1: "I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept a gift from your hand."

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."

Here he takes his argument from the former love for the people: and concerning this there are three things. First he wonders at the rejection of the beloved people, marveling at the hatred: "Have you utterly cast off Judah?" As if he were to say, it seems astonishing. Lamentations, last chapter: "But rejecting, you have repulsed us; you have been exceedingly angry against us." So that there is no soundness. Isaiah 14: "with an incurable blow, subjecting the nations in fury." Second, he sets down the acknowledgment of the punishment, "we have waited." Above, chapter 8: "We have waited for peace, and there was no good; for a time of healing, and behold, terror." And of guilt, "we have acknowledged." Psalm 50: "I acknowledge my iniquity, and my sin is always against me." Third, the petition is set down: "do not give us." Psalm 43: "You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and a derision to those who are round about us." Fourth, the reason for the petition, from the holiness of the temple. "The throne of glory" — namely the mercy-seat and the ark, in which you showed yourself glorious through miracles and revelations. Below, chapter 17: "A throne of glory, of loftiness from the beginning, the place of our sanctification, the expectation of Israel." And from the powerlessness of idols: "Are there among the graven images of the nations any that give rain, or can the heavens give showers," by themselves, as though they were first causes? Job 3: "Who is the father of rain, or who has begotten the drops of dew?" From the power of God: "Are you not the Lord our God? You have made these things" — the rains, and everything of this kind. Above, chapter 10: "At his voice he gives a multitude of waters in the heavens, and raises clouds from the ends of the earth."

It must be noted that a certain peace is false. Wisdom 14: "living in a great war of ignorance, they call so many and so great evils peace." A certain peace is deceitful. Psalm 27: "who speak peace with their neighbor, but evils are in their hearts." A certain peace is transitory. 1 Thessalonians, last chapter: "For when they shall say, peace and security, then sudden destruction shall come upon them."

Likewise it must be noted that mystically the throne is threefold. One is the throne of glory; and this in four ways: namely, by the loftiness of nature. Isaiah 6: "Behold the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the whole earth was full of his majesty." By the tranquility of peace. Above, chapter 3: "They shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall be gathered to it in the name of the Lord in Jerusalem, etc." By the depth of knowledge. Ezekiel 10: "And I saw, and behold, in the firmament that was over the head of the Cherubim, as it were a sapphire stone, and as the appearance of the likeness of a throne appeared over it." By the eternity of duration. Lamentations, last chapter: "But you, O Lord, shall remain forever; your throne unto generation and generation."

Another is the throne of clemency, which prepares one to obedience toward God. Isaiah 22: "I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, and he shall become a throne of glory to his father's house; and I will hang upon him all the glory of his father." Toward the sentence of justice. Proverbs 16: "By justice the king's throne is established." Toward mercy for one's neighbors. Isaiah 16: "And a throne shall be prepared in mercy, and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David." Toward the grace of humility. Ezekiel 43: "The place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever."

But another is the throne of justice, which prepares for judgment. Job 13: "Who will grant me that I may know, and find him, and come even to his throne?" Toward the correcting of evil. Proverbs 20: "The king who sits on the throne of judgment scatters all evil with his gaze." Toward the condemning of the incorrigible. 3 Kings, last chapter: "I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him, on the right hand and on the left." Toward the defending of the good. Isaiah 9: "Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom he shall sit, to establish it and strengthen it in judgment and justice, from henceforth and forever."