Commentary on Jeremiah (In Jeremiam)

Here the Lord forbids the prophet the fellowship of the condemned people: and first he sets down the sentence; second he assigns the cause, at the place, "and when you shall have announced," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First he forbids him the fellowship of marital union, setting down the command: "You shall not take a wife." 1 Cor. 7: "Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife." And assigning the reason from the universality of those punished, because no age, no sex will be spared: "for thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters." Below, 51: "I will dash in pieces in you man and woman, and I will dash in pieces in you the old man and the boy, and I will dash in pieces in you the young man and the virgin." From the diversity of punishments, threatening death from an interior cause, by deaths of sicknesses, namely pestilence, and long-lasting weaknesses. And he adds the fitting burial: "they shall not be lamented." 1 Cor. 11: "therefore among you many are weak and feeble, and many sleep." Below, 25: "they shall not be lamented, and they shall not be gathered, nor buried; they shall lie as dung upon the face of the earth." From an exterior cause: "and by the sword," from the onslaught of enemies; "by famine," from the lack of necessities. And he adds the fitting burial: "and their carcass shall be for food to the birds of the air." Above, 14: "they shall be cast forth in the streets because of famine and the sword, and there shall be none to bury them, they, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters."

Second he forbids the fellowship of social feasting: "for thus says the Lord." And first he forbids the feast of mourning, which is customarily held for consolation for the dead: where the prohibition is set down, "do not enter, neither lamenting, nor as one consoling." Second the reason is assigned from the removal of peace: "because I have taken away my peace," namely which I had toward them, being indignant with them: or which, by my authorship, they had toward one another, and toward others. Isa. 57: "there is no peace to the wicked, says the Lord." From the threat of death, "they shall die." Job 3: "the small and the great are there: and the servant free from his master." From the cessation of the dutiful funeral rite, because they will lack the service of burial, "they shall not be buried." Above, 8: "they shall not be gathered, and they shall not be buried; they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth." Also the lament of the family: "neither shall they be lamented nor shall they cut themselves," wounding themselves, which was forbidden to the Jews. Deut. 14: "you shall not cut yourselves, nor make baldness for the dead." But Job, having shorn his head, falling upon the earth, etc. (Job 1), did not sin, because he was a Gentile. They shall also lack the feast of kinship, which is customarily held by mourning relatives: "and they shall not break." Prov. ult.: "Give strong drink to those who mourn, and wine to those who are of bitter spirit. Let them drink, and forget their want, and remember their sorrow no more."

Second he forbids the feast of gladness. And first the prohibition is set down: "and you shall not enter the house of feasting," neither for the sake of company, nor for the sake of eating. 1 Cor. 5: "if he who is called a brother among you is a fornicator, or covetous, or a server of idols, or a railer, or rapacious; with such a one not even to take food." Second the reason is set down: "for thus says the Lord." Lam. ult.: "the joy of our heart has ceased, our dance is turned into mourning." Below, 25, the same.

Here the cause of the aforesaid punishment is assigned: and first the question is posed: "Why has the Lord spoken against us all this great evil?" Proverbs 30: Such is the way of an adulterous woman, who eats, and wiping her mouth says: I have done no evil. Second, the Lord's response is given: "You shall say to them." And first he places the fault in the transgression of the fathers: "because they have forsaken." Above, chapter 2: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have dug for themselves broken cisterns, which are not able to hold water. In the imitation of the sons, lest they should be able to excuse themselves by what is said in Ezekiel 18: The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the teeth of the children are set on edge. "But you also have done worse." Matthew 23: Fill up the measure of your fathers.

Second, he threatens punishment: and first he sets forth the threat of punishment as to captivity: "and I will cast you out"; and as to servitude: "and you shall serve gods," by serving their worshippers. Lamentations 1: Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and the greatness of servitude; she has dwelt among the nations, and found no rest. Deuteronomy 28: Among those nations also you shall not be quiet, neither shall there be rest for the sole of your foot. Second, he promises consolation, setting down an oath as a sign: "therefore behold the days"; as if to say: you will reckon this a greater benefit than that by which you were freed from Egypt; and as though forgetful of that, you will always hold this in memory. Isaiah 43: Do not remember the former things, and do not consider the things of old. Below, chapter 23, the same. And explaining the benefit: "and I will bring back." Ezekiel 36: For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the lands, and I will bring you back into your own land.

Third, he sets forth the condition of the captivity: "behold, I"; and first he describes the captivity by the Babylonians: "fishermen" — namely the Chaldeans, who, as it were living in the sea of prosperity and pleasure, caught them. Habakkuk 1: You will make men like the fish of the sea, and like creeping things that have no ruler. And of the Romans: "and after this I will send hunters" — namely the Romans, who, on account of the cruelty of their slaughter, hunted them like beasts. Lamentations 3: My enemies have hunted me like a bird, without cause. Second, he assigns the reason for the captivity, setting down the knowledge of the fault: "for my eyes are upon all their ways." Proverbs 16: All the ways of man lie open to his eyes; the Lord is the weigher of spirits. And the threat of punishment: "and I will render" first — that is, before the aforesaid consolation — twofold, namely as to the worship of idols; on account of which follows: "because they have contaminated"; and as to the perversity of morals: "and they have filled my inheritance with their abominations." Psalm 105: The land was infected with blood, and was contaminated by their works.

Third, he sets forth the benefit of the captivity, namely the conversion of the nations; or of those who returned with the Jews under Zorobabel to Jerusalem; or of those who were converted to the faith of Christ: for blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the nations should come in, and so all Israel would be saved: Romans 11. Concerning which he does three things.

First, the exultation of the prophet is set down, designated in the confession of divine praise: "O Lord, my strength" — for warring down others; "might" — for persevering; "refuge" — if I should fail. Psalm 17: I will love you, O Lord, my strength; the Lord is my firmament, and my refuge.

Second, the conversion of the nations is set down: "to you the nations shall come." Isaiah 42: Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth. The confusion of sin: "truly a lie" — namely the idol, which falsely feigns divinity and help. Above, chapter 3: Truly the hills were a lie, and the multitude of mountains. And the refutation of the former error: "Shall a man make gods for himself? And they are not gods" — namely the men making them. Wisdom 15: For how shall man be able to fashion a god like himself?

Third, he assigns the good of the conversion: "therefore" — that is, so that the nations may be converted — "to them," the Jews, "by this turn"; as if he were saying, no longer will I spare; "hand" — of correction. Or: "to them" — the nations; "hand" — Christ. Psalm 9: The Lord shall be known doing judgments; the sinner is caught in the works of his own hands. Likewise Psalm 143: Send forth your hand from on high; rescue me, and deliver me from many waters, from the hand of the sons of strangers.

It should be noted that there is a hand of divine disposition. Wisdom 7: In his hand are both we and our words, and all wisdom, and the skill of the knowledge of works. Of divine liberality. Psalm 103: When you open your hand, all things shall be filled with goodness. Of divine protection. Isaiah 49: Under the covering of his hand he has protected me. Of divine correction. Psalm 38: I have failed at the strength of your hand, amid your rebukes. Of divine deliverance. Job 5: He strikes, and his hands shall heal. Of divine operation. Ecclesiasticus 36: Glorify your hand, and your right arm. And of divine condemnation. Hebrews 10: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.