Commentary on Jeremiah (In Jeremiam)

Here he calls them back to penance; and first he sets down the calling-back; second, the obstinacy of those called back, chapter 8: and you shall say to them, etc. The first into two. In the first he sets down the warnings of the calling-back; in the second, the arguments for the calling-back, chapter 4: if you return, Israel, says the Lord, be converted to me. The first into two. In the first he calls back the people; in the second he sets down the fruit of the response, there, but how if a woman should despise her lover. The first into two. In the first he calls back from fault; in the second from punishment, there, go, and cry these words against the North. The first into two. In the first he calls back by warnings; in the second by examples, there, and the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king.

Concerning the first he does two things. First he calls them back from the clemency of God, to prove which he sets forth the common proverb: if a man should put away his wife; which has its rise in Deuteronomy 23: if a man should put away his wife. And he speaks according to the permission given concerning the bill of divorce, on account of the hardness of their heart, Matthew 19, and the return was forbidden, either so that they would not be prone to divorce, or lest, receiving her back afterward by deceit, they should kill her. And from this proverb he takes an argument for the divine clemency: but you have played the harlot with lovers, idols. Isaiah 55: let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he is abundant in forgiving.

Second he calls them back from their own fault, first setting forth the fault, determining the place: lift up your eyes straight ahead — by right consideration, or in every direction — where not, as it were everywhere, prostrate, like a harlot, of idolatry. Ezekiel 16: you have made a brothel in every street. And the desire of sinning: in the ways you sat, like a harlot awaiting her lovers, and like a robber, awaiting whom he may despoil. Proverbs 7: and behold, a woman comes to meet, in harlot's attire, prepared to deceive souls. Hosea 6: Gilead is a city of workers of idols, tripped up with blood, and like the jaws of robber men. And determining the effect of the sin: and you have polluted the land. Above, 2: you have defiled my land, and made my inheritance an abomination. And then in place of the fault he sets down the punishment: wherefore the drops of the rains have been withheld, by whose power the rain or shower is produced. Isaiah 5: I will command the clouds that they rain no shower upon my vineyard. And he shows the shamelessness of sinners, brow. Below, 6: nay rather, you have not been put to shame with confusion.

Second he threatens penance: and first he exhorts them to acknowledge the benefits, therefore — as if to say: let the past time suffice, etc. Father, through creation; you are the guide of my virginity: as if to say: when you led me through the desert, yet I was a virgin. Proverbs 2: she has forsaken the guide of her youth. Isaiah 63: the spirit of the Lord was his guide. Second he exhorts them to ask for mercy, and to say these things: will you be angry forever, or will you continue to the end? Psalm 84: will you be angry with us forever, or will you extend your wrath from generation to generation?
Here he shows their contempt as regards the sin of the mouth: behold, you have spoken; which is explained as words of pride, etc.: as regards the sin of deed, and you have done; to which corresponds that, you have filled up evils: as regards the sin of the heart, and you were able, to which that, and you have shown; as though you boasted your power in sin. But this is not in the Hebrew, nor is "for words," etc., in the ancient books; but it seems to be Jerome's exposition. Job 24: God gave him a place of repentance, and he abuses it unto pride. Isa. 5: woe to you who are mighty to drink wine, and men strong to mingle drunkenness.

Here he calls them back by the example of the ten tribes; and concerning this he does three things. First, he sets forth the example with respect to the fault of idolatry: "she went away by herself" — following her own impulses, not my precepts; and of disobedience: "and I said." 4 Kings 17: "they made for themselves statues and groves on every high hill and under every leafy tree, and they burned incense there upon altars after the manner of the nations." And as to the punishment, which became known to them: "and the treacherous sister saw" — because they arose from the same fathers. "I would have given her a bill": it preserves the likeness of the harlot, in whom foulness is found. But on the contrary, Isaiah 50: "what is this bill of divorce?" And it must be said that God does not send anyone away, so far as it pertains to himself; but man, sinning, sends him away: hence in the same place: "you were sold for your iniquities, and for your crimes I sent away your mother." Second, he sets forth the contempt: "and her treacherous sister Judah did not fear." "With the stone" — that is, with the stone idol. 4 Kings 17: "but neither did Judah himself keep the commandments of the Lord his God; but he erred, and walked in the errors of Israel which he had wrought." Third, he aggravates the guilt: "and the Lord said to me: she has justified" — comparatively, because the ten tribes had not seen the punishment of the others, nor were they corrected. Ezekiel 16: "you have justified your sisters in all your abominations which you have wrought."

Here he calls them back from the punishment of captivity: and first he calls them back; second he shows the cause of the calling back, at the place, "But I said." Concerning the first, two things. First he sets forth the calling back; second, the response of those called back, at the place, "and I will take you, one from a city, and two from a kindred, and I will bring you into Sion." Concerning the first, two things. First he calls back those of the ten tribes, calling them to return, toward the North, where the captives are held in the land of the Assyrians. Ps. 102: he will not be angry forever, nor will he threaten unto eternity. And for the recognizing of sins, "nevertheless know." "You have scattered your ways to strangers," as it were to many idols. Above, 2: "see your ways in the valley, know what you have done." Second, those of the two tribes: "be converted," by repenting, "returning to me." Or "returning," from captivity. Hosea 2: "and it shall be in that day, says the Lord, she will call me: My husband, and she will no longer call me Baalim."

Here he sets down the response to those recalled: and first, that of the two tribes, promising them restoration of the homeland: one, concerning the city, because they had been scattered, or because not all had returned. Ezekiel 36: "For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the lands, and bring you into your own land." And the reintegration of justice in the amendment of the prelates: "and I will give you shepherds according to my own heart, and they will feed you with knowledge — as to faith — with doctrine — as to morals." Isaiah 1: "I will restore your judges as they were before, and your counselors as of old." Third, as regards the increase of glory, which he signifies from the forgetting of things past: "and when you have been multiplied (...) they will no longer say: the ark of the covenant of the Lord": as if for nothing they will reckon that in which you now glory: because the ark was hidden and was not found; as is said in 2 Maccabees 1. From the promise of things to come: "in that time they will call Jerusalem" — the whole of it — which was fulfilled in the fame for holiness in which it was held, as is said in 1 Maccabees 3. 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 for ever." And as regards the enlargement of worship: "and all nations shall be gathered" — some from every nation: for they came from everywhere to pray in Jerusalem. Or it is understood of the conversion of the nations to the faith of Christ. Psalm 85: "All the nations you have made shall come, and shall worship before you, O Lord."

Second, he sets down the conversion of the ten tribes: "in those days the house of Judah shall go to the house of Israel": because even of those who returned, they were joined to the two tribes. This is noted in what he says: "they will come together." Below, 50: "In those days, and at that time, says the Lord, the children of Israel will come, they themselves, and the children of Judah together, walking and weeping they will hasten, and will seek the Lord their God." Some, however, explain all this of the last times.

Here he assigns the cause of the recall: and first he poses the question, How? That is, what can move me to confer so many good things upon you, when you are in so many sins? In the sons, that is, in the multitude of sons, of the armies of the nations, that is, where from of old armies were gathered, as even to this day, on account of its delights. Psal. 105: they held the desirable land as nothing. Likewise Psalm 15: the lines have fallen to me in excellent things; for indeed my inheritance is excellent to me. Second he poses the response, and I said; that is, foreseeing the good things you will do, I promise you these. Psalm 88: he shall call upon me: thou art my father, my God, and the upholder of my salvation.

Here he sets down the fruit of their return: and first he states the necessity of recalling them, as regards their own fault: "lover," not "husband." Hosea 3: Go, and love a woman beloved of a lover, and an adulteress. As regards the punishment: a voice in the ways. Below 31: A voice was heard on high, of lamentation, of mourning, and of weeping, of Rachel weeping for her sons. Secondly he sets down the usefulness of conversion: Be converted, as above, the turnings-away by which you have turned away from God. Ps. 102: who heals all your contritions. Isa. 45: Be converted to me, and you shall be saved. Thirdly he sets down their return: and first he professes obedience: Behold, we have come, as you commanded. Hosea 6: Come, let us return to the Lord, for he has taken us, and he will heal us; he will strike, and he will cure us. Secondly they confess the magnificence of God, confessing his divinity: For you are. Exod. 15: This is my God, and I will glorify him. The falsity of idols: truly false: because the idols which we worshiped there did not confer the help we hoped for, nor did they have the divinity which they pretended to. Isa. 28: We have placed our hope in a lie, and we are protected by a lie. And the usefulness of divine worship: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. Ps. 61: In God is my salvation, God of my help, and my hope is in God. Thirdly they confess their own fault and punishment and that of their fathers: Confusion has devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth. Below 17: Lord, all who forsake you shall be confounded; those departing from you shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.

Note, that God is called Father by creation. Matth. 11: I confess to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. By adoption. Rom. 8: You have received the spirit of adoption of the sons of God, in which we cry, Abba, Father. By instruction. Isa. 38: The father shall make known your truth to the children. By correction. Proverbs 3: For whom the Lord loves he corrects, and as a father is well pleased in a son.

Note, that the inheritance of the heavenly homeland is splendid with the brightness of the divine vision. Wisd. 6: Wisdom is bright, and never fades away, and is easily seen by those who love her. With the sweetness of divine love. Ps. 22: My cup which inebriates, how excellent it is! With the intimacy of divine address. Wisd. 8: there is splendor in the communication of her words. With the magnificence of operation. Eccl. 43: there are splendid and marvelous works. With the greatness of exultation. Zach. 8: The house of Judah and the house of Israel shall be a blessing. With the solace of companionship. Ezech. 31: all the trees of delight that were in the Paradise of God, et cetera.