Commentary on Jeremiah (In Jeremiam)

After the threatening, here he begins to set forth consolation: and first he sets forth consolation to all in common; second, specially to the royal city, namely Jerusalem, chapter 33: "And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time." The first is divided into two. First he consoles them by word; second he marks the consolation by deed, chapter 32: "The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord." The first is divided into two. In the first he consoles them by the escape from adversity; in the second by the promise of prosperity (chapter 31): "At that time, says the Lord." The first is divided into two. In the first he promises liberation in general; in the second he pursues the promise in particular, there: "And these are the words that the Lord has spoken." Concerning the first he does two things.

First the Lord lays upon the prophet the precept that the prophecy be preserved: "Write for yourself all that has been foretold, and what follows" — the revelation of which he had already received within, that they might be kept for a long time; in which he signifies that they are not to be fulfilled soon. Isaiah 8: "Take for yourself a great book, and write in it with the stylus of a man: quickly take away the spoils, swiftly plunder." Habakkuk 2: "Write the vision, and set it plainly upon tablets, that he who reads it may run through it."

Second he promises the benefit of liberation: "For behold I will turn back" — that is, I will call back from the land of captivity, as to the term from which; "the turning back" — because not all, but only those who will be worthy of such a turning back; "Israel" — the ten tribes, as to those who came to king Hezekiah in Jerusalem. 2 Paralipomenon 30: for they were taken captive along with them, and when those returned, these too returned. Or it is to be referred to the turning made to the faith of Christ, and "I will turn back," as to the term to which. Psalm 125: "When the Lord turned back the captivity of Sion, we were made as those who are consoled."

Here he continues the parts of the deliverance: and first he promises them liberation from the servitude of enemies; second, from the manifold destruction which they endured, at "For thus saith the Lord." Concerning the first, two things. First he sets forth the former oppression, which he indicates by setting forth the fear of enemies: "We have heard a voice of terror," foretold beforehand by the prophets: "dread, and there is no peace," with anyone bringing aid. Job 15: "The sound of terror is always in his ears: and when there is peace, he still suspects ambushes." The expression of the fear from the gesture of the body: because after the likeness of women in labor they turned their hands to their loins out of astonishment: "Ask." Ps. 47: "There, pains as of a woman in travail." And from the change of ruddiness: "and they are turned into auruginem," which is a black color mixed with redness, befalling the angry. And from the burning wind. Isa. 12: "Their faces are burnt faces." Joel 2: "All faces shall be turned into a pot." He sets forth also the greatness of the fear and of the anxiety: "Woe, for great" — by the greatness of tribulation — "the day" — of the capture of Jerusalem. Soph. 1: "The voice of the day of the Lord is bitter; the strong man shall be in tribulation there. That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and distress; a day of calamity and misery: a day of darkness and of gloom, a day of cloud and of whirlwind; a day of the trumpet and of the alarm," etc.

Second, he promises the future salvation: and first he promises liberation: "and out of it he shall be saved" — namely, out of the time — although an evil one. Hosea 1: "I will save them in the Lord their God." Second, the manner and order of the salvation, promising liberation from servitude by excluding the dominion of enemies: "and it shall come to pass in that day (...) I will break the yoke" — namely, of Nebuchadnezzar himself. "And he shall not rule," which was fulfilled in the times of Simon. 1 Mach., at the end. Or it is to be referred to the liberation wrought by Christ from the power of the demons. Isa. 9: "For the yoke of his burden, and the rod of his shoulder, and the scepter of his exactor, thou hast overcome." And promising the desired dominion: "but they shall serve" — that is, someone who will be to you as David — as to Simon and Jonathan. Or Zorobabel, who was of the stock of David. Or Christ. Now the dominion of David was most desired by them, on account of the prosperity and the peace which they had in his time, and because he had not oppressed them with servitude, as Solomon had. Ezech. 37: "David my servant, their prince for ever." He provides also for liberation from captivity, excluding fear: "Therefore fear thou not." Isa. 43: "Fear not, for I am with thee. From the east I will bring thy seed, and from the west I will gather thee." And setting forth the liberation as to the term from which: "for behold, I will save thee from a land afar off." Zach. 8: "Behold, I will save my people from the land of the east, and from the land of the going down of the sun, and I will bring them: and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in justice." And as to the term to which: "and he shall return and rest" — as to the tranquility of peace — "and in all things" — as to the abundance of goods. Isa. 32: "My people shall sit in the multitude of peace, and in the tabernacles of confidence, and in wealthy rest."

Third, he shows the author of the salvation: and first he sets forth the presence of the savior: "for I am with thee." Above, 20: "The Lord is with me as a strong warrior: therefore they that persecute me shall fall, and shall be weak, and shall be greatly confounded, because they have not understood the everlasting reproach, which shall never be blotted out." Second, vengeance upon the enemies: "for I will make a consummation" — he will bring them to the end of consumption. Isa. 10: "The Lord God of hosts shall make a consummation and an abridgment in the midst of all the land." Third, toward you the mercy of preservation: "but thee I will not make a consummation" — namely, that your remnants should not be. Above, 5: "Nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I will not make you a consummation." Fourth, he brings in a moderate penalty for chastisement: "I will chastise thee in judgment." Above, 10: "Correct me, O Lord, but yet in judgment, and not in thy fury, lest perhaps thou reduce me to nothing" — in judgment, of equity.

Here he promises liberation from the destruction and the great affliction which they had endured: and concerning this there are two things. First he sets forth the preceding destruction, showing its magnitude, because the measure of this chastisement will be, as it were, such that it cannot be repaired by human power: "fracture," which denotes an interruption of continuity, and signifies the destruction of men, or of cities, "incurable," as far as it is in itself, though God could save it, on account of its magnitude, "most evil," on account of its depth. Lam. 2: "Great as the sea is your ruin: who shall heal you?" He also excludes the relief of human aid, whether through the judgment of justice judging concerning the injury inflicted: "there is none to judge," against the enemies, so as to bind up — as those who heal wounds bind plasters upon them. Isa. 59: "The Lord saw, and it appeared evil in his eyes, because there is no judgment." Or according to the affection of a friend coming to aid: "there is no advantage for you," namely from friends, because you have truly offended the physician. Lam. 1: "All her friends have despised her, and have become her enemies." Showing also the equity of the punishment, assigning the cause of the punishment: for "the wound of an enemy," who strikes unto death, because it is incurable, "cruel," because it is deep. On account of the multitude: hence it was fitting that the wound be great, so as to comprehend all the abscesses; "hard," as to obstinacy; and therefore it was fitting that it be vehement; and deep, so that it might penetrate even to the inmost parts. Lam. 2: "The Lord has become as an enemy, he has cast down Israel, he has cast down all her walls, he has destroyed her fortifications, and he has filled, in the daughter of Judah, the humbled man and the humbled woman." And he excludes the complaint of those murmuring: "Why do you cry out?" — by murmuring. They cannot be healed except by a most biting powder, with which I might cut away the putrid and incurable flesh. Lam. 3: "Why has a living man murmured, a man for his sins?"

Secondly he promises liberation: and first he promises the benefit of relief as to the judgment of vengeance, against the injury inflicted on persons, because "there is no other who might deliver" — "those who devour," by killing, the enemies, "who take you captive." Above, ch. 2: "All who devour him forsake him; evils shall come upon them, says the Lord." And against the injury inflicted in goods: "and those who lay you waste," as to immovable goods, "plunderers," as to movable goods. Isa. 33: "Woe to you who plunder, shall you not yourself also be plundered?" And as to the friendly affection of the healer, setting forth the cure, "I will draw over": that is, I will heal so perfectly that not even a trace of the preceding wound shall appear. Ps. 146: "Who heals the broken in heart, and binds up their bruise." This was under Zerubbabel, when the Babylonians and Chaldeans laid waste the Assyrians, that is, Nineveh, and the Medes and Persians in turn laid waste them. And then the scar was drawn over, etc. And he assigns the reason: "because they have called you an outcast," namely the enemies. Prov. 24: "When your enemy shall fall, do not rejoice, and let not your heart exult in his ruin; lest perhaps the Lord see, and it displease him, and he take away his wrath from him." For the insulting of enemies is a cause of divine mercy.

Secondly he shows the manner of the aid: "thus says the Lord": and first as to the manner of helping: "behold, I will turn"; secondly as to the manner of avenging: "behold, the whirlwind of the Lord, a fury going forth." Concerning the first, he first promises the restoration of all buildings in general: "I will turn," that is, I will restore to its former state, "of the tabernacles," "of the houses." Isa. 61: "They shall build the deserts of the peoples, and raise up the ancient ruins, and shall restore the desolate cities, and those destroyed generation after generation." And as to the principal things in particular: "and the city shall be built," that is, Jerusalem. Isa. 44: "Who say to Jerusalem: you shall be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah: you shall be built; and I will raise up her deserts." Secondly he promises the prosperity of men as to the gladness of heart: "and out of them shall go forth praise." Isa. 51: "Joy and gladness shall be found in her, and thanksgiving, and the voice of praise." As to the multitude of the people: "I will multiply them, and they shall not be diminished," as far as it is in me, and unless it should come about through their own fault. Ps. 138: "I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand." Or it is to be understood of those who are converted to Christ. And as to the exaltation of man: "and I will glorify," either bodily, or spiritually as to the holiness of virtue, "and his sons shall be as from the beginning," that is, like the holy fathers, "before me," through cleanness of life. "And I will visit," because I will defend them, and avenge them. Job 29: "Who will grant me that I may be as in the months past, according to the days in which God kept watch over me?" Thirdly, as to the goodness of the rulers, setting forth first their closeness, because from the same stock: "and there shall be a leader from him." This is referred to Zerubbabel, or to Christ. Hos. 2: "I will give them its vinedressers from the same place." Secondly their holiness: "and I will bring him near, and he shall approach," through justice; "for who is this that applies his heart?" In which is shown the author of the bringing-near, because no one is brought near unless drawn by God. John 6: "No one can come to me, unless the Father, who sent me, draws him." Thirdly he touches on the benefit of justice: "and you shall be to me a people." Ecclus. 10: "As is the ruler of the city, such also are those who dwell in it."

Here he sets forth the manner of the vengeance: and first he threatens the punishment — behold a whirlwind, that it may scatter, as a stirring of the air scatters dust, through captivity; a storm, that it may swallow up through death, as a wave of the sea; of the wicked, who afflicted the Jews, and who were not amended from their evils, it shall rest, as an abiding punishment. Isa. 30: the passing of the rod shall be established, which the Lord shall make to rest upon him. Second, he excludes mercy: he will not turn away his wrath. Isa. 3: in all these things the fury of the Lord has not been turned away; but his hand is still stretched out. Third, he promises the knowledge of these things: at the last you shall understand them, namely when all these things shall have come to pass. Psalm. 9: the Lord shall be known, doing judgments; the sinner is caught in the works of his own hands.