Commentary on Jeremiah (In Jeremiam)

Here first the description of the Scripture is set down; second, the destruction of the Scripture, there, "the king was sitting in the winter house"; third, its restoration, there, "and the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah." Concerning the first, three things. First he sets down the command to write: "take a scroll." Habakkuk 2: "write the vision, and make it plain upon the tablets, that he who reads it may run." Second he sets down the fruit of the Scripture: "if perhaps, the house of Judah hearing." Ezekiel 33: "if the wicked man does penance for all his sins which he has committed, and keeps all my precepts, and does judgment and justice, he shall surely live, and shall not die." Third, the minister of the Scripture: "Jeremiah therefore called Baruch." Apocalypse 1: "what you see, write in a book, and send it to the seven Churches that are in Asia."

Here first is set forth the proclamation to the people; second, to the princes, there, "and when Micah had heard"; third, to the king, there, "therefore when they had heard all the words." Concerning the first, first is set forth the command to proclaim: "I am shut up." 2 Tim. 2: "Labor as a good soldier of Christ Jesus." Phil. 1: "that many more of the brethren in the Lord, trusting in my bonds, should more abundantly dare to speak the word of God without fear." Second, the manner of proclaiming is set forth as to place: "in the house of the Lord," which is a place of devotion. Isa. 56: "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples, says the Lord God." As to time: "on the day of the fast," which is a time of contrition. Isa. 58: "Is not this rather the fast that I have chosen? Loose the bonds of impiety, undo the bundles that weigh down. Let those who are broken go free, and break every burden. Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the needy and the wandering into your house. When you see the naked, cover him, and do not despise your own flesh." As to the hearers: "the people listening." As to those arriving: "and moreover with all Judah listening, who come from their cities." Third, he sets forth the fruit of the proclamation, positing its benefit: "if perhaps their prayer may fall in the sight of the Lord," that is, may be accepted. And the holiness that follows: "and let each one turn back from his most evil way, for great is the fury and the indignation." 4 Kings 2: "Great is the wrath of the Lord kindled against us, because our fathers have not heeded the words of this book, to do all that is written for us." Fourth, the fulfillment of the command is set forth as to the act: "and Baruch did." Heb., last chapter: "Obey your leaders, and be subject to them." As to time: "Now it came to pass in the fifth year of Joakim." Joel 2: "Sanctify the church, gather together the elders, assemble the little ones and those that suck the breasts." As to place: "and Baruch read (...) at the entrance of the new gate, which Joas had made." 2 Paralipomenon 27: "in the upper vestibule," that is, in the upper part of the court, in which the priests used to sacrifice. 2 Esdras 9: "they read in the book of the Lord their God four times in the day, and four times in the night."

Here is set forth the announcement to the princes: and first is set forth, concerning the Scripture of the prophecy, the notice made to the princes: and Michaeas brought word to them. Apoc., last chapter: "he who hears, let him say: Come." Second, the request for the Scripture: all the princes therefore sent to Baruch (...) saying: "Take in your hand the scroll from which you read to the people": mystically, in operation. Ecclesiastes 9: "Whatsoever your hand can do, do earnestly: for there is neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge in the grave, to which you are hastening." The bringing: he took, therefore. Third, the reading of the Scripture is set forth: and they said to him: "Sit, and read these things in our ears." Acts 20: "for I have not shrunk from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." And the effect of the reading: therefore when they had heard all the words, they were astonished. Above, 23: "Are not my words as it were a burning fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rocks?"

Here is set down the denunciation made to the king, and first is set down the preparation for the denunciation: for they set forth their purpose in denouncing it: we must report it, because he himself is able to correct the sins of the people. Proverbs 20: the king who sits upon the throne of judgment scatters all evil with his gaze. They examine closely the manner of its composition: whence first is set down the question: and they asked him, saying: tell us how you wrote all these words from his mouth; so that from the manner they might know whether the Scripture had been composed by the divine spirit. 1 John 4: do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets have gone out into the world. And the answer is set down: but Baruch said: he was speaking from his mouth as one reading, without hindrance and premeditation. Matthew 10: do not consider how or what you are to speak, for it will be given to you in that hour what you are to speak: for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Above, 1: behold, I have put my words in your mouth, et cetera. And the counsel of hiding is given: to hide, fearing the obstinacy and cruelty of the king. 3 Kings 18: has it not been told to you, my lord, what I did when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord, that I hid a hundred men of the prophets of the Lord, fifty and fifty, in caves, and fed them with bread and water? And now you say: go and tell your lord: Elijah is here, that he may kill me? Second is set down the denunciation: and they went in. Wisdom 6: to you, therefore, O kings, are these my words, that you may learn wisdom, and not fall away. Third is set down the recitation of the Scripture: and the king sent Judi; Job 29: and when I sat as a king with the army standing about, yet I was the comforter of those who mourned.

Here is set down the destruction of the Scripture: and concerning this, two things. First is set down the destruction of the Scripture; second, the persecution of those who wrote it, there, "and the king commanded Jeremiel." Concerning the first, three things. First is set down the disposition toward the destruction: "there was set before him a small hearth full of coals, in the winter house": for he had, for the sake of luxury, special houses for winter and for summer. Amos 3: "I will strike the winter house together with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish, and many buildings shall be destroyed." Second is set down the destruction: "and when Judi had read three little pages" — small pages — "with a scalpel" — the knife with which he was sharpening the pen. Isaiah 30: "take away from me the way, turn aside from me the path, let the Holy One of Israel cease from your face." And thus they did what they ought not to have done, and they also omitted what they ought to have done. And they did not fear, by the example of Josiah. 4 Kings 32: "when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his garments," etc. Third is set down the contradiction of the princes: "nevertheless Elnathan, and Dalajas, and Gamarias contradicted the king." Similarly 2 Kings, the last chapter: "the king's word prevailed over the words of Joab, and of his princes," etc.

Here is set down the persecution of the writers: and first is set down the wicked command, that they should seize them; second is set down the divine help: but the Lord hid them; and he brought it about that they could not be found. Psalm 33: the Lord keeps all their bones; not one of them shall be broken.

Here is set forth the restoration of the Scripture: and first is set forth the command to restore it, "Again take." Above, 1: "They will fight against thee, and they will not prevail, because I am with thee, says the Lord, to deliver thee." Second, he threatens the destroyer with ruin, at the passage, "and to Joakim king of Juda thou shalt say." Whence he charges him with guilt: "Thou hast burned." Prov. 29: "To the man who with a stiff neck despises him that reproves him, sudden destruction shall come upon him, and health shall not follow him." And he threatens the punishment: "Therefore thus says the Lord": the ending of the royal succession: "there shall not be of him one who shall sit upon the throne of David." Above, 22: "There shall not be of his seed a man who shall sit upon the throne of David, and have power any more in Juda." The casting out of the corpse: "his corpse shall be cast out, with the burial of an ass." Isa. 14: "But thou art cast out of thy grave, as an unprofitable branch, defiled and wrapped up, with them that are slain by the sword, and are gone down to the bottom of the pit." The destruction of his subjects, as regards his own household: "I will visit upon him, and upon his seed." Psalm. 88: "I will visit their iniquities with a rod, and their sins with stripes." And as regards the others: "and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Juda, all the evil." Isa. 43: "I am the Lord, and there is no other, forming the light, and creating darkness, making peace, and creating evil. I am the Lord that do all these things." Third, he sets forth the fulfillment of the command: "But Jeremias took another roll." Wis. 7: "But wisdom overcomes malice."