Commentary on Jeremiah (In Jeremiam)

Here is set forth the instruction of the remnant of the people, after the captivity of that same people. And it is divided into three parts. In the first is set forth the captivity; in the second, the preservation of the remnant, chapter 40: "The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord"; third, the instruction of the remnant, chapter 42: "And all the leaders of the warriors approached." Concerning the first, two things. First is set forth the captivity of the people; second, the liberation of certain ones, there, "and some of the poor people who had nothing at all." Concerning the first, three things. First he sets forth the siege, "and they besieged." Isaiah 29: "I will surround you as a sphere round about you, and I will cast up a rampart against you, and I will set fortifications for your siege." Second he sets forth the capture of the city: "in the eleventh year, in the fourth month" — namely, July. Yet it was burned in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, as is found in 2 Kings, last chapter: "the fifth of the month." Against this, 2 Kings, last chapter, says that it was the ninth of the month. And it could be that on the fifth day men began to flee on account of hunger, and on the ninth the city was opened, the guards having been removed. And because first they took the outer wall, and then they held the city as if it were already captured, and afterward they took the city itself: whence it follows: "they sat in the middle gate," that is, in the middle of two walls; or which was between two gates on the same side of the city. Above, chapter 1: "each one will set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and upon its walls round about, and upon all the cities of Judah." He also sets forth the capture of the king, indicating the flight: "And when Sedecias king of Judah, and all the men of war, had seen them, they fled, and went out by night from the city by the way of the king's garden, and by the gate that was between the two walls," which were joined to the wall of the city near the house of the king, and encircled the royal garden, among which there was both the way and the gate, at an equal distance from each. Lamentations 1: "Her princes have become like rams that find no pasture, they have gone away without strength before the face of the one pursuing." And he adds the capture: "But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them." Lamentations 4: "Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the sky." Third he sets forth the condemnation of the captives: and first, of the king and of the princes, unto slaying: "and having captured the king, they brought him to Nabuchodonosor," namely unto the pronouncing of the sentence: "and he spoke judgments to him." Ezechiel 10: "I will judge you with the judgments of adulteresses, and of those who shed blood." And the execution of the sentence upon the princes: "and he killed." Wisdom 6: "The mighty shall suffer torments mightily." And the blinding of the eyes: "the eyes of Sedecias also he put out (...) that he might be led into Babylon." 4 Kings 25, the same. Second, the condemnation of the city unto destruction: "the house of the king also, and the house of the common people, the Chaldeans burned with fire." Lamentations 2: "He has thrown down all her walls, he has destroyed her fortifications." Third, the condemnation of the people unto exile: "and Nabuzardan, the master of the soldiers, carried away the remnant of the people into Babylon." Baruch 4: "My delicate ones have walked rough ways: for they were led like a flock driven away by enemies."

Here he sets down the deliverance of certain persons. First, of the poor, who had nothing at all (...), and he gave them vineyards and cisterns, since the land suffers a scarcity of water. Above, 5: "Yet in those days, says the Lord, I will not make an end of you." Second, the deliverance of the just. First, of the prophet, giving the command: "he had commanded," and the execution: "he sent, therefore, into his own house." Proverbs 11: "The just man is delivered out of distress, and the wicked shall be given up instead of him." The same, 10: "What the wicked fears shall come upon him; their desire shall be given to the just." And chapter 16: "When the ways of man please the Lord, he will turn even his enemies to peace." Second, the deliverance of the eunuch: "Now the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah." And first he promises deliverance from the dominion of enemies: "and you shall not be delivered up." Wisdom 10: "She guarded him from his enemies, and kept him safe from seducers." Second, from the sword of slaughter: "and you shall not fall by the sword." Psalm 90: "A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you." Above, 17: "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence." Ecclesiasticus 2: "Believe God, and he will recover you, and direct your way, and hope in him."