Commentary on Jeremiah (In Jeremiam)

Here he excludes the remedies in which they could have trusted: and first, the holiness of men; second, the strength of the royal city, chapter 6: "Take courage"; third, the religion of divine worship, chapter 7: "The word that was made to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying," et cetera. Concerning the first, two things. First he shows their malice in general; second he pursues the vices in particular, there: "For what can I be propitious to thee?" Concerning the first, two things. First he shows the fault; second he threatens the punishment, there: "Therefore a lion out of the forest hath struck them." Concerning the first, two things. First he shows the malice of the prelates; second, of the subjects, there: "But I said," et cetera. Concerning the first, two things. First the Lord sets forth the universal malice of the people as to the depravity of their action: "a man, even one, doing judgment" — that is, conducting himself justly toward his neighbor, according to the rule of just judgment — "seeking faith" — that is, acting faithfully; "and I will be propitious to him" — not only for the sake of ten, as Abraham said concerning the Sodomites, Genesis 18. But it could be said: "there is none that doth good, there is not so much as one": Psalm 13. And as to the perversity of the action in these matters — if any good things appeared outwardly: for even if they say, "the Lord liveth," they will swear this falsely; because in their heart they did not venerate the Lord, as they showed with their mouth; or because to the letter they were forswearing themselves. Above, chapter 4: "Thou shalt swear, the Lord liveth, in truth, and in judgment, and in justice." Isaiah 29: "This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." Second the prophet confirms the Lord's sentence: and first he sets down the truth of the sentence: "O Lord, mine eyes look upon faith," that is, upon what is right; as if he should say: thou hast judged rightly. Proverbs 16: "All the ways of man lie open to his eyes; the Lord is the weigher of spirits." Habakkuk 1: "Thine eyes are clean, so that thou canst not see evil, and thou canst not look upon iniquity." Second he adds the incorrigibility of the people, because it is not amended by being struck: "thou hast struck" — with light scourges — "they have not grieved" — over their sins; "thou hast worn away" — by death and captivity. Above, chapter 2: "In vain have I struck your children; they have not received discipline." Haggai 2: "I struck you with a burning wind, and with blight and hail, all the works of your hands: and there was not among you one that returned to me, saith the Lord." Nor by confusion: "they have hardened"; as if he should say: they are not changed by shame. Ezechiel 3: "For all the house of Israel is of a hardened forehead, and a stubborn heart."

Here he shows the malice of the prelates, contrary to the prophet's estimation. And first he sets forth the ignorance of the people, as if in excuse of them: perhaps they are poor, those whom I found evil in the streets, not knowing the way by which they should walk, the judgment which they should fear. 1 Cor. 8: not in all is there knowledge. Second, he sets forth the knowledge of the prelates, which took away the opinion of guilt: I will go, therefore, to the great ones, and I will speak to them: for they have known the way by which they should walk, the judgment by which they might also judge among others. Wis. 6: to you, kings, are these words, that you may learn wisdom, lest you fall away. Third, he sets forth the guilt: and behold, more than the people, because more boldly, fearing less, together with the people. Ps. 2: the kings of the earth stood up, and the princes assembled together against the Lord. The yoke of the law, the bonds of the precepts. Ps. 2: let us break their bonds, and let us cast their yoke away from us.

Here he threatens punishment: and first he determines the punishment. As to the killing of men, "a lion from the forest" — as it were fierce: Nebuchadnezzar, on account of ferocity; in whom is the kingdom of the Chaldeans. As to the devastation of the regions, "a wolf toward evening" — that is, on account of swiftness: for at the evening hour wolves, emptied of food, are swifter, and long for nocturnal prey. Or in the wolf, the kingdom of the Persians. As to the siege of the city, "a leopard watching" — that is, Nebuchadnezzar, on account of treachery, or the kingdom of the Greeks, on account of the variety of kingdoms which it had subjected to itself. But concerning the kingdom of the Romans he is silent, because it still lay far off in time; or else he signifies it too through what he says: "everyone who goes out" — that is, shall have escaped the hands of those going before — "shall be seized." Lam. 3: a bear lying in wait has he become to me, a lion in hiding. Hab. 1: their horses are more nimble than leopards, and swifter than the wolves of the evening. Secondly he resumes the cause: "they have been multiplied" — as to number; "they have been strengthened" — as to use; "the turnings away" — from God. Isa. 59: our iniquities have been multiplied before thee, and our sins have answered against us.

Here he pursues their sins in particular: and first, the sins of the subjects; second, the sins of the prelates, at the place, "for wicked men lying in wait are found among my people." Concerning the first, two things. First he shows the fault of the people; second, the folly of those sinning, at "Announce." Concerning the first, three things.

First he charges the people with the fault of idolatry: "In what regard can I be merciful to thee?" That is, what reasonable cause can I find for sparing you? "They swear" — showing to them divine reverence. Deut. 32: They have provoked me with that which is not God; and have angered me with their vanities; and I will provoke them with that which is not a people.

Second, he charges the fault of luxury, setting forth the perpetration of the sin, or the occasion of sinning: "I have filled to the full" — bestowing an abundance of temporal goods. Hence the Gloss: without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus grows cold; for the belly and the genitals are friends. "They have committed adultery," having committed adultery, in the house of the harlot; from the very place the baseness of the sin is increased. Ezech. 16: This was the iniquity of Sodom thy sister: pride and fullness of bread, and abundance, and the idleness of her and of her daughters; and they did not reach out the hand to the needy and the poor; and they were lifted up, and did abominations before me; and I took them away as thou hast seen. Setting forth also the ardor of concupiscence: "horses, lovers" — namely, when they are in the time of their heat — "stallions," because for this work the beasts are specially sent forth. "He neighed" — as one raging with lust. Psal. 31: Be not like the horse and the mule, in which there is no understanding.

Setting forth also the recompense of punishment, where he threatens vengeance: "Shall I not visit for these things?" — correcting their sins with punishments. "Soul" — the affections. Soph. 1: I will visit upon the men that are settled on their lees. And he determines the punishment as to the destruction of the walls: "go up, O Chaldeans"; and as to the destruction of the men: "take away the shoots" — that is, the sons who are propagated from them, as vines from a cutting. Deut. 28: Thy walls, strong and lofty, in which thou hadst trust, shall be destroyed, in all thy land. And he resumes the cause of the punishment: "because they are not the Lord's" — alienated from him through sin. Isa. 24: The transgressors have transgressed, and with the transgression of transgressors have they transgressed.

Third, he charges them with the sin of blasphemy: and first he sets forth the fault as regards blasphemy against God: "they have denied the Lord" — denying his providence over the things below. "It is not he" — by whose nod all things come to pass — "nor will it come," although we have sinned against him. Thren. 3: Who is he that hath said that a thing should be done, the Lord not commanding it? And Ezech. 9: They said: the Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not. And as to blasphemy against the prophets: "into the wind" — that is, in vain. "The answer" — the divine one. Job 6: You frame speeches only to rebuke, and utter words into the wind.

Second, he threatens punishment: and first he sets forth the punishment against blasphemy toward the prophets: "these things therefore" — the things that follow. "Into fire" — that is, I will give to thy words efficacy, so that thy very words may burn like fires. Infra 23: Are not my words as a burning fire? saith the Lord. And against blasphemy toward God, determining the condition of the enemies, that they are powerful: "behold I, from afar" — namely, Chaldea — "strong in might," "ancient," because Nimrod the giant ruled over them, whence it has been trained in arms of old. Likewise he shows the nation to be inexorable: "a nation whose language thou shalt not know." Likewise furnished with arms: "a quiver," because from it they readily send forth arrows; and because there they appear blood-stained, like corpses in tombs. Infra 50: Behold a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall rise up from the ends of the earth, et cetera.

And he sets forth the infliction of the punishment: "and it shall devour." Deut. 28: The Lord will bring upon thee a nation from afar, and from the uttermost parts of the earth, in the likeness of an eagle flying with swiftness, whose tongue thou canst not understand. Yet with an admixture of mercy: "nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I will not bring you to utter destruction." Supra 4: But I will not make a full end. Second, he resumes the cause of the punishment: "but if you shall say." Infra 16: I will cast you out of this land, into a land which you know not, you nor your fathers.

Here he shows the folly of the sinning people: and first he sets it forth: hear, foolish people, that have no heart, who, having eyes, exterior ones, do not see, with the heart. Isa. 6: blind the heart of this people. Secondly he proves it: and first from a comparison of unfeeling creatures, setting forth their obedience, will you not then fear me? The sand, the shore, shall be moved: namely the waves; that is, although they be moved. Job 38: I have surrounded it with my bounds. And the disobedience of the people. But to this people has been made an unbelieving heart. Ezech. 2: be not exasperating, as the house is an exasperating house. Secondly he proves the ingratitude for benefits, setting forth the ingratitude, they have withdrawn. The timely, in the beginning after the sowing; the latter, at the time of the ripening of the fruits; the Lord, namely the one who keeps. And the cessation of benefits, your iniquities. Isa. 59: your sins have divided between you and your God.

Here he pursues the fault of the prelates, which is frequently the cause of the fault of their subjects; and therefore he says: for wicked men lying in wait have been found among my people. And concerning this he does two things. First he argues their fault as to the violation of justice; second as to the perversity of doctrine, there, astonishment and marvelous things have been done in the land. Concerning the first, two things. First he shows their injustice as to the unjust and fraudulent oppression of the poor, setting down deceit, lying in wait. Ps. 10: he lies in wait to seize the poor man. Full of deceit, with riches which they acquired by deceit. And the effect of the deceit in the multiplication of riches: therefore they are grown great, in honors, they are grown rich, in riches. Below, 17: the partridge has hatched what she did not lay; he has made riches, but not in judgment. And in the multiplication of sins, and they have passed beyond. Deut. 32: the beloved grew fat and kicked back; grown fat, grown thick, grown wide. Second he shows their injustice as to the omission of just judgment, the cause of the widow. Isa. 1: they judge not for the fatherless, and the widow's cause does not come in unto them.

Here he threatens punishment. Deut. 32: I will render vengeance to my enemies, and repay those who hate me.

Here he charges the perversity of doctrine. And first he sets down an astonishing fault: "stupor," that is, a stupefying thing — the prophets prophesied a lie, whose office it was to teach the truth. Ezek. 22: her prophets have plastered them without temper, seeing vain things and divining lies unto them. They applauded, consenting to the lies, whose office it was to correct the prophets. Below, 29: The Lord has given you as priest in place of Jehoiada the priest, that you should be ruler in the house of the Lord over every man that is mad and that prophesies, to put him in the stocks and in prison. And now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah the Anathothite, who prophesies to you? And my people. Ecclus. 10: as is the ruler of the city, such also are they that dwell in it.

Secondly he hints at an astonishing punishment: what then shall be done in the end thereof? Namely, of captivity, or of death. Isa. 27: in measure against measure, when it shall have been cast off, he will judge it, etc.

It should be noted that poverty is manifold: namely, of earthly possession. James 2: has not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which God has promised to them that love him? Of humility. Matt. 5: blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Of affliction. Ps. 68: I am poor and sorrowful: your salvation, O Lord, has taken me up. Of knowledge. Apoc. 3: you know not that you are poor. Of imperfection. Lam. 3: I am the man who sees my poverty by the rod of his indignation.

Likewise it should be noted that visitation is manifold: namely, of consolation. Luke 1: the Orient from on high has visited us. Of correction. Ps. 88: I will visit their iniquities with a rod. Of damnation. Below, 8: in the time of their visitation they shall perish, says the Lord. Gathering, I will gather them, says the Lord.

Likewise it should be noted that the word of God is called fire: because it illumines. Ps. 118: your word is a lamp to my feet. Because it inflames. Ps. 104: the word of the Lord inflamed him. Because it penetrates weak things. Below, 20: and the word of the Lord was made in my heart as a burning fire, shut up in my bones. Heb. 4: the word of God is living and effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword, and reaching unto the division of soul and spirit, of the joints also and the marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Because it melts. Ps. 147: he will send forth his word and will melt them; his spirit will blow, and the waters will flow. Because it consumes the disobedient. Isa. 30: his lips are filled with indignation, and his tongue is as a devouring fire. John 15: if I had not come, and had not spoken to them, they would not have sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.