The words of Jeremias the son of Helcias, of the priests that were in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin.

“What were the dimensions, then, of the temple of Solomon? Its length was sixty cubits, and its breadth twenty. And it was not turned to the east, that the worshippers might not worship the rising sun, but the Lord of the sun. And let no one marvel if, when the Scripture gives the length at forty cubits, I have said sixty. For a little after it mentions the other twenty, in describing the holy of holies, which it also names Dabir. Thus the holy place was forty cubits, and the holy of holies other twenty. And Josephus says that the temple had two storeys, and that the whole height was one hundred and twenty cubits. For so also the book of Chronicles indicates, saying, "And Solomon began to build the house of God. In length its first measure was sixty cubits, and its breadth twenty cubits, and its height one hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold."”

“This is the lover of the brethren, and of the people of Israel; this is he who prays much for the people and the whole holy city, Jeremiah, prophet of God. 2 Mach., last chapter. These are the words of Onias the high priest to Judas Maccabeus, commending Jeremiah in a vision. From these, four things can be gathered concerning the present work which is at hand; namely, the author, the matter, the method, and the usefulness. Concerning the author, the present authority indicates three things: namely, office, affection, and act. In the office, the prophetic dignity is shown: hence he says, Jeremiah, prophet of the Lord. In the affection, fraternal charity: hence he says, this is the lover of the brethren. In the act, the piety of compassion: hence he says, this is he who prays much for the people, and the whole holy city. Now he is called a prophet of God to distinguish him from others who are not prophets of God. For there are some prophets of heaven, some prophets of the Devil, some prophets of God. Prophets of heaven are those who strive to conjecture future things from the configurations of heaven in the movements of the stars; and of these it is said, Isaiah 47: let the augurs of heaven stand and save thee, who contemplated the stars, and calculated the months, that from them they might announce to thee the things that are coming. And to this mode of prophecy is reduced all divination, which is done through certain causes or signs found in natural things. Prophets of the Devil are those who know certain future things from the revelation of demons, which things, as Augustine says, the demons themselves know by the experience of a long time, or by the keenness of their nature, or by the revelation of higher spirits. And of these it is said below, chapter 2: the prophets prophesied in Baal, and followed idols. But the prophets of God are those who, through the mediation of angels, as Dionysius says, receive illumination from God concerning future things. Hence Cassiodorus says that prophecy is a divine inspiration announcing the outcome of things with unchanging truth. And therefore it is said, Luke 1: thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High, et cetera. The first prophecy is to be despised, because it is vain: for it does not have unchanging truth. For effects receive contingency from proximate causes, not necessity from first causes. And therefore it is said below, chapter 10: be not afraid of the signs of heaven. The second is to be fled altogether, because it is deceptive and pernicious. Zechariah 13: I will take away the false prophets, and the unclean spirit, out of the land. The third is to be followed and held, because it is illuminative. 2 Peter 1: we have a more firm prophetic word, to which you do well to attend, as to a lamp shining in a dark place. Now these holy prophets are called prophets of God for three reasons. First, because they are inspired by God. Joel 2: I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. On the contrary, of false prophets, who speak by their own spirit, it is said, Ezekiel 13: woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and see nothing. Second, because they are sent by God. Matthew 23: behold I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes. Isaiah 29: and now the Lord hath sent me, and his spirit. On the contrary, of false prophets, below chapter 23: I did not send them, and they ran; I did not speak to them, and they prophesied. Third, because they testified of God (Acts 10): to him all the prophets give testimony, et cetera. Isaiah 44: you are my witnesses. Now the affection is shown to be fervent with fraternal charity: hence he says, this is the lover of the brethren. Now the affection of prophets varies in three ways. For some are lovers of gain. Isaiah 56: sleeping, and loving dreams, and most impudent dogs, they never had enough, et cetera. Some are lovers of human favor, of whom Matthew 23: they love the first places at feasts. But the third are lovers of the people, fulfilling that word of the apostle, to the Hebrews, last chapter: let the charity of brotherhood remain in you, and do not forget hospitality. The first despoiled them of riches. Micah 3: thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets who seduce my people, who bite with their teeth, and preach peace. Ezekiel 13: they violated me before my people for a handful of barley and a piece of bread, to kill souls that do not die, and to save alive souls that do not live, lying to my people who believe in lies. The second deceived by flatteries. Ezekiel 22: her prophets daubed them without tempering, seeing vain things and divining lies to them. But the third instructed with true doctrines. Below, chapter 3: I will give you shepherds according to my own heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine. Now in his act, his pious compassion toward his people is shown, there: this is he who prays much. His prayer is much, or great, in three ways. First, by the height of contemplation. Below, chapter 18: remember that I stood before thy sight, to speak good for them, and to turn away thy indignation from them. To stand in his sight is to be present through contemplation. Second, it was great from the greatness of compassion. Lamentations 2: my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured out upon the earth. Third, it was great by the constancy of time, because it continued before the captivity, and after. Hence James, last chapter: the continual prayer of a just man availeth much. And these three, namely prophetic dignity, fraternal charity, and the piety of compassion, are necessary for a prophet. Since, then, the prophet is constituted as it were a mediator between God and the people, as it is said, Deuteronomy 5: I was the go-between and mediator between God and you: it is necessary that through the gift of prophecy he be joined to God, as it is said, Wisdom 7: through nations she transfers herself into holy souls; and that through the bond of charity he be joined to the people. Ephesians 4: careful to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. And thus by praying they refer the cause of the people to God, and by preaching, the cause of God to the people. Now from these three, three others at once appear. For from the office, the method is evident: for he proceeds by similitudes and figures, which is the proper method of prophets. Numbers 12: if there be among you a prophet of the Lord, I will appear to him in a vision, and I will speak to him in a dream. From the affection, the usefulness is evident: for as it is said, Ecclesiasticus 6: a faithful friend is the medicine of life and of immortality. For the end is to live well, and to attain to the glory of immortality. But the matter appears from the act: for the matter, according to the historical sense, is the captivity of the people, which excited the prayer of compassion. Hence it is said, Baruch 3: the soul in anguish, and the troubled spirit, cry out to thee. Now here, in the book of Jeremiah, he who translated the book from Hebrew into Latin prefixes a proem in which, in the theoretical manner, he does three things. First, he renders them attentive; second, he makes them docile, there: here as a child he began to prophesy; third, well-disposed, there: which we have rendered according to the measure of meter and in verses. Now he renders them attentive in two ways. First, from the depth of Scripture; second, from the authority of the writer, there: a priest from among the priests. Concerning the first, he does two things. First, he commends the depth of the mystery, in which he equates him to the other prophets, there: but equal in meaning. And he shows the cause, the unity of the inspiring spirit, there: since indeed he prophesied by the same spirit. 1 Corinthians 14: it is the spirit that speaks mysteries. Job 32: the inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding. Second, he excuses the rusticity of his speech, there: moreover, the simplicity of his speech happened to him from the place in which he was born. And therefore he himself says below, chapter 1: I know not how to speak, for I am a child. Now he shows the authority of the writer from three things. First, from lineage together with dignity, there: a priest from among the priests: hence it was his own to teach the law. Malachi 2: the lips of the priest keep knowledge, and they seek the law from his mouth. Second, from privileged sanctity: and sanctified in his mother's womb. Hence it is said, chapter 1: before thou camest forth from the womb, I sanctified thee. Third, from the integrity of the flesh, that is, virginity, which is proved from what is said below, chapter 16: thou shalt not take a wife in this place, and thou shalt not have sons. Here as a child he began to prophesy. Here he renders them docile, determining the time: he beheld the captivity of the city not only in the spirit, as future, but also with the eyes of the flesh, as present; and determining the matter, namely that he prophesied not to the ten tribes, but only to the two. Already the Assyrians had transferred the ten tribes of Israel into the Medes. For it is clear from 4 Kings 17, that the ten tribes were taken captive by the king of the Assyrians in the time of Achaz, king of Judah. Colonists, that is, foreigners brought in to inhabit the land. He lamented, in the Lamentations. Which we have rendered according to the measure of meter, and in verses. Here he renders them well-disposed from his own person, in three places. First, concerning the good things done by himself without arrogance, saying: which we, according to measure — namely, prefixing the letters in order for each verse, as regards the Lamentations; in order, as regards the book of Jeremiah itself. Second, he clears away the accusation brought against him, excusing himself concerning Baruch, which he omitted. But we have omitted the book of Baruch his secretary, which among the Hebrews is neither read nor possessed. Third, he shows what difficulties press upon him from the contradiction of his rivals: hence, first, he sets down their envy, for all these things; second, he sets down the cause of the labor undertaken, and I suffer these things, because you compel me. Moreover; as if to say: were it not for your prayers, I could, by translating nothing, escape their rage.”

“We have here as much as it was thought fit we should know of the genealogy of this prophet and the chronology of this prophecy. 1. We are told what family the prophet was of. He was the son of Hilkiah, not that Hilkiah, it is supposed, who was high priest in Josiah's time (for then he would have been called so, and not, as here, one of the priests that were in Anathoth), but another of the same name. Jeremiah signifies one raised up by the Lord. It is said of Christ that he is a prophet whom the Lord our God raised up unto us, Deu 18:15, Deu 18:18. He was of the priests, and, as a priest, was authorized and appointed to teach the people; but to that authority and appointment God added the extraordinary commission of a prophet. Ezekiel also was a priest. Thus God would support the honour of the priesthood at a time when, by their sins and God's judgments upon them, it was sadly eclipsed. He was of the priests in Anathoth, a city of priests, which lay about three miles from Jerusalem. Abiathar had his country house there, Kg1 2:26. 2. We have the general date of his prophecies, the knowledge of which is requisite to the understanding of them. (1.) He began to prophesy in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign, Jer 1:2. Josiah, in the twelfth year of his reign, began a work of reformation, applied himself with all sincerity to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the images, Ch2 34:3. And very seasonably then was this young prophet raised up to assist and encourage the young king in that good work. Then the word of the Lord came to him, not only a charge and commission to him to prophesy, but a revelation of the things themselves which he was to deliver. As it is an encouragement to ministers to be countenanced and protected by such pious magistrates as Josiah was, so it is a great help to magistrates, in any good work of reformation, to be advised and animated, and to have a great deal of their work done for them, by such faithful zealous ministers as Jeremiah was. Now, one would have expected when these two joined forces, such a prince, and such a prophet (as in a like case, Ezr 5:1, Ezr 5:2), and both young, such a complete reformation would be brought about and settled as would prevent the ruin of the church and state; but it proved quite otherwise. In the eighteenth year of Josiah we find there were a great many of the relics of idolatry that were not purged out; for what can the best princes and prophets do to prevent the ruin of a people that hate to be reformed? And therefore, though it was a time of reformation, Jeremiah continued to foretel the destroying judgments that were coming upon them; for there is no symptom more threatening to any people than fruitless attempts of reformation. Josiah and Jeremiah would have healed them, but they would not be healed. (2.) He continued to prophesy through the reigns of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, each of whom reigned eleven years. He prophesied to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive (Jer 1:3), that great event which he had so often prophesied of. He continued to prophesy after that, Jer 40:1. But the computation here is made to end with that because it was the accomplishment of many of his predictions; and from the thirteenth of Josiah to the captivity was just forty years. Dr. Lightfoot observes that as Moses was so long with the people, a teacher in the wilderness, till they entered into their own land, Jeremiah was so long in their own land a teacher, before they went into the wilderness of the heathen: and he thinks that therefore a special mark is set upon the last forty years of the iniquity of Judah, which Ezekiel bore forty days, a day for a year, because during all that time they had Jeremiah prophesying among them, which was a great aggravation of their impenitency. God, in this prophet, suffered their manners, their ill manners, forty years, and at length swore in his wrath that they should not continue in his rest.”

“The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah,.... This is the general title of the whole book, and includes all his discourses, sermons, and prophecies; and designs not his own words, but the words of the Lord, which were put into his mouth, and he delivered under divine inspiration. The Septuagint version renders it, "the word of God": and the Arabic version, "the word of the Lord": the Targum, "the words of the prophecy of Jeremiah;'' who is described by his descent and parentage, "the son of Hilkiah". The Arabic version calls him Selkiah. This was not Hilkiah the high priest, who in the days of Josiah found the book of the law, Kg2 22:8 as Kimchi's father and Abarbinel think, and so Clemens of Alexandria (n); since he is not said to be a high priest, or of the high priests, but of the priests that were in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin; though the Targum paraphrases the words to the other sense, "of the heads of the ward of priests, of the amarcalin, or governors which were in Jerusalem, a man that took his inheritance in Anathoth, in the land of the tribe of Benjamin;'' nor is Jeremiah mentioned among the posterity of Hilkiah the high priest in Ch1 6:13, besides, Hilkiah, a priest of Anathoth, must be of the family of Ithamar; the last of which family that was high priest was Abiathar, who had fields in Anathoth, Kg1 2:26, and so could be no other than a common priest; for Hilkiah the high priest was of the family of Phinehas; for, from the times of that Abiathar to the Babylonish captivity, there was no high priest but of that family. The Jews say that Jeremiah descended by his mother's side from Rahab the harlot (o). Anathoth was a city in the tribe of Benjamin, as is here said, and belonged to the priests, Jos 21:18, it lay north of Jerusalem about three miles from it, according to Jerom (p) and others; but, according to Josephus (q), it was but twenty furlongs from it, that is, two and a half miles. (n) Stromat. l. 1. p. 328. (o) T. Bab. Megilia, fol. 14. 2. Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 59. 3. Jarchi in loc. (p) Comment. in Hieremiam, I. 1. fol. 121. H. tom. 5. & I. 2. fol. 135. F. & I. 6. fol. 161. C. Isidor. Hispalens. de Vit. & Mort. Sanct. c. 38. (q) Antiqu. I. 10. c. 7. sect. 3. Ed. Hudson.”

“Jer 1:1-3 contain the heading to the whole book of the prophecies of Jeremiah. The heading runs thus: "Sayings of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests at Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin, to whom befell the word of Jahveh in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign, and in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, until the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month." The period mentioned in these verses includes the time of Jeremiah's principal labours, while no reference is here made to the work he at a later time wrought amidst the ruins of Judah and in Egypt; this being held to be of but subordinate importance for the theocracy. Similarly, when the names of the kings under whom he laboured are given, the brief reigns of Jehoahaz and of Jehoiachin are omitted, neither reign having lasted over three months. His prophecies are called דברים, words or speeches, as in Jer 36:10; so with the prophecies of Amos, Amo 1:1. More complete information as to the person of the prophet is given by the mention made of his father and of his extraction. The name ירמיהוּ, "Jahveh throws," was in very common use, and is found as the name of many persons; cf. Ch1 5:24; Ch1 12:4, Ch1 12:10, Ch1 12:13; Kg2 23:31; Jer 35:3; Neh 10:3; Neh 12:1. Hence we are hardly entitled to explain the name with Hengstb. by Exo 15:1, to the effect that whoever bore it was consecrated to the God who with almighty hand dashes to the ground all His foes, so that in his name the nature of our prophet's mission would be held to be set forth. His father Hilkiah is taken by Clem. Alex., Jerome, and some Rabbins, for the high priest of that name who is mentioned in Ch2 22:4; but without sufficient grounds. For Hilkiah, too, is a name that often occurs; and the high priest is sure to have had his home not in Anathoth, but in Jerusalem. But Jeremiah and his father belonged to the priests who lived in Anathoth, now called Anta, a town of the priests, lying 1 1/4 hours north of Jerusalem (see on Jos 21:18), in the land, i.e., the tribal territory, of Benjamin. In Jer 1:2 אליו belongs to אשׁר: "to whom befell (to whom came) the word of Jahveh in the days of Josiah,...in the thirteenth year of his reign." This same year is named by Jeremiah in Jer 25:3 as the beginning of his prophetic labours. ויהי in Jer 1:3 is the continuation of היה in Jer 1:2, and its subject is דבר יהוה: and then (further) it came (to him) in the days of Jehoiakim,...to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, etc. In the fifth month of the year named, the eleventh of the reign of Zedekiah, Jerusalem was reduced to ashes by Nebuzar-adan, and its inhabitants carried away to Babylon; cf. Jer 52:12., Kg2 25:8. Shortly before, King Zedekiah, captured when in flight from the Chaldeans during the siege of Jerusalem, had been deprived of eyesight at Riblah and carried to Babylon in chains. And thus his kingship was at an end, thought the eleventh year of his reign might not be yet quite completed.”