Jeremias 4
Jerome · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Jeremias 4:1
(Chapter IV, Verse 1) If you return, O Israel, says the Lord, return to me. The Septuagint translates it as: If Israel turns back, says the Lord, it will return to me. And the meaning is, if it returns to me, it will be delivered from captivity. Alternatively: when it offers what it has: For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. (Matthew 25:29). Furthermore, according to the Hebrew text, the meaning here is: If you return to me, O Israel, and once desiring salvation, you confess to having sinned and not heeded the voice of the Lord your God, fully convert and believe in the one you denied, and then there will be complete conversion. If you remove your offenses from my face, you will not be disturbed. When we are moved and say, 'But my feet were almost ready to stumble' (Ps. 73:2), we do not suffer this because of the weakness of our nature, but because we place stumbling blocks and idols against the Lord. — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:2
(Verse 2.) And you shall swear, 'As the Lord lives, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless him, and they themselves shall praise him.' And how does the Gospel forbid us to swear? But here (Matt. 5), to swear is said for confession, and for the condemnation of idols, by which Israel used to swear. Finally, stumbling blocks are removed, and one swears by the Lord. And what is said, 'As the Lord lives,' in the Old Testament it is an oath for the condemnation of the dead, by whom every idol worshiper swears. At the same time, it must be noted that an oath has these companions: truth, judgment, and justice. If these are lacking, the oath will by no means be valid, but rather perjury. And when, he says, Israel does this, and through the Apostles becomes the teacher of the nations, then all nations will bless or be blessed in him, and they will praise him because salvation has come forth from Israel. — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:3-4
(Verse 3 and following.) For thus says the Lord to the man of Judah and Jerusalem: Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my fury go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your thoughts (or inventions). For we have said, Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and remove the foreskins of your hearts. Symmachus adds, Purify yourselves to the Lord, and remove the evil of your hearts: understanding circumcision, purification, and the foreskins to be a vice. But this is commanded to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, who follow the true faith and dwell in the Church, that they should not sow upon the thorns which the Gospel speech signifies, which choke the seed of God, but first make the field new and uproot all the brambles, and remove the thistles, so that clean seeds may receive clean fields. This is what is said in another place: Do not cast your pearls before swine, and do not give what is holy to dogs (Matthew 7:6). For how can someone hear the word of God and conceive seeds and bear fruit, whose soul is full of the tribulations of the world? And what follows: Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and remove the foreskins of your hearts. This is commanded to no one else except the man of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that they may abandon the letter that kills and follow the life-giving spirit. For if you do not do this, my wrath will go forth like fire, and it will be kindled, and there will be no one to extinguish it. Therefore he warns and predicts beforehand so that he is not compelled to act: which we confirm in the case of the Ninevites, to whom the sentence was predicted, so that they would avoid the impending wrath through repentance. However, all these things happen due to the wickedness of your (or our) thoughts or inventions. Where are those who say in their thoughts that there is no sin, when all vices, according to Gospel truth, proceed from the heart (Matthew 15)? — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:4
What we translate as "be circumcised to the Lord and remove the foreskin of your hearts," Symmacus renders as "be purified to the Lord and remove the malice from your hearts," understanding circumcision as purification and the foreskin as vice. But this was commanded to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, who followed the true faith and lived in the church, that they not sow among thorns, meaning that they should not spread the word of the gospel among those who would suffocate God's planting, but that they should first sow on fallow ground and remove every thorn bush and briar patch, so that pure seeds may be received by pure soil. In other words, as it is said elsewhere, "Do not cast your pearls before swine, and do not give holy things to dogs." For how is it possible for anyone to hear the word of God and to conceive and to bear fruit, whose soul is full of the hardness of the world? Hence, "be circumcised to the Lord and remove the foreskin of your hearts," is commanded to none other than the men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem, that they might forsake the letter that kills and follow the vivifying Spirit instead. "If you fail to do this," he adds, "my wrath will go forth like fire and burn, and there will be no one to extinguish it." Therefore, he warns and cautions beforehand, lest he be compelled to do this, as we also observe among the Ninevites, to whom a warning was issued that they repent to avoid his imminent wrath. But all of this evil occurs because of our malicious thoughts or intentions. Where are those who say that sin is not located in one's thoughts, when every wickedness, according to the truth of the Gospel, proceeds from the heart? — SIX BOOKS ON JEREMIAH 1:70.1-4
Jeremias 4:5-6
(Verse 5, 6.) Announce in Judah, and make it heard in Jerusalem, speak: blow the trumpet in the land, cry aloud, and say: Gather together, and let us enter the fortified cities. Let Judah hear this, let Jerusalem hear this, in which the confession of faith is, and in which the peace of Christ dwells, and to which it was said through Isaiah: Ascend to the high mountain, you who proclaim good news to Zion. Raise your voice, you who proclaim good news to Jerusalem (Isa. 40:9): cry aloud, and thus command: Let us enter the fortified cities. The wars of the heretics are rising: hold fast to the protection of Christ. Raise the sign of the cross on the watchtower, in the loftiness of the Church. Take courage, you who are afraid, do not stand still, but run to the aid of Christ. Evil, he says, I bring from the North and great destruction, truly it is Nebuchadnezzar, who is allowed by me to be in this world, so that your strength and victory may be proven. — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:7
This is the true Nebuchadnezzar, as we have said before, about whom Peter also said, "Our adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion." He ascended from the depths to which he had been relegated and for fear that he is sent back, the plunderer or destroyer of the nations entreats and arises. He is whom it was said that "he will dominate all his enemies" and those who boast in the face of the Lord: "I have gone around the earth and trampled it." For whom has the venom of the devil not affected except for he alone who is able to say "the prince of this world comes and finds that he has nothing over me"? He repeatedly makes all the territory of the church a wasteland, that those who have left the church might do battle against it, those about whom John the Evangelist also says, "They went forth from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us." The cities of the land of Judah are devastated, and the councils of heretics flourish. It can be said, therefore, about every patron of the authors of perverse doctrine: "A lion ascended from his lair and a destroyer of nations has arisen," and so on. — SIX BOOKS ON JEREMIAH 1:72.1-3
Jeremias 4:7
(Verse 7) The lion has come up from his den, and the destroyer of the nations has risen; he has left his lair to make your land a desolation. Your cities will be laid waste, with no inhabitant remaining. This is, as we have said, the true Nebuchadnezzar, of whom the blessed Apostle Peter speaks: 'Our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour' (1 Peter 5:8). But he has also ascended from the abyss, from which he must be bound, and he pleads not to be cast out; and the plunderer or destroyer of the nations has risen, of whom it is said: 'You will rule over all your enemies' (Psalm 9:5), and 'He who boasts in the sight of the Lord: I have gone around and trampled on the whole earth' (Job 2:2). For who is it, indeed, whom the poisons of the devil do not touch, except for he alone who can say: Behold, the prince of this world is coming, and in me he has found nothing (John 14:30)? This person frequently puts the whole earth of the Church in solitude, so that those who have gone out of the Church fight against the Church. Concerning these, John the Evangelist speaks: They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us (1 John 2:19). The cities of the land of Judea are being devastated, and the assemblies of heretics flourish. Therefore, if anyone is a supporter and author of perverse doctrines, it can be said: The lion has come up from his den, and the destroyer of nations has risen! — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:8
(Verse 8.) So gird yourselves with sackcloth, weep and howl, for the fierce anger of the Lord's fury has not turned away from us, or as the Septuagint translated, from you. We cannot avoid the lion and the most savage beast unless we repent and turn to the Lord, not only in our minds but also in our actions. For as long as he devastates the Church and the land of Judah, and also ravages Jerusalem, the clear anger of God is evident. — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:9
(Verse 9.) And it shall be on that day, says the Lord: the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes, and the priests shall be amazed, and the prophets shall be confounded. While the Church of the Lord is being devastated by the plunderer, and the anger of the Lord remains against us, all help will be useless. The heart of the king, whose heart should be in the hand of God, will perish, and the hearts of the princes, who were thought to be wise. For God has made the wisdom of the world foolish, because through it they did not know God (1 Corinthians 1). Even the priests themselves, who were supposed to teach the law of the Lord and defend their subjects from the fury of the lion, will be infatuated with a certain stupor. For the Septuagint translated it as 'stupor', expressing a loss of mind. And the prophets will be dismayed, or, as Aquila translated the Hebrew word 'Iethmau', they will be insane. For who would not go mad, who would not lose heart, when they see their princes, kings, priests, and prophets being devoured by the lion? — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:10
(Verse 10) And I said: Alas, alas, alas: O Lord God (which the LXX translated: O Lord God), have you deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying: There will be peace for you? And behold the sword has reached to the soul. For earlier he had said: At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of God, and all nations will gather to it on the mountain of the Lord in Jerusalem; and now he says: The heart of the king and the hearts of the leaders will perish, and the priests will be astonished and the prophets will be dismayed. The Prophet is troubled and thinks that God has lied to him. He does not understand that the promise will be fulfilled in the distant future, but this will happen in the near future, as the Apostle also speaks: Has God rejected his people? But it reaches to the soul, when nothing vital is reserved in the soul. And at the same time, it shows this, that unless the sword goes before, which cuts off and purges the vices of the soul, peace and promise do not follow. — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:11-12
(Verse 11, 12.) In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A burning wind (or dew) in the ways that are in the desert. The ways of my people's children: not for winnowing, and not for purifying. A spirit full of these will come to me. When the sword reaches to the soul, and the threshing floor is complete: then a burning wind will come from the desert, which will not purify and winnow it, but with the chaff scattered here and there, the grain will be stored in the barns: but a full spirit, not for the people, but for me, will come, so that my wheat may be scattered. The wind and the spirits are called by the same name among the Hebrews, namely 'Rua'. And depending on the context or the place, we should understand it as either wind or spirit. Others have explained this passage as follows: after the area has been cleared, the remaining things are saved. Hence it is also written: 'The Spirit of fullness will come to me,' as the Evangelist says: 'We have all received from his fullness' (John 1:16), and we will receive the grace of the Holy Spirit. As for the burning wind, according to the story, take Nebuchadnezzar, who consumes everything. According to the tropology, the opposing power, which comes from the desert and solitude where there is no hospitality of God, will try to overthrow his Church. And now I will speak my judgments with them. Ἀποσιώπησις is, according to that Virgilian saying (Aeneid. I): Whom I... but it is better to calm the troubled waves. Therefore, about to speak of prosperity, he holds back and joins sad things with sad. For these are the judgments, by which God once spoke with his people, so that they may know how to justly endure what they endure. — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:13
(Verse 13.) Behold, like a cloud it will ascend, and like a storm its chariots: swifter than eagles are its horses. Woe to us, for we are devastated. It sees what is coming: it describes the army of Babylon, the noise of its chariots and wheels is compared to the fiercest storm, and the swiftness of its horses is joined to that of eagles. When the Prophet had said this and pointed as if to approaching enemies, the people groan, and not foreseeing but already experiencing, they say: Woe to us, for we are devastated. This same thing applies to the Church, just as the army of the true Nebuchadnezzar attacks us daily, and the chariots of Pharaoh, and all his cavalry, surpass the onslaught of eagles. If the Ecclesiasticus man understands, believing in that sentiment: When you have turned, you will groan, then you will be saved, he will say: Woe to us, for we are devastated (Ezech. XXXIII, 11). — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:14
(Verse 14.) Wash your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved: how long shall evil thoughts dwell in you? To the people who say, 'Woe to us, for we have been devastated,' the Prophet responds, rather through the Prophet God responds: Wash your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, with that water about which Isaiah also speaks: 'Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean' (Isaiah 1:16), the water of saving baptism, the water of repentance. But he speaks to the metropolis of the Jews, so that by the city the nations may be understood: How long will you surrender to wicked thoughts that proceed from your heart? However, in the Holy Scriptures, we must accept the heart and soul as the meaning. — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:15
(Verse 15) The voice of the messenger from Dan, announcing the idol (or pain) from Mount Ephraim. Near the location of the land of Judah, the divine word now speaks. For Dan, a tribe near Mount Lebanon and the city now called Paneas, looks towards the north: from where Nebuchadnezzar will come. But the idol Bel, or pain or wickedness, is described as coming from Mount Ephraim. After the tribe of Dan, the land of Ephraim follows, through which one reaches Jerusalem. Then judgment is interpreted: Ephraim, abundance. Therefore the judgment of the Lord will come upon the land that has sinned against the Lord, with all the abundance of punishment. — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:16-17
(Verse 16, 17.) Say to the nations: Behold, it has been heard in Jerusalem, the watchmen come from a distant land and they have given their voice over the cities of Judah: they have become like watchmen over it all around, because they have provoked me to anger, says the Lord. God wants all the nations around to know our judgment: and Jerusalem, being afflicted, to receive all discipline. It is announced with a famous saying in Jerusalem that the adversaries come from a distant land, and the noise of a roaring army rises against it, who besiege the city and close the city with fortifications so diligently, that you would think they are not adversaries, but rather watchmen over fields and vineyards. But all this was done not by the strength of the enemy, but by the fault of Jerusalem: because it provoked God to anger. For if they do not have power over the strength of their adversaries in pigs, how much more in men, and men who were once citizens of God's city? — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:18
(Verse 18.) Your ways and thoughts have brought these things upon you: your wickedness, because it is bitter, has reached your heart. It makes an apostrophe to the city of Jerusalem, that her ways and thoughts, by which she sinned in both deed and word, have caused all these things to come upon her: and her own wickedness, which is inherently bitter, has touched her heart and penetrated her innermost being. Whatever happens to us, happens because of our own fault, as we turn a sweet Lord into bitterness and force Him to be unwillingly harsh. — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:19-20
(Verse 19, 20.) My belly, my belly is in pain: the feelings of my heart are troubled within me. I will not be silent because my soul has heard the sound of the trumpet, the cry of battle. Destruction upon destruction is called out, and the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, my curtains in an instant. When we stood by Symmachus, we were troubled, and in Hebrew it is written, Homa (); the Septuagint and Theodotion used the word μαιμάσσει, which I do not know the meaning of to this day. But the eagle puts up with the disturbance, which also means turmoil itself. Let it be said about this word, about which I know there is a great debate among many. The voice of the Prophet, speaking through the Prophet of God, is brought in: that he may grieve over the contrition of his people, and that his inner organs may be torn apart like those of a man. Just as the Savior grieved over the death of Lazarus (John 11): and he wept over Jerusalem, lest he hide his sorrow in silence (Luke 19): and every sound of the trumpet and the noise of battles disturbs his emotion, while evils are multiplied by evils, and the whole land of two tribes is laid waste. While I did not think, he says, my tents and my skins were ravaged by the raging Babylonian army: and my former lodgings have turned into spoils of the enemy. And God himself speaks these same words, when he sees tumults and discords in the Church and in his assemblies crying out day by day like a partridge, and the peace of God turning into war. Hence it follows: — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:21
(Verse 21.) How long will I see those fleeing (Vulgate: the one fleeing), hear the sound of the horn? Whether those fleeing from the king of Babylon, or those fleeing from me and departing from my service. — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:22
(Verse 22) Because my foolish people did not acknowledge me: they are foolish and senseless children. They are wise to do evil, but do not know how to do good. The cause of their brokenness, devastation, fleeing, and trumpet sound is that the people have become foolish, not by nature, but by their own deliberate choice. And this foolishness is further proven by the fact that they do not know God, and the wise children have become foolish and senseless. For what greater foolishness can there be than, when the ox knows its owner and the donkey the manger of its master, to not know the Lord, the God of Israel, and to despise the present one whom one always desired to see? And it is inferred: They are wise to do evil, but they do not know how to do good. Here wisdom must be understood as wickedness, just as the children of this age are wiser than the children of light: and the steward of iniquity is narrated to have done certain things wisely (Luke 16); and the serpent in paradise is recorded as being wiser than all the beasts (Genesis 3). Therefore true wisdom is that which is joined to the fear of God. Otherwise, where there are plots and evasion, it is not wisdom, but cunning and deceit that should be called. For this reason, as we have said, because my foolish people did not know me, the Seventy translated it as: because the leaders of my people did not know me, so that the blame may be more on the teachers than on the people who do not have knowledge of God. — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:23-26
(Verse 23 and following) I looked at the earth, and behold, it was empty and void; and the heavens, and there was no light in them. I saw the mountains, and behold, they were moving; and all the hills were shaken. I looked, and there was no man, and every bird of the sky had fled. I looked, and behold, Carmel was a desert, and all its cities were destroyed before the Lord's face, and before the fierceness of his anger. The prophet sees in spirit what is to come, so that the people, when they hear it, may be terrified, and, having repented, may not endure what they fear. The land is empty, with its inhabitants destroyed. The heavens have no light, and the magnitude of terror prevents people from seeing. The mountains and hills themselves have safe hiding places, but they seem to be shaken and disturbed to an extreme degree. Looking around, the observer saw nothing, not even a bird. For the elements feel the anger of God, and the irrational creatures are filled with fear. The entire world now demonstrates that this is true, as the multitude of humans, and even the birds that usually follow them, have vanished and perished. Also Carmel, which overlooks the great sea, planted with olive trees and vineyards, will come to such a solitude that it will have the desolation of a desert. Likewise, all cities will become deserted, and the cause of all evils is that the anger of the Lord has been provoked by the sin of the guilty people. Whatever we have said about the history of Jerusalem and Judea, let us apply it to the Church of God, when it offends God, and when it is either ruined by vices or persecuted, and where once there was a choir and joy of virtues, there the multitude of sins and sorrows will prevail. — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:27-28
(Vers. 27, 28.) For thus says the Lord: The whole earth shall be desolate, but I will not make a complete end. The earth shall mourn and the heavens above shall be sorrowful, because I have spoken ((or thought)). I have planned and will not regret it; I have not turned away from it. The earth is deserted due to the mixture of God's anger and mercy, but there will not be a complete destruction so that those who understand His mercy may exist. The heavens above will also appear sad, and the earth itself will mourn, because the judgment of the Lord has reached its end and He does not regret what He has planned and spoken. But the repentance of God is said to occur when the aforementioned sentence is removed, and the raging wrath does not reach its end. He threatened through Jonah, and the impending sword of tears and sighs was overcome by a multitude (John 3). — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:29
(Verse 29.) At the sound of the horseman, and of him who sends forth the arrow (or bends the bow), every city (or region) flees. They have entered the heights and climbed the rocks. And what follows: They have entered the thickets, or caves, which the Seventy have added. But the divine word describes the raging army of Babylon, how at its trembling the entire people have abandoned the city, and have climbed the heights; and yet they could not escape the wrath of the Lord. But whatever, as we said above, is understood in history against Jerusalem, it refers to the Church, when it has offended God, and has been handed over to its adversaries, either in the time of persecution, or certainly because of vices and sins. — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:30
(Verse 30.) But what will you do, O devastated one? The word 'devastated' in Hebrew is 'Sadud', which only Aquila has translated, others have translated it as 'miserable and wretched', by their own fault, for they have offended a merciful God. Finally, it follows: When you dress yourself in scarlet and adorn yourself with a golden necklace, and paint your eyes with antimony, you are in vain: your lovers have despised you, they will seek your soul. In the form of an adulterous woman speaks: when you have once offended God, and as if you had abandoned your Creator, you in vain seek ornaments. Your lovers, the demons, have despised you, and not the filth of debauchery, but they will seek the destruction of your soul. This same thing is to be understood spiritually against those who have lost conjugal affections and the modesty of true faith. 'If,' he says, 'you clothe yourself in scarlet, that is, you assume faith in the blood of Christ; if you adorn yourself with a golden necklace, that is, you have the meditation of spiritual senses and understanding; and if you paint your eyes with antimony, that is, you have the study of mysteries and the knowledge of God's secrets, you are in vain adorned. For these things you have also prepared for your lovers; and therefore a narrow bed cannot contain both, nor does God receive the ornaments by which you pleased your lovers before.' — Commentary on Jeremiah
Jeremias 4:31
(Verse 31) For I heard a voice like that of a woman in labor, the anguish (or groaning) of one giving birth. The voice of the daughter of Zion, fading away and stretching out her hands: Woe to me, for my soul is faint because of the slain! Like a woman in labor, that is, one who is giving birth for the first time, she describes the city of Jerusalem lamenting and crying out. For just as a woman in labor, not yet experiencing the pain of childbirth, almost dies and endures anguish, barely able to breathe, with hands spread out, she collapses, so too the daughter of Zion, when she sees her children slain, will burst forth in these words and say (or bursts forth and says): Woe to me, for my soul is faint because of the slain! But two examples have been compared in one chapter, the giving birth of children and the mourning: so that whatever a woman suffers in childbirth, or in the deaths of children, Jerusalem may suffer in the nations. — Commentary on Jeremiah