The time, and the calling, of Jeremias: his prophetical visions. God encourages him.
Ieremie prophecied in the times of Iosias, Ioakim, and Sedecias Kinges of Iuda: 5. being sanctified in his mothers wombe, is sent in his tender age to prophecie, 11. the destruction of Ierusalem. 17. God geuing him corege against his persecutors.
1The words of Jeremias the son of Helcias, of the priests that were in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin.Parole di Geremia figliuolo di Helcia, uno de' sacerdoti, che abitavano in Anathoth nella terra di Benjamin.THE wordes of Ieremie the sonne of Helcias, of the priestes that were in Anathoth, in the land of Beniamin.Verba Jeremiæ filii Helciæ, de sacerdotibus qui fuerunt in Anathoth, in terra Benjamin. 2The word of the Lord which came to him in the days of Josias the son of Amon king of Juda, in the thirteenth year of his reign.Parole dette a lui dal Signore ne' giorni di Josia figliuolo di Amon, re di Giuda, il decimoterzo anno del regno di lui,The word of our Lord which was made to him in the daies of Iosias the sonne of Amon king of Iuda, in the thirteenth yeare of his kingdome.Quod factum est verbum Domini ad eum in diebus Josiæ filii Amon, regis Juda, in tertiodecimo anno regni ejus. 3And which came to him in the days of Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda, unto the end of the eleventh year of Sedecias the son of Josias king of Juda, even unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive, in the fifth month.E dette a lui ne' giorni di Joachim figliuolo di Josia, re di Giuda, sino a tutto l'undecimo anno di Sedecia figliuolo di Josia, re di Giuda, sino alla trasmigrazione di Gerusalemme nel quinto mese.And the word was made in the daies of Ioakim the sonne of Iosias king of Iuda, vnto the end of the eleuenth yeare of Sedecias the sonne of Iosias king of Iuda, euen vnto the transmigration of Ierusalem in the fifth moneth.Et factum est in diebus Joakim filii Josiæ, regis Juda, usque ad consummationem undecimi anni Sedeciæ, filii Josiæ, regis Juda, usque ad transmigrationem Jerusalem, in mense quinto. 4And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:E il Signore parlommi, dicendo:And the word of our Lord was made to me, saying:Et factum est verbum Domini ad me, dicens: 5Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and made thee a prophet unto the nations.Anzi che ti formassi nel sen della madre, io ti conobbi, ed anzi che tu uscissi dall'utero, io ti santificai, e ti diedi Profeta alle genti.Before I formed thee in the wombe, I knewe thee: and before thou camest forth of the matrice, I sanctified thee, and a prophete in the Gentiles I gaue thee.Priusquam te formarem in utero, novi te, / et antequam exires de vulva, sanctificavi te, / et prophetam in gentibus dedi te.
6And I said: Ah, ah, ah, Lord God: behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child.Ed io dissi: Ah, ah, ah, Signore Dio, tu vedi, ch'io non so parlare, perchè io sono un fanciullo.And I sayd; A a a, ô Lord God: Behold, I can not speake, because I am a childe.Et dixi: A, a, a, Domine Deus, ecce nescio loqui, / quia puer ego sum. 7And the Lord said to me: Say not: I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee: and whatsoever I shall command thee, thou shalt speak.E il Signore disse a me: Non dire: Io sono un fanciullo; perocché tu anderai a fare tutte quelle cose, per le quali ti spedirò, e tutto quello, che io t'ingiungerò, tu lo dirai.And our Lord said vnto me: Say not: I am a childe: for to al thinges, to which I shal send thee, thou shalt goe: and al thinges whatsoeuer I shal command thee, thou shalt speake.Et dixit Dominus ad me: Noli dicere: Puer sum: / quoniam ad omnia quæ mittam te ibis, / et universa quæcumque mandavero tibi loqueris. 8Be not afraid at their presence: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.Non temere la faccia di coloro: conciossiachè son io con te, per trarti d'impaccio, dice il Signore.Be not afraide of their face: because I am with thee to deliuer thee, saith our Lord.Ne timeas a facie eorum, / quia tecum ego sum ut eruam te, / dicit Dominus. 9And the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth: and the Lord said to me: Behold I have given my words in thy mouth:E stese il Signore la mano, e toccò la mia bocca; e dissemi il Signore: Ecco che io pongo nella tua bocca le mie parole:And our Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth: and our Lord saied to me: Beholde I haue geuen my wordes in thy mouth:Et misit Dominus manum suam, et tetigit os meum, et dixit Dominus ad me: Ecce dedi verba mea in ore tuo: 10Lo, I have set thee this day over the nations, and over kingdoms, to root up, and to pull down, and to waste, and to destroy, and to build, and to plant.Ecco che io ti do oggi autorità sopra le genti, e sopra i reami, affinchè tu di radichi, e distrugga, e disperga, e dissipi, e edifichi, e pianti.Behold I haue appointed thee this day ouer the Gentiles, and ouer kingdomes, that thou maist pluck vp, and destroy, and waste, and dissipate, and build, and plant.ecce constitui te hodie / super gentes et super regna, / ut evellas, et destruas, / et disperdas, et dissipes, / et ædifices, et plantes. 11And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What seest thou, Jeremias? And I said: I see a rod watching.E il Signore mi parlò, e disse: Che è quello, che tu vedi, o Geremia? E io dissi: Io vedo una verga vegliante.And the word of our Lord was made to me, saying: What seest thou Ieremie? And I said: I see a rodde watching.Et factum est verbum Domini ad me, dicens: Quid tu vides, Jeremia ? Et dixi: Virgam vigilantem ego video.
12And the Lord said to me: Thou hast seen well: for I will watch over my word to perform it.E il Signore mi disse: Così è come tu hai veduto; perocché io sarò vigilante sopra la mia Parola per adempirla.And our Lord sayed to me: wel hast thou seene; because I wil watch vpon my word to doe it.Et dixit Dominus ad me: Bene vidisti: / quia vigilabo ego super verbo meo, / ut faciam illud. 13And the word of the Lord came to me a second time saying: What seest thou? And I said: I see a boiling caldron, and the face thereof from the face of the north.E il Signore parlommi di nuovo, e disse: Che vedi tu? E io dissi: Veggo una caldaia bollente, ed ella viene dalla parte di settentrione.And the word of our Lord was made to me the second time, saying: What seest thou? And I said: I see a pot boyling hote, and the face thereof from the face of the North.Et factum est verbum Domini secundo ad me, dicens: Quid tu vides ? Et dixi: Ollam succensam ego video, / et faciem ejus a facie aquilonis. 14And the Lord said to me: From the north shall an evil break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.E il Signore mi disse: Dal settentrione si spanderanno tutti i mali sopra gli abitatori di questo paese;And our Lord saied vnto me: From the North shal euil be opened vpon al the inhabitantes of the land.Et dixit Dominus ad me: Ab aquilone pandetur malum / super omnes habitatores terræ: 15For behold I will call together all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord: and they shall come, and shall set every one his throne in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and upon all the walls thereof round about, and upon all the cities of Juda.Imperocché ecco che io convocherò tutte le famiglie dei regni del settentrione, dice il Signore: e verranno, e porrà ognuno di essi il suo padiglione all'entrar delle porte di Gerusalemme, e sopra le sue mura all'intorno, e in tutte le città di Giuda.Because loe I wil cal together al the kinredes of the kingdomes of the North, saith our Lord: and they shal come, and shal sette euerie one his throne in the entring of the gates of Ierusalem, and vpon al the walles therof round about, and vpon al the cities of Iuda.quia ecce ego convocabo omnes cognationes regnorum aquilonis, / ait Dominus: / et venient, et ponent unusquisque solium suum / in introitu portarum Jerusalem, / et super omnes muros ejus in circuitu, / et super universas urbes Juda: 16And I will pronounce my judgments against them, touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have sacrificed to strange gods, and have adored the work of their own hands.Ed io esporrò a costoro i miei giudizi sopra tutta la malizia di quegli, che hanno abbandonato me, ed han fatte libagioni a' dei stranieri, e hanno adorato l'opera delle lor mani.And I wil speake my iudgements with them, touching al the wickednes of them, that haue forsaken me, and haue offered to strange goddes, and haue adored the worke of their owne handes.et loquar judicia mea cum eis / super omnem malitiam eorum qui dereliquerunt me, / et libaverunt diis alienis, / et adoraverunt opus manuum suarum.
17Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command thee. Be not afraid at their presence: for I will make thee not to fear their countenance.Tu adunque cingi i tuoi fianchi, e sorgi, e di a costoro tutto quello, ch'io ti comando. Non aver paura della loro faccia: imperocché io farò, che tu non abbi paura de' loro sguardi;Thou therefore girde thy loynes, and rise, and speake to them al thinges that I command thee. Be not afraied of their face: for I wil make thee not to feare their countenance.Tu ergo, accinge lumbos tuos, / et surge, et loquere ad eos / omnia quæ ego præcipio tibi. / Ne formides a facie eorum, / nec enim timere te faciam vultum eorum. 18For behold I have made thee this day a fortified city, and a pillar of iron, and a wall of brass, over all the land, to the kings of Juda, to the princes thereof, and to the priests, and to the people of the land.Imperocché io ti ho fatto oggi come una città forte, e come una colonna di ferro, e un muro di bronzo contro tutto il paese, contro i re di Giuda, e i suoi magnati, e i sacerdoti, e il popolo del paese.For I haue geuen thee this day to be as a fenced citie, and as an yron pillar, and as a brasen walle ouer al the land of the kinges of Iuda, to the princes thereof, & to the priestes, and to the people of the land.Ego quippe dedi te hodie in civitatem munitam, / et in columnam ferream, / et in murum æreum, / super omnem terram, / regibus Juda, principibus ejus, / et sacerdotibus, et populo terræ. 19And they shall fight against thee, and shall not prevail: for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.Ed eglino faranno a te guerra, ma non la vinceranno: perocché son io con te, dice il Signore, per tua sicurezza.And they shal fight against thee, and shal not preuaile: because I am with thee, saith our Lord, to deliuer thee.Et bellabunt adversum te, / et non prævalebunt, / quia ego tecum sum, ait Dominus, ut liberem te.
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Helcias, the high priest who discovered the book of the law, (Clement of Alexandria, Strom. i., etc.) though this be uncertain.
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Year of the World 3375, Year before Christ 629.
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Haydock
Joakim. His immediate predecessor and successor, both called Jechonias, (Haydock) are passed over, as their reign was short, (Calmet) only lasting three months each. (Haydock)
Calmet
Fifth. Jerusalem was taken on the 9th of the preceding month. But the temple was not burnt, nor the captives sent off till the fifth month, or the 10th of the civil year, Jeremias 39:8., and 52:13., and 4 Kings 25:2. (Calmet)
Worthington
Jeremias also prophesied in Egypt, Jeremias 44. (Worthington)
Menochius
But this title alludes to his principal predictions. (Menochius)
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St. Augustine
Knew, with affection, and designed thee for this office from eternity. Many think (Calmet) that Jeremias was purified from original sin before his birth. (St. Augustine)
Worthington
He had this privilege, and was also a priest, prophet, virgin, and martyr. (Worthington)
Yet to sanctify, often means only to set aside, Exodus 13:2., and Ecclesiasticus 49:9.
Calmet
Nations, whose overthrow he points out, Jeremias 25:27, 44, etc. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Ah. Hebrew ahah. Septuagint, "thou Being." Protestants, "Then said I: Ah, Lord God." (Haydock)
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Mouth; perhaps (Haydock) with a coal, by means of an angel, (Isaias 6:5.) in a sort of dream. He found himself changed into a new man.
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Calmet
Root up, to announce the fall and restoration of many nations, Ezechiel 4:2. (Calmet)
Worthington
Jeremias spoke of the Gentiles, as well as of the Jews. (Worthington)
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Haydock
Watching. Hebrew, "of an almond." Septuagint, "nut-tree." (Haydock)
Pliny
The almond-tree flourishes in January, and bears fruit in March. (Theodoret) (Pliny, [Natural History?] 16:25.)
Menochius
Thus God will speedily send his scourge from Babylon, to punish his people. (Calmet) ---The sense is the same. (Menochius)
Worthington
God's law is outwardly bitter, but the kernel is sweet. (Theodoret) (Worthington)
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North. The tributary kings were forced to attend, Judith 2:7., and 3 Kings 20:1.
Calmet
About. The princes thus took Sedecias, and sent him to Reblatha, Jeremias 39:3. (Calmet)
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Menochius
Loins. Make haste, and take courage, Job 38:3. (Menochius)
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Worthington
Prevail. God does not promise peace, but victory. (Worthington)
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Concordance 4. Reg. 22. •. 8.
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He prophecied also inbanishment (ch. 44.) in Aegypt.
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Ieremie had fiue special prerogatiues: He was sanctified in his mothers wombe; a Priest. a Prophet; a perpetual virgin; & a Martyr.
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Concordance Isa. 51. v. 16. & 59. v. 21.
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He prophecied not only of the Iewes but also of the Gentiles.
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or a nuttie rodde.
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God is watchful to performe his word: and a nuttie rodde (as the 70. translate) that is, his Law is outwardlie hard, and bitter, like a nut shel, but sweete & pleasant, as the kernel, when the shel is broken S. Theodoret.
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God promised not peace in his life, but victorie in his death.
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Thessalonians 8
The Prophets indeed, wishing to show the credibility of the things said by them, before all other things say this, “The vision which Isaiah saw” ( Isa. i. 1 .); and again, “The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah” (
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Socrates Scholasticus † AD 440 The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus 2.37
… Now even if they should presume to make this pretext, they would most glaringly expose their own ignorance. The prophecies of these holy men do indeed mark the times. Isaiah and Hosea lived in the days of Uzziah, Joatham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah; Jeremiah in the time of Josiah;
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 5.15.3
3. Now, that the Word of God forms us in the womb, He says to Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee; and before thou wentest forth from the belly, I sanctified thee, and appointed thee a prophet among the nations.”
Tertullian † AD 220 A Treatise on the Soul 26
… The mothers recognise each their own offspring, being moreover each recognised by their infants, which were therefore of course alive, and were not souls merely, but spirits also. Accordingly you read the word of God which was spoken to Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee.”
St Hippolytus † AD 235 The Refutation of All Heresies 6.9
How then, he says, and in what manner, does God form man? In Paradise; for so it seems to him. Grant Paradise, he says, to be the womb; and that this is a true (assumption) the Scripture will teach, when it utters the words, “I am He who forms thee in thy mother’s womb.”
St Hippolytus † AD 235 Treatise on Christ and Antichrist 32
… Thou hast unfolded the future regarding the bear; for thou wast still in the world, and didst see the things come to pass. Then thou speakest to me of the leopard; and whence canst thou know this, for thou art already gone to thy rest? Who instructed thee to announce these things, but He who formed thee in (from) thy mother’s womb?
Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis 3.3.5
… and as Jeremiah the prophet declares, who was known to God before he was formed in his mother’s womb, and before he was born was sanctified by Him, and while yet a boy received the grace of prophecy.
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On the Lapsed 19
… he who had often spoken face to face with the Lord, could not obtain what he asked, nor could appease the wrath of an indignant God by his entreaty. God praises Jeremiah, and announces, saying, “Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 1.22
… a people whom I have not known have served me: at the hearing of the ear they have obeyed me.” Concerning this very thing the Lord says in Jeremiah: “Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou wentest forth from the womb, I sanctified thee, and established thee as a prophet among the nations.”
St Methodius † AD 311 The Banquet of the Ten Virgins; or Concerning Chastity 2.2
Wherefore, if God still forms man, shall we not be guilty of audacity if we think of the generation of children as something offensive, which the Almighty Himself is not ashamed to make use of in working with His undefiled hands; for He says to Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee;”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 De Decretis. (Defence of the Nicene Definition.) 3
… and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things .’ Thus He, always as now, speaks to the sun and it rises, and commands the clouds and it rains upon one place; and where it does not rain, it is dried up. And He bids the earth yield her fruits, and fashions Jeremias
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 1.4
… when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, was I brought forth .’ And, ‘Before Abraham was, I am .’ And concerning Jeremiah He says, ‘Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 3.26
… but though they had ceased for a little while, as I said before, still sin had remained in him and corruption, as was the case with mankind before Him; and for this reason:—Many for instance have been made holy and clean from all sin; nay, Jeremiah was hallowed
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 3.6
… feeding upon honey, and speaking things both sweeter and more salutary than honey: clothed with a garment of camel’s hair, and shewing in himself the pattern of the ascetic life; who also was sanctified by the Holy Ghost while yet he was carried in his mother’s womb. Jeremiah was sanctified, but did not prophesy, in the womb
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 12.26
26. And from such members He is not ashamed to assume flesh, who is the framer of those very members. But then who telleth us this? The Lord saith unto Jeremiah: Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.67
67. However, to avoid unreasonably prolonging my discourse, by an enumeration of all the prophets, and of the words of them all, I will mention but one more, who was known before he was formed, and sanctified from the womb,
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 1.pref.2
2. For why, august Emperor, should your Majesty learn that Faith which, from your earliest childhood, you have ever devoutly and lovingly kept? “Before I formed thee in thy mother’s belly I knew thee,” saith the Scripture, “and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 4.9
… let them show that Jeremiah had not likewise been so, before his birth,—Jeremiah, to whom the message comes: “Before I formed thee in thy mother’s womb, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth from the belly, I sanctified thee, and appointed thee for a prophet amongst the nations.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 1
… And herein he seems to me to hint, that he was not appointed by lot only, but that of old and from the first he was ordained to this office; which also Jeremy saith, that God spake concerning himself, “Before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 22.21
… But gradually the crop grew up and then the reaper was sent forth with his sickle. Elijah lived a virgin life, so also did Elisha and many of the sons of the prophets. To Jeremiah the command came: “Thou shalt not take thee a wife.” He had been sanctified in his mother’s womb,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 24.2
… And I say nothing of her consecration to the blessed life of virginity, a ceremony which took place when she was hardly more than ten years old, a mere babe still wrapped in swaddling clothes. For all that comes before works should be counted of grace; although, doubtless, God foreknew the future when He sanc tified Jeremiah as yet unborn,
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 1.33
… It is one thing to unite with God a mind pure and free from any stain of memory, another to remember the foul and forced embraces of a man, and in recollection to act a part which you do not in person. Jeremiah, who was
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 12.25
… for we likewise read, “God giveth it a body, as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed his own body.” We ought not even to call a woman the creatress of her own offspring; for He rather is its creator who said to His servant, “Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 1.30
… And yet there is no unrighteousness with God. How is it that no one is moved, no one is driven to the expression of wonder amidst such depths, by the circumstance that some children are vexed by the unclean spirit, while others experience no such pollution, and others again, as Jeremiah, are sanctified even in their mother’s womb;
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 8.25
… “Thy hands have made me and fashioned me:” And the blessed Job: “Hast thou not milked me as milk, and curdled me as cheese? Thou hast put me together with bones and sinews;” and the Lord to Jeremiah: “Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius 4.9
… And so that far-famed and renowned prophet as richly endowed with God’s gifts as with his testimony, to whom alone it was given to be sanctified before His birth,
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Letters 15
… Whence David also, who certainly was a son of promise, says to God : “Thy hands have made me and fashioned me .” And to Jeremiah says the Lord , “Before I formed thee in the womb I knew thee, and in thy mother’s belly I sanctified thee
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St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Trinitate or On the Trinity 4.8
… that He alone abides eternally unborn, for it is written, I Am That I Am , and Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you , and through Jeremiah, O Lord, Who art Lord
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 1
… and you who exercised it, if you had cause to blame my tardiness; for perhaps this tardiness may be more precious in God’s sight than the haste of others. For it is a good thing even to hold back from God for a little while, as did the great Moses of old, and Jeremiah
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.114
… The former stood in awe of the greatness of the ministry, the latter trustfully obeyed Him Who called them. Aaron was eager, but Moses resisted, Isaiah readily submitted, but Jeremiah was afraid of his youth, and did not venture to prophesy until he had received from God a promise and power beyond his years.
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 1.17
… humble was he even to doing the work of a slave, modest, even to taking flight, enduring, even to bearing imprisonment, so forgiving of wrong as even to repay it with good. Whose modesty was such, that, when seized by a woman, he preferred to leave his garment in her hands in flight, rather than to lay aside his modesty. Moses, also, and Jeremiah,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 86
… For plainly the apostles were not to remain here unto “the end of the world;” but he speaks to the believers as to one body. For tell me not, saith He, of the difficulty of the things: for “I am with you,” who make all things easy. This He said to the prophets also in the Old Testament continually, as well to Jeremiah objecting his youth,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 4
… 14 .) And good reason that it should be so. For they did not go forth to argue with Pharaoh, but to wrestle with the devil. But the wonder is this, that when sent they made no objections; they said not, they were “weak in voice, and of a slow tongue.” ( Exod. iv. 10 .) For Moses had taught them better. They said not, they were too young. (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 29
… Therefore, you see, they had power either to speak or to refrain from speaking. For they were not bound by necessity, but were honored with a privilege. For this cause Jonah fled; ( Jonah i. 3 .) for this cause Ezekiel delayed; ( Ezek. iii. 15 .) for this cause Jeremiah excused himself. (
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 1.7
… For Isaiah, when the Lord asked whom He should send, offered himself of his own accord, saying, Here I am; send me ( Isai. vi. 8 ). But Jeremiah is sent, yet humbly pleads that he should not be sent, saying, Ah, Lord God ! behold I cannot speak: for I am a child (
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 7.4
… And this we are taught by the conduct of two prophets , one of whom attempted to shun the office of preaching, while the other desired it. For to the Lord who sent him Jeremias replied saying, Ah, Lord God , I cannot speak; for I am a child (
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St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Magnesians: Shorter and Longer Versions 3
… Samuel also, when he was but a little child, reproved Eli, who was ninety years old, for giving honour to his sons rather than to God. In like manner, Jeremiah also received this message from God, “Say not, I am a child.”
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle from Maria of Cassobelæ 3
… And Jeremiah, when on account of his youth he declined the office of a prophet entrusted to him by God, was addressed in these words: “Say not, I am a youth; for thou shalt go to all those to whom I send thee, and thou shalt speak according to all that I command thee; because I am with thee.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.24
… We do not find it said of any one but the saints that he is sent by God. It is said of Isaiah as we showed before; it is also said of Jeremiah, “To whomsoever I shall send thee thou shalt go”;
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
Jerem. i. 7, 20 . Men’s sin will only be abolished because God is gracious to them. If you will abandon your assertions of natural ability, I will concede that your whole contention stands good, but only by the gift of God.
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Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 22
… I have heard of Him.” And the Scripture narrative goes on to explain in an exoteric manner, that “they understood not that He spake to them concerning the Father,” although they ought certainly to have known that the Father’s words were uttered in the Son, because they read in Jeremiah, “And the Lord said to me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth;”
Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis 2.8.3
… The prophet Jeremiah also hears from Him, who gave him his answers, “Behold, I have given My words into thy mouth a fire.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 4.1
… And we pray that words may be given us, as it is written in the book of Jeremiah that the Lord said to the prophet: “Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth as fire. See, I have set thee this day over the nations, and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, and to build and to plant.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 4
… ( Ez. iii. 3 .) The roll of a book is given him, and Ezekiel ate what he was about to utter. “And it became in his mouth,” it is said, “as honey for sweetness.” (And again the hand of God touches the tongue of another Prophet; but here it is the Holy Ghost Himself: (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 69
… Since if this were not the case, what shall He have more than Isaiah? for he too saith the very same thing, “The Lord God giveth me the tongue of the learned, that I should know when I ought to speak a word.” ( Isa. l. 4 , LXX.) What more than Jeremiah? for he too when he was sent was inspired. (
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Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on Matthew 12.9
… and not that Jeremiah was a type of the Christ, were perhaps influenced by what is said in the beginning of Jeremiah about Christ, which was not fulfilled in the prophet at that time, but was beginning to be fulfilled in Jesus, whom “God set up over nations and kingdoms to root up, and to break down, and to destroy, and to build up, and to transplant,”
St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Letters 244.6
… How can there be two bishops, one deposed by Euippius, and the other consecrated by him? Both are the actions of the same man. Had he not been endowed with the grace bestowed upon Jeremiah to pull down and build again, to root out and to plant,
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 18.14
… Isaiah, again, who beheld the glory of the Seraphim, and after him Jeremiah, who was entrusted with great power against nations and kings;
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 90
The Lord has said to his prophet “See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out and to pull down and to destroy and…to build and to plant.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Christian Doctrine 3.11
… But in the saying addressed to Jeremiah, “See, I have this day set thee over the nations, and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 51.11
… Should we not say, Where is that Carthage? Because there is not what there was, it is overthrown: but if there is what there was not, it is builded. So is said to Jeremiah, “Behold, I will give to thee to root up, to dig under, to overthrow, to destroy,” and again, “to build, and to plant.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 89.3
… In such wise Thou sayest, I build, as not to destroy: for some Thou destroyest and buildest not; and some whom Thou destroyest Thou dost rebuild. For unless there were some who were destroyed to be rebuilt, Jeremiah would not have written, “See, I have this day set thee to throw down and to build.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 14.3
… And this we do not gather from our own conjecture, but are taught by the words of Him who alone knows the strength and method of His work: “Behold,” He says: “I have set thee this day over the nations and over kingdoms, to root up, and to pull down, and to waste, and to destroy, and to build and to plant.”
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 3.34
For hence it is that it is said to Jeremiah when sent to preach, See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to scatter, and to build, and to plant (
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose 41.2
2. In the book of the prophet it is written: “Take to thyself the rod of an almond tree.”
Rufinus of Aquileia † AD 411 The Apology of Rufinus. Addressed to Apronianus, in Reply to Jerome's Letter to Pammachius 2.24
“While I was an inhabitant of Babylon, a settler in the land of the purple harlot, and lived under the law of the Quirites, I attempted to write some poor stuff about the Holy Spirit and dedicated the work to the Pontiff of that city. When on a sudden that pot which Jeremiah saw after the almond rod
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 53.8
… and in every place incense is offered unto my name, and a pure offering.” As for Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, who can fully understand or adequately explain them? The first of them seems to compose not a prophecy but a gospel. The second speaks of a rod of an almond tree
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St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 53.8
… and in every place incense is offered unto my name, and a pure offering.” As for Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, who can fully understand or adequately explain them? The first of them seems to compose not a prophecy but a gospel. The second speaks of a rod of an almond tree and of a seething pot with its face toward the north,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 60.10
… so arise evil works, when a man ill useth the law. Furthermore, they ill using their father, that is, ill using the law, engendered the Moabites, by whom are signified evil works. Thence the tribulation of the Church, thence the pot boiling up. Of this pot in a certain place of prophecy is said, “A pot heated by the North wind.”
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Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis 2.8.3
… “Even though they hide from my eyes, and descend into the depths of the sea, there will I command the serpent, and it shall bite them.” In the book of Job also, he is said to be the king of all things in the waters. The prophet
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Early Popes (Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals) The Epistles of Pope Pontianus 2
… But, on the other hand, the children of the devil are always meditating things evil and hurtful, because their deeds are evil. And of them the Lord, speaking by the prophet Jeremiah, says: “I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness.”
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 43.32
… Far from it. He was at once completely reconciled, and took part in every plan and effort. He removed all the thorns and stumbling blocks which were in our way, upon which the enemy relied in their attack upon us. He took hold of one, grasped another, thrust away a third. He became to some a stout wall and rampart,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 52
… as the Father, speaking to Jeremiah, said, He would make him as “a brazen pillar, and as a wall;”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 66.6
… to death and there is a shame that leadeth to life.” It is a monk’s first virtue to despise the judgments of men and always to remember the apostle’s words:—“If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” In the same sense the Lord says to the prophets that He has made their face a brazen city and a stone of adamant and an iron pillar,
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 24.25
… And they shall fight against thee and shall not prevail: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.”
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1. THE WORDS OF JEREMIAH. — This is the title of the book, like that in Isaiah, cap. i, "the vision of Isaiah," that is to say, This book contains the words of Jeremiah, namely the words of God, that is, the oracles which God spoke to Jeremiah, and which Jeremiah heard from God; whence the Septuagint translates, the word of God which came to Jeremiah. So St. Jerome, Theodoret and Rabanus. Secondly, more plainly and fully, that is to say, These are the words, that is, the prophecies, which Jeremiah, having received from God, spoke and uttered to the people. So the Chaldee Paraphrase, Lyra and Vatablus. SON OF HILKIAH. — Clement of Alexandria, in book I of the Stromata, St. Jerome or whoever is the author of the Questions on the Hebrew in the book of I Paralipomenon, Paul of Burgos, Maldonatus and the Hebrews think that this Hilkiah, the father of Jeremiah, was the high priest, who, in the eighteenth year of Josiah (which was the sixth year from the time when Jeremiah began to prophesy), found the book of Deuteronomy in the ark, IV Kings xxii, 8. This Hilkiah begat Azariah, Azariah begat Seraiah, Seraiah begat Ezra, I Esdr. vii, 1; so that Jeremiah was the uncle of Ezra, being the brother of his grandfather, namely Azariah. But if Hilkiah had been the high priest, surely Scripture would not have been silent about this here; because this contributes greatly to both the fame and the dignity of Jeremiah. Secondly, the word "of the priests" plainly signifies that he was an ordinary priest, not the high priest. Thirdly, the high priests dwelt in Jerusalem near the temple, as Josephus testifies in lib. XX Antiq. cap. xviii; but this Hilkiah dwelt in Anathoth, whence in the time of his course he came to Jerusalem to perform the priestly office. So the Chaldee Paraphrase, which adds that he was one of the twenty-four overseers of the temple. So also Sanchez in the Proem.
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2. THAT WHICH WAS MADE, — is an anastrophe: for thus these things are to be arranged, "the word that was made." Here he explains in detail the title of the book, namely the words of Jeremiah; the sense therefore of all these things up to verse 4 is, as if to say, These "words," that is, these prophecies, are Jeremiah's, and they comprise every word that was made by God to Jeremiah in Judaea successively over 41 years, namely from the 13th of Josiah, and then under Joakim until the fifth month of the eleventh year of Sedeciah, in which Jerusalem was captured. Note: He omits Joachaz and Joachin, because these reigned for only three months. Otherwise Lyra, Hugo, and Dionysius explain it: "that," that is, because, "the word was made," etc. But this does not suit the Latin speech; otherwise it can be translated from the Hebrew with Vatablus, according to, or in the manner that the word of the Lord was made to him. IN THE THIRTEENTH YEAR OF THE REIGN — of Josiah. Note: From this year Jeremiah began to prophesy; because in that same year Nineveh appears to have been destroyed by Cyaxares, king of the Medes, and by Nabuchodonosor the elder, who was the father of Nabuchodonosor the younger, or the Great, the destroyer of Jerusalem; for St. Jerome teaches expressly in the Preface to Jonah, and Eusebius in the Chronicle, that Nineveh was destroyed not after, but before Jerusalem, under Josiah, and the same is gathered from Josephus, book IX of the Antiquities, chapter xi, where he writes that from the time of Jotham, king of Judah, under whom he says Nahum predicted the destruction of Nineveh, until its destruction itself, 115 years elapsed. But the 13th year of Josiah is 115 years from the last year of the reign of Jotham; therefore in this 13th year of Josiah Nineveh appears to have been destroyed. Hear St. Jerome citing many witnesses: "And indeed," he says, "as far as both Hebrew and Greek histories are concerned, and especially Herodotus; we read that Nineveh was overthrown while Josiah reigned among the Hebrews and Astyages reigned as king of the Medes." It is certain, however, that it was destroyed by the Chaldaeans, with the Medes assisting, namely by Nabuchodonosor the elder, who began to reign in this 13th year of Josiah. The same is confirmed by Tobias, last chapter, verse 6, joined with verses 10 and following, where it is said that the younger Tobias, before he died, heard of the destruction of Nineveh, which Nabuchodonosor and Assuerus, or Cyaxares, as the Septuagint has it, captured; for Tobias died in the 99th year of his age, and as a boy of six or seven years old was carried away with his father to Assyria in the 6th year of Hezekiah; subtract these 7 years from 99, and you will have 92, which is the number of years from the 6th of Hezekiah to the 13th of Josiah, so that Tobias appears to have died in this 13th year of Josiah, shortly after the destruction of Nineveh. Jeremiah, therefore, because in this 13th year of Josiah he saw the monarchy and scepter transferred from Nineveh and the Assyrians to the Babylonians, hence he saw in that same year their rod watching and brooding over Judaea and other nations; hence he cries out to all: Take counsel for yourselves; for behold "a lion has come up from his den, a spoiler of nations has lifted himself up; he has gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate," chapter iv, verse 7. Thus teach certain recent and exact chronologists. But Nahum ii, 2, shows that Nineveh was destroyed 27 years after the death of Josiah, namely in the 24th year of Nabuchodonosor the younger, or the Great. The more probable reason, therefore, why Jeremiah began to prophesy in the 13th year of Josiah, is that under this year Cyaxares began to reign in Media, and Nabuchodonosor the elder in Babylon, whose son Nabuchodonosor the younger afterward, joining forces with Cyaxares, destroyed Nineveh, and transferred the monarchy from the Assyrians to the Babylonians, and consequently subjugated the Jews and all other nations to himself by arms. This is the rod watching, which Jeremiah saw in the 13th year of Josiah. Add: It is probable that Cyaxares with Nabuchodonosor the elder began to besiege Nineveh under the 13th year of Josiah, but was forced to lift the siege on account of an incursion of the Scythians; then he resumed it with Nabuchodonosor the younger under the fifth year after the destruction of Jerusalem, and then he took it by storm, concerning which more in Nahum chapter ii, verse 2.
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3. UNTIL THE TRANSMIGRATION. — He also prophesied after the transmigration, in Egypt, as is evident from chapter xliv and following. But the greater and more important of his prophecies are concerning the transmigration and destruction of his nation, and therefore they are prior to these. Hence he prefixed this title to them, especially because with the city and nation destroyed, and all things utterly hopeless, Jeremiah thought he would prophesy no longer, inasmuch as he saw the end and conclusion of his prophecy already. But it turned out otherwise: for he afterward prophesied in Egypt, and those prophecies were added to the earlier ones, to which he had already prefixed this title. Hence it came about that this title, already prefixed to the work, remained. Thus Sanchez.
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4. AND IT CAME TO PASS, — as if to say, The word of the Lord began to come to me. The Lord began to speak to me in the 13th year of Josiah, saying: "Before I formed thee in the womb I knew thee." For "it came to pass" here signifies an action begun, while verse 3 signifies an action continued. Again, "it came to pass" is taken for "moreover" or "and."
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5. BEFORE I FORMED THEE. — Tertullian, in the book On the Soul, chapter xxvi, reads, before I formed thee, namely as a potter, just as I formed Adam from clay; for this is what the Hebrew word יצר iatsar signifies. I knew thee, — knowledge of approbation, by which I foreknew and predestined thee to be formed, that is to be created a man, and to be made a minister and prophet of my word; for to know, to know or to foreknow, is sometimes put for to predestine, as in Romans xi, 2: "God hath not cast away his people whom he foreknew." Thus St. Chrysostom, homily On Jeremiah, vol. I, Origen and the Chaldean. Maldonatus thinks these three things are the same, "I knew thee, I sanctified thee, I gave thee as a prophet to the Gentiles." But it will soon be clear that these must be distinguished. Tropologically, note here that great Saints are designated and destined from childhood for great things, and this often through wonderful portents. Admirable is the history of St. Eucherius of Orleans. One night, when his mother had returned home from church, having completed the nocturnal hymns, and had entered her own chamber, she gave herself to rest; and she saw in her sleep a man of wonderful brightness standing by her bed, clothed in garments, splendid with the venerable whiteness of his hair, terrible with eyes like gleaming gems, saying to her: "Hail, thou beloved of God, bearing in thy womb a blessed child, who shall one day be chosen by God to be a Bishop in this city." To whom the venerable matron said: "I beseech thee, that thou wouldst bestow a blessing upon me from thy mouth, before thou departest from me. For I behold thy countenance as if angelic." The Angel said to her: "Thou seest rightly indeed; for I am an angel of God, sent by him, that I may bless the offspring which is in thy womb. And because thou didst not oppose ambiguity to my admonition, but didst believe me sent by God, I will now bless thee, and thy seed to be born from thee." But she, awakening, rendered immense thanks to the Holy Trinity, and explained to her husband in order the joys of so great a revelation. He, hearing these things, filled with fear and joy, remaining in thanksgiving, awaited the outcome of the matter. The child being born, he baptized him, and Ausbertus, Bishop of Auxerre, received him from the sacred water. Thus it is in the Life of St. Eucherius, February 20. In the year of our Lord 989, as Baronius relates from the Life of St. Stephen, Geisa, the first duke of the Hungarians, being baptized, when he thought to lead his Hungarians to the faith of Christ, and to found bishoprics there, an angel appeared to him saying that a son would be born to him who would accomplish this. And to his wife also, when she was near to childbirth, appeared the Blessed Levite and protomartyr Stephen, adorned with the insignia of Levitical dress, addressing her thus: "Be confident, woman, in the Lord, and be assured that thou shalt bear a son, to whom the kingdom and crown of this people are first due. And thou shalt impose upon him my name." When the woman asked him, not without wonder, who he was, or by what name he was called, he thus answered: "I am Stephen the protomartyr, who first suffered martyrdom for the name of Christ." Having said these things, he disappeared. There is born therefore (as it was foretold) a son to the prince, known to the Lord, according to the Prophet, before he was conceived in the womb, and called by the Lord through Stephen the protomartyr, before he was born. And the blessed and God-beloved Bishop Adalbert baptized him, and the name of Stephen was imposed upon him. When the Blessed Eligius (as the Blessed Audoenus, Bishop of Rouen, has it in the Life of St. Eligius, in Surius on December 1), Bishop of Noyon, was still enclosed in his mother's womb, his mother saw a wonderful vision. She saw as it were a very beautiful eagle flying over her bed, and calling to her a third time, and promising her something. And when she had awakened at the reciprocal voice, being greatly terrified, she began to wonder what this vision might be. Meanwhile the time of childbirth came, and on account of the magnitude of the pain the mother began to be in danger. They called therefore a certain religious priest, a man of good testimony, that he might pray for her. Who, when he had come to her, immediately assuming as it were a prophetic word, said to her: "Fear not, mother, for the Lord will deign to grant thee a blessed offspring. For he shall be a holy man, and chosen from his people, and shall be called great in the Church of Christ as a priest." The mother of Aeneas Sylvius, a noble matron named Victoria, when she was near to childbirth, seemed to herself in a dream to give birth to a boy wearing a mitre on his head; which, as minds prone to evil are always inclined, she feared that this dream portended shame to the boy and his family; nor could she be freed from such suspicion until after she understood that her son had been designated Bishop of Trieste. By this news, freed entirely from all fear, she gave immortal thanks to God. He afterwards became Supreme Pontiff, whom our age saw under the name of Pius II, says Aventinus in the Life of Pius II. Hear Marcellinus the presbyter in the Life of St. Swibertus, Bishop of Werden. "When the hour arrived in which the blessed boy Swibertus was to be born from his most illustrious mother, suddenly a very great brightness filled the entire chamber in which the blessed Bertha was to give birth, while all stood amazed and marveling, and the brightness remained extended in unbroken rays, until she gave birth to her son; when he was born, the brightness gradually receded. The matrons moreover gathered there with the midwives, glorifying God, proclaimed everywhere the great deeds of the brightness of the pious Countess." In the time of Ethelred, king of the Mercians, a certain noble man born of royal lineage, from his wife named Tecta, begot St. Guthlac, a servant of God. And at that hour in which the Lord separated him from his mother's womb, he was marked by a heavenly sign: for a hand as it were of a man, of ruddy brightness, sent from heaven and extended to the door of the house, seemed to shine with ineffable splendor. Which, protecting the door with the sign of the cross, prefigured with happy auspice that he would proceed to birth, who with steadfast perseverance would carry the cross of Christ in his body. But a multitude of men, stupefied by the novelty of the miracle, running together, asserted that the prodigy of an unheard-of vision would be a great mystery of divine dispensation. And when with great amazement, according to various movements of mind, they wavered in doubtful opinions, one of the midwives, going out of the house, proclaims the infant already born. He is born and baptized, and is called Guthlac, which means, Gift of war, or good gift, according to the idiom of the English. For he was given by God to his parents, so that he would wage wars against their oppressors, and would bring back from them triumphal titles with victory, says the author of the Life. The mother of St. Bernard, being pregnant, seemed to herself to see that she was carrying in her womb a barking puppy; and the mother of St. Dominic saw that she was carrying a puppy holding a lighted torch in its mouth. Rodericus, the Toledans and Vasaeus relate in the Chronicle in the year of the Lord 860, that when Enecho Arista, king of Navarre, died, his son Garsias reigned, a man no less distinguished by integrity of life than by arms, who took as wife Urraca, a woman of the first rank; when she was already pregnant and near to childbirth, while she was traveling somewhat carelessly through the mountains, she was suddenly overwhelmed by the unexpected assault of Arab enemies; fighting bravely for the faith, he perished. It happened that, when the Barbarians had departed, a certain noble man, whom they affirm was named Guevarra, who had adhered to King Garsias from the time of Enecho Arista, came by chance to that place, and beheld an infant extending his hand through a wound, and as it were struggling. Taking pity on the plight of both, having cut open the mother's womb, he brought out the infant, and carefully raised him in his own home. Which was not done without witnesses, so that, when the matter itself demanded it, faith might be established by the deed. Who, having passed through the years of infancy and childhood, when he came to adolescence, surpassed his age by his character, and his character by strenuous deeds, and succeeded to the kingdom of King Garsias in the era 218. On the contrary, in the year of the Lord 1051, Lambert of Scafnaeus relates to Baronius, that in that year the Emperor Henry was increased by a son, and the name Henry was imposed on him, but plainly to great damage of the Church, this one born was foreseen by a vision, which Agnes Augusta, who was carrying him in her womb, had: for she saw herself give birth to a venomous dragon. Which the same woman often testified, is written by the Author of the Life of St. Mathilda, who lived at that same time. But how true these things were, the events themselves declared. I HAVE SANCTIFIED THEE,—I have chosen thee for myself from among men, I have foreordained thee, appointed thee, prepared thee for the prophetic office, which is sacred and holy, and this while thou wast still in thy mother's womb, nay from eternity. Thus the Chaldean and Jerome, in chapter 1 to the Galatians, Abulensis, Question 17 in chapter 13 of Judges, Theodore of Castro and Sanchez. Some add: "I have sanctified thee," that is, I have chosen thee for myself for something great and distinguished. For the holy, they say, sometimes signifies something great and distinguished; because holiness in God and creatures is a great and distinguished gift. It is catachresis. Thus sings the Blessed Virgin: "Because he that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy," that is, great, august, sacred, "is his name." Secondly, St. Augustine, epistle 57: "I sanctified," he says, that is, I predestined thee to be sanctified. Augustine is followed by Jansenius in the Harmony of the Gospels, chapter ii, and by Salmeron, volume II, tract 34. Thus in John, chapter xi, 52, those are called sons of God who were still unbelievers. Thirdly and most rightly: "Before thou camest forth out of the womb," that is, in the very womb of thy mother, already conceived by thee, but not yet born, "I sanctified thee," because just as to John the Baptist, so also to thee, O Jeremiah! in the womb I remitted original sin and infused sanctifying grace, by which I at once constituted and consecrated thee as a holy Prophet; whence, explaining this, he adds: "A prophet unto the nations have I given thee;" for the word sanctify signifies both things, namely first, to set apart from the common and profane, and to appoint and consecrate to the ministry of God. Thus priests, prophets and kings are sanctified, as it were sacred ministers of God's providence and justice. Secondly, to set apart from sin, so that each one may serve God purely and holily in his own degree and vocation, as Jeremiah here is called and sanctified in the womb, that he might be a Prophet. Both significations are embraced by Macrobius, book III of the Saturnalia, iii, when he says: "Holy is either the same as sacred or religious, or that which is uncorrupted and innocent of fault." See St. Thomas in IV, distinction I, Question i, article 5; Question i, to 1, and III part, Question xl, article 1, to 2. This exposition is proved first, because this is what the word "I sanctified" properly signifies, and "before thou camest forth out of the womb," that is, in the very womb. Secondly, because another is the phrase by which he said: "Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee," signifying, from eternity I foreknew, loved, and predestined thee to holiness and the prophetic office; another is here, when he says: "Before thou camest forth out of the womb," that is, in the womb, "I sanctified thee." For this signifies the execution and effect of divine knowledge and predestination, as if to say: In the womb I truly executed my eternal purpose, infusing into thee already conceived grace and holiness, to which from eternity I knew and predestined thee, so that thou mightest be worthy and chosen to me as a Prophet, breathing and infusing eminent holiness into the worst Jews and Gentiles; as from that time, that is, from the womb, I gave thee as a Prophet unto the nations, that is, I constituted thee. For eminent holiness is the best preparation for preaching, especially to the unfaithful and rebellious, such as these Jews were; without which doctrine, eloquence and other gifts would have availed little, and still avail little. Thirdly, because in Ecclesiasticus, chapter xl, 9, Jeremiah is said to be "consecrated from the womb a prophet." How consecrated? not by prophecy, as is evident, but by the infusion of sanctifying grace, by which he was at once constituted a prophet, God ordaining it thus specially. For those words of Ecclesiasticus are the antistrophe of these words of God to Jeremiah. Fourthly, because St. Athanasius, St. Jerome, St. Leo, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Origen, Ambrose, Peter Damian, St. Thomas, III part, Question xxvii, article 6, attribute this special privilege to Jeremiah from this place, where to 1 he adds: "It is believed to have been granted to those sanctified in the womb, that henceforth they should not sin mortally, divine grace protecting them." The same doctrine is taught by St. Bernard and commonly by the Fathers and Scholastics, whom Francis Suarez cites and follows, III part, Question xxvii, article 2, disputation 3, section 1, and Sebastian Barradius in Luke, chapter i, 44. And this seems to be the common sense of the Doctors and the faithful, so that it is not permitted to doubt about it, says Anthony Fernandez, Vision ii. The reason is, because among other Prophets, Jeremiah alone was chosen, who by his holiness would sustain the tottering city and Church, in the utmost confusion and desolation of all things; whence from the womb he received grace, constancy and other virtues necessary for so great a prophetic office by special privilege, and to gain greater authority with the people. Wherefore less probably St. Ildefonsus, in the book On the Perpetual Virginity of Mary, from the fact that Jeremiah, chapter xx, 14, calls the day on which he was born accursed, concludes that he was not purged from original sin in his mother's womb, which also Abulensis holds in chapter xiii of Judges, Question xvi. St. Jerome hints at something similar concerning the virgin Asella in his epistle 15 to Marcella: "I pass over," he says, "that she is blessed in her mother's womb before she is born; that in a vessel of shining glass and of a purer mirror, the virgin is delivered to her father in sleep; that while still wrapped in the swaddling clothes of infancy, scarcely exceeding the tenth year of age, she is consecrated with the honor of future blessedness. Let all be attributed to grace, which was before labor, although God, foreknowing future things, sanctified Jeremiah in the womb, and made John exult in his mother's belly, and separated Paul before the foundation of the world unto the Gospel of His Son." Thus St. Ephrem believed that Moses was sanctified in the womb of his mother in his oration On the Transfiguration of Christ; and St. Ambrose, in book IV of On the Faith, chapter iv, believed that the patriarch Jacob, who, struck in the womb, supplanted Esau, was then justified. The same opinion concerning Samson, St. Joseph, James the brother of the Lord, and others was held by some, but without foundation. Morally, note here the order which God observes in selecting suitable ministers of the Church to be joined to Himself, namely that before all things He imbues them with His grace, and makes them His friends and familiars. For this reason, as St. Augustine, the Doctor of the Gentiles, observes, describing himself in Romans chapter i, 5, he says: "By whom we have received grace and apostleship," he gave grace first place, apostleship second. "For thus the trumpet of the Gospel," says the Nazianzen in his oration On the Episcopate of the Nazymeans, "produced fitting harmony from the inner man excellently composed according to God, with the Holy Spirit fittingly sent forth." For this reason he also says that the prophecy of Saul turned into a proverb of mockery, because an evil and dissolute instrument cannot produce beauty and harmony. Deservedly therefore God here, before He pronounced concerning Jeremiah that: "And a prophet to the nations have I made thee," prefaced it with: "Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee." Fittingly moreover He said not a preacher, but a prophet; because as a prophet cannot prophesy without the spirit of prophecy, so neither can a preacher preach without the spirit and grace of preaching. Wherefore St. Chrysostom, homily 19 on Matthew, giving the reason why Christian teachers are called Prophets, says that as Prophets were formerly anointed, so Christian teachers ought first to be anointed with the anointing of grace. Note that prophecy is not a permanent habit, nor was it given to Jeremiah in the womb in act, but only through a special first appointment by God to this end; and secondly, through sanctification ordained to this end; and thirdly, through God's aid and inspiration prepared for Jeremiah, that in due time he might prophesy; for these things were not given to Jeremiah in the womb, but only destined and prepared by God. AND A PROPHET TO THE NATIONS HAVE I MADE THEE. — First, Origen, Cyprian, book I Against the Jews, chapter xxi; Gregory of Nyssa, book Against the Jews; Ambrose, on verse 3 of Psalm xliii, understand these things of Christ, who called the nations to Himself. But this sense is allegorical, not literal. Second, Victorinus the Martyr in the Apocalypse, chapter xi thinks that Jeremiah will come with Elijah against the Antichrist, to preach to the nations; for while he lived, he preached only to the Jews. Whence also his death is passed over in Scripture, as if he were alive in paradise. Hence also in Matthew xvi, 14, some thought Christ was Jeremiah; and Josephus son of Gorion, book I of the History of the Jews, chapter xvii: Jeremiah, he says, when he hid the ark, said: "No man shall know, nor shall the place be known, until I come, and the prophet Elijah, then shall we restore the ark in its place in the Holy of Holies." But the common tradition of the Fathers is that only Enoch with Elijah will come, as I shall say on Ecclesiasticus chapter xliv, 16, and chapter xlviii, 10. I answer therefore: "A prophet have I made thee to the nations," that is to the nations or against the nations. Thus Pagninus, or, as Hugo and Vatablus, against the nations. For Jeremiah, although he acted among the Jews, nevertheless prophesied also concerning the Egyptians, Babylonians, and other nations, and threatened them with destruction, as is evident from chapter xxv and chapter xxvii; and thus Jeremiah himself explains this in verse 10. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret and Origen. Maldonatus adds, "to the nations," he says, that is so that he might preach the victory of the Chaldeans and other nations against the Jews, as is explained in verse 15: "Because behold I will call together all the families of the kingdoms of the north, etc., upon all the cities of Juda." Finally Jeremiah in fact prophesied "to the nations," when in Taphnis of Egypt he predicted that they would be laid waste by the Chaldeans, as is evident from chapter xliv, verse 1 and following. Therefore Jeremiah, say Castro and Antonius Fernandius, in Vision ii, when he began to prophesy, was fourteen or fifteen years old: for such is the boy. Jeremiah had learned that saying of the Wise Man: "Boy, be silent and listen. For as the rose is the purple of spring; so silence and the blush of modesty are the purple of youth." Note: God chose boys, Daniel and Jeremiah, to prophesy, so that men might know for certain that God exists, who speaks such great things through boys. Tropologically, how the office of preaching ought to be declined or undertaken, see in St. Gregory, part I of the Pastoral, chapter vii. Again, let those chosen or destined by God for great things learn here to recognize their own rudeness and infancy, let them learn to place themselves below all boys. Thus did St. Bernard, who, as the author of his Life has it, book II, chapter iv: "He was the most bitter enemy of pride. For although his deeds and words were confirmed by miracles, he never exceeded, never walked above himself in wonders; but always thinking humbly of himself, he did not believe himself the author of venerable works, but their minister; and although he was supreme in the judgment of all, he held himself lowest in his own judgment: he ascribed whatever he did to God alone; indeed, he both felt and said that he could neither will nor do any good except by God inspiring and working in him." The same author, in chapter vii, relates that he taught his followers this: "Do not greatly care to be judged by human judgment; approving neither your own judgments nor those of others, stand thus in the fear of God, that neither, judging anyone, should you ever be exalted, nor, caring for the judgments of others, should you fall into trifles, but pursuing all things, count yourselves unprofitable servants." For this reason he himself fled singularity and admiration, and therefore the haircloth which he had worn in secret, once discovered, he put off. Moreover, in Sermon 37 on the Canticles he speaks thus: "Do not, O man, compare yourself with the greater, do not with the lesser, do not with any, do not with one. For what do you know, O man! if that one, whom perhaps you regard as the vilest and most wretched of all, and as it were the most wicked of all, may be better than you, by a change of the right hand of the Most High in himself indeed, but in God (in God's predestination) already is? Hence the Lord commanded you to recline not in the second-to-last place, but in the last place, so that you not only place yourself before no one, but do not even presume to compare yourself." Furthermore, this applies especially to the preacher, whose office is most difficult: "What," says the Nazianzen in his Apology, "is an instrument of music with many pipes, struck by many blows at once to produce harmony? For who will aptly harmonize so many wills as there are hearers, to produce harmony befitting God?" It is difficult what he adds: "Preachers are craftsmen, in an open world," who namely, by breaking down men, ought to fashion them by their power of preaching. Wise men will require divine things. This is what the Psalmist says, Psalm lxvii, 12: "The Lord will give the word to those evangelizing with great power." From the mouth of God proceed words breathing divinity.
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6. AND I SAID, A, A, A. — Viegas in the Apocalypse, book iv, section v, number 4, thinks that the mystery of the Holy Trinity is hinted at here. For he says that he said A three times, which is the voice of one stammering and still an infant child, on account of the three divine persons; so that he might indicate that in comparison with that mystery he himself was an infant and did not yet know how to speak articulately. For the Holy Trinity was speaking with him: the Father saying, "I have known thee," the Son saying, "I have sanctified thee;" the Holy Spirit saying, "I have given thee as a prophet." But this sense, as it is symbolic, is so more subtle than more solid; for the matter here is not about the mystery of the Trinity, nor was Jeremiah sent to promulgate it, and then for a, a, a, in Hebrew there is a single voice, as I shall now say. A, A, A, — The Hebrew אהה aha is a single voice and an interjection; our Interpreter seems to have placed a vowel under each consonant (for there are three) thus, א ה ה a ha ha. Now aha to the Hebrews is an interjection of one marveling and grieving, as when someone pusillanimous, with a burden imposed as if unequal to his strength, groaning, grieving and amazed strives to shake it off, as Jeremiah does here. Wherefore what St. Thomas, or rather Thomas the Englishman, thinks is noted by the threefold A, A, A, namely three defects which rendered Jeremiah unfit for prophesying, namely the defect of age, knowledge and eloquence, is more subtle than more solid. Concerning the voice aha I shall say more in Joel i, 15. The Septuagint for aha read אדני adonai; for they translate: Ὦ δέσποτα, Κύριε, O Master, Lord, who art the Dominator, Lord. For the "who art" is the name of God, Exodus iii, 14. I KNOW NOT HOW TO SPEAK (that is, to prophesy, says the Chaldean), BECAUSE I AM A CHILD, — as if to say, On account of my childhood I know not how to speak such great things, and on account of childish fear I dare not before men and princes. Whence to his former excuse God responds, verse 7: "To all things to which I shall send thee, thou shalt go and, etc., thou shalt speak," that is, thou shalt be able to go and to speak. To the latter, verse 8: "Fear not, etc., because I am with thee." For God supplies both courage equally and words of any kind: "For our sufficiency is from God," II Corinthians, chapter iii, 5, as if to say, Fear not thy infancy, I shall make thee a man fit, eloquent and bold. It seems therefore that Jeremiah, as Castro and Antonius Fernandius say, Vision ii, when he began to prophesy, was then 14 or 15 years old: for such is a child.
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8. FEAR NOT THEIR FACE, — fear not them to whom namely I shall send thee; for thou shalt say, "The Lord is my helper: I will not fear what man shall do to me," Psalm cxvii, verse 6. He mentions face, because children and adolescents are especially accustomed to fear and revere the countenance of noble and powerful men; for the majesty of the countenance, equally as anger and indignation, appears most of all in the face.
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9. AND THE LORD SENT (extended) HIS HAND. — Think, with St. Jerome and Rabanus, that God sent an angel, who in an assumed body would touch the mouth of Jeremiah with his hand, and would say: "Behold, I have given my words in thy mouth," and this first, so that by this touch he would consecrate him a Prophet, and open his mouth for prophesying. Second, so that he would give him confidence and courage, that the Lord would be with him, and would suggest his words: thus to Isaiah, cap. vi, a Seraphim is sent. Third, so that Jeremiah would know that those things which he was about to preach were not his own, but God's words put into his mouth. Fourth, so that he would not fear the touch and blows of a human hand, as St. Jerome and Origen say, for he was going to suffer many things from the Jews. By this angelic touch he is forewarned and strengthened. BEHOLD, — In Hebrew ראה ree, that is, see, or attend; namely, your mind, to those things which I am about to say to you. I HAVE CONSTITUTED THEE THIS DAY (and from now I constitute thee a Prophet) (the past tense is put for the present) OVER THE NATIONS AND OVER THE KINGDOMS (both of the Jews, and of other nations round about), THAT THOU MAYEST ROOT OUT, — that is, that thou mayest threaten my enemies ("whom" in their regions "I have planted," that is, firmly established, and "built up," that is, increased and strengthened with offspring, family, riches, cities and wealth, as he says cap. xlv, vers. 4, below) me thence through wars and calamities of the Chaldeans to root them out, unless they repent, as is evident from cap. xxv and following. On the contrary, me about to build again, and plant those whom I shall destroy and root out if they repent, as is evident from cap. xlii, vers. 10. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Rabanus, Lyra, Vatable, Dionysius the Carthusian and others. Note: Partly here is a metaphor from the gardener; for just as the gardener plants and roots out trees; so God plants and roots out nations: partly a Hebraism, by which real words are explained through mental or verbal ones. For Jeremiah in fact neither planted nor rooted out nations: therefore "that thou mayest root out, and destroy, and scatter, and disperse, and build, and plant;" is the same as, that these nations are to be rooted out, destroyed, scattered and dispersed; those to be built up and planted by God, you may announce and preach. See Can. xxix. Thus tropologically, says St. Gregory, III part. Pastor. xxxv, the preacher roots out from man the kingdom of pride, lust, etc., so that he may plant the kingdom of chastity, humility, etc.; and he adds that it is said first: "That thou mayest root out and destroy; then, build and plant. Because, unless," he says, "he destroyed perverse things, he could not usefully build up right things, because, unless he rooted out from the hearts of his hearers the thorns of vain love, surely he would plant the words of holy preaching in them in vain." The doctor therefore, so that he may usefully teach his hearers good things, must first unteach them evil things. Whence St. Augustine, lib. IV De Doctrina Christiana, calls ecclesiastical doctors sowers of right faith, and defeaters of errors. Furthermore: "It is easier to impress truths on a still rude soul, and like wax not yet sealed, than to superimpose true things on those already written as it were with letters, that is, with pestilent opinions," says Nazianzen in his Apology. For this work therefore there is need of great zeal, spirit, effort and efficacy, says St. Gregory in the place cited. Symbolic was this inauguration of the Prophet. Just as a burning coal from the altar touched the mouth of Isaiah, vi, 7, and a book was given to Ezekiel to eat, ii, 8, 9, 10, so to this one the divine hand touched his mouth.
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11. A ROD WATCHING I SEE. — Thus Aquila and Symmachus. "Watching," that is, threatening, brandishing and moving itself, and ready to strike, says Rupertus. Secondly, the Septuagint translates: I see a rod of almond wood; Theodotion, I see a rod of almond, which first among trees watches, that is, is eager to put forth its flowers; for indeed the almond is called in Hebrew שקד scaked, that is, watching, as if to say, A branch of almond surpassing other trees, and coming before dawn in putting forth flowers, I see, that is, I see a scourge about suddenly to seize the unprepared Jews, which much sooner than you think, O Jews! will surpass your fear. Thus Vatablus, Pagninus, R. Solomon and others. Whence the Syrian translates, a rod of almond I see. And the Lord said to me: Well hast thou seen, because I hasten over my word to do it; and the Arabic, I saw a rod from the trees of almonds. And the Lord said to me: How well hast thou seen, O Jeremiah! He hinted through the rod of almond, that, just as the almond is early in its greenness, quickly before all trees, so shall my judgment hasten, that is, my punishment. Theodoret observes: Just as a nut or bitter almond has a hard shell, but a sweet kernel; so discipline and chastisement is at first troublesome; but then it gives fruit, sweetness of morals. By this vision therefore of the rod of almond and watching, God signified to Jeremiah that He would soon accelerate the punishments and the Babylonian captivity, which He had threatened to the Jews. For in the twenty-third year hence, namely in the third year of Joakim, Nebuchadnezzar seized Joakim and Daniel and others and carried them away: but in the fortieth year hence, he laid waste Jerusalem, and burned the temple. This rod therefore watching, shown to Jeremiah, was like a portent or prodigy of a comet, which appearing in the form of a rod or sword, portends to men plague, war and desolation, as an index of the wrath of God. In like manner that great Simeon Stylites saw a rod portending to the world famine and plague. Hear Theodoret, an eyewitness, in the History of the Fathers, cap. xxvi: "Drought and the great barrenness of that year, and the famine and plague which followed together, he predicted two years before, saying that he had foreseen the rod which is inflicted upon men, and the scourges which are aimed through it." And a little after: "Sometimes," he says, "two rods appeared to him, which were indeed borne from the heavens, but fell upon the land of the East and the West. This the divine man signified as the uprising of the Persian and Scythian nations against the Roman Empire, and he spoke the vision to those who were present, and by many tears and constant prayers he restrained the plagues, whose threats were aimed at the world. Certainly the nation of the Persians, already armed and prepared to invade the Romans, by divine will opposing them, was hindered from its undertaking, and occupied within by its own evils." Would that we had similar Simeons, who might restrain or disperse the rods of God!
Moral Application Morally Morally, let sinners learn here that God, and God's vengeance, watches over and is vigilant concerning sins, so that He may quickly punish and chastise them. Thus Baltasar, the sacrilegious and drunken king, soon saw a hand writing on the wall: Mane, thecel, phares, which that same night brought destruction upon him and his kingdom, Daniel, chapter v. Thus a watchful and holy one descended from heaven, cried out mightily, and spoke thus: Hew down the tree, that is, cast the proud Nebuchadnezzar from his kingdom to the beasts, Daniel, chapter iv, verses 10 and 14. Thus God watched over Cain's fratricide, saying: "What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the earth: now therefore cursed shalt thou be upon the earth, a fugitive and a wanderer," etc.; and God had foretold this to him beforehand: "If thou dost well," He said, "thou shalt receive the reward; but if thou dost ill, sin (the punishment of sin) shall forthwith be at the doors," Genesis, chapter iv, verses 7, 10 and 11. See the remarks there. The Gentiles also felt and experienced the same thing. Thus the Maltese, seeing a viper seize the hand of St. Paul, said: "Doubtless this man is a murderer, who, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth him not to live," Acts, chapter xxviii, verse 4. Thus Calippus was slain by his companions with the same dagger with which he had killed Dion under the guise of friendship. Thus when Mitius the Argive was slain in a sedition, a bronze statue in the forum, when games were being held, fell upon the slayer of Mitius, chastisement is first troublesome; but afterwards it yields fruit, a sweetness of morals. Thirdly, Viegas in the Apocalypse, chapter xv, Commentary I, section 1, properly expounds the watching one as having eyes, or having open and watchful eyes. For it signifies God's providence and justice, which is wholly watchful, and does not inflict punishment through error, but strikes with the greatest judgment and examination, so that the magnitude of the penalty does not exceed the magnitude of the fault, indeed does not even equal it. Whence Note: This watchful rod signifies, first, God's power and dominion; likewise watchfulness and providence. Wherefore the rod of Aaron, the almond rod which blossomed, and which assigned to him the priesthood, was a symbol of priestly watchfulness, as I have said from Cyril and others, Numbers, chapter xvii, verse 8. Thus the Egyptians depicted God as it were an eye leaning upon a staff, to signify His omniscience and ever-watchful care, as it were pastoral, as one who sees all things and governs all things as a shepherd and king, whose insignia is a scepter or rod, by which he feeds the good and strikes the wicked. Thus Cyril, book IX Against Julian, after the beginning. Thus the Egyptians depicted Osiris as it were a king seeing all things as a scepter, having an eye carved in it, as Macrobius says, book I, chapter xxi, and Plutarch, in the book On Isis and Osiris, where they add that the Phrygians depicted God, who governs all things, as it were a rod adorned with the sun. Whence also the Greeks: Θεὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεᾶσθαι, name God from seeing: for God is, as Homer says, ἥλιος, ὃς πάντ' ἐφορᾷ καὶ πάντ' ἐπακούει: the Sun who sees all things and who hears all things. And many of the ancients, as Pierius says, book xxxiii of Hieroglyphics, depicted God as it were a standing staff; because God stands immovable sustaining and strengthening all things, as Cyril says above. What blindness therefore of men, who dare to sin in the eyes of this eye of the most lucid avenger! For, as Pliny says: "God is wholly sense, wholly sight, wholly hearing, wholly soul, wholly mind, wholly himself." Thus he himself, book II of Natural History, chapter vii. And Tertullian, in the book On the Trinity, called God wholly an eye, who wholly sees all things: and elsewhere he says God's eye is free from sleep, since it is itself light, vigilance namely appointed from the very order of nature. Secondly and properly, this watchful rod signifies God's hidden vengeance; for this is what the Lord adds in explaining this rod, verse 12: "Thou hast seen well, for I will watch over my word to perform it." Thus St. Jerome and Theodoret. Whence the Chaldean clearly translates: I see the king of the Chaldeans, hastening to do evil and to strike the Jews and other nations. Hence again from the Hebrew it can be translated with some: I see the rod of the watchful one, namely God. Thus Attila said he was the scourge of God, and concerning the king of the Assyrians the Lord says, Isaiah, chapter x, verse 5: "Woe to Assur, the rod of my fury and the staff itself is, in their hand is my indignation." Thus Ezekiel, chapter vii, verse 10: "Behold," he says, "the days, behold it cometh: destruction hath gone forth, the rod hath blossomed (long heavy and foretold by Jeremiah), pride hath germinated," etc.
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and killed him. Thus Bessus, when he had slain his father, and this crime had been hidden, at length was about to dine at a certain inn, and he struck down with a spear a certain nest of swallows and killed the young birds; and when those who were present asked why he had done this, he said: "Do you not hear the swallows falsely crying out against me and testifying that I am the murderer of my father?" Those who were present, amazed at this speech, reported it to the king, and when the matter was confirmed by certain proofs, Bessus paid the penalty. Plutarch relates these things in his book On the Delayed Vengeance of God. Therefore sin carries its punishment with itself, and it is bound to it, and just as an executioner holds a guilty man bound with a rope and leads him to punishment, so vengeance urges and drags the sinner to punishment. Moreover, this vigilant rod terrifies sinners and awakens them from the sleep of sins, according to that: "Awake, ye just, and sin not," 1 Cor. xv, 34. And: "Rise thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall enlighten thee," Ephes. v, 14. Whence some translate the vigilant rod as the rod making vigilant, so that it is placed in the manner of the Hebrew hiphil. Therefore "the life of mortals is vigilance," as Christ warned: "Watch ye, because ye know not what hour your Lord will come," Matt. xxiv, 42. For it is better to awake in small labour than to watch in the fires of hell, especially because this vigilance leads to vigilant and eternal joy in the heavens. 13. A POT BOILING—that is, in Jerusalem boiling by Nabuchodonosor through Nabuzardan; or, as it is in Hebrew, blown upon: for thus Jerusalem is called, Ezech. xi, 7, and cap. xxiv, 3. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Rabanus, Hugo, St. Thomas, Lyra, Dionysius. He alludes to the pans and pots of the guilty and martyrs, such as were those of the Maccabees, lib. II, cap. vii, 3, which Amos also threatens to the guilty in cap. iv, 2. Such was also the bull of Phalaris. Secondly, better, as Jerome Prado says, the pot can be understood so that it is the same as the rod, namely God's breast, boiling and seething with bile, from which this fury and blast of God's indignation burst forth, of which Ezech. i, 4. Whence the Syriac translator renders it: a pot prepared (set upon fire) for cooking food. Thirdly and best, the Chaldean, Pagninus and Vatablus, the Hebrew נפוח naphuach, not as a participle, so as to signify blown upon, but as a noun, translate: A pot boiling, fervent, seething I see, namely Nabuchodonosor with his army, breathing forth and seething with the fire of fury against the Jews; for this pot was coming from the North, that is, from Chaldea, so that it might burn and lay waste Jerusalem and other kingdoms. Note: The pot signifies and confirms the same vengeance as the rod, but a more severe one. Thus Joseph, the famine which he first saw signified by ears of grain, he saw confirmed and hastened secondly by cows, Genesis xli, 32. In the boiling pot there seems to be an allusion to the fire and flame which, in a shell or pot, lest it be extinguished by the wind, was carried before the kings of the Chaldeans and Persians; for they worshipped fire as it were a god; whence their kings, affecting divine honours, took care that fire be carried before them, as if to say: Fire comes first, and consequently Nabuchodonosor himself, who like fire will rage upon you, O Jews, and will burn you up. Thus Sanchez. Tropologically Origen, Rupertus and Ambrose in Psalm. xxxviii, near the end: First God here exhibits to the penitent the rod of correction; which if they will not accept, He reserves to the impenitent the pot of hell, as that holy hermit saw King Theodoric cast after death into the pot of Vulcan, in St. Gregory, IV Dialog. cap. xxx. Secondly, St. Gregory, XVIII Moral. cap. xi, and lib. xxxiii, cap. xi: "The pot," he says, "boiling, is the human heart seething with carnal desires and anxieties, set on fire by the devil, and fervent through consent, when it casts forth so many waves by seething as it extends wickednesses of desires to external works." And St. Thomas: "The sinful soul," he says, "is called a pot: first, on account of the fervour of concupiscence, Job xli, 22: The deep sea shall be made to boil like a pot; secondly, on account of the carnality of the work, Micheas iii, 3: They have broken their bones and divided them as in a cauldron, and as flesh in the midst of a pot; thirdly, on account of the blackness of the stain. Nahum ii, 10: The face of them all as the blackness of a pot. Moreover, this pot is set on fire by the fire, first, of love, Psalm. lxxix, 17: Burnt with fire, and dug up, they shall perish at the rebuke of thy countenance; secondly, of wrath and contention, Isaias cap. l, 11: Behold you that kindle a fire, girt about with flames; thirdly, of eternal damnation, Deut. xxxii, 22: A fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the lowest hell." Thus far St. Thomas. AND THE FACE OF IT FROM THE FACE OF THE NORTH, — that is, the pot itself was coming from the North, namely it was tending from Chaldaea into Judaea. For face among the Hebrews by synecdoche means the same as person; for a person is recognized by the face: again person by metaphor is taken even for an inanimate thing; for the Hebrews figuratively attribute to it a mouth, a face, a person, etc. Secondly, Maldonatus takes by face the mouth of the pot; for this, vomiting flames and coming from Chaldaea, was looking upon Judaea. But the former sense is simpler; for in like manner he calls the face of the North the North itself, as the following verse explains.
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The Chaldean explains what this face signifies, when he translates, and the standard of his army (of Nabuchodonosor) which is led and comes from the face of the North. 14. FROM THE NORTH, — from Babylon, which although it is Oriental, yet with respect to Jerusalem is Septentrional; which is four degrees more equinoctial than Jerusalem. Thus Theodoret, Dionysius and Vatablus. Or rather because Nabuchodonosor first, Nineveh, which was to the North of Chaldaea, in this thirteenth year of Josias besieged and took, as many think; thence going around Syria, and forcing the Northern nations into his army, through Dan, which is Northern with respect to Jerusalem, he entered Judaea; for thus Jeremias explains himself, in the following verse, and cap. iv, 6 and 13. Thus Hugo, Lyranus and a Castro. Symbolically, the North is cold, harsh, and the left region of the world; hence the left signifies sadness and the dread vengeance of God: but the South is warm, pleasant, and the right region of the world; hence it signifies the benign hand of God, and God's aid and favor; whence God gave the law to the Jews on Sinai, which is to the South of Judaea, and this is what is said in Habacuc iii, 3: "God shall come from the South." The North therefore is a symbol of death, and brings death to all things; the South of life. For cold is hostile, and, as Cardanus says, is the devil of nature; but life consists in heat: wherefore the sun is the life of all things. The North therefore signifies a tempest, that is, that there shall be the greatest calamity. For no wind is so vehement as the North, none so rapid, so cold, so burning; whence Ecclus. xliii, 22: "The cold, it says, North wind blew, and the water was frozen into crystal; upon every gathering of waters it shall rest, and as a breastplate shall it clothe the waters. And it shall devour the mountains, and burn the desert, and consume the green as with fire." IT SHALL BE OPENED, — it shall be scattered, it shall break forth; the Chaldean, it shall begin to come; in Hebrew it is, it shall be opened, as if hitherto shut up in the caves and treasures of God, now a great evil shall be loosed and sent forth, a great disaster and calamity, which the Chaldaeans shall bring upon the Jews, and upon other neighboring nations by subduing and laying them waste. It alludes to the Hebrew צפון tsaphon, that is, North, as if to say hidden, from the root צפן tsaphan, that is, he hid. For the report was, that on account of the cold there were none or few Hyperboreans; or certainly, that the Northern peoples were unknown to the Jews, nor did they have commerce with them, says Forerius in Isaiae cap. xlix, 12. Hence mystically St. Augustine says the North is the seat of the devil and of heretics, as it is evident today that they rage in Germany, England, Scotland, and other Northern regions. Whence Cant. cap. iv, 16, it is said: "Arise, O North wind, and come, O South wind, blow through my garden, and let the aromatic spices thereof flow." Which passage St. Augustine explaining, epist. 20 to Honoratus: "The devil, he says, and his angels, turned away from the light and fervor of charity, and having gone too far into pride and envy, as if torpid with glacial hardness, and therefore by figure as if in the North are placed." For to these things mystically agrees what Solinus writes physically concerning Boreas and the Boreal regions, cap. xx: "The damned, he says, part of the world, and by the nature of things plunged into a cloud of eternal darkness, and by the very receptacles of the North most rigid, alone of the lands knows not the changes of seasons; nor does it receive from the sky anything but perpetual winter." Hence consequently, that punishment may be inflicted where the fault was committed, and reward given where virtue flourished; the symbolic doctors teach that God has two tribunals, one of clemency and happiness in the South, the other of severity and vengeance in the North. Of the former it is said in Cant. i: "Where do you feed, where do you lie down in the South?" Hence, wishing God to heal piously the sin of Adam, he walks gently toward the South, Gen. iii, 8. That the other is in the North is evident, because from there Lucifer was cast down, who said: "I will sit in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the North," Isaiae cap. xiv, 13. There also, namely on the left (for the left part of the world is Northern, the right Southern) the reprobate standing, Christ shall say on the day of judgment: "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire."
1:15
UPON ALL THE LAND — of Judaea; for it is of this that we are speaking here. It is similar to cap. xxv, 9.
1:16
15. EACH ONE SHALL SET UP HIS THRONE (that is, his tent, or his seat) AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE GATES (that is, at the gates, near the gates) OF JERUSALEM, — so that they may besiege it. Thus St. Jerome, Rabanus, St. Thomas and others. Lyra alone explains it differently: namely, thus, as if to say, Victory having been won, the Chaldeans shall set up the throne of judges in the gate according to custom, so that they may judge and punish the Jews who resisted them. 16. I WILL SPEAK MY JUDGMENTS WITH THEM, — namely with the Jews, that is, I will rebuke and reprove through Nebuchadnezzar, Zedekiah and the Jews as ungrateful, rebellious, covenant-breakers and perjurers, and Josephus adds, lib. xl Antiq. cap. x, that Nebuchadnezzar said to Zedekiah: "The great God, hating thy wickedness, hath subjected thee to our empire;" and this is evident from IV Kings xxv, 6, below, cap. iv, 12, and cap. xii, 1. Secondly, St. Jerome, Rabanus, Hugo and Maldonatus: "I will speak, say they, judgments," that is, I will truly show them that I am just in my causes, namely on account of their crimes, to take vengeance upon them. Thirdly, St. Thomas, Lyra and Dionysius: "I will speak," that is, I will decree, and by my command will inflict upon them judgments, that is, just and deserved punishments. The first sense is the simplest and truest in this place.
1:17
THEY OFFERED SACRIFICE, — that is, as the Septuagint, ἔθυσαν, they sacrificed; in Hebrew יקטרו iekatteru, that is, they kindled incense, they burned frankincense, which amounts to the same thing: for in sacrifices the flesh was burned for God, and through fire and smoke it ascended to God, and to signify this, they placed frankincense upon the victims and burned it with them; for frankincense is owed to God and is burned. 17. DO THOU THEREFORE GIRD UP THY LOINS, — that is, first, make haste, prepare thyself. Thus it is said in Luke xii, 35: "Let your loins be girded about;" secondly, strengthen thyself, be of good courage. Thus it is said in Job xl, 2: "Gird up thy loins like a man." Hence it is clear that this is the literal and genuine sense, whereas it is commonly said that by the girding up of the loins chastity is commanded to the Prophet and preacher. NEITHER, — in Hebrew פן pen, that is, lest; sometimes pen simply signifies negation, not, as in Proverbs v, 6; Isaiah xxvii, 3. It signifies the same here; whence Our translation renders it, nor. WILL I MAKE THEE FEAR. — It is a Hebrew anastrophe, as if to say, I will make it so that thou dost not fear, I will remove every danger which thou couldst fear; or secondly it may be translated from the Hebrew: Neither will I make thee fear, or, neither will I crush, or destroy thee before them, as if to say, If thou dost not trust in me, I will abandon thee, deliver thee up and permit, says St. Jerome, thee to fear, nay I will crush thee, on account of the shame with which thou affectest me thy God, in that thou hast hesitated in the faith given to thee in me. Thus God punished Moses hesitating, Numbers xx, 12, and reproves Peter fearing the strong wind, saying: "O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?" Matthew xiv, 31. Thus translate the Chaldean, Pagninus and Vatablus, and also the Septuagint according to St. Jerome. I HAVE MADE THEE (I make, I constitute. We have seen a similar thing in verses 9 and 10) A CITY, — as it were a city, a pillar and a wall of brass; for the preposition ל lamed, and beth, that is, in, is put for caph, that is, as. Whence the Arabic translates: And now I have made thee as a mighty city (or strong, or glorious) to which access is impossible: and as a pillar, and I have made thee a wall of brass over all the earth. The sense is, as if to say, I render and make thee today most strong against all adversaries, so that thou mayest be, first, as it were a fortified city, which protects itself most excellently; secondly, as it were an iron pillar, which sustains all burdens imposed upon it; thirdly, as it were a wall of brass, which receives and repels the engines of war without injury; and which, as Jerome says, is not touched by rust, nor is it destroyed by being struck by rains, but becomes stronger with age. Let the herald of God, therefore, and the good shepherd be a pillar sustaining the weak, Romans xiv, 1; let him be a wall offering himself to dangers for his sheep; not dumb, but brazen in the sound of preaching. What kind of wall God requires, Ezekiel xiii, 5: "You did not go up to oppose, neither did you build a wall for the house of Israel, that you might stand in battle in the day of the Lord." And the Poet: Let this wall of brass be To know nothing against itself. Seneca in Troad.: Thou wast a refuge to the weary Phrygians, Thou wast a wall, and on thy shoulders That city stood supported for ten years. Erasmus, adag. 817. Wisely said Agathon the Abbot in the Lives of the Fathers, lib. vii, cap. xiii: "If thou dwellest with thy neighbor, be as a stone pillar; which if it is injured, is not angered; if it is glorified, is not exalted." God promises, says Theodoret, to Jeremiah not peace, nor quiet, but struggles and victory, as Christ to the Apostles, John cap. xvi, 1 and seq. Hence such great fortitude and freedom of Jeremiah against princes and kings, namely from this one promise of God: because "I am with thee;" for if God be for us, who is against us? Behold what hope in God accomplishes, what strength it has! "He that dwelleth in the aid of the Most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of heaven," and what follows throughout Psalm xc pertains to this. Such were the ancient doctors of the Church, princes and heroes. Thus St. Ambrose, strengthened and fortified by God, strongly resisted when the Emperor Valentinian and his mother Justina requested that a temple be given to the Arians; and when the counts and tribunes pressed the Emperor to use his right, since all things were in his power, Ambrose answered: "If the Emperor asks of me what is mine, that is my estate, my silver, I will not refuse; although all things that are mine belong to the poor: but those things which are God's are not subject to imperial authority. If you seek my patrimony, seize it: if my body, come upon it; do you wish to lead me into chains? do you wish to death? it is sport: I will not fortify myself with the protection of peoples, nor will I hold the altars, begging for life, but I will offer myself as a victim for the altars." Calligonus attacked him: "Do you," he said, "while I live, despise Valentinian? I will cut off your head." To whom Ambrose: "May God permit you to fulfill what you threaten. For I will suffer what befits a Bishop: you will do what befits eunuchs." See him, epistle 32 and 33. Thus Mattathias, recalling the mighty deeds of the Fathers done under God's leadership, exhorts his people to resist King Antiochus, who wished to lead the Jews to paganism: "Now therefore, O my sons," he says, "be zealous for the law, and give your lives for the covenant of your fathers, etc.; for all who hope in God shall not be weakened. And fear not the words of a sinful man, for his glory is dung and worms: today he is exalted, and tomorrow he is not found," I Maccabees, cap. ii, 50 and 61. Thus St. Theodore the Martyr, as testified by Gregory of Nyssa in his Life, when the executioners threatened him with savage tortures if he would not renounce the faith of Christ, burst forth in these words: "For the confession of the Christian faith, let him who wounds be wounded; and let him who strikes be torn; and let him who burns add flame; and let him who is offended by these words cut out his tongue." Thus St. Vincent, as testified by Prudentius in his Hymn, provoking the executioners and going joyfully to the pyre, says to the tyrant: Whom you malignly, with mystical letters, threaten with fire, You yourself will burn more justly with this; And quickly hastening to the fire's bed: This man, holy in countenance, willingly ascended, As if already conscious of the crown, He would climb the lofty tribunal of kings. Thus St. Basil, when the Prefect of the Arian Emperor Valens threatened him with destruction on account of his faith: "Would that," he said, "this truly happen to me, so that I might be freed from these bonds of the body for the sake of truth!" When the Prefect urged him to consider the matter more carefully, Basil answered: "I am indeed the same today and tomorrow; and would that you do not change your mind!" Thus Socrates, lib. IV, cap. xxi. Jeremiah therefore, and any just man strong and steadfast, is superior to all adversities, and is such as Virgil depicts: He like a rock of the sea unmoved resists. As a rock of the sea, when a great roar comes, Which holds itself firm against many barking waves, The crags in vain and foaming rocks around Rage, and the seaweed dashed against the side is cast back. Such was St. Lucy, virgin and martyr, who could not be drawn away from faith and chastity either by prayers or threats, but bravely resisted the prefect Paschasius, trusting in the aid of the Holy Spirit; and when Paschasius asked: "Is the Holy Spirit in you?" she answered: "Those who live chastely and piously are the temple of the Holy Spirit." But he said: "I will order you to be taken to a brothel, so that the Holy Spirit will abandon you." To which the virgin: "If you order me to be violated against my will, chastity will be doubled for me unto a crown." Wherefore Paschasius, indignant, ordered Lucy to be dragged away; but it was divinely brought about that the steadfast virgin stood so firm that she could not be moved from the place either by oxen or by any force. Therefore the prefect ordered fire to be kindled around her, drenched with pitch, resin, and boiling oil; but, since not even the flame harmed her, after torturing her with many torments, he orders her throat to be pierced with a sword. Having received this wound, Lucy, foretelling the tranquility of the Church which was to come after the death of Maximian and Diocletian, on the Ides of December gave up her spirit to God.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
1:1
Iste liber more aliorum prophetarum in duas partes dividitur: scilicet in titulum, et tractatum, qui incipit ibi, et factum est verbum domini ad me, dicens. In titulo duo facit. Primo describit auctorem; secundo prophetiae tempus, ibi, quod factum est. Describitur autem auctor tripliciter. Primo ex nomine, verba Jeremiae: supple, haec sunt. Et interpretatur excelsus domino, quod competit eminentiae contemplationis. Secundo ex genere prophetali, filii Helciae: secundum regulam enim Hieronymi ubicumque prophetae pater in titulo ponitur, ipse etiam propheta fuit. Et sacerdotali, de sacerdotibus, quorum erat scire legem. Haggaei 2: interroga sacerdotem legem. Tertio describitur ex habitatione propria: qui fuerunt in Anatoth. Acceperunt enim Levitae in singulis tribubus aliquas villas in quibus morarentur, sicut dicitur Num. 35: de istis verbis dicitur Isa. 59: verba mea non deficient. Sciendum est autem quod quidam prophetae intitulantur ab actu interiori: unde dicitur: visio Isaiae (vel) visio Abdiae: quidam ab actu exteriori, et isti intitulantur per verbum: sicut hic: quidam a materia comminationis, et sic intitulantur per onus, sicut Habacuc et Nahum.
1:3
Hic describit prophetiae tempus, quia sub tribus regibus prophetavit, de quibus habetur 4 Reg. 20, et deinceps. Sed cum supra dixerit, verba, quare hic singulariter dicit, verbum? Ad quod dicendum, quod verba prophetalia sunt quidem multa in se, sed sunt unum in sua origine, quia a verbo increato originantur. Sed cum illud verbum sit aeternum, ut dicitur Joan. 1, quomodo dicitur factum? Et dicendum, quod non dicitur factum simpliciter, sed ad aliquem; non quidem mutatione facta in verbo, sed in eo cui per verbum fit revelatio: secundum quem modum dicitur Deus factus refugium nostrum. Item quaeritur, quare non fit mentio de aliis duobus regibus, scilicet Joathan filio Josiae, et de Joachim filio Joakim, qui et alio nomine Jechonias dictus est. Et dicendum, quod uterque istorum regnavit tantum tribus mensibus, ut dicitur 4 Reg. 24. Et quia sacra Scriptura non curat minutias, computantur cum temporibus aliorum regum. Mense quinto, quo fuit destructus, licet mense quarto capta, ut dicitur infra 39.
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Hic incipit tractatus ipsius libri et primo injungitur Jeremiae prophetandi officium; secundo ponitur prophetae jam constituti vaticinium, ibi, et factum est, cap. 2. Prima in duas. In prima injungit officium; in secunda ostendit executionis modum, ibi, tu ergo accinge. Prima in duas. In prima constituitur in prophetali officio; in secunda designatur sibi prophetiae suae materia, ibi, et factum est verbum domini ad me. Prima in duas. In prima narratur prophetae praeparatio; in secunda doni prophetalis collatio, ibi, et misit dominus manum suam. Prima in tres. In prima ponitur praeparatio ex parte domini; in secunda ponitur contradictio prophetae, ibi, et dixi, a, a, a; in tertia contradictionis repulsio, ibi, et dixit dominus. Circa primum tria. Primo ponitur prophetae praeparatio: factum est verbum, vel exterius per subjectam creaturam, vel interius per inspirationem. Psal. 84: audiam quid loquatur in me dominus Deus. Te formarem: in ipsa enim natura formante Deus operatur formam, scilicet sicut causa prima in secunda. Job 10: pelle et carnibus vestisti me. Novi, notitia approbationis. Isa. 49: dominus ab utero vocavit me, de ventre matris meae recordatus est nominis mei. Secundo ponitur privilegiata sanctificatio, et antequam. Eccl. 49: male tractaverunt illum qui a ventre matris consecratus est propheta, et cetera. Tertio ponitur officii praeordinatio. Et prophetam dedi, scilicet in mea ordinatione. Isa. 44: dedi te in lucem gentium, ut sis salus mea usque ad extremum terrae. Circa sanctificationem in utero quatuor videamus. Primo tempus. Et videtur quod ante infusionem animae possit esse hujusmodi sanctificatio, per illud quod dicit Glossa Ambrosii Luc. 1: nondum inerat spiritus vitae, et jam inerat spiritus gratiae.
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Praeterea hic dicitur: priusquam te formarem in utero novi: et intelligitur de spirituali notitia, quae est approbationis: ergo ante formationem gratiam habuit. E contra videtur, quod non, antequam ex utero nascatur, quia dicit Augustinus: non potest renasci nisi jam natus: nullus autem habet gratiam nisi renatus, quia per gratiam fit quis filius Dei: ergo nec gratiam sanctificationis. Ad hoc dicendum, quod sanctificatio de qua loquimur, fit per gratiam, cujus subjectum est anima; et ideo ante infusionem animae non potest esse; sed post infusionem, ante nativitatem ex utero, fit ex speciali privilegio. Ad primum dicendum, quod spiritus vitae dicitur ibi aer exterius, libere respiratus. Vel dicitur inesse spiritus vitae, si de anima accipiatur, quando innotescit. Ad aliud dicendum, quod intelligitur de notitia approbationis, quae est secundum praedestinationem ad gratiam, et non dicitur secundum praesentem justitiam. Ad aliud dicendum, quod nullus potest renasci lege communi, regeneratione quae est per sacramenta, antequam sit natus, quia nondum subjacere potest operationibus ministrorum Ecclesiae, per quos hujusmodi gratia dispensatur. Sed Deus potentiam suam non alligavit sacramentis; et ideo ipse potest speciali privilegio aliquem in utero sanctificare. Secundo quaeritur, quibus conveniat sanctificatio ista. Et videtur quod Christo, de quo dicitur in Glossa, quod antequam de vulva exiret, sanctificatus est in utero. Sed contra. Sanctificari est de non sancto fieri sanctum: sed ipse nunquam fuit non sanctus: ergo et cetera. Item videtur quod conveniat rebus inanimatis, per id quod dicitur in Psal. 45: sanctificavit tabernaculum suum altissimus. In contrarium est quod hujusmodi non sunt susceptiva gratiae. Et dicendum ad primum, quod non sanctum dicitur dupliciter. Vel privative, et tunc requiritur existentia subjecti; et sic Christo non convenit: aut negative; et sic convenit Christo de non sancto fieri sanctum, quia antequam esset homo, non erat sanctus sanctitate creata. Ad aliud dicendum, quod sanctum dicitur uno modo cultui divino dicatum; et sic res animatae et inanimatae sanctificari possunt: aliquando autem sanctum dicitur firmum, vel mundum vel a peccato, vel a carnali actu; et talis sanctificatio est per gratiam, et tantum in hominibus possibilis. Cum autem omnis sanctificatio ordinetur ad illam sanctissimam filii Dei conceptionem, convenienter mater, in cujus utero celebrata est illa conceptio, sanctificata fuit, et Joannes Baptista, qui adhuc clausus utero, clausum in utero ostendit, et Jeremias, qui inter alios expressus modum illius sanctissimae conceptionis disseruit. Infra 21: creavit dominus novum super terram: femina circumdabit virum. Quaeritur tertio de effectu sanctificationis. Et sciendum est, quod sanctificatio ordinatur contra immunditiam peccati originalis, in quo est considerare reatum carentiae divinae visionis ex carentia debitae justitiae; et hunc totaliter amovit, quantum pertinet ad impedimentum personae, licet nondum esset solutum pretium quo amoveretur impedimentum naturae. Est etiam considerare fomitem, qui est pronitas ad omne malum; et hic quidem manet, sicut habitus impeditus non inclinans ad id ad quod est: sed in aliis inclinabat ad veniale, quamvis non ad mortale; in beata autem virgine ad neutrum horum. Quarto quaeritur de comparatione gratiae sanctificationis ad gratiam sacramentalem. Et dicendum, quod simpliciter praevalet gratia sanctificationis, quia post gratiam sacramentalem manet inclinatio ad peccatum mortale. Sed secundum quid praevalet gratia sacramentalis, scilicet quo ad impressionem characteris et hujusmodi. Et dixi. Hic ponitur prophetae contradictio: et primo ponit suum stuporem, a, propter defectum vitae, a, propter defectum scientiae, a, propter defectum eloquentiae. Ezech. 4: et dixi, a, a, a. Secundo ponit stuporis rationem: et allegat defectum eloquentiae: ecce nescio loqui. Exodi 4: non sum eloquens ab heri et nudius tertius.
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Et aetatem pueritiae: quia puer ego sum, unde non convenit aetas mea praedicationis officio. Job 32: sperabam, quod aetas prolixior loqueretur, et annorum multitudo doceret sapientiam. Eccl. 32: loquere major natu, docet enim te. Quare autem hic recusavit officium praedicationis, ad quod Isaias se obtulit, Isa. 6: ostendit Gregorius in Glossa illa: officium (inquit) praedicationis alii laudabiliter appetunt, ad quod alii laudabiliter coguntur, et cetera. Quia hic ex amore quo ferebatur in Deum, damna contemplationis timebat, et ille per dilectionem proximi, salutem proximorum cupiebat. Nec tamen ille ante purgationem se obtulit, nec iste pertinaciter recusavit. Et dixit dominus. Repellit hanc contradictionem. Et quia ille allegabat pueritiam, promittit tria contra tres defectus puerorum.
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Pueri enim sunt inconstantes; et contra hoc promittit constantiam: noli dicere, te excusando, ad omnia, exequendum. Infra 10: non est hominis via ejus, nec viri est ut ambulet, et dirigat gressus suos. Pr. 3: in omnibus viis tuis cogita illum, et ipse diriget gressus tuos. Item promittit eloquentiam contra hoc quod pueri sunt elingues, et universa. Sap. 10: sapientia aperuit os mutorum, et linguas infantium fecit disertas.
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Promittit audaciam contra timiditatem puerorum: ne timeas quia tecum sum, ut eruam te, non quod angustiis careas, sed quod omnia patienter feras. Psal. 12: non timebo mala, quoniam tu mecum es.
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Et misit dominus. Hic offert prophetiae donum per modum sacramenti. Unde primo ponitur actio: misit dominus, imaginaria visione, ut humana membra videns puer non expavesceret: per quam signatur liberalitas divinae bonitatis. Psalm. 103: aperiente te manum tuam, omnia implebuntur bonitate. Non autem purgatur ante ignito calculo, ut Isaias: quia propter pueritiam et sanctificationis gratiam peccata nulla habebat. Secundo ponuntur verba: et dixit ad me: quae tria continent. Primo exprimit donum, ecce dedi. Psalm. 67: dominus dabit verbum evangelizantibus, virtute multa. Secundo ostendit gradum.
1:10
Ecce constitui te super gentes, diversas, quibus praedicavit, quasi mediator inter ipsas et Deum. Exod. 7: ecce constitui te Deum Pharaonis. Psalm. 17: constitues me in caput gentium. Tertio exponit officium: ut evellas, mala quantum ad radicem, destruas, quantum ad malae ordinationis machinationem, disperdas, malorum adunationem, dissipes, mali defensionem, aedifices bona quantum ad ordinem, plantes, quantum ad radicem. Non enim indigent exteriori munimine quasi sepe. Eccl. 49: consecratus est propheta, evertere, eruere et perdere, et iterum aedificare et renovare.
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Hic determinat materiam ad quam specialiter prophetandam constituitur: scilicet destructionem Jerusalem, et captivitatem populi. Et primo ostendit prophetiae certitudinem; secundo ostendit ipsam captivitatem ibi (cap. 32), et factum est. Circa primum tria. Primo ponitur prophetae excitatio ad videndum. Quid tu vides? Quasi dicat: ex quo propheta es, tuum est videre. 1 Reg. 9: qui nunc dicitur propheta, olim dicebatur videns. Secundo ponitur visio: et dixi, virgam, quasi virgam in manu domini paratam ad percutiendum, video, imaginaria visione. Thren. 1: vigilavit jugum iniquitatum mearum; in manu ejus convolutae sunt, et impositae collo meo. Quidam intelligunt virgam vigilantem, virgam latronum ad attrahenda spolia de domibus per fenestras, dum ipsi vigilant aliis dormientibus; sed primum melius. Tertio ponitur expositio: et dixit, bene; quasi dicat: congruunt veritati. Vigilabo, solicitus ero. Isa. 55: verbum quod egredietur de ore meo.
Hic ponit ipsam destructionem civitatis: et primo ponitur excitatio ad videndum: quid tu vides? Ut supra.
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Secundo visio: et dixi: ollam succensam, quod signat combustionem civitatis, et faciem, fundum, Aquilonis, unde ignis accendebatur. Ezech. 24: pone ollam super prunas vacuam, ut incalescat, et liquefiat aes ejus, et confletur in medio ejus inquinamentum ejus, et consumatur rubigo ejus.
1:14
Tertio ponitur expositio: et dixit dominus, et primo exponitur in generali: ab Aquilone, idest a rege Babylonis, qui ad Aquilonem erat respectu terrae sanctae, habitatores terrae, Jerusalem, vel aliarum adjacentium, quae per ipsum vastatae sunt. Infra 10: ecce veniet commotio magna de terra Aquilonis, ut ponat civitates Juda solitudines et habitacula draconum. Secundo prosequitur totum rei ordinem.
1:15
Et primo ponitur exercitus convocatio: quia ecce ego convocabo, inspirando, regnorum, subjectorum Nabuchodonosor. Isaiae 5: levabit signum in nationibus procul. Secundo ponitur civitatis obsidio: et veniet (...) solium, tentorium, in introitu portarum, quasi usque ad muros obsidebunt. Isa. 22: equites ponent sedes suas in porta, et revelabitur operimentum Judae. Vel ponit ipsam captivitatem urbis: et tangitur id quod habetur infra 39: ingressi sunt omnes principes regis Babylonis, et sederunt in porta media. Tertio ponitur habitantium punitio: et loquar judicio, non verbis, sed poenis. Ezech. 16: judicabunt te judiciis adulterarum, et effundentium sanguinem. Tu ergo accinge. Hic docet exercendi modum: et primo ut prompte exequatur: accinge lumbos tuos, quasi qui parat se ad velociter eundum. Job 40: accinge sicut vir lumbos tuos. Secundo quod secure: et circa hoc primo excludit timorem.
1:17
Ne formides. Ezech. 3: ne timeas eos, neque metuas a facie eorum, quia domus exasperans est. Isaiae 51: quis tu ut timeas ab homine mortali, et a filio hominis, qui quasi fenum ita arescet, et oblitus es domini factoris tui, qui tetendit caelos, et fundavit terram; et formidasti tota die a facie furoris ejus qui te tribulabat, et paraverat ad perdendum? Ubi est nunc furor tribulantis?
1:18
Secundo promittit fortitudinem ad resistendum: ego quippe dedi te hodie in civitatem, ad alios sustentandum, in columnam. Isa. 50: dominus dedit mihi linguam eruditam, ut sciam sustentare eum qui lapsus est, verbo, et ut in se non deficiat. Et in murum aereum. Ezech. 3: ut adamantem et ut silicem dedi faciem tuam. Tertio promittit hostium frustrationem: et bellabunt, et non praevalebunt, non poterunt te a veritate avertere.
1:19
Infra 15: dabo te populo huic in murum aereum fortem; et bellabunt adversum te, et non praevalebunt, quia ego tecum sum, ut salvem te et eruam te: dicit dominus. Circa praedicta sciendum primo, quod alicujus Deus potest habere notitiam approbationis, ut dictum est. Praevisionis. Eccl. 23: domino Deo antequam crearentur, omnia sunt agnita; sic et post perfectum respicit omnia. Praedestinationis. 2 Tim. 2: novit dominus qui sunt ejus. Gratiae infusionis. Joan. 10: cognosco oves meas et cognoscunt me meae. Specialis familiaritatis. Exod. 33: et teipsum novi ex nomine. Glorificationis. Eccl. 44: cognovit illum in benedictionibus suis, et dedit illi hereditatem. Item notandum, quod aliquos tangit dominus corripiendo. Job 19: miseremini mei, miseremini mei saltem vos amici mei, quia manus domini tetigit me. A peccatis mundando. Matth. 8: et Jesus tetigit eum, dicens: volo mundare. Gratiam infundendo. Cant. 5: dilectus meus misit manum suam per foramen, et venter meus intremuit ad tactum ejus. In gratia confortando. Dan. 10: et ecce manus tetigit me, et erexit me super genua mea, et super articulos manuum mearum. Fervorem excitando. Psal. 143: tange montes, et fumigabunt. Item notandum, quod anima peccatrix dicitur olla propter concupiscentiae fervorem. Job 41: fervescere faciet quasi ollam profundum maris, et ponet quasi cum unguenta bulliunt. Propter operis carnalitatem. Mich. 3: ossa eorum confregerunt, et conciderunt sicut in lebete, et quasi carnem in medio ollae. Propter maculae nigredinem. Nahum 2: facies omnium sicut nigredo ollae. Item notandum, quod praedicta olla succenditur igne inordinati amoris. Psal. 79: incensa igne, et suffossa ab increpatione vultus tui peribunt. Irae, et contentionis. Isa. 50: ecce omnes vos accendentes ignem accincti flammis. Aeternae damnationis. Deuter. 32: ignis succensus est in furore meo, et ardebit usque ad Inferni novissima. Item notandum, quod Diabolus dicitur Aquilo propter tentationis impetum. Eccl. 43: vox tonitrui ejus verberavit terram, tempestas Aquilonis, et congregatio spiritus. Quia impedit boni operis fructum. Cant. 4: surge Aquilo, et veni Auster, perfla hortum meum, et fluent aromata illius. Quia siccat lacrymarum fluvium. Prover. 25: ventus Aquilo dissipat pluvias, et facies tristis linguam detrahentem. Item notandum, quod munitur Ecclesia, vel anima, divino auxilio. Zach. 2: ego ero eis ignis in circuitu, et in gloria ero in medio ejus. Angelorum praesidio. Isa. 33: munimenta saxorum sublimitas ejus. Sanctorum patrum exemplo. Cant. 4: turris David collum tuum, quae aedificata est cum propugnaculis. Fratrum subsidio. Prov. 18: frater qui adjuvatur a fratre quasi civitas firma. Sacramentorum remedio. Cant. 8: ego murus, et ubera mea sicut turris, ex quo facta sum coram eo quasi pacem reperiens.
1:1
ANATHOTH (Hebrew 'Anathōth). - A Levitical city of the tribe of Benjamin (Josh. 21:18; 1 Chron. 6:45 [Heb. 60]). It was the birthplace of two companions of David, Abiezer (2 Sam. 23:27; 1 Chron. 11:28; 27:12) and Jehu (1 Chron. 12:3), and of the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 1:1), who, however, had much to suffer from his fellow townsmen (Jer. 11:18-23). The high priest Abiathar was confined there by Solomon (1 Kings 2:26). About 4 km. northeast of Jerusalem …
… without the aid of any image, and this is the most frequent (cf. Ezekiel: "the word of God came to me, saying"); b) and sensory: while He speaks to the intellect, God also acts upon the imagination, upon the internal senses, with sensory images (Is. 6:1; Jer. 1:1; Ez. 1-3; 8:10 etc.), rarely upon the external senses (cf. ibid. 3:4). Sometimes the external senses perceive nothing more of what is around them because they follow the faculties …
1:2
The king's action was effectively supported, besides by the high priest Hilkiah, by the prophets Jeremiah (his prophetic vocation dates to the thirteenth year of J.'s reign, cf. Jer. 1:2), Nahum and Zephaniah, although it cannot be exactly determined how great a part they had in it. To encourage and stimulate the pious king there came a very important event: the discovery …
1:4
… The beginning of the prophetic mission is the vocation on the part of God, sudden, which gives a new face to the existence of the one called (Ex. 3:7-4:18; Am. 7:10-15; Is. 6; Jer. 1:4-9; 20:7-18; Ex. 2-3; etc.). …
… suffice: in the Old Testament: the call and the promises made to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:1-21; 17:1-22), the revelation of the burning bush and of Sinai (Ex. 3:1-17; 19:1 ff.; 24:1), the call and the teaching of the prophets (1 Kings 3:1-21; Is. 1:2; 2:1; Jer. 1:4-19). In the New Testament the existence of a divine revelation is clearly taught by Jesus Christ himself: "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the …
1:6
… One who, by divine vocation, speaks in the place and in the name of God (Deut. 18:18 ff.; II Kings 3:9; Jer. 1:6, 9 ff.; Is. 52:6, etc.; cf. Ex. 7:1 ff.), communicating to men, to whom he is sent, whatever the Lord, by supernatural action, orders and reveals to him (Jer. 1:7 ff.; Am. 3:7 ff.; …
State, Duties of the Individual
… the environment; at still other times from evident necessity of civil and ecclesiastical society, as when one is called by the pope to the episcopate; at other times, finally, from an extraordinary call of God, as in the case of Jeremiah or Jonah (cf. Jer. 1:6-10; Jon. 1:1 ff.). …
1:7
… One who, by divine vocation, speaks in the place and in the name of God (Deut. 18:18 ff.; II Kings 3:9; Jer. 1:6, 9 ff.; Is. 52:6, etc.; cf. Ex. 7:1 ff.), communicating to men, to whom he is sent, whatever the Lord, by supernatural action, orders and reveals to him (Jer. 1:7 ff.; Am. 3:7 ff.; 7:14 ff.; Ez. 2-3; etc.): « nihil aliud esse prophetam Dei, nisi enuntiatorem verborum Dei hominibus » (St. Augustine, Quaest. in Hept., 17: PL 34, 601).
1:9
… God places the words in their mouth (Jer. 1, 9; Is. 6, 6); he orders Jeremiah to put in writing all the prophecies held from the beginning of his ministry until the 4th year of Jehoiakim and to rewrite them after the volume has …
1:11
… Am. 1, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2, 1 etc.; Obad. 1; Jon. 1, 1; 3, 1; Mic. 1, 1; 3, 5; 6, 1; Nah. 1, 12; Zeph. 1, 1; Hag. 1, 1; 2, 1, 11, 21; Zech. 1, 1; 7, 1 ff.) what he has written; reports visions, revelations or supernatural dreams (Num. 12, 6 ff.; Is. 6, 20; Jer. 1, 11-16; Ezek. 4, 1-5, 4; Jer. 4, 20 ff.; Is. 5, 9; 22, 14; Ezek. 9, 1; Jer. 20, 7-12; 23, 28; Mic. 3, 8; Is. 6, 6-9; Jer. 1, 17-19; Ezek. 3, 8-9). The hagiographer or biblical writer is therefore …
Jeremias (Hebrew Yirmeyāh[â] = "Yahweh Exalts or Establishes")
… Indicopleuste, cod. Vat. greco 699, Milan 1908, pl. 38), and in the Syriac manuscript 341 of the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris (7th-8th century); there, to the right of G., the divine hand is raised on high, while below is represented the "rod that watches" (Jer. 1, 11).
1:17
… 21; Zech. 1, 1; 7, 1 ff.) what he has written; reports visions, revelations or supernatural dreams (Num. 12, 6 ff.; Is. 6, 20; Jer. 1, 11-16; Ezek. 4, 1-5, 4; Jer. 4, 20 ff.; Is. 5, 9; 22, 14; Ezek. 9, 1; Jer. 20, 7-12; 23, 28; Mic. 3, 8; Is. 6, 6-9; Jer. 1, 17-19; Ezek. 3, 8-9). The hagiographer or biblical writer is therefore the intermediary through whom God speaks or writes (Hos. 1, 1-2; Hag. 1, 7; Mal. 1, 1), he is the mouth of God (Jer. …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.