Under the type of good and bad figs, he foretells the restoration of the Jews that had been carried away captive with Jechonias, and the desolation of those that were left behind.
By a parable of good and euil figges, is signified, 5. the reduction of the penitent from captiuitie: 8. and the vexation of those, that stayed in Ierusalem, or fled into Aegypt.
1The Lord shewed me: and behold two baskets full of figs, set before the temple of the Lord: after that Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away Jechonias the son of Joakim the king of Juda, and his chief men, and the craftsmen, and engravers of Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.Il Signore mi diede una visione, e vidi due panieri pieni di fichi posati davanti al tempio del Signore, dopo che Nabucodonosor re di Babilonia avea menato da Gerusalemme a Babilonia Jeconia figliuolo di Joachim, re di Giuda, e i suoi principi, e i fabbri, e i gioiellieri.OVR Lord shewed me: and behold two baskets ful of figges, set before the temple of our Lord: after that Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon transported Iechonias the sonne of Ioakim the king of Iuda, and his princes, and the craftesman, and incloser of Ierusalem, and had brought them into Babylon.Ostendit mihi Dominus: et ecce duo calathi pleni ficis, positi ante templum Domini, postquam transtulit Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis Jechoniam filium Joakim, regem Juda, et principes ejus, et fabrum, et inclusorem, de Jerusalem, et adduxit eos in Babylonem. 2One basket had very good figs, like the figs of the first season: and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, because they were bad.In uno de' panieri erano ottimi fichi, come soglion essere i primaticci: e nell'altro paniere erano fichi pessimi da non potersi mangiare per esser guasti.One basket had very good figges: as the figges of the prime time are wont to be: and one basket had very naughtie figges, which could not be eaten, because they were naught.Calathus unus ficus bonas habebat nimis, ut solent ficus esse primi temporis: et calathus unus ficus habebat malas nimis, quæ comedi non poterant eo quod essent malæ. 3And the Lord said to me: What seest thou, Jeremias? And I said: Figs, the good figs, very good: and the bad figs, very bad, which cannot be eaten because they are bad.E il Signore mi disse: Che è quello, che tu vedi, o Geremia? E io dissi; Fichi, fichi buoni, e molto buoni: e fichi cattivi, e molto cattivi da non potersi mangiare, perchè sono cattivi.And our Lord said to me: What seest thou Ieremie? And I said: Figges: the good figges, exceeding good, and the naughtie figges, exceeding naught: which can not be eaten because they are naught.Et dixit Dominus ad me: Quid tu vides, Jeremia ? Et dixi: Ficus, ficus bonas, bonas valde: et malas, malas valde, quæ comedi non possunt eo quod sint malæ. 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:
5Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Juda, whom I have sent forth out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for their good.Queste cose dice il Signore Dio di Israele: Siccome questi fichi son buoni; così io farò del bene agli esuli di Giuda, che sono stati da me cacciati alla terra de' Caldei.Thus saith our Lord the God of Israel: As are these good figges: so wil I know the transmigration of Iuda, which I haue sent forth out of this place into the land of Chaldees, vnto good.Hæc dicit Dominus Deus Israël: / Sicut ficus hæ bonæ, / sic cognoscam transmigrationem Juda, / quam emisi de loco isto in terram Chaldæorum, in bonum. 6And I will set my eyes upon them to be pacified, and I will bring them again into this land: and I will build them up, and not pull them down: and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.E volgerò ad essi placato il mio sguardo, e li ricondurrò in questa terra, e, lungi dallo sterminarli, darò loro ferma abitazione, e li pianterò, e non gli sradicherò.And I wil set mine eies vpon them to be pacified, & I wil bring them againe into this land: and I wil build them, and not destroy: and I wil plant them and not plucke them vp.Et ponam oculos meos super eos ad placandum, / et reducam eos in terram hanc: / et ædificabo eos, et non destruam: / et plantabo eos, et non evellam. 7And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: because they shall return to me with their whole heart.E darò loro un cuore, affinchè conoscano, ch'io sono il Signore, ed ei saranno mio popolo, ed io sarò loro Dio, perchè ritorneranno a me con tutto il lor cuore.And I wil geue them an hart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shal be my people, and I wil be their God: because they shal returne to me in al their hart.Et dabo eis cor ut sciant me, / quia ego sum Dominus: / et erunt mihi in populum, / et ego ero eis in Deum, / quia revertentur ad me in toto corde suo. 8And as the very bad figs, that cannot be eaten, because they are bad: thus saith the Lord: So will I give Sedecias the king of Juda, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that have remained in this city, and that dwell in the land of Egypt.E come gli altri fichi son pessimi, e da non potersi mangiare, perchè sono guasti, così io (dice il Signore) tratterò Sedecia re di Giuda, e i suoi principi, e tutti gli altri, che son rimasi in questa città di Gerusalemme, e che abitano nella terra d'Egitto.And as are the very naughtie figges, that can not be eaten, because they are naught: thus saith our Lord, so wil I geue Sedecias the king of Iuda: and his princes, and the rest of Ierusalem, that haue remained in this citie, and that dwel in the Land of Aegypt.Et sicut ficus pessimæ quæ comedi non possunt eo quod sint malæ, / hæc dicit Dominus: / Sic dabo Sedeciam regem Juda, / et principes ejus, et reliquos de Jerusalem, / qui remanserunt in urbe hac, / et qui habitant in terra Ægypti.
9And I will deliver them up to vexation, and affliction, to all the kingdoms of the earth: to be a reproach, and a byword, and a proverb, and to be a curse in all places, to which I have cast them out.E farò, che siano vessati, ed afflitti per tutti i regni della terra; e saranno l'obbrobrio, la favola, l'esempio, e l'orrore di tutti i luoghi, dov' io gli avrò cacciati.And I wil geue them into vexation, and affliction, to al the kingdomes of the earth: into reproch, and to be a parable, and into a prouerbe, and into malediction in al places, to which I haue cast them out.Et dabo eos in vexationem, / afflictionemque omnibus regnis terræ, / in opprobrium, et in parabolam, / et in proverbium, et in maledictionem / in universis locis ad quæ ejeci eos. 10And I will send among them the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence: till they be consumed out of the land which I gave to them, and their fathers.E manderò contro di essi la spada, la fame, e la peste, fino a tanto che siano sterminati dalla terra, ch'io diedi ad essi, e a' padri loro.And I wil send among them the sword, famine, and pestilence: til they be consumed out of the land, which I gaue them, and their fathers.Et mittam in eis gladium, et famem, et pestem, / donec consumantur de terra quam dedi eis et patribus eorum.
24:1
Year of the World 3405, Year before Christ 599.
Engravers. Hebrew, "those who enclose," (4 Kings 24:14.; 1 Kings 13:19.)
24:2
Calmet
Season. Appearing in autumn and ripe in spring, (Micheas 7:1.) (Calmet)
24:5
Haydock
Regard. Literally, "know," with love, (Psalm 1:6.) (Haydock)
Calmet
Jechonias was treated with honour, (4 Kings 25:27.) as well as Daniel and Zorobabel, of the same family. (Daniel 2:48.; Jeremiah 29:5.) The captives, under Sedecias, were much more abused. (Jeremiah 28:8.; Jeremiah 29:17.) (Calmet)
Worthington
This is the literal sense; the mystical shews that the good shall be rewarded. (Worthington)
24:6
Calmet
Up, till the Messias appear, and the true Israel of God, his disciples, to whom the promises chiefly pertain. They will continue for ever. If this answer does not give satisfaction, as it ought, we may say that the Jews did not comply with the condition, and were therefore abandoned to the Romans. (Calmet)
24:8
Egypt, to which they fled contrary to the prophet's advice, (4 Kings 25:26.)
24:3
Literally he prophecieth that king Ieconias and others caried in the first trāsmigration into Babylon should be released or exalted; and king Sedecias with his children & folovvers should perish: but mystically he prophecieth that the good shal prosper & be high ly rewarded, & the wicked shal be miserable and most seuerely punished.
24:1
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 31.3
… For it was he who first introduced the fruit at Rome after his conquest of Pontus and Armenia; and the cherry tree is so called because he brought it from Cerasus. Now as the Scriptures do not mention cherries, but do speak of a basket of figs,
24:3
St Methodius † AD 311 The Banquet of the Ten Virgins; or Concerning Chastity 10.5
For we find in the Sacred Writings that there are two kinds of fig-trees and vines, “the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil;”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 31.3
… and the cherry tree is so called because he brought it from Cerasus. Now as the Scriptures do not mention cherries, but do speak of a basket of figs, I will use these instead to point my moral. May you be made of fruits such as those which grow before God’s temple and of which He says, “Behold they are good, very good.”
24:6
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
xxiv. 6, 7 . God, not they themselves, will plant them, etc.
24:1
Set before the temple of the Lord. — Note: These two baskets were before the temple; because the first, containing good figs, signified the people joined to God and to the worship of God, and as it were domestic, even those who by the command of God had gone captive into Babylon, to be present to God, to be in His eyes and care, and through this tribulation to exhibit to God the sweet fruit of patience, as it were cooked by the heat of tribulation, and pleasing to God: the other basket, containing bad figs, signified those who remained in Jerusalem disobedient to God, although they dwelt nearer to the temple in delights, to be hateful to God, and to be cut off by Him on account of this disobedience. Optimal, that is most savory, because ripe and early; but the figs of the other basket, which were bad, were most inferior, that is most insipid, because unripe, or because wild and bitter, or because shriveled by heat, or because dried and withered by wind, or because eaten by worms, so as to cause nausea, etc. The Prophet recognized this difference of figs, both from the form and appearance of the figs, and from the judgment of the Lord, who perhaps also gave him to taste them. For properly the goodness or badness of figs is discerned by taste and flavor. Nor does it hinder that he says: "What seest thou? And I said: Figs, good figs." For that thou seest does not exclude tasting, both because sight is often taken generally for any sense, and because thou seest only signifies that these figs were set before the Prophet, not in reality, but through vision and imagination, in which the Prophet seemed to himself partly to see them, partly to taste them. The first basket signified the happiness of those who were carried away, the other the calamity of those who remained, as I have already said. Thus Homer says that Jupiter has two vessels, one of gall and unhappiness, the second of honey and happiness; and now from this, now from that he gives to men to drink: Plutarch cites this passage of Homer to Apollonius. Note the catachresis, "good," that is sweet and honeyed. Aptly and truly a certain Transalpine coming into Italy, when he had never before seen fresh figs, as soon as he tasted them among other fruits, called them purses full of honey. Truly Passeratius on the fig: The fig has the taste of snowy milk and gleaming honey, and juices similar to ambrosia with nectar. Tropologically, some according to St. Jerome and the Gloss: These two baskets are two cities, one of God, the other of the devil; secondly, they are Christians and Jews; thirdly, they are the elect and the reprobate, or hell and heaven; fourthly, as Lyran says, they are good and bad Religious: for these are as it were in the temple of the Lord, and in the earthly paradise of God, as Blessed Peter Damian says, sermon On St. Nicholas, so that they may bring forth and offer to God figs and heavenly fruits. Hence St. Augustine rightly says, epistle 137, vol. II: "As I have found none better than those who have made progress in the monastery, so neither have I found any worse than those who have fallen away in the monastery." Thus Pelagius, Eutyches, Nestorius, Jovinianus, Luther, Bucer, Peter Martyr, were monks; but apostatizing became heresiarchs. A similar thing concerning the Athenians, among whom wisdom and probity flourished, Plutarch said in the Life of Dionysius: "That they are either the best or the worst," and he adds: "As Attica produces the most excellent honey, so also it produces deadly poison." You will ask, why are men understood by figs? St. Augustine answers, sermon 31 On the words of the Lord according to Luke: From that time already, he says, when the first man after sin covered himself with the leaves of the fig tree, the human race put on a kinship of likeness with the fig. Therefore also St. Ambrose, book On Paradise, chapter XIII, weighing that Adam girded his loins with fig leaves, interprets mystically that a sinful garment from the fig tree is to be transmitted to his posterity, so that as it were clothed in the fig, that is in sin, or sinners would be born. But why do these figs appear to the Prophet before the temple? Anthony Fernandius answers, book On the Visions of the Old Testament, vision 12, that the literal reason is, because in the court of the temple various kinds of fruits were sold, so that the people might have at hand what to offer to the Lord, before whom no one could appear empty, according to the law of Exodus XXIII, 15. The more proper reason is, that the Jews attributed all their glory, strength and happiness to the temple, and that Zedekiah with his people were unwilling to surrender themselves to the Chaldeans, lest they be deprived of these goods of the temple: whence also they mocked Jeconiah, who had surrendered himself and his people to the Chaldeans, as if an exile and outcast from the temple, and consequently from God, as appears Ezekiel XI, 15 and 16. Wherefore God there refutes this, promising that He will be to Jeconiah in Babylon for a sanctification, that is for a sanctuary, or holy temple. Mystically, it signifies that both the wicked and the good are equally present to God, and that God from His temple continually beholds them, but to different outcomes and lots. The Encloser. — namely of gems. Thus St. Jerome, Rabanus, Hugo, St. Thomas, Lyranus, namely, he who encloses gems in gold or silver. Otherwise Vatablus and Angelomus in IV Kings XXIV: "The Encloser," they say, understand of camps, that is, one skilled in pitching camps and fortifying them, and enclosing them with a rampart; as if to say, Nebuchadnezzar transferred all craftsmen and artisans, especially those who could fortify the city like camps and enclose it with their ramparts; lest these should again aid the Jews, if they wished to rebel, as the Philistines did, I Kings cap. XIII, 19. for these will corrupt the others, and will bring upon Religion either great harm or ruin. This must be observed especially in Novices, upon whom, as upon a root, depends either the progress or the decline of Religion: in admitting or rejecting them, therefore, great discernment must be exercised, great care, as Blessed Theresa was wont to say. These must then be especially exercised in the study both of mortification and of prayer, so that they always think themselves to be living in Religion as in a temple, indeed as in a certain earthly heaven (as Climacus says) in the presence of God and angels. This is what St. Peter taught in his golden instruction; as St. Clement relates, epistle 1 to James the brother of the Lord: "He instructed (Peter, says Clement) to guard the acts of his life every hour, and in every place to regard God; to know firmly that evil thoughts coming to his heart, he should immediately dash them against Christ." Again, most aptly and properly, the best figs are those who willingly subject themselves with Christ to discipline and to the cross sent by God; the worst are those who reject and shake off discipline and the cross. It should be noted that Columella writes, lib. III, that figs which do not ripen nor become sweet should be shaken from the tree, lest the tree be corrupted or dried up: thus from Religion should be shaken off those who do not draw the genuine spirit of it, who do not drink in the warmth of its devotion, so that they may ripen and become sweet in perfection: otherwise... 2. One basket had figs very good, — as if to say, The figs of one basket which were good, were very good, that is, most delicious, because ripe and early.
24:2
As figs are accustomed to be of the first season, — not of spring: for spring does not produce ripe figs. Figs therefore of the "first season" are those which the tree produces ripe first, and which the air gives, namely summer; which are called early-ripening, and are very sweet, because they are firstborn, into which the tree pours its juice and strength; so that, as it were growing old and exhausted, it gives late figs that are weak, insipid and imperfect, as we see and taste here in Italy. For which note: Figs are of two kinds; for some are those which give fruit once in a year, namely in September, and then it is the proper season of figs; others give them twice yearly, namely early ones in June, late ones in September. For every fig that gives fruit in June is biennial; for it gives second ones in September; but the earlier ones of June are far better than the later ones in September, and these are called early-ripening, and of the first season. Other figs, which give fruit only in September, likewise give earlier fruit better than the latest. The reason is, because the fig, being hot, requires the heat of the sun: whence the hotter the sun is, as at the beginning of September, the better are the figs: but as the sun declines in October, the figs are less good, because they are ripened by less ardor of the sun. Finally, just as the offspring of animals excel the later ones in both species, strength, nature and value, so the early figs of summer excel the later ones of September in the whole kind, and in species, and in size, and in newness, and in taste either real, or perceived on account of the long and eager expectation of them; whence also they are of greater value, and sell for more. Moreover, the just man is aptly compared to a good fig. First, just as the fig bears sweet fruit, so also does the just man. Second, just as the fig grows little in height, so the just man is humble. Third, the fig in place of flowers yields fruit, and gives fruit twice in a year, namely early figs and ripe figs; so the just man is wholly in the fruit of good works. Fourth, the fig with broad leaves makes shade: so the just man by his charity helps and protects others. Fifth, the fig cannot be grafted onto another tree, on account of its exceptional sweetness which it cannot abandon: so the just man rests in no man, but in God alone. Sixth, the fig when stripped of its bark dries up, and yields no fruit: so the just man unless he be covered with honest conduct will not bear fruit with his neighbor. Thus our Salmeron, vol. VII, tract. 21. Finally, this vision is drawn from the fig rather than from the pear, apple, etc., because figs are frequent in Judaea, and its happiness was "to sit under one's vine and fig tree," as Scripture often says. And some think that figs in Palestine are the first fruits of the year. But I learned that this is false at Rome from Palestinians who were born in Jerusalem: for they asserted that there prunes, melons, cucumbers, etc. are produced before figs. 5. I will know them for good, — I will favor them, I will do them good, as I will preserve and protect those who have been sent by my command into Babylon. Thus God not only exalted Joachin in Babylon, but also appointed Daniel and his companions to kingdoms, and enriched other Jews with peace and goods, Jeremiah XXIX, 4. See here what obedience does, even toward the impious, such as Joachin and the Jews were. 6. And I will set my eyes upon them to be merciful, — that I may show myself to them as placated and benign: in Hebrew it is, I will look upon them for good. I will build them up, — I will give them stable dwellings, first, in Jerusalem; second, in the Church of Christ; third, in heavenly Jerusalem. For it rises to the Church; whence he adds: "They shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God." 8. Who dwell in the land of Egypt, — who for fear of the Chaldaeans fled from Judaea into Egypt, against the warnings of Jeremiah, not after the death of Godolias, and the captivity of Sedecias, but before under Joachin: for these, equally as the Jews remaining in Jerusalem, were laid waste by the Chaldaeans.
24:5
9. I will give them up to vexation. — Chaldee: I will give them up to commotion; Septuagint: I will give them up to dispersion, that is to say, I will scatter them through all kingdoms, so that by such a great calamity of the Jews all nations may be shaken with fear. And into a parable (into a comparison, so that, when they wish to say someone is miserable, they may say: You are more miserable than a Jew), and into a proverb, — that is into a fable, so that all may speak and tell fables about the calamity of the Jews. The Septuagint translates it, into hatred and into a curse; so that namely when men wish to curse someone, they may say: May that which befell King Sedecias of Judah, and his family and followers, befall him: May the plague of Sedecias touch you: Be the brother and companion of Sedecias. Thus Vatablus, and it is clear from Jeremiah XXIX, 22.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
24:1
Hic ponitur distinctio malorum principum a bonis, sub quadam similitudine: et primo ponitur similitudinis ostensio, ponens visionem, ostendit, imaginaria visione, vel argumentali, ut de ficubus quae ante templum vendebantur, prophetia sumeretur. Simile supra 18, de argumento figuli. Num. 12: si quis fuerit inter vos propheta, in visione apparebo ei, vel per somnium loquar ad illum. Postquam transtulit Nabuchodonosor (...) inclusorem, argentarium, qui lapides argento, vel auro includit. Et hoc habetur secundum historiam 4 Reg. 23, Isa. 3: ecce dominator dominus exercituum auferet a Jerusalem, et ab Juda validum et fortem, omne robur panis, et omne robur aquae, et cetera. Et visorum distinctionem, ponens bonas ficus: et unus calathus ficus bonas habebat nimis, per quas boni significantur Oseae 9: quasi prima poma ficulneae in cacumine ejus vidi patres eorum. Michaeae 7: ficus praecoquas desideravit anima mea.
24:2
Et ponens malas: et calathus unus ficus habebat malas nimis: per quas significantur mali e populo. Supra 2: quomodo conversa es mihi in pravum vinea aliena? Secundo ponitur visionis expositio; ubi ponitur domini interrogatio, quae est excitatio ad videndum: et dixit dominus ad me. Supra 1, idem.
24:3
Et propheta responsio: et dixi, ficus. Sic Gen. 41, de spicis et vaccis in somnio Pharaonis.
24:4
Tertio ponitur visionis expositio: et factum est verbum domini ad me.
24:5
Et primo quantum ad bonos, adaptans similitudinem in promissione prosperitatis in generali: sicut ficus hae bonae, sic cognoscam transmigrationem Juda, notitia approbationis. 1 Tim. 2: novit dominus qui sunt ejus.
24:6
Et prosequitur in speciali quantum ad bona corporis, ut reducat ad locum proprium: et ponam oculos. Ezech. 36: tollam quippe vos de gentibus, et congregabo vos de universis terris, et reducam vos in terram vestram. Et ut restituat in prosperitatis statum: et reducam, et aedificabo, in altum elevans, sicut fit in aedificio, et non destruam, ubi peccaverint; sicut infra 42: aedificabo vos, et non destruam, plantabo, et non evellam. Et plantabo, in bonis confirmando. Infra 31: vigilabo super vos, ut aedificem, et plantem, ait dominus. Et quantum ad bona animae, promittens Dei cognitionem: et dabo eis cor ut sciant me. Ezech. 36: dabo vobis cor novum, et spiritum novum ponam in medio vestri.
24:7
Et obedientiae subjectionem: et erunt mihi in populum. Apoc. 21: ipsi populus ejus erunt, et ipse Deus cum eis erit eorum Deus.
24:8
Secundo quantum ad ficus malas: et sicut ficus pessimae. Et primo comminatur eis afflictionem in terra sua: sic dabo Sedeciam.
24:9
Supra 15: dabo eos in fervorem universis regnis terrae, propter Manassem filium Ezechiae regis Juda, super omnibus quae fecit in Jerusalem. Secundo confusionem in terra captivitatis: in opprobrium, quantum ad peccatum culpae, in parabolam, in similitudinariam locutionem, vestra poena in exemplum recitabitur, in proverbium, quia ex his quae vobis acciderint sumetur proverbium ad instructionem aliorum, in maledictionem, quantum ad imprecationem poenae poenitentialiter. Vel quia dicet quilibet alteri maledicens. Sic faciat tibi Deus, sicut fecit illis. Ps. 78: facti sumus opprobrium vicinis nostris, subsannatio, et illusio his qui in circuitu nostro sunt.
24:10
Tertio poenam occisionis: et mittam in eis gladium. Supra 15: qui ad mortem, ad mortem; et qui ad gladium, ad gladium; et qui ad famem, ad famem et cetera.
24:5
… J. could not disappear, because from the stock of David the Messiah must be born (cf. Is. 7-12). Its infidelity will be severely punished: destruction of Jerusalem and of the Kingdom, but a "remnant" will always be left to it. From this "remnant" (the exiles of 597: Jer. 24:5; 29; Ezek. 11:14-20) the new Israel will rise again,
24:9
and the object of the same (Deut. 28, 37; I Kings 9, 7; Jer. 24, 9; Ezek. 14, 8 etc.). …
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.