Jeremias prophesies that the Chaldeans, who had departed from Jerusalem, would return and burn the city. He is cast into prison. His conference with Sedecias.
Sedecias appointed by the king of Babylon to reigne in Iuda, requesteth Ieremias prayers. 4. The Chaldees besieging Ierusalem, and hearing that the Aegyptians come against them, part away. 5. But Ieremie prophecieth that they wil returne, and burne Ierusalem. 10. For which he is imprisoned. 16. After manie dayes the king examineth him of his prophecie, who stil affirming the same, 20. is kept in the entrie of the prison.
1Now king Sedecias the son of Josias reigned instead of Jechonias the son of Joakim: whom Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon made king in the land of Juda.E Sedecia figliuolo di Giosia ebbe il regno in luogo di Jeconia figliuolo di Joachim, essendo stato constituito re del paese da Nabuchodonosor re di Babilonia.AND king Sedecias the sonne of Iosias reigned for Iechonias the sonne of Ioakim: whom Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon made king in the Land of Iuda.Et regnavit rex Sedecias filius Josiæ pro Jechonia filio Joakim, quem constituit regem Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis in terra Juda: 2But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land did obey the words of the Lord, that he spoke in the hand of Jeremias the prophet.E non ubbidì né egli, né i suoi servidori, né il popolo alle parole dette dal Signore per bocca del profeta Geremia.And he obeyed not, he and his seruants, and the people of the land the wordes of our Lord, that he spake in the hand of Ieremie the prophet.et non obedivit ipse, et servi ejus, et populus terræ, verbis Domini, quæ locutus est in manu Jeremiæ prophetæ. 3And king Sedecias sent Juchal the son of Selemias, and Sophonias the son of Maasias the priest to Jeremias the prophet, saying: Pray to the Lord our God for us.E il re Sedecia mandò Juchal figliuolo di Selemia, e Sofonia figliuolo di Maasia sacerdote a dire al profeta Geremia: Fa orazione per noi al Signore Dio nostro.And king Sedecias sent Iuchal the sonne of Selemias, and Sophonias the sonne of Maasias priest to Ieremie the prophet, saying: Pray the Lord our God for vs.Et misit rex Sedecias Juchal filium Selemiæ, et Sophoniam filium Maasiæ, sacerdotem, ad Jeremiam prophetam, dicens: Ora pro nobis Dominum Deum nostrum. 4Now Jeremias walked freely in the midst of the people: for they had not as yet cast him into prison. And the army of Pharao was come out of Egypt: and the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem, hearing these tidings, departed from Jerusalem.Or Geremia andava, e stava liberamente in mezzo al popolo: perocché non lo avevano messo in prigione. Frattanto l'esercito di Faraone uscì dall'Egitto, e udita questa nuova i Caldei, che assediavan Gerusalemme, se ne ritirarono.And Ieremie walked freely in the middes of the people: for they had not cast him into ward in prison. Therefore the armie of Pharao came out of Aegypt: and the Chaldees that besieged Ierusalem, hearing such tydinges, retyred from Ierusalem.Jeremias autem libere ambulabat in medio populi: non enim miserant eum in custodiam carceris. Igitur exercitus Pharaonis egressus est de Ægypto, et audientes Chaldæi qui obsidebant Jerusalem, hujuscemodi nuntium, recesserunt ab Jerusalem.
5And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias the prophet, saying:E il Signore parlò a Geremia profeta, dicendo:And the word of our Lord was made to Ieremie the prophet, saying:Et factum est verbum Domini ad Jeremiam prophetam, dicens: 6Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Juda, who sent you to inquire of me: Behold the army of Pharao, which is come forth to help you, shall return into their own land, into Egypt.Queste cose dice il Signore Dio d'Israele: Voi direte così al re di Giuda, il quale vi ha mandati a consultarmi: Ecco, che l'esercito di Faraone, che veniva in vostro soccorso, se ne tornerà nella sua terra, in Egitto:Thus saith our Lord the God of Israel: Thus shal you say to the king of Iuda, which sent you to demand of me: Behold the armie of Pharao, which is come forth to helpe you, shal returne into his land into Aegypt.Hæc dicit Dominus Deus Israël: Sic dicetis regi Juda, qui misit vos ad me interrogandum: Ecce exercitus Pharaonis, qui egressus est vobis in auxilium, revertetur in terram suam in Ægyptum: 7And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.E i Caldei torneranno, e combatteranno questa città, e la espugneranno, e la incendieranno.And the Chaldees shal returne, and make warre against this citie, and take it, and burne it with fire.et redient Chaldæi, et bellabunt contra civitatem hanc, et capient eam, et succendent eam igni. 8Thus saith the Lord: Deceive not your souls, saying: The Chaldeans shall surely depart and go away from us: for they shall not go away.Queste cose dice il Signore: Non ingannate voi stessi, dicendo: Se ne anderanno assolutamente, e si allontaneranno da noi i Caldei: perocché ei non se ne anderanno.Thus saith our Lord: Deceiue not your soules, saying: The Chaldees going shal goe away, and retyre from vs, because they shal not goe away.Hæc dicit Dominus: Nolite decipere animas vestras, dicentes: Euntes abibunt, et recedent a nobis Chaldæi: quia non abibunt. 9But if you should even beat all the army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there should be left of them some wounded men: they shall rise up, every man from his tent, and burn this city with fire.Ma quand'anche voi disfaceste tutto l'esercito de' Caldei, che combattono contro di voi, e restasser di loro o solamente alcuni feriti, uscirebbe ognun di questi dalla sua tenda, e incendierebbero questa città.But if you shal strike al the host of the Chaldees, that fight against you, and there be left of them some wounded: euerie one shal rise vp out of his tent, and shal burne this citie with fire.Sed etsi percusseritis omnem exercitum Chaldæorum qui præliantur adversum vos, et derelicti fuerint ex eis aliqui vulnerati, singuli de tentorio suo consurgent, et incendent civitatem hanc igni.
10Now when the army of the Chaldeans was gone away from Jerusalem, because of Pharao’s army,Essendosi adunque l'esercito de' Caldei ritirato da Gerusalemme per ragion dell'esercito di Faraone,Therefore when the armie of the Chaldees was retyred from Ierusalem, because of Pharaos armie.Ergo cum recessisset exercitus Chaldæorum ab Jerusalem, propter exercitum Pharaonis, 11Jeremias went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin: and to divide a possession there in the presence of the citizens,Si partì Geremia da Gerusalemme per andare nella terra di Benjamin, per ivi spartire una possessione alla presenza de' cittadini;Ieremie went out of Ierusalem to goe into the land of Beniamin, and to diuide possession there in the sight of the citizens.egressus est Jeremias de Jerusalem ut iret in terram Benjamin, et divideret ibi possessionem in conspectu civium. 12And when he was come to the gate of Benjamin, the captain of the gate, who was there in his turn, was one named Jerias, the son of Selemias, the son of Hananias: and he took hold of Jeremias the prophet, saying: Thou art fleeing to the Chaldeans.E arrivato, ch'ei fu alla porta di Beniamin, il custode, che era ivi di turno, di nome Geria figliuolo di Selemia, figliuolo di Hanania, fermò Geremia profeta, dicendo: Tu vai a trovare i Caldei.And when he was come to the gate of Beniamin, there was there the keeper of the gate by course, one named Ierias, the sonne of Selemias, the sonne of Hananias: and he apprehended Ieremie the prophet, saying: Thou fleest to the Chaldees.Cumque pervenisset ad portam Benjamin, erat ibi custos portæ per vices, nomine Jerias filius Selemiæ filii Hananiæ: et apprehendit Jeremiam prophetam, dicens: Ad Chaldæos profugis. 13And Jeremias answered: It is not so, I am not fleeing to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Jerias took Jeremias and brought him to the princes.E Geremia rispose: Questo è falso, non vo' a trovare i Caldei. Ma Geria non l'ascoltò, e preso Geremia lo menò ai principi.And Ieremie answered: It is not so, I flee not to the Chaldees. And he heard him not: but tooke Ieremie, and brought him to the princes.Et respondit Jeremias: Falsum est: non fugio ad Chaldæos. Et non audivit eum, sed comprehendit Jerias Jeremiam, et adduxit eum ad principes: 14Wherefore the princes were angry with Jeremias, and they beat him, and cast him into the prison that was in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for he was chief over the prison.I principi adunque adirati contro Geremia, fattolo battere, lo poser nella carcere, che era nella casa di Jonathan segretario: imperocché egli avea la soprintendenza della carcere.For which thing the princes being angrie against Ieremie, they beate him, and cast him into the prison that was in the house of Ionathan the scribe: for he was chiefe ouer the prison.quam ob rem irati principes contra Jeremiam, cæsum eum miserunt in carcerem qui erat in domo Jonathan scribæ: ipse enim præpositus erat super carcerem.
15So Jeremias went into the house of the prison, and into the dungeon: and Jeremias remained there many days.Entrò adunque Geremia nella fossa, e nell'ergastolo, e vi stette per molti giorni.Ieremie therefore went into the house of the lake, and into the dungeon: and Ieremie sate there manie daies.Itaque ingressus est Jeremias in domum laci et in ergastulum: et sedit ibi Jeremias diebus multis. 16Then Sedecias the king, sending, took him: and asked him secretly in his house, and said: Is there, thinkest thou, any word from the Lord? And Jeremias said. There is. And he said: Thou shalt be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.Ma il re Sedecia mandò a cavarlo, e lo interrogò in casa sua segretamente, e disse: V'ha egli qualche Parola da parte del Signore? E Geremia disse: Havvi; e soggiunse: Tu sarai dato in potere del re di Babilonia.But Sedecias the king sending tooke him: and demanded of him in his house secretly, and said: Thinkest thou the word is from our Lord? And Ieremie said: It is. And he said: Thou shalt be deliuered into the handes of the king of Babylon.Mittens autem Sedecias rex, tulit eum: et interrogavit eum in domo sua abscondite, et dixit: Putasne est sermo a Domino ? Et dixit Jeremias: Est: et ait: In manus regis Babylonis traderis. 17And Jeremias said to king Sedecias: In what have I offended against thee, or thy servants, or thy people, that thou hast cast me into prison?E disse Geremia al re Sedecia: Qual fallo ho io commesso contro di te, e contro de' servitori tuoi, e contro il tuo popolo, per ragion del quale tu mi hai mandato in prigione?And Ieremie said to king Sedecias, what haue I sinned against thee, and thy seruants, and thy people, that thou hast cast me into the prison house?Et dixit Jeremias ad regem Sedeciam: Quid peccavi tibi, et servis tuis, et populo tuo, quia misisti me in domum carceris ? 18Where are your prophets that prophesied to you, and said: The king of Babylon shall not come against you, and against this land?Dove sono que' vostri profeti, i quali profetizzavano a voi, e dicevano: Non verrà il re di Babilonia sopra di voi, e sopra la vostra terra?Where are your prophetes that did prophecie to you, and said: The king of Babylon shal not come vpon you and vpon this land?ubi sunt prophetæ vestri, qui prophetabant vobis, et dicebant: Non veniet rex Babylonis super vos, et super terram hanc ? 19Now therefore hear, I beseech thee, my lord the king: let my petition be accepted in thy sight: and send me not back into the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.Adesso pertanto ascolta, o re mio signore; vaglia la mia preghiera dinanzi a te, e non rimandarmi a casa di Jonathan segretario, perchè io non vi muoia.Now therefore heare I beseech thee my Lord king: let my petition be auailable in thy sight: and send me not back into the house of Ionathan the scribe, lest I dye there.Nunc ergo audi, obsecro, domine mi rex: valeat deprecatio mea in conspectu tuo, et ne me remittas in domum Jonathan scribæ, ne moriar ibi.
20Then king Sedecias commanded that Jeremias should be committed into the entry of the prison: and that they should give him daily a piece of bread, beside broth, till all the bread in the city were spent: and Jeremias remained in the entry of the prison.Comandò adunque il re Sedecia, che Geremia fosse messo nel vestibolo della prigione, e che se gli desse ogni giorno un pane, oltre il companatico, fino a tanto che vi restasse pane in città: e Geremia se ne stava nel vestibolo della prigione.King Sedecias therefore commanded that Ieremie should be committed in the entrie of the prison: and there should be geuen him a peece of bread euerie day, beside brothe, til al the bread were spent out of the citie: and Ieremie remayned in the entrie of the prison.Præcepit ergo rex Sedecias ut traderetur Jeremias in vestibulo carceris, et daretur ei torta panis quotidie, excepto pulmento, donec consumerentur omnes panes de civitate: et mansit Jeremias in vestibulo carceris.
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Sedecias. He was less impious than his two predecessors; but too weak to do good.
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Year of the World 3414, Year before Christ 590.
Calmet
Pray, or consult. He wished to know whether the Chaldeans would return. (Calmet)
Worthington
He feared, yet ill-treated the prophet, as Herod did John the Baptist. (Worthington)
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Return, routed, Jeremias 46:15. His army was small, Ezechiel 17:17., and 30:21. This king Ephree, (chap. 44:30.) or Apries, had succeeded Psammis, after an interregnum of ten years' continuance. (Herodotus 2:161.)
Calmet
He foresaw that his own dominions would be invaded, after Jerusalem, the key, was taken. The other allies of Juda perfidiously sat still, or joined the Chaldeans. (Calmet)
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Away. They departed indeed, but for a short time.
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Haydock
Tent. So easy it is for God to destroy by few as well as by many! (Haydock)
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Lyranus
Possession, lately purchased, Jeremias 32. (Lyranus)
Calmet
Yet some think this had not yet taken place. (Calmet)
Haydock
Septuagint, "to buy provisions among." Hebrew, "to slip away thence in the midst of the people." (Haydock)
Calmet
He wished to escape the fury of his enemies at Jerusalem. (Calmet)
Worthington
It is an old device of persecutors to lay false charges on the innocent, as Julian and the Arians did. (Hist. Tripart. 6:27.) (Worthington)
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Beat him, as a traitor and fugitive.
Calmet
Prison, very deep, ver. 19. (Calmet)
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Prison. Literally, "lake or pit," (Haydock) such as was used to keep wine. Thus God tries his chosen friends, according to their strength!
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Prophets. He insults over these impostors, and speaks boldly. The Chaldeans were now returned, Jeremias 38.
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Be. Hebrew, "fall prostrate," Jeremias 36:7.
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Entry, where he had been already, Jeremias 32:1., and 34:1, 7.
Calmet
Piece. Roll, sufficient for a day's maintenance. (Calmet)
Haydock
Protestants, "a piece of bread (Septuagint, a loaf) out of the baker's street." (Haydock)
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Concordance 4. Reg. 24. 2 Para. 36. •. Esd. 1.
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As Herod dealt afterwards with S. Iohn Baptist: so this king estemed, reuerenced, and feared Ieremie, and yet persecuted him.
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It is an old deuise of persecuters to pretend false causes against the innocent; so Iulian the Apostata charged Cristian Catholiques, with treason and sedition. Hist. tripart. li. 6. c. 27. so did also the Arrians, Vandals, & other heretikes against Catholiques. as Raffinus and Victor testifie.
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St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 13.35
… And they say, Look into the solid rock which ye have hewn . Look in and behold. Thou hast in the Gospels In a sepulchre hewn in stone, which was hewn out of a rock . And what happens next? What kind of door has the sepulchre? Again another Prophet says, They cut off My life in a dungeon
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St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
xxxvii. 18, 19 . Yet Jeremiah himself trembled before Zedekiah.
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15. Into the house of the lake, into a prison, which because it was foul, dark, stinking, muddy, deep and horrible, hence it was similar to a lake, a pit, a sepulchre and hell. Thus Joseph is said to have descended into a pit, that is into the lake of the prison, Wisdom x, 13, and Daniel, cap. vi, is said to have been cast into a lake of lions. Wherefore Jeremiah, lest he be consumed by its filth, begs to be rescued from it; whence in the vestibule, as a more convenient place, he was transferred, in the last verse. Thus among all nations horrible prisons bore the appearance of a long death; hence at Athens the prison was called "barathrum," and by Christ "outer darkness;" not that it was outside the city, but "outer," that is extreme and most dark. The prison was also called "ergastulum," as if you were to say a workshop, because in the prison bound slaves had to work, as to grind, to pound, and to complete the appointed task of their work. But these things could not be done in the lake; yet it is nevertheless called here by common speech and custom "ergastulum." Note: This prophecy came to pass under Zedekiah, at the time of the siege of Jerusalem, and therefore happened long after that of the preceding chapter; for that happened under Jehoiakim. For there is frequent hysteron proteron in Jeremiah: because his prophecies are compiled into one volume promiscuously, without observing order, as I said at the beginning in the chronological arrangement. What is written here and in the following chapters by Jeremiah are histories so clear, that whoever wishes to bring light to them by lengthy interpretation, would rather obscure them and cast darkness upon them.
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8. Deceive not your own souls, that is, first, do not falsely persuade yourselves that the Chaldeans will depart entirely. Second, "souls," that is your lives: for the returning Chaldeans will snatch these from you, or so afflict them, that you would prefer to die rather than to live. Third, "your souls," that is yourselves, so that it is a synecdoche. Going they shall depart, that is they shall depart entirely so as not to return again.
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9. But and if you strike the whole army of the Chaldeans, as if to say: So fixed and certain is God's decree concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, that, although the Chaldeans were to be struck down by the Egyptians, as you hope, or by you, so that few would escape this disaster, and those gravely wounded; God nevertheless would through them lay low the armies of the Jews, and burn the city. So hard is it to have God as an adversary, and to fight against Him or to resist Him, is to kick against the goad. Thus Sanchez.
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11. And would divide there his possession, not to his sons, as the Chaldean wishes, for he had none; for he remained a virgin, as I said cap. xvi, vers. 2, but to his brothers and kinsmen. Or that he would measure out and divide the possession which perhaps had fallen to him, or the field which he had bought from Hanamel, cap. xxxii, vers. 9, from his other and neighboring fields. Thus St. Thomas, Lyra and Dionysius. But the field is an obstacle to this, because that field was bought afterwards, namely when Jeremiah was imprisoned (who here vers. 4 is said to have been free, whence also he wished to go out of the city, vers. 10), namely in the tenth year of Zedekiah, when shortly after Jerusalem was taken, as is clear from cap. xxxii, vers. 1 and 2. Add, this division of goods would have been almost in vain, inasmuch as it would soon fall as spoil to the victorious Chaldean: yet Jeremiah could have used it as a pretext for his flight, as I shall soon say. Second, Sanchez explains it, as if to say: Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem, so as to divide his house and dwelling from the people of Jerusalem, that is, so as to withdraw it from the people now about to be laid waste and to perish: but to divide in the sight of the citizens is nothing other than to effect that flight or departure before the eyes of the citizens. This sense is clearer in the Hebrew; for from the Hebrew it can be translated thus with Vatablus and Pagninus, so as to slip away thence in the midst of the people, that is so as to glide away like a slippery thing from the city in the midst of the people, who in bands were now going out of the city with the siege lifted. Or, so as to divide himself from the people, that is to withdraw from the city. For seeing Jeremiah that Zedekiah and the princes were offended with him, and were preparing prisons and other harsher things; at the same time foreseeing that shortly after Jerusalem, and all things in it were to be laid waste, he wished in good time to take care of himself, and taking the opportunity to dispose of his affairs, to go to Anathoth, and to withdraw himself from Jerusalem, so as to snatch himself from the destruction. The Septuagint translates: So as to buy thence (something) in the midst of the people, that is in the market, which Theodoret explains, as if to say: So as to buy bread; for there was famine in the city shortly before it was besieged.
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12. Jerias. He was a grandson, that is, the son of a son, of Hananiah (as is said here), to whom Jeremiah threatened death, chapter xxviii, verse 16, and therefore his grandson Jerias, in order to avenge the death of his grandfather, being hostile to Jeremiah, seizes him here. Thus R. Solomon, Lyra and others. 14. Beaten, either with fists, or, as Rabanus, St. Thomas and Lyra, with scourges, and thus Jeremiah was a type of Christ scourged. Note here how pernicious is rash suspicion and precipitate judgment. From the fact that Jeremiah went out of the city, the suspicious Jerias says: "You are fleeing to the Chaldaeans." The princes believe it, and beat and imprison the innocent Jeremiah. Eli sinned in this, who rebuked Anna sighing to God as if she were drunk and intoxicated; and the Pharisees who calumniated Christ, calling him a glutton, a drinker of wine, a demoniac, because he reclined with publicans and sinners and healed the sick. Theodosius the Younger, Emperor, sinned more gravely, who, because of an apple given as a gift by his wife Eudoxia to Paulinus, a most noble man, suspecting adultery, ordered him to be killed though innocent, and removed Eudoxia from the marriage bed. And Constantine the Great, who falsely accused his son Crispus of incest by his wife, immediately ordered him to be killed. Melancholics suffer from this evil, because from a shadow they soon presage grave evils. For melancholy, being a dark, sad, fearful, suspicious, malignant humor, is such. These therefore ought to fight against it deliberately, and immediately dispel all phantasms of suspicions that occur to the mind: for, as Blessed Dorotheus says, "a faulty rule even corrupts what is straight." The same Blessed Dorotheus relates that a keeper of a domestic garden suspected a certain Religious of having stolen apples from the garden, and therefore went to St. Synaxis; he accused him before the Superior. The latter, having examined the matter, learned of the Religious's innocence, and rebuked and confounded the suspicious gardener most severely in public before all. St. Francis, coming upon a poor beggar, when his companion said to him: Perhaps this man is feigning poverty and is rich; immediately ordered him to beg pardon from the beggar on bended knees, and to cover him naked with his own garment. Cassian, book V On the Institutes of Renunciation, chapter xx, relates that Machates, a holy man but of too severe and suspicious judgment, was thus punished and corrected by God: "Machates," says Cassian, "when he was instructing us that no one ought to judge, brought forward three things in which he said he had examined or rebuked the brethren; first, that some allowed grapes to be cut off for themselves; second, that they had a cloak in their cells; third, that they gave blessed oil to laymen who asked for it. Whence by the just judgment of God he said he had incurred all these things; for contracting the disease of grapes and wasting away, I was forced, he says, to allow it to be cut off; and on account of this very infirmity, I was forced to have a cloak; I also blessed oil and gave it to those who asked, since I could not otherwise escape their importunate requests." Whence he concludes: "By which it was clearly made known to me that a monk is bound by the same causes and vices in which he presumed to judge others."
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20. In the vestibule of the prison, in the court of the common prison; therefore Jeremiah was not in the cells of the bound, as R. David wishes, who by 'in the vestibule of the prison,' by hypallage explains it, as if to say "In the prison which was in the vestibule," but in the court, as it were in free custody, and this by God's providence, so that the citizens could more easily approach and hear him there. Whence in this court he bought a field from Hanamel, and made the instruments of purchase, chapter xxxii. This is the third imprisonment of Jeremiah. For first he was sent to prison, chapter xx, verse 2, by Pashur the son of Immer, but was brought out the next day; second, he was imprisoned, chapter xxxii, verse 3, by King Zedekiah; third, here. Nicephorus, book VIII, chapter xxx, writes that Constantine the Emperor adorned this pit or lake of Jeremiah with wonderful construction.
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16. Do you think the word is from the Lord? as if to say, Do you say the city will be burned from yourself, or are you inspired by God? Thus Hugo and Vatable. Or rather, because he knew him to be a Prophet of the Lord, as if to say, Is there some new word from God? For Zedekiah desired something milder, and, favoring his own obstinacy, wished to hear a new oracle. Thus from the Hebrew and Septuagint, Theodoret, St. Thomas, Lyra and a Castro. Whence Jeremiah responds: It has been newly revealed to me that you will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
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18. Where are, as if to say, From the event see that I am a true Prophet, who predicted the coming of the Chaldaeans, as you now see them coming, but the false and lying Prophets are those who denied it. Thus Theodoret, St. Thomas and Lyra.
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19. Let my supplication be acceptable in your sight, allow yourself, my king, to be entreated by me; yield to my supplication.
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20. In the vestibule of the prison, in the court of the common prison; therefore Jeremiah was not in the cells of the prisoners, as R. David wishes, who by hypallage expounds 'in the vestibule of the prison,' meaning as it were "In the prison which was in the vestibule," but in the court, as it were in free custody. Torta, in Hebrew ככר kickar, that is a round and circular bread, which is called torta as it were drawn out and twisted into a circle. Hence also talent, because it is circular, is called kickar. Excepting the pottage, that is the relish, or food which is added to pottage or bread. For the ancients, being temperate, used pottage in place of bread, as I said on Genesis, chapter xxv, 29, meaning as it were that Zedekiah was liberal in feeding Jeremiah; for he commanded that in the public famine a round loaf of bread be given to him, but pottage without measure. Otherwise the Septuagint, the Chaldean, Pagninus and Vatablus translate, namely: And he gave him a round loaf of bread (namely purchased) from the street or plaza of the bakers, that is he gave him a round loaf of common bread, which the bakers cooked daily for the servants of the king, in a fixed quantity and weight. For this is kickar or torta. Jeremiah remained (until the capture of the city) in the vestibule of the prison. He could deservedly, and can now especially, glory with St. Paul in frequent and continuous imprisonments and chains, and with him say: "I am bound in the Lord," Ephesians iv, 1. And: "In labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths often," II Corinthians xi, 23. Thus recently in Japan a martyr Michael was glorified by these same things in the year of the Lord 1609, as he thus says: "For four years I was in prison, so joyful and cheerful, that it seemed to me to have been but one day. I cannot equal in words the beneficence of God toward me, that I was captured for his faith; truly that most august Majesty deigned from that day, as it were to visit and take possession of my soul and body. From then on I was always in the greatest peace. My heart burned with an inestimable desire, whether to conform myself to every nod of God, in prosperity and adversity to the very letter." And again: "However much the world might despise me, press me, vex me, afflict me, I determined to make nothing of these things. For truly the mockeries, contempt, disdain, and whatever injuries borne with equanimity for the love of God are to be preferred infinitely to the scepters and diadems of all kings and emperors."
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
37:1
Hic ostenditur contradictio ex prophetae persecutione: et primo ponitur persecutio ipsius propter falsam suspicionem; secundo propter veram praedicationem, cap. 38: audivit autem Saphatias filius Mahan. Circa primum tria. Primo ponit suspicionis occasionem; secundo ponit suspicionem, ibi, cumque pervenisset ad portam Beniamin; tertio persecutionem, ibi, et apprehendit Jeremiam prophetam. Circa primum duo. Primo ponitur occasio sumpta ex prophetae verbo; secundo occasio sumpta ex ipsius facto, ibi: cumque pervenisset et cetera. Circa primum duo. Primo ponitur consultatio; secundo ponitur prophetae displicens illis responsio, ibi, et factum est verbum domini ad Jeremiam. Circa primum tria. Primo describit consultantium conditionem: quem constituit regem Nabuchodonosor: 1 Reg. 24. Et non obedivit, ut tributum regi Babylonis solveret, et a peccatis cessaret. Matth. 22: reddite quae sunt Caesaris Caesari, et quae sunt Dei, Deo. Servi, familiares, populus. Eccli. 10: secundum judicem populi, sic et ministri ejus, et qualis rector est civitatis, tales et inhabitantes in ea.
37:3
Secundo ponitur consultatio: et misit rex (...) dicens: ora pro nobis, ut indicet nobis quid agere debeamus ut ab hostibus liberemur. Isa. 37: leva ergo orationem pro reliquiis quae repertae sunt.
37:4
Tertio ponitur consultantis ratio: fiduciam enim sumpserant ex prophetae libertate, quem nondum afflixerant: Jeremias autem ambulabat in medio populi: et ex obsidionis solutione: igitur exercitus Pharaonis egressus est de Aegypto: exiverat enim rex Aegypti ut liberaret Judaeos. Quo devicto tamen exercitus rediit. Isa. 36: ecce confidis super baculum arundineum confractum istum: super Aegyptum, et cetera.
37:6
Hic ponitur prophetae responsio. Et primo excludit Aegyptiorum auxilium: ecce exercitus Pharaonis. Isa. 30: Aegyptus frustra et vane auxiliabitur.
37:7
Secundo praedicit Chaldaeorum reditum: et redient Chaldaei.
37:8
Nolite decipere, falsa spe. Thren. 1: vocavi amicos meos, et ipsi deceperunt me. Tertio excludit impedimentum: sed si percusseritis. Deut. 32: quomodo persequebatur unus mille, et duo fugabant decem millia? Nonne ideo quia dominus Deus tuus vendidit eos et dominus conclusit illos?
37:11
Hic ponit occasionem sumptam ex facto: et divideret ibi possessionem, quam emerat: idest distingueret ab aliis agris: vel distribueret aliis, ut ipse sine solicitudine remaneret. 2 Corinth. 6: tamquam nihil habentes, et omnia possidentes.
Hic ponitur falsa suspicio. Psalm. 26: insurrexerunt in me testes iniqui, et mentita est iniquitas sibi.
37:15
Hic ponitur persecutio in tribus. In captione. Thren. 3: venatione ceperunt. In flagellatione, caesum. Simile Act. 8: Hebr. 11: ludibria, et verbera experti. Et in carceratione: itaque ingressus est Jeremias in domum laci. Psal. 87: aestimatus sum cum descendentibus in lacum. Ergastulum, et est proprie carcer in quo damnatur quis ad aliquod opus. Secundo ponitur liberatio, mittens; et circa hoc tria.
37:16
Primo ponitur liberationis occasio, ponens regis interrogationem: putasne est sermo a domino? Scilicet praenuntians futura, tibi revelatus. Isa. 8: numquid non populus a Deo suo requirit visionem pro vivis ac mortuis? Et ponit responsionem: et dixit Jeremias. 3 Reg. 14: ego autem missus sum ad te durus nuntius.
37:17
Secundo ponitur liberationis petitio: et dixit Jeremias ad regem: ubi monstrat injustam poenam; quid peccavi? Job 6: non invenietis in lingua mea iniquitatem, nec in faucibus meis stultitia personabit.
37:18
Excusat impositam culpam: ubi sunt prophetae vestri? Quasi dicat: patet eorum falsitas, et mea veritas. Jam enim exercitus Chaldaeorum reversus erat, quem illi reversurum negaverant. Supra 28: propheta, qui vaticinatus est pacem, cum venerit verbum ejus, tunc scietur propheta quem misit dominus in veritate.
37:19
Et petit misericordiam: nunc ergo audi, obsecro. Proverb. 15: responsio mollis frangit iram, sermo durus suscitat furorem. Eccli. 6: verbum dulce multiplicat amicos, et mitigat inimicos; et lingua eucharis in bono homine abundabit.
37:20
Tertio ponitur petitionis impetratio: praecepit ergo rex Sedecias ut traderetur Jeremias in vestibulo carceris, et daretur ei torta panis quotidie, excepto pulmento, quod addi noluit, vestibulo, idest atrio.
37:1
JOACHIN. - King of Judah, better known as Jeconiah (the same name with the transposition of its component parts ["Yahweh disposes"]: cf. Jer. 37:1; 1 Chron. 3:16-17; Matt. 1:11-12). Son of Jehoiakim (v.), he succeeded his father at the age of 18, while the city of Jerusalem was besieged by the Chaldeans (597 B.C.). …
37:3
Sophonias (Heb. Şēphanjāh "Yahweh Protects")
Three other figures of the Old Testament bear the name Z.: a Levite, ancestor of the musician Heman (1 Chron. 6:21 [Vulg. 36]); a high priest, before whom Jeremiah was denounced as a false prophet (Jer. 21:1; 29:25, 29; 37:3), who was later deported and killed after the capture of Jerusalem (ibid. 52:24 ff.; 2 Kings 25:18 ff.); a citizen of Jerusalem (Zech. 6:10, 14).
37:15
Jonathan (Heb. Jēhōnāthān and Jōnāthān; Vulgate I. and Ionathas)
… of David's mighty men (II Sam. 23:32; I Chron. 11:34). 7. Administrator of David's property outside Jerusalem (I Chron. 27:23). 8. Levite in the time of Jehoshaphat (II Chron. 17:8). 9. Scribe under King Zedekiah; Jeremiah was imprisoned in his house (Jer. 37:15-20; 38:26). In Jer. 40:8 there is a J. as military leader, probably due to a copyist's error; he is missing in II Kings 25:23, in the Greek and in the Targum. 10. Jew of the stock of …
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.