Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Having described the cruelty of the Chaldeans, he invites the Jews to repentance; but in vain, because they, being obstinate, are condemned by God. Therefore first, he sounds the trumpet as it were for the Chaldeans to storm Jerusalem. Second, at verse 6, he calls it the city of visitation, that is, of punishment. Third, at verse 9, he says it is to be gleaned. Fourth, at verse 12, he threatens them with plundering on account of their avarice. Fifth, at verse 16, he exhorts them to consider the ancient paths of the fathers. Sixth, at verse 20, he rejects their sacrifices. Seventh, at verse 23, he describes the ferocity of the Chaldeans. Eighth, at verse 27, he calls them inexpiable and incorrigible — reprobate silver and brass. Note: In Jeremiah there is a virtually continuous denunciation against sin. For he everywhere proclaims the torch of the burning of the city and the temple, and the destruction of all nations, and he repeats it almost to hoarseness and nausea.
Vulgate Text: Jeremiah 6:1-30
1. Strengthen yourselves, O children of Benjamin, in the midst of Jerusalem, and in Tekoa blow the trumpet, and over Beth-haccherem raise the standard: for evil is seen from the north, and a great destruction. 2. I have likened the daughter of Zion to a beautiful and delicate woman. 3. To her shall come shepherds and their flocks: they shall pitch their tents around her; each one shall pasture those who are under his hand. 4. Sanctify war against her: arise, and let us go up at midday. Woe to us! for the day declines, for the shadows of evening grow long. 5. Arise, and let us go up in the night, and let us destroy her houses. 6. For thus says the Lord of hosts: Cut down her trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem; this is the city of visitation, all oppression is in her midst. 7. As a cistern makes its water cold, so she has made her wickedness cold: iniquity and devastation are heard in her; before Me continually are infirmity and wounds. 8. Be instructed, O Jerusalem, lest My soul depart from you, lest I make you desolate, a land uninhabited. 9. Thus says the Lord of hosts: They shall glean thoroughly as a vine the remnants of Israel; turn your hand like a grape-gatherer to the basket. 10. To whom shall I speak? And whom shall I adjure that he may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot hear; behold, the word of the Lord has become to them a reproach, and they will not receive it. 11. Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord, I am weary of holding it in: Pour it out upon the little ones outside, and upon the assembly of the young men together; for the man with the woman shall be taken, the old man with the one full of days. 12. And their houses shall pass to others, their fields and wives alike; because I will stretch out My hand upon the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord. 13. For from the least of them even to the greatest, all pursue avarice; and from the prophet even to the priest, all practice deceit. 14. And they healed the wound of the daughter of my people with ignominy, saying: Peace, peace; and there was no peace. 15. They were confounded, because they committed abomination; nay rather, they were not confounded with confusion, and they knew not how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; in the time of their visitation they shall stumble, says the Lord. 16. Thus says the Lord: Stand upon the ways, and see, and ask for the ancient paths, which is the good way, and walk in it; and you shall find refreshment for your souls. And they said: We will not walk. 17. And I set watchmen over you: Hear the sound of the trumpet. And they said: We will not hear. 18. Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what great things I will do to them. 19. Hear, O earth: Behold I will bring evils upon this people, the fruit of their thoughts; because they have not hearkened to My words, and they have cast away My law. 20. To what purpose do you bring Me frankincense from Saba, and sweet-smelling calamus from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to Me. 21. Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold I will bring ruin upon this people, and fathers and sons together shall fall therein; neighbor and kinsman shall perish. 22. Thus says the Lord: Behold a people comes from the land of the north, and a great nation shall rise from the ends of the earth. 23. They shall take up the arrow and the shield; he is cruel, and will have no mercy; his voice shall sound like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, prepared like a man for battle, against you, O daughter of Zion. 24. We have heard the report of him, our hands have become feeble; anguish has taken hold of us, pains as of a woman in labor. 25. Go not out into the fields, nor walk in the way; for the sword of the enemy, and terror on every side. 26. O daughter of my people, gird yourself with sackcloth, and sprinkle yourself with ashes; make for yourself mourning as for an only son, bitter lamentation, for the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us. 27. I have set you as an assayer among My people, a strong one; and you shall know and prove their way. 28. All these are princes who go aside, walking fraudulently; they are brass and iron; they are all corrupt. 29. The bellows have failed, the lead is consumed in the fire; the smelter has smelted in vain, for their wickedness is not consumed. 30. Call them reprobate silver, because the Lord has rejected them.
Verse 1
1. STRENGTHEN YOURSELVES, O CHILDREN OF BENJAMIN, IN THE MIDST OF JERUSALEM — to resist the Chaldeans. He speaks as if the Chaldeans were already present to besiege Jerusalem, and as if a commander were exhorting the citizens to defend the city. So say Hugo, St. Thomas, and Lyranus. It is irony. For Jeremiah knew the Chaldeans would storm the city, and the Jews could not resist them. Second, the Chaldean, Vatablus, and Pagninus, deriving the Hebrew haizu from the root aiaz, that is, to take refuge, translate: 'Flee from the midst of Jerusalem to the citadel of Zion, or to safe places, because the enemy is at hand.'
CHILDREN OF BENJAMIN — Because, as St. Jerome says, Jerusalem was in the tribe of Benjamin, Joshua 18:28. But Benjamin was mixed with Juda, whence the citadel of Zion was called the city of David, who was from Juda. He names Benjamin rather than Juda because Jeremiah was from Anathoth, a town of Benjamin, whence he addresses his fellow citizens.
IN TEKOA BLOW THE TRUMPET — Tekoa was a city not in the tribe of Zebulun, as Epiphanius thought, but in Juda and Benjamin, situated on a mountain, six miles distant from Bethlehem and twelve from Jerusalem; from it came that wise Tekoite woman who interceded with David on behalf of Absalom, 2 Samuel 14:1; adjacent to this city was the vast wilderness of Tekoa, says St. Jerome.
One may ask why he orders the trumpet to be blown in Tekoa. Lyranus answers: Because Tekoa was to the north of Jerusalem, from which direction Nebuchadnezzar was to come. But he is mistaken. For St. Jerome asserts that Tekoa was to the south of Jerusalem. I respond therefore: The true reason is that Tekoa was very well fortified both by its position, being on a mountain, and by its walls, and by the armory of spears which Rehoboam established there, 2 Chronicles 11:12, meaning: Hold a muster there, take up arms from the armory there to resist the Chaldeans. Note: In Hebrew there is a beautiful paronomasia: 'in Tekoa tiku,' meaning, 'In the trumpet, blow the trumpet.'
AND OVER BETH-HACCHEREM RAISE THE STANDARD — Beth-haccherem is a village midway between Jerusalem and Tekoa, on a mountain; it was called Beth-haccherem, that is, 'house or estate of the vineyard,' from its vineyards, meaning: O inhabitants of Jerusalem, take up arms, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and in Beth-haccherem raise the standard; gather soldiers to resist the enemy.
Note: For 'standard' the Hebrew is maset, that is, 'raising'; the Septuagint translates, 'signal'; Pagninus, 'tower'; Vatablus, 'fire and smoke,' so that by raising it aloft, they may warn the vine-dressers and farmers that the enemy is at hand, so they may withdraw into the city and safe places.
Verse 2
2. I HAVE LIKENED THE DAUGHTER OF ZION TO A BEAUTIFUL AND DELICATE (woman) — So translate St. Jerome, the Chaldean, and Theodoret; but Kimchi, Vatablus, and Pagninus translate instead of 'beautiful': 'a woman who dwells in her tent in perfect tranquility'; for both meanings are conveyed by the Hebrew nava, meaning: The daughter of Zion, that is, Jerusalem, I have made like a most beautiful woman, on account of her buildings and the most beautiful citadel of Zion; and delicate, because I have enriched her citizens; whence if the rich live in luxury, the meaning is: Just as delicate, tender, and beautiful women are dismayed at the sound of the enemy and the trumpet, so too the inhabitants of Jerusalem will be terrified at the coming of Nebuchadnezzar, because they have grown accustomed to leisure and luxury. Note that 'I have likened' does not mean 'I have declared to be similar,' according to Canon 29.
Verse 3
3. TO HER SHALL COME SHEPHERDS (that is, the princes and commanders of Nebuchadnezzar), AND THEIR FLOCKS (that is, the squadrons and armies) OF EACH PRINCE: EACH SHALL PASTURE (that is, govern) THOSE WHO ARE UNDER HIS HAND, so that they may pitch their tents around Jerusalem for its siege. So say St. Jerome, Theodoret, and the Chaldean. Note: For roim, that is, 'shepherds,' one can read reim, that is, 'lovers'; they shall come, meaning: The Chaldeans, like lovers, will rush with swords and weapons to possess Zion as a bride so beautiful and wealthy.
Second, for 'each shall pasture those who are under his hand,' the Hebrew is: 'each shall pasture a hand,' that is, a battle line and squadron that is under his hand, that is, under his power and command. So say St. Jerome and Theodoret. Alternatively, Kimchi, Pagninus, and Vatablus say: 'hand,' that is, 'his own place,' each of the princes shall feed on, that is, each shall storm his own city or the section of the city assigned to him.
Verse 4
4. SANCTIFY — That is, by solemn and public rite proclaim this war against the Jews as sacred, and, as the Septuagint and Chaldean translate, 'prepare'; the Syriac and Arabic, 'make ready, gather.' So 'to sanctify a fast,' Joel 1:14, is to proclaim a solemn and sacred fast for all. These are the words of the Chaldeans, which the Prophet recites to show how eagerly they will fight against Jerusalem, so that not only by day but also by night they will wage war against it.
Note that the Chaldeans call the war against Jerusalem 'holy.' First, because they consider themselves to be avenging the injuries done to God, and as it were restoring honor and sanctity to Him, by punishing the Jews who violated Him. Second, because they were as it were God's soldiers and consecrated priests, to carry out His holy will and just sentence, namely to slaughter the Jews as expiatory victims for God. So say St. Jerome and St. Thomas.
Third, they call this war 'holy,' that is, one that may not be violated, from which one may not withdraw, until vengeance is accomplished — just as walls are called 'holy' which may not be leaped over. Whence they say, 'let us go up at midday and at night,' that is, even though the heat is pressing, even though the night is cold, let us press the attack. So says Lyranus: This war, he says, was holy, that is, firm and inviolable.
Note that the Chaldeans could have known this will of God to punish Jerusalem through the writings of Jeremiah, verses 5 and 6, and of other Prophets. Hence Nebuchadnezzar, after capturing Jerusalem, granted everything Jeremiah asked, chapter 39:11. Likewise Cyrus, from the prophecy of Isaiah shown to him by the Jews, learned that he would overthrow the Babylonian monarchy, as I said at Isaiah 45:1. Likewise the Jews promised Alexander victory against the Persians from the prophecy of Daniel, and the high priest Jaddus appearing to him in a vision urged him to that same war, and assigned him the empire of Asia, as Josephus testifies, Antiquities 11, chapter 8.
Note, second, that this will of God did not give the Chaldeans the right or power to invade the Jews; but it presupposed their tyranny and lust for domination, and God willed to make use of it, and directed it toward the punishment of the Jews. Therefore here and elsewhere there is only a prophecy or prediction of the future devastation through them, and its direction toward punishing the crimes of the Jews. So Totila, Genseric, and others were the scourge of God, as now are the Turks.
Add that even if it had been God's will commanding the Chaldeans to overthrow Jerusalem, the Chaldeans nonetheless invaded Jerusalem not to satisfy God's will but to satisfy their own ambition. See Canon 36.
WOE TO US! — These are the words of the Chaldeans, as I said, grieving greatly from their excessive desire to capture Jerusalem about the delay in the assault, meaning: Woe to us, because we did not storm Jerusalem before evening when the shadows grow long! Arise, let us go up again by night, to finish the matter. So say Theodoret, Hugo, Lyranus, and Vatablus. Alternatively, St. Jerome, St. Thomas, and Sanchez explain them as the complaints and words of the besieged people, meaning: If we suffer this during the day, what will we suffer at night in the darkness, when there is no place for flight or combat? Furthermore, Sanchez takes 'midday' to mean prosperity, and 'night' to mean adversity. This seems mystical.
Verse 6
6. FOR THUS SAYS THE LORD — to the Chaldeans. He implies that God brought the Chaldeans, and suggested to them through natural instinct and the dictates of the art of war the method of capturing Jerusalem, saying: 'Cut down her trees,' that is, the trees that are around Jerusalem,
so that from the timber you may make siege mounds, from which you may fight against it. THIS IS THE CITY OF VISITATION — that is, of punishment; the Chaldean translates, 'whose sins are visited,' meaning: This city is to be punished by God and condemned to punishment and destruction; it is a propitiatory sacrifice, an accursed thing, because every kind of calumny, oppression, and injustice has reigned in it.
Verse 7
7. AS A CISTERN MAKES ITS WATER COLD (for a cistern chills water and thus preserves it), SO SHE (Jerusalem) HAS MADE HER WICKEDNESS COLD — namely, extinguishing in her evil works all the warmth of virtue and the life of grace. So says St. Jerome. Second, as a cistern, says Theodoret, changes rainwater, even warm water, into cold, so Jerusalem has changed goodness into malice. Third, the Chaldean says: as a cistern sustains and preserves cold water, so Jerusalem receives, fosters, and protects (and gives asylum to) the wicked. Fourth and forcefully, Sanchez says: Just as a stone cistern in winter constricts and freezes the water standing in it, virtually stagnant, so Jerusalem, and any soul in which sin has dwelt for some time, grows into ice, or hardens like crystal or diamond, so that it can neither be softened by fire or sun, nor broken and shattered by a hammer. Such is the power of habit, especially when long-standing and deeply rooted. Hence Galfrid also, and from him Delrio, adage 825: 'A cistern,' he says, 'makes water cold, whenever an obstinate mind preserves perpetrated wickedness in a kind of insensibility,' and not only preserves it but also increases it like a cistern; for the deeper it is, the more and colder water it holds. So the obstinate person, deeply burying sin in his heart, increases it, especially a heretic, says Hugo; for he chills his hearers, though he displays zeal.
St. Thomas notes that sin is called 'cold' for four reasons: first, because it extinguishes the warmth of love; second, because it freezes the moisture of devotion; third, because it retards the movement of good works; add fourth, because it brings on the frost of hardness of heart.
Note second, the Hebrew hakir from the root kur means to dig a vein of water, to gush forth, to bubble up. Hence second, it can be more forcefully translated: Just as a spring or well pours forth, bubbles, and causes perennial cold water to gush: so Jerusalem pours forth and bubbles with perennial wickedness. So say R. Solomon, Kimchi, Pagninus, Vatablus, Lyranus, and Maldonatus.
INIQUITY — In Hebrew chamas, that is, violence, force, plunder. DEVASTATION — In Hebrew schod, that is, devastation, despoliation, by which the powerful oppress the poor — this is always in Jerusalem, as water is always in a well. Alternatively, Sanchez thinks these four things are attributed to God as punisher; for iniquity is taken to mean the punishment of iniquity.
BEFORE ME CONTINUALLY ARE INFIRMITY AND WOUNDS — In Hebrew macca, that is, the striking by which the powerful beat and scourge the poor, meaning: I continually see the Jews afflicting and striking the poor and innocent. He enumerates the crimes of Jerusalem. The Chaldean and Hugo, however, refer the last two — namely infirmity and wounds, with which He will strike Jerusalem — to the punishment of the two preceding crimes, namely iniquity and devastation.
Verse 8
8. BE INSTRUCTED, O JERUSALEM (come to your senses, return to right thinking, change your ways), LEST MY SOUL DEPART FROM YOU — 'Soul,' that is, affection, love, favor, care, meaning: Lest I cast you off and hand you over to your enemies to be devastated.
Verse 9
9. THEY SHALL GLEAN THOROUGHLY — meaning: Just as after the vintage the remaining grape clusters are gathered into a basket, that is, a wicker container, to be carried to the winepress, or rather to be eaten, so nearly all the Jews, even those who escaped the other captivities under Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin, will be carried captive to Babylon under Zedekiah. So says St. Jerome.
TURN YOUR HAND TO THE BASKET — These are the words of God to the Chaldeans, says Lyranus, or of the Chaldeans to one another, as if it should be understood, 'saying: Turn,' etc. For 'basket' Lyranus translates, 'repeated searches'; as if the Chaldeans urge one another to search the vineyard, that is, Jerusalem, a second and third time, to see whether any grape clusters, that is, citizens, remain, meaning: Just as a vintager, after having harvested, returns and gleans, that is, gathers whatever clusters he left behind, into a basket: so the Chaldeans, having led away the leaders of the city as captives, will also lead away the lowliest of all. So says Maldonatus.
Tropologically, this vintager and gleaner is the devil, who 'always goes about seeking whom he may devour,' to destroy whatever people remain, or whatever good works he had previously passed over.
Verse 10
10. TO WHOM SHALL I SPEAK? (These are the words of God, or of Jeremiah, meaning: Though things are as I proclaim, yet I would speak to them in vain, because) THEIR EARS ARE UNCIRCUMCISED — The Chaldean translates, 'stopped up,' and therefore unfit for hearing. See what was said at chapter 4, verse 4. THE WORD OF THE LORD HAS BECOME TO THEM A REPROACH — that is, they laugh at it and regard it as a disgrace and insult.
Verse 11
11. THEREFORE I AM FULL OF THE FURY OF THE LORD — These can be taken as the words of God, meaning: Because the malice of the Jews is so great, therefore I am full of the Lord's fury, that is, of vehement wrath, so that I cannot contain and suppress it in My heart; I therefore give it free rein: wherefore I will unsheath the sword, I will draw the weapon, and I will pour forth breath from My nostrils, flames from My face, and the blood of My enemies from My hand. But it is more truly the words of the Prophet, meaning: The men refuse to hear the word of God; therefore I am indignant, and am tormented with fury, that is, with zeal for justice; I force myself to contain the word of the Lord within me, but I cannot. Sanchez adds: This fury, he says, is that vehement Spirit which stimulates, urges, and does not permit the Prophet's soul to be at rest for prophesying. Whence Cicero also, On Divination book 1: 'A presentiment,' he says, 'divinely cast and enclosed within the mind, is present; if it has burned more fiercely, it is called fury, when the soul, drawn away from the body, is stirred by divine instinct.' But that blind and uncontrolled fury belonged to the Gentiles, as those possessed by the demon, in divining, not to the Prophets of God, as I said in the Proem. This fury therefore is the wrath and zeal for vengeance, breathed into Jeremiah by God, to reprove the wicked and to threaten them with heavenly punishments and plagues.
I AM WEARY OF HOLDING IT IN (that is, I cannot contain myself; hence I say to myself): POUR IT OUT (O Jeremiah, pour this fury and deadly word of the Lord) UPON THE LITTLE ONES (and upon the) ASSEMBLY (that is, kindred) OF THE YOUNG MEN — so that they may tell it to their fathers and grandfathers; or at least so that they may know and grieve that they together with their fathers and all their possessions will be captured. The Septuagint adds, 'and I did not consume them.'
Verse 12
12. I WILL STRETCH OUT MY HAND — I will strike the inhabitants of Judea.
Verse 13
13. FOR ALL PURSUE AVARICE — 'All,' that is, most, many. Note the word 'for': it gives the reason for what precedes, and signifies that the avarice of the Jews, their usury and fraud, is the reason why their houses and goods are to be plundered by the Chaldeans. So watchful is God's just vengeance that in whatever thing a person sins, in that same thing he is punished: you plunder your neighbor's goods? Know that another will plunder yours. You slander? You will suffer slander. You kill? You will be killed.
Verse 14
14. AND THEY HEALED (the Prophets and priests, that is, they tried to heal and avert) THE WOUND — that is, the plague, namely the devastation and captivity that was imminent and beginning. Again, they tried to heal, that is, to console the wound, that is, the grief which the people conceived at the approach of the devastation which I threatened. But 'with ignominy,' that is, ignominiously; the Chaldean translates, 'falsely'; Vatablus, 'with light words, as if in jest'; the Septuagint, 'making light of or despising' my threats and those of the Prophets; or 'with ignominy,' that is, 'to their shame,' as our Translator renders it at chapter 8, verse 11, and to the confusion with which the people deceived by them will be confounded and put to shame; for they say: 'Peace will be ours, Nebuchadnezzar will not come'; but they lie. 'Therefore, while they promise prosperity and proclaim God to be merciful, they prepare them all the more for punishment and wrath,' says St. Jerome. Whence all will be put to shame when they see themselves proved false, and that they are actually being devastated and captured. Truly says St. Augustine, in his Sentences, no. 77: 'Just as misplaced security drives one into danger, so well-ordered concern produces security'; and no. 199: 'Happiness ought never to be secure, because things that are secure for the soul are more dangerous than adversity for the body; for prosperity first corrupts, so that adversity may find someone to break.'
Verse 15
15. THEY WERE CONFOUNDED — they will be confounded in the future devastation, says Lyranus and St. Thomas; or, as Theodoret says, they were confounded because then it will be clear that they falsely said: 'Peace will be for the Jews.' NAY RATHER, THEY WERE NOT CONFOUNDED WITH CONFUSION — because, when I warned them of their crimes and of the impending disasters, they were not ashamed, they did not repent.
Second, St. Jerome, Rabanus, Hugo, Pagninus, and Vatablus aptly read it as a question: 'Were they confounded when they committed so many abominations? Did they blush?' And He answers: 'Nay rather, they did not know how to be confounded or to blush.' To this belongs the explanation of Sanchez, who reads it assertively but explains thus: 'They were confounded,' that is, they are worthy of confusion, but in fact and in reality 'they were not confounded,' meaning: The Jews ought to have been confounded if they had weighed and pondered their crimes as was fitting; but so great is their wickedness or stupor that they are unwilling or unable to be confounded or to blush.
IN THE TIME OF VISITATION — when I shall punish them. For the Prophets often use 'to visit' for 'to punish,' by metalepsis: for a magistrate, when he visits the guilty, punishes them.
Verse 16
16. THUS SAYS THE LORD: STAND UPON THE WAYS — that is: Look and consider the ways, that is, the manners of living, and the 'ancient paths,' that is, how your ancestors and the Patriarchs lived, and imitate the faith of Abraham, the obedience of Isaac, the labors of Jacob, the chastity of Joseph, the meekness of Moses, the patience of Job, the holiness of David. So say St. Jerome, Theodoret, Rabanus, Hugo, and Vatablus. Truly the Poet says: 'He who leaves the old paths and follows the new / Will more often fall into his own snares.'
Second, St. Thomas, Lyranus, and Dionysius say: Look as if from a high place, to see what is the best way and manner of life; consider the good or bad, happy or unhappy outcomes of your ancestors, both good and bad; and see whether you wish to follow the good with a good outcome, or the bad with a bad one.
Let every individual believer consider these words said to himself: Are you a Christian? Look upon the ancient paths, see how Christ lived, and the first Christians, how humble, sober, lovable, patient, and zealous they were, and imitate them. Are you a pastor? Are you a bishop? Look upon the ancient paths, see how the Apostles lived, and the first Pastors and Bishops — St. Ignatius, Polycarp, Dionysius, etc. See how they did not
seek their own profits nor their own honors, but devoted themselves entirely to the salvation of the faithful, and spent their very lives through martyrdom — and imitate them. Are you a religious? Look upon the ancient paths: how St. Mark, the Essenes, St. Anthony, St. Basil, St. Jerome, Bernard, Dominic, Francis, and St. Thomas lived; how dead they were and crucified to the world; how their life and conduct were angelic and heavenly — and imitate them.
Verse 17
17. AND I SET WATCHMEN OVER YOU — Prophets and Teachers, who foresee and foretell the future, so that you may hear their voice as My trumpet. So say St. Jerome, the Chaldean, and Theodoret. Others, like Vatablus, explain it thus: The watchmen, that is, the Prophets, foretell to you the sound of the Chaldeans clashing with trumpets; therefore hear that trumpet.
Verse 18
18. KNOW, O CONGREGATION (namely of all nations), WHAT GREAT THINGS I WILL DO TO THEM — In Hebrew, 'what things are upon them,' namely what punishments from Me threaten the Jews.
Verse 19
19. THE FRUIT OF THEIR THOUGHTS — The Chaldean translates: the retribution of their works, that is, I will inflict punishments worthy of their schemes.
Verse 20
20. TO WHAT PURPOSE DO YOU BRING ME FRANKINCENSE FROM SABA? — For frankincense grows in Sabaean Arabia. Moreover, by the custom of all nations frankincense is burned for God, whence it is called from the Greek thyein, meaning 'to sacrifice.' Saba alludes (indeed some think this is its etymology) to the Greek sebesthai, that is, to venerate and revere; because frankincense sends forth an odor by which we worship God. Hence the Sabaean Arabs also call God Sabim, and pay Him tithes by measure, not by weight — just as the ancient natives and Aborigines of Italy were called Sabines, as if 'Sebines,' from sebesthai (to revere), says Pliny, book 3, chapter 12, although Silius, book 3, thinks the Sabines were named from Sabus, the founder of the race. Some say that Saba, in the Arabic language, means 'mystery.' In Hebrew, Saba means 'conversion,' as the Sabaeans are said to be converted from idols to Christ, Isaiah chapter 60:6. So says St. Jerome.
AND SWEET-SMELLING CALAMUS (that is, aromatic reed), FROM A DISTANT LAND — for it was brought from India, says Jerome. Note: For 'calamus' the Septuagint and Theodotion translate 'cinnamon.' But kinnamon, that is, cinnamon (whence some mistakenly think cinnamon is so called as if it were 'China's amomum,' especially since it is brought not from China but from India), is distinguished from kane, that is, calamus, at Exodus chapter 30, verse 23. Others think calamus is cane, or cassia fistula; but calamus is likewise distinguished from this at Exodus 30:23. From which passage it is clear that here aromatic calamus is to be understood: for from it, mixed with cinnamon, myrrh, cassia, and oil, there was made not incense but an ointment, with which both priests and the vessels of the tabernacle were anointed and consecrated, as I said at Exodus 30:23.
Now the meaning is: In vain do you offer Me, according to the law, your burnt offerings, frankincense, and ointments, because you do not do My will expressed in the law: for I look upon and command the amendment of morals more than the offering of sacrifices and ointments. So says St. Jerome. Isaiah says the same, chapter 1, verse 11: 'To what purpose do you offer Me the multitude of your victims, says the Lord?' etc.
Verse 21
21. I WILL BRING RUIN UPON THIS PEOPLE — that is, slaughter and disasters, into which they will fall and perish. It can also, second, be a hypallage: 'I will give ruins upon the people,' that is, 'I will give the people to ruins,' by which they will be overthrown and fall. So the Hebrews say: 'They cast the city into fire,' meaning, 'they cast fire into the city'; 'they had sandals on their feet,' meaning, 'they had their feet in sandals.'
Verse 23
23. PREPARED (the Chaldeans will come) LIKE A MAN FOR BATTLE — The Septuagint translates: 'like fire for war,' because for the Hebrew ish, that is, 'man,' they read esh, that is, 'fire.'
Verse 24
24. WE HAVE HEARD THE REPORT OF HIM — meaning: By the mere rumor and report of the approach and ferocity of the Chaldeans, we have been struck and nearly killed. These are the words of Jeremiah and the Prophets who were Jeremiah's companions, who speak here in the person of the Jews. It is therefore an ethopoeia: for he imitates and expresses the emotions and cries of the people, trembling at the report of the enemy, and expecting death and every terrible thing.
Verse 25
25. DO NOT GO OUT INTO THE FIELDS — He represents the Jews speaking to one another, as if the enemy were already besieging Jerusalem. FOR THE SWORD OF THE ENEMY, AND TERROR (that is, the armed enemy, fearsome and striking terror, is) ON EVERY SIDE — around Jerusalem.
Verse 26
26. O DAUGHTER OF MY PEOPLE (O Jerusalem, O my people beloved as a daughter), GIRD YOURSELF WITH SACKCLOTH. MOURNING AS FOR AN ONLY SON — That is, the most intense mourning, such as is customarily made when an only son dies. MAKE FOR YOURSELF — These are the words either of the Prophet or of God.
Verse 27
27. I HAVE SET YOU AS AN ASSAYER — Vatablus translates: 'I have made you a refiner': for this is the meaning of bachon; the Syriac translates, 'a searcher'; and the Arabic, 'I have made (appointed) you to search and examine the works of My people.' The Chaldean translates differently: 'I have placed you as a chosen one among the people, like a strong fortress.' Pagninus and Kimchi also translate differently: 'A fortress or citadel and most fortified and proven tower I have given you.' These are the words of God, meaning: Against you, O Jeremiah, the Jews will hurl their weapons, hatreds, and curses, as against a rock or fortress, and you will emerge proven and their prover. For just as gold is tested by rubbing it against the touchstone, so the conduct and malice of the Jews, rubbed against you as a proven and strong stone, will reveal your invincible constancy and true prophecy, but their malice and apostasy; for this is what He adds: 'And you shall know and prove their way.' Second, and rather, 'an assayer,' that is, a smelter, as will now be clear from what follows.
STRONG — Aquila translates, 'fortified'; Symmachus and the Septuagint, 'enclosed and surrounded'; 'strong,' therefore means unterrified and fearless against all violence and threats, as one fortified by God's help, who at the same time breathes into you and instills this courage and boldness.
Verse 28
28. ALL THESE ARE PRINCES WHO GO ASIDE — The Hebrew says: all these are princes of rebels; or rebels of rebellions, that is, they are the noblest and greatest rebels. BRASS AND IRON; THEY ARE ALL CORRUPT — Just as silver is debased and steel when it is mixed with iron — for it all seems to be steel when mixed with iron — so these Jews are corrupted and full of fraud and deceit. So say the Chaldean and others. Whence Theodotion says: They are counterfeit, having nothing genuine.
Second, Vatablus, St. Thomas, and Lyranus explain it thus: They are hard and shameless, like brass and iron, which when struck resounds most loudly. Hence Plutarch thinks that in brass, which when struck echoes back, is signified impatience; in iron, which grows harder on the anvil and blacker in the fire, their hardening in crimes. Job 40:13 is similar.
Third, for 'corrupt' the Chaldean can be translated, 'corrupting,' meaning: Just as brass mixed with silver corrupts it, and just as iron mixed with brass corrupts it, so these Jews corrupt both themselves and others. So says Eusebius, Preparation for the Gospel, book 12, chapter 25: 'All of us,' he says, 'are brothers in the city; but when God made us, He mixed gold with those suited for governing; silver with those who defend the state by arms; iron and brass He infused into farmers and craftsmen. But if gold, that is, the magistrates, degenerates into silver; or silver, that is, the soldiers, into brass, that is, farmers, the city is destroyed.'
Fourth, Delrio, adage 229, explains: Those who ought to have been silver in doctrine and gold in charity and life, have by their life and conduct shown themselves to be iron, and in doctrine tinkling brass — they appeared to be what they were not.
Fifth, Isidore Clarius explains it of servants who carried out the inhuman commands of their masters against the needy: for brass and iron are joined together to forge weapons. The meaning therefore is: One joins with another to perpetrate crimes, and they combine their strength, zeal, and arms for these purposes.
Verse 29
29. THE BELLOWS HAVE FAILED — The Syriac: worn out (burned up, ruined, failed) are the bellows in the fire. Note, first, that Jeremiah is here appointed by God as an assayer, that is, a smelter, to test and purify the way and conduct of the sinful people; but the people, like silver most firmly alloyed with brass, could by no means be purified. Hence note, second, that when silver and other adulterated metals are separated from their dross and foreign matter by a smelting furnace with the force of fire, lead is added: and thus the metal flows as silver and is purified with less loss. For while the fire acts upon the lead and wholly focuses on it as suitable fuel, it acts less on the silver; whence the silver escapes unharmed but purified. Therefore mystically, many understand by lead — being the lowest and most earthly of metals — the remembrance of death, which by humbling the soul enables us to overcome all temptations of the flesh and the world. So say St. Jerome, Theodoret, St. Thomas, and others. This was done in ancient times before the method was known
of the efficacy of quicksilver for accomplishing the same thing. For lead has great power to separate dross and other mixtures, because it has the power to liquefy. Hear Mattioli on Dioscorides, book 5, chapter 56: 'Lead,' he says, 'is mixed with the smelting, because with the aid of lead metals yield more easily to fire.' But if the silver to be purified is so stubborn that it cannot be purified by this method, then all the lead, if it continues always in the fire, is finally consumed and goes off into smoke and vanishes, with no operation or purification performed on the silver and gold. For otherwise the sign of complete purification of gold or silver from brass and dross is when the lead has completely gone off into smoke together with the brass and dross: for then what remains is only pure gold or silver. Nicetas also teaches that metals are liquefied and purified by lead, in oration 41 of Nazianzen, and St. Cyril on Zechariah 4:10, who also adds that diamond is broken by lead — which, however, jewelers and smelters deny. Again, St. Jerome on Zechariah 4:20 asserts that metals are liquefied and purified by tin (to which lead is related). But the Roman goldsmiths, who are excellent, when consulted by me, consistently deny this of tin; they affirm it of lead, namely that gold and silver are thereby purified from admixed brass: for the brass goes off into smoke with the lead, and thus pure gold and silver remain.
Whence third, Jeremiah is the smelter; the bellows or blowpipe is Jeremiah's mouth; the breath is his God-inspired rebuking prophecy; the lead is his assiduity and diligence in preaching, or the urgency and weight of his words and threats; the impure and adulterated silver is the Jews; the brass and iron are their hard, obstinate, and shameless deceits and wickedness. The bellows have failed, that is, the voice of the Prophet has become hoarse; the lead is consumed, that is, all his diligence in preaching was in vain; all exhortation from God and the Prophets perished among the Jews, because they scorned to listen — therefore their wickedness is not consumed. Whence 'call them reprobate silver,' because they are beyond purifying and beyond expiation. So say St. Jerome, Lyranus, St. Thomas, and Vatablus. Ezekiel, chapter 24:12, has a similar allegory and meaning. Hence St. Thomas infers: 'That someone is frequently watered with salutary precepts is a sign of reprobation if he persists in sin' — and he proves it from St. Paul, Hebrews 6:7-8.
Alternatively, Maldonatus says: The bellows, he says, were the Chaldeans; the coals were their slaughters and plunderings — for with these as it were with burning coals God was smelting out the sins of the Jews; the fire was the wrath of God; the lead was the bodies and all the goods of the Jews, by which they were being punished by God. For a small amount of silver is usually mixed with much lead, which is separated by smelting: so among the many impious Jews, a few pious ones were separated and preserved. This sense can be fitted and connected with the former, which is more apt and fuller. For Jeremiah was the assayer and smelter of the Jews, by the very fact that he was threatening them with the devastation of the Chaldeans.
Allegorically, Hugo the Cardinal says: The lead is the humanity of Christ, which was consumed in the furnace of the Passion, so that He might separate all the dregs of sins from us; and yet He can most justly complain that wickedness has not been consumed, and that the smelter smelted in vain, because few have been purified. Concerning this He Himself complains through Isaiah, chapter 49:4: 'I have labored in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and in vain.'
Tropologically, it is the office of Prelates to test the virtue of their subjects, whether it is genuine or feigned, as St. Gregory teaches, Pastoral Rule, Part 2, chapter 10.