Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Jeremiah, by the sign of bonds and chains and by their dispatch to neighboring peoples and kings, predicts and commands the king of Edom, Moab, Tyre, Sidon, and Zedekiah king of Judah, to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar, if they wish themselves and their possessions to be safe: for God has decreed to deliver all these regions to the power of the Chaldeans. Wherefore the particular prophecies against these kings and nations, which are set forth in chapters 48 and 49, appear to have been issued by Jeremiah at this time and transmitted to these kings, as is evident from chapter 49, verse 34. Then from verse 9, he warns them not to believe false prophets promising peace and prosperity, but to know that the remaining vessels in the temple, the royal house, and the entire city will be carried away by the Chaldeans to Babylon.
Vulgate Text: Jeremiah 27:1-19
1. In the beginning of the reign of Joakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: 2. Thus says the Lord to me: Make yourself bonds and chains, and put them on your neck. 3. And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the sons of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon; by the hand of the messengers who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4. And you shall command them to speak to their lords: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Thus shall you say to your lords: 5. I made the earth, and the men and beasts that are upon the face of the earth, by My great power and by My outstretched arm: and I have given it to him who pleases Me. 6. And now therefore I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon My servant: moreover I have given him the beasts of the field also to serve him. 7. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son: until the time of his own land comes: and many nations and great kings shall serve him. 8. But the nation and kingdom that will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and whoever will not bend his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon: with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence will I visit that nation, says the Lord, until I consume them by his hand. 9. Therefore do not listen to your prophets, and diviners, and dreamers, and soothsayers, and sorcerers, who say to you: You shall not serve the king of Babylon. 10. For they prophesy lies to you: to remove you far from your land, and to cast you out, and you shall perish. 11. But the nation that shall subject its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let it remain in its own land, says the Lord: and it shall till it, and shall dwell in it. 12. And I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying: Subject your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and you shall live. 13. Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence, as the Lord has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14. Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say to you: You shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they speak lies to you. 15. For I did not send them, says the Lord: and they prophesy in My name falsely: so that they may drive you out and you may perish, both you and the prophets who prophesy to you. 16. And to the priests and to all this people I spoke, saying: Thus says the Lord: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying: Behold, the vessels of the Lord will be brought back from Babylon soon now; for they prophesy lies to you. 17. Therefore do not listen to them, but serve the king of Babylon, that you may live; why should this city be given to desolation? 18. And if they are prophets, and the word of the Lord is in them: let them intercede with the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which were left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon. 19. For thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels that remain in this city: 20. which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried away Jeconiah son of Joakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem: 21. for thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah and Jerusalem: 22. They shall be carried to Babylon, and there they shall remain until the day of their visitation, says the Lord, and I will have them brought back and restored to this place.
Verse 1
1. IN THE BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF JOAKIM. — St. Jerome, Rabanus, Hugo, Maldonatus, and Sanchez refer this first verse to the end of the preceding chapter; for what soon follows clearly happened not under Joakim but under Zedekiah, as is evident from verse 3. For anciently the Scripture was not divided into chapters, but was later variously divided by various persons, as is evident from Oecumenius, Arethas, and Euthymius; see Sixtus of Siena, Book 3, under the title "On partition, the fourth method." But the Septuagint of the Complutensian edition, the Chaldean, the Roman Bible, and others begin chapter 27 from here, and these things rightly cohere with it, but not with the end of the preceding chapter.
I say therefore that as soon as Jeremiah was freed from death by Ahikam, at the beginning of the reign of Joakim, while Nebuchadnezzar the elder was still reigning (for the younger began to reign in the third year of Joakim), God commanded Jeremiah to wear bonds, so that by them he might vividly represent the bonds and captivity of the Jews; just as Isaiah, chapter 20, was commanded to walk naked, to represent the despoiling of the Jews. Then under Zedekiah, Jeremiah was commanded to send these bonds to the neighboring kings, as is evident here from verse 3. Jeremiah therefore wore these bonds either continuously or at intervals for 15 years, namely from year 1 of Joakim up to year 4 of Zedekiah, as is evident from the next chapter, verse 1. So the Hebrews, Lyranus, Vatablus, and Castrius. See here how God exercises His saints; for this was a long as well as irksome and shameful penance and mortification for the Prophet.
SAYING (in Hebrew לאמר lemor, that is "for saying," so that I might announce to others this word received from God, and say to them: Hear): THUS SAYS THE LORD TO ME — so that I may preach these things to you.
Verse 2
2. BONDS — namely ropes, by which a yoke is fastened to the neck or horns of oxen; for in Hebrew these are called מוסרת (moserot). Thus Jeremiah foretells the future not only by words but also by the things themselves, wearing thongs like an ox at the plow; and chains like a slave condemned to the fork.
AND CHAINS — namely wooden ones, which would grip the neck like fetters, as a yoke grips the neck of an ox or pig to prevent it from breaking through hedges; or as slaves formerly wore forks, which were in the shape of the letter V, says Varro; that is, they were like a triangle, consisting of two pieces of wood, closed by a rope or chain, or a third piece of wood. That this is so is evident from the next chapter, verse 13; in Hebrew it is מוט (mot), that is, as the Chaldean and Vatablus say, yokes, namely to signify that Nebuchadnezzar would impose the yoke of servitude on all nations, because they, especially the Jews, had refused the sweet yoke of God, indeed had cast it off, and said: "I will not serve" (chapter 2, verse 20).
Verse 3
3. OF THE MESSENGERS WHO CAME. — Hugo, Lyranus, Vatablus, and Maldonatus think these messengers were sent by neighboring kings to congratulate Zedekiah as the new king on his kingdom and to incite him to rebellion, and that, having entered into a treaty among themselves, they might resist the approaching Chaldeans and shake off their rule, and thus be freed from the tribute they were paying them; therefore Jeremiah, by God's command, here orders and commands them the opposite, namely that they submit to the Chaldeans.
Verse 5
5. AND I HAVE GIVEN IT — that is, therefore I will give, or I am accustomed to give it to whomever I wish.
Verse 6
6. THEREFORE I HAVE GIVEN ALL THESE LANDS INTO THE HAND OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. — "I have given," that is, I have delivered, not donated, just as another's property is handed over to a thief or tyrant. For God did not here give Nebuchadnezzar the right and title to invade Judea and other kingdoms, since for this tyranny He afterward punished and overthrew him, as I said at chapter 25, verse 12.
AND I HAVE GIVEN HIM THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD. — By beasts, understand barbarous nations. So St. Jerome, Theodoret, Rabanus. Second, and rather more properly, take beasts literally; because when the land is subjected, men and beasts are subjected. So St. Jerome, Rabanus, Hugo. He alludes to Nebuchadnezzar as a lion, to whom all beasts submit, as if to say: Much more then, O men, subject yourselves to such a lion, unless you wish to experience the lion's claws. For it is not a degradation but "a dignity to be the servant of one who is powerful," says St. Ambrose on chapter 1 of the epistle to Timothy.
Verse 7
7. AND ALL NATIONS SHALL SERVE HIM, AND HIS SON, AND HIS SON'S SON. — Hence the Hebrews, St. Jerome, Rabanus, St. Thomas, Lyranus, and Vatablus count not four or five kings of Babylon, as Berosus, Josephus, and others do, but only three: the first was Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned from year 3 of Joakim to year 37 after the deportation of Joakim, for 45 years, as is evident from 2 Kings 25:27 compared with Daniel 1:1; the second was Evil-Merodach, son of Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned for 18 years according to Josephus, or 23 according to the Hebrews; the third was Belshazzar, son of Evil-Merodach, who reigned three years, as the Hebrews relate in the Seder Olam.
But others enumerate these three kings differently, for they understand this Nebuchadnezzar to be the elder, who is also called Nabonassar or Nabolassar, and who, according to Josephus, Book 10, chapter 11, from Berosus, reigned 24 years: for these things were said to Jeremiah at the beginning of the reign of Joakim; at that time this first Nebuchadnezzar was still reigning. For the second Nebuchadnezzar, son of the former, began to reign in year 3 of Joakim. Hence the elder Nebuchadnezzar is the father; his son is Nebuchadnezzar the younger, who is called the Great, and who overthrew Jerusalem and very many nations, and reigned 43 years; the grandson, or son's son, namely the son of Nebuchadnezzar the Great, is Evil-Merodach, who is also called Belshazzar. For that Evil-Merodach is the same as Belshazzar, and that he was the son of Nebuchadnezzar the Great, not his grandson, is gathered from Baruch 1:11. See what was said on Daniel 5:1.
You will object that 2 Chronicles last chapter, verse 10, says: "That they should serve Nebuchadnezzar (namely the Great), and his sons." I respond: "sons" means posterity, whether one or many; for the text does not intend to enumerate them, but only to say that the Jews would serve all his posterity.
Note: The phrase "all nations shall serve him" must be understood partly inceptively, partly relatively. Inceptively, because Nebuchadnezzar the elder began to subdue neighboring nations; but completely, Nebuchadnezzar the Great, son of the elder, subdued all, that is, very many: "they shall serve" therefore means "they shall begin to serve"; for an incipient action is signified, not a completed one.
Relatively, because "they shall serve" refers partly to the father, partly to the son, and to the son's son; for certain nations served Nebuchadnezzar the elder, certain and more served Nebuchadnezzar the younger, or the Great, and Belshazzar.
UNTIL THE TIME OF HIS OWN LAND COMES — namely, of punishment; the Chaldean says, of destruction, namely when Cyrus will punish and subdue the land of the Chaldeans. For when it was subdued, no nations served the Chaldeans any longer, since they were themselves now subdued. Indeed Cyrus, just as to the Jews, so also to the other nations held captive in Babylon, seems to have given freedom to return to their own lands after conquering it. For this is what Jeremiah promised, chapter 49, verse 6: "After this I will bring back the captives of the sons of Ammon." He says the same of Moab in chapter 48, verse 47, and of Elam in chapter 49, verse 39, and of the Egyptians in chapter 46, verse 26. So Sanchez on chapter 25, verse 11.
MANY NATIONS AND GREAT KINGS SHALL SERVE HIM. — So the Hebrew, the Chaldean, and the Septuagint, and the following words require this. Hence it is surprising that Symmachus, St. Jerome in his Commentary, and Vatablus translate: "And many nations and great kings shall subject it (namely Babylon) to servitude," meaning Cyrus and Darius.
Verse 9
9. SORCERERS — Vatablus says: poisoners, namely necromancers, who divine from blood and victims sacrificed to the demon. So also Lyranus.
Verse 10
10. THAT THEY MAY DRIVE YOU OUT — that they may be the cause why I cast you out of your land: the word "that" signifies the result and consequence, not the cause, meaning: While the false prophets persuade you to resist the Chaldeans, they will cause the latter to carry you away captive: for if you would surrender to them, they would allow you to remain in your land as tributaries. These things are said to the neighboring kings; what follows is addressed to Zedekiah and the Jews.
Verse 16
16. THE VESSELS OF THE LORD — the vessels of the Lord's temple, which Nebuchadnezzar carried to Babylon together with Joakim, in year 3 of Joakim, 2 Kings 24:13.
Verse 17
17. WHY IS IT GIVEN? — Why will Jerusalem be given over, why will it be destroyed, when it can easily be saved, if you surrender to the Chaldean?
Verse 18
18. IF THEY ARE PROPHETS (true ones), LET THEM INTERCEDE — namely by resisting with their prayers and turning God's wrath to mercy, so that He may not allow the remaining vessels of the temple to be carried off to Babylon. As if to say: So far from the vessels carried by the Chaldeans from God's temple to Babylon being brought back, as the false prophets falsely prophesy, even those that remain in the temple will be carried to Babylon by the same, as was done by Nebuzaradan, 2 Kings 25:13.
Verse 19
19. CONCERNING THE PILLARS — that is, about the pillars, the bronze sea, and the bases: for these three were the remaining items which Nebuchadnezzar afterward broke up and carried to Babylon together with Zedekiah, 2 Kings chapter 25, verses 13 and 16.
Verse 21
21. CONCERNING THE VESSELS — about the vessels. See a similar usage in chapter 26, verse 12. Likewise elsewhere "to" is often used for "concerning," as in Hebrews 1:7, and 15:13, and elsewhere.
Verse 22
22. UNTIL THE DAY OF THEIR VISITATION — that is, of their liberation by Cyrus.