Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He promises liberation from the Babylonian captivity through Cyrus, and mystically, redemption from the captivity of sin and the devil through Christ.
Vulgate Text: Jeremiah 30:1-8
1. This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: 2. Thus says the Lord God of Israel, saying: Write for yourself all the words which I have spoken to you, in a book. 3. For behold, the days are coming, says the Lord: and I will bring back the captivity of My people Israel and Judah, says the Lord: and I will bring them back to the land which I gave to their fathers: and they shall possess it. 4. And these are the words which the Lord spoke to Israel and to Judah: 5. For thus says the Lord: We have heard a voice of terror: of fear, and there is no peace. 6. Ask and see whether a male gives birth: why then have I seen every man with his hand on his loins, like a woman in labor, and all faces are turned to jaundice? 7. Alas, for that day is great; nor is there any like it: and it is the time of Jacob's tribulation, but he shall be saved from it. 8. And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord of hosts: I will break his yoke from your neck, and I will burst his bonds, and strangers shall no longer rule over him: 9. but they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
Verse 10
10. Therefore do not fear, My servant Jacob, says the Lord, nor be dismayed, O Israel: for behold, I will save you from a far country, and your seed from the land of their captivity: and Jacob shall return and shall rest, and shall abound in all good things, and there shall be none whom he shall fear: 11. For I am with you, says the Lord, to save you: for I will bring destruction upon all the nations among which I have scattered you: but I will not bring destruction upon you: but I will chastise you in judgment, that you may not seem to yourself innocent. 12. For thus says the Lord: Your fracture is incurable, your wound is grievous. 13. There is no one to judge your case for binding: there is no remedy for you. 14. All your lovers have forgotten you and do not seek you: for I have struck you with the blow of an enemy, with a cruel chastisement: because of the multitude of your iniquity, your sins have become hardened. 15. Why do you cry out over your affliction? Your pain is incurable: because of the multitude of your iniquity and because of your hardened sins, I have done these things to you. 16. Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured: and all your enemies shall be led into captivity: and those who waste you shall be wasted; and all who plunder you I will give as plunder. 17. For I will restore health to you, and I will heal you of your wounds, says the Lord. Because they called you an outcast, O Zion: This is she who had none to seek her. 18. Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will bring back the captivity of the tents of Jacob, and I will have mercy on his dwellings, and the city shall be built upon its own hill, and the temple shall be founded according to its proper order.
Verse 3
3. I WILL BRING BACK THE CAPTIVITY. — These three terms, namely "conversion," "aversion," and "captivity," signify the same thing in the Prophets; namely, captives returning. That is: I will turn back and bring back the captive Israelites from Babylon to Jerusalem, led by Zerubbabel under Cyrus. For not only from Judah, but also from the other tribes of Israel, many returned mixed together with the tribe of Judah: for this is promised to Israel in Isaiah 10:22; and therefore he says: "I will bring back the captivity," that is, those who are to be turned back and to return, namely a few out of the many who will remain in the Assyrian and Babylonian captivity. So Maldonatus.
But under this allegory he more properly understands the bringing back of Israel and the Jews to Christ and the Church, according to Canon 6, meaning: I will bring back through Christ all the tribes to the Church, which is their first mother and land; and from there to the land of the living, that is, to the heavenly homeland which I promised their fathers, Hebrews 11:13. For that these things pertain to Christ is evident from the following magnificent promises, which are set forth both in this chapter and especially in the next; and from the fact that Israel, or the ten tribes, properly never returned from the Assyrian captivity; hence the Prophet is also commanded to write these things for the last time, verses 2 and 24.
Therefore under the Assyrian and Babylonian captivity, he understands the final captivity of the Jews brought about by the Romans, and especially by Titus (as is evident from verses 7, 11, 12), in punishment for the killing of Christ, by which the Jews were dispersed throughout the whole world and will be wanderers until they submit to the Antichrist: from which captivity they began to be freed through the Apostles, but will be fully freed through Christ at the end of the world, when all Israel will be converted to Him and saved through Elijah and Enoch; for then they will be brought to the kingdom of Christ and endowed with the Jerusalemite, that is, the Church's city. So generally all Catholic interpreters. For the Prophet speaks not so much of a temporal as of a spiritual return from the captivity of the devil and sin, which both the Babylonian and the Roman captivity prefigured. Therefore Christ, inceptively, freed the Jews from the captivity of sin and the devil in His first coming, because He freed only a few; and St. Jerome, Rabanus, Hugo, and Vatablus understand these words of Him; but He will do so completely at His second coming, when He will save all; hence then this prophecy will be fully fulfilled. So Lyranus.
St. Jerome holds that these things were spoken by Jeremiah in year 1 of Zedekiah, namely in the same year in which the things contained in the two preceding chapters were spoken. See the chronological table.
Verse 5
5. WE HAVE HEARD A VOICE OF TERROR (namely of the Chaldeans invading Jerusalem). — So Theodoret.
Mystically, understand the voice of tyrants who in the time of the Apostles persecuted the Church and the Jews converted to it, as is evident from Acts 8:1. Again, the voice of Titus and the Romans, and especially the voice of the Antichrist (Gog and Magog) who will most fiercely persecute the Jews who are deserting him for Christ, through Elijah and Enoch. So Lyranus, Vatablus, Dionysius. For this will be a day of tribulation such as never was nor will be. "The Prophet," says St. Jerome, "predicts a time of immense misery, to usher in a time of greater joy."
FEAR, AND THERE IS NO PEACE. — In Hebrew you would more clearly translate in the genitive: of fear, and not of peace; supply: we have heard a voice.
6. WHETHER A MALE GIVES BIRTH — whether a man gives birth like a woman, meaning: Since men do not experience the pains of childbirth as women do, why then is it that the Jews just mentioned, overwhelmed with womanly pain, put their hands not to weapons but to holding their loins and backs, as if they were women in labor, to suppress the pain? It is a metalepsis, signifying the severity of the pain. So St. Jerome.
ALL FACES ARE TURNED TO JAUNDICE — to the pallor of gold. For "aurugo" (jaundice), or "aerugo" (rust), or "rubigo" (blight), is a disease of crops and a kind of royal disease of theirs, by which the stalks turn pale in the manner of gold or bronze, and thus gradually wither. And because this color is found in those with jaundice, that is, the "royal disease": hence the Septuagint, Aquila, and Symmachus translate it as icterus (jaundice); Theodoret as ωχρίασιν, that is, pallor. Hence also Cornelius Celsus and Apuleius say: "The disease of jaundice is called aurugo, from the color of gold which it produces." And because the same color arises from fear and terror, this is why Jeremiah here says: "And all faces are turned to jaundice."
Verse 7
7. GREAT IS THAT DAY. — "Great" means terrible and marvelously calamitous, like the day of judgment, which is therefore called "the great day" (Zephaniah 1:14; Jude verse 6; Revelation 5:12, and 6:17).
FROM IT. — The Hebrew says "from it," namely from the tribulation itself, Israel shall be saved; because God will break his yoke, that is, the yoke of the tyrant, both of Nebuchadnezzar and more especially of the devil and the Antichrist, so that Israel may no longer serve anyone except God and David, that is, Christ the son of David, both in this life and especially in heaven. See Canon 21. So St. Jerome, Theodoret, and generally others with the Chaldean. Thus Christ is called David in Ezekiel 37:25; Theodoret however and St. Thomas also understand by David Zerubbabel and Simon Maccabeus, descendants of David. But these were not kings; indeed at that time the Jews served foreign kings and princes, namely the Persians, Greeks, and Romans. Therefore the Prophet here mixes the type with the antitype: and these things fit the antitype more than the type. See Canons 4 and 5.
Gradually therefore the Prophet flies from Cyrus to Christ, and understands Him, not allegorically but literally.
Verse 11
11. I WILL BRING DESTRUCTION UPON THE NATIONS (I will utterly destroy other nations; but you, O Israel, by no means; but) I WILL CHASTISE YOU IN JUDGMENT (that is, with moderation and a certain equity) — not with the utmost rigor and strict justice; yet in such a way that, because your sins are grievous and hardened, they cannot be healed except by the most caustic powder and burning cautery, by which I may cut away the putrid and incurable flesh; namely, by a long and harsh captivity, as follows. So St. Jerome. The executioner cuts, and the surgeon also cuts: the former to kill, the latter to heal. God cuts as a surgeon, not as an executioner.
THAT YOU MAY NOT SEEM TO YOURSELF INNOCENT. — The Hebrew says: cleansing, I will not cleanse you, meaning: You think, O Jew, that because you are a worshiper of God, you are pure and holy above the nations; but by punishing you I will show that you are unclean and guilty. Otherwise the Chaldean says: destroying, I will not destroy you; Vatablus says: I will not refine you completely to pure metal; because then I would have to destroy, wipe out, and remove you from this world; even if I wanted to scrub away all your filth, I would break you sooner than correct you. So Maldonatus and Sanchez.
Morally the Prophet signifies here, says St. Jerome: "That the whole world needs the mercy of God, and no one, however holy, should go securely before the Judge." And St. Augustine, as Possidius attests in his Life, used to say that no one, however just, ought to depart from this life without penance. Hence he himself, when dying, was turning over and reciting the Penitential Psalms, with a great sense of grief and contrition.
Verse 12
12. YOUR FRACTURE IS INCURABLE. — "Fracture" means your punishment and wound; namely the devastation of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity, say St. Jerome and Theodoret, meaning: I will inflict upon you a wound that cannot be healed by human hand: yet I Myself will heal it after seventy years. Second, this "fracture" is the desolation of the Jews under Titus and their dispersion: this is "incurable" because by God's decree it will last until the Antichrist, from whose yoke, as well as the devil's, Christ will free them and from them will build a city, that is, the Church, verse 18. So Lyranus and Vatablus. Third, St. Jerome also understands by "fracture" the sufferings and persecution of the primitive Church, which it endured from pagan emperors for three hundred years. But this sense does not fit this passage: for that persecution was not a punishment for the sins of the faithful, but was the glory and growth of the Church; because then it grew and flourished most especially through martyrdoms.
Verse 13
13. THERE IS NO ONE TO JUDGE — there is no physician who has knowledge of your disease, or who knows by what remedy your wound can be cured.
19. And from them shall go forth praise and the voice of those who make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be diminished: and I will glorify them, and they shall not be brought low. 20. And their children shall be as of old, and their assembly shall continue before Me: and I will visit all who afflict them. 21. And their leader shall be from among them: and their prince shall be produced from their midst, and I will bring him near, and he shall approach Me; for who is this who would pledge his heart to approach Me, says the Lord? 22. And you shall be My people, and I will be your God. 23. Behold the whirlwind of the Lord, fury going forth, a rushing storm: it shall rest upon the head of the wicked. 24. The Lord shall not turn away the wrath of His indignation, until He has done and accomplished the thought of His heart: in the last days you shall understand these things.
Verse 14
14. ALL YOUR LOVERS HAVE FORGOTTEN YOU. — "Lovers" here refers to: first, the Egyptians and other nations to whom you, O Judea, are accustomed to flee and seek help; second, their idols and yours; third, your priests and princes; fourth, mystically, meaning: The guardian angels, to whom you were dear and a care before you offended the Lord, will abandon you. So St. Jerome. Fifth, tropologically, meaning: Riches, pleasures, friends, and all the goods which you loved contrary to God will abandon you, and will not seek you, will not visit you, will not ask how you are, what you have, or how your affairs stand. So the Chaldean and Vatablus. Consider this, you who take pleasure in things and are about to die soon. See what was said on Lamentations 1:2 and 19. He adds the cause, saying: FOR WITH THE BLOW OF AN ENEMY (such as an enemy is accustomed to inflict, even though I, like a father disciplining his son, inflicted it on you with a friendly and fatherly spirit) I HAVE STRUCK YOU. — For in reality it was bitter, harsh, and cruel, as follows; because such was demanded by your stubborn, obstinate, and unbending neck.
YOUR SINS HAVE BECOME HARDENED (in Hebrew עצמו atsemu, that is, they have been strengthened and made firm, they have grown strong), both in number and in magnitude: because you have added new sins to old ones; second, "hardened" means grave and incurable, meaning: Therefore I chastised you not in strict judgment but in mercy, because if I had chastised you in strict judgment, on account of your most grievous sins I would have had to kill you: which I was unwilling to do because of My promise, chapter 4, verse 27, and chapter 5, verse 10.
Verse 16
16. THEREFORE — that is, nevertheless, furthermore. It is a change of adverb: see Canon 16; or "therefore" means: Do not complain that you are being punished while your enemies are not being punished; I will punish them more severely than you. See Isaiah 33:1. Third, Sanchez refers this to verse 10, meaning: That I may fulfill what I have promised you, therefore I will bring it about that by a reversal of fortune the Chaldeans who captured and devoured you will themselves be devoured and led into servitude.
Verse 17
17. FOR I WILL RESTORE HEALTH TO YOU — I will repair and remove the wound of your past desolation and calamity, so that no signs of it shall appear or remain. This is clear from what follows, meaning: Jerusalem, desolated of citizens; the temple, of the praise and psalmody of God; the poor, of wealth; the people, of offspring — I will fill and restore when there shall be no one who thinks about it or seeks after it.
Verse 18
18. I WILL BRING BACK THE CAPTIVITY OF THE TENTS OF JACOB. — That is, I will restore the tents of Jacob which were carried away from here: he calls the families of the Jews "tents," since in Babylon they dwelt as pilgrims in huts and tents. From this will follow the jubilation of the Jews returning from Babylon to Judea, the praise of God, etc., as follows.
Verse 19
19. AND THE CITY (Jerusalem) SHALL BE BUILT UPON ITS OWN HILL (on Mount Zion), AND THE TEMPLE SHALL BE FOUNDED ACCORDING TO ITS PROPER ORDER — that is, the temple will be restored to its former state. Second and more properly, meaning: The exalted Church will be built by Christ, gathered from Jews converted to Christ, having its own Christian temples, especially after the Antichrist, which will soon establish in heaven a perpetual city and temple, where I will glorify them, so that there may be for them perpetual praise, that is, thanksgiving, "and the voice of those who make merry," that is, of those rejoicing (Revelation 21:12).
Verse 21
21. AND THEIR LEADER SHALL BE — not so much Zerubbabel, as St. Thomas and Theodoret hold, although he is alluded to typologically, but rather Christ. So all the Hebrews and Latins. Hence the Chaldean translates: and their king shall be anointed from among them, and the Christ shall be revealed from their midst.
Note: For "leader" the Hebrew has אדיר (addir), that is, magnificent, glorious, most powerful — namely, a leader.
I WILL BRING HIM NEAR (the leader Christ), AND HE SHALL APPROACH ME — through the hypostatic union of the humanity to the Word, say St. Jerome, Rabanus, and Hugo. Second and better, Lyranus and Vatablus say through the union of wills, meaning: I will join him to Myself with the most perfect friendship, and I will say: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Hence what follows:
FOR WHO IS THIS? — That is, which of the angels or men is so outstanding as My Son? Who, most closely joined to Me through trust, love, and obedience, will pledge His heart to Me; Vatablus says: will allure, or devote, his heart, to always accomplish My will, and in turn to appease and entreat Me on behalf of mortals. Hence Isaiah 46:11: The Father calls Him the man of My will. See Hebrews 10:5. The Septuagint and the Chaldean refer these words to the people, namely of Christ. Hence it follows concerning them: "And you shall be My people." St. Augustine says brilliantly in his Sentences, number 91: "From God," he says, "who is everywhere, we are distant or near not by places but by actions: for as dissimilarity separates us, so imitation joins us to Him." And number 123: "It is not by distance of places that one approaches or recedes from God; but likeness makes one near;
They do not visit nor ask how you are; for, as Kimchi rightly observes, the text continues in the simile of a sick and severely wounded woman. Friends, he says, are accustomed to visit the sick and inquire about their condition; but when they see the illness growing worse and tending toward death, despairing of the patient they no longer inquire.
and dissimilarity makes one distant. And it is the greatest misery to be far from that good which is everywhere."
Verse 23
23. BEHOLD THE WHIRLWIND (namely, of the sentence of vengeance and condemnation, not so much temporal upon the head of the Chaldeans, as eternal) SHALL REST UPON THE HEAD (of the Antichrist and) OF THE WICKED (those who have persecuted the Church and the people of God).
Verse 24
24. IN THE LAST DAYS (in the time of Christ, and especially at the end of the world) YOU SHALL UNDERSTAND THESE THINGS. — So Lyranus and Dionysius.