We have seen, at the beginning of the book, that he was called by God to be a Prophet in the thirteenth year of King Josiah; and he had now been engaged in his calling, as he declares, for twenty-three years. This is the reason why the Prophet relates again when it was that he began to discharge his prophetic office, even from the thirteenth year of Josiah.
LECTURE NINETY-FOURTH
- Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord; that
- Et non audistis me, (non auscultastic mihi) dicit Jehova, ut
- Moreover, I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the
- Et transire faciam (hoc est, auferam) ab ipsis vocem gaudii,
- And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment;
- Et erit tota terra haec in vastitatem et in stuporem, et
It is to be taken in different senses, according to the circumstances of the passage. God says also, that at the end of seventy years he would visit the iniquity of the king of Babylon, and of his whole people.
LECTURE NINETY-FIFTH
- Then took I the cup at the Lord’s hand, and made
- To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings
- Jerosolymae et urbibus Jehudah, et regibus ejus, et
- Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his
- Pharaoni (pendit enim a superiori versu quod propinaverit calicem
The Prophet no doubt wrote down a summary of what he had delivered; for as we have said elsewhere, it was usual with the prophets, after they had spoken at large to the people and preached diffusely, to affix a short summary to the doors of the Temple. And there is nothing opposed to this in the context of the passage; for though he had promised to the children of God a happy end to the evils which they were shortly to endure, he nevertheless enumerates here all the nations on whom God had bidden him to denounce judgments.
LECTURE NINETY-SIXTH
- Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
- Edom et Moab et filiis Ammon,
- Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are
- Et Dedan et Thema et Buz, et cunctis terminatis in angulo (alii vertunt, atonsos
- And all the kings of Arabia,
- Et omnibus regibus Arabiae, et omnibus regibus (vertunt iterum) Arabiae (sed mihi non
- And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the
- Et omnibus regibus Zimri, et omnibus regibus Elam, et
- Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
- Et dices ad eos, Sic dicit Jehova exercituum, Deus
And all thekings of Arabia, kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,. And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the.
LECTURE NINETY-SEVENTH
Et erit, si rennerint ad sumendum (hoc est, sumere) calicem e manu tua
He confirms this sentence when he says, For a sword am I calling for on all the inhabitants of the earth, saith Jehovah of hosts. The Prophet then says now, that God was calling for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth.
LECTURE NINETY-EIGHTH
- Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from
- Sic dicit Jehova exercituum, Ecce malum
- And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the
- Et peribit fuga a pastoribus, et evasio ab
- A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the
- Vox clamoris pastorum et ululatus eximoirum
- And the peaceable habitations are cut down
- Et peribunt (vel, succidentur, vertunt alii) pascua pacis (tuguria pacis, hos est,
- He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their
- Dereliquit tanquam leo tabernaculum suum; quia redacta
And yet this was generally the case, for God’s wrath extended to the extremities of the earth. For the same purpose he adds what follows, that they would be as dung on the face of the earth.
LECTURE NINETY-NINTH
- In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah
- Principio regni Joakim filii Josiae, regis Jehudah, fuit sermo
- Thus saith the Lord, Stand in the court of the Lord’s
- Sic dicit Jehova, Sta in atrio templi Jehovae, et loquere ad
- If so he they will hearken, and turn every man from his
- Si forte audiant et convertantur quisque a via sua mala, et poeniteat
- And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, If ye
- Dices ergo ad eos, Sic dicit Jehova, Si non audieritis me, ut
- To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets,
- Et (id est, tunc) ponam domum hanc (id est, templum) sicuti Silo, et
We now see why the Prophet said, that he was sent to those who came up to Jerusalem to worship God. Here then God asserts that he would not be propitious to the people, except they complied with what he required, that is, to repent. Were God then to descend a hundred times from heaven, he would bring nothing but this message, that he has spoken what is necessary to be known, and that his Law is the most perfect wisdom.
LECTURE ONE HUNDREDTH
- Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord,
- Quare prophetasti in nomine Jehovae, dicendo, Tanquam Silo erit
- When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they
- Et audierunt principes Jehudah sermones hos, et
- Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes,
- Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes, and to all the people,
- Et dixit Jeremias cunctis principibus et toti populo,
- Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey
- Et nunc bonificate (bonas facite) vias vestras et studia
So the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. Here Jeremiah passes to another part of the narrative, for he reminded the princes and the king’s councillors that they were not without reason roused to go up to the Temple. We hence conclude, that the people in assenting to the sentence of the priests and prophets, had done nothing according to their own judgment, but that all of every rank through a violent feeling condemned Jeremiah.
LECTURE ONE HUNDRED AND FIRST
J EREMIAH 26:14-15
As for me, behold, I am in your hand; do with me as
But know ye for certain, that, if ye put me to death, ye
It is, then, certain that our life can never be in the hand of men, for God is its faithful keeper; but Jeremiah said, after a human manner, that his life was in their hand; for God’s providence is hidden from us, nor can we discover it but by the eyes of faith. Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests, and to the prophets, This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God. Now, to speak in the name of Jehovah is no other thing than faithfully to declare what God has commanded.
J EREMIAH 26:17-19
It is first said, that the elders from the people of the land rose up. He repeated what he had just said, for what else was the mountain of the temple but Sion. Hence it follows, that Jehovah repented of the evil which he had spoken against them.
LECTURE ONE HUNDRED AND SECOND
J EREMIAH 26:20-23
Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was
Veruntamen manus
But as Ahikam exerted himself to the uttermost, not only in aiding the holy Prophet by his words, but also in repressing the fury of the people, and in boldly resisting the priests and the false prophets, the hand in this place means aid; his hand was with Jeremiah, that is, he aided or helped him, so that he was not delivered up into the hand of the people. It hence also appears, as we said yesterday, that the tumult of the people was not immediately allayed, for the false prophets and the priests had so roused their virulence that they became almost implacable. In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,.
LECTURE ONE HUNDRED AND THIRD
Declare, ye ambassadors, to your masters what God has spoken, even that ye must submit to the yoke of the king of Babylon.”. Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. For this reason it is now said, that the time of Chaldea would come, and then it is added, and of the king himself.
LECTURE ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTH
- Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor
- Et vos ne audiatis prophetas vestros, et divinos vestros, et somniatores
- For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your
- Quia mendacium ipsi prophetant vobis, ut procul
- I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these
- Ad Zedekiam ergo regem Jehudah loquutus sum secundum
- Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the
Hence then we conclude, that the whole of this part was probably addressed to the Jews alone. This then is what Jeremiah means when he declares, that they who submitted not to the king of Babylon would perish. It was, indeed, a thing very unpleasant to be heard, when the Prophet commanded the Jews to submit, not only to the king of Babylon, but also to all his subjects; it was an indignity that must have greatly exasperated them.
LECTURE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH
- Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that
- Et ne audiatis verba prophetarum, qui dicunt vobis
- Also I spake to the priests, and to all this people, saying,
- Et ad sacerdotes et ad populum hunc loquutus sum,
- Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live
- Ne audiatis ipsos, servite regi Babylonis, et vivetis: ut
He hence says, that they were not to be believed as to the. prosperity of which they prophesied, but that on the contrary they ought to have dreaded a most grievous punishment. We said by these words of the Prophet it may be determined who they are who deserve to be called prophets, even those who have the word of God. These two clauses ought to be read together, for the latter is exegetic, or explanatory of the former.
LECTURE ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH
J EREMIAH 27:19-22
- And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of
- Factum est anno illo,
- Within two full years will I bring again into this place
- Adhuc (in adhuc, ad verbum) anni duo dierum ( hoc est, cum transierint
- And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah
- Et Jechaniam, filium Jehoiakim, regem Jehudah, et totam captivatatem (hoc est,
- Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah, in the
- Tunc dixit Jeremias propheta Chananiae prophetae coram
- Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the Lord do so: the
- Et dixit Jeremias propheta, Amen, sic faciat Jehova,
Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. He says afterwards, that Hananiah spoke to him in the presence of the priests and of the whole people. Hananiah promised as to the king himself, what he had just predicted respecting the vessels of the Temple and of the palace.
LECTURE ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH
- Nevertheless, hear thou now this word that I speak in
- Verum audi nunc (vel, agedum, hortantis) sermonem hunc, quem ego
- The prophets that have been before me and before
- Prophetae qui fuerunt ante me et ante to a seculo, et prophetarunt
- The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when
- Propheta qui prophetaverit de pace (hoc est, de rebus prosperis,) cum
Jeremiah seems here to conclude that those alone are to be deemed true prophets who prove by the event that they have been sent from above;. But we must bear in mind what is said in <051301>Deuteronomy 13:1, 2, where God reminds the people that even when the event answers to the prophecy, the prophets are not to be thoughtlessly and indiscriminately believed, as though they predicted what was true;. Thus, then, we ought to think of most, that is, that those who predict what is true are for the most part the prophets of God: this is to be taken as the general rule.
J EREMIAH 28:10-11
But as we have elsewhere said, this preposterous imitation of the devil ought not to disturb pious minds; for God ever supplies his own people with the spirit of discernment, provided they humbly pray to him. But his object was to warn us in due time, lest novelty should frighten us when any boasts of the title of a prophet. So the Papists brag that they are prelates and bishops, and boast that they are the successors of the Apostles: but the devil is their chief, who calls himself the Vicar of Christ on the earth.
LECTURE ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTH
J EREMIAH 28:12-13
- For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have put a yoke
- Quoniam sic dicit Jehova exercituum, Deus Israel, jugum
- Therefore thus saith the
- Propterea sic dicit Jehova, Ecce ego emitto to (hoc est, projicio) e superficie terrae hujus
He had, indeed, already subdued all these countries;. but the Prophet means, that the domination of the king of Babylon would continue, though Hananiah had said, that it would stand only for two years. The same thing may be also said of the Jews; for we know that they had been tributaries to the king of Babylon; and as he had spared them, his humanity might have been deemed a sort of liberty; but when he found that a hard wood could not be split but by a hard wedge, he began more violently to oppress them. But as our state now is different from that of the ancient people, we must observe that sent by the Lord is he only whose doctrine is according to the rule of the Law, and of the Prophets, and of the Gospel.
LECTURE ONE HUNDRED AND NINTH
- Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet
- Hi sunt sermones libri (vel, epistolae) quem misit Jeremias
- After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the
- Postquam egressus fuerat Jechaniah rex et domina (id est,
- By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of
- Per manum Eleasah filii Saphan et Gamariae filii Helchiae, quos
- Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are
- Sic dicit Jehovah exercituum, Deus Israel, universae captivitati
- Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat
- AEdificate domos, et inhabitate; plantate hortos, et
- Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for
- Accipite uxores et generate filios et filias; et accipite filiis
- And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be
- Et quaerite pacem urbis ad quam transtuli vos illuc (sed
At the first view these two things seemed inconsistent, — that the Jews were to live seventy years as though they were the natives of the place, and that their habitations were not to be changed, — and yet that they were ever to look forward to a return. But these two things can well agree together: it was a proof of obedience when they acknowledged that they were chastised by God’s hand, and thus became willingly submissive to the end of the seventy years. This would have been the case, had they not quietly and resignedly endured their calamity in Chaldea to the end of the time which had been fixed by God.
LECTURE ONE HUNDRED AND TENTH
- For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Let not
- Quoniam sic dicit Jehova exercituum, Deus Israel, Ne
- For they prophesy falsely to you in my name: I have
- Quoniam fallaciter (vel, in mendacio) ipsi prophetant vobis in
- For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy
- Quia sic dicit Jehova, secundum mensuram (nam talm accipitur
- For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith
- Quia ego cognosco cogitationes meas, quas ego cogito super vos,
And hence Paul says that the Gospel is a fatal odor to many, but that it is, nevertheless, a sweet odor before God, (<470216>2 Corinthians 2:16;) for it ought to be imputed to the fault of those who perish, that they receive not the doctrine of the Gospel to their own salvation. But here God declares that he would put an end to their exile, as it was to be only for a time. It is hence to be inferred, that the people did not perish when they were led into exile, but that they were only chastised by God’s hand.
LECTURE ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVENTH
- And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me
- Et quaeretis me, et
- And I will be found of you, saith the Lord; and I will turn
- Et inveniar a vobis, dicit Jehova, et reducam captivitatem
It is indeed certain that men never turn to God with their whole heart, nor is the whole heart ever so much engaged in prayer as it ought to be; but the Prophet sets the whole heart in opposition to a double heart. And this circumstance also ought to be noticed, that the Prophet addressed the Jews who were miserably oppressed. As then it was incredible, that a people so dispersed could be collected together, the Prophet says,.
J EREMIAH 29:15-17
Know that thus saith the Lord of the king that sitteth
Ideo sic dicit Jehova regi sedenti super solium Davidis et
