16 The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.
(Vers. 15, 16.) What is it that my beloved has done many wicked deeds in my house? Will the holy flesh take away your malice, in which you have boasted? The Lord called your name a fruitful, beautiful, and pleasant olive tree, but when the great fire of his voice blazed in it, its branches were consumed. He called the people of Judah his beloved and most beloved, who placed idols in his temple and worshiped them, thinking that by offering many sacrifices he could appease God's anger and boasting in the multitude of offerings, which cannot take away the wickedness of sins. But Jerusalem, or rather the whole people of the Jews, is compared to fair and fruitful olive trees, which, exalted by pride, did not act humbly, nor did they understand their Creator and Lord; but, elevated by pride and speaking arrogantly, they were consumed by the fire of the Lord; so that their branches, or rather their orchards, were burned and reduced to nothing, and the entire people of their adversaries were destroyed by the sword. This sense is also found in another place (Chapter II), where it is said to Jerusalem: I planted you as a productive vine, the true vine: how have you turned into a bitter foreign vine? When its walls are destroyed, and a wild boar from the forest devastates it, and all the animals devour its fruits (Psalm 78), let us say this chapter to the princes of the churches: What is it that my beloved has done many crimes in my house? Or surely to the rich, who plunder another's goods and do not take away the malice of their heart, they think they deserve God's mercy: Will holy meats take away your malice from you, in which you have boasted? But now the names of those offering are being publicly recited, and the redemption of sins is turned into praise: they did not remember the widow in the Gospel, who by putting in two small coins surpassed the offerings of all the rich people (Mark 12).
It is probable, therefore, that Jesus compares the synagogue of the Jews with a fig tree, for the sacred Scripture also compares them with various plants: the vine, for instance, and the olive, and even a forest. … Jeremiah says, “The Lord called you a beautiful olive tree, well shaded in appearance. At its pruning time, a fire was kindled in it. Great tribulation came to it. Its branches were destroyed.” And another of the holy prophets, comparing it with Mount Lebanon, thus speaks: “Open your doors, O Lebanon, and the fire shall devour your cedars.” For the forest that was in Jerusalem, even the people there, many as they were and innumerable, were destroyed as by fire.
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 11:15-16