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1 Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? 2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins. 3 But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. 4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end. 5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? 6 For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee. 7 I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. 8 Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it. 9 Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour. 10 Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 11 They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart. 12 The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace. 13 They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD. 14 Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. 15 And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land. 16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people. 17 But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.
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[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Jeremiah 12:1
“Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all those who do evil things thrive?” Here the prophet steps out from his usual discourse. On other occasions he brings before God prayers and sorrow about sinners. But it seems here that he is beginning a dispute with God: Why is God merciful to them when they certainly do not deserve his mercy because their hearts are hard and stubborn? Truly, Jeremiah is not the only one who asks this question. Many righteous people wanted to know, as if they debated with God about his multitude of mercies to sinners. Job and David2 and Habakkuk wondered in this way about the mystery of God’s extended patience. But they all had one goal—to call sinners to repentance. This is why they explained this mystery of [divine] extended patience, and tried to reveal to sinners all the benefits that the Lord promised to those who repent. For he is good, and slow to anger to the sons of Adam, and as a hospitable Father, showers them with his gifts. But at the same time, righteous people let them know beforehand the punishment that they can expect if they remain hardened in their hearts and will not stop their wicked stubbornness. Jeremiah had the same goal: by fear and promises to wake up and to call Israel to serve their God.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JEREMIAH 12:1
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 12:1-2
(Chapter 12 - Verses 1 onwards) Indeed, you are just, O Lord, if I argue with you (or because I want to satisfy you); however, I will speak to you about judgments. What is it that the way of the wicked prospers? It is well for all who break the law and act unjustly. You have planted them and they have taken root, they grow and bear fruit (or they have borne children and produce offspring). You are near their mouths, but far from their hearts. Truly, this is a discussion of all those who act unjustly, and the meaning is summarised in the 72nd Psalm, in which the Prophet says: How good is the God of Israel to those who are upright in heart! But my feet were almost moved; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious of the wicked, seeing the prosperity of sinners, etc. (Psalm 73:1-2). However, this is especially said against heretics, who, though they are impious, prosper in their ways; and they beget children whom they have deceived in their heresy, and they act deceitfully and unjustly, so as to rob the Church. And while they persist in their wickedness of opinion, they boast that they are planted by God, and that they have sent forth roots, and have begotten children and brought forth fruit. But although they often repeat the name of Christ, they do not have God as their dweller, according to that of Isaiah: This people honors me with their lips: but their heart is far from me (Isaiah 29:13).

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 12:3
(Verse 3.) And you, Lord, you know me: you have seen me, and you have tested my heart with you. Gather them together like a flock for the sacrifice, and sanctify them on the day of slaughter. There is no scandal, it is said, that the wicked, or all heretics, flourish for a time: For you, Lord, know me, and you have seen me, and you have tested my heart with you. How does the Father God know his Son this way? For no one knows the Son except the Father: and no one knows the Father, except the Son, and whom the Son wants to reveal (Matt. XI, 17). It is permitted, he says, that they may prosper, that they may generate children, and that heretics may produce fruit, and you may be close to their mouth and far from their kidneys, that is, their conscience: nevertheless, there is some consolation, in that they are fattened like sheep for the slaughter. Gather them in the city of Jerusalem, or in their assemblies: so that they may be slaughtered as if they were victims of death, and then may be sanctified, when they have been beheaded by the sword of the Church: for the killing of heretics is the salvation of those who had been deceived.

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Jeremiah 12:4
“How long will the earth mourn and the grass of the field be dried up from the evil of the inhabitants in it?” The prophet here again talks as if the earth is alive when he says that the earth mourns on account of the evil of those who walk on it. For each of us, then, the earth either mourns or rejoices. For either it mourns from the evil of those who inhabit it or it rejoices from the virtue of those who inhabit it. For each of us, then, the element itself either rejoices or mourns. If earth does so, perhaps also the rest of the elements do also … including water.

Source: HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 10:6
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 12:4
(Verse 4) How long will the earth mourn, and all the herbage of the region wither because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it? The animal and the bird have perished because they have said: Our last things will not be seen (or God will not see our ways). Whatever happens in the world, whether good or evil, happens not without the providence and chance of God, but by his judgment. The earth is now barren, the herbage dries up. Do you want to know the reason? Those who dwell in wickedness do this: so that the animals on the earth and the birds of the sky are consumed, because all these creatures were created for the use of humans: who have risen to such blasphemy as to say that God is ignorant of His own ways, and does not know what each individual will suffer. But what he says, 'How long?' signifies the enduring wrath of God, because the hearts of sinners were not inclined to repentance.

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 12:5
(Verse 5) If you have struggled running with foot soldiers, how will you be able to compete with horses? If you have relied on the land of peace, what will you do in the pride or tumult of the Jordan? If, as they say, you have been wearied by the frequent captivities of neighboring nations, the Moabites and Ammonites, the Philistines and Edomites, what will you do in the face of a long captivity that will be led by the Chaldeans all the way? And he compares foot soldiers to horsemen, for in truth both the Persians and the entire Chaldean empire and the armies of those regions take delight in cavalry according to history. But these nations, which I mentioned above, are not so suited for battle because of the difficulty of the terrain, as they are for robbery. And he preserves the metaphor and says: If you became weak with fatigue while running alongside foot soldiers, what will you do if you want to keep up with horses? And if you had any confidence in your own land, what will you do when you cross the Jordan and endure its currents?

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 12:6
(Verse 6.) For even your brothers and the household of your father themselves fought against you, and they cried out after you with a loud voice: do not believe them when they speak good things to you. To such an extent, he says, you will be overwhelmed by the most violent waves of the Jordan, and the multitude of horsemen coming from afar will devastate you, so that even your brothers from the Edomite lineage, and the household of your father, who are descendants of Lot, Moab and Ammon, themselves will fight against you in times of necessity and distress, and will insult you (Genesis 19). Beware of trusting them and having hope in kinship, through which they may rage against you more than your enemies. This can also be understood in reference to Jesus, that his brothers and the household of his father fought against him and cried out loudly, saying: Crucify him, crucify him: we have no king but Caesar (John 19:15).

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah
[AD 325] Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius on Jeremiah 12:7-8
As the prophet Jeremiah testifies when he speaks such things … “I have forsaken my house, I have given up my heritage into the hand of its enemies. My heritage has become to me as a lion in the forest. It has cried out against me, therefore have I hated it.” Since the inheritance is his heavenly kingdom, it is evident that he does not say that he hates the inheritance itself, but the heirs, who have been ungrateful toward him and impious. “My heritage,” he says, “has become to me as a lion,” that is, I have become prey and something to devour to my heirs, who have slaughtered me as a sheep. “It cried out against me,” that is, they have pronounced against me the sentence of death and the cross. For that which he said … that he would make a new testament to the house of Judah, shows that the old testament that was given by Moses was not perfect, but that that which was to be given by Christ would be complete. But it is plain that the house of Judah does not signify the Jews, whom he casts off, but us, who have been called by him out of the Gentiles and have by adoption, succeeded to their place, and are called children.

Source: DIVINE INSTITUTES 4:20
[AD 325] Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius on Jeremiah 12:7-8
Now that the Jews were disinherited, because they rejected Christ, and that we, who are of the Gentiles, were adopted into their place is proved by the Scriptures. Jeremiah thus speaks, “I have forsaken my house. I have given my heritage into the hands of its enemies. My heritage has become to me as a lion in the forest. It has given forth its voice against me; therefore have I hated it.”

Source: DIVINE INSTITUTES 4:20
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Jeremiah 12:7-8
Because the Lord said of the Jews in Jeremiah: “My inheritance has become to me like a lion,” Paul would not say they were not heirs. But there are heirs without property and those with property, and while the testator lives, those who are mentioned in the will are called heirs, though they are without property.… Just like children, so are the Jews also under a tutor. The law is our tutor. A tutor brings us to the master. Christ is our only master: “Do not say lord and master to yourselves, for one only is your master, the Christ.”

Source: LETTER 69
[AD 411] Tyrannius Rufinus on Jeremiah 12:7-8
It is further related that when Pilate wanted to release him, the whole multitude shouted in uproar: “Crucify him, crucify him.” This was foretold by the prophet Jeremiah, speaking in the person of the Lord: “My inheritance,” he says, “has become to me as lion in the wood. It has cried out against me. Therefore have I hated it.” And therefore, he adds, “I have forsaken my house.” In yet another passage Isaiah says: “Upon whom have you opened your mouth wide, and against whom have you let loose your tongues?”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOSTLES’ CREED 22
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 12:7-8
(Vers. 7, 8.) I left my house, I abandoned my inheritance: I gave my beloved soul into the hands of its enemies. My inheritance became like a lion in the forest: it roared against me, therefore I hated it. He who spoke in the Gospel: Rise, let us go from here (John 14:31). And again: Your house will be left desolate (Luke 13:35), here and also in the same prophet he threatens; and he says that he has done what he was going to do. For the inheritance of the Lord is Israel, and his inheritance is as a rope. But when he says: 'I have given my beloved soul into the hand of his enemies,' that means, I have the power to lay down my soul, and I have the power to take it up again (John 10:18). Indeed, the inheritance of the Lord, the people of the Jews, once rebelled against him like a lion in the forest: when they shouted with a loud voice against him in their suffering. And because they raised their voice against him, he therefore hated them, and rejected them, and what was once beloved and cherished is now called hateful.

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah
[AD 403] Epiphanius of Salamis on Jeremiah 12:9-13
Dearly beloved, it is fitting that we should not abuse our rank as clergy, so as to make it an occasion of pride, but diligently keep and observe God’s commandments, to be in reality what in name we profess to be. For if the Holy Scriptures say, “Their lots shall not profit them,” what pride in our clerical position will be able to help us who sin not only in thought and feeling but also in speech?

Source: LETTER 51:1
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 12:9
(Ver. 9.) Is my inheritance like a colorful bird to me? Is it like a bird dyed all over? Come, gather all the beasts of the earth; hurry to devour. LXX: Is the den of the hyena my inheritance? Is there a den all around it, above it? Go, gather all the animals of the field; let them come and eat it. According to the letter, he calls the colorful and fully dyed bird a peacock. He says that Israel had such great beauty and Jerusalem was distinguished by such virtues that there was nothing good that could not be seen in it. Therefore, since an inheritance was once made for me, that is, the people of Israel, like a lion in the forest, and they spoke against me, and I detested them with all hatred: therefore come and gather against them all the beasts of the earth, a multitude of diverse nations, and devour them who have not known their Lord. But if, as the Septuagint and other interpreters have translated, it is read: Is my inheritance to me a den of hyenas, shall we return to the uncleanness of the nocturnal beast, which lives on the corpses of the dead, and is accustomed to dig up bodies from tombs, and there is no filthiness that it does not feed on. Such is Israel offending his Lord, and delivered to the bites of all beasts.

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 12:9-13
The house of God has been made a den of thieves! This is the house of which Jeremiah says, “Has not my house become for me the den of a hyena?” Here we have “you have made it a den of thieves,” in Jeremiah, “the den of a hyena.” We have to know the nature of this animal. Then from that, we shall be able to learn why the prophet called God’s house a hyena’s den. The hyena is never seen in the daytime but always at night. Never is it seen in the light but always in the darkness.

Source: HOMILIES ON MARK 83:11.15-17
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 12:9-13
I beg you, therefore, and admonish you again and again: do not look to your military experience for a standard of clerical obligation. Under Christ’s banner, do not seek worldly gain, lest having more than when you first became a clergyman, you hear people say, to your shame, “Their portion shall not profit them.” Welcome poor people and strangers to your homely table, that with them Christ may be your guest.

Source: LETTER 52.5
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Jeremiah 12:9-13
“Pray that you do not enter into temptation”—that you enter not again into “contentions, envying, animosities, dissension, detractions, seditions, whispering.” For we have not planted and watered the Lord’s garden in you only to reap these thorns from you. But if your weakness still stirs up a storm, pray that you may be delivered from temptation. Those among you who trouble you, whoever they may be, will incur judgment unless they amend their lives.

Source: LETTER 211
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Jeremiah 12:9-13
The Edomites and the Moabites and the Ammonites and the foreigners were always of a hateful and malicious disposition toward the Jews. When they saw the misfortunes brought against the Jews, they exulted over the Jews. For this reason he teaches them in advance of the future calling again of the Jews. And he calls their rulers “shepherds.” … Having foretold through these words [v. 15] of the return that would take place under Cyrus and Darius, he also teaches them in advance of the things that would take place after these things.… He spoke also [vv. 16-17] of the utter rejection of the nation of the Jews, for “I will remove that nation by destruction, says the Lord.”

Source: ON JEREMIAH 3:12
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 12:10
(Verse 10) Many shepherds have destroyed (or disrupted) my vineyard, they have trampled (or polluted) my portion: they have given my desirable portion into a desert wasteland (or uninhabited). They have made (or it has been made) it into a desolation. Let those who want to be leaders of the people hear this, because they will have to give an account not only for themselves, but also for the flocks entrusted to them, on the day of judgment. For because of them, a part of the Lord's dwelling place is trampled and polluted, so that where once there was a hospice, there may now be a dwelling place for beasts. Others, however, understand the leaders of the enemies, who have scattered the vineyard of the Lord, not as being placed over the people and priests.

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 12:11-12
(Vers. 11, 12.) And the earth mourned, desolate it is, because there is no one who thinks in their heart. The devastators have come over all the paths of the desert, for the sword of the Lord has devoured from one end of the earth to the other: there is no peace for all flesh. LXX: Therefore the earth is utterly ruined, and the rest. This that we have set, 'and the earth mourned,' is joined to the previous verse according to the Hebrew, so that the meaning is: They have made it into ruin, that is, my inheritance: And the earth mourned, deprived of my help. But according to the Septuagint, God spoke that because of him the earth is devastated and turned into a wilderness, because there is no one who remembers in their heart, nor any peace for all flesh. For the flesh cannot receive the peace of God. For the wisdom of the flesh is hostile to God; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. And according to the Hebrew, therefore all of Judaea is desolate, because there is no one who remembers God in their heart, nor is there any survivor who can escape. For through all the ways of solitude came the devastators, that is, a hostile army, and the sword of the Lord devoured from one end to the other; and there was no rest for those fleeing from the city. Hence it is said: There is no peace for all flesh.

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 12:13
(Verse 13) They sowed wheat and harvested thorns: they received an inheritance, but it will not benefit them. LXX: You have sown wheat and harvested thorns: their clergy will not benefit them. They expected better things, but the worst came: they hoped for success, but endured adversity: they received an abundance of all things from the Lord, which will not benefit them. According to the Septuagint, all heretics sow wheat and harvest thorns, while the Lord waits for them to bear fruit, but they do not bring forth judgment, only outcry. But it is said also of Ecclesiastics who scatter the words of the Lord and his doctrine by evil conduct. Concerning them it is inferred: Their clergy shall not profit them. For what can bishops' name and presbyters, or the rest of the Ecclesiastical order, do to help them, when they are burdened more by their own dignities and suffer powerful torments severely, and when more has been entrusted to them, more is required of them (Wisdom 6).

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 12:14-15
(Vers. 14, 15.) You shall be confounded by your fruits (or by your boasting (because of the anger of the fury of the Lord (or by the reproach in the sight of the Lord). Thus says the Lord against all my wicked neighbors, who touch the inheritance which I have distributed to my people Israel: Behold, I will uproot them from their land and uproot the house of Judah (or cast them out) from among them. And when I have uprooted them, I will turn (or return) and have mercy on them, and I will bring them back (or make them dwell) man in his inheritance, and man in his land. It is said to them, to whom their own clergy and ecclesiastical order will not benefit, that they should be confounded by their own boasting and by reproach before the Lord. And it brings forth: against all my wicked neighbors, according to the letter, the neighbors of the holy land are the Edomites, Philistines, Moab, and Ammon. But according to the allegory, all heretics who are considered under the name of Christ are even more neighbors than the inhabitants of the holy land, who touch the inheritance of God and devastate it. And it is said of them that they shall be taken away from the midst of the land, and the house of Judah shall be taken away from their midst. Whoever is uprooted and freed from the jaws of the heretics will obtain the mercy of God, and they will be restored to their inheritance and their land.

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 12:16-17
(Verse 16, 17.) And it shall come to pass, if the learned ones have learned the ways of my people, to swear in my name, as the Lord lives: just as they taught my people to swear by Baal, they shall be built up in the midst of my people. But if they do not listen, I will uproot that nation with destruction and annihilation, says the Lord. If those who have been translated from heresy into the Church have learned the ways of the people of God, and have sworn in the name of the Lord, and not in the name of the idols they themselves imagined, they shall be built up by the Lord, and they shall be a part of his people. But if those who have been translated into the Church hold on to the remnants of perverse doctrines and do not heed the words of the Lord, that people shall be uprooted from the midst of God's people, through perpetual destruction and removal, so that not a single place of repentance is left for them. We see this happening every day, and we have evidence that heretics, in order to deceive the simple-minded, pretend to uphold the truth of the faith, not so that they themselves may convert to the faith, but rather to lead the faithful into disbelief.

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah