Bible Verses and Early Church Commentary | Historical Christian Faith

[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 22:1-5

(Chapter XXII - Verses 1 onwards) Thus says the Lord: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you and your servants and your people who enter by these gates. Thus says the Lord, Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the hand of his oppressor. And do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. For if you do this word, then the kings sitting upon the throne of David will enter in by the gates of this house, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their servants, and their people. But if you will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. This vision, or rather this word of the Lord, either happened before the messengers of Sedecias were sent to him, or certainly after they were sent, and before they returned again, Jeremiah is commanded, that he should not speak to the king by messengers, but that he himself should go into the house of the king, and there speak to him. At the same time, we notice the divine wisdom, that through messengers he commands sad news to be announced, mixed with good news, if the king will repent. However, because he is commanded himself to move forward, he does not announce sad news, and the impending captivity; but he warns what he should do to avoid the impending judgment of God. But it is the duty of kings to administer judgment and justice, and to deliver those oppressed by the violence of slanderers, and to provide assistance to foreigners, orphans, and widows (who are more easily oppressed by the powerful). And in order to impose a greater care of the commandments of God upon them, he said: Do not be distressed, so that you not only do not rescue, but also do not even allow others to be distressed through your connivance. And do not shed innocent blood in this place. For punishing murderers, sacrilegious, and poisoners is not the shedding of blood, but the ministry of the laws. If you do these things, O kings of Judah, you will maintain your former power, and you will enter the gates of Jerusalem with ambition. But if you refuse to do so, O royal household, the cruelty will not be so much of the Lord as it will be of your will, so that the whole city will be reduced to desolation. Let the bishops, along with their associates the presbyters and deacons, and all the ecclesiastical order, understand whatever has been said to the royal household, so that if they do what has been commanded and, among other things, do not shed innocent blood, causing offense to the least of these and striking the consciences of each individual, they may obtain the dignity entrusted to them by the Lord. But if they refuse and despise, let them themselves reduce the Church of God to solitude. And they enter by the gates of Jerusalem from the lineage of David, and they sit upon his throne, which is interpreted as strong by hand, and they ascend in chariots and horses, when they restrain both their own and the disturbances of the people, and in an orderly manner they enter the Church, with the chorus of many virtues, and singing in harmony from every side. And to believe that this is true, he swears by himself, because, according to the Apostle, he has no one greater by whom he may swear (Heb. VI).

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah

[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 22:6-8

(V. 6,-8.) Because this is what the Lord says about the house (or to the house) of the king of Judah, Gilead, you are to me the head (or the beginning) of Lebanon. If I do not make you a desolation, cities uninhabitable. And I will consecrate (or build) upon you the one who kills men, and his weapons: and they will cut down your chosen cedars, and throw (or send) them into fire, and many nations will pass through this city, and each one will say to his neighbor: Why did the Lord do such to this great city? And they will answer, because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshiped foreign gods, and served them. Scripture mentions the land of Gilead, which was possessed by half the tribe of Manasseh, beyond the Jordan. On this mountain, Jacob pursued Laban as he fled, and the mountain received the name σωρὸς, which means heap of testimony, because there Jacob and Laban swore an oath, gathering a heap of stones (Genesis 31). But the head, or beginning, of Mount Lebanon, which is entirely composed of cedars, is mentioned next by David when he sings: And the Lord will shake the cedars of Lebanon (Psalm 29:5). And elsewhere: I have seen the wicked exalted, and raised up like the cedars of Lebanon (Psalm 36:35). And in Zechariah we read: Open your doors, O Lebanon, and let the fire consume your cedars (Zechariah 11:1). Therefore, in this present passage, because he was speaking to the royal house, he metaphorically speaks to the Temple, or to the house of the tribe of Judah, either because it itself is on high, or because all the remedies for sins were sought from the Temple and the Sanctuary. Therefore, the same prophet also mentions: Is there no balm in Gilead, or physician there? Why then has there been no healing for the daughter of my people? (Jeremiah 8:21). He threatens therefore the royal household, the city of Jerusalem, and the Temple, which he calls the head of Lebanon, that it shall be reduced to a deserted state along with all its cities, not by the power of the Babylonian king, but by the command of the Lord, who says: I will sanctify over you a destroyer. But Nabuchodonosor is called holy, and all his army, because he carries out the judgement of God. And he will cut down, he says, your chosen cedars: the powerful and the leaders of the city; and they will throw them into the fire, so that the devouring flame consumes everything. And when everything has been destroyed, many nations will pass through the city and the Temple, which they were previously not allowed to enter; and each person will speak to their neighbor, asking why the Lord has caused such a sudden and great destruction to the famous and great city. And those who are questioned will respond and explain the causes of the ruination, saying: because they have forsaken the covenant of their Lord God, and have worshiped idols instead of God. Let the royal house of our city and its princes listen to this, and let the high cedars, which reach up to the heavens, also listen. They speak with arrogance: who will not see? Let them be consumed quickly by the flame of the Lord if they refuse to comply with His commandments. But there is another sanctification (or rather sacrifice) of the murderer and his weapons; and another of the priests and those who serve the Lord.

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Jeremiah 22:6

He calls Jerusalem “Lebanon,” and he calls the royal palace in Jerusalem “Gilead.” And there is a region in Lebanon that is called by that name, and there is also another Gilead in Israelite territory. But I think that the palace is being compared with the Gilead in Lebanon because of the impiety that they had dared to do in their midst. For this reason he threatens complete destruction on them.

Source: ON JEREMIAH 5:22

[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 22:10-11

(Verse. 10, 11.) Do not weep for the dead, nor mourn over him; weep rather for him who is departing, for he will not return anymore, nor see the land of his birth. For thus says the Lord concerning Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, king of Judah: He who reigned in place of Josiah his father, who has gone out of this place: he shall not return here anymore, but he shall die in the place where I have transported him, and he shall not see this land anymore. King Josiah had three righteous sons, Joachaz, Jacim, and Sedeciam, of whom the first, Joachaz, the king of Egypt, Pharaoh Necho, led captive into Egypt, where he died, and appointed in his place as king his brother Eliacim (also known as Joachim) (2 Kings 23, 24, 25). When he died, his son Jechoniah reigned, but he was taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, along with his mother and the princes. In his place, his uncle Sedecias reigned, who was taken captive to Babylon after the capture of Jerusalem. Therefore, the question arises, who could be fittingly called the one who should not weep, who should be led into captivity, and will never return again, when three are taken captive and carried away? The Hebrews believe that this applies to all three, that is, to Joachaz, Jechonia, and Zedekiah, who are all called the sons of Josiah, or Sellem, which means completion; this is because the kingdom of Judah ended with them. But it seems to me that this is specifically said about Zedekiah, concerning whom there is a prophecy in the present and past chapter, in which the kingdom of Judah truly ended, and under whom the city was captured and he was led to Babylon, where he is recorded as having died. This is Jehoiachin, that is, the culmination and completion, son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned for his father Josiah. However, Jehoiachin was not a son but a grandson of Josiah, the son of Jehoiakim. From the beginning of the vision, when King Zedekiah sent to Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, until this chapter, we understand all that is said to the king and about King Zedekiah.

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah

[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 22:10

Jeremiah too laments over his impenitent people, saying, “O that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for … my people!” And further on he gives a reason for his lamentation: “Do not weep for the dead,” he writes, “or bemoan him, but weep sorely for him who goes away, for he shall return no more.”

Source: LETTER 122

[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 22:12-17

(Verse 12 and following) Woe to him who builds his house with injustice, and his upper rooms without justice. He oppresses his neighbor in vain, and does not pay him his wages. He says, 'I will build for myself a spacious house with large upper rooms.' He opens windows for himself, and makes it with cedar and paints it with vermilion. Are you going to reign because you have luxury? Didn't your father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice when he was prospering? He judged the cause of the poor and needy for their own good: did he not do so because he knew me? says the Lord. But your eyes and heart are set on greed, on shedding innocent blood, on deceit, and on pursuing evil. LXX: O you who build your house without justice, and your upper rooms without judgment! Your neighbor works for him for nothing, and does not receive wages. You built for yourself a small house, upper rooms with open windows, and paneled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. Will you reign because you contend against your father Achaz? They shall not eat, and they shall not drink. It would have been better for you to do judgment and good justice; they have not known, they have not judged the judgment of the humble, nor the judgment of the poor. Is it not to ignore me? says the Lord. Behold, your eyes are not straight, nor is your heart good, but for your greed, and to shed innocent blood, and to wickedness and murder, to do these things. I have presented both editions in their entirety, so that both the Hebrew truth and the difficulty of the Vulgate edition can be more easily understood. This is a discourse against Jehoiakim, the son of King Josiah of Judah, about whom we spoke earlier, whom Neco Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, made ruler in place of his brother Jehoahaz, whom he took captive to Egypt. However, we read in the histories of both Kings and Chronicles (2 Kings 23-24, 2 Chronicles 36) that Jehoiakim reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years, and he reigned cruelly and became impious, and afterwards he died. Yet, the Scripture does not mention his burial, even though it is customary for the holy Scriptures to mention all the kings who died and were buried. But he specifically narrates about this dead and unburied man, about whom we will speak in the later parts. Therefore, the aforementioned king laments because he trusts in injustice and thinks it is his perpetual royal dignity. He makes for himself chambers and oppresses his friends, and he does not give them their due wages for their work, and he believes it is the eternal construction of his palace. Can you, the divine word says, reign forever because you desire to be compared to the lofty cedar, namely your father Josiah, the righteous king? Father, he says, both ate and drank, and enjoyed royal wealth, yet he did not offend God because he had riches, but he pleased Him because he administered justice and righteousness. And therefore, both in the present age and in the future, it went well with him, and will continue to do so. He judged the case of the poor and needy, and for their relief he heard them, and for his own good. But all these things happened to him prosperously because he knew me, says the Lord. But truly, O Joacim, your eyes turn towards greed, and you shed innocent blood, towards slander, and towards the path of evil deeds. However, according to the Septuagint, I cannot understand what meaning they have. For although the other parts somewhat agree with each other, that which is inferred: Will you reign because you strive against your father Achaz? for which in Hebrew it is written 'Araz', and here the word signifies a cedar, it is clear that it has no meaning. Also what follows: They shall not eat and they shall not drink, and the other things that are so scattered and confused among themselves, that they have no understanding without the truth of Hebrew reading. However, we can understand this place against the heretics in a mystical sense, who build for themselves a not great house, and not a very abundant Church, but a small one. However, they build not with righteousness and judgment, desiring to plunder what belongs to others. Where it is said: You have built for yourself a small house, with low-roofed chambers, which are surrounded by every wind of doctrine, and distinguished by windows: for they do not have a permanent structure, nor solid stability. And it is adorned, he says, with cedar. Indeed, they seem to have a most beautiful adornment; but they quickly rot and collapse in rains and storms of persecution. And they are painted with red lead. And they indeed participate in the suffering of the Lord, and they are stained with his blood; but they do not reign forever, because they strive and provoke to anger Araz, that is, their father cedar. For every heretic is born in the Church, but is expelled from the Church, and contends and fights against the parent. And what he brings in is understood to be the Body and Blood of the Savior, and other things similar to these. And he says that every error descends from this, namely, that they have ignored God, and do not have upright eyes, but their heart is inclined to greed so that they may plunder what belongs to others, and shed the blood of the deceived. This is indeed committing murder. The obscure things need to be discussed more extensively.

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Jeremiah 22:13

The apostle indicated the one who builds a house with righteousness when he said, “You are a field of God, a building of God.” But he also says that no one can lay another foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if anyone builds, and so on. Therefore, through the one who taught him, the believer has Christ Jesus as a foundation. And if any person builds well, it is with gold, the teachings of truth; silver, the saving word; precious stones, a structure built from virtues. And if anyone builds in an evil way by building what is bad for Jesus—I mean wood, hay and stubble—how is he not impious? It is for him that the threat comes: Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness! The one who makes a structure up high, yet not according to reason and truth of God, does not make the upper chambers in judgment. And similarly one can also view those who teach either a true or a falsely called knowledge. Paul builds the house, the church, with righteousness, he builds the upper chambers; Timothy and Luke and those such as them, in judgment.

Source: FRAGMENTS ON JEREMIAH 12

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Jeremiah 22:13

Sensual persons who dwell in vaulted houses and take delight in coffered silver ceilings do not build a house like this. As they despise plain silver, so do they despise a simple dwelling place. They add to the site of their homes. They add more and more. They join one house with another, one estate with another. They dig up the ground so that the earth itself gives way for their dwelling, and, like children of the earth, they are laid up within her womb and hidden within her flesh. Plainly it was of them that Jeremiah said, “Woe to them who build their house by injustice!” The person who builds with justice builds not on earth but in heaven.

Source: LETTER 80

[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 22:18-19

(Verse 18, 19.) Therefore, thus says the Lord to Joachim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah: They shall not mourn for him, woe to the brother and woe to the sister, they shall not lament for him, woe to the Lord and woe to the illustrious one. He shall be buried like a donkey, decomposed and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem. This, which we have put from Hebrew: they shall not mourn for him, woe to the brother and woe to the sister, is not found in the Septuagint. And it is specifically said against Joachim, king of Judah, and the riddle is opened, which before seemed hidden and ambiguous among the three brothers, so that it is not about Joachaz or Zedekiah, but specifically about Joachim, whom the Hebrew history narrates was killed by the bandits of the Chaldeans, Syrians, Ammonites, and Moabites. And in Malachi it is written that he died and was buried in silence (2 Kings 24). In the book of Chronicles we read that he was bound with chains and taken to Babylon (2 Chronicles 36): and nothing more is mentioned about him. It is said in a beautiful burial of an ass that he should be buried, which means in other words that he should be left unburied, that is, torn apart by beasts and birds. For this is the burial of an ass.

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah

[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 22:20-23

(Verse 20 and following) Ascend Lebanon and cry out, and in Bashan give forth your voice, and cry out to the passersby, for all your lovers are crushed. I spoke to you in your abundance, you said: I will not listen. This is your way from your youth, for you have not listened to my voice. The wind will pasture all your shepherds (or lovers), and your lovers (or friends) will go into captivity. And then you will be confounded and ashamed of all your wickedness. Which resides in Lebanon, and nests in cedars, how did you wail when pains came to you like the pains of a woman in labor? The metaphor of Lebanon and Bashan, regions and mountains beyond the Jordan, is directed to Jerusalem, which in vain relied on Egypt, or to King Joacim himself, who was reigning in Jerusalem at that time and had been appointed king by the Egyptians, that in vain she hoped for help from the Egyptians, and that they themselves would also be overcome by the Babylonian king and led into captivity (2 Kings 23). And he said, I have spoken to you, that is, God himself through the Prophets; or, the Prophets have spoken to you, that is, my Prophets; and in your abundance you said, I will not listen: he reproaches her for her pride, and for abusing the greatness of her wealth in contempt of God. And he narrates that not only at this time, but from the beginning when she was brought out of Egypt, she did not listen to the voice of God; therefore all her shepherds and leaders have been scattered here and there, and have submitted their necks to the captivity of Babylon. And it brings forth: You who dwell in Lebanon and nest in the cedars, it marks with a bruise the arrogance that had grown from the abundance of all things, and just as sudden pain and unexpected captivity come to a woman in childbirth. And what we have said: cry out to those passing by, and it is written in Hebrew Meabarim (), the Seventy translated it as "transmarine," Theodotion did likewise. Symmachus, on the other hand, translated it to mean that the voice of the Prophet should reach from Jerusalem to Mount Lebanon, and to Bashan.

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah

[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 22:24-27

(Verse 24 and following) I live, says the Lord: Even if Coniah the son of Joachim king of Judah were a signet on my right hand, I would still pluck him (or you) out. And I will give you into the hand of those seeking your life, and into the hand of those you fear their faces, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon (which is not found in the Septuagint), and into the hand of the Chaldeans. And I will send you (or cast you) and your mother who bore you into a foreign land where you were not born: and there you will die. And to the land (Al. to the land moreover), to which they lift up their soul in order to return, they shall not return there. Above, he had said, to the house of the king of Judah you speak these things: and then, go down to the house of the king of Judah: again: thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah, and in reverse order, after he spoke of Zedekiah, who was the last of the kings in Jerusalem, he returns to his brother Joachim, who reigned before him. With the fulfillment of this prophecy, now he speaks to the son of Joachim, the grandson of Josiah, king of Jerusalem, Jechoniah, who is also called by another name Joachin, who was captured by Nebuchadnezzar with his mother, princes and craftsmen, and many nobles, and was led into Chaldea, and there he died. Therefore, it is said that if a ring does not depart from the hand of the bearer, and it slips off the finger with difficulty: so it will be in my hand, Jechonias; however, I will uproot him and deliver him to the king of Babylon, and there he will die with his mother and all his allies, and he will not see the land of Judah, which he desires, anymore. Miserable Grunnius, who opened his mouth to slander holy men and taught his tongue to speak falsehood, he interpreted one book of Sextus Pythagoras, a very noble man, into Latin; and he divided it into two volumes and dared to publish it under the name of the holy Martyr Xystus, bishop of the city of Rome: in which book there is no mention of Christ, no mention of the Holy Spirit, no mention of God the Father, no mention of the Patriarchs, Prophets, and Apostles; and with his usual recklessness and madness, he named this book 'The Ring', which is read in many provinces, especially by those who preach atheism and immorality. Therefore, in the same way that the Lord threatens to throw Jeconiah like a ring from his hand and finger, I beg the reader to cast aside this nefarious book; and if he wishes, to read it not as a ecclesiastical volume, but like the other books of philosophers. In my commentaries and explanations, it is customary to present the various opinions of interpreters and mix such discourse: some say this, others think that, some feel this way. Both the wretched Grunnius himself, and after many years the disciples of Jovinian, have slandered me and continue to slander me, attributing their own opinions to other names, which I do out of goodwill so as not to appear to harm anyone specifically. Therefore, since benevolence has turned into slander, I now declare, both to those who are dead and to those who are alive and attempting to revive his heresy, that their teacher Origen refers this passage to Christ, whom, like a ring taken from the hand of God the Father, was sent into the land of captivity, into the valley of tears, and handed over to the cross. And he does not hesitate to mention this, as is evident from what follows: Earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: Write about this detestable, or barren, man, and the rest, to understand about the Lord of majesty. He writes this so that his disciples may not dare to deny it, in the fifth book of Stromata.

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Jeremiah 22:24-25

Since they did not imitate the piety of their ancestors though taking pride in their kinship with them—making much of Abraham, Isaac, Israel, David, Hezekiah and Josiah, men conspicuous for their virtue—for this reason the God of all rejects the arrogance of Jeconiah in these words: Even if he were a ring and were placed on my right hand, I would pull it off and hand it over to the enemy. Thus, let him not trust in his forebears’ virtue without emulating their virtue.

Source: ON JEREMIAH 5:22.24-25

[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 22:28

(Verse 28.) Is that man, Chonias (also known as Jechonias), like a broken and useless clay pot? Is he a vessel without any pleasure or usefulness? Why are he and his descendants rejected and thrown onto the ground that they do not know? Because of what we have said, Symmachus translated it as: Is he a vessel for trash, or worthless and discarded rubbish? In the Septuagint, there is nothing on this, but this is the only interpretation: Jechonias is dishonored, like a vessel in which there is no usefulness. And when this is said of Jechoniah, the son of Joachim, someone dares to refer it to the type of Christ; and from this, the Apostle says that the Lord Savior is the image of the invisible God (Colossians I), the firstborn of every creature, that is, wisdom, the Word, truth, life, and righteousness, he is called the ring that is thrown or pulled from the hand of the Lord and given to Nebuchadnezzar to rule. They were cast down, he says, he and his seed, and cast upon the unknown land: which no one doubts was done to Jechoniah. Jechonias is interpreted as the preparation of the Lord, in which in the present place the first syllable, that is, the name of the Lord, is taken away, and it is called Chonias, so that it is understood as prepared for destruction and perdition.

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah

[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Jeremiah 22:29-30

Someone who is in a state of ignorance is sinful and considered “earth and ashes.” Someone who is in a state of knowledge, being assimilated as far as possible to God, is already spiritual and thus is considered elect. Scripture calls the senseless and disobedient by the term “dirt,” which is clear from what Jeremiah the prophet says in reference to Joachim and his brothers: “Earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. Inscribe this man as an outcast.”

Source: STROMATEIS 4:26

[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 22:29-30

(Verse 29, 30.) Earth, earth, earth, listen to the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: Write down this man as childless, a man who will not prosper in his days. For there will not be a man from his seed who sits on the throne of David and has authority in Judah (or Judea). If I were to note every individual difference, how much the Septuagint may have omitted or changed, it would be lengthy, especially since a diligent reader can consider from both editions what has been changed, added, or subtracted. For in Hebrew it is written, Ariri, which in the first edition of Aquila means sterile, in the second, ἀναύξητον, that is, not increasing, Symmachus, empty, Septuagint and Theodotion, abominable and rejected. And the question arises, how can the prophecy stand, that from his offspring no one will be born who will sit on the throne of David, nor will there be a ruler anymore in Judah, when the Lord and Savior is born from his seed; concerning whose birth Gabriel speaks to Mary: Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He himself will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end (Luke 1:31-33). Therefore, we can say that what is missing in the Septuagint, namely, 'in his days there will be no prosperity or growth', is a question that has been debated by those who are ignorant. For the Seventy translated: Write down this man as a man who is rejected: because no man who descends from him will grow to sit upon the throne of David, a ruler forever in Judah, which is repeated twice in Hebrew; and those who initially wrote it, thinking it was added in the Greek books, removed it. Let us therefore respond that in the days of Jechoniah there will not be a man who will sit upon his throne; but after a long time a descendant of his will be born who will obtain his throne. However, it can also be solved in this way: A man and a human being will not indeed sit upon the throne of David, but God will sit, and his kingdom will not be earthly and short-lived, as David's was, but everlasting and heavenly, as Scripture says: He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end (Luke 1:32). Therefore, he was born of Joachim, who was the son of Jechoniah, who was the son of Salathiel, who was the son of Zerubbabel, and in this way it comes down to Christ. But in the days of Joachim, a son did not succeed him as king, as he himself had succeeded his father, but he and Salathiel and Zerubbabel were in captivity, and until Christ, no one obtained royal power. However, this happened because it is written in Hebrew: in his days and in his time, there will be no man who sits on the throne of David. For all were captives, and no one from the lineage of David thereafter held the principate in the land of Judaea. Hence, Josephus reports that the priestly line and tribe of Levi were leaders, succeeded by Herod Antipater, a proselyte and son, and later under Vespasian, the kingdom of this line, indeed the image of the empire, was utterly destroyed.

Source: Commentary on Jeremiah