Theodoret of Cyrus

In his own words on Jeremiah

• Jeremiah 1:2

  King Josiah's father was Amon, an impious man. His grandfather was Manasseh, who had instructed Josiah's father in his impiety. Josiah, on the contrary, went the exact opposite of them, siding with the party of the godly. His children, however, showed no interest in their father's virtue and imitated their forefathers' godlessness. Knowing this in advance, therefore, the God of all elected the prophet in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign and commanded him to foretell the calamities that would befall both city and people.

  ON JEREMIAH 1. ARGUMENT

• Jeremiah 1:5

  God's choice of Jeremiah was not without basis: knowledge preceded it. Notice it says that God had knowledge and then he consecrated, for he knows everything before it happens. Now, he employed the word consecrated, meaning "he appointed." Then God also mentions the task for which he selected him: "I appointed you as prophet to the nations." Thus, he prophesies not only concerning the fortunes of the Jews but also the other nations. "I replied, O Lord and Master that you are, see, I do not know how to speak, because I am a child." The prophet recognized the one addressing him. This is why he called him by a title having to do with lordship. When the mighty Moses was once speaking, remember, and wanted to learn the divine name, the Lord said, "I am the one who is." He imitates Moses' timidity by saying youth is not up to prophesying. The Lord, however, urges him not to put forward the excuse of youthfulness but to do as he is told.

  ON JEREMIAH 1:1.4-6

• Jeremiah 1:13

  The blessed Jeremiah also saw a boiling pot tilted away from the north. So he means that Manasseh will recover its own land, Ephraim regain its former power and Judah be renamed king of all, whereas the Moabites will be subject to them, observing their invincible strength—and not only they but also Edomites and foreigners.

  COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 60:6

• Jeremiah 1:16

  He emphasizes the justice of what has been done by adding, "I shall pronounce my judgment against them because of all their wickedness in forsaking me. They sacrificed to foreign gods and worshiped the works of their hands." What could be more foolish than this kind of godlessness? What could be more righteous than retribution? Consider that they, for their part, forsook their own maker and turned things of their own making into gods. He, by contrast, after demonstrating his patient mercy for such a long time, finally deprived them of his characteristic grace. Once deprived of it, they became enslaved to unholy people.

  ON JEREMIAH 1:1.16

• Jeremiah 2:13

  Now, here he clearly reveals to us the mystery of the holy Trinity: he called the only-begotten Word of God a fountain of life. This is the name, too, remember, God personally gave himself through the prophet Jeremiah: "They have forsaken me, a fountain of living water, taken their leave and dug for themselves cracked cisterns incapable of holding water."

  COMMENTARY ON PSALM 36:6

• Jeremiah 2:21-22

  Now, those who were called children and were enrolled in the ranks of children made themselves foreign by proving ungrateful for favors done, limping in respect of the faith and abandoning the path of godliness. Thus God said through the prophet Jeremiah, "How did you turn into bitterness to me, a foreign vine, whereas I planted every vine to be genuine and fruitful?"

  COMMENTARY ON PSALM 18:19

• Jeremiah 3:6

  Those who place themselves far from your care and choose to serve idols will reap the destructive fruit of defection. He calls idolatry infidelity here. God likewise says also through Jeremiah, "She went up every high hill and under every green tree and was unfaithful there. I said, after all this infidelity of hers, 'Return unto me,' and she did not return." Again, "She committed adultery with tree and stone," meaning, "Leaving me, her spouse, she served false gods." Accordingly, here too he called the worship of idols infidelity.

  COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 73:12

• Jeremiah 3:7

  Those who place themselves far from your care and choose to serve idols will reap the destructive fruit of defection. He calls idolatry infidelity here. God likewise says also through Jeremiah, "She went up every high hill and under every green tree and was unfaithful there. I said, after all this infidelity of hers, 'Return unto me,' and she did not return." Again, "She committed adultery with tree and stone," meaning, "Leaving me, her spouse, she served false gods." Accordingly, here too he called the worship of idols infidelity.

  COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 73:12

• Jeremiah 3:9

  Those who place themselves far from your care and choose to serve idols will reap the destructive fruit of defection. He calls idolatry infidelity here. God likewise says also through Jeremiah, "She went up every high hill and under every green tree and was unfaithful there. I said, after all this infidelity of hers, 'Return unto me,' and she did not return." Again, "She committed adultery with tree and stone," meaning, "Leaving me, her spouse, she served false gods." Accordingly, here too he called the worship of idols infidelity.

  COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 73:12

• Jeremiah 4:2

  "If you swear, 'The Lord lives,' in truth, in justice and in righteousness." In the sacred Gospels, by contrast, he made more perfect prescriptions than these: "It was said to the ancients, You shall not swear falsely: you shall discharge your oaths to the Lord. But I tell you, do not swear at all." He bids Jews, being weak as they are, to swear by him so that through the habit of swearing they may learn to adore him alone. He also promises that if this is done, "nations will be blessed through him and through him will praise God in Jerusalem." In other words, when they practiced true worship of God, many of the neighboring peoples would learn about godliness.

  ON JEREMIAH 1:4.2

• Jeremiah 4:4

  He clearly brought out that the visible circumcision is a type of the invisible, and that if there is circumcision within, bodily circumcision is unnecessary. Taking a lead from this text, the divine apostle wrote to the Romans, "A person is not a Jew, you see, who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision what is outward, in the flesh; rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, in spirit and not in letter. That person's commendation comes not from people but from God."

  ON JEREMIAH 1:4.4

• Jeremiah 5:4

  "Well-off" refers to the priests and the teachers of the law; "poor" refers to the rest, insofar as they did not possess the wealth of divine knowledge. Yet he accuses both of lawlessness, proceeding in this way, "They all alike broke the yoke, they snapped the bonds." It was not without purpose the prophet said this. Instead, since the Lord promised lovingkindness, provided he found someone "doing justice and seeking faith," he explains that though he went looking, as he was commanded to do, he found they had all broken the yoke of the law.

  ON JEREMIAH 2:5.4-5

• Jeremiah 6:16

  The holy prophets might themselves be considered as "many ways"; our Lord, however, is the truly good way. In fact, listen to his words, "I am the way, the truth and the life." But each of the prophetic ways leads to this way, Moses the lawgiver hinting at this in his words, "The Lord our God will raise up for you from among your brothers a prophet like me." David, king and prophet, and also Isaiah, Micah, Ezekiel and each of the prophets give a glimpse of this way. And as there is one way leading to the biggest cities that we are accustomed to call kingly and royal—whereas some paths do conduct people from both town and country to this one way—so there is one way leading to the Father, the only-begotten Son of God, while the blessed prophets lead people to this one way who choose to travel by the particular path they represent. The prophetic word, therefore, bids Jews to search out the prophetic ways and through them to discover the good way and travel in it.

  ON JEREMIAH 2:6.16

• Jeremiah 6:17-18

  Jeremiah refers to their guides by the term "shepherds," not simply those accorded spiritual guidance but also kings and rulers who have accepted the divine message. This is the way the divine apostles Barnabas and Paul also behaved. When they entered a certain synagogue, they principally engaged the Jews in discussion. But when they perceived their unbelief, they said, "It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first, but since you resist it and pass judgment on yourselves as unworthy of eternal life, we turn to the nations, the Lord having given us this direction. I have placed you as a light for the nations to bring salvation to the ends of the earth." This is where this prophecy finds its fulfillment.

  ON JEREMIAH 2:6.18

• Jeremiah 7:21-22

  It is made clear also from this that the obsolete prescriptions of the law had been imposed because of Israel's limitations. Since they had learned in Egypt how to sacrifice to idols, he wanted to separate them from those practices—in all the prophets he rejects them, remember—yet out of consideration for their limitations he utters this remark, "Eat flesh," that is, Although I reject the sacrifices, I shall not oppose your partaking of flesh. After all, he declares in the law that those wishing to partake of flesh in their own cities and towns should "perform the sacrifice, but pour out the blood on the ground and then partake of the sacrifice," not as though they were offering it as a sacrifice but as ordinary flesh, as part of the prohibition imposed on performing sacred rites outside the designated place.

  ON JEREMIAH 2:7.21-23

• Jeremiah 9:3

  They were fabricating deceit, engaging in blackmail, leveling false accusations against neighbors. For this is what he says, "Deceit, not faith, prevails over the land, for they proceed from evil to evil." Because of this he exposes their evil, which never changes as they move "from evil to evil," immediately adding the reason they neglect the divine law: because "they do not know me, says the Lord."

  ON JEREMIAH 3:9

• Jeremiah 9:21-22

  By "windows" he refers to the error of their thinking: through them they gave entrance to the error and the blow inflicted by it. You would not be wide of the mark to call the body's senses "windows"—sight, taste, smell, hearing and touch. Both life and death can enter through these. For example, the person who looks with restraint reaps life, while the one looking immoderately gains death. The truthful tongue procures salvation for the soul, while the lying one brings about ruin; and likewise with the rest, as you can easily learn.

  ON JEREMIAH 3:9.21

• Jeremiah 9:25-26

  The ancient Scriptures therefore teach the benefit of spiritual circumcision and that bodily circumcision makes no difference. For it is not the Gentiles who are accused of being uncircumcised but the Jews, who were physically circumcised but whose heart was uncircumcised.

  ON JEREMIAH 3:9

• Jeremiah 10:21

  He refers to the kings and priests as [stupid] shepherds because they were the guardians of this wandering people.

  On JEREMIAH 3:10

• Jeremiah 10:23

  It is clear, therefore, from what was said at first and what was added, that the verse "I know, Lord, that the people's way is not their own," neither subjects our free will to nature's enslavement nor submits our affairs to an ordained necessity. Instead, it expressly teaches us that the Lord God keeps his hand on the tiller of the universe and wisely directs it. He provides blessings but also corrects with justice whenever he perceives that despite his extended long-suffering we persist in evildoing.

  ON JEREMIAH 3:10.23-25

• Jeremiah 10:24

  The inspired author knows the usefulness of discipline and understands that the Lord is exercising loving-kindness in applying it to human beings. This is the reason he asks to have a share in it. God exercises goodness in applying correction, and correction produces knowledge. Likewise the prophet Jeremiah begs, "Correct us, O Lord, but in just measure, not in anger, lest you make us few." Thus, a sick person who longs for health goes in search of a cure through cutting by steel and burning.

  COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 119:34

• Jeremiah 11:8

  When he was giving the law, he added this to the law, for he said, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things written in the book of the law, to do them," and he also promises there and again here how he will deem worthy of all care those who keep the divine commandments. And he reminds them also of the things spoken to their ancestors and of their ancestors' disobedience. For they turned their ear away, he says, and every one went in the direction of his own evil heart. And he says here "direction" not as meaning "uprightness" but rather the evil that arises immediately in their malice. For they have not turned from this evil but have journeyed constantly in it. "And I brought on them all the words of this covenant that I commanded them to do, and yet they did not do." He gave them over to noteworthy punishments; sometimes they served the Ammonites, other times the Moabites and still other times other foreigners.…The phrase "a band has been found" means "they have banded themselves together and joined themselves with their ancestors and they travel down the road of their ancestors' wickedness." He indicates as much also through the things that are brought against them. "And behold, they go after foreign gods, in order to serve them." They do these things in transgression of the covenant that was given to them. For this reason I will surround them with misfortunes of all kinds, and those who weep I will not deem worthy to be spared. They will not even enjoy any help from the gods who are revered by them.

  ON JEREMIAH 3:11

• Jeremiah 11:20

  There was a reason that God allowed the prophet to be tested by troubles. Since Jeremiah had often tried to offer intercession for the transgressors—in his desire to convince Jeremiah that God was not compassionate but the harsh treasury of goodness—he allowed the rebellion to occur. In his deep grief, however, Jeremiah implores God to judge justly and exact penalties from the unholy. The Lord accepts his petition, gives a reply, threatens punishment and notes that some will be slaughtered in war and others destroyed by famine.

  ON JEREMIAH 3:11.20

• Jeremiah 12:9-10

  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."

  ON JEREMIAH 3:12

• Jeremiah 12:15

  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.

  ON JEREMIAH 3:12

• Jeremiah 12:16-17

  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."

  ON JEREMIAH 3:12

• Jeremiah 13:12

  And showing the unchangeable nature of his wrath, God introduced these words: "I will not yearn after them, and I will not spare them, and I will not have pity on them because of their destruction," rather than "[I will not have pity on] their destruction." Then he calls their punishment drunkenness since those who fall into great misfortunes resemble those who are intoxicated inasmuch as they are not able even to mourn because they are suffering so much.

  ON JEREMIAH 3:13

• Jeremiah 13:26-27

  "After committing many transgressions," he says, "you were not prepared to have recourse to repentance. I shall no longer demonstrate longsuffering. Instead, I will inflict punishment." It is better, therefore, to live according to the divine laws. But since we who are human will most likely fall at some point, we ought to have recourse to the remedies of repentance, and through them placate the judge and escape the experience of the punishments he threatens. May we for our part continue to not experience them, thanks to the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

  ON JEREMIAH 3:13.27

• Jeremiah 14:18

  And blessed Daniel the prophet, the divine Ezekiel (who was both prophet and priest) and many other priests in addition to them shared in these misfortunes. For God provided for those profane exiles and sent along also prophets that could be pedagogues and teachers so that the exiles might not incline entirely to godlessness.

  ON JEREMIAH 4:14

• Jeremiah 15:4

  He forecasts what would happen after the return, what would happen to them under the Macedonians and the destruction that would be inflicted on them by the Romans. He brings out that the first fate would happen to them owing to the impiety committed by Manasseh. Yet he is not an unjust judge, nor does he require an account of them for others' faults. He submits them to the evils prophesied as sharers in impiety and enthusiastic supporters of their wicked king.

  ON JEREMIAH 4:15.4

• Jeremiah 17:1

  Nothing is more potent than the conscience: letters inscribed on it are indelible. I mean, even if everyone mounted a case to his or her conscience supported by favorable evidence, the conscience itself cannot tolerate the wickedness of falsehood. It is pricked and goaded and delivers its verdict incorruptibly. He says this here, too: The facts accuse you, and the conscience joins in testimony against you. He reminds them also of the groves, the altars and what was done on them, and he threatens to give to the enemy all their wealth along with the idols.

  ON JEREMIAH 4:17.1-3

• Jeremiah 18:7-8

  Do not despair of salvation, God is saying. Even if I condemn a nation and threaten ultimate punishment, if I see their repentance, I extend mercy instead of inflicting punishment. If I promise an abundance of blessings, but they scorn me and embrace wickedness, I shall not fulfill the promise of blessings. Knowing this, then, do not despair of better things, but apply repentance and reap salvation.

  ON JEREMIAH 4:18.7-8

• 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.

  ON JEREMIAH 5:22

• 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.

  ON JEREMIAH 5:22.24-25

• Jeremiah 23:5-6

  These things were fulfilled according to the type in the case of Zerubbabel and Jeshua, the son of Jozadak. However, this prophecy was not altogether fulfilled, for many would rise up against them—not only their neighbors but also later on the Macedonians and finally the Romans. But the prophecy proclaims the everlasting nature of grace. Therefore, it is clear that these things were not fulfilled during their lifetimes but during the lifetimes of the apostles, for they alone had the gift of the Holy Spirit.… The Jews shamelessly endeavor to apply this to Zerubbabel. But they need to understand that he was no king—just a popular leader—and he was not called Jozadak. Neither is the meaning of the name appropriate to him, the word meaning "the Lord our righteousness" or, in the Syriac rendering, "Lord, make us righteous"—neither of which applies to Zerubbabel. Since, however, he was a type of Christ the Lord and brought back the captives from Babylon to Judah, just as the Lord transferred those enslaved by the devil to truth, anyone applying this to him in the manner of a type would do nothing beyond reason. It is necessary that we understand, however, that it is the Lord Jesus Christ, a descendant of David according to the flesh, who is proclaimed by the prophets as "the righteous dawn," "the righteous king" and "the Lord of righteousness."

  ON JEREMIAH 5:23.5-6

• Jeremiah 23:24

  If the sun, being corporeal, for it is visible and susceptible to disintegration, cannot be polluted when it passes through corpses, putrid mud and many other evil-smelling substances, much more impervious to such pollution is the maker of the sun, the creator of the universe, the incorporeal one, the invisible, the unchangeable, the one who always remains the same. And that those things are so the following reflection will bear out. We both assert and believe that his nature is infinite, for we have heard him exclaim: "Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? says the Lord."

  ON DIVINE PROVIDENCE 10:16-17

• Jeremiah 25:3-7

  He mentions the great number of years in order to emphasize God's long-suffering in putting up with unbelievers for so long. I sent my servants the prophets to you, he says. I urged you to abandon the road to ruin and travel by the other road that produces life. I, in fact, promised you blessings for doing this. But you did not listen, and instead you chose the worship of idols. And to censure the purpose of this unbelief he went on, "So that you might provoke me by the works of your own hands to your own misfortune." To provoke me, you committed those things, but then you also reaped their harmful effects then as well.

  ON JEREMIAH 6:25.3-7

• Jeremiah 25:15

  He gives the name drinking cup to punishment, as also in another psalm, "In the hand of the Lord there is a cup of wine, full of a strong mixture," and a little later, "all the sinners of the earth will drink it." This drinking cup blessed Jeremiah was ordered to offer to the nations.

  COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 11:4

• Jeremiah 25:15-18

  And he calls God's punishment the "cup of unmixed wine." … By "drinking" and "vomiting" Jeremiah implies they have had enough, and in their "raving," he alludes to the terrible nature of their punishment. Then the prophet further relates how Jerusalem and the cities that paid tribute to it, along with their kings and rulers, were made to drink this cup.

  ON JEREMIAH 6:25

• Jeremiah 26:2-3

  He did not use the word perhaps out of ignorance, aware as he was of their disobedience. Instead, he expressed such uncertainty to avoid their taking note of the divine sentence and despairing of salvation. It resembles also what was said by Ezekiel, "If then they hear, if then they see." In other words, it was not a result of ignorance. It was, rather, to prevent their saying, He foretold our disobedience, and he is trustworthy, so how is it possible for us to be changed? Thus, in the present words he emphasizes that it is possible to undergo a change in behavior, if they are willing.

  ON JEREMIAH 6:26.3

• Jeremiah 30:8-9

  "I shall raise up David their king for them." Christ the Lord brought fulfillment to the prophecy. He sprang from David according to the flesh, and he no longer shepherds only Israel but all the nations. The prophecy had a kind of outcome by way of shadow and type in the time of Zerubbabel as well.

  ON JEREMIAH 7:30

• Jeremiah 31:15

  Ramah belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, and the tomb of Rachel is in the hippodrome of Chaphratha on the way to Ephrath. While the prophecy had its fulfillment in the time of Herod the Great, who did away with the babies in the hope of doing away at the same time with the newborn Savior, the prophet places it here in the context of the promise of good things so as to emphasize that the birth of our Lord and Savior according to the flesh was the real good and the summit of salvation, though on account of it the babies met that unjust end.

  ON JEREMIAH 7:31.15

• Jeremiah 31:29-30

  It is similarly impossible, he says, for children to be called to account for ancestral sins, because I promise to children the greatest blessings even when their parents sin.

  ON JEREMIAH 7:31

• Jeremiah 31:31

  He conveyed to us, of course, many prophecies on the same point: first, that there is one Lawgiver for the two covenants; then, the incompleteness of the former covenant, since there would be no need for the second one if the former had been adequate.

  ON JEREMIAH 7:31-32

• Jeremiah 31:34

  The future life achieves the fulfillment of these words. In that life we shall no longer need instruction from one another, since everything will be patently obvious. Sufferings will be at an end, bodies will be incorruptible, souls will be immune to change. Now it is customary with the divine Scripture to mix prophecies together. It connects prophecies about his repeated call to Israel with those about the captivity, and the Lord in the sacred Gospels cites at the one time the sayings about Jerusalem and those about the consummation.

  ON JEREMIAH 7:31

• Jeremiah 33:18

  We see the fulfillment of this prophecy as well. When the new covenant was given, in keeping with the divine promise, the priesthood was also given according to the order of Melchizedek, and those to whom it was promised offer the spiritual sacrifice to God continually.

  ON JEREMIAH 7:33.18

• Jeremiah 33:20-21

  As it is impossible for day to become night, so it is impossible for the Davidic monarchy to be destroyed. The fulfillment of this prophecy is also clear: Christ, who is of David according to the flesh, does not occupy the throne here below. He does, however, govern all things as he sits next to the Father.

  ON JEREMIAH 7:33.18

• Jeremiah 33:22

  This is precisely what he also says about the priests and the Levites, noting that their line will be compared with the host of heaven and the sand of the sea. The facts confirm what is said: the whole land and sea are full of high priests and the deacons performing the liturgy of the Levites.

  ON JEREMIAH 7:33.18

• Jeremiah 35:6-7

  Two things are worth marveling at: the law given by the father and the obedience rendered by the children and descendants. For they loved a life free from care and possessions and—what is most unexpected—put little stock in their property, even though they had children, because they made themselves dependent on the divine hope as far as they were concerned. But if these people embraced the consummate philosophy during the time of the law (which had no perfection because of the weakness of those who were given the law), what sort of people would they have been if they had heard the law of the gospel?

  ON JEREMIAH 7:35.6-7

• Jeremiah 35:14-17

  The God of all commands the prophet to tell all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "These people refuse to drink wine because they keep the commandment of their father, but you do not conduct yourselves according to my laws, although you receive the teachings of the prophets day and night. For this reason, I will bring on you all kinds of calamities, but the best of good things are promised to the offspring of Rechab, who keep the command of their father."

  ON JEREMIAH 7:35.6-7

• Jeremiah 36:23

  The God of all orders Jeremiah to write the former words in another book. The sheet of paper was burned, but the divine law remained unharmed. So also when the body assumed by the Word suffered, the Word remained free from suffering.

  ON JEREMIAH 7:36

• Jeremiah 37:19-20

  Jeremiah said, "Now that matters have proven the truthfulness of my prophecy and the falsehood of your prophets, you must now judge rightly and punish those who lied, not him who warned you of the truth beforehand." Then he asked to be released from the house of the scribe.

  ON JEREMIAH 8:37

• Jeremiah 38:17

  He had often spoken these things previously. We must investigate why in the world he promises safety to those who go out of the city but threatens destruction to those who do not go out. When Nebuchadnezzar had elevated Zedekiah to the kingship, the latter had sworn an oath to him that he would pay tribute and maintain a favorable disposition to the one who had appointed him. But when a short time had passed, he violated the terms of the agreement and both did not pay the tribute and appealed to Egypt for help. Since he had taken these oaths not by some idols lacking any souls but by the Creator of all, and yet he had dared to violate them, the Lord God then ordered him to go out to the Chaldeans and in this way to render service for his perjury.

  ON JEREMIAH 8:38

• Jeremiah 39:12

  Both Nebuchadnezzar the king and Ebedmelech the Ethiopian increased the condemnation of the Jews. Although they were foreigners, they respected the prophet, but the Jews (who had been raised on the words of the prophets) did not want to pay attention to the divine words, but they subjected the prophets to punishments of every kind. The promise of God surely obtained its fulfillment. When God appointed him a prophet, he promised to make him irresistible and like an iron pillar and a bronze wall because on the one hand they would wage war against him but on the other hand they would not prevail. Nebuzaradan and all the company of rulers summoned Jeremiah from the prison and handed him over to Gedaliah, whom he had ordered to rule over the remnant in Judah. And the prophet thought that it was worth noting that the things spoken beforehand by God concerning Ebedmelech were fulfilled. For with him, nothing is uncared for or lacking reward.

  ON JEREMIAH 8:39

• Jeremiah 40:3

  And here it is clear that God chose Israel from the beginning as a kindness to the other nations. For the miracles that took place because of them amazed all and clearly taught that their God alone was the true God. And again their misfortunes accused them of their wickedness and proclaimed the righteous verdict of God. Thus, for example, Nebuzaradan said that the Jews deservedly suffered punishment and God had acted justly.

  ON JEREMIAH 8:40

• Jeremiah 42:2

  Their words are full of piety but do not agree with their actions. When ten days had passed, the prophet obtained his reply. But I think that the delay of the response was for the benefit of those who had made the request, so that they might know how God barely received the supplication of the prophet. Accordingly, the prophet says that God had ordered for them to stay in that land. He says, "I will deem you worthy of all care."

  ON JEREMIAH 8:42

• Jeremiah 43:13

  The city had two names. It was called both On and Heliopolis. Exodus also taught this, for it says that the children of Israel built cities for Pharaoh: Pithom, Raamses and On, which is Heliopolis. God calls Nebuchadnezzar his servant, not because he is a servant in appearance or disposition but because he is a servant by nature: creation is the servant of the Creator. At the same time he teaches that Nebuchadnezzar does these things because God permits him to.

  ON JEREMIAH 8:43

• Jeremiah 44:21-22

  He reminds them (as they have it fresh in their memory) of all the evils perpetuated by their ancestors and by their kings and mighty people, and he reminds them of the misfortunes of all kinds brought to bear against them. And he threatens them, calling himself the Lord of hosts and the God of Israel, so that they might hear the greatness of his authority and learn of his care for their ancestors and so that they might show reverence and fear.

  ON JEREMIAH 8:44

• Jeremiah 44:21-22

  But none of these things struck fear in these wretched, no, three-times wretched individuals, but they all clamored—men and women alike, but especially the Babylonians—"We cannot endure your words." What is even worse than this is that, although they thought that these words were divine, they openly contradicted them.

  ON JEREMIAH 8:44

• Jeremiah 45:2

  The Lord comforts Baruch, who was serving the prophet, writing the oracles, complaining about the hardships and feeling vexed. He commands him to bear nobly his life full of pain. He says, "If I am now uprooting, cutting off and handing over to all sorts of punishments all the people whom I led out of Egypt and planted in this land, are you distraught because you alone are not spending your life in tranquility? But you should not do this. I will still take care of you, and, when I bring punishment on them, I will bring you comfort. And wherever you live, you will have my care."

  ON JEREMIAH 8:45