Jeremiah
Verse 1. Israel. The ten tribes returned as well as Juda, and so forth Calmet.—They were more ready to receive Christ than the other two tribes. Matthew 13. and so forth Worthington.
EXPLANATIONS
Jeremiah 31
Historical chapter commentary
Jeremiah
Verse 2. Desert. From which the former inhabitants had been driven, (4 Kennicott. 17:6. 24. Calmet.) or, as those under Moses were favoured, ( Bible.) so shall the captives. Grot.—Septuagint “I found him warm,” (θερμον, means also a lupin, which has misled the old Latin interpreters. Saint Jerome) murdered “in the desert, with those slain by the sword. Go, and destroy not Israel.” Bible.
Jeremiah
Verse 3. Afar. He has seemed to despise me, (Saint Jerome) or he has spoken to my ancestors. Calmet.—Chal. He has “manifested himself long ago to our fathers. Prophet, tell them I have,” and so forth Psalms 35:11 and 108:11. Calmet.
Jeremiah
Verse 5. Samaria. Its wine was famous. Judges 9:27. Jos. Bel. iii. 2.—Time, three years being elapsed. Leviticus 19:35. Calmet.—Prot. “plant, and shall eat (marg. profane) them as common things.” They shall not be too greedy, ( Bible.) but shall have leisure to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Calmet.
Jeremiah
Verse 6. Watchmen. Some were stationed on eminences to observe the first appearances of the moon, ( Calmet.) which was a sort of festival. Bible.
Jeremiah
Verse 7. Head. Rejoice over Babylon.—Save. Hebrew Hoshang, “I beg,” was usually added; and this acclamation is used by the Church.
Jeremiah
Verse 8. Together. All shall hasten, and there shall be no impediment. Isaiah 35:5.
Jeremiah
Verse 9. Shall, or “came” into captivity. Baruch 6:6. Psalms 125:6. Isaiah 66:20.—Way. They shall find every accommodation, and plenty of water. Isaiah 35:7 and 49:10.—Born. Chal. “beloved.” I will treat the ten tribes as well as Juda. Christ inebriates his disciples with his graces. Calmet.—Ephraim shall be treated with all the love and attention shewn to the first-born. Worthington.
Jeremiah
Verse 12. Sion. There shall be no farther schism or idolatry among them.—No more, if they prove faithful. This was not the case.
Jeremiah
Verse 14. Fatness. Abundant crops secured them more plentiful tythes, as long as the people preserved their religion. Bible.—No nation had more priests, or better provided for. Calmet.
Jeremiah
Verse 15. High. Lit. “high places.” Hebrew Rama. Bible.—There was a city of this name near Bethlehem, where Rachel was buried. Benjamin was her son, and was conducted by this road to Babylon. Chal. Grot. Tirinus.—Ephraim and Manasses were also her grandchildren, and she may bewail their captivity by personification. S. Mat. (2:18) shews that this prediction was more fully accomplished when the innocents were slain. The same passage may allude to different events. Calmet.—All the people of God, both of the ten and of the two tribes, bewailed their captivity, and the mothers lamented for those slain near Bethlehem. Worthington.
Jeremiah
Verse 16. Reward. A time fixed for thy tears being dried up. Isaiah 16:14 and 40:10.
Jeremiah
Verse 18. I was. Chal. Theodoret, and Saint John Chrysostom have “not.” But chastisement produced a salutary effect upon the ten tribes. Osee 6:1 and 14:3.—Convert. Bring me back from captivity and from my evil ways. This must be attributed to grace. Calmet.—We cannot repent without it. Saint Jerome—Da quod jubes. Saint Augustine Conf. x. 19. and 31. and 37.—God’s grace is the principal cause of justification. Man’s co-operation is the secondary cause. Worthington.
Jeremiah
Verse 19. Thigh, through grief. Femur mœrenti plangere dextrâ. Metam. xi.—Cyrus struck his thigh, mounted his horse, and went to attend the funeral of Abradates. Xen. vii.—So did Achilles for Patroclus. Il. xvi.—Youth, being seduced by Jeroboam.
Jeremiah
Verse 20. I spoke. Hebrew “my word is in him,” and he is docile to my instructions.
Jeremiah
Verse 21. Tower, to bewail thy past follies; or signals to know the way, or tombs for thy beloved.
Jeremiah
Verse 22. Daughter. Bury thy dead, and delay thy return no longer. The Israelites did not soon make use of the leave granted by Cyrus. Calmet.—Man. Hebrew “a hero.” Tirinus.—The fathers generally explain this of the incarnation. Calmet.—Christ had the perfect use of reason in the virgin’s womb. Bible.—He was the brightness of his Father’s glory. Hebrews 1:3. Even some ancient Jews apply this to the Messias. Galatin. 6:14. But the moderns understand that women would offer themselves in marriage; the times would be so happy. This was not so unusual in countries where polygamy prevailed. Ruth 3:9. Isaiah 4:1. Song of Songs 8:1. Calmet.—Hence this is hardly the meaning; for God promises something new. Bible.—“The Lord hat created a new thing in a woman.” Aquila.—Symmachus agrees nearly with the Septuagint “because the Lord has created thee by salvation a new plantation. Men shall go about in thy salvation.” This “might be explained, if it were not sacrilegious to argue respecting God’s word by human sense,” says S. Jerom; though this censure of “the Vulgate” (Sept.) seems rather harsh. He complains here of his copy. Theodoret explains it of the apostles going through the world to spread the gospel. Bible.—Behold whence thy happiness must come, ( Menochius.) O thou who hast so long proved faithless, going astray after many lovers. Bible.—Christ, in his mother’s womb, was in stature small, but a perfect man ( Worthington.) in the use of reason, and so forth Bible.
Jeremiah
Verse 23. Bless thee. Thus the captives speak in rapture at their return.
Jeremiah
Verse 24. Together. Jerusalem shall be large enough to contain all, at the great festivals.
Jeremiah
Verse 26. To me. Thus Jeremias concludes his prediction with joy. Calmet.
Jeremiah
Verse 27. Men. They shall increase exceedingly by my blessing. Bible.—Beasts were the source of their riches. Hence pecunia is derived from pecus. Worthington.
Jeremiah
Verse 29. Edge. Such observations had been too often made. Ezekiel 18:12. Bible.—Henceforward you shall not suffer for the faults of Achab, Manasses, and so forth Each one shall bear his own burden. The captivity has been like a deluge, cleaning all away. Calmet.
Jeremiah
Verse 31. Covenant. That made with the captives was not such. Their covenant is grown old, and at an end, as Saint Paul shews. Hebrews 8:8. They were not indeed divided, as they had been. Ezekiel 37:16.
Jeremiah
Verse 32. Dominion. As a husband, (Hebrew Calmet.) or “Lord.” Bible.—“I despised them.” Septuagint Hebrews 8.
Jeremiah
Verse 33. Heart. They were more docile after their return: yet still their service was very imperfect and forced. How many false traditions were received, at the coming of Christ! This of course, regards his disciples.
Jeremiah
Verse 34. Lord. Christ himself came to instruct mankind. The true God was better known than ever, even by the illiterate. Yet God requires us to have recourse to men, in order to know his truths, as Saint Paul was sent to Hananias, and the eunuch to Philip. Bible.—The apostles were enlightened by the Holy Ghost, (John 6:45. Saint Augustine de Spir. Calmet.) who still guides the flock by his pastors. The private spirit is too fanatical and delusive. Bible.—The most ignorant shall easily become acquainted with the truths of salvation. External preaching is requisite, though of little use unless grace touch the mind and the heart. Tirinus.—All will hear successively, ( Bible.) or embrace the gospel at the same time, for several years before the last day. Houbig. pref. in Prop. 356. Isaiah 11:9 and 45:23. Zephaniah 3:9. and so forth Bible.
Jeremiah
Verse 36. Ever. Like the Chanaanites and Ephraim during the captivity. Isaiah 7:8. God restored the latter. Yet they are again dispersed from above 17 centuries, so that this perpetuity, which shall equal the world’s duration, belongs to the Church. Calmet.—Israel remains, not in the incredulous Jews, but in those who with the apostles embraced and propagated the faith of Christ. Saint Jerome Worthington.
Jeremiah
Verse 37. Out, experimentally, and not by philosophical hypotheses, which were little known in the days of Jeremias. Calmet.—Septuagint “if it be made lower.” Bible.—This is impossible; so it is that I should abandon Israel. Theodor.—All was not faithless. Calmet.—The Israel of God embraced the gospel. Bible.
Jeremiah
Verse 38. Come, is only in the margin of the Hebrew, but is found properly in some MSS. Kennicott.—Corner. On the south, opposite to the former. 2 Ezra 3:1.
Jeremiah
Verse 40. Valley of Hinnom, or Topheth, (Calmet. 7:32 and 19:6) where Cedron flowed. Zechariah 14:4. Calmet.—The city was much enlarged on this side, under the Machabees. Jos. Bel. vi. 6.—Ever. Yet the temple was utterly destroyed by the Romans, so that we must explain this of the Catholic Church, founded on a rock, and proof against the gates of hell, and all the malice of heretics and persecutors. Matthew 16:18. Calmet.