Synopsis of the Chapter
Jeremiah, because he prophesies in the temple the destruction thereof, is seized and made a defendant on a capital charge; but he is rescued by Ahikam.
Verse 2 ¶
2. TO ALL THE CITIES — to the men of all the cities of Judah, who come to Jerusalem to the temple, to worship and serve God there.
Verse 3 ¶
3. AND LET ME REPENT OF THE EVIL — that I may revoke the sentence of evil and vengeance decreed against them: see chapter 18, verse 8.
Verse 5 ¶
5. RISING IN THE NIGHT — promptly and vigilantly, as one who rises in the night. It is a catachresis: see what was said at chapter 25, verses 3 and 4.
Verse 6 ¶
6. I WILL MAKE THIS HOUSE LIKE SHILOH — I will overthrow the temple as Shiloh was overthrown, where the Ark formerly was, about which I spoke at chapter 7, verse 12.
Verse 8 ¶
8. THE PRIESTS AND PROPHETS SEIZED HIM (Jeremiah). — He calls the Scribes and doctors of the law "prophets." So the Chaldean and Vatablus. Jeremiah was here a type of Christ, who was likewise accused by the Scribes as a destroyer of the same temple, says Theodoret; and similarly the Jews cried out against Christ: "His blood be upon us," just as here Jeremiah threatens them, verse 15.
Verse 9 ¶
9. WHY HAS HE PROPHESIED IN THE NAME OF THE LORD? — Why has Jeremiah pretended to prophesy in the name of the Lord? Why has he covered his fabrications and dreams with the name and oracle of the Lord?
SO THAT THERE SHALL BE NO (that is, so that there shall be no) INHABITANT.
Verse 10 ¶
10. THE NEW GATE, etc. — The Chaldean says it was the eastern gate, which had been newly built by Jotham, 2 Kings 15:33. This gate had seven other names, which Castro enumerates. There, says St. Jerome, judgments were exercised, and therefore this case of Jeremiah was tried there.
Verse 11 ¶
11. THE SENTENCE OF DEATH BELONGS TO THIS MAN — that is, Jeremiah is guilty of death, and in judgment must be condemned to death by the judges, as a blasphemer and false prophet, because he prophesies the destruction of the holy temple and city.
Verse 12 ¶
12. THE LORD SENT ME. — Note the prudence of Jeremiah, to be imitated by every confessor and martyr: that he says he follows the faith and law of God; second, his charity, when he exhorts them to repentance, so that through it they may escape destruction; third, his humility, when he says: "I am in your hands"; fourth, his fortitude and freedom, when he says God will avenge his death; fifth, the security of a good conscience, relying on which he does not fear death before God.
AGAINST THE HOUSE — concerning the house of God, or the temple. AGAINST THE CITY — concerning the city; for thus the Hebrew אל (el), that is "to," is often taken for "concerning."
Verse 14 ¶
14. DO TO ME (he says) WHAT IS GOOD IN YOUR EYES. — So St. Martin, as Sulpicius attests, when asked by a robber whether he was not afraid, steadfastly replied: "Never have I been so secure, because I know that the mercy of the Lord will be present in trials; but rather I grieve for you, who are unworthy of Christ's mercy, since you practice robbery." Jeremiah acted in the same manner.
Verse 15 ¶
15. IF YOU KILL ME (he says), YOU WILL BRING INNOCENT BLOOD UPON YOURSELVES — that is, to your own ruin. For my blood will cry out against you and against Jerusalem, and will demand vengeance from God, as the blood of Abel cried out against Cain.
Verse 16 ¶
16. THERE IS NO SENTENCE OF DEATH FOR THIS MAN — he is not guilty of death.
Verse 18 ¶
18. MICAH. — See Micah chapter 3, verse 12. ZION (that is, Jerusalem laid waste and desolated) SHALL BE PLOWED LIKE A FIELD (that is, it shall be so desolated that it becomes arable, so that it can be plowed), AND THE MOUNTAIN OF THE HOUSE (of the Lord, namely Mount Moriah on which the temple stood, shall become) THE HIGH PLACES OF FORESTS — it shall be so abandoned that it will become wild, and be filled with thickets and trees like a forest. Arias Montanus, and from him Castrius, think that in the phrase "shall be plowed" there is an allusion to the ancient custom whereby, when they wished to utterly destroy a city they had conquered, they would drive a plow through it. On this Horace, Book 1, Ode 18, writes:
"And the insolent army would impress A hostile plow upon the walls."
And Isidore, Book 15, chapter 1, says: "A city is founded by the plow, and overturned by the plow." But the Hebrews did not plow hostile cities, but sowed them with salt when they wished to utterly destroy them, as is evident from Judges 9:45. The former sense is therefore simpler and truer.
So Ovid, Epistle 1 of the Heroines, sings:
Now there is a harvest where Troy once stood, and the soil, Rich with Phrygian blood, luxuriates for the sickle to cut.
Verse 20 ¶
20. THERE WAS ALSO URIAH — that is, if we kill Jeremiah, we will commit a crime similar to that by which the prophet Uriah, a true prophet of God, was recently slain by king Joakim, on account of which the king and nobles incurred the hatred and envy of all. So Theodoret, Hugo, St. Thomas, Lyranus, and Sanchez. But these are forced to supply some things and add conjectures to the text. Whence, second, more simply Vatablus, Lyranus, Dionysius, Prado, and Castro think that after the sentence of the elders was pronounced in favor of Jeremiah's cause, an opposing vote is here given; therefore these are the words of those priests who accused Jeremiah: whence they bring forward this example, contrary to the example of Micah cited by the elders; namely, the punishment and killing of the prophet Uriah carried out by Joakim, who was then reigning, to prove that Jeremiah likewise ought to be killed. For there seems to be here a kind of deliberation, in which various persons express various opinions, each his own; whence this disagreement was finally resolved by Ahikam, by freeing Jeremiah.
Verse 21 ¶
21. AND KING JOAKIM HEARD — in the first year of his reign, at its beginning; for these things happened in the same first year of Joakim, as is evident from verse 1, when Uriah had already been slain.
Verse 22 ¶
22. AND KING JOAKIM SENT MEN INTO EGYPT — who with the consent of Pharaoh (whose friend and tributary Joakim was) would bring Uriah back from Egypt to Judea, to be punished with death; for without the consent of Pharaoh no one would have dared to use force against Uriah in Egypt or compel him to return.
Verse 23 ¶
23. IN THE GRAVES OF THE COMMON PEOPLE. — Note: Distinguished men and prophets had their own tombs, with titles appropriate to each; but the poor and strangers were buried in a common field, in the valley of Kidron purchased for this purpose, in a common burial ground or public ossuary, 2 Kings 23:6. Thus Uriah was buried in disgrace among the poor and common people.
A wondrous and almost incredible thing about the son of this Uriah is related in a letter recently found in a library of Sardinia, attributed to St. Athanasius Bishop of Caesaraugusta, who was converted to Christ by St. James the Apostle in Spain; and in the Life of Blessed Peter, first Bishop of Braga (who was likewise a disciple of St. James), written by Caledonius, who governed the Church of Braga as Bishop in the year of the Lord 260, as Hugo of Portugal reports in the year of the Lord 1100, in a letter cited by Francisco Bivarius in his Commentary on the Chronicle of L. Dexter, at the year of Christ 37, number 7. Namely, that this Uriah begot a son who was a Prophet, who was called Samuel Junior, or Malachi Senior, on account of his gravity of character and beauty of countenance, and after Jerusalem was devastated by Nebuchadnezzar, he was sent by the same with other Jews of various tribes to Spain, where he lived for twenty years and then died. For it is asserted that after 627 years, during which he lay dead in his tomb, he was raised to life by St. James the Apostle when he came to Spain, and instructed by him in the mysteries of the Christian faith, and named Peter, was sent to Braga, where he founded the Church of Braga and established it with apostolic spirit, and at last died a glorious martyrdom. Let credibility rest with the authors already cited.
Verse 24 ¶
24. THE HAND OF AHIKAM — the patronage and help of Ahikam (who was a great man under Josiah, 2 Kings 22:12) freed Jeremiah, as a brother unjustly condemned to death; whence in Hebrew Ahikam means "brother of the risen one."