(Verse 38) . Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when the city will be rebuilt for the Lord, from the tower of Ananeel (also known as Anamehel) to the corner gate. And the measuring line will extend beyond it, to the hill of Gareb, and will encompass Goatha (or according to the Septuagint, with chosen stones). And the entire valley of ruins (for which Theodotius placed the Hebrew word Phagarim, and ashes, and all Asaremoth, which we better read as Asademoth, for which Aquila interpreted as suburban) will extend to the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Eastern Horse Gate. The holy place of the Lord will not be rooted up or destroyed forever. Those who receive the kingdom of Christ in the land of Judea, namely the Jews and our Judaizers, try to show the tower of Ananeel and the gate of the corner, and the hill of Gareb, and Goatha, and the valley of Phagarim, and all Asademoth, and the Cedron torrent, and the place of the corner gate of the east horses: and there they say that the sanctuary of the Lord, that is, the temple, is to be built, and will remain forever. Because they cannot show this accomplishment after the captivity during the times of Zorobabel and Ezra, they move on to the times of Christ, whom they say will come at the end of the world, so that he may descend upon Jerusalem adorned with gold and jewels, according to the Book of Revelation, and be built around this land, that is, from that place to this place, in a circuit (Rev. 21). And they take this ring of theirs, because it is situated by the tower of Anathoth, which is now called Jeremiah, three miles separated from Jerusalem, all the way to the Brook of Kidron, which is written in the Gospel (John 18), and is in the valley of Jehoshaphat, where there was a garden, in which Judas the betrayer handed over the Savior, the foundations of the city are laid. We are about to read, they say, that Anameel, the cousin of Sallum, was the son of Jeremiah, who bought the field, and this is the tower of Ananeel, ignorant of the Hebrew truth. For here it is written according to the Hebrew text, from the tower of Ananeel (which means 'grace of God') through Nun, namely the middle letter. There it says: 'Behold, Anameel (which means 'grace of God') the son of Sallum, your cousin, will come to you, through the middle letter Mem.' Therefore, invoking the Lord and Savior, who has the key of David, who opens and no one can shut, who shuts and no one can open; who also opened the sealed book of Isaiah and all the prophets (Isaiah 22); and the twenty-four elders who held harps worshiped (Revelation 3), indicating that only He can reveal the divine mysteries, let us approach the building of the city to which the prophetic word is directed: 'Glorious things are said of you, O city of God' (Psalm 87:3); and 'The streams of the river make glad the city of God' (Psalm 46:4). So the Church is built from the tower of obedience, or grace, and the gifts of God (for this is what Ananeel interprets), up to the gate of the corner, which may seem to have a lofty beginning, as long as we continue in this flesh, we cannot possess the straight line of truth: but we stand in the corner and with broken lines, and go out beyond the measuring line against it, that is, the gate of the corner, over the hill Gareb, which in our language is translated either as sojourning or scabies, to teach us to be strangers and foreigners, and not to easily consent to itching ears and the novelty of the worst dogmas. And Goatha will go around, he says, for which they were interpreted as seventy by a circuit, with chosen stones that roll upon the face of the earth, and are bound with a corner stone, as the apostle Peter says: And you yourselves are built up as living stones into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices and acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5). And she will go around, he says, all the valley of Phagarim, which is interpreted as ruins; and ashes, understood, so that although we may seem to be without inhabitants: nevertheless, let us always fear ruins and consider ashes; and in repentance let us say with David: For I have eaten ashes as bread, and mixed my drink with weeping (Psalm 102:10). And it is said to those who lie down: Does one not rise again who falls? says the Lord (Jeremiah VIII, 4). And he says that the whole place, which we translate as the region of death, is divided into two words; Sade (), which means region, and Moth (), which translates as death: for which Aquila translates as suburbs, or fields, and rural areas. The region of death is the region of sins; and the suburbs are the region of pleasures, which goes up to the Brook Kidron, where the Lord was handed over, who is interpreted as darkness (John XVIII). See how many places the Church has, and how that Apostolic saying is fulfilled: That it may be without stain or wrinkle (Ephes. V, 27), and be preserved in the future and in the heavenly realms. You hear of corners, you hear of decay, you hear of ruins and ashes, and the region of death, and darkness, and you boast of your power and sinlessness. Finally, it follows: even up to the corner of the gate. And this corner, so that no true justice, no certain victory, may be shown in this world. Even though it is the eastern corner of the gate from which the light comes out, it is nevertheless called the horses: to teach us that we need to run and compete, and finally deserve to hear with the Lord: You have ascended on high, you have led captivity captive: you have received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them (Psalm 68:18). In the Eastern gate, in the gate of the chariots, is the sanctification of the Lord. And then we may consider ourselves perfect, when we say to the Lord: The chariot of God is ten thousand times ten thousand: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai in the holy place (Psalm 68:17). Such a building, which is built upon the foundation of Christ, of which the Apostle speaks: 'As a wise architect, I have laid the foundation' (I Cor. III, 10), will never be destroyed, but will remain forever. The obscure and difficult matters must be discussed in more detail, so that we may quickly go through the obvious ones.
32:1-3
(Chapter XXXII, verse 1 and following). The word that was spoken to Jeremiah by the Lord in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, was the eighteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the courtyard of the prison, which was in the palace of the king of Judah. For King Zedekiah of Judah had locked him up, saying, 'Why do you prophesy, saying, "Thus says the Lord"? Not only the words and deeds of the prophets are an example to us for virtue. Jeremiah could have announced prosperity and enjoyed the friendship of King Zedekiah, but he preferred to obey God rather than men (Acts 5), and he who can destroy both soul and body in hell, rather than he who could only have power over the body (Matthew 10). And it should be noted that it was the tenth year of Zedekiah's reign, with Jerusalem already besieged and consumed by sword, famine, and plague, and captivity imminent. Yet Zedekiah persists in his decision, and to some extent demonstrates his clemency by ordering that he not be confined in a prison, but in the courtyard: a form of free custody, so that he could not escape, as if the entire Jerusalem, closed by fortifications, were not a common prison for its inhabitants. This is the twenty-second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who in the fourth year of King Jehoiakim's reign took control. However, the reason for the king's anger is that he speaks in the name of God, and he was commanded to do so.
32:4-5
(Verses 4, 5) Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. And King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and they will speak face to face and his eyes will see his eyes. And Zedekiah will be taken to Babylon, and he will stay there until I visit him, says the Lord. But if you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not have success. This was the reason for the anger of the king, that he preferred falsehood over truth and said that both the city of Jerusalem and King Zedekiah would be captured. And what is even worse, he will see the face of the king of Babylon and speak humbly and as a captive, as the most powerful king's madness. For it is a more serious terror to see the one whom you fear, and to be subjected to the verbal accusation before enduring the torment of punishment. And he says that he will lead Zedekiah into Babylon, and he will be there. The Septuagint translates it as "one of whom is unwillingly dragged, the other one signifies willingly going." And he says that he will be there. The word is ambiguous, so as not to seem to prophesy torture and miseries. And what follows is: Until I visit him, says the Lord, and if you fight against the Chaldeans, you will have nothing prosperous, which is not found in the Septuagint. And he wisely moderated his opinion, which can be referred to both the good and the bad. For visitation, as I often said, signifies both consolation and punishment.
32:6-7
(Version 6, 7.) And Jeremiah said: The word of the Lord came to me, saying: Behold, Anameel (also known as Anemeel), the son of Sellum (or Sallom), your cousin (which is said in Hebrew as Dodach), is coming to you, saying: Buy my field, which is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption belongs to you. The hidden word of God to Jeremiah was known to no one, except by his revelation to whom it was made: and he is informed that his cousin Anameel will come to him and transfer the ownership of the field that was his; and that the place is in Anathoth, among the suburbs that were given to the priests from each tribe and city according to the law: and it was not allowed for the possession to pass from one tribe to another, nor from one family to another (which is why the daughters of Zelophehad received a portion among their brothers), especially the suburban lands of the priests could not be sold to anyone until the year of remission, except to the one whom blood kinship required. Therefore, his younger brother, the son of his aunt (Alex. brother-in-law and father), came to him and offered to buy what is owed to him by proximity. Helcias and Sellum were blood brothers. The son of Helcias was Jeremiah; Sellum, Anameel. Helcias means 'part of the Lord'; Jeremiah, 'the sublimity of the Lord.' And rightly the height of the Lord is born from the part of the Lord. Sellum, on the other hand, is translated into our language as peace, or peaceful. Anameel means gift or grace of God. We are not surprised that peace is joined with grace, since even the beginning of the Apostolic Epistles says: Grace to you and peace (Rom. I, 7). Therefore, let us first merit the peace of God, and after peace, grace is born in us, which belongs not to the possessor, but to the will of the giver. However, grace gives the value to the one who is placed in high positions by God, so that although he may appear lofty, he still needs the grace of God. That which is often sung in the Song of Songs by the bride: Fratruelis meus, that is, ὅ ἀδελφιδοῦς μου in Hebrew is said Dodi (), therefore it should be called not fratruelis, but πατράδελφος, that is, patruelis. However, Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, bears witness to the beginning of this book.
32:8
(Verse 8) And Anameel, the son of my uncle, came to me, according to the Word of the Lord, to the entrance (or courtyard) of the prison, and he said to me: Possess (or buy) my field, which is in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the inheritance belongs to you, and you are a close relative to possess (or buy) it. What the word of the Lord had foretold through the prophet, immediately came to pass. Anameel came to me, by the grace of God, the son of my uncle, that is, the son of peace. But he came to the vestibule of the prison, and he said to me the things that the Lord had foretold to him. Now this priestly field, whose purchase and possession belonged to Jeremiah, is in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin, where the obedience of the former resounds according to the Son of the Right Hand. And consequently, he desires its acquisition, in which the obedience and virtue of the Lord were evident. For this reason, the Seventy interpreted it as 'elder,' that is, 'elderly,' which does not fit in this context.
32:9-11
(v. 9 seqq.) But I understood that it was the word of the Lord, and I bought a field from my cousin Anameel, who is in Anathoth, and I weighed out the silver, seven shekels and ten silver coins. And I wrote it in a book, and signed it, and called witnesses, and weighed the silver on a scale. And I received the sealed deed, the terms and conditions, and the external seals. It was indeed difficult and almost absurd, worthy of laughter, for the one who was prophesying the imminent capture of Jerusalem and the captivity of all, to buy a field in Anathoth that he would never possess. But I understood, he said, that it was the word of the Lord and that my purchase should be connected with the argument and prophecy of the Lord; and therefore I obeyed his command to make the purchase; nor was it in vain that God spoke to me about such a matter: and I weighed out seventeen shekels of silver, which we convert into staters. Now a shekel has twenty obols, as it is written in the final volume of Ezekiel (Ezek. 45). And the Prophet bought it for seventeen shekels, a number in which the boy David, servant of the Lord, sang on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul, and said: I will love you, O Lord, my strength; the Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God, my helper, and I will hope in Him: my protector, and the horn of my salvation (Psalm XVII, 1). The number ten indicates a mystical number, as shown in the Decalogue which was written on stone tablets by the finger of God, and the days of fasting and propitiation in the seventh month (Exodus XIII). We also prove, with numerous testimonies from the Scriptures, that the number seven, in which true Sabbath and rest exist, is holy. I could have provided at least a few examples, if it were not pointless to teach what is already known. Therefore, in this number, a possession is bought by a prophet and priest, and it is written in a book and signed, and witnesses are brought forth, and silver is carefully weighed out, so that all the rights of sale and purchase are preserved, and there is a certain ownership, confirmed by agreements and promises. Or let those who try to claim false wills, and sometimes even wills with witnesses, listen to this.
32:12
(Verse 12.) And I gave the book of possession to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Anameel my cousin, and in the sight of the witnesses who were written in the book of purchase; in the sight of all the Jews who were sitting in the prison courtyard. Although the possession was to be immediately given up, indeed to be bought back by later generations, and to be bought back by one who did not have children (for he had not taken a wife), nevertheless, obeying the command of the Lord, he duly carried out everything: and Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, gave the sealed book of possession. Baruch is called blessed in our language; he was the son of Neri, which means 'my light', as the Prophet says: 'Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path' (Psalm 119:105). Neri was also the father of Baruch, the son of Maasiah, meaning 'the work and the operation of the Lord'. Let us now consider the great privileges of virtue that the disciple Baruch rendered to Jeremiah, as David says: 'He who walks in the way of integrity, he shall minister to me' (Psalm 101:6). And so, Elisha, the servant of Elijah, pleased God so much that after the translation of his master, he also merited to receive a double spirit (2 Kings 2). I say this as a warning to those who abuse the ministries of evil men and do not dare to reject those whom they know are bound to them by a guilty conscience. And it is handed down that the book of Baruch was sold to such a man, Anemeel, with witnesses who signed, and their names were kept in the book of purchase. And, in the sight, he said, of all the Jews who were sitting in the courtyard of the prison: those who had come either to console the Prophet, or out of a desire to hear the words of the Lord in fear and reverence of God.
32:13-15
(Verse 13 and following) And I commanded Baruch before them, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these books, this sealed book, and this open book, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last for many days. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall still be possessed in this land. To all whom the previous message has been told, both those present and those who see it, Baruch, the minister and disciple, is commanded not by the words of a teacher, but by the command of God, to take the books, one sealed and the other open, which have been kept in the custom of purchases, so that he may show the open volume to those who wish to read what the sealed book contains within: both in an earthen vessel, so they may last for many days. Therefore, the firm and long-awaited possession, which was guarded with such great care, so that neither if the books placed outside for sale were exposed to theft, nor if they were buried in the ground, would be destroyed by moisture from the earth. However, all of this was done so that those who saw it would understand once again that Jerusalem should be inhabited and lands should be possessed, which though they should have understood on their own without the words of Jeremiah, they are reminded by the words of the Lord, and it is said to them: The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: Houses and fields and vineyards will still be possessed in this land. This is what Jeremiah had previously said: I understood that it was the word of the Lord; and for that reason, he bought a field that he was not going to possess.
32:16-19
(Verse 16 and following) And I prayed to the Lord after I had delivered the book of possession to Baruch the son of Neriah, saying: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God (or who you are, O Lord God). Behold, you have made the heaven and the earth with your great power, and with your outstretched (or exalted) arm nothing will be difficult (or impossible) for you (or according to the Septuagint, nothing is hidden from you). You show mercy to thousands and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O mighty, great, powerful (which is said in Hebrew) Gibbor (): The Lord of hosts (or of powers) is your name. Great in counsel and incomprehensible in thought. Whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of Adam (or humans), to render to each according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his inventions (Vulgate: his). After the celebration of the lawful purchase of the field, and after the sentence of the Lord, in which he promised houses, fields, and vineyards to be possessed henceforth, the Prophet prays to the Lord and expresses the anguish of his heart with groans, saying: Alas, alas, alas, Lord God: for which the Septuagint translated, ὁ ὢν, that is, who is, Lord God, according to what is said to Moses: Go, speak to the people of Israel: The One who is, has sent me to you (Exod. III, 14). Not that there are no others; but it is one thing for the Creator to exist by His own beneficence, another for Him to exist by the eternity of His nature. He praises the Lord and proclaims the Creator through His creatures. First, with his voice, he extols His power, mercy, and justice towards all of mankind; then he turns to Israel and describes in a famous discourse the great things He has done for them. And after so many blessings, he says that they, being forgetful of His goodness, provoked His mercy to bitterness, so that the city was besieged, and before the enemy broke in, it was consumed by famine, sword, and plague. But he first put forward all these things so that he could subsequently present what seemed to be a reproach to the divine judgment. And you say to me, Lord God, buy a field for silver, and have witnesses, when the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans? This portion of the text contains the entirety of this passage. Now let us return to each point individually. You made heaven and earth in your great power. And John says of the Son: All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made (John 1:3). For this is the strength of the Lord, as the Apostle confirms: Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. I, 24). And in your outstretched or lofty arm, both of which are indications of striking. But what is this arm, of which Isaiah speaks: And the arm of the Lord, to whom it is revealed (Isa. LIII, 1)? No word will be difficult for you. For what is impossible for men is possible for God; to whom nothing is hidden (Mic. XIX), according to the saying of the Psalmist: For the darkness shall not obscure you, and the night shall be as bright as day (Psalm CXXXVIII, 12). You show mercy to thousands; and you repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them. The great mercy of the Creator, to extend his mercy to a thousand generations, and to show justice immediately in the next generation, which, however, is also mixed with mercy. For he does not immediately punish the wrongdoer, but waits for repentance, so that if the children imitate the vices of their parents, punishment is delayed for a long time. Most powerful, great, mighty, Lord of hosts, or virtue, is your name. These names indicate the power of the Creator. However, properly speaking, the name of God is Father, which is revealed in the Gospel when the Lord says: Father, I have revealed your name to mankind (John 17:6). Great in counsel. And anyone who presumes to insert themselves secretly into the Lord's affairs and judge his judgments. And incomprehensible in thought. The mind that cannot comprehend him, how can speech comprehend him? Whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of Adam. Therefore, in vain does man think he can hide himself from God's knowledge. And this leads to the fact that in order to render to each according to their ways, and according to the fruit of their inventions, this indicates that sometimes, due to excessive patience, his judgments may seem unjust. This place the Apostle further explains to the Romans: Do you not know that the kindness of God is leading you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God (Rom. II, 4, 5). Therefore, the later the punishment of sinners, the more just it is: in the likeness of Pharaoh, who, after being warned by ten plagues, was not punished, and persisting in his hardness, was finally overwhelmed by the waves of the Red Sea (Exodus 14).
32:20-23
(Vers. 20 seqq.) You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt until this day, both in Israel and among mankind (or among earthlings), and have made a name for yourself, as it is this day. You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror. And you gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. And they entered and took possession of it, but they did not obey your voice and did not walk in your law. Everything that you commanded them to do, they did not do, and all these disasters happened to them. From a general overview, it then focuses on what specifically Israel has accomplished. It says, 'You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, which have afflicted Egypt until this day, and in Israel and among mankind, whether native-born or foreign.' This that is said, up to this day, must be connected to what follows, so that we may read and understand that your signs are fulfilled both in Israel and in all mortals daily. Alternatively, you not only performed signs and wonders in Egypt, but your power of mercy has also saved your people even until today, and you assist the whole human race as the Creator with your power. And it should be noted that Israel is separated from men and earthborn beings, as it is written: 'My firstborn son is Israel.' And you have made for yourself a name as it is to this day (Exodus IV, 22). Your praises, he says, are celebrated in the language of the whole world. And you have brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt. It is well said, your people, for at that time when they were brought out, they served under the Lord's command. And you brought them out with signs and wonders, by which Egypt was struck, and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror: when the Red Sea provided a way for the people of Israel to cross over, and it obliterated the Egyptian army: And you have given them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give to them: namely, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore, not by their own merit, but by the virtues of their fathers, they received the land flowing with milk and honey. For they were not yet able to consume solid food, but were nourished with milk and honey in their infancy. Indeed, with the abundance and plenty of all things, milk and honey. And they entered and possessed it. And immediately there was no middle ground between possession and disobedience. For abundance produces security, security produces negligence, negligence produces contempt. And they did not obey, he says, your voice, and they did not walk in your law. Therefore, they promised in vain in the wilderness, saying: We will do everything that the Lord has commanded (Exodus 19:8). For the reward is not in the promise, but in the action: to refute the impudence of those who think that a man can fulfill everything that he has promised. They did not do everything that you commanded them to do, and they certainly promised to do so. And all these evils happened to them. Evils for those who are patient, but according to the judgement of the Lord, good things that give to each person according to their ways.
32:24-25
(Verse 24, 25.) Behold, fortifications have been built against the city, in order to take it; and the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans, who fight against it with the sword, famine, and pestilence. And whatever you have spoken has happened, as you yourself see; and you say to me, Lord God, buy the field with silver, and have witnesses, when the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans? It was the tenth year of King Zedekiah, for thus it is written: The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah: at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the court of the prison. And rightly now it is said: Behold, the fortifications are built against the city, so that it may be captured; and the city has been delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans; they have neither whom to conquer nor whom to capture. For now they have been consumed by sword, famine, and pestilence; and we see that whatever you have said has been fulfilled; therefore why do you say to me, Lord: Buy a field for silver, and call witnesses; when the city has been delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans? Therefore, he does not reprimand, but he asks; and he wants to learn not so much for himself as for others, who were sitting in the courtyard of the prison; and perhaps they silently reprimanded, how the same prophet, whom they believed to proclaim the truth, could say that the city is to be captured and buy a field as if he were going to possess it.
32:26-29
(Verse 26 and following) And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult (or impossible) for me? Or will any word be hidden from me? Therefore, thus says the Lord: Behold, I will hand over this city to the Chaldeans and into the hand of the king of Babylon, and they will capture it. And the Chaldeans will come fighting: the Chaldeans will come against this city, and they will set it on fire and burn it, and the houses - in whose homes they sacrificed to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me - they will burn as well. She joins joy to the sorrowful and promises the return of the captive people after the destruction of Jerusalem. And first she explains the causes of God's offense and righteous fury, so that the greater the guilt of the sinners, the more abundant the mercy of the Creator towards the sinners. I am, she says, the Lord God of all flesh. Not at all of all nations, nor of the people of Israel, or certainly, as He is often called by the holy ones, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, but God said to all flesh, so that it is believed that He made both rational and brute animals Himself. For there are those who confess the providence of the Creator even up to rational beings: but they assert that brute animals either perish or live by chance events. And the prophetic speech declares that there is nothing that escapes the providence and knowledge of God; because some things are created for their own sake, while others are created for the use of humans. Is anything difficult or impossible for me? Or surely, will every word be hidden from me? And as we have said above: The things that are impossible among humans are possible among God. But we must understand the word here and in many other places to mean 'things.' 'What is it,' he says, 'that has happened?' Therefore, he says these things: 'For this reason, thus says the Lord. For, he says, it is my concern to rule everything, to order all things, and to give to each according to its ways. Therefore, I will deliver this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of the king of Babylon, and they will capture it.' First, the city is fortified by the army, and while Nebuchadnezzar is absent, Zedekiah is captured and taken to Riblah, where he is handed over to the king. And they will come, he says, the Chaldeans fighting against this city. Aquila translates it better as 'they will come,' because of what is written, 'they will enter,' which means they will enter the city. For they were not absent to come, since they had surrounded Jerusalem, as the Scripture testifies. Then the army of the king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem. And then: Behold, fortifications were built against the city in order to capture it: and the city was given into the hands of the Chaldeans. So how will those who were present come? But those who were besieging the city, he says, will enter and capture it, and they will advance, and they will burn it down even to the ground (for the Hebrew word 'Bau' (which is ambiguous) can mean both 'come' and 'enter'). And they offered sacrifices to the idol Baal in the houses where they lived, and poured out libations to foreign gods to provoke me, not because of religious error, but rather because of a certain rivalry and contempt towards the Creator. However, how the world is going to perish is written, according to what is written: Heaven and earth will pass away (Matthew 24:35), because it is placed in the wicked one: so also the very houses and places in which wickedness is perpetrated are subject to the wrath of God. There are those who contentiously refer what is written: The place where the Lord and Savior was crucified is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt (Revelation 11:8), to those very places. But others believe that under the name of Egypt and Gomorrah, they signify the whole world. For just as Gomorrah was destroyed by divine fire, so also the world will be consumed by the judgment of God.
32:30
(Verse 30) For the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel continually (or alone) did evil in my sight from their youth. The Hebrew word 'Ach' (), Aquila interpreted as 'plēn', which signifies a conjunction, however. The first edition of Symmachus, as well as the Seventy, and Theodotion, interpreted it as 'diolon'. We now follow the latter, so that we may say 'continually'. Let us therefore say first according to the Hebrew, the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah continuously doing evil. And ten, he says, and two tribes continuously did evil without ceasing, and perseverance in the worst works was with them. But if there is continuous and always in the whole people, where is eternal justice? Furthermore, according to the LXX, who said: Only those who do evil, a question arises: Did not other nations at that time when Israel and Judah were sinning, also do evil? Which is thus resolved: Whoever has knowledge of God and departs from him, sins alone in the eyes of God; but those who remain unbelievers, as if he does not see and neglects, they commit delinquencies. And so David, a holy man, because he had fallen into sin with the wife of Uriah, Bathsheba, later repented (2 Kings 12), speaks: Against you alone have I sinned, and I have done evil in your sight (Psalm 50:4), that is, in your presence. Finally, it is joined: Those alone who do evil in my eyes, in my presence, from their youth. And what follows: The Israelites who still continue to provoke me in the work of their hands, says the Lord, is not found in the Septuagint, but is added from the Hebrew. Because from their youth until the present day they have continually sinned, therefore the just judgment of God is upon them, and the Scripture rightly covers it.