Chapter 24
Good and bad princes separated
Lecture 1
Two baskets of figs
24:1 The Lord showed me and behold, two baskets full of figs set before the temple of the Lord , after that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had taken away Jekoniah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Israel, and his princes, and the craftsman, and the engraver from Jerusalem, and led them to Babylon.
24:2 And one basket contained exceedingly good figs, as figs of the first season, and one basket contained exceedingly bad figs, which could not be eaten, because they were bad.
24:3 And the Lord said to me: what do you see, Jeremiah? And I said: figs, good figs, exceedingly good, and bad, exceedingly bad, which cannot be eaten, because they are bad.
24:4 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
24:5 ‘Thus says the Lord , the God of Israel: as these good figs, so shall I think of the exile of Judah, which I have sent from this land into the land of the Chaldeans, for good.
24:6 And I shall set my eyes upon them for good, and I shall bring them back to this land; and I shall build them up, and not pull them down; I shall plant them, and not root them up.
24:7 And I shall give them a heart, that they may know me, for I am the Lord ; and they shall be to me a people, and I shall be a God for them, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.
24:8 And as the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, because they are bad, thus says the Lord : so shall I make Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his princes, and the remnant of Jerusalem, who remain in this city, and who dwell in the land of Egypt.
24:9 And I shall give them over to vexation and affliction in all the kingdoms of the earth, as a reproach and a parable, as a proverb and a curse, in all the places to which I have driven them.
24:10 And I shall send the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence against them, until they are consumed from the land which I gave to them and their fathers.’
128 . Here, the separation of the wicked princes from the good is spoken of by way of a simile:
first, the exposition of the simile, when he speaks of the vision: the Lord showed , with a vision, either of images or of the sign itself, so that the prophecy might be drawn from the figs that were sold in front of the temple; similarly, above in chapter 18, the prophecy is drawn from the sign of the potter. If there be a prophet among you, I shall appear to him in a vision, or speak to him through a dream (Num 12:6). After that Nebuchadnezzar . . . the engraver , the silversmith, who encloses stones in silver or gold. And this is held to be true according to the account in 2 Kings 23. Behold, the sovereign Lord of Hosts shall take away from Jerusalem and from Judah, the strong and the mighty, the whole strength of bread, and the whole strength of water (Isa 3:1).
And the distinction between the things seen, when he speaks of the good figs: and one basket contained exceedingly good figs , by which good men are signified. As the first fruits of the fig tree in the top thereof, I saw their fathers (Hos 9:10). My soul desired the first ripened figs (Mic 7:1). And he speaks of the bad: and one basket contained exceedingly bad figs , by which the wicked among the people are signified. As it says above: how have you become for me a foreign vine? (Jer 2:21).
Second, the exposition of the vision is given: when the question of the Lord is asked, it is an incitement to see: and the Lord said to me . The same question is asked above (Jer 1:11). And the response of the prophet: and I said, figs . So Genesis 41, concerning the ears of grain, and the cows in the dream of Pharaoh.
Third, the exposition of the vision is given: and the word of the Lord came to me .
First, with regard to the good, when he applies the simile to the promise of prosperity in general: as these good figs, so shall I think of the exile of Judah , thinking with approval. The Lord knows those who are his own (2 Tim 2:19).
And he continues, in particular with regard to the goods of the body, to bring them back to their proper place: and I shall set my eyes . I shall certainly take you from the nations, and gather you from all the lands, and bring you back to your own land (Ezek 36:24). And to restore them to a state of prosperity: and I shall bring them back, and I shall build them up , raising them up, as happens with a building, and not pull them down , when they sin; as it says below: I shall build you up, and not pull you down. I shall plant, and not pull up (Jer 42:10). And I shall plant , by strengthening them in the good. As it says below: so shall I keep watch over them, to build up, and to plant, says the Lord (Jer 31:28).
And with regard to the goods of the soul, when God promises knowledge: and I shall give them a heart, that they may know me . I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you (Ezek 36:26). And he promises the subjection of obedience: and they shall be to me a people . They shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them as their God (Rev 21:3).
Second, with regard to the bad figs: and as the bad figs .
First, he threatens them with affliction in their own land: so shall I make Zedekiah . As it says above: I shall give them in burning anger to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and because of all that he did in Jerusalem (Jer 15:4).
Second, shame in the land of their captivity: as a reproach , with regard to the sin of neglect; as a parable , in metaphorical language, your punishment will be recited as an example; as a proverb , for, from what has happened to you, a proverb is drawn for the instruction of others; as a curse , with regard to the imprecation of the punishment penitentially. Alternatively, because someone will say to his fellow when he curses him, “May God do to you as he has done to them.” We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a source of scorn, and ridicule to those who live about us (Ps 78:4).
Third, the punishment of slaughter: and I shall send the sword against them . As it says above: those who are for death, to death, and those who are for the sword, to the sword, and those who are for famine, to famine (Jer 15:2).