Chapter 25
Threat against princes of all nations
Lecture 1
Obstinate deafness
25:1 The word which came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that is, the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon).
25:2 And Jeremiah the prophet spoke to the entire people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:
25:3 from the thirteenth year of Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah, until this day, the twenty-third year, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising at night, and speaking to you, and you have not listened.
25:4 And the Lord sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising early, and sending them; and you have not listened, neither have you inclined your ear that you might hear,
25:5 when he said: return each one from his evil way, and from your wicked thoughts, and you shall dwell in the land which the Lord gave to you and to your fathers, from generation to generation.
25:6 And do not go after strange gods to serve them, and to worship them; neither provoke me to anger by the works of your hands, and I shall not afflict you.
25:7 And you did not listen to me, says the Lord , to provoke me to anger by the works of your hands, in your wickedness.
129 . Here, he gives the universal threat against the princes of all the nations, and it is divided into two parts.
In the first, he speaks of the threat;
in the second, the revelation of the threat, at for thus says the Lord (Jer 25:15).
Concerning the first, there are two points.
First, he gives the title of the prophecy: the word which came to Jeremiah , from which it is gathered that the prophecy comes before the preceding vision with regard to time.
Second, the prophecy of the threat, at from the thirteenth year of Josiah (Jer 25:3).
First, the cause of the threatening;
second, he threatens a punishment, at therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts (Jer 25:8).
But he attributes the cause from disobedience, for which reason they are numbered together with the other nations in punishment. Their disobedience is made worse in three ways.
First, from the perspective of the preaching prophet himself, because he was steadfast in his preaching: from the thirteenth year of Josiah , from which point to the end of his life and reign, are eighteen years, since he reigned thirty-one years. To these are added the four years of Jehoiakim, and the three months which Jotham [Jehoahaz] reigned. It is found to be the twenty-third year of Jeremiah’s preaching from the time these things were done. Rising at night , after the manner of one who is solicitous to finish some task. Run, make haste, rouse your friend (Prov 6:3).
Second, from the perspective of the one who sends, who, from the number of messengers, is known to be solicitous: and the Lord sent . As it says above: I sent all my servants the prophets to you daily, rising early and sending them: but they did not listen to me (Jer 7:25–26). Now, to designate clearly the divine solicitude, he uses the word early , and also the word night , for God shines in the darkness. This is that darkness concerning which it is said in John 3, that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night; etc.
Third, from the perspective of the warning, which is honorable in itself and useful with regard to the promised favor.
From here, he first sets forth the punishment for their past evils when he gives the command: return each one from his evil way . Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he shall have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he is bountiful to forgive (Isa 55:7). And the promise: and you shall dwell in the land . If you are willing, and will listen to me, you shall eat the good things of the land (Isa 1:19).
Second, he cautions them against future evils when he gives the command: do not go after strange gods , with regard to idolatry; neither provoke me to anger , with regard to sins of morality. You shall not have other gods before me (Exod 20:3).
And their contempt for the command: and you did not listen . They provoked me by that which was no god, and they incited me with their vanities (Deut 32:16).
Lecture 2
Babylonian captivity
25:8 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: because you did not listen to my words,
25:9 behold, I shall send, and take all the families of the north, says the Lord , and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, my servant, and bring them upon this land, and upon its inhabitants, and upon all the nations which are round about it; and I shall slay them, and I shall make them an astonishment and a hissing, and eternal desolations.
25:10 And I shall destroy from out of them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstone and the light of the lamp.
25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment; and all the nations shall serve this king of Babylon for seventy years.
25:12 And when the seventy years shall be accomplished, I shall visit upon the king of Babylon and upon that people, says the Lord , their iniquity, and upon the land of the Chaldeans, and I shall make it an eternal desolation.
25:13 And I shall bring upon that land all my words which I have spoken against it, everything that is written in this book, and whatsoever Jeremiah has prophesied against all nations.
25:14 Because they served them when they were many nations and great kings; and I shall repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.
130 . Here, he threatens punishment:
first, that which the Babylonians inflicted when he describes the enemy: behold, I shall send, and take . . . my servant , inasmuch as he exercised a service of the divine will. As it says above: behold, a people are coming from the land of the north, and a great nation shall arise from the ends of the earth (Jer 6:22). And he describes the imminent punishment with regard to the slaughter of men: and I shall slay them, and I shall make them an astonishment and a hissing, and eternal desolations . Because they shall never be restored, but shall be reduced, as it were, to the likeness of an eternal desolation. As it says above: I shall make this city an astonishment and a hissing; all who pass by her will be astonished, and will hiss because of all her plagues (Jer 19:8).
And with regard to the cessation of human duties in joyful occasions: and I shall destroy ; and in the conveniences of life: the sound of the millstone , as above: I will take from this place, in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride (Jer 16:9).
And when he describes even harsher punishment: and all the nations shall serve for seventy years , for the kingdom of the Chaldeans lasted this long. I shall not be angry forever, because a spirit shall go forth from my face (Isa 57:16).
Second, he gives the punishment which the Chaldeans endured: and when the seventy years shall be accomplished .
First, he gives the threat: I shall visit . He that shall lead into captivity shall go into captivity; he that shall kill by the sword must be killed by the sword (Rev 13:10).
Second, the certainty of the threat: and I shall bring upon that land all I have spoken against it : Isaiah 13, 21, 46, and 47. Jeremiah prophesied : 50 and 51 below.
Because they served ; nevertheless, in their pride they abused the kindness of God.
Third, he shows the equity of the punishment: and I shall repay them . Give them according to the work of their hands, render to them their reward, for they have not understood the works of the Lord; and with the works of their hands destroy them, and do not build them up (Ps 27:4–5).
Lecture 3
The cup of the wine of fury
25:15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: take the cup of the wine of this fury from my hand, and you shall give it, to drink thereof, to all the nations to which I shall send you.
25:16 And they shall drink and be troubled and driven mad before the sword which I shall send among them.
25:17 And I took the cup from the hand of the Lord , and gave it to all the nations to which the Lord sent me,
25:18 to Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, that I should make them a desolation, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day,
25:19 to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and to his servants, and to his princes, and to all his people;
25:20 and to everyone generally, and to all the kings of the land of Ausitis; to all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and to Ashkelon, and to Gaza, and to Ekron, and to the remnant of Ashdod;
25:21 and to Edom, and Moab, and the sons of Ammon;
25:22 and to all the kings of Tyre, and to all the kings of Sidon, to the kings of the land of the islands, which are across the sea;
25:23 and to Dedan, and Thema, and Buz, and to all who are of shaved heads;
25:24 and to all the kings of Arabia, and to all the kings of the west, who dwell in the desert;
25:25 and to all the kings of Zimri, and to all the kings of Elam, and to all the kings of the Medes;
25:26 and to all the kings of the north, from near, and from far, to each one against his brother; and to all the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face thereof; and king Sheshach shall drink after them.
131 . Here, revelation of the predicted threat is made through a vision of images.
First, he gives the vision.
Second, he expounds it, at and you shall prophecy to them all these words (Jer 25:30).
Concerning the first, there are two points.
First, he sends him to offer them the drink;
second, they, to whom he offered, are invited to drink, at and you shall say to them (Jer 25:27).
Concerning the first, there are two points.
First, the Lord stretches out the cup, according to what appeared to him in a vision of images: take the cup of wine . It seemed to him that the Lord offered him the cup with an outstretched hand. By the wine is signified the divine indignation; by the cup , the power of the tyrants, through whom this indignation was to be poured out upon the nations. You shall give it, to drink thereof , not as though inflicting a punishment, but as though denouncing them. In the hand of the Lord there is a cup of strong wine, and full of mixture (Ps 74:9). As below: Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord , making the whole earth drunk; all nations have drunk of her wine, therefore have they staggered (Jer 51:7).
Second, he speaks of the effect of the drinking: and they shall drink , by enduring affliction; and be troubled , with an inner fear and suffering; and driven mad , outwardly, fighting with one another after the manner of drunk men. And bitter shall be the drink to those who drink it (Isa 24:9).
Third, the prophet carries out the duty enjoined upon him: and I took .
First, he gives the drink to the Jews: to Jerusalem . Begin from my sanctuary (Ezek 9:6). It is time that judgment should begin from the house of God (1 Pet 4:17).
Second, to friends coming from abroad, beginning with the Egyptians, in whom they had trusted: to pharaoh . . . of Ausitis (Jer 25:19–20), which by another name is called the land of Uz, in the boundaries of Edom and Arabia; and the remnant (Jer 25:20)—he says this regarding Gath, which is the fifth city of the Philistines; and to all the kingdoms (Jer 25:26). This is the counsel which I have devised concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched forth upon all nations (Isa 14:26).
Third, to the Babylonians themselves: and king Sheshach , that is, of Babylonia, which in Hebrew is called Babel. For this reason, in order to hide the name, he transposed the vowels, and changed the consonants joined to them, according to the custom of the Hebrews, who teach their children to say the first letter with the last, going backwards, and the second with the penultimate, and so on. For this reason, for a double beth , which is the second letter among the Hebrews, he put a shin , twice, which is the penultimate letter. And for the lamed , he put a kaf , which is joined to it according to the first reckoning. The last enemy who will be destroyed is death (1 Cor 15:26).
Lecture 4
Drink and be drunk
25:27 And you shall say to them: thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: drink, and be drunken, and vomit, and fall, and do not rise from before the sword which I shall send among you.
25:28 And when they will not receive the cup from your hand to drink, you shall say to them: thus says the Lord of hosts: you shall surely drink:
25:29 For behold, in the city wherein my name is invoked I shall begin to afflict, and shall you be as though innocent and exempt? You shall not be exempt, for I call the sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, says the Lord of hosts.
132 . Here, they are invited to drink; and concerning this, there are three points.
First, the invitation is given: drink , by enduring punishments; be drunken , because of abundance, as though losing the use of reason, so that you do not know what you do; vomit , lose your riches; fall , into death and captivity. And he is speaking using a metaphor of a drunk man. The riches which he devoured he shall vomit out, and from his stomach God shall draw them (Job 20:15). Be astonished and wonder, waver and stagger, be drunk and not from wine, be moved and not from drunkenness (Isa 29:9).
Second, the coercion is given: and when they will not . . . you shall surely drink , that is, willing or unwilling. If anyone worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed with pure wine in the cup of his wrath (Rev 14:9–10).
Third, the reason for the coercion is assigned:
first, by an example: for behold, in the city , Jerusalem. And if at first with us, what shall be the end of them that believe not the Gospel of God? (1 Pet 4:17). As it says below: behold, they, whose judgment was not to drink of the cup, shall certainly drink; and shall you be left as though innocent? You shall not be innocent, but you shall surely drink (Jer 49:12).
Second, from the decree of the Lord. The sword , which is the same as the drink. I shall draw my sword from its sheath, and shall slay in your midst the just and the wicked (Ezek 21:3).
Lecture 5
The roaring of the Lord
25:30 And you shall prophesy to them all these words, and you shall say to them: the Lord shall roar from on high, and from his holy habitation he shall give forth his voice; he shall surely roar upon the place of his beauty; and the shout of those that tread grapes shall be given out against all the inhabitants of the earth.
25:31 The sound shall reach to the ends of the earth, for the Lord enters into judgment with the nations; he enters into judgment with all flesh. The wicked I have given over to the sword, says the Lord .
25:32 Thus says the Lord of hosts: behold, affliction shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall go forth from the heights of the earth.
25:33 And there shall be slain of the Lord on that day, from the heights of the earth to the depths thereof; and they shall not be mourned, and they shall not be gathered together, neither shall they be buried; they shall lie as dung upon the face of the earth.
133 . Here, he gives the exposition of the vision:
first, against the nations;
second, against the princes of the nations, at wail, O shepherds (Jer 25:34).
Concerning the first, there are two points.
First, the threatening, when he speaks of the divine indignation: the Lord from on high , that is, from the height of his justice; he shall roar , terribly, like an angry lion. The lion shall roar; who shall not fear? (Amos 3:8). The universality of the punishment: upon the place of his beauty , that is, the temple; it is as though he were saying, “His wrath shall begin from the temple, and it shall proceed to the whole earth.” And the shout of those that tread grapes , the song of the vintners, by which is signified the joy of the victors in the pillaging of the lands, which are signified by the treaders of grapes, because they shed the blood of men, as the former spill the blood of grapes. For this reason, it is written in Isaiah 63:3, I have trampled the wine press alone, and from the nations, there was no man with me. I have trampled them in my fury, and tread upon them in my wrath; and their blood is sprinkled on my vesture, and I have soiled all my garments . As it says below: in vain will the treader of the grape sing his accustomed song (Jer 48:33).
And he sets forth the equity of the punishment when he speaks of the judgment: the Lord enters into judgment with the nations . The judgment of the Lord with his people and with Israel shall be determined (Mic 6:2). And the manner of judgment: the wicked I have given over . Because if you should provoke me to anger, the sword shall devour you, because the mouth of the Lord has spoken it (Isa 1:20).
Second, he outlines the progression of the punishment and its order: thus says the Lord .
First, he gives the progression: behold, affliction shall go forth , because one nation shall attack another, and it will itself be attacked by another, and so on; from the heights , from the most powerful, such as the Chaldeans, the Greeks, etc. The kingdom is transferred from nation to nation because of injustices and wrongs, injuries, and diverse deceits (Sir 10:8). As it says below: behold, the whirlwind of the Lord , his fury going forth, a rushing storm; it shall rest upon the head of the wicked (Jer 30:23).
Second, he gives the effect of the tribulation, because they shall be deprived of life: and there shall be slain of the Lord , that is, by the Lord. As it says above: the sword of the Lord shall devour from one end of the earth to the other (Jer 12:12). And they shall lack burial: and they shall not be mourned, and they shall not be gathered together, neither shall they be buried . The same is said above (Jer 16:4).
Lecture 6
Wailing of the shepherds
25:34 Wail, O shepherds, and cry, and sprinkle yourself with ashes, you nobles of the flock; for your days are accomplished of your slaughter and your dispersion; and you shall fall like precious vessels.
25:35 And flight shall perish from the shepherds, and salvation from the nobles of the flock.
25:36 The voice of the cry of the shepherds and the wailing of the nobles of the flock, for the Lord has laid waste their pastures.
25:37 And the pastures of peace were silent from before the wrath of the fury of the Lord .
25:38 He has forsaken his covert as a lion, for their land has become a desolation from before the face of the wrath of the dove, and from before the face of the fury of the Lord .
134 . Here, he threatens the princes and the nations.
First, with regard to persons, when he foretells the punishment: wail , as though unable to express their grief with words, but only by the raising of the voice. The sword of the Lord is full of blood; it is thickened with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, and with the blood of well-fattened rams (Isa 34:6). You nobles , who are rich, and the princes of the people.
He excludes a way of safety: and flight shall perish . They have gone away without strength before the face of the pursuer (Lam 1:6).
Second, with regard to the subject lands: the voice of the cry .
First, by way of a metaphor, he speaks of the destruction of the cities: for the Lord has laid waste their pastures , that is, the cities and villas; he is maintaining the metaphor of the flock;
the pastures of peace were silent ; it is as though he were saying, “They are reduced to nothing, so that no mention should be made of them”; the pastures of peace , which in times of peace were splendid. Fire has devoured the fair places of the desert, and flames have burned up all the trees of the countryside (Joel 1:19).
And with regard to the destruction of the temple: he has forsaken his covert , that is, God has forsaken his temple, as a lion , which no one hears approaching when he lies in wait. As it says above: I have left my house (Jer 12:7).
Second, he gives the exposition: for their land has become a desolation from before the face of the wrath of the dove , namely, of God, who punishes without agitation; or of Jerusalem, which has grown angry because of the loss of God; or of Nebuchadnezzar, because of the folly of his pride: Ephraim like a dove was led astray, having no heart (Hos 7:11); or because there are doves in pastures; or because, like one grown gentle, he has fulfilled the command of the Lord. Or, by antiphrasis, because he was cruel.