Chapter 8
Pride, greed, and shamelessness
Lecture 1
The destruction of tombs
8:1 In that time, says the Lord , they shall cast out the bones of the king of Judah, and the bones of her princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of them that dwell in Jerusalem from their tombs.
8:2 And they shall scatter them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they loved, and which they served, and after which they walked, and which they sought, and worshiped. They shall not be gathered up, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth.
55 . Here, he threatens the exhumation of corpses.
First, he speaks of the exhumation itself: they shall cast out the bones , believing that they will find gold, or something similar. But you have been cast forth from your tomb like a useless branch, polluted and wrapped up among those who were slain with the sword, and have gone down to the bottom of the pit, like a rotten corpse (Isa 14:19).
Second, the scattering of what was dug up: and they shall scatter them . They have worshiped the whole host of heaven (2 Kgs 17:16). Those things by which a man sins are the same also by which he is tormented (Wis 11:17).
Third, their worthlessness: they shall not be gathered up . Their dead bodies have become like dung in the middle of the streets (Isa 5:25).
Lecture 2
Death rather than life
8:3 And they shall choose death rather than life, all who remain from this evil family, which remain in all the places to which I have driven them, says the Lord of hosts.
56 . Here, he shows the oppression of those who remain, signified by their choice of death, which in itself is not worthy of choice except in as much as it is an end to evils. In those days men will seek death, but will not find it; and they shall desire to die, but death shall flee from them (Rev 9:6).
Lecture 3
Stubborn rebellion
8:4 And you shall say to them, thus says the Lord : shall not he who falls rise again, and he who has turned aside return?
8:5 Why, then, has this people in Jerusalem turned aside in stubborn rebellion? They have set hold on a lie, and do not wish to return.
8:6 I attended and listened; no one speaks what is good; there is no one who does penance for his sin, saying, ‘What have I done?’ All have turned to their own course, as a horse rushing in attack to do battle.
8:7 The kite in the heavens knows his season; the turtle dove, the swallow, and the stork have kept the time of their coming; but my people have not known the judgment of the Lord .
57 . Here, he shows their obstinacy and hardness in sin. For this reason, it is separated from everything that has come before.
First, he shows their obstinacy in the sins which they have committed against God or against themselves and their neighbor.
Then he speaks of those things which they have committed directly against their neighbor: who shall give water to my head and a wellspring of tears to my eyes? (Jer 9:1).
Concerning the first, there are two points.
First, he reprimands them for their hardness;
second, he threatens them with punishment, at I shall surely gather them (Jer 8:13).
Concerning the first point, there are four things.
First, he shows their hardness with regard to idolatry;
second, with regard to pride, at how can you say, ‘We are wise, for the law of the Lord is with us’? (Jer 8:8);
third, with regard to their greed, at therefore, I will give their women to strangers (Jer 8:10);
fourth, with regard to their shamelessness, at they are ashamed, because they have done abomination (Jer 8:12).
Concerning the first point, he shows their astonishing hardness from three things.
First, from normal behavior, when he says: shall not he who falls rise again? Spiritually, or even corporally, with regard to conversion from sin: and he who has turned aside ; with regard to aversion, it is as though he were saying, “This is the customary manner.” Shall he that sleeps rise again no more? (Ps 40:8). The virgin of Israel is cast down upon her own land; there is none who will raise her up (Amos 5:2).
And he ends with astonishment: why, then, has this people in Jerusalem turned aside , with regard to sin, in stubborn rebellion? As though striving against the Lord, or defying him. I know your rebelliousness and your exceedingly stiff neck (Deut 31:27). They have set hold on , with regard to conversion, a lie : a fraud. We have set a lie as our hope, and by a lie are we protected (Isa 28:15).
Second, he shows their hardness from the universality of their sin, when he shows their complete negligence in doing good: I attended and listened; no one speaks what is good , and much less does it. There is none who does good, no not one (Ps 13:3). And their universal impenitence for the evils which they have committed: there is no one who does penance for his sin . But you according to your stubbornness, and impenitent heart store up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath (Rom 2:5). And unbridled concupiscence: all have turned . A horse not broken will become stubborn, and a son left to himself will become headstrong (Sir 30:8). He has run against God with an upraised neck, and with a fat neck is he armed (Job 15:26). Behold, he will swallow up a river and not be astonished; he has confidence that the Jordan river can flow into his mouth (Job 40:18).
Third, he shows their hardness from a comparison with irrational beings, when he describes their knowledge: the kite in the heavens , that is, the air, knows his season , suitable for his activities; of their coming , because they go away in winter to warmer locations, and they return in spring, and do all this by the instinct of natural judgment. Ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of heaven, and they shall declare it to you (Job 12:7).
Then, he speaks of the ignorance of the people: but my people have not known the judgment , of the propitiation which shall overtake them. But Israel has not known me (Isa 1:3).
Lecture 4
The wise confounded
8:8 How can you say, ‘We are wise, for the law of the Lord is with us’? When the lying pen of the scribes has worked falsehood.
8:9 The wise are confounded, terrified, and taken prisoner, for they have cast aside the word of the Lord , and there is no wisdom in them.
58 . Here, he shows their pride from their boast of wisdom; concerning this, there are three things.
First, he speaks of their boast: we are wise . Woe to you, who are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own estimation (Isa 5:21).
Second, he shows their injustice: when the lying pen of the scribes has worked falsehood , either by wrongly interpreting the Scriptures, or by establishing wicked laws. Woe to those who establish wicked laws, and when they write, have written injustice to oppress the poor in judgment, and do violence to the cause of the humble of my people (Isa 10:1).
Third, he speaks of their punishment: the wise are confounded —taking the past tense for the future. He brings counselors to a foolish end, and judges to astonishment (Job 12:17).
Then, he resumes his case: they have cast aside the word of the Lord . The word of the Lord in the highest is a wellspring of wisdom (Sir 1:5). Therefore are my people led captive, for they had not knowledge (Isa 5:13). Because you rejected wisdom, I will reject you from being a priest before me (Hos 4:6).
Lecture 5
Universal greed
8:10 Therefore, I will give their women to strangers, their fields to heirs, because from the least to the greatest they all go after greed; from the prophet to the priest, they all work deceit.
8:11 And they would heal the wound of the daughter of my people with shame, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there was no peace.
59 . Here, he shows their greed.
First, he speaks of their punishment: to heirs , that is, to those who hold it strongly and securely as if it were their own inheritance. You shall take a wife, and another shall sleep with her (Deut 28:30).
Second, he speaks of their guilt:
first, of their greedy desire: because from the least to the greatest they all go after greed , as an end. The whole head is weak, and the whole heart grieving; from the sole of the foot to the top of the head there is no soundness in it (Isa 1:6).
Second, he speaks of their fraud in obtaining what they desire, from the prophet .
Third, the manner of their treachery: and they would heal . They gave life to their own souls, and violated me before the people for a handful of barley and a piece of bread, that they may kill souls that do not die, and bring life to souls that do not live, lying to my people that believes the lie (Ezek 13:17–19).
Lecture 6
Shamelessness
8:12 They are ashamed, because they have done abomination; yea, rather, they are not ashamed of shame, for they have not known how to blush. Therefore, they shall fall among those that fall; in the time of their visitation they shall fall down, says the Lord .
60 . Here, he shows their shamelessness.
And first, he shows a cause for shame: they are ashamed —it is as if he were saying, “They suffer punishments, of which they ought to be ashamed.” And there is a shame which brings sin (Sir 4:21).
Second, he shows their shamelessness: yea, rather, they are not ashamed of shame . Above: you have had the forehead of a harlot, you would not blush (Jer 3:3).
Third, their punishment: therefore, they shall fall among those that fall , as it says above (Jer 6:15). When her people fell among a hostile force, and there was none to help (Lam 1:7).
Lecture 7
Silence in the city
8:13 I shall surely gather them, says the Lord . There is not a grape on the vines, and there are no figs on the fig tree; the leaf has fallen, and what I had given to them has passed away.
8:14 Why shall we sit? Come, and let us go into the fortified city and be silent there; because the Lord our God has made us silent, and has given us water of gall to drink, for we have sinned against the Lord .
8:15 We waited for peace, and there was no good; a time of healing, and behold, fear.
8:16 From Dan was heard the snorting of his horses; by the sound of the neighing of his warriors the whole earth was moved; they have come and devoured the earth and the fullness thereof; the city, and those who dwell therein.
8:17 For behold, I will send the basilisk among you, for which there is no charm, and they shall bite you, says the Lord .
8:18 My sorrow is above sorrow; my heart mourns within me.
8:19 Behold, the voice of my daughter calling out from a far country: ‘Is the Lord not in Zion, or her king in her?’ Why, therefore, did they provoke me to anger with their graven images, and strange vanities?
8:20 ‘The harvest has passed, the summer is ended, yet we are not saved.’
8:21 For the affliction of the daughter of my people am I broken, I am afflicted, and astonishment has taken hold of me.
8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead, or no physician there? Why, therefore, is the scar of the daughter of my people not covered?
61 . Here, Jeremiah speaks of a punishment similar to the punishment mentioned above.
First, he speaks of the judgment of the Lord with regard to the affliction of men: I shall surely gather , in Jerusalem, by besieging it. Gather them like a flock to the sacrifice, and sanctify them for the day of slaughter (Jer 12:3). And as for the plundering of their fruits: there is not a grape , for you, but for the enemy, who shall eat up all that is yours while you watch. Passed away , from them into the hands of the enemy. The fig will not blossom, and there will be no bud on the vines (Hab 3:17).
Second, the misery of the people: why shall we sit? Alternatively, he speaks of their preparation, and gives here their exhortation to one another: why shall we sit in the houses of the city as though neutral. Let us be silent , as though astonished, or from the tumult of war. Gather together, and let us enter the fortified cities (Jer 4:5). And the reason of those giving the exhortation is that they foresee punishment: because the Lord our God has made us silent , with astonishment. He has filled me with bitterness, and made me drunk with wormwood (Lam 3:15). And they confess fault: we have sinned . We have sinned with our fathers, we have acted unjustly, we have done iniquity (Ps 105:6).
And they recognize the folly of waiting: we waited , according to the words of the false prophets; good , the reward of peace. The expectation of the just is joy, but the hope of the wicked will perish (Prov 10:28).
He mentions also the pursuit of the enemy and their reputation, from Dan . Above: a voice of one announcing (Jer 4:15). He also speaks of the effect of their reputation: by the sound of the neighing of his warriors the whole earth was moved —hyperbolically, or metonymically. The earth was moved and shook (Ps 17:7). And even the punishment inflicted by them: they have come and devoured the earth and the fullness thereof , that is, the produce of the earth. They have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place (Ps 78:7).
And he excludes a remedy: for behold I will send the basilisk —the Chaldeans— among you, for which there is no charm , because they cannot be placated by any means. Their fury is according to the likeness of a serpent, as a deaf adder, which blocks her ears (Ps 57:4). Their pain is like the pain of a scorpion, when it stings a man (Rev 9:5).
Third, he speaks of the pity of the compassionate.
And first, he speaks about the compassion for the affliction of the people, sorrow , from the person of the Lord; this is an anthropopathism; alternatively, from the person of the prophet: O all you who pass by the way, give heed, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow (Lam 1:12).
And the affliction of the people: behold the voice , of the enemy, from a far country , or of the people against that same enemy, or from the land of their captivity. I heard the voice as of a woman giving birth (Jer 4:31). And the reason of the affliction: is the Lord not in Zion? Indeed, God himself is able to give counsel, aid, and answer; for this reason, they have no cause to seek other gods. Is there not a God in Israel, that you should go to inquire of Beelzebub, the god of Ekron (2 Kgs 1:16).
Second, he speaks about the compassion for the length of time, when he speaks of the duration of their affliction: the harvest has passed, the summer is ended, yet we are not saved , from the peril of famine, for we have not gathered in the produce of the earth; from the person of the people. So in 2 Kings 6:27, how can I save you?
Third, he speaks about the compassion for the affliction from the person of the Lord, as above. He became their savior in all their distress (Isa 63:8). Or from the person of the prophet. My bowels are troubled within me (Lam 2:11).
Fourth, he gives the reason for the length of time, which is certainly that they refused to be cured from sin: is there no balm , by which he means the remedy of repentance against guilt, or of divine wisdom; a physician , a prophet, or a priest, in Gilead , where the study of medicine flourished. Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt (Jer 46:11). Why, therefore, is the scar , sin, not covered , cured. Wounds and bruises and swelling sores; they are not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil (Isa 1:6).
Collations
Note that silence (Jer 8:14) has many senses. Of astonishment: silence shall be cast out in every place (Amos 8:3). Of security: the work of justice shall be peace, and the effect of justice silence and security forever (Isa 32:17). Of longsuffering: it is good to wait with silence for the salvation of the Lord (Lam 3:26). The words of the wise are like goads, and nails driven deeply (Eccl 12:11).
Also note that the company of evil men is to be avoided, because they entice with their words: evil conversations corrupt good morals (1 Cor 15:33). They influence by their examples: with the upright you will be upright, and with the perverse you will be perverted (Ps 17:26). They negatively affect one’s reputation: he who touches pitch will be soiled thereby (Sir 13:1). They implicate one in punishment: depart from the tents of the wicked, and touch nothing that belongs to them, lest you become involved in their sins (Num 16:26).