Theodoret of Cyrus, Interpretation on Jeremiah

he exhorts the prophet to ask for God's help; but the prophet is commanded to prophesy these things; 4, 5. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I am turning back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who have shut you up outside the wall; and I will bring them into the midst of this city. And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, with anger and wrath and great indignation. Your weapons, he says, will be useless, since I am the general of your enemies, and with them I am arrayed against you. Then he says that he will deliver all to famine and death and captivity, and with them king Zedekiah himself to the foot-soldiers and bodyguards, and some they will slaughter, and others they will lead away captive; and he commands him to say these things to the people; 8. Behold, I have set before you the way of life and the way of death. Then he teaches that he who remains in the city and opposes the enemies will walk the way of death; but he who goes over to them as a deserter will enjoy life. For I have passed this sentence against the city, that it should be delivered to the fire of the enemies. And having threatened these things, he advises the king and the rulers to be mindful of justice, and to deliver an equal verdict of justice, and to help the wronged, and in this way to hold back the impending punishment. 13. Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley of Sor the plain, says the Lord; That is, situated between mountains in a hollow place; for so also the Syrian interpreted it; and he means Jerusalem, for it has this position; Sor is interpreted as a narrow place, and again as a rock; and this city is enclosed by mountains. "Those who say: Who will strike us? or who will come into our dwelling?" It teaches their insolence and their vain boldness. Then he threatens to burn down its forest with fire. And he calls the multitude of both buildings and inhabitants a forest; CHAPTER 22 1. After these things he again commands the prophet to go down to the palace, and to admonish both the king himself and the rulers to judge justly, and to deliver an impartial verdict, to provide diligently for those who mourn their widowhood and are bereft of fathers, and to abstain from bloodshed, and to flee their former impiety; and to those who do these things he promises peace and prosperity and permanence for the kingdom. 5. But if you do not act in accordance with these words, by myself I have sworn, says the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. He has added the oath for the confirmation of what was said; and the phrase, "By myself I have sworn," shows the unsurpassable nature of the one who swore; for indeed the divine Apostle says: "Since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he said, By myself I have sworn, says the Lord." And he adds these things also to the threat; 6. Thus says the Lord against the house of the king of Judah: Gilead, you are to me the beginning of Lebanon. He calls Jerusalem Lebanon; and Gilead, the palace in it. There is a place in Lebanon so named; and there is also another Gilead in the land of Israel; but I think that the palace has now been compared to the one in Lebanon, because of the impiety dared in it; for which reason he also threatens them with complete desolation. 7. For I will sanctify, he says, destroyers against you. The "I will sanctify" is in place of "I will set apart;" for he also says this through Isaiah, "They are sanctified, and I lead them," in place of "they are set apart;" and we have set forth the argument concerning this at greater length in the interpretation of the divine Isaiah. "A man and his axe, and they shall cut down your choice cedars, and cast them into the fire."

παρακαλεῖ τὸν προφήτην αἰτῆσαι τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν βοήθειαν· ὁ δὲ προφήτης θεσπίσαι κελεύεται ταῦτα· δʹ, εʹ. Τάδε λέγει Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς Ἰσραήλ· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστρέφω τὰ ὅπλα τὰ πολεμικὰ ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν ὑμῶν, ἐν αἷς ὑμεῖς πολεμήσετε τὸν βασιλέα Βαβυλῶνος, καὶ τοὺς Χαλδαίους, τοὺς συγκεκλεικότας ὑμᾶς ἔξωθεν τοῦ τείχους· καὶ εἰσάξω αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ μέσον τῆς πόλεως ταύ της. Καὶ πολεμήσω ὑμᾶς ἐγὼ ἐν χειρὶ ἐκτετα μένῃ, καὶ ἐν βραχίονι ὑψηλῷ, μετὰ θυμοῦ καὶ ὀργῆς καὶ παροξυσμοῦ μεγάλου. Ἀνόνητα, φησὶν, ὑμῖν ἔσται τὰ ὅπλα, ἐμοῦ στρατηγοῦντος τῶν πολεμίων, καὶ μετ' ἐκείνων καθ' ὑμῶν παραταττομέ νου. Εἶτα λέγει, ὡς ἅπαντα παραδώσει λιμῷ καὶ θανάτῳ, καὶ αἰχμαλωσίᾳ, καὶ μετὰ τούτων αὐτὸν τὸν βασιλέα Σεδεκίαν τοῖς πεζαιτέροις καὶ δορυφόροις, καὶ τοὺς μὲν κατασφάξουσι, τοὺς δὲ δορυαλώτους ἀπάξουσι· τῷ δέ γε λαῷ φάναι ταῦτα παρεγγυᾷ· ηʹ. Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ δέδωκα πρὸ προσώπου ὑμῶν τὴν ὁδὸν τῆς ζωῆς, καὶ τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ θανάτου. Εἶτα διδάσκει, ὡς ὁ ἐν τῇ πόλει μένων, καὶ τοῖς πολεμίοις ἀντιτασσόμενος, ὁδεύσει τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ θα νάτου· ὁ δὲ πρὸς τούτους αὐτόμολος ἀπελθὼν, ζωῆς ἀπολαύσεται. Ταύτην γὰρ κατὰ τῆς πόλεως ἐξενή νοχα τὴν ψῆφον, ὥστε αὐτὴν τῷ τῶν πολεμίων πα ραδοθῆναι πυρί. Καὶ ταῦτα δὲ ἀπειλήσας παραινεῖ τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ τοῖς ἄρχουσι, τοῦ δικαίου φροντίζειν, καὶ ἴσην ἐκφέρειν τοῦ δικαίου τὴν ψῆφον, καὶ τοῖς ἀδικουμένοις ἐπαμῦναι, καὶ τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ τὴν ἐπιφερομένην τιμωρίαν ἐπισχεῖν. ιγʹ. Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ πρὸς σὲ τὸν κατοικοῦντα τὴν κοιλάδα Σὸρ τὴν πεδινὴν, φησὶ Κύριος· Ἀντὶ τοῦ, μεταξὺ ὀρῶν κειμένην ἐν κοίλῳ τόπῳ· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ὁ Σύρος ἡρμήνευσε· λέγει δὲ τὴν Ἱε ρουσαλήμ· ταύτην γὰρ ἔχει τὴν θέσιν· Σὸρ δὲ συν οχὴ ἑρμηνεύεται, καὶ πάλιν πέτρα· συνέχεται δὲ ὑπὸ ὀρῶν ἥδε ἡ πόλις. "Τοὺς λέγοντας· Τίς πατάξει ἡμᾶς; ἢ τίς ἐλεύσεται εἰς τὸ κατοικητήριον ἡμῶν;" Τὴν θρασύτητα αὐτῶν, καὶ τὸ μάταιον θράσος διδά σκει. Εἶτα ἀπειλεῖ, πυρὶ καταφλέξειν αὐτῆς τὸν δρυ μόν. ∆ρυμὸν δὲ καλεῖ, καὶ τῶν οἰκημάτων, καὶ τῶν οἰκητόρων πλῆθος· ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΒ αʹ. Μετὰ ταῦτα κελεύει πάλιν τῷ προφήτῃ κατα λαβεῖν τὰ βασίλεια, καὶ εἰσηγήσασθαι αὐτῷ τε τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ τοῖς ἄρχουσιν, ὥστε δικαίως δι κάζειν, καὶ ἀδέκαστον ἐκφέρειν τὴν ψῆφον, τῶν χη ρείαν ὀδυρομένων καὶ πατέρων ἐστερημένων προμη θεῖσθαι σπουδαίως, καὶ μιαιφονίας ἀπέχεσθαι, καὶ φεύγειν τὴν προτέραν ἀσέβειαν· καὶ ταῦτα ποιοῦσιν ὑπισχνεῖται εἰρήνην καὶ εὐπραξίαν καὶ τῇ βασιλείᾳ τὸ διαρκές. εʹ. Ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ποιήσητε σὺν τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις, κατ' ἐμαυτοῦ ὤμοσα, λέγει Κύριος, ὅτι εἰς ἔρημον ἔσται ὁ οἶκος οὗτος. Τὸν ὅρκον εἰς βεβαίω σιν τῶν εἰρημένων προστέθεικε· τὸ δὲ, "Κατ' ἐμαυτοῦ ὤμοσα," δείκνυσι τὸ τοῦ ὀμόσαντος ἀνυπέρβλητον· καὶ γὰρ ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολός φησιν· "Ἐπειδὴ κατ' οὐδενὸς ἄλλου μείζονος εἶχεν ὀμόσαι, εἶπε, Κατ' ἐμαυτοῦ ὤμοσα, λέγει Κύριος." Προστίθησι δὲ καὶ ταῦτα τῇ ἀπειλῇ· ϛʹ. Τάδε λέγει Κύριος κατὰ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ βασι λέως Ἰούδα· Γαλαὰδ, σύ μοι ἀρχὴ τοῦ Λιβάνου. Λίβανον τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ καλεῖ· Γαλαὰδ δὲ τὰ ἐν ταύτῃ βασίλεια. Ἔστι δὲ χωρίον ἐν τῷ Λιβάνῳ οὕτω ὀνομαζόμενον· ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἑτέρα Γαλαὰδ τῆς Ἰσραη λίτιδος γῆς· ἀλλ' ἡγοῦμαι νῦν τῇ ἐν τῇ Λιβάνῳ ἀπει κασθῆναι τὰ βασίλεια, διὰ τὴν ἐν αὐτοῖς τολμη θεῖσαν ἀσέβειαν· οὗ χάριν καὶ ἐρημίαν αὐτοῖς παντελῆ ἀπειλεῖ. ζʹ. Ἁγιάσω γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐπὶ σὲ ὀλοθρεύοντας. Τὸ "ἁγιάσω" ἀντὶ τοῦ "ἀφορίσω·" τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ διὰ Ἡσαΐου λέγει, "Ἡγιασμένοι εἰσὶ, καὶ ἐγὼ ἄγω αὐτοὺς," ἀντὶ τοῦ "ἀφωρισμένοι·" καὶ τὸν περὶ τούτου λόγον ἐν τῇ τοῦ θείου Ἡσαΐου ἑρμη νείᾳ διὰ πλειόνων τεθείκαμεν. "Ἄνδρα καὶ τὸν πέ λεκυν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐκκόψουσι τὰς ἐκλεκτὰς κέδρους σου, καὶ ἐμβαλοῦσιν εἰς τὸ πῦρ."