Jeremiah 1

Jeremiah 1:1

Hippolytus of Rome: What were the dimensions, then, of the temple of Solomon? Its length was sixty cubits, and its breadth twenty. And it was not turned to the east, that the worshippers might not worship the rising sun, but the Lord of the sun. And let no one marvel if, when the Scripture gives the length at forty cubits, I have said sixty. For a little after it mentions the other twenty, in describing the holy of holies, which it also names Dabir. Thus the holy place was forty cubits, and the holy of holies other twenty. And Josephus says that the temple had two storeys, and that the whole height was one hundred and twenty cubits. For so also the book of Chronicles indicates, saying, “And Solomon began to build the house of God. In length its first measure was sixty cubits, and its breadth twenty cubits, and its height one hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.” — Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments

Jerome: (Chapter 1, Verses 1 onwards) The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah concerning the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: the word of the Lord that came to him in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. And it came to pass in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the exile of Jerusalem, in the fifth month. The other prophets, such as Isaiah, Hosea, and Joel, were before the captivity of the ten tribes of Israel, or of the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin. Others were after the captivity, such as Daniel, Haggai, and Zechariah. However, Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied as the captivity was imminent: one of them in the land of Judah, the other in Babylon. Jeremiah began prophesying when he was still a young boy, in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah. And he prophesied during his reign for nineteen years, and afterwards under his son Joachim for eleven years, and under Zedekiah, who was the last of the kings of Judah, for eleven years, until the fifth month when Jerusalem was taken by the Babylonians. But the three months of Joachaz and Jehoiachin (one of whom was taken to Egypt and the other was taken with his mother to Babylon) are included in the aforementioned years: thus, from the beginning of his prophecy until the captivity of Jerusalem, in which he himself was also taken captive, he prophesied for forty-one years, except for the time when he was taken to Egypt. Here, he prophesied in Taphnis, as is contained in this very volume. According to the words of Jeremiah, the Septuagint placed, ‘The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah’ (Jeremiah 43:8), in this sense, that the words of Jeremiah are the word of the LORD. He belonged to the class of priests who lived opposite the north of Jerusalem, in the third mile, and the village of Anathoth. At the same time, there was the wonderful mercy of the LORD, that even with the captivity approaching and the Babylonian army besieging Jerusalem, He still prompts the people to repentance, preferring to save the converted rather than to destroy the sinners. Regarding the transmigration, which all others have translated with a consistent voice, the Seventy have expressed captivity. But after the beginning of Jeremiah’s prophecy, in the thirty-fifth year of his prophecy, Ezekiel, who was in Babylon with those who had been captured with him, began to prophesy. — Commentary on Jeremiah

Jerome: (Vers. 4, 5.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you: I have made you a prophet to the nations. Not that Jeremiah existed before his conception, as some heresy suspects, but that the Lord foresaw him to be. To whom things not yet made already exist, according to what the Apostle spoke: Who calls those things that are not, as those that are (Rom. IV, 17). But what is sanctified in the womb, we should understand according to the words of the Apostle: But when it pleased him, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me; that I might preach him among the Gentiles (Galatians 1:15). John the Baptist is also sanctified in the womb, and receives the Holy Spirit, and is stirred in the womb, and speaks through the mouth of his mother (Luke 1). And when it is said, I have made you a prophet to the nations, it means that we are going to read about the prophet in him later, that he prophesied not only in Jerusalem, but also to many nations around. Some understand this place to be about the Savior, who was specifically the Prophet of the Gentiles; and through the Apostles, he called all nations. For he was truly sanctified in the womb before being formed in the virgin womb, and before coming out of his mother’s womb; and he was known to the Father, who is always in the Father, and in whom the Father is always. — Commentary on Jeremiah

Jerome: The Prophet Jeremiah, for whom this prologue is written, was seen among the Hebrews to be certainly more rustic in style than Isaiah and Hosea and certain other prophets, but equal in meanings, which the same Spirit obviously prophesied. Furthermore, his simplicity of speech happened from the place in which he was born. For he was from Anathoth, which is up to today a village three miles distant from Jerusalem, a priest from priests and sanctified in his mother’s womb, dedicating with her virginity a man of the Gospel to the Church of Christ. This boy began to prophesy the captivity of the city and Judea both not only by the Spirit, but also with eyes of flesh. The Assyrians had already transferred the ten tribes of Israel, and now colonies of gentiles had taken possession of their lands. For this reason he prophesied only in Judah and Benjamin, and he lamented the ruins of his city in a fourfold alphabet, which we have presented in the measure of the meter and in verses. Besides this, the order of visions, which is entirely confused among the Greeks and Latins, we have corrected to the original truth. And the Book of Baruch, his scribe, which is neither read nor found among the Hebrews, we have omitted, standing ready, because of these things, for all the curses from the jealous, to whom it is necessary for me to respond through a separate short work. And I suffer because you think this. Otherwise, for the benefit of the wicked, it was more proper to set a limit for their rage by my silence, rather than any new things written to provoke daily the insanity of the envious. — Prologue to Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1:2

Augustine of Hippo: Jeremiah, like Isaiah, is one of the major prophets, not of the minor, like the others from whose writings I have just given extracts. He prophesied when Josiah reigned in Jerusalem and Ancus Martius at Rome, when the captivity of the Jews was already at hand; and he continued to prophesy down to the fifth month of the captivity, as we find from his writings. Zephaniah, one of the minor prophets, is put along with him, because he himself says that he prophesied in the days of Josiah; but he does not say till when. Jeremiah thus prophesied not only in the times of Ancus Martius but also in those of Tarquinius Priscus, whom the Romans had for their fifth king. For he had already begun to reign when that captivity took place. — City of God 18.33

Origen of Alexandria: God is ready at hand to do good, but slow to punish those who deserve punishment. Indeed, though He is able to bring punishment upon those condemned by Him in silence, without giving warning beforehand, He by no means does this; but even when He condemns, He speaks, since His purpose in speaking is that the one about to be condemned may turn back from the condemnation. Of these things one can take many examples from the Scriptures, but a few of those that fall to hand in the present suffice, so that we may also come to the aim of the passages set before us. For the Ninevites had become sinners and were condemned by God: “Yet three days, and Nineveh was about to be overthrown.” God did not wish to condemn her in silence, but, giving them a place for repentance and conversion, He sent a Hebrew prophet, so that, when he had said, “Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown,” those who had been condemned might not be condemned, but, having repented, might obtain the mercy of God. Those in Sodom and Gomorrah had been condemned, as is clear from the words of God to Abraham; but nevertheless the angels did their own part, wishing to save those who did not wish to be saved, saying to Lot: “Are there for you here any sons-in-law, or sons, or daughters?"—not being ignorant that those men would not follow Lot, but doing what belonged to their own kindness and love for humanity, and at the same time to that of Him who sent them.

You will find the like also in the matters concerning Jeremiah. The time of his prophecy is recorded, when it began and until when he prophesied. Then the one who reads, if he does not attend to the reading nor examine the intent of the passages written, will say that it is a mere narrative, and that it has been recorded when Jeremiah began to prophesy and after how long a time of prophesying he ceased prophesying. What, then, is this narrative to me? I have read it, I have learned that he began to prophesy “in the days of Josiah the son of Amos, king of Judah, until the thirteenth year of his reign”; then “it came to pass in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah,” that he prophesied “until the completion of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah.” And I have learned that his prophecy extended through three kings “until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.” What, then, are we taught through these things, if we attend to the reading?

God condemned Jerusalem because of her sins, and they had been judged to be abandoned into captivity. Nevertheless the God who loves humanity, when the appointed time had drawn near, sends also this prophet before the third reign, the one under which the captivity fell, so that those who were willing, having understood, might repent through the prophetic words. He sent forth a prophet to prophesy also under the second king after the first, and under the third, up to the very times of the captivity. For the long-suffering God gave a reprieve even, as one might say, up to a single day before the captivity, urging those who heard to repent, so that the sorrows of the captivity might cease; whence it is written that “until the captivity of Jerusalem Jeremiah prophesied, until the fifth month.” The captivity began, and still he prophesied, as if to say: You have become captives; even so, repent; for if you repent, the affairs of the captivity will not go forward, but the mercy of God will be established over you. We have, then, something useful from the record that contains the times of the prophecy, namely, that God, according to His love for humanity, urges those who hear not to suffer the things of the captivity.

Such things concern us too. If we sin, we also are going to become captives. For the “handing over of such a one to Satan” differs in no way from handing over those from Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar; for as they were handed over to him because of their sins, so we are handed over because of our sins to Satan, who is a Nebuchadnezzar. And “those whom I handed over to Satan, that they might be taught not to blaspheme,” says the apostle concerning other sinners.

See, then, how great an evil it is to sin, so that men are handed over to Satan, who takes captive the souls of those abandoned by God—God abandoning not without cause nor without judgment those whom He abandoned. For when He sends rain upon the vineyard, and the vineyard bears thorns instead of grapes, what will God do but “command the clouds not to rain rain” upon the vineyard? Because of our sins, captivity lies upon us also, and we are going to be handed over, unless we repent, to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, so that the intelligible Babylonians may tear us apart. While these things lie upon us, the words of the prophets, the words of the law, the words of the apostles, the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ speak to us about repentance, they exhort us to conversion; if we will hear, let us believe Him who said: “I also will repent concerning all the evils which I said I would do to them.” So much for the prologue. — HOMILIES ON Jeremiah 1

Theodoret of Cyrus: King Josiah’s father was Amon, an impious man. His grandfather was Manasseh, who had instructed Josiah’s father in his impiety. Josiah, on the contrary, went the exact opposite of them, siding with the party of the godly. His children, however, showed no interest in their father’s virtue and imitated their forefathers’ godlessness. Knowing this in advance, therefore, the God of all elected the prophet in the thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign and commanded him to foretell the calamities that would befall both city and people. — ON Jeremiah 1. ARGUMENT

Jeremiah 1:4

Jerome: (Vers. 4, 5.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you: I have made you a prophet to the nations. Not that Jeremiah existed before his conception, as some heresy suspects, but that the Lord foresaw him to be. To whom things not yet made already exist, according to what the Apostle spoke: Who calls those things that are not, as those that are (Rom. IV, 17). But what is sanctified in the womb, we should understand according to the words of the Apostle: But when it pleased him, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me; that I might preach him among the Gentiles (Galatians 1:15). John the Baptist is also sanctified in the womb, and receives the Holy Spirit, and is stirred in the womb, and speaks through the mouth of his mother (Luke 1). And when it is said, I have made you a prophet to the nations, it means that we are going to read about the prophet in him later, that he prophesied not only in Jerusalem, but also to many nations around.”. Some understand this place to be about the Savior, who was specifically the Prophet of the Gentiles; and through the Apostles, he called all nations. For he was truly sanctified in the womb before being formed in the virgin womb, and before coming out of his mother’s womb; and he was known to the Father, who is always in the Father, and in whom the Father is always. — Commentary on Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1:5

Ambrose of Milan: Just as the spiritual bosom of the Father is understood as a certain inner secret of paternal love and nature, in which the Son is always present, so also the spiritual bosom of the Father is the womb, the secret of the innermost mystery, from which the Son has proceeded as though from a generative womb. Finally, we read in diverse ways, sometimes the womb of the Father, sometimes his heart from which he uttered a word, sometimes his mouth from which justice proceeded, from which wisdom came forth, as he himself says: ‘From the mouth of the Most High, I came forth.’ (Sirach 24:5) Thus, just as we understand that generation from the Father, let us also understand the generation of Mary, the mother, when the womb of the mother is blessed, certainly the virginal womb of Mary, who gave birth to the Lord Jesus for us. Concerning which the Father says through the prophet Jeremiah: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; and before you came forth from the womb, I sanctified you (Jer. I, 5). Therefore, the prophet declared the dual substance in Christ, of divinity and flesh: one from the Father, the other from the Virgin; in such a way, however, that he did not lack his divinity when he was born of the Virgin and was in the body. — On the Blessings of the Patriarchs 11.51

Ambrose of Milan: To show them, however, the weakness and transparency of their objection, though it has no real relation to any truth, divine or human, I will prove to them that people have existed before they were born. Let them show that Jacob had not been appointed and ordained, even before he was born. While yet hidden in the secret chamber of his mother’s womb, he supplanted his brother. Let them show that Jeremiah had not likewise been so, before his birth, “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb, I knew you; and before you came forth from the belly, I sanctified you, and appointed you for a prophet amongst the nations.” … What do you [Arians] mean by your principle that “before he was begotten he did not exist”? Was the Father engaged for some time in conception, so that certain epochs passed away before the Son was begotten? — Exposition of the Christian Faith 4.9.113, 116

Athanasius of Alexandria: Concerning Jeremiah, God says, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” … If such terms are used in Scripture of things created, but the term ever is used of the Word, then it follows, O enemies of God, that the Son did not come out of nothing, nor is he to be numbered at all among created things, but he is the Father’s image and eternal word, never having not existed, but never existing as the eternal radiance. — Discourses Against the Arians 1.4.13

Augustine of Hippo: Moreover, this calling, which works through the opportune circumstances of history, whether this calling is in individuals or in peoples or in humankind itself, comes from a decree both lofty and profound. To this relates the following passage: “In the womb have I sanctified you.” — ON EIGHTY-THREE VARIED QUESTIONS 68:6

Cyril of Jerusalem: He is not ashamed to assume flesh, who is the creator of those very parts. Who tells us this? The Lord said to Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you. Before you came forth out of the womb, I made you holy.” If, then, in making humanity he was not ashamed of the contact, was he ashamed in making for his own sake the holy flesh, the veil of his Godhead? It is God who even now creates children in the womb, as it is written in Job, “Didn’t you pour me out as milk and curdled me like cheese? You have clothed me with skin and flesh and have knit me together with bones and sinews.” There is nothing polluted in the human frame unless a person defiles it with fornication and adultery. God, who made Adam, also made Eve. Both male and female were formed by God’s hands. None of the parts of the body as formed from the beginning are polluted. — Catechetical Lecture 12:26

Irenaeus: Now, that the Word of God forms us in the womb, He says to Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee; and before thou wentest forth from the belly, I sanctified thee, and appointed thee a prophet among the nations.” And Paul, too, says in like manner, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, that I might declare Him among the nations.” As, therefore, we are by the Word formed in the womb, this very same Word formed the visual power in him who had been blind from his birth; showing openly who it is that fashions us in secret, since the Word Himself had been made manifest to men: and declaring the original formation of Adam, and the manner in which he was created, and by what hand he was fashioned, indicating the whole from a part. For the Lord who formed the visual powers is He who made the whole man, carrying out the will of the Father. — AGAINST HERESIES 5:15.3

Jerome: It was not that Jeremiah existed before he was conceived, as some heretics suppose, but that the Lord foreknew Jeremiah to be coming, the Lord to whom what does not yet exist is already present, in accordance with what the apostle said of him: “who calls that which is not as though it were.” But we also ought to understand Jeremiah’s consecration in the womb according to the apostle’s word: “When it pleased him, he set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might proclaim him to the nations.” John the Baptist similarly was consecrated in the womb, where he received the Holy Spirit and leaped and spoke through his mother’s mouth. Furthermore, when the Lord says, “I appointed you a prophet to the nations,” he wants it to be understood that we will eventually read in him the prophet who will prophesy not only to Jerusalem but also to a multitude in the entire company of nations. Some understand this as referring to the Savior, who was himself a prophet to the nations and called all peoples through the apostles. For it is certainly true of him that before he was formed in the virginal womb of his mother and before he came forth from her, he was consecrated in the womb and was known to the Father, he, indeed, who is always in the Father and the Father always in him. — SIX BOOKS ON Jeremiah 1:2.1-3

Leo the Great: Through the Holy Spirit we are reborn the children of promise, not in the mother’s womb but in the power of baptism. For this reason David, who certainly was a son of promise, says to God, “Your hands have made and fashioned me.” And to Jeremiah the Lord says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” — LETTER 15:10

Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius: In the first place we testify that he was born twice: first, in the spirit, later in the flesh. It is said in Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” And again, “who was blessed before he was born,” which happened to no other besides Christ. — DIVINE INSTITUTES 4:8

Maximus of Turin: This, too, seems unworthy to pass over in silence in praise of John. Although he was not yet born, yet already he prophesies and, while still in the enclosure of his mother’s womb, confesses the coming of Christ with movements of joy since he could not do so with his voice.… In this regard I think that the prophetic phrase is appropriate that says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” We ought not to marvel that after he was put in prison by Herod, from his confinement he continued to announce Christ to his disciples, when even confined in the womb he preached the same Lord by his movements. — SERMON 5:4

Methodius of Olympus: So, if God still forms human beings, shall we not be guilty of audacity if we think of the generation of children as something offensive when even the Almighty is not ashamed to make use of them in working with his undefiled hands. — BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS 2:2

Origen of Alexandria: We are not ignorant that some refer these things, as being too great for Jeremiah, to our Savior and Lord; and one must know that most of them are in accord with Him and can be referred to the Savior, which I will set forth; but a few of the things said to Jeremiah press hard upon the argument, being unable, as they can with respect to the many, to be fitted to the Savior. What, then, are the things that fit the Savior? “To all to whom I shall send you, you shall go, and according to all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid before their face, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” These would not yet seem to be referred to the Savior; but what follows—“and the Lord stretched out His hand to me and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: Behold, I have given my words into your mouth. Behold, I have set you this day over nations and kingdoms, to root out and to pull down”—presses hard upon the interpretation concerning Jeremiah. What nations did Jeremiah root out, what kingdoms did he overthrow? For it is written: “Behold, I have set you this day over nations and kingdoms, to root out and to pull down.” And what authority did Jeremiah have “to destroy,” which is said as if to Jeremiah in the phrase “and to destroy”? And how many so great did Jeremiah build up, that it should be said “and to build”? Jeremiah says: “I have not benefited, nor has anyone benefited me.” How then has “to build and to plant” been given to him? How will “to plant” fit Jeremiah? These things, referred to the Savior, do not press hard upon the interpreter, since Jeremiah in these matters is a symbol of the Savior. But the things that are to be set forth press hard, even upon the very most intelligent man who wishes to show how these too can fit the Savior: “And I said: O You who are, Master, Lord, behold, I do not know how to speak.” He who is wisdom, who is the power of God, who has brought to us “the fullness of the Godhead, which dwelt in Him bodily”—how, then, can “I do not know how to speak” fit the Savior? But also “I am young” is forbidden with respect to the Savior, as though He spoke it not rightly. For if the Lord says to him, “Do not say this,” it is clear that He forbids it as being not rightly said.

These things, then, do not fit the Savior. But those others do not seem to abash us when referred to the Savior. Now to say that these things are referred to Jeremiah, while those others are referred to the Savior, is not difficult. Yet the fair-minded man will be very much pressed at this point, seeing that to cut, within a sequence of words, the words spoken whether to Jeremiah or to the Savior, and to say that these, since they are lesser, fit not Christ but Jeremiah, and those, since they are greater than Jeremiah, fit not Jeremiah but Christ—this is the mark of the ill-disposed. Let the whole, then, be referred to Jeremiah; and let these things that seem to be too great for Jeremiah also be interpreted. — HOMILIES ON Jeremiah 1

Origen of Alexandria: We forget that the words “Let us make man according to our image and according to our likeness” apply to each person. When we fail to remember the one who formed a person in the womb, and formed all people’s hearts individually and understands all their works, we do not perceive that God is a helper of those who are lowly and inferior, a protector of the weak, a provider of shelter of those who have been given up in despair and Savior of those who have been given up as hopeless. — COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF John 13:167-68

Origen of Alexandria: Now after the prologue it is written that “the word of the Lord came to him,” clearly to Jeremiah. And what does the word of the Lord say to him? Something exceptional beyond what was said to the rest of the prophets. For this we have found said to none of the prophets. Abraham was declared a prophet in the words, “he is a prophet and will pray for you,” and yet God did not say to him: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came forth from the womb I sanctified you.” But Abraham was sanctified at some later point, when he came forth from his land and from his kindred and from his father’s house; from the promise Isaac was born, and we have not found even to him this saying spoken. And what need have I to enumerate what follows? Jeremiah obtained an exceptional gift, that of “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came forth from the womb I sanctified you.” — HOMILIES ON Jeremiah 1

Origen of Alexandria: Now whether it is said to Jeremiah or to the Savior: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you”—when you have read Genesis and observed the things said concerning the creation of the world, you will find that Scripture, most precisely in its terms, did not say “Before I made you in the womb I knew you.” For when the one “according to the image” was created, “God said: Let us make man according to our image and likeness,” He did not say: Let us form. But when He took “dust from the earth,” He did not make the man, but “He formed the man,” and “He set in paradise the man whom He had formed, to work it and to guard it.” See the difference between making and forming, that the Lord, whether to Jeremiah or to the Savior, did not say: “Before I made you in the womb I knew you”; for that which is made does not come to be in a womb, but that which is formed from the dust of the earth, this is created in a womb.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” If the Lord knew all men, He would not have said to Jeremiah, as something exceptional, “and I knew you.” Therefore God knows those who are superior, God knows those who are worthy of His knowledge, and “the Lord knew those who are His,” but the unworthy God does not know, just as also the Savior says: “I never knew you.” We human beings, insofar as we advance, judge certain things to be worthy of our knowing them; and certain things we do not even wish to hear, so that we may not know them nor perceive them, but certain things we wish to know. But what of the God of all? He wishes to know Pharaoh, He wishes to know the Egyptians, but they are not worthy of the knowledge of God; but Moses is worthy, and each of the prophets is of such great worth. Much must you accomplish rightly, so that God may begin to know you. For Jeremiah He knew “before He formed him in the womb”; but another He begins to know when he has become thirty years old, another when he has become forty years old.

There are ineffable words, not sought after concerning the Savior, but concerning Jeremiah requiring attention from those who have ears.

How does He say: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came forth from the womb I sanctified you”? God sanctifies certain ones for Himself. This one He did not wait for, so as to sanctify him after he had come into birth, but before he came forth from the womb He had already sanctified him. If you refer it to the Savior, it is not difficult to say that before He came forth from the womb He was sanctified. If you refer it to the Savior, not only before He came forth was He sanctified, but even still earlier was He sanctified. But this Jeremiah was sanctified before he came forth from the womb.

“I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” In the case of Jeremiah, if you inquire into “I have appointed you a prophet to the nations,” observe in what follows that he is commanded to prophesy “against all the nations,” and there is a heading: “The things which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations,” to “Elam,” to “Damascus,” to “Moab.” And we have it that “he prophesied against all the nations,” as regards the literal statement that “I have appointed you a prophet to the nations” with respect to that one. But if with respect to the higher sense—if in the case of Jeremiah, we have spoken already; but if in the case of the Savior, what need is there even to say it? He truly prophesied against all the nations; for He is, just as He is countless other things, so also a prophet. As He is high priest, as He is Savior, as He is physician, so also a prophet. Moses, at any rate, prophesying concerning Him, called Him not only a prophet, but also exceptionally so, saying: “A prophet from among your brethren the Lord God will raise up for you like me; Him you shall hear, and it shall be that whoever does not hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among his people.” This one, then, is He who has both been appointed a prophet “to the nations” and has received grace from God poured out upon His lips, so that not only when He was present in the body, but also now, when He is present in power and in the Spirit, He may prophesy “against all the nations,” so that from all the nations His prophecy may accomplish its work and may draw human beings to salvation. — HOMILIES ON Jeremiah 1

Tertullian: Read the word of God that was spoken to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” God not only forms us in the womb; he also breathes on us as he did at the first creation, when “the Lord God formed man and breathed into him the breath of life.” And God could not have known a person in the womb, except in his entire nature: “And before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you.” Well, was it then a dead body at that early stage? Certainly not. For “God is not the God of the dead but of the living.” — ON THE SOUL 26

Tertullian: The embryo therefore becomes a human being in the womb from the moment that its form is completed. The law of Moses, indeed, punishes with due penalties the one who shall cause an abortion, inasmuch as there exists already the rudiment of a human being that has imputed to it even now the condition of life and death, since it is already liable to the issues of both, although, by living still in the mother, it for the most part shares its own state with the mother. — ON THE SOUL 37

Theodoret of Cyrus: God’s choice of Jeremiah was not without basis: knowledge preceded it. Notice it says that God had knowledge and then he consecrated, for he knows everything before it happens. Now, he employed the word consecrated, meaning “he appointed.” Then God also mentions the task for which he selected him: “I appointed you as prophet to the nations.” Thus, he prophesies not only concerning the fortunes of the Jews but also the other nations. “I replied, O Lord and Master that you are, see, I do not know how to speak, because I am a child.” The prophet recognized the one addressing him. This is why he called him by a title having to do with lordship. When the mighty Moses was once speaking, remember, and wanted to learn the divine name, the Lord said, “I am the one who is.” He imitates Moses’ timidity by saying youth is not up to prophesying. The Lord, however, urges him not to put forward the excuse of youthfulness but to do as he is told. — ON Jeremiah 1:1.4-6

Jeremiah 1:6

Ambrose of Milan: Both Moses and Jeremiah, chosen by the Lord to declare the words of God to the people, avoided through modesty that which through grace they could do. — On the Duties of the Clergy 1.17.66

Ambrose of Milan: But perhaps you may say, How does Jeremiah call the yoke heavy, when the Lord in the Gospel has said, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”? Now, first understand that the Greek has “yoke” only, and has not added “heavy.” Notice this, also, that although it was so in Lamentations, in the Gospel he said “easy yoke” and “light burden,” not “light yoke.” For the yoke of the Word can be heavy, yet easy. Heavy to the youth, heavy to the young man whose age is in fuller flower, so that he is unwilling to offer the neck of his mind in subjection to the yoke of the Word. The yoke of the Word can seem heavy because of the burdens of discipline, the rigor of improvement, the weight of abstinence and the curbing of lust. Yet it is easy because of the fruitfulness of grace, the hope of eternal reward and the sweetness of a purer conscience. Still, he called the yoke of the Word “easy” and the burden of conscience “light,” because for him who has taken up the yoke of the Word with a patient neck the burden of discipline cannot be heavy. — CONSOLATION ON THE DEATH OF EMPEROR VALENTINIAN 11

Eusebius of Caesarea: The Hebrew Scripture introduces Moses at first as declining the leadership of the people by what he said to God who conversed with him: “I beg you, O Lord, appoint someone else who is able, whom you will send.” Afterwards it portrays Saul as hiding himself to avoid assuming the kingdom and the prophet Jeremiah as humbly declining his mission. — PREPARATION FOR THE GOSPEL 12:9

Gregory of Nazianzus: I resort once again to history. When I consider the men of best repute in ancient days, who were ever preferred by grace to the office of ruler or prophet, I discover that some readily complied with the call while others deprecated the gift. I also learn that those who drew back were not blamed for their timidity, nor were those who came forward accused of being too eager. The former stood in awe of the greatness of the ministry; the latter trustfully obeyed him who called them. Aaron was eager, but Moses resisted; Isaiah readily submitted, but Jeremiah was afraid of his youth and did not venture to prophesy until he had received from God a promise and a power beyond his years. — IN DEFENSE OF HIS FLIGHT TO PONTUS, ORATION 2:114

Gregory of Nazianzus: It is a good thing even to hold back from God for a little while—as did the great Moses in ancient times, and Jeremiah later on—and then to run readily to him when he calls. This is what Aaron and Isaiah did—as long as both are done with a respectful spirit. Do the former because you lack strength. Do the latter because of the power of God who calls you. — ON EASTER AND HIS RELUCTANCE, ORATION 1:1

Jerome: But what is sanctified in the womb, we should understand according to the words of the Apostle: But when it pleased him, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me; that I might preach him among the Gentiles (Galatians 1:15). John the Baptist is also sanctified in the womb, and receives the Holy Spirit, and is stirred in the womb, and speaks through the mouth of his mother (Luke 1).

(Verse 6.) And I said: Ah, ah, ah, Lord God, behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am a child. LXX: And I said, O Lord God, I do not know how to speak, for I am young. He detests the office that he cannot sustain due to his age, with the same modesty that Moses himself says he has a thin and weak voice (Exodus IV and 6). But he, as if he were seized with great and robust age, is caught up; forgiveness is given to this childhood, which is adorned with modesty and shame. — Commentary on Jeremiah

John Chrysostom: Therefore, you see, they had power either to speak or to refrain from speaking. For they were not bound by necessity, but were honored with a privilege. For this cause Jonah fled; for this cause Ezekiel delayed; for this cause Jeremiah excused himself. And God thrusts them not on by compulsion, but advising, exhorting, threatening; not darkening their mind; for to cause distraction and madness and great darkness, is the proper work of a demon: but it is God’s work to illuminate and with consideration to teach things needful. — HOMILIES ON 1 Corinthians 29:2

Origen of Alexandria: Someone of those who hear will say to me: Exercise the other argument as well, and try to present all the things written as fitting the Savior. Concerning the second matters, do not be anxious; for it is evident that the Savior rooted out the kingdoms of the devil and pulled down the nations, having destroyed the heathen life. Here, in what seems ill-omened as regards the Savior, exercise the argument somehow, how the Savior can say: “I do not know how to speak, for I am young,” and what follows. Do you see that the argument is hard pressed? We know the Savior as Lord. We seek, according to the worth of the passage and according to the truth, to refer these things to the Savior. We must take the Scriptures as witnesses; for our undertakings are without witnesses, and expositions without witnesses are untrustworthy. And “By the mouth of two and three witnesses shall every word stand” fits the case of expositions rather than of human beings, so that I may establish the words of the interpretation by taking two witnesses from the New and Old Testament, and by taking three witnesses from the gospel, from a prophet, from an apostle; for thus shall every word stand. How, then, are we able to refer these things to the Savior? Bring the Old Testament as a witness: “For before the child knows good or evil, he refuses wickedness so as to choose the good.” And these things are said outright concerning the Savior in Isaiah: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive in the womb and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel.” And there it is added: “Before the child knows.” But if we must also take an example from the gospel—Jesus, not having become a man, but while still being a child, since He “emptied Himself,” was advancing (for no one who has been perfected advances, but he advances who is in need of advancement); therefore “He advanced in wisdom and stature and grace before God and men,” coming down here, and having emptied Himself, He received again those things from which “He emptied Himself,” having willingly emptied Himself. What is strange in His having also advanced “in wisdom and stature and grace before God and men,” and in that being truly said of Him: “Before he knows good or evil he shall choose the good and refuses wickedness,” and the things I set forth from Isaiah?

But someone will say: Even if you can refer “he does not know” to the Savior, and can say such a thing of the Savior and take Him to be a child, does it not offend you to say these things concerning the Only-begotten, concerning the firstborn of all creation, concerning Him who before conception was announced by good tidings according to the words, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you”—and do you say: He does not know how to speak? See whether you can behold anything worthy of note and great concerning the Savior in this passage: that, not knowing certain things, He is greater in not knowing them than in knowing them. And I make use of His own voice testifying that He does not know certain things. He says, at any rate, to those who assert to Him: “Did we not eat in your name, and drink in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works?"—“Depart from me, I never knew you.” Does, then, the saying “I never knew you,” said there by the Savior, present His power as lesser, or as greater and more wonderful, in that He did not know the worse and those who are perishing? For He knew the superior and better things, and “the Lord knew those who are His,” and “if anyone is ignorant, he is not known.” Therefore the sinner is not known by God. Someone of the hearers will say to me: You have shown that He does not know the sinners, you have shown that He does not know those who work lawlessness; for they are not worthy of His knowledge. How then will you present as great and glorious the saying “I do not know how to speak,” said by the Savior? To speak is a human thing; to speak is to make use of a language, so as to utter, let us say, the tongue of the Hebrews, or of the Greeks, or of some others. If you ascend to the Savior and know Him as the Word “in the beginning with God,” you will see that He does not know how to speak, since speaking is a human thing, but He does not know it because that which He knows is greater than speaking. And if you compare the tongues of angels with the tongues of men, and know that He is greater even than the angels, as the apostle testified in the Epistle to the Hebrews, you will say that He was greater even than the tongue of angels, when God the Word was with the Father. He learns, then, and as it were takes up knowledge, not of great things, but of things inferior and smaller. And just as I learn, forcing myself to lisp, when I converse with little children (for, not knowing how to speak in a childish way, so to speak, I force myself, being full-grown, to converse with children), in the same manner the Savior also, being “in the Father” and existing in the majesty of the glory of God, does not speak human things, does not know how to utter to those below. But when He comes into a human body, He says, at the beginning: “I do not know how to speak, for I am young”—young because of the bodily birth, but elder according to “the firstborn of all creation,” young because “at the consummation of the ages” and later in time He came to dwell in this life. He says, then, “I do not know how to speak”—I know something greater than speaking, I know something greater than this human utterance. Do you wish me to speak to men? I have not yet taken up a human language; I have Your language, that of God; I am Your Word, the Word of God; I know how to converse with You, with men I do not know how to speak; “I am young.”

“Do not say that I am young, for to all to whom I shall send you, you shall go.” Thus He stretches out His hand, He touches his mouth, He gives him words, and He gives him words for the sake of the kingdoms, so that he may root them out. But did He have need of words that root out when He was “in the Father”? He had no need of words that pull down and demolish the worse things; for there was nothing worthy of demolition there, there was nothing worthy of rooting out. Great, then, is the “I do not know you, for you are workers of lawlessness,” said thus by the Savior because of the surpassing greatness of His glory, being equivalent to “I do not know how to speak human things,” the saying “I do not know how to speak.” — HOMILIES ON Jeremiah 1

Origen of Alexandria: “And I said: O You who are, Master, Lord, behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am young. And the Lord said to me: Do not say that I am young, for to all to whom I shall send you, you shall go.” We have often said that it is possible to be a child according to the inner man, even though one be in the aged stage of the body; and it is possible sometimes to be a child according to the outer man, but according to the inner a man. Such was Jeremiah, already having the grace from God while still being in the childhood stage as regards the body. Therefore the Lord says to him: “Do not say that I am young.” And a sign that he is not young, but “a perfect man,” is the “to all to whom I shall send you, you shall go, and according to all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid before their face.” The Word of God knows that those who serve as ambassadors of the Word are in danger among their hearers; for, being convicted, men hate them, being rebuked, they persecute them. The prophets suffer anything whatsoever: “A prophet is not without honor except in his own homeland and in his own house,” which we also mentioned recently. God knows, then, when He sends the prophet, how many dangers he will take upon himself, and He says to him: “Do not be afraid before their face, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” The things Jeremiah suffered are recorded: he was cast into a pit of mire, he remained there “eating one loaf a day” and drinking only water, and countless other things which his prophecy has made clear that he suffered. “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?” is said to the Jews. And it is necessary that “those who wish to live godly in Christ Jesus be, in every case, persecuted by the opposing powers through the vessels which they find.” Therefore let those who are persecuted, not being astonished, do all things, only praying that they may be persecuted unjustly and not justly, not for injustice, not for sin, not for greed. But if anyone is ever persecuted for righteousness’ sake, let him also hear the “Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and say every evil word against you, lying, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for your reward is great in the heavens; for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” — HOMILIES ON Jeremiah 1

Jeremiah 1:7

Jerome: You should not consider the matter of age, he said, for you have learned through another prophet’s words that “a man’s gray hair is his wisdom.” May you only be willing to continue, for you will have me as a companion by whose assistance you will accomplish everything: “Open your mouth, and I will fill it.” Neither should you consider the number of those against whom you are about to speak, but consider me only, who is with you to deliver you, says the Lord. The Lord delivers, however, not so that the prophet will be free of persecutions and difficulties, for we read that he was severely afflicted. Instead, the Lord liberates one who suffers everything to overcome these tribulations rather than yielding to them. — SIX BOOKS ON Jeremiah 1:4.1-2

Jerome: (Vers. 7, 8.) And the Lord said to me: Do not say, I am a boy, for you shall go to all whom I shall send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces: for I am with you to deliver you, saith the Lord. Do not consider your age, says he; for by another prophet speaking, you have learned: The wisdom of a man is in his gray hairs (Wis. 4:9): Let it be only your will that you continue; you will have me as a companion, by whose assistance you will accomplish all things: open your mouth and I will fill it (Psalms 81:10). And do not consider the multitude of those to whom and against whom you are about to speak, but me, who am with you, so that I may rescue you, says the Lord. But the Lord does not deliver in order that the Prophet may be free from persecutions and hardships, for we read of him enduring many things; but rather that he may endure everything with patience and not be overcome by distress. — Commentary on Jeremiah

Origen of Alexandria: But our present question may, perhaps, be solved in this way, that as every man is a man of God, simply because God created him, but not every man is called a man of God, but only he who has devoted himself to God, such as Elijah and those who are called men of God in the Scriptures, thus every man might be said in ordinary language to be sent from God, but in the absolute sense no one is to be spoken of in this way who has not entered this life for a divine ministry and in the service of the salvation of mankind. We do not find it said of any one but the saints that he is sent by God. It is said of Isaiah as we showed before; it is also said of Jeremiah, “To whomsoever I shall send thee thou shalt go”; and it is said of Ezekiel, “I send thee to nations that are rebellious and have not believed in Me.” The examples, however, do not expressly speak of a mission from the region outside life into life, and as it is a mission into life that we are enquiring about, they may seem to have little bearing on our subject. But there is nothing absurd in our transferring the argument derived from them to our question. They tell us that it is only the saints, and we were speaking of them, whom God is said to send, and in this sense they may be applied to the case of those who are sent into this life. — COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF John 2:184

Jeremiah 1:8

Gregory of Nazianzus: I resort once again to history, and on considering the men of best repute in ancient days, who were ever preferred by grace to the office of ruler or prophet, I discover that some readily complied with the call, others deprecated the gift, and that neither those who drew back were blamed for timidity, nor those who came forward for eagerness. The former stood in awe of the greatness of the ministry, the latter trustfully obeyed Him Who called them. Aaron was eager, but Moses resisted, Isaiah readily submitted, but Jeremiah was afraid of his youth, and did not venture to prophesy until he had received from God a promise and power beyond his years.

…

What is it that has induced this fear in me, that, instead of supposing me to be needlessly afraid, you may highly commend my foresight? I hear from Moses himself, when God spake to him, that, although many were bidden to come to the mount, one of whom was even Aaron, with his two sons who were priests, and seventy elders of the senate, the rest were ordered to worship afar off, and Moses alone to draw near, and the people were not to go up with him. For it is not everyone who may draw near to God, but only one who, like Moses, can bear the glory of God. Moreover, before this, when the law was first given, the trumpet-blasts, and lightnings, and thunders, and darkness, and the smoke of the whole mountain, and the terrible threats that if even a beast touched the mountain it should be stoned, and other like alarms, kept back the rest of the people, for whom it was a great privilege, after careful purification, merely to hear the voice of God. But Moses actually went up and entered into the cloud, and was charged with the law, and received the tables, which belong, for the multitude, to the letter, but, for those who are above the multitude, to the spirit. — IN DEFENCE OF HIS FLIGHT TO PONTUS, ORATION 2.114, 2.92

Jeremiah 1:9

Jerome: (Verse 9) And the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth: and the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. It is to be noted that here the hand of God is sent, which touches the prophet’s mouth, and it is said to him: Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth; but in Isaiah it is written: And one of the seraphims flew unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged (Isaiah 6:6-7). For there, because he was of solid and perfect age, he himself confesses openly that he has unclean lips, and he dwells in the midst of a people with polluted lips. So, one of the Seraphim is sent, who does not touch his mouth with his hand, but with tongs and a burning coal, to take away his iniquities and cleanse his sins. Now, it is the hand of God Himself that is sent, through which all things are accomplished, and which is called the arm in another place: not to take away sins, which he had not committed many in his childhood; but to bestow the grace of speech. Furthermore, Ezekiel devours the book, both inside and outside, containing both divine mysteries and simple history. Jeremiah’s mouth is touched, and the words of the Lord are given to him, so that he may receive confidence in preaching. And beautifully, according to the letter, a hand is sent, so that seeing the likeness of human limbs, it does not fear the touch of the hand. — Commentary on Jeremiah

John Chrysostom: Surely these things were said for their sakes, that they might have no pretense of excuse. Since if this were not the case, what shall He have more than Isaiah? for he too saith the very same thing, “The Lord God giveth me the tongue of the learned, that I should know when I ought to speak a word.” What more than Jeremiah? for he too when he was sent was inspired. What then Ezekiel? for he too, after eating the roll, so spake. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF John 69

Origen of Alexandria: In sacred language God is called a fire. For instance, Scripture says, “Our God is a consuming fire.” It also speaks as follows concerning the substance of the angels when it says, “He makes his angels spirits and his ministers a burning fire.” In another place, “The angel of the Lord appeared in a flame of fire in the bush.” We have, moreover, received a commandment to be “fervent in spirit,” which undoubtedly means that the Word of God is hot and fiery. The prophet Jeremiah also hears from him who gave him his answer, “Behold, I have put my words into your mouth like a fire.” Since God, then, is a fire, and the angels a flame of fire and all the saints are fervent in spirit, so, on the contrary, those who have fallen away from the love of God are undoubtedly said to have cooled in their affection for him and to have become cold. For the Lord also says that “because iniquity has grown, the love of many will grow cold.” — ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 2:8.3

Origen of Alexandria: We pray that words may be given us, as it is written in the book of Jeremiah that the Lord said to the prophet: “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth as fire. See, I have set you this day over the nations, and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, and to build and to plant.” — AGAINST CELSUS 4:1

Origen of Alexandria: “For I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord. And the Lord stretched out his hand toward me, and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me.” Observe the differences between Jeremiah and Isaiah. Isaiah says, “Having unclean lips, in the midst of a people having unclean lips I dwell, and I saw with my eyes the King, the Lord of Sabaoth.” And since he confessed that he had no unclean deeds, but only trifling words (for up to that point he was a sinner), the Lord did not “stretch out his hand,” but “one of the Seraphim touched his lips with his hand, and said: Behold, I have taken away your iniquities.” But since this man was sanctified “from the womb,” neither are tongs sent to him, nor a coal “from the altar” (he had nothing worthy of the fire), but the very hand of the Lord touched him. Therefore he says: “The Lord stretched out his hand toward me and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. Behold, I have set you this day over nations and kingdoms, to root up.” — HOMILIES ON Jeremiah 1

Tertullian: The Scripture narrative goes on to explain in a popular manner that “they did not understand that he spoke to them about the Father,” although they ought certainly to have known that the Father’s words were uttered in the Son because they read in Jeremiah, “And the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.’ " — AGAINST PRAXEAS 22

Theophilus of Alexandria: The Lord has said to his prophet, “See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out and to pull down and to destroy and … to build and to plant.” In every age he bestows the same grace on his church, that his body may be preserved intact and that the poison of heretical opinions may nowhere prevail over it. And now also do we see the words fulfilled. — LETTER 90, TO EPIPHANIUS

Jeremiah 1:10

Augustine of Hippo: In such wise Thou sayest, I build, as not to destroy: for some Thou destroyest and buildest not; and some whom Thou destroyest Thou dost rebuild. For unless there were some who were destroyed to be rebuilt, Jeremiah would not have written, “See, I have this day set thee to throw down and to build.” And indeed all who formerly worshipped images and stones could not be built up in Christ, without being destroyed as to their old error. While, unless some were destroyed not to be built up, it would not be written, “He shall destroy them, and not build them up.” — Expositions of the Psalms, Psalms 89

Gregory of Nazianzus: Isaiah, again, beheld the glory of the seraphim, and after him Jeremiah, who was entrusted with great power against nations and kings. The one heard the divine voice and was cleansed by a live coal for his prophetic office, and the other was known before his formation and sanctified before his birth. Paul, also, while yet a persecutor, who became the great herald of the truth and teacher of the Gentiles in faith, was surrounded by a light and acknowledged him whom he was persecuting, and was entrusted with his great ministry and filled every ear and mind with the gospel. — ON THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER, ORATION 18:14

Jerome: It is important to observe here that two joys succeed four sorrows. The good cannot be built up unless the evil is destroyed, nor can the best be planted unless the worst is eradicated. For “every plant that the heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted,” and every building that does not have its foundation on rock but was built on sand is undermined and destroyed by the word of God. But that which Jesus will consume by the breath of his mouth and destroy by the coming of his presence, indeed, all sacrilege and perverse doctrine, he will annihilate forever. Furthermore, he will depose and scatter all who elevate themselves against the knowledge of God, trusting instead in their own wisdom, which is foolishness to God, so that the lower dwellings may be prepared for them and that those who are conformed to the truth of the church, having previously been destroyed and plucked up, might be planted and established in the higher places, such that what the apostle said will be fulfilled: “You are God’s edifice, God’s field.” Many people understand this passage to refer to the person of Christ. For the name Jeremiah means “the heights of the Lord,” the Lord who destroyed the kingdoms of the devil, who had shown them to him on a high mountain, and destroyed the adversarial powers as well, canceling the bond of errors on the cross. It is also said in the Psalms concerning these things, after the figurative truth of history: “Why do nations murmur and the people meditate in vain? The kings of the earth stand by and the princes convene as one.” The church of God is planted and built for those who were plucked up, destroyed, dragged down and lost. But about the person of Jeremiah, there is no doubt, for we read subsequently that he took a chalice full of wine and all the nations were commanded to drink. — SIX BOOKS ON Jeremiah 1:6.1-5

Jerome: (Verse 10) Behold, I have appointed you today over nations and over kingdoms, to uproot and to destroy, and to scatter, and to demolish, and to build, and to plant. This addition that we have made from Hebrew, ‘and to scatter,’ is not found in the Septuagint. And it must be considered that two joys follow four sorrows. For good things cannot be built unless evil things are destroyed: and the best things cannot be planted unless the worst things are uprooted. For every plantation that the heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted, and any building that does not have its foundation on the rock but is constructed on sand will be dug up and destroyed by the word of God. But that which Jesus will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy by the coming of His presence, namely all sacrilegious and perverse doctrine, He will utterly destroy forever. Moreover, He will dissipate and overthrow those things that are exalted against the knowledge of God and rely on their own wisdom, which is foolishness before God, so that humble things may be built up and in place of the high things that have been destroyed and uprooted, new things may be constructed and planted that are in accordance with the teachings of the Church. And let that which the Apostle says be fulfilled, ‘You are God’s building, you are God’s field’ (2 Corinthians 3:9). Here they understand this place as being above the person of Christ: for Jeremiah interprets high of the Lord, who destroyed the kingdoms of the devil, which he had shown to him on a high mountain: he will destroy the opposing powers, wiping out the handwriting of errors on the cross. Concerning which, in the Psalm, after the truth of the stories, he speaks tropically: Why do the nations rage, and the people meditate on vain things? The kings of the earth stand up, and the princes gather together in one (Psalms 2:1-2). For these things having been uprooted, destroyed, and lost, and having been dragged down into the depths, the Church of God is built and planted. However, there is no doubt concerning the person of Jeremiah. For we read in the following (Ad. cap. XXV) that he should take a cup full of pure wine in his hand; and he is ordered to offer it to all the nations around. — Commentary on Jeremiah

John Cassian: But you should know that we must work twice as hard to drive out vice as we do to acquire virtue. And this is not simply our own opinion, but we were instructed by the opinion of the One who alone knows the strength and the method of his work: “See,” he says, “I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” He points out that four things are required for getting rid of poisonous elements: to root up, to pull down, to waste and to destroy. But in order to do good and acquire righteousness, all that is required is to build and to plant. It is perfectly evident that it is a harder thing to tear up and eradicate the ingrained passions of body and soul than to introduce and plant spiritual virtues. — CONFERENCE 2:14.3

Origen of Alexandria: Everyone who has received words from God and has the grace of the heavenly words has received them for the purpose of “rooting out and pulling down nations and kingdoms.” But if it is said that everyone who has received words from God “roots out” “nations and kingdoms,” do not understand the nations and the kingdoms in a bodily sense for me, but, having observed that human souls are ruled over by sin according to what is said by the apostle—“Let not sin therefore reign in our mortal body”—and seeing also the many kinds of sins, interpret figuratively the nations and the kingdoms as well, that is, the evil things that are in the souls of human beings, which are rooted out and pulled down by the words of God given whether to Jeremiah or to anyone whatever. And one can fit both the first things, those that press hard as regards the Savior, to Jeremiah, and the second things to Jeremiah, who knew how to interpret figuratively. — HOMILIES ON Jeremiah 1

Origen of Alexandria: Who is so blessed as to root up, by the words given by God, the kingdoms which are many, which “the devil displays,” being kingdoms of adverse powers, kingdoms corresponding to the sins? For it is written: “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. Behold, I have set you this day over nations and kingdoms, to root up.” And just as there are kingdoms, so also there are nations; nor can anything be called a kingdom unless it be one having nations under it. For example, there is a kingdom of fornication, and the nations of fornication are each individual fornication. One kingdom is the generic sin itself of covetousness and defrauding, and there are many kingdoms among those who have many species of sins. Then, in the case of each of the sinners, understand for me the nations under the kingdom, so as to say that so-and-so has many nations of the kingdom according to fornication, so-and-so has many nations of the kingdom according to defrauding, according to slander, according to anger. It is the work of the words of God, sent out over “nations and kingdoms,” “to root up and to pull down.” To root up what? The Savior taught, saying: “Every plant which my heavenly Father did not plant shall be rooted up.” There are certain things within, in the souls, which “the heavenly Father did not plant”; for all the “evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnessings, blasphemies” are plantings planted not by the heavenly Father. And if you wish to see whose plantings such thoughts are, hear that “an enemy, a man, has done this,” the one who sowed over them “the tares in the midst of the wheat.” God, then, stands ready having his seeds, and so does the devil. If we give “place to the devil,” “the enemy” sows over us a planting “which the heavenly Father did not plant,” which will assuredly be rooted up; but if we do not give “place to the devil,” but give place to God, God rejoicing sows his seeds upon our ruling faculty. Do not, therefore, suppose that Jeremiah received some gloomy gift from God, because he is set “over nations and over kingdoms, to root up.” God is good in rooting up, through the words, the evil things, the kingdoms hostile to the kingdom of the heavens, the warring nations hostile to the nation of God.

“To root up and to pull down.”

There is a certain building of the devil, and there is a certain building of God. The building “upon the sand” is the devil’s, for it has been established upon nothing firm and stable and unified; but the building “upon the rock” is God’s. See what is said to those who belong to God: “You are God’s tilled field, God’s building.” The words of God, then, are over “nations and kingdoms,” “to root up and to pull down and to destroy.” If a thing be rooted up, but what is rooted up be not destroyed, the rooted-up thing still exists. If a thing be pulled down, but the stones of the demolition be not destroyed, the demolished thing still exists. It is therefore a work of the goodness of God, after the rooting up, to destroy what has been rooted up, and after the tearing down, to destroy what has been torn down. Read carefully, in the case of the things destroyed and rooted up, how such things are destroyed: “But the chaff burn with unquenchable fire,” and “bind the tares in bundles and deliver them to the fire”; thus, after being rooted up, it is destroyed. If you wish to see also, after the demolition, the things of the building of evil matter being destroyed—that house which has been torn down on account of the leprosy becomes dust, and, having become dust, is cast out “outside the city,” so that not even a stone may remain, in like manner to “I will grind them fine as the mud of the streets”; for the worse things must in no way hold together. If something is pulled down, let not the stones be useful for the other building which the evil one is able to build; if it is rooted up, let him not again find seeds from the rooted-up things, so as to sow over them again the tares—for surely, having the seeds of the tares, he sowed them over. For this reason, “bind the tares and burn them with fire,” so that after being rooted up it may be destroyed, and after being pulled down the building of the devil may be destroyed.

But the words of God do not stand still in these things, in the “rooting up and pulling down and destroying.” For let the evil things be rooted up from me, the worse things pulled down—what benefit is it to me, if in place of the things rooted up the better things be not planted? What benefit is it to me, if in place of these the more excellent things be not built up again? For this reason the words of God do first, of necessity, the “rooting up and pulling down and destroying,” after which the “building and planting.” And always in Scripture we have observed the gloomy-appearing things, so to name them, being named first, then the things that seem to be cheerful being spoken of second. “I will kill and I will make alive.” He did not say, “I will make alive,” and after this, “I will kill”; for it is impossible that what God has made alive should be killed by him or by any other. But “I will kill and I will make alive.” Whom shall I kill? Paul the traitor, Paul the persecutor; “and I will make alive,” so that there may come to be “Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ.” If the wretches who come from the heresies had understood these things, they would not continually have brought them forward to us, saying: Do you see how the God of the Law is savage and inhuman and says: “I will kill, and I will make alive”? Do you not behold in the Scriptures the promise of the resurrection of the dead? Or do you not see the resurrection of the dead already being prefigured in each one? “We were buried together” with Christ “through baptism” and we rose together with him.

Accordingly, he begins from the more gloomy utterances, but the necessary ones, such as “I will kill,” then, having killed, “and I will make alive; I will strike, and I myself will heal”; for “whom the Lord loves he disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he receives.” First he strikes, and after this he heals; “for he himself makes to feel pain and again restores.” And so also here: “I have set you this day over nations and kingdoms, to root up and to pull down and to destroy and to build up again and to plant.” Yet the first thing is that those evil things be taken away from us. God cannot build in the place of the evil building. “For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? What fellowship has light with darkness?” The evil must be rooted up from the foundations, the building of evil must be consumed away from our soul, so that after these things the words of God may build and plant; for I cannot understand otherwise the things that are written: “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.” What do the words do? “Root up and pull down and destroy.” Words root up “nations,” words pull down kingdoms—but not those bodily and worldly kingdoms. Worthily of words that pull down, worthily of words that root up, understand the things rooted up by words, the things pulled down by words. Is there not, then, right now in the things being spoken a power, if God grants it (according to the saying “the Lord will give the word to those who proclaim the good news with great power”), a power that roots up, if there be any unbelief, if any hypocrisy, if any wickedness, if any licentiousness? Is there not one that pulls down, if anywhere an idol-temple has been built up in the heart—so that, when that has been pulled down, a temple of God may be built, and the glory of God may be found in the temple built up again, and there may come to be not a grove, but a planting, a paradise of God, where the temple of God is in Christ Jesus; to whom is the glory and the might unto the ages of the ages. Amen. — HOMILIES ON Jeremiah 1

Jeremiah 1:11

Ambrose of Milan: It is written in the book of the prophet, “Take a branch from a nut tree.” So we must consider why the Lord said this to the prophet, for it is not written without a purpose, since we also read in the Pentateuch that the nut tree of Aaron, the priest, blossomed after it had been laid away for a long while. — LETTER 62

Didascalia Apostolorum: Now our rod is the Word of God, Jesus Christ, as Jeremiah saw him as an almond rod. So everyone that spares his son a word of rebuke hates his son. Therefore teach your sons the word of the Lord. Punish them with lashes. Subdue them by your word of religion from their youth. — DIDASCALIA 22.[4:11]

Jerome: (Verse 11, 12.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, I see a watching rod. And the Lord said to me: You have seen well, for I will watch over my word to perform it. For the watching rod, the Septuagint translated it as a nut-stick. Therefore, we must work so that the Latin reader understands the Hebrew etymology briefly. Seced is called a nut: but watching or watch or to watch is called Soced. And in the later [books], the leopard is placed in this position as a vigilant guardian. From this, therefore, because it is called a nut, due to the similarity of the word to the understanding of ‘watchful’, it alluded to the name: which indeed is also written in Daniel according to Theodotion, so that the dividing and cutting of the trees (namely oak and mastic) is appointed to adulterous priests. Likewise, in the beginning of Genesis, from the man who is called Is (), the woman is called Issa (), as some kind of mannish woman, because she is taken from man. For the nutcracker staff, the vigilant rod, the Eagle and Symmachus; but they transferred the almond to Theodotius. The rod, however, keeps watch, considering all the sins of the people, in order to strike and rebuke the transgressors. Therefore the Apostle writes to the sinners: What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and the spirit of gentleness? (1 Corinthians 4:21). This is the rod, or staff, that David speaks of: Your rod and your staff, they comfort me (Psalms 23:4). Beautifully he placed, they were consoled. For in this way the Lord corrects, so that he may amend. And just as a nut, or an almond, has a very bitter shell, and is surrounded by a very hard shell, so that when the bitter and hard parts are removed, the sweetest fruit is found: in the same way, all correction and the labor of self-restraint seem bitter for the present: but they produce the sweetest fruits. Hence that old saying: The roots of letters are bitter, the fruits are sweet. A certain rod and nut are understood to symbolize the Lord, of whom Isaiah says: ‘A rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse’ (Isaiah 11:1). Therefore, even the rod of Aaron, which was thought to be dead, is said to have blossomed at the resurrection of the Lord. — Commentary on Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1:13

Jerome: (Vers. 13, 14.) And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying: What do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot, and its face is from the north. And the Lord said to me: From the north evil will be opened (or kindled) upon all the inhabitants of the land. To some degrees, the torments are given to the sinners, so that they may gradually come to salvation. Those who do not want to be corrected by the striking rod are thrown into the bronze and burning pot, as Ezechiel writes more fully, which is kindled from the face of the north (Ezech. XXIV), signifying the king of Babylon and the city of Jerusalem. And it is beautifully inserted: From the North, evil things will ignite upon all the inhabitants of the earth: either the land of Judah, or certainly the entire earth, about which it is written in the Apocalypse: Woe to all the inhabitants of the earth (Apoc. VIII, 13). For the holy ones are not inhabitants of the earth: but rather strangers and pilgrims, of whom one says: I am a stranger upon the earth; and a pilgrim like all my fathers (Psal. XXXVIII, 13). And another: My days are few and evil, in which I sojourn on the earth (Gen. XLVII, 9). And Peter also writes the Catholic Epistle to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, and Cappadocia (1 Peter 1). And according to mystical interpretations, Solomon speaks of the harsh north wind (Proverbs 25:23), which is called the east wind by those who have lost the warmth of faith due to its coldness. — Commentary on Jeremiah

Origen of Alexandria: Place that candlestick in the south that it may look to the north. For when the light has been lit, that is, when the heart is watchful, it ought always to look to the north and watch for “him who is from the north,” as also the prophet says he saw “a kettle or pot kindled and its face was from the face of the north,” for “evils are kindled from the north for the whole earth.” Be watchful, therefore, apprehensive and zealous. Always contemplate the slyness of the devil and always watch the place from which temptation may come, from which the foe may invade, from which the enemy may creep up. For the apostle Peter also says, “Your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” — HOMILIES ON Exodus 9:4

Theodoret of Cyrus: The blessed Jeremiah also saw a boiling pot tilted away from the north. So he means that Manasseh will recover its own land, Ephraim regain its former power and Judah be renamed king of all, whereas the Moabites will be subject to them, observing their invincible strength—and not only they but also Edomites and foreigners. — COMMENTARY ON THE Psalms 60:6

Jeremiah 1:15

Jerome: (Verse 15, 16.) For behold, I will gather all the families of the kingdoms of the North, says the Lord, and they shall come and each one shall set their throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and over all its surrounding walls, and over all the cities of Judah. And I will speak my judgments with them concerning all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and worshiped foreign gods and bowed down to the work of their own hands. Without a doubt, many nations and the kings of each nation were subjected to the Babylonian king, who, besieging Jerusalem, placed their thrones and tents around it, so that none of those who were closed in could escape. And not only Jerusalem, but also all the cities of Judah were surrounded by a similar siege. And when, he says, the city has been captured, then I will speak to them that my judgments were right, and that each one received what they deserved: not for the other vices to which human nature is subject, but especially for idolatry, by which they deserted me and worshipped the works of their own hands. Some interpret this passage in a positive way, namely that those who have been refined in the bronze furnace and purified through torments will afterwards become princes of Jerusalem; and after the Lord has shown compassion to them, then he will rebuke them because, when he deserted them, they worshipped idols. But this is a violent and wicked interpretation: so that an ignorant handler does not commit slander. — Commentary on Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1:16

Theodoret of Cyrus: He emphasizes the justice of what has been done by adding, “I shall pronounce my judgment against them because of all their wickedness in forsaking me. They sacrificed to foreign gods and worshiped the works of their hands.” What could be more foolish than this kind of godlessness? What could be more righteous than retribution? Consider that they, for their part, forsook their own maker and turned things of their own making into gods. He, by contrast, after demonstrating his patient mercy for such a long time, finally deprived them of his characteristic grace. Once deprived of it, they became enslaved to unholy people. — ON Jeremiah 1:1.16

Jeremiah 1:17

Jerome: (Verse 17.) So gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. And Job is commanded to gird up his loins (Job 4); and to the Apostles (Luke 12), that with girded loins, which Elijah (2 Kings 1) and John the Baptist (Matthew 3) had mortified with haircloth belts, they may hold lamps in their hands, namely for the proclamation of the Gospel. Therefore, whoever is going to speak the words of God must gird up his loins, knowing that all the power of the devil is in the loins (Job 40); and let the righteous man say in the Psalms: My loins are filled with illusions (Psalms 37:8). And when he has girded his loins, let him hear what is written: Arise, you who sleep, and arise from the dead: and Christ shall enlighten you (Ephesians 5:14); that being always vigilant and rising from sleep, he may speak the things that God has commanded him.

Do not be afraid of their face: for I will not make their appearance fearful to you. Whether as the Septuagint and other interpreters have: lest I make you afraid. And the sense is according to our translation: Do not be afraid of their face: for with me as your helper, you will not be able to fear them. According to the Septuagint: Do not be afraid of their face, have the confidence of my command. For if you do not offer what you have, in order to stop being afraid, I will abandon you and deliver you to fear, and in a way it will seem that I make you afraid while I abandon you to fear. But this signifies that truth should always be loved: and the multitude of men should not be feared, who, when rebuked, do not endure it; but they lay snares for the one who rebukes them. And what follows in the Septuagint: ‘For I am with you to deliver you,’ says the Lord, is not found in the Hebrew. And the meaning is: I will deliver you, not so that no one lays snares for you; but so that, enduring the snares, you do not transgress. — Commentary on Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1:18

Jerome: (Verse 18, 19) For I have set you today (or Behold I have made you on this day) as a fortified city, and as an iron column, and as a bronze wall over all the earth: to the kings of Judah, to its princes, and to its priests, and to the people of the land. And they will fight against you, but they will not prevail, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you. The divine word describes why the Prophet should not be afraid. I, he says, have set, or made you today, that is, in the present life, until it is called today, as a very strong city: not as one house, nor a tower, or any walls (Matthew 5); but as every city that is situated on a mountain cannot be hidden. About which it is written: Glorious things are said of you, O city of God (Psalms 86:2). And: I am a strong city, a city that is under attack (Isaiah 27:3). And, in a column, it is said of a pillar of iron, about which the Apostle writes: The pillar and foundation of truth (1 Timothy 3:15). Thus Peter and John, who were considered pillars of the Church, gave the right hand of fellowship to Paul and Barnabas. And not only this, but it is said to be a bronze wall, which is not damaged by rust and does not perish when beaten by rain, but becomes stronger with age. But you are such against kings and princes and people, not of any place, but of the land; those who have earthly wisdom and do not know heavenly things, who have the image of the earth and not of the heavenly. These, he says, will fight against you and will not prevail. Why, I ask? What is the cause of such great strength that neither kings, nor princes, nor priests, nor people can prevail against one? It follows: Because I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you. If at any time the kings of Judah, who are called confessors, and their princes, and the priests, and the people, namely the bishops and presbyters and deacons, and the lowly and ignoble commoners, should rise up against the holy man, let him have firm faith and cease to fear: for with the help of the Lord, he will prevail. — Commentary on Jeremiah

John Cassian: A saint is different from a sinner, not because he or she is not tempted in the same way but because he or she is not defeated even by a great assault, while the other is overcome even by a slight temptation. The strength of any good person would not, as we said, be worthy of praise, if the victory was gained without being tempted. Most certainly there is no room for victory where there is no struggle and conflict. “Blessed is the one who endures trial, for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” According to the apostle Paul also, “power is made perfect” not in ease and delights but “in weakness.” “And behold,” says he, “I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you.” — CONFERENCE 3:18.13