Interpretatio in Jeremiam

He teaches also how the king of the Babylonians put to death both the first high priest and the second, and those who were led away with them; and he states also the number of the captives who were led away. In addition to these things, he explains how, after the thirty-seven years of the captivity of Jeconiah—for he names him Jehoiakim—Evil-merodach the king freed this same Jeconiah from prison, and having shown him kindness, deemed him worthy of a royal throne, and commanded that he sit as king before the others, and kept him as a table companion, generously supplying him with the enjoyment of necessities. And this too

proclaims the loving-kindness of the Master. For in punishing he shows mercy, and in bringing discipline he refreshes the soul, and he mingles the verdict of justice with loving-kindness. Let us, then, fear the justice of the judgment, and trusting in his loving-kindness, let us not despair of salvation; but let us await the divine mercy, and let us walk the straight path, so that we may attain the blessed end, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom be glory to our Father, together with the all-holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

VOLUME 11. BARUCH.

CHAPTER 1.

The admirable Baruch went up together with the Jews who had fled into Egypt; for this we were taught in the preceding. After five years, however, from the capture of the city, he reached Babylon. For the nurslings brought every zeal for piety, so as to support the weak and guide them to the truth. Having arrived, therefore, in Babylon, he read aloud the prophecy of the divine Jeremiah to all the captives, and indeed also to Jeconiah, who, having reigned a short time, became a captive of war; and he did not miss his aim. For he brought them to a perception of their former sins, so that they both recognized the cause of their misfortune, and poured out many tears, and each contributed money, and sent these things to the priests left behind in Jerusalem, so as to buy sacrifices, and to sacrifice them, and to propitiate the Master God. For the Hebrews call manna a sacrifice. And they ask for life, both for Nebuchadnezzar and for Belshazzar his son. Thus also the divine Apostle legislated that prayer be made for kings who still war against piety, and for those who are in preeminence and authority. So great is the agreement of the old with the new. And they themselves, compelled to serve, ask that their eyes be enlightened, so that they may not endure any error. And they call to mind also their own sins, and they confess the justice of the divine verdict. And they entreat that this letter of theirs be read before God in the splendid festivals. 15. 16.

And you shall say, he says, To the Lord our God belongs righteousness, but to us the shame of our face, as this day, to the man of Judah, and to those who dwell in Jerusalem, and to our rulers, and to our priests, before the Lord. Most just, he says, is the verdict of God brought against us; but we are worthy of shame, all having transgressed in common. For along with the kings, the priests also turned to the opposite course. 17, 18. Because we disbelieved him. And we did not hear the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the commandments of the Lord, which he gave before our face. But they also call to mind the ancient things. 19. For from the time when our fathers were freed from the slavery of the Egyptians, until the present, we have continued transgressing the divine law; and we devised plans so as not to hear his voice. And "we devised plans" is instead of "and we invented kinds of sins"; such men the blessed Paul also calls inventors of evils; and we have plucked, he says, the fruits of our sins. 20. For the evils clung to us, and the curse, which the Lord appointed for Moses his servant. The law contains both the curses and the blessings: blessings for those who keep it, but curses for those who transgress.

CHAPTER 2

They say this to show how they also despised the prophets when they were sent to them by God, and that the things foretold by them reached their fulfillment. 2. And he brought, he says, great evils upon us, such as were not done under the whole heaven, as he did in Jerusalem. And teaching that these things too were foretold, they added: "According to what is written in the law of Moses." 3. To eat a man the flesh of his son, and a man the flesh of his daughter. For the siege produced the famine, and it compelled them to partake of human bodies. We became, he says, a laughingstock also to the neighboring nations. 5. And we became beneath and not above, that is, slaves and not masters. Then they add the cause: "Because we sinned against the Lord our God, so as not to obey his voice." Again, having assigned righteousness to the divine vote, they assign shame to themselves. For often, though God threatened, and foretold these things through the prophets, we did not come to the Eternal in our days, but continued resisting. 9. And the Lord watched over the evils which he brought upon us. He calls the punishment a "watching" of God. For the divine Scripture is accustomed to call his long-suffering a sleep. Yet again, remembering the punishment, they call the Master righteous. For those who transgressed and were unwilling to be healed, he chastised. Then, lamenting, they entreat and remind him of the ancient freedom which their fathers obtained, when they were released from the bitter slavery of the Egyptians. And they remind him also of the wonders that had come to pass.

They also bring forward their own transgressions and cry out: 12. We have sinned, we have acted impiously, we have done wrong, O Lord our God, in all your ordinances. We have transgressed, he says, every commandment of yours, we have trampled on every law. 13. Let your wrath be turned away from us, because we have been left few out of many, among the nations where you scattered us. We acknowledge that the punishment is just. But we entreat that it be stopped; for we who were once compared to the sand have been reduced to a few. 14. Hear, O Lord, our prayer and our supplication, and deliver us for your own sake. It is not we who are worthy, but you who are loving toward humanity; and we are called your people; for this reason therefore we shall enjoy sparing. "And give us favor in the sight of those who deported us." So that they may not hate us, but may let us go. 15. So that all the earth may know that you are the Lord our God, and that your name has been invoked upon Israel and his race. The change of our evils will become a cause of piety for others. For they will learn the strength of you, our God. 16. O Lord, look down from your holy house, and consider us. He calls the house in Jerusalem "holy house"; for in that place he made his own manifestation. Incline, O Lord, your ear, and hear 17. Open your eyes, and see. Those who are angry are accustomed to close their eyes when those who have done wrong are seen, and to turn away their pupils when those who have sinned entreat them; therefore they have set these things down in a human way. For the divine is not composite, but simple and uncircumscribed.

To these they add: "For the dead are not by nature inclined to hymn you." But this is proper to the living. 18. For the soul that is grieved walks toward greatness; a spirit bowed down and weak, and eyes that fail, and the soul that hungers—these will give you glory and righteousness, O Lord. Those who have fallen into the greatest calamities, and have come to despair of better things, and then have enjoyed some change, genuinely hymn your love for humanity. Then they say: 19. For trusting neither in the righteousness of our fathers nor in our own, we entreat to obtain some pity. For we are worthy of the evils threatened through the prophets; for they advised us to accept the discipline of your righteous judgment, and to serve the king of Babylon; and we continued to contradict. And you have fulfilled, O Master, all that you foretold through them. And not only were we, the living, handed over to slavery, but also the tombs of our fathers, and indeed also of the kings, were torn up from their foundations, so that their bones were cast out under the open sky, and corrupted by the opposing changes of the air. 25. And they died in evil pains, in famine, and by the sword, and in deportation. And not only did you hand us over to famine, and slaughter, and slavery—for he calls captivity a deportation—but you also made your holy temple, which had become renowned and conspicuous for your name, desolate. And yet you brought these things upon us not according to the worth of our impiety, but you tempered justice with love for humanity. 27.

For you have shown, he says, toward us, O Lord our God, all your forbearance and all your great compassion. And they recall also the threats written in the law; for in the song he foretold distinctly the evils that would befall them: "I will send the teeth of beasts against them." And teaching that he calls the enemies beasts, he added: "Outside the sword shall bereave them, and from their storehouses fear." And again, "I will scatter them." These threats they recall; and they recall also the promise of good things. For you said, he says, that you would extend mercy to those who repent, and free them from captivity, and restore their former freedom.

CHAPTER 3.

1. O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel: a soul in distress, and a spirit fainting, has cried out to you. I see, he says, the excess of the calamities, and the greatness of the despondency. "Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for you are a merciful God; and have mercy, for we have sinned before you." You have a sea of loving-kindness, you have an abyss of mercy; extend it to those who need it; for mercy is fitting for those who have sinned and repented. 3. For you sit for ever, and we perish for ever. You, he says, are eternal, but we are transient; you are everlasting and imperishable; but our life is measured by a small measure. The phrase "sitting for ever" he has set down to this effect. 4. O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel: hear now the prayer of the dead of Israel. The word has shown clearly the immortality of the soul.

And of the sons, who sinned before you." You, he says, spoke: "Of those who ate the sour grape, the teeth shall ache." Look, therefore, upon the youths who are free from sin, and do not remember the sins of the fathers. "But remember your hand, and your name, in this time." Use, he says, your accustomed wonderworking, and as you led them out of Egypt, so set them free from Babylon. 6. For you are the Lord our God. For you are the same, and have not changed; you have the same power, the same love for mankind. We will praise you, O Lord, (7.) for this reason you gave your fear upon our heart, that your name might be called upon. He showed the benefit of punishment; for having been disciplined, he says, we turned back, "And we will praise you in our exile; for we have turned back upon our heart all the injustice of our fathers, who sinned before you." We do not follow, he says, our fathers, nor do we walk in their discipline, but we follow your laws. Consider, therefore, our reproaches, and the harsh slavery which we endure both because of our own impiety and the transgression of our fathers. This prayer of the people the wonderful Baruch, having placed in his writing, also sets down the divine response. 9–11. Hear, Israel,

Commandments of life, give ear to know prudence. What is it, Israel, what is it that you are in the land of your enemies? You have grown old in a foreign land; you have been defiled with the dead, you have been counted with those in Hades. What is the new thing? he says; what is the paradox? My people, who bore my name, the conspicuous one, the much-heralded one, a slave instead of free, and living together with foreign and impious men, resembles the dead through the excess of evils. Then he teaches the causes of these things. 12, 13. You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom. If you had walked in the way of God, you would have dwelt in peace for an age of time. You, he says, have become a stranger to the present evils; for when you ought to have used the law as a guide, which the fountain of wisdom brought to you, you followed vain reasonings. 14. Learn where prudence is, where strength is, where understanding is, to know at the same time where long life and life are, where the light of the eyes is, and peace. Now at least, since not before, seek and know who is the provider of these good things. 15. Who found her place, and who entered into her treasuries? That is, of prudence. 16–18. Where are the rulers of the nations, those who lord it over the beasts on the earth, those who mock among the birds of heaven, and store up silver, and gold, in which men had trusted, and there is no end of their possession, those who craft silver, and are anxious, and there is no finding out of their works? He makes a comparison of piety with wealth and power, and exhorts them to remember the most lawless kings, who had no surfeit of wealth.

These men, he says, also mastered both wild beasts and birds through the art of hunting. And he teaches the end of these as well. 19–21. They were destroyed and went down to Hades, and others rose up in their place. Younger men saw light and dwelt upon the earth; but they did not know the way of knowledge. Nor did they understand her paths, nor did they lay hold of her. And there, he says, they were handed over to corruption, and those descended from them were numbered among the living and partook of the radiance of sensible light; but they did not receive the ray of understanding and knowledge of God. He also enumerates the Canaanites, who pride themselves on wisdom, and the Idumaeans and the Ishmaelites; for Teman is Idumaea, and Hagar is the mother of Ishmael. These he calls mythologists, for they are accustomed to speak in parables. But nevertheless not even these knew the way of wisdom, for they continued in slavery to impiety. 24–25. O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how spacious is the place of his possession! Great, and it has no end; lofty and immeasurable. Do not, he says, suppose this to be the temple of God which Solomon built; for the temple of God is exceedingly great and immeasurable, and moreover imperishable, for it has no end. Then, having made mention of the giants, who became much celebrated for the greatness of their bodies, he added 27–28. God did not choose these, nor did he give them the way of knowledge. And they perished through their own folly.

He recounts these things, wishing to show that he honored them above all the nations, and to them alone gave the written law, and set prophets over them, and deemed them worthy of every care; yet later he also came to them in human flesh. For teaching this, he instructs through what follows. 29. Who has gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds? That is, wisdom. 30. Who has crossed over the sea and found her, and will bring her for pure gold? She is not, he says, purchasable, nor simply set out for merchants. 31. There is no one who knows her way, nor one who considers her path. He says this surpasses human reasoning. 32. But he who knows all things knows her, and found her out by his own understanding. He has set down "found out" in a human manner; for he called him the fountain of wisdom, and in the preface of this prophecy he named him the fountain of life. And in what follows he demonstrates the almighty power of God's creation. "He who made the earth for a time forever, filled it with four-footed beasts." The present life of men is also called an age; but the age to come is the age of ages. 33–35. He who sends the light, and it goes; he called it, and it obeyed him with trembling. And the stars shone in their watches, and rejoiced. He called them, and they said, We are present; they shone with gladness for the one who made them. All things, he says, yield to the maker; each of created things keeps its own bounds; and he calls the seasons the watches of the stars; for each rises at its appointed season. 36. This is our God.

The maker of all things, their governor and president. "No other shall be reckoned beside him." He does not make a comparison of Son and Father, but the word casts out those who are called gods. 37. She has devised every way of knowledge. Again he has set down "devised" in a human manner. For he is the source of good things. "And he gave her to Jacob his child, and Israel to the one beloved by him." The teaching of the knowledge of God, the law given through Moses. 38. After these things he appeared on the earth, and conversed with men. The word has clearly shown us the becoming man of the Only-begotten, and that he himself is the maker of all things, and the source of wisdom. He himself, then, is both the maker of her and her Master; and concerning him he says in Proverbs: "The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways for his works." For it is not God the Word who says these things, but the wisdom fashioned by him, of God the Word. CHAPTER 4. 1. This is the book of the commandments of God. That is, the one given through the becoming man of the Only-begotten Son of God. "And the law that exists forever." For the old Covenant received its end. "All who hold fast to her shall live, but those who forsake her shall die." He has shown the end of both; then he exhorts the people who bear the name of Jacob. 2. Turn, Jacob, and take hold of her; walk toward the radiance over against her light. Follow the gleam of the ray; for it leads you to the light, and guides your feet to life. 3. Do not give your glory to another, nor the things that profit you to a foreign nation. But Israel did not listen.

For this reason they themselves have been set far from the good things, while the nations enjoy the good things given by God. 4. Blessed are we, Israel, because the things pleasing to God are known to us. We have, he says, no pretext for ignorance, for he has made clear to us the things that are pleasing. Then he encourages and teaches that they were handed over to slavery at that time, not because the God of all had completely turned away from them, but because he attempted to benefit them through discipline; for, he says, having abandoned the benefactor, you have preferred the worship of demons, and you became the cause of the desolation of her who nurtured you. He also employs personification, and shows the city lamenting and saying to the subject cities, "The Master has brought bitter mourning upon me." For I saw some of the inhabitants slain and others handed over to harsh slavery. 12. Let no one rejoice over me, the widow left by peoples. She calls herself a widow, as having become bereft of divine care. "I have been desolated because of the sins of my children." He also enumerates these and recounts the cruelty of the enemies. They were not, he says, ashamed before the elder, nor did they pity the child. (16.) And they led away the beloved ones of the widow, and from her daughters they desolated the only one. She calls herself "only," as I judge, because in her alone was the temple of God, or perhaps because she alone was left, since the Assyrians had ravaged the other cities. Then he says that she herself cannot defend them, but he promises the help of God.

She laments, however, the present desolation. For I was left, she says, desolate. (20.) And I stripped off the robe of peace. He shows also the change of those who were left behind. "And I put on sackcloth for my supplication, and I will cry out." But it was not the walls that did or said these things, but those who dwelt in them. Then he exhorts them to take courage in God's love for humanity, and to ask for mercy; For I too, he says, await your return. 23. For I sent you forth with mourning and weeping; but God will give you back to me with joy and gladness. These things resemble what was said by the blessed David: "Going they went and wept, casting their seeds; but coming they shall come with exultation, carrying their sheaves." He speaks also of the neighboring nations' delight at the captivity, and their gloom after the return. And he exhorts them to endure the discipline that was brought upon them, and promises the reversal of affairs. "Your enemy, he says, has pursued you, and you shall see his destruction speedily, and you shall step upon his neck." He calls Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and Philistines enemies. 26. My delicate ones have walked rough roads; they were taken away like a flock snatched by an enemy. He calls delicate those in prosperity and wealth, as having no experience of grievous things; then he exhorts them to reap salvation through repentance. Having said these things as from the person of Jerusalem, he now offers words of consolation to her. 30. Take courage, Jerusalem; the one who named you will console you.

He has accepted your change for the better, he says. He who gave you your name will change your misfortune for you—that is, your Creator, who preferred you above every city. (31, 32.) Wretched are those who maltreated you and rejoiced at your fall. Wretched are the cities in which your children served. For the Babylonians paid penalties worthy of their transgression. Then he teaches that Babylon will henceforth lament her own evils. (34, 35.) For I will remove from her, he says, the exultation of her populousness, and her boasting will become mourning. For fire will come upon her from the Eternal One for long days, and she will be inhabited by demons for the greater part of time. She received this punishment through the Persians; and the word showed that he did not foretell that she would be entirely uninhabited, but for a long time; and she is now inhabited by a few Jews. (36.) Look around toward the east, Jerusalem, and see your gladness, which comes to you from God. He foretells the return of the captives. (37.) Behold, your sons are coming, whom you sent away; they are coming, gathered from the east to the west, by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God. For they did not prevail over their enemies by their own power, but God, who delivered them over, restored their freedom. CHAPTER 5. And he commands her to put off the mourning garment, and puts around her the garb of the priesthood. (2.) For put on, he says, the double cloak of the righteousness that comes from God, and place the miter on your head, the miter of the glory of the Eternal One. For on the miter lay the golden plate, on which the name of God had been inscribed.

3, 4. For God will display your splendor to all under heaven. For your name will be called by God forever, peace of righteousness, and glory of godliness. And these names it now has; therefore all run together to it. For the saving passion has made it bright and conspicuous. Again it is commanded to look upon the captives returning from the east and the west, and it teaches that those who were led away on foot wearing chains will return deemed worthy of every honor. One must know, however, that of those who returned from Babylon, those also who had fled in the time of war and had occupied the western and southern regions returned thereafter, since peace had been granted to the nation; for this reason it also mentioned those from the west. 7. For God has ordained that every high mountain be brought low, and everlasting sands, and that valleys be filled up for the leveling of the land, so that Israel may walk safely by the glory of God. Every difficulty, it says, he brought to nothing; the Babylonians, who resembled high mountains, he brought down; those subject to them, who resembled low valleys, he made to lift up their heads; and for us there has been freedom of return from every side. 8. The shady places, and the thickets, and every tree are a fragrance to Israel by the command of God. These things resemble what was said by David: "The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like lambs of sheep." Thickets, then, he calls figuratively the nations situated in between, which did not bear the fruit of godliness to God. But they sent Israel on its way as it returned with all manner of attendance. And he states also the cause of the good things. 9.

For God will lead Israel with gladness, by the light of his glory, with mercy and righteousness from him. When God leads, all things are smooth and easy. He has shown mercy toward the people, and righteousness against the Babylonians. For the former, though they sinned, received benefit through discipline; but victory made the latter more frenzied and more impious. Let us therefore entreat that the God of all things become our guide and leader, so that, walking by the light of his countenance according to the Davidic melody, we may not turn aside to the right or to the left, but may walk the royal road that leads to life; may it be ours to attain it by the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory to the Father, with the all-holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Volume 12. Lamentations.

Chapter 1.

Lamentation is a sign of sympathy and affection; but I consider that the wondrous prophet wrote the laments for the sake of benefit, both for the people of that time and for those who would come afterward, so that both those and these might learn through the writings how many evils sin is the cause of. He wrote four Lamentations, composing the words of each both according to the number and the order of the letters. He laments the desolation of the city, recalling the former multitude of its inhabitants, and seeing as distressed the city that formerly received tribute from the other cities.

Using personification, he says that the city weeps night and day, since there is no one to comfort her, and her friends have utterly disowned her. He also brings into view the deportation of all Judea and the harsh slavery, and says that they became easy to capture because of sin. "For all those," he says, "who pursued her overtook her in the midst of those who oppressed her." He also recalls the roads that resembled rivers at the time of the festivals; for everyone rushed together into this city from every side—and he laments. For to those who are in distress, even inanimate things seem somehow to undergo a change; and he also states the causes of these things. 5. Her oppressors became the head, and her enemies prosper, because the Lord humbled her for the multitude of her impieties. The blessed Moses also foretells this to those who transgress the divine law: "For your enemies shall be above, and you below"; and he declares destruction also to those who nurse along with the elders: "The nursing child," he says, "with

Since an elder was present." So too here: "Her little ones went into captivity before the face of the oppressor." He recounts how she was stripped of her former comeliness, and he likens the rulers to rams deprived of pasture; for they were stripped of their former strength. Then he says that Jerusalem remembered her ancient prosperity and adversity, and set alongside those things the evils that have now befallen her; and she grieves the more because she has become a laughingstock to her enemies. And he continually teaches the cause of her calamities, procuring her benefit. 8. "For Jerusalem," he says, "has sinned a sin; therefore she has become a shaking." For this reason even those who formerly honored her have insolently abused her, when they beheld her misfortune. Then he reminds her of sins of every kind. 9. "Her uncleanness is before her feet; she did not remember her latter end, and she has fallen wondrously." For it is fitting not to be confident in prosperity, but also to await the change. Since, then, he says, no man offers her consolation, do you, Master, beholding her who rules wretchedly, have pity. And he laments especially that the enemies have dared to enter the innermost sanctuaries of the temple, and says: 10. "He stretched out his hand, oppressing, upon all her desirable things; for she saw nations enter into her sanctuary, whom you commanded not to enter into your assembly." For into the holy of holies only the high priest could enter, and that but once a year; into the holy places before these only the priests entered; and into the inner court also the Levites—

But into the outer court came both those of the race of Israel and the circumcised proselytes; for the law prevented everything uncircumcised from entering even that. It expressly forbids Moabites and Ammonites to enter: "For an Ammonite and a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord, nor even forever." The Lamentation recalled this law; then it recounts the evils that befell from the famine. 11. All her people groan, seeking bread. For they gave her desirable things for food to restore the soul. Here he calls the infants "desirable things"; for in the famine they tasted even human flesh. Yet she asks for the divine loving-kindness. See, O Lord, and look, that I have become dishonored. Then she calls on those passing by because of her to see her incomparable pain. This, he says, the Master brought upon me, speaking in me—that is, he merely commanded, and the evils were brought upon me; and the "He spread it over me" — "He set it on fire for me," the Syrian interpreted. He recounts also the God-sent plague brought upon her. 13. From his height he sent fire into my bones, and brought it down upon me. For he himself permitted the enemies both to besiege and to sack and to burn the city. "He spread a net for my feet, he turned me backward; he gave me up as one utterly vanished, all the day grieving." He calls the inescapable nature of the evils a net; for even those who fled were captured. He shows also the justice of the punishment. 14. My impieties kept watch, in his hands he entwined me. Instead of: He bound me together, and delivered me to the enemies.

He made his yoke heavy upon my neck." For he compelled them to serve the Babylonians, the most savage of men, bitterly. "And my strength failed, because the Lord gave pains into my hands, which I shall not be able to endure." He laments also the destruction of the nobles. 15. "He has taken away all my mighty ones; the Lord called a time against me to crush my chosen ones." Both the Syrian and the Hebrew call the calamity a "time"; and we too have often been accustomed to lament the hardships of times. "The Lord has trodden a winepress for the virgin daughter of Judah." 16. "For these things I weep." Holy Scripture often likens the greatest punishment to a winepress, because in winepresses all the grapes are squeezed out, and, as a rule, no grape escapes. "And my eyes have brought down water, because the one who comforts me has been far from me." And teaching who this is, he added: "The one who restores my soul." For it was for this very reason that he brought on the chastisement, procuring benefit for the soul. He laments also the loss of the sons and the enemies' domination. And he shows also the manner of her mourning. 17. "Zion stretched out her hands." For women in mourning are accustomed both to stretch out and to draw in their hands. And he says that she is also inconsolable, since God permitted the enemies to rush against her, and to defile what had been consecrated. "For Jerusalem," he says, "has become like a woman set apart in the midst of them." For according to the law she was unclean who suffered the flow of blood; to her, then, he likens the city, filled with foreign and impious men.

The prophet, however, continually praises the justice of the verdict, offering the benefit that comes from it to those who read. 18. "The Lord is just, for I have provoked his mouth." For I transgressed the laws that were set by him. And having lamented the enslavement of the virgins and the young men, he teaches that the slavery of idols is unprofitable. For he calls those things lovers. And he entreats the one who is able to loose the untimeliness of evils, to have pity on her who confesses her sin. "For provoking, he says, I provoked." But it grieves her exceedingly that the enemies mock; and this too, he says, came about by your nod. "For you brought on a day, and you called a time, and they became to me woe, woe." And he asks that those also fall into the same calamities. 22. "For let all their wickedness, he says, enter before your face." As you beheld, he says, my lawlessness, look also upon their impiety. "And glean them, in the manner you gleaned me for all my sins; for many are my groanings, and my heart is grieved." And here the Syrian interpreted "glean" thus: "Afflict them, as you afflicted me." The first Lamentation, then, has this as its end. CHAPTER 2 And the proem of the second is this: 1. "How has the Lord darkened the daughter of Zion in his anger? He cast down from heaven to earth the glory of Israel; and he did not remember his footstool in the day of his anger?" And from this it is clear that "his footstool" the divine David names the divine temple.

Worship," he says, "at the footstool of his feet." The prophet, however, likened the calamity to thick darkness; and he says that the city was cast down from heaven to earth. Since it was stripped of the grace that flourished upon it, it became easy to capture for the enemies. 2. "The Lord has drowned without sparing all the beautiful things of Jacob; he has brought down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah, he has glued them to the ground." That is, he brought them down to the very floor. "He has profaned her kings and her rulers." The blessed David also foretold these things; for he says, "You have made his strongholds a cowardice; all who pass by the way have plundered him." 3. "He has broken in the anger of his wrath every horn of Israel." He calls the rulers and the dynasts a horn. "He has turned back his right hand from before the enemy, and he has kindled in Jacob a blazing fire, and it has devoured all things around him." For he did not wish to come to the rescue when the hostile forces attacked, but he resembled a noble general who is able easily to destroy the enemies, yet moves his hands behind his back and yields the victory to the hostile forces. But against me, he says, he used his hands in the opposite way. 4. "For he has bent his bow like an enemy, and he has strengthened his right hand like an adversary, and he has killed all my desires in the tent of the daughter of Zion; he has poured out his wrath like fire." For the enemies dared to commit slaughters even in the temple. And the account teaches that all those things happened because God permitted them.

For because they sinned, he brought about the deeds of enemies, and through the foes he destroyed the walls and burned the houses, and brought mourning upon men and women. For this is what he says: "He multiplied the humbled and humiliated daughter of Judah." (6) "He pulled down his tabernacle as a vine." For the enemies burned the divine temple. "He corrupted his feast." For they no longer celebrated feasts, but were compelled to lament. "The Lord made Zion forget her feast and sabbath." And he added also the destruction of the kings and the priests, and the desolation of the temple, and the defilement of the altar, and the demolition of the wall, and the most grievous of all things. "They gave the sound of war in the house of the Lord," as a psalm of the Levites, "in the day of the feast." For instead of the customary hymnody, the war-cry of the enemies was sent up. (8) "The Lord purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion; he stretched out a measure." That is, the equal and just verdict; this the blessed Zechariah also beheld. And again, having mentioned the gates and the walls and the rulers, he added, "And there is no law." For before the incursion of the enemies, it was transgressed without fear; but after the capture of the city and the burning of the temple, they could not fulfill the service according to the law even if they wished. "And indeed her prophets found no vision from the Lord." He means the false prophets, who prophesied false things to her. He shows also the aged lamenting, and girded with sackcloth, and the prophet himself cries out: (11) "My eyes failed in tears, my belly was troubled.

My glory has been poured out upon the earth for the destruction of the daughter of my people. He shows also the most pitiable of all sufferings: "When infants and nursing children faint in the streets of the city." For famine conquered even the natural affection of nature. For this he brought forward: 12. To their mothers they said, Where is grain and wine? when they fainted. He says that he does not find a worthy image of the suffering. 13. For what, he says, shall I testify to you, and to what shall I liken you, daughter of Jerusalem? He also reminds us of the false prophets, who foretold pleasant things. 14. For your prophets, he says, saw for you vain things and folly; and they did not reveal your iniquity, to turn away your captivity. And they saw for you vain burdens, and drove you out. For they stood in the way of repentance by foretelling what was pleasing, and did not allow them to depart from their great lawlessness. 15. All who pass by the way clapped their hands at you; they hissed, they shook their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem. This is characteristic of those who marvel at the change for the worse. He says also the very things they said: "Was this the city, the crown of glory, the beautiful comeliness, the joy of all the earth?" He says that all these things have been fulfilled according to the divine foretellings; and he teaches also with what kind of words the hostile ones were used, rejoicing over the evils that befell her. "For this is the day which we expected; we found it and saw it." For this the blessed David also foretold: "We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a mocking and a derision to those around us." And again:

You have made us a reproach among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples." Again the prophet, employing personification, urges the walls and the city to weep night and day because of the manifold calamities; and he speaks also of the excess of the evils. "Shall women eat the fruit of their womb? Has a cook prepared a leaf?" That is, he has cooked the late-born fruit. For this he added: "Many nursing infants shall be slain at the breasts." And he adds also the other enormity: "Shall they kill in the sanctuary of the Lord a priest and a prophet?" Both by the character of the persons and by the place he showed the excess of the suffering. And having lamented

the enslavement of the aged, the youths, and the virgins, he added: 22. "You have called as to a day of festival my neighbors round about; and there was none in the day of the anger of the Lord who escaped and was left." For fearing the attack of the enemies, they fled as to a strong city; there, however, all were captured; and they are accustomed also at the time of the festivals for all to run together there; for which reason he likened the capture to a festival. "I reared, and I brought up and multiplied, and the enemy has accomplished all things." My labor, he says, has become vain; for I have been left desolate of all my nurslings. Here he concluded the second Lamentation. Chapter 3.

He begins the third [lament] thus:

1. "I am a man who sees poverty." For this prophet foretold the time of calamities in a manner surpassing all others; so he calls the lack of good things "poverty." "In the rod of his wrath, (2.) he took me up and led me away into darkness and not light." He makes the sufferings that befell the city his own, and calls its misfortune "darkness." 3. "Only in me he turned; he changed his hand all the day long." For formerly he supplied me with good things, but now he brings disciplines upon me. For this is what "He changed his hand" makes clear. 4. "He made my flesh and my skin old; he crushed my bones." For despondency does all these things. 5. "He built up against me and encircled me." That is, I cannot escape the evils that have been brought upon me; he also indicates the outer wall, which the enemies built when they besieged it. 6. "He made my head weary; he set me in dark places, as those dead of old." By these words he hints at the bitter slavery; for the Babylonian, after gouging out Zedekiah's eyes, handed him over to the mill; and what follows also makes this clear. 7. "He made heavy the yoke on my neck." For he compelled me to serve the most savage masters. 8. "And indeed, though I cry out and shout." For he does not accept my petition when I entreat him. 9. "He built up my ways with marble, and made my paths disappear." For I am hemmed in by evils which I cannot escape. 10–11. "He himself became to me a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places. He pursued me when I had revolted, and threw me into confusion." He showed the justice of the discipline; for I, he says, revolted first; then afterward he himself brought punishment.

Of these prophecies, however, the more ancient prophets also make mention. "He set me as one desolated" (v. 12). "He bent his bow, and set me as a target for the arrow." Those who shoot at a target, and practice this skill, are accustomed to send not two or three or four, but many arrows. He has made clear the succession of calamities through the images. And he speaks also of the pain of the soul; for he calls the reasonings "kidneys"; and that he became a laughingstock to the enemies, who even continued singing the calamities brought upon her. "For he stripped me," he says, "of all strength." For this is what the sixteenth [verse] means: "He cast out my teeth with a pebble, and fed me with ashes." But the Syrian says, "He deprived me on a rock" both of the former peace and of all kinds of good things. (v. 18) "And I said, My victory has perished, and my hope from the Lord." I gave up, he says, the better hopes, but nevertheless with the continual remembrance of grievous things I melt away my soul, and I draw the Master to mercy. (v. 22) "The mercies of the Lord are many, that we have not failed, that his compassions have not been consumed." For if he had brought the punishment proportionate to the sin, not even we would have escaped the slaughter. Then the prophet [speaks] on their behalf

He offers supplication. 23. Renew them as the morning dawn. Since he called the calamity darkness, he compares its change to the dawn. "Your faith has been multiplied in the mornings." For when the change has come, they will apply themselves more genuinely to piety. For many are my groans, and my heart has fainted. 24. The Lord is my portion, my soul has said; therefore I will wait for him. I have, he says, no other refuge, but I await your help. Then he teaches the usefulness of hope in God. 25, 26. The Lord is good to those who wait for him; a soul that seeks him shall live. It is good to wait and to hope in the salvation of the Lord. He teaches these things, and others, for the encouragement of the fainthearted. 27, 28. It is good for a man when he takes up the yoke from his youth. He shall sit alone and be silent, because he has taken upon himself a heavy yoke. This the blessed David also said: "It is good for me that you humbled me, that I might learn your statutes." And the phrase "He shall sit alone and be silent" teaches endurance and bearing patiently with sorrowful things. What follows also agrees: 29, 30. He will put his mouth in the dust—if perhaps there is hope of endurance. He will give his cheek to the one who strikes him, and he will be filled with reproaches. This law is evangelical; for the Lord enjoined that the one struck on the right cheek turn the other also. And the phrase "He will put his mouth in the dust," the Syrian rendered as "in the earth"—that is, he will be silent and will bear nobly the insults and reproaches, as though having his mouth filled with earth. This the inspired David also made clear:

When the sinner stood before me, I was humbled, and I became deaf, and I was silent from good things." Then he teaches that the Master does not employ chastisements to the greatest extent, being a lover of humanity, but after the chastisement he brings on mercy. 33. For he did not, he says, humble from his whole heart, nor did he cast away the sons of men. For the outward form is of one angered, but the will is full of love for humanity. Yet he employs chastisement for the benefit of men; for this he added: 34. To humble under his feet all the bound of the earth, that is, those bound to the earth, and having no lofty mind; for they live with injustice, and do not fear the one who watches over. 37, 38. Who has spoken thus, and it came to be? The Lord did not command. From the mouth of the Most High shall not go forth our evils and our goods. The account accuses those who abolish providence; for these attribute what comes to be to fate and fortune. 39. Why will a living man murmur, a man concerning his own sin? For sloth, and not nature, is the cause of sin, for which reason the judge also brings punishment upon those who sin. 40. Our way has been searched out, and has been reproved. For he saw the lawlessness dared by us. "And let us return to the Lord." And may the punishment become for us an occasion of repentance. 41. Let us take up our hearts, and look to the lofty one, the one dwelling in heaven. Having, he says, freed our reasonings from superfluous cares, let us ask for divine mercy. 42. We have sinned, and we have acted impiously, and you were not propitiated. You brought on, he says, a just punishment. 43, 44.

You covered us in anger, and you pursued us; you killed, and you did not spare. You covered yourself with a cloud that was firmly set, so that our prayer could not pass through to you. God says this also through another prophet: "Because your sins stand between you and me." These too he likened to the cloud that blocked the approach of prayer. And he laments and grieves exceedingly, seeing the hostile ones mocking and heaping reproaches upon the people; and he says that they hunted them, and slaughtered them, and threw them into a pit, and placed a stone over it, and made them sink beneath the water; and through all these things he has shown the excess of the evils. Thus also the

divine David, speaking in their own person: "Save me, O God, for the waters have come in even to my soul. I am sunk in the mire of the deep, and there is no standing. I have come into the depths of the sea, and the storm has drowned me." And again: "Let not the storm of water drown me, nor let the deep swallow me up, nor let the pit shut its mouth upon me." Thus also here: 55, 56. I called upon your name, O Lord, from the lowest pit. You heard my voice; do not stop your ears to my supplication and to my cry. He teaches also how he persuaded the lover of humanity. 57. For you drew near, he says, on the day when I called upon you, and you said to me, Do not fear. And this brief word is sufficient for consolation. Then he teaches that, having judged justly both them and their enemies, he handed the latter over to slavery, but deemed the former worthy of freedom. And having asked for the destruction of the impious enemies, he has completed the third lamentation.

CHAPTER 4

1. How the gold has grown dim, the good silver has changed; the holy stones have been poured out at the beginning of all the streets. By these materials he likens the piety of the ancestors, and he laments the change that has come about in their descendants. For what follows makes this clear: 2. The sons of Zion, the precious ones, the exalted ones, who were above gold—how have they been reckoned as earthen vessels, the works of a potter's hands? The Master foretold this also through the divine Isaiah: "For they shall be useless, like a jar broken into pieces, in which there is no water to draw, or fire to take from a hearth." 3. Even the dragons have drawn out their breasts, they have nursed their own cubs; the daughters of my people have become incurable, like a sparrow in the desert. Even the fiercer beasts, he says, care for their young; but the excess of suffering has caused the inhabitants of Zion to forget even their own nature; and since most were slain and the rest enslaved, a few remain, like a lone sparrow wandering in the desert. He makes clear also the evils brought forth by the famine. 4. The tongue of the nursing child has stuck to its throat in thirst; infants have asked for bread, and there was no one to break it for them. He teaches also their former luxury. 5. Those who ate delicacies have been destroyed in the streets—that is, cast out in the marketplace. "Those who were nursed in scarlet have embraced dunghills." He says that their sin was the cause of these things, and he compares it to that of Sodom. He speaks also of the good repute of the Nazirites before the calamities, and of their wretchedness in the calamity.

And he says that slaughter in war is more desirable than the arrows of famine. He also inserts into the lament the most grievous suffering of all: 10. The hands of compassionate women boiled their own children; they became food for them in the destruction of the daughter of my people. For the violence of hunger conquered natural affection. But the Master brought these things upon Zion justly, in anger. 12. The kings of the earth did not believe, nor all the inhabitants of the world, that an enemy and oppressor would enter through the gates of Jerusalem. For they had great pledges for believing—the events concerning Sennacherib, whose army he consumed in a brief portion of the night. But it was handed over to the enemies both because of the deception of the false prophets and because of the murderousness of the priests. 14. Her young men were dragged away in the streets. He calls the streets "exits," and what are called the lanes: "They were defiled in blood when they could not, they were cast out with their garments." Famine compelled them to be cast out; but the enemies, sitting before them, prevented burial, and the dogs consumed those cast out. He also speaks of the things noised abroad by the enemies: 15. Depart from

Unclean." They called us unclean. Then, having shown whom he calls unclean, he took up the saying again, and says: "Depart from the unclean; depart, do not touch them, because they provoked"—that is, God. "And they were kindled, and indeed they were shaken." They were stripped, he says, of divine aid because of their lawlessness. "Say among the nations, Let them no longer dwell before the face of the Lord." He has utterly forbidden us, he says. 17. Our eyes failed for our help, while we looked in vain; we watched for a nation that does not save. For having trusted in the aid of the Egyptians, we were deceived of our hope. Then he shows the cruelty of the enemies; for they spared neither old age nor did they deem the priesthood worthy of respect. 18. We hunted our little ones, so that they should not enter into our streets. But the Syrian translated it "they hunted"; and the account follows the sense: for the enemies hunted the young along with the aged. And these things, he says, we endured, "because our time has drawn near, our days have been fulfilled." The account has shown that God of all things, using weight and measure, both is long-suffering and punishes. For when, having exercised long-suffering, he sees them despising, he brings punishment, so that he may stop the sin. Then he teaches that the swiftness of the enemies overcame even the fickleness of the citizens. And he foretells the saving passion: 20. The breath of our face, Christ the Lord, was taken in our corruptions, of whom we said, In his shadow we shall live among the nations. Let the Jews say: whom does the prophetic word call Christ?

But who among those called christs by them—whether king, or prophet, or priest—was named Lord? Yet they could not show this, although they have employed great falsehood. It is clear, then, that the prophet foretold our Savior and Lord, who was seized by them because of the corruption of their impiety. And the prophets say that these will live in the shadow. And they believed through the holy apostles, when their divine oracles were proclaimed to the nations. But let us foresee the things concerning him, since the all-holy Spirit has enlightened us. "The Spirit of our face, Christ the Lord," he says. The prophet, however, has inserted this prophecy into the laments, teaching the Jews of that time that because the hope of these had not yet been born, they would obtain sparing and enjoy recall, although they were about to hand over to the cross the Savior of the world. 21. Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Idumea, you who dwell in the land of Uz; and even upon you shall come the cup of the Lord, and you shall drink, and be drunk, and pour out. The prophetic word has foretold an excess of evils for them; for this is what "you shall be drunk, and pour out" means. And the inspired David also says concerning them, "Remember, Lord, the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem; of those saying, Empty it, empty it, even to its foundations." For though they were brothers and neighbors, they did not wish to be at peace, but preserved the ancestral hatred. 22. Your iniquity has failed, daughter of Zion; he will no longer add to remove you; he has visited your iniquity, daughter of Edom, he has uncovered your impieties.

To Zion he announced good things, but the opposite to Idumea; for he said that the punishment would come upon it. And the statement "He will no longer remove you" is also true. For those who enslaved them were utterly destroyed and came under the dominion of the Persians. The prophet, then, set this end to his laments; but we hymn the one who gave a mouth to man and teaches man knowledge, because we have made the meaning of this prophet also clear, as far as was possible for us, and we have added this interpretation to the other prophetic books, so as not to leave a single prophecy uninterpreted through his grace. I exhort those who will read it to accept what has been said well and rightly, but if anything is lacking, to pardon it. For being men and falling short of perfection, we have contributed our own zeal, providing some benefit to those who love God and love labor, whom we ask to return, in exchange for the labor of the interpretation, the help of prayer, so that, supported by it, we may complete what remains of life, serving God and our Savior and Lord in deeds and words and thoughts, with whom glory and majesty are fitting to the Father, together with the all-holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.