Jeremiah 8:11 Komentář

The prophet proceeds, in this chapter, both to magnify and to justify the destruction that God was bringing upon this people, to show how grievous it would be and yet how righteous. I. He represents the judgments coming as so very terrible that death should appear so as most to be dreaded and yet should be desired (Jer 8:1-3) II. He aggravates the wretched stupidity and wilfulness of this people as that which brought this ruin upon them (Jer 8:4-12). III. He describes the great confusion and consternation that the whole land should be in upon the alarm of it (Jer 8:13-17). IV. The prophet is himself deeply affected with it and lays it very much to heart (Jer 8:18-22).

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 8 In this chapter the prophet goes on to denounce grievous calamities upon the people of the Jews; such as would make death more eligible than life; and that because of their idolatry, Jer 8:1 and also because of their heinous backslidings in other respects, and continuance in them, Jer 8:4 likewise their impenitence and stupidity, Jer 8:6 their vain conceit of themselves and their own wisdom; their false interpretation of Scripture, and their rejection of the word of God, Jer 8:8 their covetousness, for which it is said their wives and fields should be given to others, Jer 8:10, their flattery of the people, and their impudence, on account of which, ruin and consumption, and a blast on their vines and fig trees, are threatened, Jer 8:11, their consternation is described, by their fleeing to their defenced cities; by their sad disappointment in the expectation of peace and prosperity; and the near approach of their enemies; devouring their land, and all in it; who are compared to serpents and cockatrices that cannot be charmed, Jer 8:14 and the chapter is closed with the prophet's expressions of sorrow and concern for his people, because of their distress their idolatry had brought upon them; and because of their hopeless, and seemingly irrecoverable, state and condition, Jer 8:18.

For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people,.... See Gill on Jer 6:14, Jer 6:15. . Jeremiah 8:13 jer 8:13 jer 8:13 jer 8:13I will surely consume them, saith the Lord,.... Or, "gathering I will gather them" (k); into some one place, the city of Jerusalem, and there destroy them. The word is, , expressive of consumption and destruction, as Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech observe; and so the Targum, "destroying I will destroy them, saith the Lord.'' There shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; some understand this by way of complaint, that there were no fruit on the vine and fig tree, nor even leaves; which they allegorically interpret of the fruit of good works being wanting in them, which was the cause of their ruin. Others think there are metaphors which describe the manner of their destruction; and so the Targum, "and they shall fall, as the grapes fall from the vine, and as the falling fruit from the fig tree, and as the leaf from the tree.'' Though it rather intends the sterility of the land, and in general the famine that should attend the siege of Jerusalem. Grapes and figs are mentioned only, as Kimchi observes, because they were the chief fruits, and they are put for the whole. And the things that I have given them shall pass away from them; whatever they had in their barns and cellars, or were just becoming ripe in their fields, vineyards, and gardens, should either be blasted, or rather be taken away and devoured by their enemies, so that they themselves should not enjoy them. The Targum interprets it of the law transgressed by them, as the cause of their ruin, and paraphrases it thus, "because I have given them my law from Sinai, and they have transgressed it;'' and so Jarchi, "this shall be unto them, because I have given them statutes, and they have transgressed them.'' (k) "eolligendo colligam eos", Montanus, Tigurine version. So Piscator.

The arranged time comes to our people; there is peace in the world; and, at the same time, ruin is weighing us down from the enticement of the world, (the destruction) of the reckless people whom you have rent into schism. Either obey the law of the city, or depart from it. You behold the mote sticking in our eyes, and will not see the beam in your own. A treacherous peace is coming to you; persecution is rife; the wounds do not appear; and thus, without slaughter, you are destroyed. War is waged in secret, because, in the midst of peace itself, scarcely one of you has behaved himself with caution. O badly fortified, and foretold for slaughter, you praise a treacherous peace, a peace that is mischievous to you. Having become the soldiers of another than Christ, you have perished.

(Verses 10, 11.) Therefore I will give their women (or wives) to foreigners: their fields to their heirs. Because from the least to the greatest, all are eager for greed; from prophet to priest, all practice falsehood (or iniquity). And they healed the brokenness of my people lightly, saying: Peace, peace, when there is no peace. They received the wages of their works: those who rejected the word of the Lord were rejected by him. Their wives, he says, and possessions I will hand over to the enemy. And so that my opinion may not be considered cruel, let the judge hear the reasons: From the least to the greatest, all are devoted to greed (1 Timothy 6). For greed is the root of all evils. From prophet to priest, who should be preventing others from sinning, the first are guilty of crimes: and all either commit injustice by plundering others, or at least lie, so that there is no truth in their mouths. And after these things, as good physicians, they desired to heal the wounds of others with their words, who themselves were afflicted with wounds of all kinds of crimes. We see this every day also in our own people, with the blessed Apostle Paul saying: 'You who preach against stealing, do you steal?' (Rom. II, 21), and so on. When they see sinners and the wealthy, they desire to heal the contrition of the daughter of the people of God, that is, the Church; to the shame either of those who are deceived or of those who deceive others, so that they may say, with every wicked deed concealed: peace, peace, when there is no peace, and war of sins threatens them.

Do not believe the false prophets who say, “Peace, peace, and there is no peace”; who are always repeating, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.” “Your prophets have seen for you false and foolish things; they have not laid bare your iniquity that they might call you to repentance—those who devour God’s people like bread have not called on God.” Jeremiah announced the captivity and was [punished] by the people. Hananiah, the son of Azzur, broke the bars of wood for the present but was preparing bars of iron for the future. False prophets always promise pleasant things, and please for a fee. Truth is bitter, however, and those who preach it are filled with bitterness. For with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth the Lord’s Passover is kept, and it is eaten with bitter herbs.

But what can I do, I who can only wish for peace and have no power to bring it about? Even though the wish may win its reward with God, its futility must still sadden one who cherishes it. When the apostle said, “as much as lies in you, live peaceably with all,” he knew quite well that the realization of peace depends on the consent of two parties. The prophet truly cries, “They say Peace, peace: and yet there is no peace.” To overthrow peace by actions while professing it in words is not hard. To point out its advantages is one thing, and to strive for it another. People’s speeches may be all for unity, but their actions may in fact enforce bondage. I wish for peace as much as any one else; and not only do I wish for it, I ask for it. But the peace that I want is the peace of Christ; a true peace, a peace without rancor, a peace that does not involve war, a peace that will not reduce opponents but will unite friends. How can I term domination peace? I must call things by their right names. Where there is hatred, there let people talk of feuds; and where there is mutual esteem, there only let peace be spoken of. For my part I neither tear the church apart nor separate myself from the communion of the fathers. From my very cradle, I may say, I have been reared on Catholic milk; and no one can be a better churchman than one who has never been a heretic. But I know nothing of a peace that is without love or of a communion that is without peace. In the Gospel I read, “If you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” If then we may not offer gifts that are our own unless we are at peace with our brothers; how much less can we receive the body of Christ if we cherish enmity in our hearts? How can I conscientiously approach Christ's Eucharist and answer the Amen if I doubt the charity of him who ministers it?

Such, then, should Christ’s apostles be preachers of the gospel and not ones who greet on the road. That is, not ones who look for something else, but those who proclaim the gospel out of genuine brotherly love. Let them come to the house and say, “Peace be to this house.” They do not only say it with their lips, but they pour out what they are full of. They preach peace, and they have peace. They are not like those of whom it is said, “Peace, peace, and there is no peace.” What’s the meaning of “Peace, peace, and there is no peace”? They preach it and do not have it. They praise and do not love it. They say, and they do not do. As for you, though, be sure you accept peace, whether Christ is being proclaimed casually or with sincerity.

THE JEW'S COMING PUNISHMENT; THEIR UNIVERSAL AND INCURABLE IMPENITENCE. (Jer. 8:1-22) The victorious Babylonians were about to violate the sanctuaries of the dead in search of plunder; for ornaments, treasures, and insignia of royalty were usually buried with kings. Or rather, their purpose was to do the greatest dishonor to the dead (Isa 14:19).

(Eze 13:10).

But even then the judgment has not come to a height. Even sinners long dead must yet bear the shame of their sins. "At that time" points back to "days come" in Jer 7:32. The Masoretes wished to have the ו before יוציאוּ deleted, apparently because they took it for ו consec. But it here stands before the jussive, as it does frequently, e.g., Jer 13:10, Exo 12:3. They will take the bones of the kings, princes, priests, and prophets, the rulers and leaders of the people (cf. Jer 2:26), and the bones of the other inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves, and spread them out before the sun, the moon, and the stars, i.e., expose them under the open sky to the influence of the heavenly bodies, so that they shall rot away, become "dung on the face of the earth." The worst dishonour that could be done to the dead, a just return in kind for their worship of sun, moon, and stars: cf. Exo 7:18; Kg2 21:5; Kg2 23:11. This worship the prophet describes in its various stages: "Inclination of the heart, the act of devoting and dedicating themselves to the service, the frequenting of gods' sanctuary in order to worship and to obtain oracles; while he strives to bring out in strong relief the contrast between the zeal of their service and the reward they get by it" (Hitz.). They shall not be gathered, i.e., for burial: cf. Sa2 21:13.; Sa1 31:13. The dead shall suffer this at the hands of enemies despoiling the land. The reason for so doing was, as Jerome observes, the practice of burying ornaments and articles of value along with the dead. Seeking for such things, enemies will turn up the graves (cf. acts of this kind the case of Ibn Chaldun, in Sylv. de Sacy, Abdollat. p. 561), and, in their hatred and insolence, scatter the bones of the dead all about.