Thomas Aquinas Commentary Jeremiah 11

Here, he shows the dignity of the people from the fact that, having entered into a covenant with God, they were bound together.

First, he speaks of the covenant and threatens punishment to those who violate it. Second, he examines the justice of punishing them: indeed, you are just, O Lord (Jeremiah 12:1).

Concerning the first point, there are two parts.

1. He presents the covenant.
2. He addresses their violation of the covenant, at for I strongly warned (Jeremiah 11:7).

Regarding the presentation of the covenant, there are several points.

1. The prophet is urged to proclaim: hear, which is addressed to you and those who are with you; they are good and, as such, are in a sense privileged.

   And you shall say to them. Ezekiel speaks of this covenant: I have covered your shame, and sworn to you, and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord God, and you are mine (Ezekiel 16:18).

2. The people are urged to keep the covenant, for which he presents two reasons:
   1. The first is taken from the punishment of those who transgress: cursed is the man. Cursed is the man who will not abide in the words of this law, and not fulfill them in deed (Deuteronomy 27:26).

      He shows the justice of this punishment with the words, on the day when I led them from the land of Egypt. It is as though he were saying, “It is just to punish them, who are ungrateful after receiving so many kindnesses.” The text says from the furnace, so called because of their affliction, and of iron, because of the cruel domination. But the Lord took you from the iron furnace of Egypt, so that he might have a people of inheritance, as you are today (Deuteronomy 4:20).

      Then, he speaks of the terms of the covenant: saying. In this, he asks for something—namely, obedience—hear, and he promises something—namely, the glory of friendship with God: and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. This is also stated above: this thing did I command them, saying: hear my voice, and I will be a God to you, and you shall be my people (Jeremiah 7:23).

   2. The second reason is taken from the reward of those who obey: that I may stir up, referring to the promise that had almost become void because of the coming captivity. The text mentions with milk, because of the abundance of livestock, and and honey, because of the abundance of produce from the earth. Alternatively, through hyperbole, an abundance of every good thing is signified by these two. That you may increase yet more in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you (Deuteronomy 6:3).
3. He gives the prophet’s assent: I answered, amen, that is, “You have truly done what you promised.” And all the people shall say, amen (Deuteronomy 27:26).
4. The conclusion is drawn that they should pay attention: and the Lord said. Raise your voice in strength (Isaiah 40:9).

Here, the prophet shows how they have transgressed the covenant:

1. By sinning against God.

   Concerning this first point, there are two aspects:

   1. He sets forth their guilt. Regarding this, there are several points to consider:

      1. The diligence of His warning is shown. This is seen in the oath, I strongly warned, as if putting them under oath; in its uninterrupted nature, beginning on the day when I brought them forth; and in its timeliness, rising early, when a person is more receptive to understanding. As it is written, Though I have spoken to you rising early and speaking (Jeremiah 7:13).

      2. The transgression of the disobedient people is mentioned: but they did not listen. As Scripture says, All have turned aside to their own way, each one to his greed, from the greatest to the least (Isaiah 56:11).

      3. Their guilt is aggravated by their stubbornness, as implied in the phrase and I brought upon them. This is because they were corrected neither by the punishments nor by the blessings contained in the covenant of the law that had been revealed to them. As it is written, For I called, and you refused; I stretched out my hand, and there was none who would look; you despised all my counsel, and ignored my rebukes. I also shall laugh at your destruction, and mock when your fear comes upon you (Proverbs 1:24–26).

         Their stubbornness is also shown by their conspiracy, as seen in the phrase a conspiracy has been found. This is as if to say, “All have sinned alike, just as if they had conspired to do it.” For a conspiracy is an agreement strengthened by an oath to do something. As Scripture says, Everything which this people speaks is a conspiracy (Isaiah 8:12).

         It is also shown by their habit, as stated in the words they have turned back. As the prophet says, They have turned back that they may be without yoke, they have become like a treacherous bow (Hosea 7:16).

      4. The conclusion is drawn with the words have made void. As Scripture says elsewhere, But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant, they have rebelled against me (Hosea 6:7). And again, She has forsaken the guide of her youth, and forgotten the covenant of her God (Proverbs 2:17).

   2. He threatens punishment, as stated in therefore, thus says the Lord (Jeremiah 11:11).

2. By sinning against the prophet, as stated in the verse, but you, O Lord, have shown me, and I have known (Jeremiah 11:18).

1. Here, he threatens an inescapable punishment for incorrigible guilt.

   1. He speaks of the punishment: behold I. He who draws himself out of the pit shall be taken by the snare (Isaiah 24:18).

   2. He excludes escape as a means of aid:

      1. They will not be helped by their own prayers to God: they shall cry to me, but I will not hear them. They will call upon me, and I will not listen (Proverbs 1:28).

         Nor will they be helped by prayers offered to idols: and the cities of Judah shall go. They are ignorant who raise the image of their idol, and pray to a lord who cannot save (Isaiah 45:20). He adds the multitude of their idols: for according to the number of your cities, O Judah, were your gods. You have made a brothel on every street, and at the head of every street you have built an image of your prostitution (Ezekiel 16:31). The same is said above (Jeremiah 2:28).

         They will not even be helped by the prayers of others: therefore, you shall not pray for this people; take up no praise, as if by praising My mercy, you could persuade Me to show it. How long shall you mourn for Saul, when I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? (1 Samuel 16:1). The same is said above (Jeremiah 7:16).

      2. They will not be helped by offering sacrifices. He gives the reason for their rejection: why is it that my beloved—the people of Judah—is in my house, worshiping idols there in the temple? What do you think, O son of man, do you see what these men do, the great abominations which the house of Israel does here, so that they may depart far from my sanctuary? (Ezekiel 8:6).

         Here, he speaks of the rejection of the sacrifices: will the flesh of sacrificed animals help? It is impossible to take away sins with the blood of goats and bulls (Hebrews 10:4).

      3. He shows that they will not be helped by their own efforts. Concerning this, there are two points:

         1. He recalls their former glory. The Lord called you an abundant olive tree, beautiful, fruitful, fair. This name reflected your status: “abundant” in the fullness of your branches, signifying the multitude of the people; “beautiful” in your green color, signifying flourishing prosperity and vigorous spiritual strength; “fruitful” in your bounty of fruit, signifying an abundance of great good works; and “fair” in the arrangement of your parts, signifying the proper ordering of the people. God called you this so that your renown would spread everywhere. His glory shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like the Lebanon (Hosea 14:6).

         2. He predicts their future punishment in three parts:

            1. He describes the punishment: at the sound of a word (that is, at Nebuchadnezzar’s command), a fire was kindled in her (the house of Israel), literally, and it has devoured her branches (the people and their possessions). Alternatively, the phrase of a great word implies that because you became proud of this title, you deserved punishment. I would march against it in battle, and set it on fire in like manner (Isaiah 27:4).

            2. He shows the power of the one who punishes: the Lord of hosts. The Lord puts to death and gives life; he brings down to hell, and brings back again (1 Samuel 2:6).

            3. He gives the cause: for the evils. They have provoked me by that which was no god, and incited me with their vanities; I also shall provoke them by that which is no people, and incite them with a foolish nation (Deuteronomy 32:21).

Here, the author shows how they transgressed by sinning against the prophet himself. What is said literally suits Jeremiah, who came to be hated by the people for the evils he predicted. But the persecution of Jeremiah also prefigures the passion of Christ, as the Gloss says.Jerome, In Hieremiam, 2.147–48. This seems, however, to contradict the opinion stated above, in which we applied what was said to Christ and not to Jeremiah. But all the prophets did most things as a type of the Savior, and what is fulfilled in the present in Jeremiah is prophesied about the Lord for the future.

Concerning this, there are three points.

1. First, the prophet sets forth the guilt of his adversaries.

   He begins with the revelation of their communal guilt: you have shown me by internal revelation, and you disclosed by external signs, their intentions—that is, their schemes against me. With his strong hand he taught me that I might not go in the way of this people (Isaiah 8:11).

   He then explains the necessity of this revelation, since his own mind could neither know nor suspect their plot because of his innocence, which did not deserve such treatment. And I was like a lamb: and I did not know. Even Christ as a man on earth received from God the knowledge by which he knew all things through the grace of the hypostatic union, just as others receive what they know through the grace of revelation. As a lamb before the shearer is silent, and opens not his mouth (Isaiah 53:7). For who knows the things that are in a man but the spirit of man, which is in him? (1 Corinthians 2:11). The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are vain (Psalms 94:11).

   The text continues: Let us put wood, that is, yew wood, so that he would die by being poisoned,Julius Caesar, in the Gallic Wars 6:3, mentions that Cativolcus, leader of the Eburones, poisoned himself with yew. and let us cut him off, so that no memory of him remains, like a tablet whose previous writing has been erased. Mystically, this refers to the body of Christ on the wood of the cross. Alternatively, wood in his bread means, “Through the wood of the cross, let us stir up scandal against his doctrine, which is our bread.” He was cut off from the earth (Isaiah 53:8).

2. Second, the prophet seeks vindication and mentions the power and authority by which this is possible. but you, O Lord Sabaoth, that is, of hosts,It is unclear why Jerome at times translates the name of God, יהוָה צְבָאוֹת, as “Lord of hosts,” but at other times merely transliterates it as Sabaoth. refers to the justice by which he wills it. who judges justly refers to the knowledge by which he knows it. and tests the reins (the affections) and the heart (the thoughts) refers to his insight.

   let me see your vengeance upon them is spoken from the perspective of Christ concerning those who are stubborn, for he prays for others: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34). You have seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me, judge my cause (Lamentations 3:59). And he gives the reason: for to you have I revealed my cause, not as if speaking to one who did not know, but as one entrusting my whole cause to you. Cast your care upon the Lord, and he will sustain you (Psalms 55:22).

3. Third, the Lord threatens punishment.

   1. First, he returns to their malice: therefore, thus says the Lord to the men of Anathoth, who seek your soul, meaning, to kill you. Those who sought my soul have done violence (Psalms 38:12). He adds the cause of this malice: and they say: do not prophesy, as if to say that you can only avoid death if you stop prophesying. Who say to the seers, do not see (Isaiah 30:10).

   2. Second, he threatens the punishment:

      1. First, he foretells the visitation: therefore, thus says the Lord. I shall visit their iniquities with a rod, and their sins with stripes (Psalms 89:32).
      2. Second, he determines their punishment: their . . . young men. And later: those who are for the sword, to the sword, and those who are for famine, to famine (Jeremiah 15:2).
      3. Third, he declares the power of the one who punishes them: I will bring this evil upon them—I who am able. Bring upon them the day of affliction, and destroy them with a double destruction (Jeremiah 17:18). Mystically, the men of Anathoth, which means “obedience,”The place name, עֲנָתֹת, appears to derive etymologically from the Canaanite goddess, Anat, much like Athens is derived from Athena. Anathoth was only a few miles distant from Jerusalem. signifies the men of Jerusalem, who, once obedient to the Lord, afterward persecuted Christ.

Collations

Note that the olive tree (Jeremiah 11:16) is called holy for several reasons:

• Because of its fatness, which signifies devotion: you have been made a partaker in the root, and fatness of the olive tree (Romans 11:17).
• Because of the excellence of the oil, which signifies contemplation: these are the two sons of oil, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth (Zechariah 4:14).“Sons of oil”: Zerubbabel and Joshua, who had been anointed to serve as king and high priest, respectively. And he made for the oracle two cherubim from olive wood, ten cubits in height (1 Kings 6:23).
• Because of the greenness of its leaves, which signifies strength of mind: the dove returned at evening, carrying the branch of a green olive tree in her mouth (Genesis 8:11).
• Because of its fertility, which signifies an abundance of good works: but I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God, I have hoped in the mercy of God forever, and forever and ever (Psalms 52:8).
• Because of its beauty, which signifies the glory of the saints: as a beautiful olive tree in the fields, and like a plane tree I am exalted by the waters . His glory will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like the Lebanon (Hosea 14:6).