Thomas Aquinas Commentary Jeremiah 19:1-9

"Thus said Jehovah, Go, and buy a potter`s earthen bottle, and [take] of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests; and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee; and say, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle. Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, that they knew not, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents, and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal; which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind: therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter. And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth. And I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof. And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their life, shall distress them." — Jeremiah 19:1-9 (ASV)

Here, the full punishment is threatened.

1. First, he gives the place of the preaching: to the valley of the sons of Hinnom, which is near the entrance of the clay gate, where the potters lived, and you shall preach there the words which I shall speak to you. And you shall hear a word from my mouth, and you shall announce it to them from me (Ezekiel 3:17).

2. Second, he notes the content of the preaching, which was delivered first in the place God appointed beforehand, and then in the temple, as noted in Jeremiah 19:14: now Jeremiah came from Tophet.

   Concerning the preaching in the first location, there are two points. First, he foretells the punishment with a word; second, he foreshadows it with a deed, as seen in Jeremiah 19:10: and you shall break the jar.

   Regarding the word of punishment, he first threatens it in general when he calls for an audience: and you shall say, hear. As it is written, And now, understand, O kings of the earth, be instructed, you who judge the land (Psalms 2:10). When he foretells the punishment, he says: thus says the Lord . . . that the ears of all who hear of it may tingle, as if from a heart pounding with astonishment, like the jarring from a loud noise. Behold, I will make a word in Israel, that whoever shall hear of it, both his ears will tingle (2 Kings 21:12).

   He then gives the reason: the guilt of the people. Because they have abandoned me, he says. They have abandoned the Lord, blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they have gone away backwards (Isaiah 1:4). He also cites the guilt of the king regarding simple homicide: or the kings of Judah. As Scripture says, Manasseh spilled very much innocent blood, until Jerusalem was filled up to the mouth (2 Kings 21:16).

   He also points to their guilt regarding homicide joined with sacrilege: and they have built the high places of the Baalim. They spilled innocent blood, the blood of their sons, and of their daughters, which they sacrificed to the graven images of Canaan (Psalms 105:38).

   Next, he speaks of the punishment in particular. First, regarding the evils they suffered while the city was being taken, he discusses the slaughter of men: therefore, behold, the days are coming. He indicates the multitude of the slain with the words, when this place shall no longer be called Tophet. The same thing is said in Jeremiah 7:32.

   He speaks of the destruction of their counsel: and I will destroy the counsel of Judah—which had thought to conquer Nebuchadnezzar—in this place, because they were slain there. As Job says, He takes the wise in their subtlety, and destroys the counsel of the wicked (Job 5:13).

   He describes the type of slaughter: and I shall overthrow them with the sword. This is the sword of great slaughter, which makes them stand amazed and their hearts fail, and which multiplies ruins (Ezekiel 21:14). He also speaks of the desecration of their bodies: and I will give their bodies as food to the birds of the sky. As the psalmist writes, They have given the bodies of your servants as food to the birds of the air, and the flesh of your saints to the beasts of the earth (Psalms 78:2).

   He also mentions the destruction of their cities: and I shall make this city an astonishment. The same thing is said in Jeremiah 18:16.

   Second, he describes the punishment they suffered during the siege: and I shall feed them with the flesh of their sons. This is stated in Deuteronomy 28:53: You shall eat the fruit of your womb, and the flesh of your sons, and of your daughters, which the Lord your God shall give to you, in the want and ruin with which your enemy shall oppress you. As Lamentations 4:10 records, The hands of compassionate women cooked their sons; they became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.