Ephrem the Syrian — Commentary on Scripture

Jeremiah 2:30

In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

Behold, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree. This refers to the three captivities in which the Israelites were taken away as captives, so that they might be chastened, but they were not chastened. In vain have I smitten your children, but they have not taken correction. To show that even after these things he was still patient, he said to the vinedresser, Cut it down. The vinedresser replied to him, Leave it, Lord, for another year. He agreed to be patient with the Israelites.

Jeremiah 7:1-6

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

“Do not put your hope in deceptive words that say, ‘Here is the temple of the Lord,’ ” that imply you are his temple. They are only trying to assure you that you will never be left by God as though God would decide to preserve his blessed temple and would save his priests even though they are wicked. No! Do not find hope in those who flatter you with these words. If you have not corrected what you are doing, then you are no temple of God, and God will not save you on account of the sacredness of his temple that is desecrated by you. His soul is disgusted by the multitude of your sacrifices that you offer in your wickedness.

Jeremiah 11:21

Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that thou die not by our hand:

For Anathoth did not receive Jeremiah, or the Tishbites Elijah, or Abelmeholah Elisha, or Ramah Samuel, or the synagogue Moses, or Israel our Lord Jesus in Nazareth.

Jeremiah 12:1

Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?

“Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all those who do evil things thrive?” Here the prophet steps out from his usual discourse. On other occasions he brings before God prayers and sorrow about sinners. But it seems here that he is beginning a dispute with God: Why is God merciful to them when they certainly do not deserve his mercy because their hearts are hard and stubborn? Truly, Jeremiah is not the only one who asks this question. Many righteous people wanted to know, as if they debated with God about his multitude of mercies to sinners. Job and David and Habakkuk wondered in this way about the mystery of God’s extended patience. But they all had one goal—to call sinners to repentance. This is why they explained this mystery of [divine] extended patience, and tried to reveal to sinners all the benefits that the Lord promised to those who repent. For he is good, and slow to anger to the sons of Adam, and as a hospitable Father, showers them with his gifts. But at the same time, righteous people let them know beforehand the punishment that they can expect if they remain h…

“Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all those who do evil things thrive?” Here the prophet steps out from his usual discourse. On other occasions he brings before God prayers and sorrow about sinners. But it seems here that he is beginning a dispute with God: Why is God merciful to them when they certainly do not deserve his mercy because their hearts are hard and stubborn? Truly, Jeremiah is not the only one who asks this question. Many righteous people wanted to know, as if they debated with God about his multitude of mercies to sinners. Job and David and Habakkuk wondered in this way about the mystery of God’s extended patience. But they all had one goal—to call sinners to repentance. This is why they explained this mystery of [divine] extended patience, and tried to reveal to sinners all the benefits that the Lord promised to those who repent. For he is good, and slow to anger to the sons of Adam, and as a hospitable Father, showers them with his gifts. But at the same time, righteous people let them know beforehand the punishment that they can expect if they remain hardened in their hearts and will not stop their wicked stubbornness. Jeremiah had the same goal: by fear and promises to wake up and to call Israel to serve their God.

Jeremiah 17:12

A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.

“The glorious throne, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.” Again the prophet denounces the wicked who put their hope in their riches. He exhorts them to think about the household of God, he who sits in the sacred place in the Jerusalem temple, the throne of his glory, and from there God penetrates and tests everything around him. Thus, the prophet says, “Let them know that Babylon and all the glorious kings seated on its throne were exalted and raised there by God, who dwells in our sanctuary.” Therefore, kings do not have reason to hope in their own strength, and no one should be afraid of princes, because their treasures will be taken away by the judgment of truth. For the oppression of the oppressed, oppressors will perish as the result of their own oppressive actions.

Jeremiah 18:1-2

The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

“Get up and go to the potter’s house, and there you will hear my words.” Here we have a parable about a potter meant to call Israel to repentance. As the potter makes from clay any vessel he likes, so God can easily change their state of events, turning disaster into joy. If Israel does not give up its hypocrisy, the Lord will frighten them with great calamities.

Jeremiah 23:30

Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.

“Thus, I am against the prophets who steal my words, says the Lord.” The prophet includes this with reference to the false prophets who were stealing true prophecies from true prophets and then passing them on in secret to someone whom they forbade to speak about this. What they had in mind was the following: If the prophecy was fulfilled, they would say, “See, we have a witness that we were prophesying the same thing.” But if the prophecy was not fulfilled, they would blame Jeremiah and other true prophets, as if they deceived people.However, there is another kind of false prophet who would say anything to please listeners. They would reassure people, “No calamity will come on you,” and according to the custom of false prophets, they would support this claim in the name of the Lord. They are like those against whom Jeremiah spoke previously, those who mix their false dreams with pronouncements of the Spirit and deceive the people.

Jeremiah 30:19-20

And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

“I will multiply them, and they will not be diminished. Their congregation will be before my face,” as during the time of Moses, Aaron and Joshua. All this and what would follow in the prophecy below was fulfilled and was accomplished in the coming of our Lord, as we have already noted above. Like many other things in the Lord’s divine plan predicted by the prophet and fulfilled by the redemption and restoration of the people of God, this passage also should not be simply understood in the sense of Israel but of people that the divine Paul calls the Israel of God who consisted of, and were gathered from, Jews and people of other nations. This passage is not simply about biological children of Abraham but about children of promise, and Paul teaches the same. Only in this more mysterious sense was the word of Jeremiah fulfilled, “They would no longer serve foreigners, but they shall serve the Lord their God and king David, whom I will raise up for them.” The Jews did not have peace. After they were conquered by the Chaldeans, they never were free from fear and oppression from other for…

“I will multiply them, and they will not be diminished. Their congregation will be before my face,” as during the time of Moses, Aaron and Joshua. All this and what would follow in the prophecy below was fulfilled and was accomplished in the coming of our Lord, as we have already noted above. Like many other things in the Lord’s divine plan predicted by the prophet and fulfilled by the redemption and restoration of the people of God, this passage also should not be simply understood in the sense of Israel but of people that the divine Paul calls the Israel of God who consisted of, and were gathered from, Jews and people of other nations. This passage is not simply about biological children of Abraham but about children of promise, and Paul teaches the same. Only in this more mysterious sense was the word of Jeremiah fulfilled, “They would no longer serve foreigners, but they shall serve the Lord their God and king David, whom I will raise up for them.” The Jews did not have peace. After they were conquered by the Chaldeans, they never were free from fear and oppression from other foreign nations. Rather, at various times they were enslaved by Persians, Greeks and Romans. These words of the prophet, “Jacob shall return, have rest and should not be afraid,” were not fulfilled for Jews. All prophets who prophesied after the Babylonian captivity say that during their time Jews were not free from fear and wars with neighboring nations, and they did not have even a moment of rest but were instead in fear of other peoples. And even though they served the Lord their God and did not worship pagan gods, they were oppressed.

Jeremiah 31:15

Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

“Thus says the Lord: A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, sobbing and weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children.” In a historical sense this prophecy speaks about sons of Judah and Benjamin living in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Jeremiah later on describes the fulfillment of this prophecy, saying that tribes of Judah and Benjamin were sent to Ramah, the city of Benjamin’s tribe, and then they were sent to captivity in Babylon. But in a spiritual sense, these words were fulfilled when Herod killed infants in Ephrathah and in its suburbs. It was said that Rachel was crying in Bethlehem and her voice was heard in Ramah because her body was buried in Bethlehem. But the people of Bethlehem were captured and sent to Ramah, and from there they had to go into a foreign land, to Babylon. It is why the prophet comforts mothers of killed infants when referring to Rachel.

Jeremiah 31:35-36

Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:

“If laws of day and night cease to speak before my face, says the Lord, then the descendants of Israel cease to be a nation forever.” It is impossible that the world order established from the beginning would change, that is, movement of stars, change of seasons. Therefore, without doubt, the promise given to David would not be left unfulfilled, and his kingdom and his seed would not cease before God’s face. Although this prophecy was fulfilled in its own time for Zerubbabel, who ruled over David’s kingdom, it was more completely fulfilled in our Lord, as even the angel said, “The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign in the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”And the prophet repeats and confirms later on what is said here about the spread and eternity of Christ’s kingdom by saying, “Just as the heavenly stars could not be counted and the sands of the sea could not be measured, so I will increase the seed of David,” that is, the seed of his Word (Logos), son of David, priests and the Levites of the new covenant. According to their…

“If laws of day and night cease to speak before my face, says the Lord, then the descendants of Israel cease to be a nation forever.” It is impossible that the world order established from the beginning would change, that is, movement of stars, change of seasons. Therefore, without doubt, the promise given to David would not be left unfulfilled, and his kingdom and his seed would not cease before God’s face. Although this prophecy was fulfilled in its own time for Zerubbabel, who ruled over David’s kingdom, it was more completely fulfilled in our Lord, as even the angel said, “The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign in the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”And the prophet repeats and confirms later on what is said here about the spread and eternity of Christ’s kingdom by saying, “Just as the heavenly stars could not be counted and the sands of the sea could not be measured, so I will increase the seed of David,” that is, the seed of his Word (Logos), son of David, priests and the Levites of the new covenant. According to their dignified status, the prophet depicts the gospel and the church of Christ in the image of the powers of heaven (stars) and their spread in the image of the sands of the sea, because thus it should be that the gospel and the church would become known to all the ends of the universe and that all nations would believe in them.

Jeremiah 43:13

He shall break also the images of Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire.

“He shall break the obelisks of the city of the sun, which is in Egypt, and the temples of the gods of the Egyptians he shall burn with fire.” The city of the sun is Egyptian Heliopolis, which was known for excessive demonic veneration and worship of futile idols. It had tall obelisks of amazing size. The height of each was up to sixty cubits, the capitals on the top of the obelisks were from shining brass that weighed up to a thousand or more pounds. On these obelisks were standing images and likenesses of people and animals that the Gentiles were worshiping. Also, those obelisks were inscribed with sacred writings of pagan mysteries. It was written about these obelisks that the Lord would break them. It does not speak so much about divine destruction and demolition of these obelisks as such, as about the destruction of the worship of demons and idols, images of those who were engraved on those obelisks. It was demolished, destroyed and stopped when the Lord Christ was incarnated and came to this world. This is exactly what Isaiah proclaimed when he said, “The Lord is seated on the…

“He shall break the obelisks of the city of the sun, which is in Egypt, and the temples of the gods of the Egyptians he shall burn with fire.” The city of the sun is Egyptian Heliopolis, which was known for excessive demonic veneration and worship of futile idols. It had tall obelisks of amazing size. The height of each was up to sixty cubits, the capitals on the top of the obelisks were from shining brass that weighed up to a thousand or more pounds. On these obelisks were standing images and likenesses of people and animals that the Gentiles were worshiping. Also, those obelisks were inscribed with sacred writings of pagan mysteries. It was written about these obelisks that the Lord would break them. It does not speak so much about divine destruction and demolition of these obelisks as such, as about the destruction of the worship of demons and idols, images of those who were engraved on those obelisks. It was demolished, destroyed and stopped when the Lord Christ was incarnated and came to this world. This is exactly what Isaiah proclaimed when he said, “The Lord is seated on the light cloud and comes to Egypt, and handmade Egyptian idols will tremble in front of his face.” The cloud on which the Lord is riding symbolizes for us the virgin Mary, who gave birth to God; it also symbolizes the living and clear message of the Lord’s gospel and the holy name of Christ that was proclaimed by the apostles (these divine preachers). On them, as on the light cloud, the Lord was seated and was proclaimed to the ends of the earth. Also, these clouds mystically symbolize holy prophets. Just as Isaiah writes that God, in a figurative image of the vineyard, was talking about the people of Israel and that he would break their fence and “order the clouds that they rain no rain on it,” so likewise in this passage clouds mean prophets who rain a heavenly rain on us.

Jeremiah 49:39

But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.

“It shall come to pass in later days that I will bring back the captives of Elam,” which refers to the time after seventy years of Jewish exile, when Cyrus, after destroying the Chaldean kingdom, would return all captured and enslaved people to their native lands. The divine Paul says, “Whatever was written of old was written for our instruction.” Thus, the Holy Spirit ordered Jeremiah and other prophets to record events of the captivity and of the return of magnificent and great nations in their own time, so that we would have a clear and vivid depiction of our slavery under the burden of Satan, as well as providing us with a picture of the divine household of our Lord who, through his death, bestowed on us life and redemption.Moreover, the Holy Spirit instructs us that a human being should not complain about the truth of God when wicked people experience great calamities. But we always must think about the severe judgment that happened to great nations and listen to the prophet who exhorts us, saying, “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling, so that he will not be ang…

“It shall come to pass in later days that I will bring back the captives of Elam,” which refers to the time after seventy years of Jewish exile, when Cyrus, after destroying the Chaldean kingdom, would return all captured and enslaved people to their native lands. The divine Paul says, “Whatever was written of old was written for our instruction.” Thus, the Holy Spirit ordered Jeremiah and other prophets to record events of the captivity and of the return of magnificent and great nations in their own time, so that we would have a clear and vivid depiction of our slavery under the burden of Satan, as well as providing us with a picture of the divine household of our Lord who, through his death, bestowed on us life and redemption.Moreover, the Holy Spirit instructs us that a human being should not complain about the truth of God when wicked people experience great calamities. But we always must think about the severe judgment that happened to great nations and listen to the prophet who exhorts us, saying, “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling, so that he will not be angry and you will not perish from his way. For his wrath may soon be kindled.”

Job 1:1

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

Even though many others lived in Uz, no one was comparable to Job with regard to piety and innocence. He was of high reputation and was celebrated in everybody’s words. And so that no one might think these things had been granted to Job thanks to his human ability, God never allowed a single possession of Job’s to perish. [God] said, “My desire is that even a single hair, a loss that would be the very slightest, may be returned and increased for Job.”

Job 1:20-21

Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,

The text means that Job was not covered with crimes and evil deeds and would have returned “naked,” that is, pure and innocent to “his mother’s womb.” He was so firm in his holy frankness that you may easily imagine he had never turned aside from righteousness nor would have ever passed from virtue to vice in the future.

Job 2:6

And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

“Only spare his soul.” God does not say this as if he wanted to prevent the devil from snatching Job’s life away, but he says “spare him.” That is, be careful not to destroy the natural state of Job’s mind and reason. So God arranged things in order that the devil, being convinced by the evidence of the facts, might acknowledge that Job, even though he was pressed by so many afflictions, could never be brought to blasphemy.

Job 2:11

Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.

In the meantime, while the friends investigated Job’s case and made preparations for their journey, there is no doubt that many days passed. They were all lords and men of princely rank. Job’s three friends signified the class of the high priests, the priests and the prophets, who flourished among the Jews. And Job’s seven sons represented the priests of the church, the apostles, the prophets, and those people endowed with the gift of miracles and healing, the assistants of the moderators, the presbyters and the deacons. - "Commentary on Job 2:11"

Job 3:4-5

Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.

Learn here the reason which led the Emmanuel to a new birth in the flesh. Certainly the sin of the world was the reason for the advent of Christ.

Job 4:3-5

Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.

“See, you have reproached many.” Eliphaz shows Job that he has corrected many with his action and has brought them back to a fitting moderation with his advice and warnings. “And you have strengthened the weak hands,” that is, since you exhorted others to endure with a strong soul the calamities that befell them, now it is fair that you exercise patience in your own afflictions.

Job 5:6-7

Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;

“And the young birds will raise their feathers over him.” This text indicates that sin is the cause of the calamities humans suffer. In a different sense we may understand the text to speak of angels as “sons of the winged ones,” sent by God either for our correction and punishment when we transgress or for our protection and salvation after we have repented.

Job 6:15

My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away;

The streams’ waters fall from heaven and are symbols of the prophecies and oracles announced to the Jewish people through the prophets, just as through mystic clouds, as if the prophets’ words were rains falling from heaven.