Theodoret of Cyrus — Commentary on Scripture

Jeremiah 15:4

And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.

He forecasts what would happen after the return, what would happen to them under the Macedonians and the destruction that would be inflicted on them by the Romans. He brings out that the first fate would happen to them owing to the impiety committed by Manasseh. Yet he is not an unjust judge, nor does he require an account of them for others’ faults. He submits them to the evils prophesied as sharers in impiety and enthusiastic supporters of their wicked king.

Jeremiah 17:1

The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;

Nothing is more potent than the conscience: letters inscribed on it are indelible. I mean, even if everyone mounted a case to his or her conscience supported by favorable evidence, the conscience itself cannot tolerate the wickedness of falsehood. It is pricked and goaded and delivers its verdict incorruptibly. He says this here, too: The facts accuse you, and the conscience joins in testimony against you. He reminds them also of the groves, the altars and what was done on them, and he threatens to give to the enemy all their wealth along with the idols.

Jeremiah 18:3-6

Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

Do not despair of salvation, God is saying. Even if I condemn a nation and threaten ultimate punishment, if I see their repentance, I extend mercy instead of inflicting punishment. If I promise an abundance of blessings, but they scorn me and embrace wickedness, I shall not fulfill the promise of blessings. Knowing this, then, do not despair of better things, but apply repentance and reap salvation.

Jeremiah 22:6

For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.

He calls Jerusalem “Lebanon,” and he calls the royal palace in Jerusalem “Gilead.” And there is a region in Lebanon that is called by that name, and there is also another Gilead in Israelite territory. But I think that the palace is being compared with the Gilead in Lebanon because of the impiety that they had dared to do in their midst. For this reason he threatens complete destruction on them.

Jeremiah 22:24-25

As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;

Since they did not imitate the piety of their ancestors though taking pride in their kinship with them—making much of Abraham, Isaac, Israel, David, Hezekiah and Josiah, men conspicuous for their virtue—for this reason the God of all rejects the arrogance of Jeconiah in these words: Even if he were a ring and were placed on my right hand, I would pull it off and hand it over to the enemy. Thus, let him not trust in his forebears’ virtue without emulating their virtue.

Jeremiah 23:5-6

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

These things were fulfilled according to the type in the case of Zerubbabel and Jeshua, the son of Jozadak. However, this prophecy was not altogether fulfilled, for many would rise up against them—not only their neighbors but also later on the Macedonians and finally the Romans. But the prophecy proclaims the everlasting nature of grace. Therefore, it is clear that these things were not fulfilled during their lifetimes but during the lifetimes of the apostles, for they alone had the gift of the Holy Spirit.… The Jews shamelessly endeavor to apply this to Zerubbabel. But they need to understand that he was no king—just a popular leader—and he was not called Jozadak. Neither is the meaning of the name appropriate to him, the word meaning “the Lord our righteousness” or, in the Syriac rendering, “Lord, make us righteous”—neither of which applies to Zerubbabel. Since, however, he was a type of Christ the Lord and brought back the captives from Babylon to Judah, just as the Lord transferred those enslaved by the devil to truth, anyone applying this to him in the manner of a type would do…

These things were fulfilled according to the type in the case of Zerubbabel and Jeshua, the son of Jozadak. However, this prophecy was not altogether fulfilled, for many would rise up against them—not only their neighbors but also later on the Macedonians and finally the Romans. But the prophecy proclaims the everlasting nature of grace. Therefore, it is clear that these things were not fulfilled during their lifetimes but during the lifetimes of the apostles, for they alone had the gift of the Holy Spirit.… The Jews shamelessly endeavor to apply this to Zerubbabel. But they need to understand that he was no king—just a popular leader—and he was not called Jozadak. Neither is the meaning of the name appropriate to him, the word meaning “the Lord our righteousness” or, in the Syriac rendering, “Lord, make us righteous”—neither of which applies to Zerubbabel. Since, however, he was a type of Christ the Lord and brought back the captives from Babylon to Judah, just as the Lord transferred those enslaved by the devil to truth, anyone applying this to him in the manner of a type would do nothing beyond reason. It is necessary that we understand, however, that it is the Lord Jesus Christ, a descendant of David according to the flesh, who is proclaimed by the prophets as “the righteous dawn,” “the righteous king” and “the Lord of righteousness.”

Jeremiah 23:24

Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

If the sun, being corporeal, for it is visible and susceptible to disintegration, cannot be polluted when it passes through corpses, putrid mud and many other evil-smelling substances, much more impervious to such pollution is the maker of the sun, the creator of the universe, the incorporeal one, the invisible, the unchangeable, the one who always remains the same. And that those things are so the following reflection will bear out. We both assert and believe that his nature is infinite, for we have heard him exclaim: “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? says the Lord.”

Jeremiah 25:3-7

From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.

He mentions the great number of years in order to emphasize God’s long-suffering in putting up with unbelievers for so long. I sent my servants the prophets to you, he says. I urged you to abandon the road to ruin and travel by the other road that produces life. I, in fact, promised you blessings for doing this. But you did not listen, and instead you chose the worship of idols. And to censure the purpose of this unbelief he went on, “So that you might provoke me by the works of your own hands to your own misfortune.” To provoke me, you committed those things, but then you also reaped their harmful effects then as well.

Jeremiah 25:15-29 · 2 passages

For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.

He gives the name drinking cup to punishment, as also in another psalm, “In the hand of the Lord there is a cup of wine, full of a strong mixture,” and a little later, “all the sinners of the earth will drink it.” This drinking cup blessed Jeremiah was ordered to offer to the nations.

And he calls God’s punishment the “cup of unmixed wine.” … By “drinking” and “vomiting” Jeremiah implies they have had enough, and in their “raving,” he alludes to the terrible nature of their punishment. Then the prophet further relates how Jerusalem and the cities that paid tribute to it, along with their kings and rulers, were made to drink this cup.

Jeremiah 26:2-3

Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:

He did not use the word perhaps out of ignorance, aware as he was of their disobedience. Instead, he expressed such uncertainty to avoid their taking note of the divine sentence and despairing of salvation. It resembles also what was said by Ezekiel, “If then they hear, if then they see.” In other words, it was not a result of ignorance. It was, rather, to prevent their saying, He foretold our disobedience, and he is trustworthy, so how is it possible for us to be changed? Thus, in the present words he emphasizes that it is possible to undergo a change in behavior, if they are willing.

Jeremiah 30:8-9

For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:

“I shall raise up David their king for them.” Christ the Lord brought fulfillment to the prophecy. He sprang from David according to the flesh, and he no longer shepherds only Israel but all the nations. The prophecy had a kind of outcome by way of shadow and type in the time of Zerubbabel as well.

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.

Ramah belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, and the tomb of Rachel is in the hippodrome of Chaphratha on the way to Ephrath. While the prophecy had its fulfillment in the time of Herod the Great, who did away with the babies in the hope of doing away at the same time with the newborn Savior, the prophet places it here in the context of the promise of good things so as to emphasize that the birth of our Lord and Savior according to the flesh was the real good and the summit of salvation, though on account of it the babies met that unjust end.

Jeremiah 31:29-30

In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge.

It is similarly impossible, he says, for children to be called to account for ancestral sins, because I promise to children the greatest blessings even when their parents sin.

Jeremiah 31:31

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

He conveyed to us, of course, many prophecies on the same point: first, that there is one Lawgiver for the two covenants; then, the incompleteness of the former covenant, since there would be no need for the second one if the former had been adequate.

Jeremiah 31:34

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

The future life achieves the fulfillment of these words. In that life we shall no longer need instruction from one another, since everything will be patently obvious. Sufferings will be at an end, bodies will be incorruptible, souls will be immune to change. Now it is customary with the divine Scripture to mix prophecies together. It connects prophecies about his repeated call to Israel with those about the captivity, and the Lord in the sacred Gospels cites at the one time the sayings about Jerusalem and those about the consummation.

Jeremiah 33:18-25

Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

We see the fulfillment of this prophecy as well. When the new covenant was given, in keeping with the divine promise, the priesthood was also given according to the order of Melchizedek, and those to whom it was promised offer the spiritual sacrifice to God continually. Then he says, as it is impossible for day to become night, so it is impossible for the Davidic monarchy to be destroyed. The fulfillment of this prophecy is also clear: Christ, who is of David according to the flesh, does not occupy the throne here below. He does, however, govern all things as he sits next to the Father. This is precisely what he also says about the priests and the Levites, noting that their line will be compared with the host of heaven and the sand of the sea. The facts confirm what is said: the whole land and sea are full of high priests and the deacons performing the liturgy of the Levites.

Jeremiah 35:12-17

Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,

Two things are worth marveling at: the law given by the father and the obedience rendered by the children and descendants. For they loved a life free from care and possessions and—what is most unexpected—put little stock in their property, even though they had children, because they made themselves dependent on the divine hope as far as they were concerned. But if these people embraced the consummate philosophy during the time of the law (which had no perfection because of the weakness of those who were given the law), what sort of people would they have been if they had heard the law of the gospel? But the God of all commands the prophet to tell all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “These people refuse to drink wine because they keep the commandment of their father, but you do not conduct yourselves according to my laws, although you receive the teachings of the prophets day and night. For this reason, I will bring on you all kinds of calamities, but the best of good things are promised to the offspring of Rechab, who keep the command of their father.”

Jeremiah 36:23

And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.

The God of all orders Jeremiah to write the former words in another book. The sheet of paper was burned, but the divine law remained unharmed. So also when the body assumed by the Word suffered, the Word remained free from suffering.

Jeremiah 37:19-21

Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?

Jeremiah said, “Now that matters have proven the truthfulness of my prophecy and the falsehood of your prophets, you must now judge rightly and punish those who lied, not him who warned you of the truth beforehand.” Then he asked to be released from the house of the scribe.