Глава 11

1–8. The prophet as the herald of divine law. 9–17. The persistence of the people and their rejection. 18–23. Conspiracy against Jeremiah in Anathoth. Jeremiah 11:1–8. The prophet acts as a witness and herald of the divine covenant, which was once concluded between Jehovah and Israel at Sinai. He must remind of this covenant and its conditions not only to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but also to other cities of Judea. Jer.11:2. Hear the words of this covenant, and tell them to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; “Listen - say.” This contains a command addressed not only to Jeremiah, but also to other prophets of his time. - “This Testament”. Here is an obvious reference to the “book of the Covenant” found under Josiah (see T.B. vol. 2, pp. 530–531). Jeremiah had to especially thoroughly explain all the conditions of the alliance once concluded between Jehovah and the Jewish people. Jeremiah 11:9–17. The work of the prophet, however, was unsuccessful. Israel, like its ancestors, did not want to listen to the prophet. Judah made a silent agreement to live their own way and continued to serve foreign gods. Therefore, God promises to bring disaster upon them and forbids the prophet even to pray for the apostates. As a result of this, the people, instead of being, according to divine destiny, a green olive tree, will be burned by the fire of God's judgment as a completely dry tree. Jer.11:9. And the Lord said to me: There is a conspiracy between the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: "Conspiracy". The Jews, obviously, even during the time of Josiah, who wanted to restore true worship of God, agreed among themselves not to do anything to fulfill the intentions of their king. They did not directly oppose his reforms, but in the depths of their hearts they were against them, and as a result, of course, the king’s reforms did not take root in Judea. Jeremiah 11:10. They again turned to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to obey My words and went after foreign gods, serving them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers. An open appeal to the old customs of life took place already under the successors of Josiah. Jer.11:14. Do not ask for this people and do not offer prayers and petitions for them; for I will not hear when they cry to Me in their distress. Jeremiah 11:15. What is My beloved in My house when many indecent things are committed in it? and sacred meats ** will not help you when, while doing evil, you rejoice. “My Beloved” – the Jewish people. God calls the people who have departed from Him this way in order to express grief over the fall of this people, who really had a high destiny (cf. friend in Matthew 26.50). Jeremiah 11:18. The Lord has revealed it to me, and I know; You showed me their deeds. Jeremiah 11:19. But I, like a meek lamb led to the slaughter, did not know that they were plotting against me, saying: “Let us put poisonous wood for his food and tear him away from the land of the living, so that his name will not be mentioned again.” Jeremiah 11:20. But, Lord of hosts, the righteous Judge who searches hearts and bellies! let me see Your vengeance on them, for I have entrusted my work to You. Jeremiah 11:21. Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the men of Anathoth, who seek your life and say: “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, lest you die at our hands”; Jer.11:22. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will visit them: their young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters will die of hunger. Jer.11:23. And there will be no remnant from them; for I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth in the year of their visitation. In Anathoth, the hometown of Jeremiah, hostility to the word of Jehovah was expressed in a conspiracy against the life of the divine messenger - Jeremiah. Only the warning he received from God saved the prophet from mortal danger. For this, the inhabitants of Anathoth will suffer severe punishment from God. Jeremiah here is a type of the suffering Messiah cf. Isa 53.7. - “Let us put” - it is more correct to translate this: “let us destroy the tree (i.e., the prophet) with its food, i.e., the tree laden with fruits.” The enemies of the prophet call him a tree that bears fruit in relation to the Eastern way of thinking. The fruits are the words of the prophet, they are unpleasant. Special notes. Some critics recognize almost this entire chapter as inauthentic. But if one of the later writers or, as critics say, additions to Jeremiah, had inserted this chapter into the book of Jeremiah, he, of course, would have spoken in much more detail about the events here only briefly mentioned. The first listeners or readers of this chapter did not need to describe all the details of the event, which they, as Jeremiah’s contemporaries, were well aware of. – Chapter Jer 11.18–23 with the addition of ch. Jeremiah 12:1–5, 9–11, 14–15 is read as parimia on Maundy Thursday at Matins and on Good Friday at the 9th hour, obviously because the Church sees in Jeremiah a prototype of the suffering Christ. You might be interested in: