Глава 4

1–4. Jehovah's answer to Israel and appeal to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 5–18. The judgment threatening Jerusalem and the entire kingdom of Judah, a) a description of the appearance of enemies from the north. 19–31. b) The prophet’s feelings at the thought of the misfortunes threatening his fellow tribesmen. Jeremiah 4:1–4. In response to Israel's complaint in Jeremiah 3.22–25, Jehovah says that Israel's restoration is only possible through genuine repentance and renunciation of idolatry. Then, turning to his fellow citizens, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all the Jews, Jeremiah demands from them a speedy repentance in order to avoid the punishments that Jehovah, angry with the Jews, wants to bring down on their heads. Jer.4:1. If you want to turn, Israel, says the Lord, turn to Me; and if you remove your abominations from before Me, you will not wander. If Israel started talking about conversion, then this conversion must be complete, real (to Me before My face; therefore, in the conversion of Israel everything must be clear, definite and open - it is impossible to hide and be false before God). - “Your abominations” - that is, everything that arouses the wrath of Jehovah, that separates Israel from God. - “You will not wander” - that is, you will not remain an exile, and will again be returned to your fatherland. Jer.4:2. And you will swear: “As the Lord lives!” in truth, judgment and righteousness; and the nations will be blessed in Him and boast in Him. Israel must use the name of God with reverence - this, first of all, will reflect the truth of his appeal to God. Israel should allow itself to swear by this sacred name only in deeds that are right and honest, which was not previously observed (Jeremiah 5.2). The result of this will be the glorification of the name of God among other nations of the earth, who, following the example of Israel, will turn to Jehovah and themselves will seek blessings from Him. Jer.4:3. For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: Plow yourselves new fields and do not sow among the thorns. The fate of Israel leads the prophet to think about the fate of his fatherland - the kingdom of Judah. Here he sees a desire to sow, that is, to introduce new orders of life, which points to the era of reforms of King Josiah. Sowing, however, says the prophet, will be successful only when the field is properly plowed, when it is cleared of all the bad plants that have taken root in it. This is what the prophet wants to say - we must act with human souls. It is not enough if people express fiery but fleeting pious feelings - they must be encouraged to destroy in their hearts the germs of all vices and bad inclinations through persistent and difficult struggle with themselves. Jer.4:4. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and remove the foreskin from your hearts, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest My anger be revealed like fire and burn unquenchable because of your evil inclinations. Another image of cleansing the soul from sins. And bodily circumcision made a person pure and able to take part in the sacred cult of Jehovah. But Jeremiah knows the highest purity - circumcision of the heart; for it is from the heart that all evil comes (Mark 7.21). If the Jews want to draw closer to Jehovah, then they must remove from their hearts, which are inherently evil (Gen. 8.21), all the bad inclinations that make them before the face of God people who have their foreskin still uncircumcised. Without this, the Jews must expect a terrible judgment from God. Jeremiah 4:5–18. The judgment of Judah, which Jeremiah briefly depicted in chapter 1, is here depicted with greater clarity. Namely: Jeremiah represents the enemies of Judah, firstly, under the guise of a lion devastating the country, secondly, under the guise of a storm destroying everything and, thirdly, under the guise of hunters who are rounding up the beast. However, this judgment is not something inevitable for Judea and Jerusalem; Under the condition of repentance of the Jews, the prophet still finds it possible to promise them salvation from death. Jer.4:5. Proclaim in Judea and proclaim in Jerusalem, and speak and sound the trumpet throughout the earth; cry loudly and say: “Gather together, and let us go to the fortified cities.” Jer.4:6. Set up a banner towards Zion, run, do not stop, for I will bring disaster and great destruction from the north. The Prophet, on behalf of God, commands by all possible means to quickly notify throughout the entire country of Judea about the approaching invasion of enemies. Let the Jews from the villages and villages gather in fortified cities, among which Zion or Jerusalem takes first place, why should a prominent sign be placed on the road leading to it from afar, which would indicate to the fugitives the direction along which they should hurry. - “Disclose in Jerusalem” - of course, so that the residents of the capital know that they will have to accept many newcomers from villages and villages, and prepare for this. Jer.4:7. A lion comes out of his thicket, and the destroyer of nations comes out: he comes out of his place to make your land desolate; your cities will be devastated and left without inhabitants. Jer.4:8. Therefore gird yourself with sackcloth, weep and howl, for the fury of the wrath of the Lord will not be turned away from us. Jer.4:9. And on that day, says the Lord, the heart of the king and the heart of the princes will freeze; and the priests will be horrified, and the prophets will be amazed. "Lion" is, of course, one specific enemy of Judah, that is, the Chaldean people. - “From the thicket” - from the thickets that covered the banks of the Jordan River, where lions lived (cf. Jer 49:19, 50:44). - “The fury of the wrath of the Lord will not turn away from us.” The prophet shows the futility of the hopes that the Jews began to harbor in themselves during the reign of Josiah; they thought that the wrath of God would no longer befall them (Jer 2.35; Jer 4.10). – “Heart” is courage (cf. Is 7.2). - “The prophets will be amazed” - that is, those who considered themselves prophets will lose all intelligence: so what will happen will contradict their predictions, with which they reassured their compatriots! Jer.4:10. And I said: O Lord God! Did You deceive only this people and Jerusalem, saying: “You will have peace”; and yet the sword reaches the soul? Who is speaking? New critics (Corneille and others) believe that here Jeremiah brings out false prophets as speakers. Jeremiah, they say, could in no way blame God regarding the prophecies expressed by the false prophets who promised peace to the Jews. But the whole tradition reads the first word of the 10th verse in Heb. text as vaomar and I said (i.e. Jeremiah), and not as vajomeru and they (i.e. false prophets) will say, so here it is more correct to see an objection on the part of the prophet (cf. Jer 1.6; Jer 14.13). What does Jeremiah want to say with this objection and what revelation does he have in mind? Some interpreters (for example, Yakimov) see here the prophet’s bewilderment that God allowed false prophets to deceive the people with bright prospects (cf. 1 Kings 22.20–22). But it is most natural to assume that the prophet here has in mind the prophecy of Huldah, contained in 2 Kings 22.18–20, according to which the entire reign of Josiah was to pass in peace. But now, to the prophet’s gaze, the catastrophe threatening Jerusalem seems so close that he is unable to resolve the contradiction that emerged from comparing the prophecy of Huldama with the judgment of God that was soon to break out. – This sad misunderstanding of the prophet remains unanswered, but the answer has already been given earlier: Jeremiah already said in chapters II and III that only sincere and real repentance could turn away the wrath of God from the Jewish people, and the Jews did not bring such repentance to God. Jer.4:11. At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A burning wind rushes from the heights of the desert into the path of the daughter of My people, not for winnowing and not for cleansing; Jer.4:12. and a wind stronger than this will come to Me from there, and I will pronounce judgment on them. The Prophet, returning to the thought expressed in Art. 5th, proclaims that at the time when the era of judgment over Jerusalem comes, they will say this: “a burning wind rushes” through the mountains separating the desert from Judea, rushing along the direct path (in the Russian synod, incorrectly: on the path) against the daughter of My people (i.e., against the inhabitants of Judea); but this wind does not blow so that with its help the farmer can winnow his grain and clear it of chaff. - No, the wind is too strong for that, the wind that is coming towards me (these are the introductory words of one of the inhabitants of Judea). “Now I will judge them!” These last words of Jehovah resolve the prophet’s question and bewilderment about the purpose for which the Lord sent such a strong wind to Judea. Jer.4:13. Behold, he rises like the clouds, and his chariots are like a whirlwind, his horses are swifter than eagles; woe to us! for we will be ruined. Jer.4:14. Wash away the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved: how long will evil thoughts nest in you? The enemy is moving from the north in such huge masses that Jeremiah compares his invasion to the invasion of thunderclouds. His chariots rush with the speed of a whirlwind, and his horses are faster than eagles. This is how the prophet Habakkuk depicts the Chaldeans (Hab 1.6 et seq.). - “Woe to us!” - this is the cry of the Jewish people. But - the prophet says in response to this complaint that deliverance is still possible - for this you need to cleanse your heart of all evil. Jer.4:15. For there is already a voice from Dan and a disastrous message from Mount Ephraim: Jer.4:16. announce to the nations, inform Jerusalem that besiegers are coming from a distant country and are declaring the cities of Judea with their cries. From the northern border city of Palestine, Dan (in the stake of Naphtali), the first terrible news comes to Jerusalem, but not directly, but from the point closest to Jerusalem - the mountains of Ephraim. The enemy, of all the roads leading from the north to Egypt (the Chaldeans, in fact, sought to reach Egypt), chose the most dangerous for Jerusalem - through the mountains of Ephraim, which led directly to Jerusalem. - “Announce to the nations,” that is, the invasion of the Chaldeans should affect all the peoples living in Palestine, and not just the Jews (Blessed Jerome). - “Besiegers” or, more precisely, hunters, driving animals out of their dens with their cries. So the Jews will have to flee from their cities, and during this flight their enemies will seize them. Duhm reads the word nezrim here as nemrim and instead of besieging, therefore translates: leopard. Therefore, the following word is replaced by shouts with the expression: growl. Jer.4:17. Like guards of the fields, they surround him in a circle, for he rebelled against Me, says the Lord. Jer.4:18. Your ways and your deeds have caused this to you; your wickedness makes you so bitter that it reaches your heart. Just as watchmen carefully guard a field of ripe fruits, not allowing anyone to take anything from it, so the enemies watch over Jerusalem, not letting a single person out of it. Cornille, in view of the fact that there are not many watchmen at the field and taking into account that the idyllic image of a watchman does not fit the devastating intentions with which the enemy will approach Jerusalem, finds it better, instead of the expression “watchman,” to translate the word namnim here, as the participle schomnim (from the verb. schomar) with the expression: “lying in wait - they (the enemies) lie around on the field.” Such a translation is indeed more suitable for this place, especially since there is a basis for it in Jeremiah 5.6 v. – The reason for the misfortunes of the Jews is indicated here the same as in Jeremiah 2.17–18. Jer.4:19–31. The thought of the danger threatening the Jews from enemies depresses the soul of the prophet so much that he does not see the light of the sun; it seems to him that there is an earthquake; he sees the general desolation of Palestine. However, the thought of preserving the remnant of the people does not leave the prophet. At the end of the chapter the prophet depicts the sad situation of besieged Zion. Jer.4:19. My womb! my womb! I grieve in the depths of my heart, my heart is agitated within me, I cannot remain silent; for you hear, my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of battle. The greatest inner excitement that the prophet feels when he already hears the sound of a trumpet announcing the attack of enemies is expressed here in fragmentary exclamations. – “Womb”, i.e. the insides, as the starting point of birth (Gen. 15.4) and hence the seat of the senses. Prophet next suffers like a woman in labor. – “In the depths of my heart” is also an exclamation, which can be more accurately translated: oh, the walls of my heart! The prophet's heart beats so hard that the walls of the heart can barely withstand its beats. Jer.4:20. Trouble after disaster: the whole earth is devastated, suddenly my tents are destroyed, instantly my tents are destroyed. Jer.4:21. How long will it take me to see the banner and listen to the sound of the trumpet? “My tents!” - that is, my people. Houses and cities are poetically designated as tents. – “Banner” – see Jer 4.5,6. Jer.4:22. This is because My people are stupid and do not know Me: they are foolish children, and they have no sense; They are smart for evil, but do not know how to do good. The reason for God's wrath is that the Jews have become like foolish children, who, however, are quite inventive in doing evil. Jer.4:23. I look at the earth, and behold, it is ruined and empty; I look at the heavens, and there is no light in them. Jer.4:24. I look at the mountains, and behold, they tremble, and all the hills shake. Jer.4:25. I looked, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the air had flown away. Jer.4:26. I look, and behold, Carmel is a desert, and all its cities are destroyed from the presence of the Lord, from the fury of His wrath. This depicts the state of the Jewish country in which it will find itself after God's judgment breaks out over it. The prophet turns his gaze to his country four times, as if hoping to see something joyful, but his expectations are in vain: everywhere the prophet sees only desolation and destruction. - It (the land) is ruined and empty. The Prophet uses here those expressions (tohuvabohu), which in the book of Genesis (Genesis 1.2) denote the initial chaotic state of the earth. This is, of course, hyperbole. The prophet only wants to say that the earth appeared to him in a vision as a sad, lifeless desert. – “There is no light on them” see Isaiah 13.9,10. - “The mountains... tremble” is a figurative expression: the prophet thereby denotes the power of God’s wrath that broke out over the Jews. - “There is no man, all the birds... have flown away” - again hyperbolic expressions. The birds, however, could really fly away from the devastated country, because they had nothing to eat here. The Prophet regrets them because they revive the country with their flying and singing. – “Carmel” – see Jer 2.7. Jer.4:27. For this is what the Lord said: The whole earth will be desolate, but I will not make a complete destruction. The Lord here softens the burden of the impression received from the previous prediction. Both the Jewish country and the people are not destined for final destruction: life will begin again in a devastated country. (Jer.3.14). Jer.4:28. The earth will mourn over this, and the heavens above will be darkened, because I have spoken, I have decreed, and I will not repent of it, nor will I depart from it. Jer.4:29. From the noise of horsemen and archers, all cities will scatter: they will go into dense forests and climb onto rocks; all cities will be abandoned, and there will not be a single inhabitant in them. However, Jews should not delude themselves with the hope of salvation. Those remaining from the extermination will only find shelter in dense forests and on rocks, but the cities of Judah will all be destroyed. Jeremiah 4:30. And you, devastated, what will you do? Although you dress in purple, although you adorn yourself with golden clothes, although you paint your eyes with colors, you adorn yourself in vain: your lovers have despised you, they are looking for your soul. It is in vain that Judea, as a woman who wants to please men, will resort to various tricks to catch conquerors in her networks: these northern conquerors, who previously, indeed, entered into an alliance with Judea (under Ahaz), now decided to put an end to the independent existence of the Judean state. - “You outline the eyes.” Eastern women, in order to add shine to their dark eyes and to make their eyes shine and appear larger, smeared the edges of their eyelids with black salt prepared from antimony (2 Kings 9.30). Jer.4:31. For I hear the voice of a woman in labor, the groan of a woman giving birth for the first time, the voice of the daughter of Zion; she groans, stretching out her hands: “Oh, woe is me! my soul languishes before the murderers.” “Daughter of Zion,” that is, the population of Jerusalem suffers and groans as much as a woman giving birth for the first time. – “Murderers” are ruthless enemies who have already directed their bows against the Jews.