Глава 2

Var.2:1–10. The prophet continues to confess that the Jews were justly punished by God, Bar.2:11-35 - and then begs God to forgive them. Bar.2:1 And the Lord fulfilled His word, which He spoke against us, and against our judges who judged Israel, and against our kings, and against our princes, and against every Israelite and Jew. Bar.2:2 that He will bring upon us great disasters, such as have never been seen under all heaven, as He did in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the law of Moses, Var.2:1–10. The Lord justly punished His people, handing them over to other nations for reproach: in fact, the Jews turned out to be open disobedients of His will. Var.2:1–2. Briefly repeated in Daniel (Dan.9:12–13). Bar.2:3 that we shall eat, one the flesh of his son, and the other the flesh of his daughter. 3. Wed. Lamentations 1:20, and Lamentations 4:10. Bar.2:4 And He gave them as subjects to all the kingdoms that are around us, to mock and desolate all the surrounding nations, among which the Lord had scattered them. 4. “To all kingdoms” - of course, not immediately, but gradually. Moreover, the Jews, of course, were not subjugated to all kingdoms without exception. Here, obviously, the expression is hyperbolic. Bar.2:5 And we were found below, and not above, because we sinned against the Lord our God by not listening to His voice. Bar.2:6 With the Lord our God is righteousness, but with us and our fathers there is shame on our faces, as today. Var.2:7 All the disasters that the Lord spoke against us have befallen us. Bar.2:8 We did not pray before the Lord that He would turn everyone from the thoughts of his evil heart. Var.2:9 And the Lord watched over these evils, and the Lord brought them upon us, for the Lord is righteous in all that he commanded us. 9 . “I watched…” that these disasters would certainly strike the Jews. – Wed. Lamentations 1:17. Bar.2:10 But we did not listen to His voice, to walk in the commandments of the Lord, which He gave before us. Bar.2:11 And now, O Lord, God of Israel, You, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with signs, and with wonders, and with great power, and with an outstretched arm, also created for Yourself a name like this: Var.2:11–35. From the 11th Art. the second part of the prayer begins. Here the writer begs God to take pity on His people, who have been so severely punished, and gives various reasons that should help ensure that God’s wrath against the Jews is replaced by mercy. 11. The first reason for pardoning the Jews is their special election - to be the people of God. This idea was repeatedly expressed by other prophets (Isa.51:22,65:9; Joel.2:17). Bar.2:12 We have sinned, we have acted wickedly and unrighteously against all your statutes, O Lord our God! Bar.2:13 Let Thy wrath turn away from us, for there are few of us left among the nations among whom Thou hast scattered us. 13. The second reason is the extreme decrease in the number of the Jewish people at the present time of captivity. Bar.2:14 Hear, O Lord, our prayer and our petition, and deliver us for Your sake, and give us mercy in the face of those who deported us, 14. The third reason is that the greatness of the name of God requires the restoration of the greatness of the people of God (“for Your sake”). This idea is also not new (Jer. 14:21). Bar.2:15 So that all the earth may know that You are the Lord our God, for Israel and their kindred are called by Your name. 15. The fourth reason is the good of all nations who, seeing the restoration of a people that had already completely disappeared, will believe in the omnipotence of God of this people (cf. Deut. 28:10; Is. 2:2). Var.2:16 Look, O Lord, from Thy holy house, and remember us, and incline, O Lord, Thy ear, and hear. 16. "From Thy Holy House". This is what the Temple of Jerusalem was usually called. But at that time the church did not exist, and therefore such an expression seems rather strange... Some interpreters try to interpret the house as a symbol of heaven, but they do not provide any grounds for such an interpretation. Bar.2:17 Open Thy eyes, see, for it is not the dead in hell, whose spirit is taken out of their inward parts, who will give glory and praise to the Lord; Bar.2:18 But the person who grieves over the greatness of the calamity, who walks downcast and dejected, with dim eyes and a hungry soul, will give glory and righteousness to You, O Lord. 17–18. (Compare Ps.113:25 and Sir.17:24-26). The Jews here seem to be implying that if they do not see the mercies of God, then a song of praise to God cannot be heard in the church of Jehovah. Bar.2:19 It is not according to the righteousness of our fathers and our kings that we present this prayer before Thy face, O Lord our God; Bar.2:20 For You have sent Your wrath and Your wrath upon us, as You spoke through Your servants the prophets. Bar.2:21 Thus said the Lord: “Bow your shoulders to work for the king of Babylon, and you will live in the land that I gave to your fathers; Bar.2:22 But if you do not listen to the voice of the Lord to serve the king of Babylon, Bar.2:23 I will cause the voice of joy and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, to disappear from the cities of Judah and the surrounding area of Jerusalem, and there will be no trace of the inhabitants in all this land.” Bar.2:24 But we did not listen to Your voice to serve the king of Babylon, and You have fulfilled Your words, which You spoke through Your servants the prophets, that the bones of our kings and the bones of our fathers will be carried out of their place. Var.2:25 And behold, they were thrown out into the heat of the day and the cold of the night, and they died from evil diseases, from hunger, from the sword and exile. Bar.2:26 Thou hast forsaken the house upon which thy name is called, as it is this day, because of the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Bar.2:27 And You, O Lord our God, have dealt with us according to all Your condescension and according to all Your great mercy, Bar.2:28 As You spoke by Your servant Moses on the day on which You commanded him to write Your law before the children of Israel, saying: Bar.2:29 “If you do not listen to My voice, then this great and great multitude will be reduced to a small number among the nations, among which I will scatter them. Bar.2:30 I know that they will not listen to Me, for they are a stubborn people; but they will return to their hearts in the land of their migration, Bar.2:31 and they will know that I am the Lord their God. And I will give them a heart and they will understand, and ears and they will hear. Var.2:32 And they will glorify Me in the land of their exile and remember My name, Bar.2:33 And they will turn from their stubbornness and from their evil deeds; for they will remember the way of their fathers who sinned against the Lord. Bar.2:34 And I will bring them back to the land which I promised with an oath to their fathers, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and they will possess it; and I will multiply them, and they will not decrease. 34. Here we can find an indication of the fifth reason for pardoning the Jews - namely, the merits of the patriarchs of the Jewish people before God. Bar.2:35 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will be their God, and they shall be My people, and I will never again drive My people Israel out of the land that I have given them.” 35. The prophecy of the everlasting covenant is a repetition of the thought of the messianic prophecy of Jeremiah (Jer. 31:31–32).