Глава 3

Var.3:1–8. End of the prayer for mercy. Var.3:9–38. Praise of Divine wisdom. Var.3:1 Lord Almighty, God of Israel! the oppressed soul and the despondent spirit cries out to You: Var.3:2 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for You are a merciful God; have mercy, for we have sinned before You; Var.3:1–8. The Jews ask God to have mercy on them, firstly, because God is truly merciful and, secondly, because they repent of their sins before Him. Bar.3:3 You are forever abiding, but we are forever perishing. 3. The idea of ​​this verse can be more clearly expressed as follows: You, Lord, live forever. Will You not allow us here, soon, to see the salvation for which we hoped? After all, we are mortal and death is not far from us - we do not have the divine property of eternity and cannot wait long... Var.3:4 Lord Almighty, God of Israel! Hear the prayer of the dead of Israel and their sons, who sinned before You, who did not listen to the voice of the Lord their God, and therefore disasters befell us. 4. "Dead". That the Jews believed in the prayers of the dead for the living is clear from the books of Maccabees (2 Mac. 15:14). However, arch. Antoninus suggests that it is possible that the Greek translator mixed the original word “metei” - “scarcely populated” (cf. Is. 41:14) with the word “metei” (from another root), meaning “dead”. Bar.3:5 Do not remember the iniquities of our fathers, but remember Your hand and Your name at this time, 5. "Hand of God". - This is a metonymy. This refers to the miracles performed by the hand of God for Israel. Var.3:6 For You are the Lord our God, and we will glorify You, O Lord. Var.3:7 For this reason You have instilled Your fear in our hearts, so that we would call on Your name; and we will glorify You in our migration, for we have cast away from our hearts all the unrighteousness of our fathers who sinned before You. 7. “I instilled Thy fear,” of course, by various manifestations of His wrath against the Jews who retreated from him. Bar.3:8 Behold, we are now in our exile, where You have scattered us as a reproach and an oath and as retribution for all the iniquities of our fathers, who departed from the Lord our God. Bar.3:9 Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life; pay attention, so that you may understand wisdom. Var.3:9–38. From the 9th Art. The second part of the book begins. In this section, the prophet exhorts his people to seek wisdom, on which all the happiness of the people depends (Bar.3:9-14). Other nations did not understand the meaning of this wisdom, being devoted to earthly interests (Bar.3:15-23). Yes, however, no one himself, on his own, could comprehend this wisdom! It is known only to God One, the Creator and Organizer of the universe, Who communicated it to His people (Bar.3:29-38). Bar.3:10 What does this mean, O Israel, that you are in the land of your enemies? You grew old in a foreign land, you became defiled with the dead, Bar.3:11 numbered among those in hell, Bar.3:12 left the fountain of wisdom. Bar.3:13 If you walked in the way of God, you would live in peace forever. Var.3:14 Find out where wisdom is, where strength is, where knowledge is, so that at the same time you will know where longevity and life are, where the light of the eyes and peace are. Var.3:13–14. The fruits of wisdom are depicted here: eternal peace, long life, wealth and light of the eyes, or happiness and contentment. Var.3:15 Who found her place, and who went into her treasuries? Var.3:16 Where are the princes of the nations, and those who owned the beasts of the earth, who amused themselves with the birds of the air, Bar.3:17 And those who gathered up silver and gold, in which men hope, and whose gains have no end? Var.3:18 Where are those who were engaged in silver products, and whose products are without number? 18. "Who were engaged in silver products". Since it is not clear why, among the various arts and crafts, only this is mentioned, we can agree with Fr. Antonin, who suggests that the word “engaging” is in Greek. τεκταίνοντες - the translator used instead of the word λογιζόμενοι - thinking, interested. Var.3:19 They disappeared and went down to hell, and others rose up in their place. Var.3:20 Those who were later saw the light and lived on earth, but they did not know the way of wisdom; Bar.3:21 They did not understand her paths, neither did their sons reach her: they were far from her way. Var.3:22 She was not heard of in Canaan, and she was not seen in Teman. 22. Canaan – Phenicia, the most cultural state of antiquity, is named here. Bar.3:23 The sons of Hagar sought earthly knowledge, as did the merchants of Marah and Teman, and the fablers and explorers of knowledge; but they did not know the ways of wisdom and did not notice her paths. 23. Marah - in Greek. Μερραν – not mentioned anywhere else. Therefore, arch. Antoninus believes that the Greek translator conveyed the Hebrew word “Dedan”, which he did not understand, which can actually be read as “Merran”. Regarding Dedan, see Is.21:13. - “Fables”. In all likelihood, this refers to the compilers of parables and instructive stories who are highly respected in the East. These storytellers are also mentioned in some signatures located on the Sinai mountains. “Remember, Lord, the storyteller Jacob,” etc. (See Father Antonin, pp. 312–313). Var.3:24 O Israel! How great is the house of God, and how vast is the place of his dominion! 24. How grateful Israel should be to God for the fact that he received this wisdom, so desired by all nations, but inaccessible to them - of course, in the law of God given through Moses, and in the writings of the prophets! – “The House of God” is the whole world. Var.3:25 He is great and has no end, high and immeasurable. Var.3:26 There were there from the beginning glorious giants, very great, skilled in war. Var.3:27 But God did not choose them, and did not reveal to them the ways of wisdom; Bar.3:28 And they perished because they did not have wisdom, they perished because of their foolishness. Var.3:25–28. Wisdom could not be found among the mighty ancient giants, who died (by the way, from the sword of the Jews - Joshua 11:21,15:13–14), because they did not have wisdom. Var.3:29 Who ascended into heaven and took her and brought her down from the clouds? Var.3:30 Who crossed the seas and found it, and who will bring it, better than pure gold? Var.3:31 There is no one who knows her way, nor anyone who thinks about her path. Var.3:29–31. Wisdom cannot be found either in heaven, to which people cannot ascend, or beyond the sea. Var.3:32 But He who knows all things knows it; He opened it with His mind, He Who created the earth for eternity and filled it with four-footed beasts, 32. Only one God, the Creator of the universe, has found wisdom and communicates it to whomever he wants. Var.3:33 Who sends the light and it comes, called him, and he obeyed Him with trembling; Bar.3:34 And the stars shone upon their guards, and rejoiced. 34. “On their guard,” that is, in their designated places. The stars are obviously equated here with warriors standing guard. Var.3:35 He called them, and they said, “Here we are,” and they beamed with joy before their Creator. Bar.3:36 This is our God, and no one else can compare with Him. Bar.3:37 He found all the ways of wisdom and gave it to His servant Jacob and His beloved Israel. 37. “He found all the paths of wisdom,” that is, He invented, outlined in His mind the complete path, the charter of religious and practical wisdom (interpretation by Arch. Antonin). – “Granted...”, of course, at Sinai, in the law given through Moses. Var.3:38 After this He appeared on earth and spoke among people. 38. “After this He appeared...” The writer obviously uses the past tense instead of the future, like all prophets. He wants to say that after the end of the Old Testament history of the economy of our salvation, which represented the era of humanity’s preparation to accept the Messiah, God Himself will appear on earth and will dwell among people. Our Church, following the blessed one. Theodoret, sees here a prophecy about the Incarnation of God (God's resurrection on Great Eternity, chapter 8; Canon on Sunday, paragraph 9 tr. 2) and therefore reads Bar.3:36–4:4, and on the eve of the feast of the Nativity of Christ.