Commentary on the book of the prophet Jeremiah

Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 1.Name and origin of the prophet. The meaning of the name of the prophet Jeremiah - Jrmijahu or, in short, Jremjah is difficult to establish. If we derive it from the verb rama - to throw, then it will mean: Jehovah rejects. But it can be derived from the verb rama, meaning: to establish, to raise; and in this case the name of the prophet will mean: the Lord establishes. This name was not uncommon in Israel (1 Chronicles 12.13; 2 Kings 23:31). Jeremiah's father was Hilkiah, one of the priests who lived in the city of Anathoth (in the tribe of Benjamin, 7 miles north of Jerusalem). In this city lived priests from the family of Abiathar, who was the high priest before Solomon, but under this king was deprived of his high priestly dignity (1 Kings 2:26). It is not surprising that the priest father gave his son Jeremiah an education that was fully consistent with the traditions of the good old days and thereby prepared him for prophetic service. 2. The time and activity of the prophet. Jeremiah prophesied from the 13th year of the reign of Josiah (Jer. 1.2; Jer. 25.3), i.e. from 627 BC until the destruction of Jerusalem in 588, under the last kings of Judah: Josiah, Jehoahaz, Joachim, Jeconiah and Zedekiah, and then for some time after the destruction of Jerusalem, in Egypt is only about 50 years old. Josiah (640–609) was a pious king. Already in the 16th year of his life and beyond. in the 8th year of his reign, he began to show a keen interest in religion (2 Chronicles 34.3–7), and in the 20th year of his life, he began to destroy idolatry in his country. In the 26th year of his life, when the book of the Testament was found in the church, Josiah reformed the divine service according to the guidance of this book (2 Kings 22:1–23, 30; 2 Chronicles 34:8–35:27). Five years before this important reform, Jeremiah was called to prophetic ministry, but, obviously, in the first years of his ministry he was unknown in Jerusalem: otherwise his advice would have been asked by the courtiers who turned to the prophetess Huldah for clarification of the threats of the Book of the Covenant (2 Kings 22:14). The first speeches of Jeremiah, contained in chapters II-VI, date back to the time of King Josiah. and Jer 17.13–27. Although Jeremiah did not take a close and direct part in the reform activities of Josiah, he nevertheless deeply sympathized with her and mourned the death of this king in a lamentable song that has not reached us (2 Chronicles 35.25). At this time, Jeremiah appears in Jerusalem and speaks his accusatory speeches mainly in the church, where he had the most listeners. Jehoahaz, whom Jeremiah calls Shallum (Jer 22.10), reigned for only three months (2 Kings 23.33 et seq.). The prophet predicted for him only the deprivation of the throne forever. Jehoiakim, the elder brother of Jehoahaz, was placed on the throne by Pharaoh Necho and reigned for 11 years (609–598). In contrast to his father, this king patronized idolatry and violated theocratic traditions (2 Kings 23.37), which, however, was started by his brother (2 Kings 23.32). His reign was unhappy for the people, who suffered a lot from his desire for luxury and from his cruelty (Jer. 22.13 et seq.). He especially damaged his state with his treacherous policies. Having been placed on the throne by Pharaoh, in the fifth year of his reign he became a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar, but three years later he began to plot against him and thereby brought upon Judea an invasion of hordes of Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites and Ammonites (2 Kings 24.1 et seq.), until Nebuchadnezzar himself came to Jerusalem and took a considerable number captive Jews Jeremiah bitterly reproached the king for all this and predicted a sad end for him (Jeremiah 22.1–19). In addition, under Joachim, at the very beginning of his reign (cf. Jer 26.1), a large church speech was said, contained in Chapters VII-XI. and in verses 17–25 of chapter X. Then, when Nebuchadnezzar won, in the 4th year. reign of Joachim, a brilliant victory over the Egyptians at the city of Carhamish, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 46.1–12), Jeremiah at this time prophetically foreshadows the consequences of this event for the states of Asia and Africa (chapter Jeremiah 25). Separate speeches about different kingdoms date back to the same year (chap. Jer. 48; and Jer. 49). Under Joachim, the speeches contained in ch. XI, XII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII (according to the 18th century), XVIII, ХIX and XX. The event described in Jer. dates back to the same time. 35 ch. As would naturally be expected, the incorruptible and undaunted prophet was exposed to serious dangers from government and private individuals in this era. Already for his church speech, the prophet was condemned to death by the priests and false prophets, whom he strongly denounced (cf. Jer. 26). But this time the nobles were fair in their treatment of Jeremiah and protected him, although the prophet still did not escape arrest and beatings from the church police (chap. Jeremiah 20). The king himself was extremely unkind to Jeremiah and almost prepared for him the fate of the unfortunate Uriah, executed for prophesying (Jeremiah 26.20 et seq.). In the same way, the relationship between the prophet and the people worsened at this time (Jeremiah 16.1 et seq.). It seems that he was even prohibited from entering the church and deprived of the right to make speeches before the people (Jer. 36.5). This explains the fact that it was in the 4th year. Joachim the prophet received a command from God to write down his previously spoken speeches about Jews and pagans in a book: in this way, the people, to whom Jeremiah could not directly address, could, by reading or listening to this book, see how his prophecies began to come true, and repent of their unbelief, which they showed in relation to the prophecies of Jeremiah (chap. Jeremiah 36). Baruch, his faithful disciple, served him as a scribe, and then read Jeremiah's prophecies to the people in the church. When he read this book to the people in the 5th year of Joachim on the day of repentance, the book was taken from him and handed over to the king, who ordered the arrest of Jeremiah and Baruch, and the book was destroyed... The Prophet and his disciple, however, managed to hide in advance and again wrote the book of prophecies, further increasing its content. Jeremiah did not speak before the people for a long time after this. Jehoiachin, the son and successor of Jehoiakim, reigned for only three months (2 Kings 24.8) and was taken with the best part of his people to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 24.1; Jer 29.2). Jeremiah predicted this king, who adhered to his father’s policies, his unhappy fate (Jeremiah 22.20–30). Zedekiah (597–586), who was enthroned by Nebuchadnezzar, was the youngest son of Josiah, uncle of Jehoiachin. His almost 11-year reign ended with the destruction of the Jewish state (Jeremiah 52.2 et seq.). Instead of seeking the help of Jehovah and creating justice and righteousness, crushing pagan altars, this weak-willed sovereign had the idea of ​​​​throwing off his dependence on Babylon. Jeremiah at this time felt much freer than under Joachim; his worst enemies, especially among the priests, were taken into captivity; the king himself had a certain respect for his word. And the prophet tirelessly continued to tell the king and the people that their only salvation was to submit to the will of Jehovah, who demanded that the king and people recognize the power of the king of Babylon over themselves, of course, for a certain period of time. But Zedekiah could not agree with the prophet and acted in precisely the opposite spirit. In the 4th year of his reign, in the hope of the difficulties that the Babylonian king had then, who fought with Elam (Jer. 49.34–39), Zedekiah decided to break away from Babylon (Jer. 27.1), against which Jeremiah armed himself with all his might (Jer. 27 - Jer. 28 ch.). For the greatest impact on his listeners, the prophet at this time wore a yoke, which meant the future enslavement of the Jews to Nebuchadnezzar. In the same 4th year of Zedekiah, the journey of this king to Babylon falls, and Jeremiah sent his speeches against this great state to Babylon, the book with which Jeremiah’s friend was supposed to lower into the river. Ephrata (Jer 51.59–64). Vision of Jer. 24 chapters and a letter to Babylon (chap. Jer. 29) refer to the first years of the reign of Zedekiah. Then there are prophecies relating to the time of the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, who came to punish Zedekiah for treason (Jer 21.1-10; Jer 34.1-7,8-22; Jer 37.1-10,17-21; Jer 38.14 et seq.). Here Jeremiah exhorted Zedekiah to surrender to the Chaldeans, pointing out this as the only saving outcome for the king. The prophet's position at this time deteriorated significantly. The weak-willed Zedekiah, who at first treated the words of the prophet with complete confidence, soon abandoned him, and Jeremiah was subjected to severe persecution by the nobles during the siege of Jerusalem. The nobles accused Jeremiah of intending to go to the Chaldeans and put him in a dark prison, where he remained for a long time (Jeremiah 37.2 et seq.). The king, however, assigned him a more tolerable room - in the barracks at his palace, where Jeremiah could talk with the Jews who came to him. The comforting prophecies of chapters XXX-XXXIII that he uttered date back to this time. At the same time, he spoke about the fate of the pagan peoples (Jer 46.13–28). But this entailed very sad consequences for Jeremiah. His enemies managed to get permission from the king to throw Jeremiah into a dirty well, where he would have died of starvation, if not for the eunuch Ebedmelech, who, on his part, managed to convince the king to allow him to release Jeremiah and transfer him to live again in the barracks, where he remained until the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. After the capture of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar, who knew the activities of Jeremiah, suggested to the prophet, through the head of his guard, either to go to Babylon or to remain in Judea. The Prophet chose the latter, hoping that the Jewish governor Gedaliah, appointed by the Chaldeans, would be able to rally the remaining Jews in his country around himself. But Gedaliah, in whose residence, Mizpeh, Jeremiah began to live, was soon treacherously killed by one Jewish officer, Ishmael, who wanted to please the king of Ammon. When the villain fled to the Ammonites from the vengeance of the Jews who rebelled against him, the latter, fearing that the Chaldeans would not forgive the murder of Gedaliah and would take out their anger on them, decided to retire to Egypt. In vain did Jeremiah convince them on behalf of Jehovah to abandon this intention (Jeremiah 42); he himself was carried away by them to Egypt and came with them to the city of Tafnis (in Lower Egypt). That in Egypt the Lord continued to speak through Jeremiah to the Jews is clear from Chapters XLIII (Jeremiah 43.8–13 ff.) and Chapter XLIV. The Prophet, when he settled in Egypt, was already about 70 years old, and probably died about ten years later. There is a legend that he was stoned by his own people for his denunciations, but this is hardly probable. On the contrary, the Jewish people preserved the memory of him as a great prophet, and even the expectations of the Messiah were associated with his name (2 Mac 2.1 et seq.; 2 Mac 15.12–16; Matthew 16.14). 3. Personal characteristics of Jeremiah. The book of the prophet Jeremiah reflects with particular clarity the personal characteristics of its author. We see in him a soft, compliant, loving nature, which represents an amazing contrast to the steady firmness with which he acted in the sphere of his prophetic calling. In him, one might say, there were two people: one who was under the influence of weak human flesh, although ennobled in its impulses, and the other who stood entirely under the influence of the omnipotent Spirit of God. Of course, the flesh submitted to the spirit, but the prophet suffered excessively from this. As a young man, the prophet willingly took upon himself his high mission, but then, when the task he took upon himself isolated him from other people and turned him into an “enemy of the people,” his sensitive heart began to suffer very much. His position could be called highly tragic: he had to turn the people who had apostatized from Jehovah to God, knowing well that his calls to repentance would remain ineffective. He had to constantly talk about the terrible danger that threatened the Jewish state, and remain ununderstood by anyone, because they did not want to understand him! How he must have suffered, seeing the disobedience of the people whom he loved and which, however, he could not help... How he must have been burdened by the stigma imposed on him by public opinion as a state traitor... It was a matter of great courage, therefore, that Jeremiah, despite such an accusation hanging over his head, still continued to talk about the need to submit to the Chaldeans. The fact that the Lord did not even want to accept his prayers for the Jewish people (Jer. 7.16; Jer. 11.14; Jer. 24.2; Jer. 18.20) and the hostile attitude towards him of all the Jews, even his relatives - all this drove the prophet to despair, and he only thought about how he could go into the distant desert in order to mourn the fate of his people there. (Jer 9.1; Jer 13.17). But the words of God in his heart burned like fire and asked to come out - he could not leave his ministry (Jeremiah 20.7 et seq.) and the Lord continued to lead him with a firm hand along the once chosen difficult path. Jeremiah did not give up the fight against false prophets who unconsciously sought to destroy the state and remained an iron pillar and a copper wall, from which all the attacks of his enemies were repelled (Jer. 1:18; Jer. 15:20). Of course, the feelings of discontent and despair expressed by the prophet of his curses on his enemies place him incomparably lower than that Son of Man, Who suffered from His fellow tribesmen, without uttering complaints and without cursing anyone even at the moment of His suffering death. But in any case, among the prophets, no one was, in his life and suffering, a more prominent prototype of Christ than Jeremiah. And the respect that the Jews had for him was sometimes shown against their wishes. So Zedekiah consulted with him twice, and the Jews, who did not listen to Jeremiah’s advice regarding the removal to Egypt, nevertheless took him there with them, as if some kind of sacred Palladium. 4. Contents of Jeremiah's prophecies. As the history of Jeremiah's call to prophetic ministry already shows (Jer. 1), the prophet had to especially proclaim judgment, which is why his book is rightly called the book of threats in the Talmud. This judgment is caused by the extreme guilt of the Jewish people before Jehovah. The first guilt of the people is, in the view of the prophet, apostasy from the true God - Jehovah to other gods, such as Baal, Moloch, the queen of heaven, etc., and then, in the proper sense, serving idols. For this sin, God’s judgment falls on the Jewish people: see Jer. 1:16, 2:5–8, 11, 13, 20, 23, 27 et seq.; Jer. 3:1, 6, 9, 13, 5:7, 19, 6ff.; Jer. 9:14, 10ff.; Jer. 11ff; Jer. 11:17, 12:16, 13:10, 27, 15:4, 16:11, 19 et seq.; Jer. 17:2, 18:15, 19:4, 13, 32:29, 34 et seq.; Jer. 44:8, 15, 17 et seq. From these places it becomes clear that the service on the heights, that is, in some places outside Jerusalem consecrated by ancient memories, attracted the people to paganism and should have been subjected to complete, from the point of view of the Law of Moses, condemnation, since this service not only violated the law on the unity of the place of worship, but also introduced pagan customs into the very service of God. But besides this ambiguous cult, near Jerusalem, in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, at least before the reform carried out by King Josiah, there was an altar in honor of Baal-Moloch, where children were sacrificed (Jer. 7:31; Jer. 19:5; Jer. 32:35), and, finally, pagan idols stood in the temple itself (Jer. 32:34). Perhaps in the last years of the existence of the kingdom of Judah there was no direct idolatry in Jerusalem, but in any case, the tendency towards it among Jeremiah’s fellow tribesmen was not destroyed, and the Jews had to be punished not only for the sins of their fathers, but also for their own behavior in relation to God. But if, according to the prophet’s conviction, all the misfortune of the people has its root in the unfaithfulness of the people to Jehovah, then this unfaithfulness led directly to all untruth and immorality, against which the prophet tirelessly raised his voice (Jer. 5:1 et seq. 7 et seq. 26 et seq.; Jer. 6:7, 13; Jer. 7:5 et seq. 9; Jer. 9:2–6, 8; Jer. 21:12; Jer. 23:10; It is clear that fear of the true God has disappeared among the people and reverence for His holy law has been replaced by pagan licentiousness. The basic commandments about virginity, honesty, and justice were neglected by both the nobles and the common people, even by priests and prophets, who, instead of being bodies of the divine law, were rather slaves of the trends of that time, bowed down to secular power and served mammon, which is why they were unable to raise the level of morality in any way among the people. The judgment that Jeremiah announced was essentially a political catastrophe. Although he sometimes indicated the punishing hand of Jehovah in natural disasters (Jer. 5:24; Jer. 14:1 et seq.), however, mainly, he threatened his fellow tribesmen with the invasion of alien peoples from the north, without first naming (until the XXVth chapter, relating to the 4th year of Joachim) precisely an instrument of the wrath of God (Jer. 1:13 et seq.; Jer. 3:18; Jer. 13:20; On the contrary, from Chapter XXV. 9 tbsp. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, is clearly identified as the executor of this judgment. In announcing this judgment, Jeremiah entered into serious disputes with the priests, who considered it impossible that Jehovah should give up His sanctuary to the reproach of the pagans, and with the prophets, who substantiated this false hope of the priests with their visions and dreams. Jeremiah fought against this destructive optimism with all his might (about the priests, see: Jer. 2:8, 26, 5:31, 6:13, 8:1, 10, 13:13, 14:18, 18:18, 19:1, 22:1, 23:2, 26ff.; Jer. 31:14, 32:32, 33:21, 34:19; about the prophets: Jer. 2:8, 26, 6ff; 29:21–31, 32:32, 37:19). Contrary to the assurances of these false prophets, Jeremiah, from the very time he entered the ministry, foreshadowed the complete destruction of the Jewish state, just as the Israeli one was destroyed. The people must be taken into captivity (Jer. 3:18; Jer. 5:19; Jer. 9% 15 et seq.; Jer. 12:14 et seq.; Jer. 13:1 et seq. 19; Jer. 15:2; Jer. 17:3 et seq.; Jer. 20:4 et seq.; Jer. 21:7; Jer.22:26 et seq. and other places). According to the instructions of Chapter XXV. Art. On the 11th the Babylonian captivity was to last 70 years (cf. Jer. 29:10). After this, Babylon itself will be destroyed (chap. Jer. 50 and Jer. 51) and the people of God will return to their country. Although already at the beginning of his ministry, Jeremiah at times expressed these joyful promises (Jer. 3:14 et seq.; Jer. 12:14 et seq.; Jer. 16:14 et seq.), he began to draw especially vividly pictures of the renewal of the life of the Jewish people when Jerusalem was already besieged by enemies and then, after the capture of the city (Jer. 23:1 et seq.; Jer. 24:6 et seq.; Jer. 47:27 et seq.; and especially Jer. 30–33). Jeremiah in his contemplations is a prophet who penetrates deeply into the essence of true theocracy. According to his conviction, it is not external circumcision that gives a person the right to God's favor, but circumcision of the heart (Jer. 4:4; Jer. 6:10; Jer. 9:26). The Temple of Jerusalem does not in itself represent a guarantee for the integrity of Jerusalem; on the contrary, this church, desecrated by the sins of the Jews, brings upon itself the wrath of God (Jer. 7:21 et seq.; Jer. 9:15; Jer. 17:3; Jer. 26:6, 9, 12; Jer. 27:16). Hope for external worship is also vain - Jehovah does not favor these ceremonies that do not correspond to the internal mood of those praying (Jer. 6:20; Jer. 7 et seq.; Jer. 11:15; Jer. 14:12). Thus, Jeremiah exposes the urgent need for the establishment of a more internal, more sincere communication between God and the people. Then there will be no need for the ark of the covenant, this external medium and symbol of the spiritual presence of God (Jer. 3:16); then the law of God will not be something only external, written on tablets of stone - no, it will be inscribed in the heart of man (Jer. 31:31 et seq.). Thus, the Lord will not destroy the covenant he once concluded with Israel and David, but will give it a more majestic appearance (Jer. 33:20–26). He had the courage to place this new covenant, to which Jeremiah strove with all his soul, above the Old, although it must be said that he outlined the messianic time only in general terms. 5. Form of Jeremiah's prophecies. As for the form of the prophecies of Jeremiah, we find between them visions in the close sense of the word, and namely symbolic visions (Jer. 1:2, 13; Jer. 24:1 et seq.), and then especially symbolic actions (Jer.:1 13 et seq.; Jer. 19:1 et seq.; Jer. 27:2 et seq.; Jer. 28:10 et seq. 12 et seq. ff.; Jer. 43:8 ff.; Jer. 51:63 ff.). In order to more clearly present his thought, the prophet draws the attention of his listeners (in Jer. 18:2 et seq.) to the potter and his work. Another time the prophet symbolically depicts the wrath of God as a cup of wine presented to the people for drinking, without showing the cup itself (Jer. 25:15, 28). Jeremiah willingly resorts to figurative expressions, wordplay, and living examples (Jer. 19:1, 7; Jer. 35:1 et seq.), but his images are simple, artless, as well as symbolic actions are extremely simple. All his strength lies in his powerful speech, imbued with the spirit of living conviction and warmth. Although his style lacks “boldness, straightforwardness, brevity and expressiveness,” although “in the presentation of his thoughts, Jeremiah is very eloquent and detailed,” his periods are long, his presentation is abundant in words, although “instead of the dialectical development of one thought from another, the prophet presents us with a series of pictures, of which almost the same persons and objects are found” (Theological Encyclopedia vol. 6, p. 284–285), nevertheless, the impression of Jeremiah’s speeches is often irresistible. Jeremiah undoubtedly had a high poetic talent, which is reflected mainly in his speeches about foreign peoples, where he speaks in a particularly lively, fiery language, while in his speeches to his people a melancholy tone predominates. Aramaisms are often found in Jeremiah's speech. 6. The book of prophecies of Jeremiah. The original origin of the book of Jeremiah is reported in its chapter XXXVI. In the 4th year of Joachim, the Lord commanded Jeremiah to write down all his speeches that had been said so far during his 23 years of activity in one scroll or in one book, and Jeremiah dictated them to his disciple Baruch, who served him as a scribe. The next year this book was burned by the king, and Jeremiah prepared a new list of his speeches, with the addition of some new ones. The speeches written under the dictation of Jeremiah by Baruch go up to the XXIVth chapter, as can be concluded from the fact that here the prophet speaks about himself in the first person (I, to me). From the XXVIth chapter, in all likelihood, there are speeches recorded by Baruch no longer under the dictation of Jeremiah (Jeremiah is spoken of here in the 3rd person). Still, in Egypt, Jeremiah, of course, himself looked through his book in its entirety, so that all of it is rightly called the book of Jeremiah. It is difficult to say what plan the author of the book had in mind when posting his speeches. It can be assumed that he wanted to adhere not to a chronological order, but to a systematic one. However, in some departments the chronological sequence of speeches is also preserved. You can divide the entire book, with the exception of the first and last chapters, into two parts. The first part (chap. 2 - 45) contains speeches related to the Jewish people, the second (46 - 51) - speeches about foreign peoples, and the first part can be divided into two sections: I - XXXV - speeches addressed to the Jews, and XXXVI - XLIV - narrations about some events from the life of Jeremiah and the Jewish people. The contents of the book can be presented in more detail as follows: Ch. I. The calling of Jeremiah. II.1–III.5. First diatribe. III.6–IV:4. Call to repentance. IV:5–VI,30. Approaching judgment. X:17–25. Israel's punishment and its complaint. XI-XII. Israel's bitterness against God and the wonderful ways of God. XIII. Court. over the stubborn Jews. XIV–XV. Regarding the threatening famine. XVI,1–XVII,18. Judge and Savior. XVII,19–27. Read Saturday! XVIII. It's about the potter and the clay. XIX-XX. Breaking a jug. XXIII,9–40. Prophets and prophecies. XXIV. Baskets with figs. XXVI. Persecution of Jeremiah for his church speech under Joachim. XXVII–XXIX. Jeremiah and the false prophets. XXX-XXXIII. Promises for the restoration of Israel and the New Covenant. XXXIV:1–7. Zedekiah's lot. XXXIV:8–22. A daring violation of a vow. XXXVI. The book of prophecies of Jeremiah and its fate. XXXVII–XXXIX. The fate of Jeremiah and his speeches during the siege of Jerusalem. XL:1–XLIII,7. The prophet's speech against the removal of the Jews to Egypt. XLIII,8–13. Nebuchadnezzar in Egypt. XLIV. The last speech against the idolaters - the Jews in Egypt. XLVI–LI. Speeches on foreign peoples. LII. Destruction of Jerusalem. Notes are made at the end of the chapters regarding the authenticity of certain parts of the book of Jeremiah. 7. Relation of the Hebrew text to the Alexandrian-Greek. The Greek-Alexandrian text of the book of Jeremiah differs quite significantly from the Hebrew-Masoretic text. The difference lies primarily in the order of the chapters. Exactly ch. XLVI–LI in the Greek translation are placed after the 13th verse of the XXVth chapter (in the Slavic this was not done - the order of the Masoretic text was preserved there). In addition, the Greek text of the book of Jeremiah generally corresponds to the Masoretic one much less than all the other books of the Old Testament (excluding only the books of Job and Daniel). And in terms of the number of verses, the Greek text is 2700 words less than the Masoretic one, i.e., 1 8 (see especially XXXIII, 14–26. and XXXIX: 4–13). On this basis, some critics of the biblical text believe that the LXX did not translate the book of Jeremiah from the text accepted by the Masorets, that in ancient times there was another, more original, edition of the book of Jeremiah. But if we compare the translation of the LXX with the Masoretic text in places where there can be no talk of different editions, then we see how the Greek translator, at the slightest difficulty of the Hebrew text, is immediately in danger of not understanding it, interpreting it incorrectly, and often quite unsuccessfully reworking it in his own way (see, for example, II, 2, 19, 20, 23; VIII, 6, 18; X et seq., etc.). In the XXIX chapter. 24–32. the translator clearly did not understand the meaning of the text and missed difficult words. He also omits expressions that were incomprehensible to Hellenistic Jewish readers or had already been encountered once in the book (see, for example, Jer. 17:1–5). But this, of course, does not exclude the possibility of finding in the LXX something useful for correcting the Masoretic text (for example, Jer. 11:15; Jer. 23:33; Jer. 8:3; Jer. 9:21; Jer. 14:4; Jer. 17:19; Jer. 41:9; Jer. 42:1; Jer. 46:17, etc.). In any case, there are no sufficient grounds to accept the assumption of the existence of a special copy or a special edition of the Hebrew text of the book of Jeremiah. There is no doubt that the book of Jeremiah appeared in one form and the LXX translation is only a fairly free reworking of the same text that the Masorets accepted. The most valuable commentaries on the book of the prophet Jeremiah are: a) Catholic: Comelii a Lapide. Commentaria in Scriptur. Sacram. ed Peronne t. 12th 1863 – Migne. Scripturae sacrae cursus completus t. 19th ed. 1861 – Scholz. Comm. z. Buche d. Pr. Ieremias – 1880 Schneedorfer. Das Weissagungsbuch d. Pr. Ieremias – 1881 b) Protestant: Ewald. Ieremia u Hezekiel 2 Auf. 1868. – Count. Der Pr. Ieremia – 1862. – Nagelsbach. Der Pr. Ieremia – 1872. – Keil. Komm. ub. d Pr. Ieremia u. die Klagelied. – 1872. – Dachsel. Bibelw. – Att Test. B. 4th (D. Buch d. Ierem. u. Klagelieder). – 1872. – Cheyne. Jeremijah 2 vol. (in English) – 1885. – Giesebrecht. Das Buch Ieremia – 1894. – Duhm. Das Buch Ieremia – 1903. – Orelli. Der Pr. Ieremia 3rd Auft – 1905. – Cornill. Das Buch Ieremia – 1905. From foreign monographs about the prophet Jeremiah, it should be noted: Erbt. Ieremia u. seine Zeit. – 1902. – Bulmennoq, – Das Zukunftsbild d. Pr. Ieremia – 1894. – Lazarus D.. Pr. Ieremia – 1894. – Marti. Der P. Ieremia von Anatot – 1889. – Moller. Die mession. Erwartung d. vonelilisch, Propheten – 1906 (S. 283–349). – Jacoby. Zur Composition d. Buches Ieremia (Theol. Stud. u. Krit. 1906) and Stosch. Die Prophetie Israels – 1907 (S. 452–482). – In particular, on the relationship of the LXX text to Hebrew Masoretic there are studies by Kuhl - 1882 (in German), Workman - 1889 and Streane - 1896 (in English). In Russian it should be noted: interpretations of St. Ephraim the Syrian. bliss Theodorit and Blessed Jerome (for the first chapter XXXII of the book), then prof. I. S. Yakimova, “Interpretation on the book. St. Prophet Jeremiah”, 1879. – His “Relation of the Greek translation of the LXX to the Hebrew Masoretic text in the book. Prophet Jeremiah", 1874 - A. Bukharev, a) "St. Prophet Jeremiah", 1864, and b) "On the authenticity and integrity of St. books of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel,” 1864. Then useful information can be found in Spassky’s book. Interpretation of the prophetic books of the Old Testament, vol. 1st, 1893 and in the “parimias” of Rev. Vissarion. You might be interested in: