Jeremiah (prophet). The image of the prophet Jeremiah in the Holy Scriptures Prophet Jeremiah life

Priest Alexander Men

§ 8. Prophet Jeremiah: life and ministry (until 597)

About the life and personality of St. The Bible contains more information about the prophet Jeremiah than about any other prophet-writer. And this is no coincidence. Jeremiah is the great herald of personal religion, the “religion of the heart,” who revealed to people the world of his inner prayer life. Jeremiah is close in spirit to the psalmists. He reveals to us the secrets of his soul, loving and suffering, a soul that conducts a constant dialogue with God. He belongs to the chosen Remnant, destined to witness and predict national catastrophe. And he was the first to utter the word “New Testament” more than five centuries before the appearance of Christ the Savior.

1. Book of Jeremiah was written by him over almost forty years. It consists of diatribes, predictions, parables, psalms, prayers and biographical chapters. The writings of the prophet were collected by his disciple Baruch, but this collection received its final form during the era of Captivity. Baruch began his work around 604, while the teacher was still alive.

The book consists of four main sections:

• Prophecies and denunciations written before the fall of Jerusalem between 626 and 586 (Jeremiah 1-25).
• The history of the struggle of St. Jeremiah with princes, clergy, false prophets, written mainly by St. Baruch (Jer 26-45). In the same section is the so-called Book of Consolation (prophecy of the New Testament, Jeremiah 30-31), the main parts of which were probably created after the destruction of Jerusalem.
• Prophecies about the nations (Jeremiah 46-51).
• Historical Appendix (Jeremiah 52).

In the Septuagint Book. St. Jeremiah has a number of distinctive features: part of the text has been shortened (by about one-eighth); the prophecies concerning the nations are given in a different order and are placed after the chapter of Jeremiah 25:13.

2. Main features of the theology of St. Jeremiah. In this section we note only the most characteristic features of his proclamation.

Etc. Jeremiah speaks of the end of the Sinai phase of the Covenant and its replacement by the New Covenant, which will be written in human hearts (see §10). The Prophet denies the absolute significance of the Temple and the Ark and predicts their destruction. He is the forerunner of the New Testament worship of God “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23).

Jeremiah calls God Father and emphasizes the importance of personal religiosity. In his book we find the theme of sonship with God as the basis of faith (Jer 3:4, Jer 3:19).

Like Amos, St. Jeremiah teaches that the chosenness of God's people is not a privilege, but a heavy burden of responsibility before God. He severely condemns the blind patriotism of politicians and recognizes Israel as primarily a religious mission and calling. Like St. Isaiah, Jeremiah is an opponent of war, who considers peace the key to the success of internal transformations.

Jeremiah says little about the Messiah as a Person, but he calls Him the “Branch of David” (Jeremiah 23:5), thereby continuing the messianic tradition going back to St. Nathan. This prophecy is read on the feast of the Nativity of Christ.

3. The calling of a prophet. Jeremiah was born into the family of a priest in the small Levitical town of Anathoth (Heb. Anatot), 9 km from Jerusalem. The style of his writings shows that he was deeply imbued with the spirit of the northern tradition. Apparently his ancestors were connected with those circles of the clergy of Ephraim who kept Deuteronomy. Jeremiah as a child witnessed the persecution of the prophets (under Manasseh).

The year 626 was a turning point for Judea. At this time, King Josiah proclaimed himself a faithful worshiper of the God of the fathers. Then the Lord called Jeremiah to serve. A young Levite tells how he feared the mission entrusted to him:

I said: Oh, Lord God! I can `t talk,
for I am still young. But the Lord told me:
Don't say, "I'm young";
For to everyone to whom I send you you will go
and whatever I command you, you will say.
Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you,
to deliver you, said the Lord.
And the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me:
Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
Behold, I have made you this day over nations and kingdoms to uproot and destroy,
destroy and ruin
to build and plant.

Jeremiah was clearly aware that he was not going to Jerusalem to prophesy of his own free will. It was God who chose and loved (knew) him even before he was born (Jer 1:4-5; cf. Gal 1:15). He must become an instrument and a sanctified vessel of the Spirit of God. The prophet objects to the Lord with the sincerity of a son. He is ready to fulfill His will, but does not consider himself capable of this. Like Moses, he is confident that he will not be able to serve the purposes of Providence. After all, he needs to say things that will cause protests and even rage. Only hope for help from above helps Jeremiah overcome his fear. Here again we see one of the most important features of prophetism. Man serves God not as a thoughtless instrument, but as a free being who chooses the path of God in the name of love and obedience.

When the prophet appears in Jerusalem, he finds there a struggle with old superstitions that King Josiah is trying to eradicate. Jeremiah, with all the fervor of a young heart, attacks paganism, which took firm roots under Manasseh. Wanting to remind the people of their betrayal of the Mosaic Covenant, the prophet repeats the parable of Hosea about the unfaithful wife and the parable of Isaiah about the vineyard:

Come back, renegade children,
says the Lord,
because I have been united with you.

The prophet is perplexed: has the Lord deceived Jerusalem and has only death and ruin ahead of it (Jeremiah 4:10). And then he receives a new revelation, full of light and hope. The time will come when people will turn to God and “all the nations will be gathered to Jerusalem for the name of the Lord, and will no longer walk in the stubbornness of their evil heart” (Jer 3:17). Then even external symbols of worship will be unnecessary, for God will be with people (cf. Rev. 21:22):

They will no longer say, “The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord”; He will not even come to mind, and they will not remember him, and they will not come to him, and he will no longer exist. (Jer 3:16)

But for now the prophet must continue his struggle. The moral state of the people causes him bitter reflections:

Walk the streets of Jerusalem
and look and explore,
And look for him in the squares,
won't you find a man
Is there anyone who keeps the truth?
seeker of truth?..
To whom should I speak and whom should I admonish?
to be listened to?
Behold, their ear is uncircumcised,
and they can't listen.
Behold, the word of the Lord is mocked among them,
it is unpleasant for them.
Therefore I am filled with the wrath of the Lord,
I can't keep it to myself.

Jeremiah, considering that his mission was completed, returned to his hometown. He lost hope for Israel's quick return. However, the Book of the Law was soon found in the Temple and King Josiah began reforms (see §7).

Jeremiah welcomed the initiatives of the pious monarch. The Lord commanded him to cry out everywhere: “Listen to the words of this covenant!” (Jer 11:2). But the Levites of Anathoth were against the reform. She deprived them of the opportunity to serve at their altars. Not daring to attack the king, they turned their hatred against Jeremiah and probably even attempted his life. The prophet poured out his sorrow in prayers before God. He found himself completely alone. He had no family and was surrounded by mistrust and hostility.

I'm like a meek lamb
led to the slaughter,
And I didn't know what they were planning
against me, saying:
“Let us put a poisonous tree for his food
and we will tear him away from the land of the living,
so that his name will not be mentioned again.”
But, Lord of hosts, righteous judge,
searcher of hearts and wombs!
Let me see Your vengeance on them,
for I have entrusted my work to You.

The death of King Josiah in 609 suspended the work of reform. From this moment a new stage of St. Jeremiah’s ministry begins.

4. Sermon by St. Jeremiah between 608 and 597 years. The successor of the murdered king-reformer was supposed to be his eldest son Eliakim, but the people gave preference to Prince Shalum, who took the throne name Johaz. Three months later, Pharaoh Necho II summoned him to his headquarters and announced that he was establishing control over Judea. The king was forced to obey. Necho kept him as a hostage, placing Eliakim on the throne of Jerusalem. As a sign of submission to Egypt, he took the new name Joachim (2 Kings 23:31-37).

The new monarch had no intention of continuing his father's work. Religious life fell into decline. People consoled themselves with the hope that God would in any case save Jerusalem from its enemies. And then Jeremiah again appeared in the capital to denounce the people. He came to the gates of the Temple when crowds had gathered there to participate in worship.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,” he began, “correct your ways and your doings, and I will let you live in this place. Do not rely on deceptive words: “Here is the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord!” ...How! You steal, you kill, and you commit adultery, and you swear lies, and burn incense to Baal, and follow after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this House, upon which My name is called, and say: “we are saved” to continue to do all these abominations! Has not this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? (Jer 7:3-4:9-10).

This speech was perceived as a desecration of a national shrine. The priests were especially indignant: “You must die. Why do you prophesy in the name of the Lord and say: This house will be like Shiloh, and this city will be desolate?” (Jer 26:8-9).

There were, however, some elders - apparently from among the adherents of King Josiah - who came to Jeremiah's defense. They referred to the fact that there had been prophets before who predicted the destruction of Jerusalem, and they were not punished for this. Nevertheless, at the court of Joachim it was decided to deal with Jeremiah. He was saved by one of the courtiers, the son of Nathan, the secretary of the deceased monarch. But the prophet Uriah, who said the same thing as Jeremiah, was captured and executed. Traditional piety and patriotism could not tolerate this kind of “disturber.”

Jeremiah continued his denunciations, now speaking openly against Joachim. The true “son of David” is only the one who fulfills the commandments of God, and the violator of the law loses the right to be the “leader of the people of God”:

Do you think of being a king,
because he imprisoned himself in a cedar?
Your father ate and drank,
but carried out justice and righteousness,
and therefore he felt good.
He examined the case of the poor and the needy,
and therefore he felt good.
Is this not what it means to know Me? - says the Lord.
But your eyes and your heart are turned
only for your benefit
And to the shedding of innocent blood,
to doing oppression and violence!

The prophet would have been immediately thrown into prison if new alarms had not befallen the capital of Judea. In 605, at the Battle of Carchemish, Nebuchadnezzar defeated the pharaoh, and soon became king of Babylon. Jerusalem had to decide whether to remain loyal to Egypt or come under the rule of the Chaldeans.

Jeremiah again preached a sermon in which he declared Nebuchadnezzar “the scourge of God,” sent to admonish Israel. He demanded that Jehoiakim submit to the Chaldean king (Jeremiah 25:1-17).

In December 604, Nebuchadnezzar presented Joachim with an ultimatum. And just at this time, St. Jeremiah’s disciple Baruch copied his book of prophecies and read them publicly in the Temple (Jeremiah 36). This was reported to the king. He ordered the scroll to be brought to him and read it. As the king listened to two or three lines, he took the book from the reader’s hands, tore off a part of it and threw it into the brazier. By this he wanted to show that he considered all the prophecies of Jeremiah to be malicious nonsense. But the prophet again dictated prophecies to Baruch, which were even more severe than the previous ones.

Jeremiah was arrested in the Temple, he was put in stocks, like in a pillory. He saw that he had become hated by everyone: he was considered an enemy of the fatherland and a detractor of the Temple. He wanted to stop preaching forever, return home and let events take their course. But the Lord encouraged him to stand to the end. The prophet’s state of mind is conveyed by his psalm:

You attracted me, Lord,
and I'm carried away
You are stronger than me
and prevailed;
And I laugh every day,
everyone mocks me.
For as soon as I begin to speak,
I scream about violence, I cry about ruin,
Because the word of the Lord is turned to reproach me
and into everyday ridicule.
And I thought: “I will not remind you of Him
and I will speak no more in His name";
But there was in my heart, as it were, a burning fire,
imprisoned in my bones,
And I'm tired of holding him,
and couldn't.

In 601, the pharaoh began to overcome Nebuchadnezzar for a while. Joachim immediately went over to the side of Egypt. But, having learned about this, the Chaldeans sent their troops to Judea. In the fall of 598, Joachim died and the throne passed to his son Jehoiachin. In January 597, Nebuchadnezzar's army was already near Jerusalem.

In March, eighteen-year-old Jehoiachin decided to surrender to the mercy of the winner. Many noble Jews, led by the king, were sent to Babylon. The Chaldeans installed his brother Mattaniah, who received the name Zedekiah, on the throne as Jehoiachin's governor. The time of his reign became the slow agony of Jerusalem.

Review questions

1. What is the significance of St. Jeremiah in St. stories?
2. How was his book created?
3. What parts is it divided into?
4. What are the main features of the theology of St. Jeremiah?
5. How and when did the calling of St. Jeremiah take place?
6. What did St. Jeremiah preach about at the beginning of his ministry?
7. How was his sermon received?
8. How did St. Jeremiah react to Josiah’s reforms?
9. Tell us about Jeremiah's preaching in the Temple.
10. How did the prophet understand the calling of the king?
11. Under what circumstances was St. Jeremiah arrested?
12. What was the tragedy of his life?
13. To whom did Judea submit in 597?

Holy Prophet Jeremiah, one of the four great Old Testament prophets, the son of the priest Hilkiah from the city of Anathoth, near Jerusalem, lived 600 years before the birth of Christ under the Israeli king Josiah and his four successors. He was called to prophetic service in the 15th year of his life, when the Lord revealed to him that before his birth He determined him to be a prophet. Jeremiah refused, pointing out his youth and inability to speak, but the Lord promised to always be with him and protect him. He touched the lips of the chosen one and said: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. Look, I have set you this day over nations and kingdoms to uproot and destroy, destroy and destroy, build and plant” (). From that time on, Jeremiah prophesied for twenty-three years, denouncing the Jews for their apostasy from the True God and worshiping idols, predicting disasters and a devastating war for them. He stopped at the gates of the city, at the entrance to the temple, wherever people gathered, and admonished with threats and often with tears. But people responded to him with ridicule, curses, and even tried to kill him.

Depicting the Jews' impending slavery to the king of Babylon, Jeremiah, at the command of God, first put a wooden and then an iron yoke around his neck, and so walked among the people. Angry at the prophet’s menacing predictions, the Jewish elders threw the prophet Jeremiah into a prison ditch filled with fetid mud, where he almost died. Through the intercession of the God-fearing courtier Ebed-melech, the prophet was taken out of the ditch and did not stop prophesying, for which he was put in prison. Under the king of Judah, Zedekiah, his prophecy came true: Nebuchadnezzar came, beat the people, took the rest into captivity, and plundered and destroyed Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar freed the prophet from prison and allowed him to live wherever he wished. The Prophet remained on the ruins of Jerusalem and mourned the disasters of his fatherland. According to legend, the prophet Jeremiah took the Ark of the Covenant with the tablets and hid it in one of the caves of Mount Nawaf, so that the Jews could no longer find it (). Subsequently, a new Ark of the Covenant was made, but it no longer had the glory of the first.

Among the Jews who remained in their homeland, internecine clashes soon arose: Nebuchadnezzar's governor Gedaliah was killed, and the Jews, fearing the wrath of Babylon, decided to flee to Egypt. The prophet Jeremiah rejected them from this intention, predicting that the punishment they fear would overtake them in Egypt. But the Jews did not listen to the prophet and, taking him by force with them, went to Egypt and settled in the city of Tafnis. The prophet lived there for four years and was revered by the Egyptians, since with his prayer he killed crocodiles and other reptiles that filled those places. When he began to predict that the king of Babylon would devastate the land of Egypt and destroy the Jews who had settled in it, the Jews killed the prophet Jeremiah. That same year, the saint’s prediction came true. There is a legend that after 250 years, Alexander the Great transferred the relics of the holy prophet Jeremiah to the city of Alexandria.

The Gospel of Matthew indicates that the betrayal of Judah was predicted by the prophet Jeremiah: “And they took thirty pieces of silver, the price of the One who was valued, whom the children of Israel valued, and gave them for the potter’s land, as the Lord told me” ().

The Holy Prophet Jeremiah is considered the Old Testament forerunner of Christ, possessing the gift from above to foresee and proclaim future events. And the Lord told him many things about the future, in particular the saint described the division of the Bible (Holy Scripture) into two books: the Old and New Testaments.

The prophet Jeremiah is one of the four main prophets who are revered by the Orthodox and Catholic canons. What does the saint's name mean? Translated from ancient Hebrew, the name Jeremiah means “The Lord will exalt.” His name is iconic among believers as the greatest saint who showed all the courage and zeal to turn his people away from destruction and expulsion from their native land.

Omens for Jerusalem

The prophet Jeremiah lived in difficult times. His biography will be told to the reader in the article.

The omens said that all the tribes of the northern kingdoms would march on Jerusalem, placing their thrones at the entrance to the city, as well as around its walls. The majestic city collapsed due to the unbelief of the inhabitants, who turned away from worshiping God. Jeremiah tried to hold off the impending tragedy. He spent time non-stop in prayers to God, crying out to him for the forgiveness of his beloved people, and watering the land, which was awaiting a bloody fate, with bitter tears.

The prophet wandered the streets of his hometown, stopping rich and poor in order to turn at least one person away from sinful actions. Jeremiah could equally fearlessly enter a royal mansion or a pottery workshop to proclaim the will of Yahweh. His love for his city and people did not find a response in the hearts of his fellow citizens; he was considered an outcast and a traitor, a traitor and a spy. He decided to share the fate of his exiled people rather than remain in the care of the pagans. And at the very end, he fell defeated under the blows of his people, whom he had served all his life. This was a great man and prophet of God - the holy righteous Jeremiah.

Biographical information

When did the prophet Jeremiah live? His life dates back to 650 BC. The prophet Jeremiah was born into the family of the priest Hilkiah in the city of Anathoth near Jerusalem in the 13th year of the reign of King Josiah of Judah. The symbol of Jeremiah's messages was the image of his own life: hopelessness, melancholy, the inevitability of God's punishment for his sins. The prophet survived seven kings of Judah, although his ministry was greatest during the reigns of kings Joash, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah.

The prophetic gift was revealed to him completely unexpectedly at a young age. And Jeremiah was only 15 years old when the Lord appeared to him and touched his lips, promising his protection and help. The young man was frightened and refused the difficult mission, but he had to humbly accept his fate, which had been predetermined for him since birth. The first revelation from the Lord was that kingdoms would appear one after another and just as quickly perish.

This prophecy began the difficult fate of Jeremiah, who would later be called the “weeping prophet.” To depict sorrowful lamentations and complaints, the term “jeremiad” was coined.He could not achieve success in the field of preaching, so he bitterly cried out to Yahweh that the task at hand was too difficult for him, and everyone was laughing at him and mocking his speeches.

At the very beginning of his activities, Jeremiah took the side of King Josiah, who wanted to restore the cult of worship of Yahweh. He abandoned omens for a while, because he considered his mission useless. Although over time he realized that only he could save the people of Israel from a tragic fate that threatened expulsion and ignominy.

How does the icon depict the saint?

The Prophet Jeremiah on the icons is depicted not as a white-bearded old man, but as a middle-aged man. He has a powerful physique, dark hair, and a short round beard that emphasizes the correct proportions of his face. The right palm is folded, and the left palm contains a scroll. In the scrolls you can read the words of the prophet Baruch, who was the scribe and friend of the prophet. It was Baruch who was engaged in recording the omens of the prophet when he was in prison. When compared with other prophets (Isaiah, Ezekiel and Malachi), he gives the impression of a mighty warrior with a purposeful look, who had to go through a number of tests and not break under the blows of fate.

Mission: Declaration of Disaster

Jeremiah had a difficult mission all his life, because he had to inherit his father’s work, serve in the temple, get married and raise children. But the Lord ordained a different service for him, meaning renunciation of himself, his desires, and life in comfortable conditions. The hardest sacrifice for Jeremiah was to predict disasters for his native people. Instead of words about joy and bliss, he was forced to prophesy about destruction, slavery and death. The Lord called him to preach in Jerusalem so that people would turn their eyes to the true God.

The Old Testament prophet tried to convey messages to people everywhere, so he preached wherever he had the slightest opportunity. And they saw the prophet weeping at the city gates, and in the temple, and in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, and in prison. He had a secretary, Baruch, who recorded sermons and revelations and then sent them in writing to the elders of Judah.

Jeremiah's sermons did not find a response in the hearts of people, although they came true with frightening speed. The people did not want to listen to the tragic news; the saint was even called a traitor to the faith. The priest Paschor decided to deal with the prophet: he hit him and imprisoned him in a block to stop talking about the plight of the people of Israel.

What are Jeremiah's predictions about?

The main idea of ​​Jeremiah's predictions was submission to the new state of Babylonia, which was rapidly growing and gaining military strength. The saint suggested that the rulers and noble citizens abandon Egypt so as not to bring terrible punishments on Judea. Nobody wanted to heed his words. They whispered that he was actually a Babylonian spy and was trying to cause trouble. At that time, Egypt was the strongest state, and Babylonia was just beginning to develop, so no one saw any danger from it. Jeremiah's speeches irritated his fellow tribesmen and turned them against him.

A terrible prophecy

Many biblical prophets appealed to the people to submit to God, so as not to incur heavenly punishment. Jeremiah was not the first saint in this field. Joachim appears on the throne of Judea after Johal, who vowed eternal cooperation with Egypt. During the reign of this king, dark times came for the prophet. The saint visits Jerusalem, where he preaches that if people do not immediately return to God’s commandments and humble themselves by turning their gaze to Babylonia, then strangers will appear in the city, and the entire population will be in slavery for 70 years.

The Old Testament prophet speaks of inevitable grief - the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, the main Jewish shrine. Among the priests, such words caused a murmur of discontent. He was captured and brought to trial by the nobility and people, who demanded immediate execution. Jeremiah managed to escape. Soon he would be taken to execution, but in difficult times his friend Ahikam and other princes helped him out.

Prophecies come true

Despite constant hardships and humiliation, the prophet felt that his words were needed by the people. Power in Assyria was gradually weakening, but it was too early to feel calm in the face of the threat of invasion by other states. Politicians considered Babylon a frivolous adversary and sought support in Egypt and later in Assyria.

The Egyptian rulers decided to pit the two states against each other: they invited Judah to oppose Nebuchadnezzar and stop paying tribute to him. This was the beginning of the punitive operation of the Babylonian king, who assembled a huge army designed to wipe out the rebellious Jews from the face of the earth. All these events were predicted by Jeremiah: a bloody war and the destruction of his native country. At that time, it was not entirely correct to consider this a prophecy; all previous events did not predict a good outcome under the reign of short-sighted kings. It was obvious to any citizen that refusal to pay tribute to Babylon would entail bloody retribution.

The Prophet Jeremiah criticized the conclusion of political alliances and condemned the decision to refuse to pay tribute. He spoke of imminent punishment, the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temples. For this he was accused of apostasy and treason. After all, Yahweh promised protection for his people, but the prophet doubts God’s words. Jeremiah did not calm down, he decided to write a message to King Joachim. A menacing message was read to the ruler, but he tore it up and burned it. Jeremiah writes another message together with his assistant Baruch, filling the scroll with new prophecies and threats.

Jeremiah's hardships: punishment for prophecies

Even those closest to him refused to be related to him, and his neighbors plotted to kill him. The people twice demanded that the authorities execute him. Among the ancient Jews, he pronounced prophecies for 23 years, during which time he exposed their sins, apostasy from the true God, and predicted misfortunes and grief. Everyone avoided him, subjected him to ridicule and persecution. Jeremiah decided to demonstrate the words literally; he wanted to tell about the irreversibility of the conquest by the Babylonian kingdom. His actions were full of symbolism, but they emphasized the wrong direction of the kings' policy and the onset of a terrible catastrophe.

Yahweh commanded him to take an earthenware jar and break it. Thousands of fragments scattered to the sides, which testified to the fragmentation of the Israeli people throughout the world. The next time, the prophet received instructions from God to take a linen belt and take it to the Euphrates River to hide it in the crevices of the rock. Over time, the belt completely rotted, which predicted a similar fate for the Jews. Jeremiah puts a wooden yoke around his neck and appears before King Zedekiah to emphasize the slave future of his compatriots. The servants remove the yoke from the prophet's neck, but he does not calm down - he puts on the iron yoke and again appears to the king.

The plight of the prophet

To stop him from prophesying, they throw him into prison, and later they try to drown him in the mud of a fortress moat. Now it is impossible to judge whether the prophecy came true or the rulers conducted incorrect negotiations, but difficult times have come for Judea. The Babylonians actually went to war against Jeremiah's homeland. The army of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar swept away the kingdom of Judah, conquered the local inhabitants and drove them into slavery. Nebuchadnezzar himself showed pity for Jeremiah, released him from prison and gave him personal permission to preach wherever the saint wished.

During the siege of Jerusalem, the prophet spoke with sadness about the coming judgment of Yahweh. He also said that this is not the end, bright times will come when God will give blessings to the people of Israel. At that time of grace, all laws will be written not on tablets, but in the hearts of believers.

The Jewish administration decided to throw off the oppression of the Babylonians, followed by a riot and an attempt to hide with an ally, that is, with the Pharaoh of Egypt. By that time, the prophet had managed to write the famous work “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” - a work in verse that describes the fate of the Jewish people and the destruction of the majestic Jerusalem. He managed to hide the Ark of the Covenant and the Tablets in a hiding place so that they would not be torn apart by enemies. The Jews fled, but took Jeremiah with them, although he tirelessly predicted punishment on the heads of the Egyptians.

Forced flight

The Prophet settled in the city of Tafnis, where he lived for about 4 years. Under him, all crocodiles in the Nile became extinct, which made the Egyptian population very happy. The fate of the prophet was difficult - all his predictions came true in his new place of residence. This has already served as the last straw of patience for the Jews - they kill Jeremiah to prevent further misfortunes. Other nations treated their prophets with reverence, and those whose warnings tended to come true were elevated to the rank of saints. After the murder, the Jews came to their senses and, according to Egyptian canons, decided to preserve the relics of the prophet. 250 years passed after the death of Jeremiah, and Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great, who transferred the relics of the prophet to his capital Alexandria.

Message to descendants

The prophet Jeremiah is greatly revered by Christians. The Bible contains the work he wrote. There are five songs described in the holy book. The name is "Lamentations of Jeremiah". The first, second and fourth songs each contain 22 verses, each beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in strict sequence. The third song has 66 verses, divided into three groups; the fifth song also has 22 verses, but they are not ordered alphabetically.

The first song of lament tells about the bitter fate of the Jewish people, about their captivity by the Babylonians and the destruction of Zion. In the second song, Jeremiah tries to analyze the tragedy that happened; he considers it the Lord’s punishment for sins. In the third song, the prophet mourns for his people, who did not heed his words, for which they were punished. The fourth song is calmer: the prophet realizes his incorrigible guilt in the face of God. In the fifth song, the words are filled with sorrow and calm, hope for a bright future.

The interpretation of the book of the prophet Jeremiah is a thorny path of humility after the defeat of Zion. The dominant thought is the Lord's punishment directed at his people. In the complaints of the book, this anger is described as just retribution, due to the fact that the kingdom of Judah was mired in unforgivable sins.

The book of the prophet Jeremiah does not contain bewilderment or confusion before punishment, as in the Book of Job. Here is a confirmation of the words of other prophets who long ago predicted the coming of the day of reckoning. Although, in parallel with the understanding of God’s wrath, there is an emotional rejection of such punishment. Jeremiah is trying to understand whether the price for sins is too great? Having gone through all the suffering and tossing, the author finds the courage to agree with God's will. The book of the prophet Jeremiah reflects absolute faith in the Lord, hope for redemption, and the imminent onset of a joyful future for the persecuted people of Judah.

Encyclopedic YouTube

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  The prophet Jeremiah lived 100 years after Isaiah (the first). At this time, Assyria began to lose its power, and the power of Babylon became stronger. The fall of Assyria could not be prevented even with the help of Egypt. Having concluded an alliance with the Medes, the Babylonian king Nabopolassar in 612 BC. e. occupied the Assyrian capital Nineveh.

  Jeremiah, perhaps more vividly than his contemporaries, reacted to complex foreign policy problems. In an effort to save his homeland, he made a lot of efforts to turn the policy of the courtiers in a different direction, but his attempts were unsuccessful. His prophecies came true: the collapse of official policy, the fall of Jerusalem, the disasters of the people. Coming from a priestly family, Jeremiah began prophesying very young, during the reign of Josiah. He reduces his mission, like Isaiah, to Divine destiny: “And the word of Yahweh came to me: before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you: I made you a prophet to the nations. ...

  And Yahweh stretched out his hand and touched my mouth, and Yahweh said to me: Behold, I have put My words in your mouth” (Jer.).

  Jeremiah was afraid of such a great task, considering himself too young: “Oh, Yahweh, God! I do not know how to speak, for I am still young” (Jer.). And later, Jeremiah considered the task beyond his strength, although he did everything to fulfill the mission of the prophet.

  Having failed to achieve success, he bitterly complained to Yahweh: “You attracted me, Yahweh, and I am carried away, you are stronger than me - and you prevailed, and every day I am in ridicule, everyone mocks me. For as soon as I begin to speak, I shout about violence, I cry out for ruin, because the word of Yahweh turned into reproach and everyday ridicule. And I thought: “I will not remind of him and will no longer speak in his name. At the beginning of his activity, Jeremiah supported King Josiah, who strived.” to restore a single cult of Yahweh. He made every effort to ensure that the people preserved the agreement with Yahweh and turned away from foreign gods. When a single cult of Yahweh was introduced into the country with the help of the king, Jeremiah temporarily abandoned the prophecies, because he considered his activities useless. .

  But he soon came to the conclusion that the people needed his words. As Assyria's power weakened, a mood of complacency began to spread throughout the country, leading to a misguided foreign policy. Jewish politicians underestimated the power of Babylon and sought an alliance first with Egypt and then with Assyria. At the instigation of Egypt, they opposed the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II and refused to pay him tribute. All this led to the punitive campaigns of the Babylonian king against Judea, previously predicted by the prophet, and then to the complete destruction of the Jewish state.

  Let us note that it was not particularly difficult to make such prophecies. It was clear to an astute person that Babylon would not accept the refusal of the Jewish rulers to pay tribute to it. Jeremiah clearly saw the danger of Judah's policy and its catastrophic outcome. He opposed the conclusion of all kinds of alliances and criticized the refusal to pay tribute. He predicted that the hopes of Jewish politicians for an alliance with earthly kings were in vain, they would be punished, Jerusalem would fall and the temple would be destroyed. For these prophecies, Jeremiah was accused of treason and apostasy. After all, Yahweh promised to protect his people and the temple, but Jeremiah preaches the fall of the city, thereby questioning the words of God.

  Jeremiah wrote down his prophecy and sent it to King Joachim. When this threatening message was read to the king, he tore the scroll into pieces and burned them. Jeremiah, with the help of his disciple Baruch, again wrote down his prophecies, adding new threats to them.

  Jeremiah performed many, so to speak, symbolic actions that were supposed to emphasize the possible sad consequences of an incorrect policy and the onset of a catastrophe. So, he received a command from Yahweh to break an earthenware jug, which shattered into thousands of pieces. Thus, he wanted to show how the people of Israel would be scattered in different parts of the world. For this he was put in a chopping block.

  Another time, Jeremiah took a linen belt and, taking it to the Euphrates, hid it in a cleft in the rock, where the belt gradually rotted. A similar fate was predicted for the Jewish people. Jeremiah appeared before King Zedekiah with a yoke around his neck, emphasizing the future fate of the people who would bear the yoke of Yahweh if they did not heed the words of the prophet. The servants removed the yoke from Jeremiah's neck, but he put on a new iron yoke and again appeared before the king.

  The fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy was his greatest personal tragedy.

  During the siege of Jerusalem, he proclaimed with pain in his heart that the promised judgment of Yahweh had arrived. At the same time, he emphasized that this was not the end, not complete destruction, that a happy time would come when Yahweh would give Israel and Judah joy and conclude a new covenant with the people. Then the laws will be written not on tablets, but in the heart of every believer.

  After the fall of Jerusalem, most of the inhabitants were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar II to Babylon. Gedaliah became the leader of those who remained. He released Jeremiah from prison, where he was accused of treason, and allowed him to choose one of two things: either he would go with the majority of the inhabitants to Babylon, or he would remain in his homeland. Jeremiah chose the latter. It is noteworthy that several years earlier, Gedaliah's father Ahikam (English) also saved the prophet from imminent death when Jeremiah was threatened with reprisals at the hands of an angry mob for his accusatory speeches.

  The radical group of Jews who remained in their homeland, being dissatisfied with the rule of Gedaliah, organized a conspiracy and killed him. Then, fearing the revenge of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, they fled to Egypt, taking the prophet with them.

  From this time on, the trace of Jeremiah is lost. According to tradition, he died in Egypt.

  Personality of the Prophet Jeremiah

  Everyone knows Jeremiah as the weeping prophet. There is even a term “jeremiad” to designate sorrowful complaints and lamentations.

  “Jeremiah weeps over their former misfortunes and laments the captivity of Babylon. How could one not shed bitter tears when the walls were excavated, the city was razed to the ground, the sanctuary was destroyed, the offerings were plundered... The prophets fell silent, the priesthood was taken into captivity, there was no mercy for the elders, virgins were given over to reproach... songs were replaced by crying. Every time I read… tears flow by themselves… and I cry with the weeping prophet” (St. Gregory the Theologian).

  As a person, as a person, the prophet Jeremiah experienced a huge internal drama (Deacon Roman Staudinger): He was born into the family of a pious priest, he also had the path of priesthood, service in the Temple ahead of him, he probably would have gotten married, and rejoiced with his wife in the success of his children etc. But God calls him to a special service, which required him to renounce himself completely, all plans, comfort, and satisfaction of some of his personal needs.

  And God calls not the mature, experienced Jeremiah, but just a boy, he was about 15-20 years old. And God does not accept objections, but says that “before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you: I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

  The next sacrifice God required of Jeremiah was his love for his own people. Of course, the Lord did not forbid loving the people, on the contrary, because for their good Jeremiah made sacrifices. But it was not easy for a loving heart (Blessed Theodoret even calls him “the mother of Jerusalem” for his truly maternal love) to predict death and destruction and rejection by God instead of prosperity and happiness for the people. And in contrition of heart Jeremiah cries again: “Woe is me, my mother, that you gave birth to me as a man who argues and quarrels.”

  And what was it like for the Old Testament Jew, who knew the Law and built his life according to it, to hear from his God: “Do not take yourself a wife, and you shall have neither sons nor daughters...”. The path of celibacy was unknown to the Old Testament Jews. Marriage was considered a divine commandment, children were evidence of God's presence in the family and His blessing.

  But the prophet Jeremiah was able to endure and finally exclaimed: “The Lord is my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of trouble!”

  The inner drama of the prophet was accompanied by an outer drama due to his relationship with the people of God:

  The condition of the Jews at that time wounded the heart of the prophet: “they abandoned the source of living water, they left and carved out broken reservoirs for themselves that could not hold water.” Hence, a moral decline of such depth was observed among the people that even the Lord commanded Jeremiah: “drive them away from before Me, let them go away.” “The prophet is pained over them... his belly and the feelings of his heart hurt, he is likened to a mother who is tormented over the death of her children” (Blessed Theodoret). “Jeremiah tried to find some kind of justification for sinners...” (St. John Chrysostom).

  Preaching failures among both the poor and the noble, and the result is an acute sense of loneliness.

  God rejects the prophet's prayers for the people:

  “You do not ask for this people, and do not offer prayers and petitions for them, and do not intercede with Me, for I will not hear you.”

  But for what? “Is there a sage who would understand this? And to whom does the mouth of the Lord speak - would he explain why the country perished and was scorched like a desert, so that no one passes through it? And the Lord said, Because they forsook My law, which I decreed for them, and did not hearken to My voice, nor walk in it; but they walked...after the Baals...".

  St. Cyril of Alexandria called those mourned by the prophet “deicides” for deliberately renouncing the blessing of God.

  Blzh. Jerome: “Because they forsook His law, ... and followed the wickedness of their hearts.”

  Blzh. Theodoret: “Repentance could extinguish the fire of anger, but since it does not exist, no one is able to deliver from punishment.”

  In addition to a loving motherly heart, Jeremiah also had a righteous zeal for God: “Therefore, I am filled with the wrath of the Lord, I cannot keep it within myself; I will pour it out on the children in the street and on the congregation of young men...” This jealousy does not give the prophet peace: “But, Lord of hosts, righteous Judge, ... let me see Your vengeance on them, for I have entrusted my cause to You.” There is no room for compromise with sin in his thoughts and actions.

  All outsiders renounced him: fellow countrymen, because he inspired them with horror with his threats and envy with his superiority over other priests; ruling circles of Jerusalem; the entire Jewish society, kings (for example, Joachim put him in prison).

  But with God nothing is in vain. It would seem that such excessive undeserved torment was given to such a righteous man, why? Not for anything, but so that, through all the suffering, a revolution would occur in the consciousness of the prophet Jeremiah: he saw God in a new way.

  “It was not in vain that God allowed the prophet to experience sorrow; but, since he was ready to pray for the lawless, then with the intention of convincing him, so that he would not recognize himself as a lover of mankind, but the Treasure of grace was merciless, God allowed this uprising of the Jews against him” (Blessed Theodoret).

  Through all this, Jeremiah saw the love of God for the people, for the human race. God ceased to be for him punishing children for the guilt of their fathers. God appeared before Jeremiah the Most Merciful and gave the teaching about the new covenant: “the days are coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah... I will put My law within them and write it on their hearts... they will all know Me... I will forgive iniquities their...and all the valley of ashes and corpses, and all the field as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate on the east, shall be holy to the Lord; will not be destroyed and will not disintegrate forever.”

  The fight against false prophets within the people of God: an example of the fight - chapter 28 - the fight with Ananias, who was one of many.

  During the years of Jeremiah’s ministry, false prophets calmed the vigilance of the people with imaginary prosperity, and when troubles did fall on Jerusalem, they promised that all this would not last long. They even came up with a new way to extinguish the preaching of God-bearing prophets: when a true prophet spoke, the crowd, excited by the liars, began to laugh and make jokes at his expense.

  Against their background, Jeremiah looked, on the one hand, like a rebel, a disturber of public peace, who was accused of treachery. On the other hand, he acted as a ruthless reformer, crushing the prejudices of the Jews about their exclusivity, preaching a kind of “circumcision of the heart,” and fighting the national pride of the chosen people.

  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 fruitless. 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 whom, however, he could not help...

  How he must have been burdened by the stigma placed on him by public opinion as a state traitor... It was therefore a matter of great courage 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 and the hostile attitude of all the Jews towards him, even his relatives - all this drove the prophet to despair, and he only thought about how he could go into the distant desert, so that there mourn the fate of his people.

  But the words of God in his heart burned like fire and asked to come out - he could not leave his ministry 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 the 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.

  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.

  Jeremiah and Deuteronomy

  Bible scholar Baruch Halpern has suggested that Jeremiah is the author of Deuteronomy. The main argument is the similarity of language: Deuteronomy and the book of Jeremiah are similar in style, using the same set expressions. For example, in Deuteronomy there are many instructions on how one should and should not deal with the most disadvantaged social groups: “The widow, the orphan, the stranger” (Deut. 10:18, 14:29, 16:11, 16:14, 24 :17, 24:19-21, 26:12-13, 27:19), the same instructions in relation to the same groups are given by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 7:6, 22:3). This triple combination - widow, orphan, stranger - is used in Deuteronomy and the book of Jeremiah - and nowhere else in the Bible.

  There are other examples of identical or very similar expressions that are found only in Deuteronomy and the book of Jeremiah: for example, the expression “The host of heaven” (meaning “stars”) (Deut 4:19, 17:3, Jer 8:2, 19:17 ), “circumcise the foreskin of your heart” (Deut 10:16, Jer 4:4), “The Lord brought you out of the iron furnace out of Egypt” (Jer 11:4 Deut 4:20) “with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deut 4:29 10:12; 11:13; 13:4, Jer 32:41).

  There are other signs too. For example, there is reason to believe that both the author of Deuteronomy and Jeremiah are related to the priests of Shiloh. Deuteronomy appears to have been written for the benefit of the priests of Shiloh. And Jeremiah is the only prophet of the Bible who even mentions Shiloh. Moreover, he calls Shiloh “the place where I [God] first appointed my name to abide,” and in Deuteronomy these words designate the only legal place of sacrifices. Moreover, the last legitimate priest of Shiloh, Eviatar, was exiled by Solomon to Anatot, and Anatot is the homeland of Jeremiah. In addition, Jeremiah is the only prophet who mentions Samuel, moreover, he places him next to Moses as equivalent figures (Jeremiah 15:1), and Samuel’s activities are connected with Shiloh.

  Additionally, the first verse of the book of Jeremiah states that Jeremiah was the son of Hilkiah, and Hilkiah is the same priest who “found” Deuteronomy during the renovation of the Temple. A coincidence of names here is unlikely, since in the historical books of the Bible and in the books of the early prophets there is no other person named Hilkiah (although it is found in some later books - Nehemiah, 2 Esdras, Daniel)

  in the canon the OT is included in sec. "Prophets".

  Authorship, time and place of writing

  The I. p.k. contains instructions that allow researchers to conclude that the book was created several times ago. stages. Prophet Jeremiah wrote it over many years (from about 625 to 580 BC). According to Jer 36. 1-4, Baruch, the son of Neriah, wrote down all the prophecies of Jeremiah from the days of King Josiah (Jer 36. 2) (i.e., from the moment of his call to prophetic ministry) in a scroll, which was later. burned by King Joachim (Jer 36.5-25), but restored by Baruch with the addition of “many similar words” by the prophet. Jeremiah (Jer 36.26-32). During the reign of Zedekiah, during the last siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah was ordered to write down in a book “all the words that” the Lord “said to him” (Jer 30.2), primarily comforting ones about the return of the people from captivity (Jer. 30.3, 16, 22). Jeremiah 29 reports Jeremiah's letter to the Judean captives in Babylon. In one book, according to Jeremiah 25.13, the prophecies of Jeremiah “to all nations” were collected, and the written message about the fall of Babylon was sent to the Jews in Babylon (Jeremiah 51.60-64). The last collection of words of the prophet refers to the Jews who moved to Egypt (Jeremiah 44). In addition to the epilogue added later, in the 37th year of Jeconiah’s captivity (Jer 52:31), the prophecies are connected at the end of Jeremiah’s ministry, after the destruction of Jerusalem and the resettlement of the Jews to Babylon (Jer 1:1-3).

  An ancient tradition, recorded in the Babylonian Talmud (Bava Batra. 14b-15a), names the author of this book as prophet. Jeremiah; he is also considered the author of the Books of Kings (1st and 2nd Kings). According to many researchers, this tradition could reflect the idea of ​​the famous modern. biblical criticism, stylistic and thematic similarity of I. p.k. with Deuteronomistic history, in particular with the Books of Kings.

  In modern Researchers are of the prevailing opinion that some of the poetic texts of I. p. k. were created by the prophet. Jeremiah; the final form of this book exists in 2 editions - Masoretic and Greek. texts, is the result of later corrections, including those of the Deuteronomic sense (Hyatt. 1951; Rudolph. 1968). (For the Deuteronomic version, see Art. Historical books.) The volume of texts belonging, according to researchers, to Jeremiah as an author, varies from a small number of poetic speeches addressed to Jerusalem or to Israel at the beginning of the I. p. 30-31), and prophecies about the nations (chapters 46-51) (see, for example: Rudolph. 1968). In the commentary of R. Carroll, Prophet. Jeremiah as an author is absent, since I. p.k., in his opinion, is the result of combining into one book various interpretations of a key event in the history of Israel - the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple - during the period of exile in the 6th-5th centuries. BC (Carroll. 1986).

  Dating of I. p. k. in modern times. Biblical criticism is often determined depending on what time scholars attribute the Deuteronomistic story to. So, following M. Noth, who dated the Deuteronomic history to the period of the Babylonian captivity (587/6 - 1st third of the 6th century BC; see in article. Israel ancient), W. Rudolf also believes that I. p.c. was created at this time (Rudolph. 1968). According to Carroll, I. p.k. contains several texts. time layers (Carroll. 1986). In general, the book, according to critics, is modern. form existed after the captivity, since it reflected the interests of various groups of post-captivity Judaism. For example, the prophecies about Babylon (Jeremiah 50-51) can be understood as contradicting Jeremiah's general pro-Babylonian position. (J. Blenkinsopp believes that the prophecies of Jeremiah 30-31 also do not agree with the general position of Jeremiah - Blenkinsopp. 1983. P. 157-158.) At the same time, Carroll does not deny the possibility of writing the book during the period of captivity. Elements of the Deuteronomistic style of Chapter 52. testify in favor of the fact that the final edition of the book belongs to the Deuteronomistic school, and indicate that the earliest date for writing the book is c. 560 BC

  The time of the creation of I. p.k. can also be indicated by the peculiarity of its content - the emphasis on the fulfillment of the Word of God, a feature that testifies to the formation of new forms of religion in conditions when the former cult institutions have disappeared. The theme of the Word of God comes to the fore during the period of exile for those societies in which preaching practice develops; pl. researchers associate them with the formation of the synagogue. For this reason, prophecies about pagan peoples that date back to Babylonian (Blenkinsopp. 1983. P. 156) or Persian are often separated from the main edition of I. p. period (Thiel. 1973; Idem. 1981).

  Text

  Greek The text of I. p. k. has a number of features. It is 1/8 shorter than the Masoretic, and, in addition, the material in the LXX is arranged differently than in the Hebrew. Bible: prophecies about the nations (MT Jer 46-51) after Jer 25. 13 (“...I will bring to pass upon that land all my words which I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has spoken prophetically against all nations” ). In MT after Jer 25.13-14 there is a pericope about the cup of wrath (Jer 25.15-28) (in LXX it is located in Jer 32.15-38), closely related to the previous text. In addition, the order of the prophecies about the peoples in the Masoretic and Greek texts is different (MT: about the inhabitants of Egypt, Plesheth, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar and Hazor, Elam, Babylon; LXX: about the inhabitants of Elam, Egypt, Babylon, Plesheth, Edom, Ammon, Kedar, Damascus, Moab). The role of the prophet Baruch as the heir of Jeremiah is emphasized in the Greek edition by the fact that the text corresponding to MT Jer 45. 1-5 is located at the very end of the book, before the epilogue (Jer 51. 31-35).

  The difference in the volume of Masoretic and Greek. texts manifests itself mainly in small “gaps” (from 1 to 5 words) in Greek. text; some more or less lengthy passages of MT are missing from the Septuagint, for example. Jer 10.6-8; 29. 16-20.

  In a number of studies, E. Tov developed the theory of the relationship between the Greek. and Masoretic texts I. p. k., based on the fact that the protograph is Greek. The text of I.p.k. is the original edition of this book, and MT is a later revision (Tov. 1976; Idem. 1979).

  Historical context

  The title of the book sets the chronological framework of Jeremiah's prophetic ministry: “The words of Jeremiah... to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Ammon king of Judah in the thirteenth year of his reign, and also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah until the end in the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the relocation of Jerusalem in the fifth month" (Jer 1:1-3); this means that Jeremiah could deliver his speeches and sermons in the period from 629 to 586 BC. However, according to chapters 40-44, the prophet’s activity continued after the “relocation of Jerusalem” to Babylon, i.e. during the reign of Gedalia and some time after his murder. Gedaliah ruled, presumably, from several times. months to several years, but probably it was no later than 582 BC, when, apparently, Nebuchadnezzar's final campaign in Syria and Palestine was carried out. The most recent event reported by I. p.k., the showing of mercy to Jehoiachin by Evilmerodach, dates back to 561 BC.

  Most of Jeremiah's speeches (chapters 2-20, 22, 30-31, 33) are undated. Speeches indicating the time refer to the period of the reign of Jehoiakim or Zedekiah and to a later period. Related to this are doubts expressed in studies that Jeremiah began his prophetic ministry ca. 627. As a rule, a date is proposed no earlier than 609. Thus, Carroll believes that the earliest prophecies of Jeremiah in chapters 2-6 do not refer to 627-609, but to the period after 609, i.e. are related with the Neo-Babylonian threat. Blenkinsopp as well as many others. others, indicates the impossibility of dating the prophet’s speeches to the period of the reign of Josiah (Blenkinsopp. 1983. P. 160-161). Thus, in the speeches of Jeremiah and the stories about him, the events associated with the reform of King Josiah (2 Kings 23. 1-25), which began in the 18th year of his reign (c. 622 BC), are not mentioned. One of the possible reasons, in his opinion, for dating the beginning of Jeremiah’s activity in 627 is the desire to bring the period of his activity to the round figure 40, significant for the biblical tradition (Blenkinsopp. 1983. P. 162).

  Among the historical events reflected in the speeches of Jeremiah are the Battle of Carchemish, 605 (Jer 46.3-12); Captivity of King Jehoahaz of Egypt. Pharaoh Necho, 609 (Jer 22.11-12); According to some commentators, the poems about the invasion of the people “from the north” (a number of texts in chapters 4-6 and some others) speak of the Babylonian invasion of Judea in 597 or 587; according to others, these texts contain in view of the invasion of Scythian tribes into Syria and Palestine, presumably in the last. Thursday VII century BC I. p.k., and especially its Masoretic edition, in general may reflect the interests of the Israelis who found themselves in exile precisely in Babylonia; This position was most clearly manifested in Chap. 24, where the Israelites remaining in Judah are compared to rotten figs.

  According to researchers, some texts that have internal dating actually refer to a different historical situation. In particular, a number of texts, according to Carroll, represent the interests of political groups during the period of return from exile under the Achaemenids. Thus, Jer 22.28-30 reflects the struggle of parties for power during the restoration period; these lines refute the right of Zerubbabel, the grandson of Jeconiah, to the throne (Carroll. 1986. P. 442).

  The Call of a Prophet to the Ministry

  (Jer 1:1-19). At the beginning of the book, the origin of its author is reported (“The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests in Anathoth...” - Jer. 1.1), information is given about the time of his ministry and the kings of Judah under whom it took place are listed (Jer. 1. 2-3).

  Jeremiah's prophetic ministry is preceded by a divine calling: he hears the “word of the Lord,” in which it is reported that even before his birth God appointed him “a prophet to the nations.” Despite the objections of Jeremiah, who referred to his youth and inexperience, the Lord “stretched out... His hand and touched his mouth”; this action meant placing him in prophetic service: from now on he will speak the words of God (Jer 1.4-9). Jeremiah receives from the Lord symbolic visions (an almond tree, a boiling cauldron), testifying to the immutability of divine decisions and the disasters awaiting the inhabitants of Jerusalem “for all their iniquities” (Jeremiah 1:10-16). The prophet comes out at the command of God “against the kings of Judah, against his princes, against his priests and against the people of this land” to expose sin and apostasy from God (Ezek 1:17-19).

  Prophecies about Judea

  (Jer 2.1-25.38). Jeremiah reproaches the “daughter of Jerusalem” because she, the bride of the Lord (Jeremiah 2.1-2), who followed His call into the desert and loved Him, betrayed Him with the gods of other nations and forgot her wedding attire (Jeremiah 2.32 ). Despite the fact that the God of Israel fulfilled all His promises - He brought the people out of Egypt and brought them “into a fruitful land,” “the teachers of the law did not know” Him, “the shepherds fell away” from Him, and “the prophets prophesied in the name of Baal” (Jer 2 .7-8). The sin of the people was great, because the Jews not only did not keep their vows, but also did something that the pagans do not do: “Has any people changed their gods, although they are not gods? but My people exchanged their glory for something that does not help” (Jer 2:11). God admonished His people (“...I smote your children... your prophets I devoured with the sword..." - Jer 2.30), but all was in vain - the daughter of Israel “committed fornication with many lovers” (Jer 3. 1) , and for this she will be “put to shame by Egypt, just as she was put to shame by Assyria” (Jer 2:36). Despite his unfaithfulness and sins, God called the daughter of Israel to repent and was ready to accept her (Jer 3.1); addressing His “apostate children” (Jer 3:14), God promises salvation to those who “return” to Him: He will lead them to Zion and give them “shepherds after His own heart” (Jer 3:14-15). Seeing the futility of this call to the daughter of Israel, God “let her go and gave her a letter of divorce” (we are talking, apparently, about the betrayal of the Northern Kingdom into the hands of the Assyrians - Jer 3.8), which, however, did not frighten Judah, her “ treacherous sister,” she “was not afraid of paradise, but went and committed fornication herself” (Jer. 3:8).

  Prophet Jeremiah hears “the mournful cry of the children of Israel,” who repented that they “forgot the Lord their God” (Jeremiah 3:21). He proclaims to them the promise of forgiveness and salvation: “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” (Jer 4:1). The people of Israel must cut off the “foreskin of their hearts” so that the wrath of God “does not burn unquenchably because of your evil inclinations” (Jer 4:4). If he does not listen to this call, then “already there is... disastrous news from Mount Ephraim” - his enemies are approaching, who “are declaring the cities of Judah with their cries” in order to besiege Jerusalem and destroy it (Jer 4:15 -29).

  Walking around Jerusalem, the prophet tries to find people who remain faithful to God, observe righteousness and seek the truth (Jeremiah 5:1). Failure awaits him, because both the poor, who are “foolish because they do not know the way of the Lord,” and noble people, who have every opportunity to learn the divine law, have departed from God (Jer 5:4-5). Wickedness spread everywhere, among people of all ages and social status (Jeremiah 6:13). The prophet sees that “amazing and terrible things are happening in this land”: those who should teach people in righteousness are using their authority to lead them to evil: “the prophets prophesy lies, and the priests rule by them, and my people love it "(Jer 5:31). The words of God in the mouth of Jeremiah, a true prophet, will become fire, and the people will become firewood, which will be burned by this fire (Jer 5:14). Jeremiah will pour out the wrath of the Lord on Jerusalem (Jeremiah 6:11). The Prophet declares that even the sacrifices offered in Israel to the true God have become displeasing to Him (Jer 6:20), He does not want to know those who were once faithful to him: “they will be called rejected silver, for the Lord has rejected them” (Jer 6:20). thirty).

  Jeremiah preaches, at the command of God, “at the gates of the house of the Lord” (Jeremiah 7:2). He calls not to hope that the Lord will not punish His people because they have a temple and worship the true God. It is much more important to stop murder, adultery and idolatry. The temple, in which the name of God was named, “became... a den of thieves” (Jer 7:11; cf. Mt 21:13), therefore it will suffer the fate of the once glorious sanctuary in Shiloh: the wicked will be driven out, and the temple will be destroyed. Throughout the history of the Israeli people, God sent prophets to them “every day from early morning” (Jeremiah 7:25), but no one listened to their denunciations; the generation of Jeremiah’s contemporaries is even “worse than their fathers,” therefore the same fate awaits him (Jeremiah 7:26-27). The sons of Judah reached the extreme degree of sinfulness - they built an altar “to burn their sons and daughters in fire”; for this, the whole land of Judah “will be desolate,” and the corpses of the Jews will become “food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth” (Jer 7:31-34). By God's permission, His people will be disgraced - the conquerors will desecrate even the tombs, throwing out from them “the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem...” (Jer 8.1). During the time of exile there will be a “cry of the daughter of the people” of His “from a far country,” mourning that “the Lord is not in Zion”; the chosen people will experience abandonment by God, because they themselves were unfaithful to Him and turned to idols (Jer 8:19). Jeremiah denounces his fellow tribesmen, who “strengthen their tongue to lie”; people are so accustomed to telling lies that they can no longer live without it and “they deceive themselves to the point of weariness” (Jer 9:3-5). The sin of the tongue is grave before God, who will certainly punish it, since the consequence of this sin is hatred of one’s neighbors: “...with their lips they speak kindly to their neighbor, but in their hearts they build feats for him” (Jer 9.8) .

  Through the prophet, God proclaims to His people: wisdom, strength and wealth are useless; man should strive only for the knowledge of God (Jer 9:24). There is also no need to be proud of belonging to the chosen people - the days are coming when the Lord will visit not only the circumcised, but also the uncircumcised, who will be equal to the children of Israel, who live “with an uncircumcised heart” (Jer 9:25-26). The children of Israel should not have imitated the pagans who served idols, which they made from wood cut down from the forest and covered with gold and silver brought from Tarshish and Uphaz (Jer 10:2-9). Jeremiah prays to God to turn away the deserved punishment from Israel, to pour out His wrath on “the nations that do not know” Him (Jeremiah 10:25). At the command of the Lord, he calls “in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem” (Jer 11:6) to renew the covenant with God, which He “commanded to their fathers” (Jer 11:4), and to fulfill His commands; in this case, Israel's sins will be forgiven and they will again become the people of God. However, his words are not heard - the people of God continue to serve pagan idols, etc. incur divine wrath. Other nations will also be subjected to punishment from God - “evil... neighbors” attacking His people (Jeremiah 12:14). Having punished Israel and Judah, plucking them out “from among them,” He will ultimately have mercy on them and return them to their native land, and the nations hostile to them will be punished for taking advantage of their weakness.

  At the command of God, Jeremiah performs a symbolic action - he buys a linen belt, wears it “on his loins” for some time and then hides it “in a cleft of the rock.” “After... many days” he digs up the belt and sees that it has deteriorated and “became good for nothing” (Jer 13:1-7). The Lord informs Jeremiah that in the same way He will destroy “the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem” (Jer 13.9): He brought “to Him the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah,” like a belt that “lies close to the loins man” (Jer 13:11), but now He will crush “them against each other, and fathers and sons together” (Jer 13:14).

  The coming disasters are depicted in the word “of the Lord, which came to Jeremiah on account of the lack of rain” (Jer 14:1): the earth will be devastated, the soil will crack, and even the deer will abandon its children, “because there is no grass” (Eze 14:5) . The prophet appeals to God for help, calling Him the Hope and Savior of Israel (Jer 14:8). Jeremiah recalls the promises of other prophets that there will be no famine and wars on earth, but God calls them false prophets, because He “did not give... commands” (Jer 14.14), and says that “ the people to whom they prophesy will be scattered throughout the streets of Jerusalem from famine and sword” (Jer 14:16). The wrath of God is so great that it could not be averted even by the intercession of Moses and Samuel (Jer 15:1); He is “tired of showing mercy” (Jer 15:6), however, even now he is ready to raise up His people if they turn to Him themselves (Jer 15:19-21).

  Jeremiah receives an order from God to spend his life in celibacy, for in his land sons, daughters and their parents “will die heavy deaths” (Jeremiah 16:4). He should also not attend funeral ceremonies to “weep and mourn” along with those who mourn, for God “has taken away from this people... mercy and sorrow” (Jer 16:5). Sin is so deeply rooted in the people that it is “written with an iron chisel, inscribed with a diamond point on the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars” (Jer 17:1). Jeremiah appeals to God for mercy and healing from sin and confesses Him as the only source of salvation: “Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved...” (Jer 17:14).

  Having received God's command, Jeremiah went to the “potter's house” (Jer 18:1-2) to see another allegorical image of the future awaiting the children of Israel. A clay vessel made by a potter on a potter's wheel fell apart in his hands; then he made from it “another vessel, such as the potter thought it best to make” (Jer 18:4). The Lord likens the house of Israel, which is in His hand, to clay in the hands of a potter; in the same way, God can do with him what He sees fit - change His will regarding the people of Israel, cancel “the good with which He wanted to bestow upon them” (Jer 18:10), and scatter them “with the east wind ... in the face of enemy" (Jer 18:17).

  The prophet's denunciations of those who possessed temporal and spiritual power and did not use this power for good displeased his fellow tribesmen and could create a threat to his life, since they were plotting against Jeremiah, “for the law has not disappeared from the priest, and the counsel from the wise, and the word of the prophet” (Jer 18:18). Seeing “all their plans against” himself, Jeremiah turns to God, asking to protect him from people who repay him “evil for good” (Jeremiah 18:20-23).

  At the command of God, Jeremiah brought out “the elders of the people and the elders of the priests” (Jer 19.1) and broke in front of them an earthenware jug bought from a potter. The prophet proclaimed God's promise to crush Jerusalem and all the people, “just as a potter’s vessel was broken, which can no longer be restored” (Jer 19:11); disasters will be brought by God on the inhabitants of Judah, “because they are stiff-necked and do not listen to His words” (Jer 19:15). For this prophecy, Jeremiah was imprisoned for a day in a block located next to the temple, by order of the priest Paschor, who was “an overseer in the house of the Lord” (Jer 20.1). Turning to God, Jeremiah complains about the constant reproach and ridicule with which the people greet his preaching; he wanted to stop his ministry, but this was not in his power: “... it was like a burning fire in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I grew weary, holding it, and could not” (Jer 20.9) . Jeremiah knows that he is not alone - “The Lord is with him like a mighty warrior” (Jeremiah 20.11), and only this gives him the strength to bear “works and sorrows”, while his days “disappeared in disgrace” (Jeremiah 20.18).

  When Jeremiah's prophecies began to come true - the armies of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, were marching on Jerusalem - the Jewish king Zedekiah sent envoys to Jeremiah with a request to ask the Lord about the future fate of the people. God’s answer through the prophet is disappointing: He Himself will fight on the side of the enemies of Judah “with an outstretched hand and a strong arm, in anger and in rage and in great indignation” (Jer 21.5); He will bring a pestilence on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and those who survive will be given into captivity by the Babylonians. The Lord “turned his face” against His city, which is now doomed to destruction and burning; the only way to be saved is to get out of it and voluntarily surrender into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 21:9-10). Those remaining in the city choose this. “the way of death”, given over to the Babylonians, is the “way of life” (Jer 21:8). The humiliation of the Jewish people will be expressed in the shame of the ruling family coming from David. Jeremiah predicts that the death of King Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, will not be mourned by anyone, but “he will be buried with a donkey’s burial” (Jer 22:19). King Jeconiah will be “thrown into a foreign country” and for the rest of his life he will dream of returning to his homeland, but will not be able to do this.

  Denouncing the leaders of the people as unfaithful shepherds, “who destroy and scatter the sheep of the Lord’s pasture,” Jeremiah announces the punishment awaiting them “for their evil deeds” (Jeremiah 23:1-2). When God brings the remnant of His people back to the land of their fathers, He will appoint “shepherds over them who will feed them” and will not cause fear among their flock (Jer 23:4). The Lord will raise up a “righteous branch for David”: a King will arise, in whose days “Judah will be saved and Israel will live safely” (Jer 23:5-6). The prophet compares this 2nd salvation of the people to the exodus from Egypt; The children of Israel will bless God with a new blessing: “...as the Lord lives, who brought forth and who brought the seed of the house of Israel out of the land of the north and out of all the lands...” (Jer 23.8).

  Among the leaders of the people, special guilt lies with the prophets - those who in any circumstances must proclaim the will of God. Jeremiah compares the “prophets of Jerusalem” to adulterers who “walk in lies” and “support the hands of evildoers.” The Lord will subject them to severe punishment, feeding them wormwood and giving them “water with gall” to drink, for their guilt is heavier than the wine of other people: “... from the prophets of Jerusalem wickedness spread throughout the whole earth” (Jer 23. 11-15). God declares war on false prophets who retell their dreams, passing them off as His words, i.e. they are misleading the people.

  God showed Jeremiah 2 baskets of figs standing “before the temple of the Lord”; in one of them there were good figs, and in the other there were bad ones, “which due to their unworthiness cannot be eaten” (Jer 24. 1-2). God explains to the prophet that he will liken those who voluntarily moved “to the land of the Chaldeans” to good figs: He will help them during the years of captivity and bring many of them back “to this land.” God will give them a “heart to know” Him; they will be His people again. The bad, inedible figs are those who decided to stay in Jerusalem to the last, not listening to the command spoken by God through Jeremiah. They will have to endure all kinds of misery until they are finally completely destroyed, and their city is handed over to the Babylonians (Jer 24:5-10). Taking from the hands of the Lord the cup “of the wine of wrath,” the prophet, at His command, “gave drink from it... Jerusalem and the cities of Judea,” as well as other nations who had sinned before Him; no one could escape the cup of the Lord of Hosts, which brings terror “at the sight of the sword” and devastation of the whole earth (Jer 25:15-38).

  Jeremiah's fight against the false prophets. "Book of Consolation"

  (Jer 26-35). At the beginning of the reign of Joachim, Jeremiah addressed the people with a call to “act according to the law” and “listen to the words of the servants” of God; otherwise, the Lord will deliver “this city... for a curse to all the nations of the earth” (Jer 26:1-7). Jeremiah's words caused indignation among all those present: he was captured and had to die (Jeremiah 26.8). Jeremiah was saved from death by the princes and elders, who testified that “he spoke... in the name of the Lord God,” and likened him to the prophet. Micah, who also predicted the destruction of Jerusalem (Jer 26:16-19). It is reported about a certain Uriah, the son of Shemaiah, who prophesied “against this city and against this land in exactly the same words as Jeremiah” (Jer 26:20). He was apparently less famous than Jeremiah, and could not count on the intercession of princes and elders; he was killed by order of King Joachim (Jer 26.23).

  At the command of God, Jeremiah put “chains and a yoke” on his neck and sent “the same to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the sons of Ammon, and to the king of Tire, and to the king of Sidon” (Jer 27.2-3 ). By this, God showed them that all their lands would be given “into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon” (Jer 27:6). Submission to Nebuchadnezzar will be the fulfillment of God’s will, and that “people and kingdom” that do not want to “serve him, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon” and will not bend “their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon” (Jer 27.8) will be punished with the sword , famine and pestilence. The prophets who predict victory over Nebuchadnezzar “prophesy... lies” (Jer 27.16); God did not send them, and He will punish both the false prophets and those who listened to their words. Together with the captives, Nebuchadnezzar will take with him the sacred vessels from the Jerusalem temple; they will be “carried to Babylon” and will be returned to Jerusalem only when the remaining children of Israel return there after the captivity (Jer 27:21-22).

  Defending the truth of his prophecies “before the eyes of the priests and all the people” (Jeremiah 28.1), Jeremiah was forced to enter into a dispute with a certain Ananias from Gibeon, whom many considered a prophet. Ananias misled the people by predicting imminent liberation from the oppression of the Babylonians. He convinced his listeners that the Lord of hosts would break the “yoke of the king of Babylon,” and the temple vessels carried away by Nebuchadnezzar would be returned to Jerusalem within 2 years (Jer 28.2-3). Jeremiah challenged Hananiah's prophetic authority, reminding him that in the story of Dr. Israel's prophets usually predicted not peace, but “war and disaster and pestilence” (Jeremiah 28:8). If a prophet “predicted the world,” then he was recognized as a true prophet only after the prophecy came true (Jer. 28.9). The indignant Ananias broke the yoke that Jeremiah had placed on his neck at the command of God; he presented this as a symbolic action, meaning the imminent destruction of Nebuchadnezzar's power. Jeremiah, on behalf of God, announced the immutability of His will: the city will be captured by the Babylonians, its inhabitants will become slaves of Nebuchadnezzar; instead of the wooden yoke broken by Ananias, an “iron yoke” will be placed on them (Jer 28:12-14). Ananias, according to Jeremiah, was awaiting a quick death; this prophecy came true almost immediately: “And the prophet Hananiah died in the same year, in the seventh month” (Jer 28:17).

  The I. p.k. preserves the text of a letter sent by Jeremiah “to the remnant of the elders among the exiles and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people” (Jer 29.1) - to all those whom Nebuchadnezzar led away in fulfillment of his prophecies into captivity along with King Jehoiachin. Jeremiah calls on the exiles not to believe the promises of the false prophets living among them about imminent release from captivity; instead, they should arrange life in the land where they ended up by God’s permission. They must create families and bear children so that the people will become more numerous, waiting until "seventy years are fulfilled in Babylon"; after this period, the Lord will visit His people to give them “future and hope” (Jer 29. 10-11). The children of Israel must abandon the idea of ​​armed resistance to the invaders; on the contrary, through Jeremiah they receive instructions from God to take care “of the welfare of the city” to which He resettled them (Jer 29:7). While the immigrants will calmly await their time in the land of exile, the Lord promises to pursue those who remained in Palestine against his orders “with sword, famine and pestilence” (Jer. 29.17). Jeremiah predicts a quick punishment awaiting those who contradicted him and promised that the captivity would be short-lived: Ahab, the son of Koliah, Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah (Jer 29.21), Shemaiah the Nehelamite (Jer 29.24).

  Speaking about the impending return from captivity, Jeremiah addresses the exiles taken into captivity with words of consolation. God will save Israel “from a distant country” (Jer 30:10), destroy all the nations among which she was scattered (Jer 30:11), and Himself will heal her many wounds (Jer 30:17). When this happens, the Lord will become “God to all the tribes of Israel” (Jer 31:1), and they will become His people. Those who once left in tears will now be led by the Lord “with consolation” (Jer 31:9). All representatives of the chosen people will have the opportunity to return to their land - not only strong men capable of withstanding a long journey, but also “the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and the woman in labor” (Jer 31.8). Jeremiah speaks of the return not only of the tribe of Judah, but also of all the other tribes of Israel; through him God proclaims: “I am the father of Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn” (Jer 31:9). Comforting the personifying Heb. Rachel's people, who "weep for their children and do not want to be comforted for their children, for they are not" (Jer 31.15; cf. Matthew 2.18), the Lord gives her a promise that "her sons will return" from the land of the enemy... to our own borders” (Jer 31. 16-17).

  The curse for the sin of the fathers will be removed from Buddhism. generations of the chosen people, and the moral rule “the fathers ate sour grapes, but the teeth of the children are set on edge” (Jer 31:29) will no longer have force - everyone will be responsible only for their own sin (Jer 31:30). The Lord promises to renew His covenant “with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,” which they violated, and to make a new covenant with them: the law of God will then be written “on the hearts” of people, and they will all know God (Jer 31:31-34 ). Even the land, which was punished for the sins of the children of Israel, will be restored to its honor - “the whole valley of corpses and ashes” will become “holiness of the Lord” (Jer 31:40).

  The following describes Jeremiah's ministry during the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar's troops. Since Jeremiah predicted a quick victory for the Babylonians and called on all residents to surrender the city without a fight, he was “confined in the courtyard of the guard, which was at the house of the king of Judah” Zedekiah (Jeremiah 32.2). Wanting to encourage those who listened to his prophecies and saw the imminent destruction of the entire country, Jeremiah performs another symbolic action - he buys back the family property, a field in Anathoth, from his relative Anameel. Having drawn up a “record of sale” in accordance with all the rules, he handed it over to “Baruch son of Neriah” in front of witnesses (Jer 32.9-12). Baruch, on his instructions, was to put this bill of sale in a clay vessel so that it would remain “there for many days.” By this, Jeremiah shows his fellow tribesmen that the Lord is not desolating the Holy Land forever: the days will come when “houses and fields and vineyards will be bought again in this land” (Jeremiah 32:15). Following the years of punishment caused by the apostasy of the chosen people from God and idolatry, the restoration of the people will follow when the Lord gathers them “from all countries” and makes an everlasting covenant with them (Jer 32:37, 40). God can not only bring “all this great evil upon this people,” but can also benefit them even more than before (Jer 32:42): life will return to its normal course, people will “buy fields for silver and enter into the records "in that land, which for a long time was considered a desert (Jer 32.44). In the days when the Lord gathers His people, He will raise up for David a “righteous branch” - a Man who “will execute judgment and righteousness on earth” (Jer 33:15). Having rewarded the oppressors of Israel, God will return His people “to their pasture” (Jer 50:19).

  When Nebuchadnezzar's troops besieged Jerusalem, its inhabitants, led by King Zedekiah, entered into a covenant with God, following the call of the prophet. Jeremiah, decided to give freedom to slaves of the same tribe, “so that none of them would keep his brother Judah in slavery” (Jer 34.9); this was the fulfillment of the commandment given by the Lord to Moses after the exodus from Egypt (Exodus 21:2). However, after some time, many of those who committed this good deed repented of it and “began to take back the male and female servants whom they had set free” (Jer 34:11). Jeremiah denounced the insincerity of this appeal to God in the face of mortal danger: those who violated the original promise “disgraced the name” of God, depriving their brothers of freedom and treating them mercilessly, and for this the Lord declares them “freedom to be exposed to the sword, pestilence and famine” ( Jer 34. 16-17).

  Persecution of the prophet

  

  (Jer 36-45). The I. p.k. contains the history of the origin of the first recordings of the prophet’s words. The Lord commanded Jeremiah to take a “book scroll” and write down in it everything that He told him “about Israel and about Judah,” so that the inhabitants of Judah would have the opportunity later. read what is written, repent and turn to God (Jer 36. 1-3). By order of the prophet, who was in prison at that moment, Baruch, the son of Neriah, did this work for him: he wrote down “from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord” and read everything written “in the hearing of the people in the house of the Lord” (Jer 36:4-6) . The news of this act reached several people. people close to the king who called Baruch in order to listen to the words written in the book (Jer 36:11-15). Shocked by what they heard, they handed the scroll to King Joachim, and Baruch and Jeremiah were given the opportunity to hide. When the scroll was read to the king, he and his servants “were not afraid, neither did they tear their clothes” (Jer 36:24); as he read, he cut off “three or four columns” and threw them into the brazier standing in front of him, so that in the end “the whole scroll was destroyed by fire” (Jer 36:23-24). Joachim even ordered the arrest of Jeremiah and Baruch, but this was not carried out, because “The Lord hid them” (Jer 36.26). At the command of God, they restored all the words that were written on the burnt scroll, “and many similar words were added to them” (Jer 36:32). Joachim, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah, will be punished for his sin - his “corpse... will be thrown into the heat of the day and the cold of the night,” and none of his descendants will reign on the throne of David (Jer 36.30).

  

  King Zedekiah sent to Jeremiah to inquire about the will of God when he saw Egypt approaching Jerusalem. troops, the Babylonians hastened to temporarily lift the siege and retreat from the city (Jer 37. 1-5). Jeremiah called on the king and all the inhabitants not to be deceived by the temporary military success of the Egyptians and not to enter into an alliance with them against Nebuchadnezzar, since the victory of the Babylonians was predetermined by God and therefore inevitable. The consequence of these prophecies was the arrest of Jeremiah, who was suspected of wanting to “run over to the Chaldeans” (Jer 37.14). The enemies of the prophet, having asked permission from King Zedekiah, threw Jeremiah into a pit (Jer 38.6); he was saved from death only thanks to the intercession of Ebedmelech, who also pulled the prophet out of the pit with the help of ropes (Jer 38. 12-13). Having come to the king, Jeremiah revealed to him the only way to save the king’s life for himself and his subjects: “... if you go out to the princes of the king of Babylon, then your soul will live, and this city will not be burned with fire, and you will live, and your house” (Jer 38:17). Zedekiah did not heed the advice of the prophet, and in the 11th year of his reign the city was taken (Jer 39.2). Babylonian soldiers captured Zedekiah, who was trying to hide in the vicinity of Jericho; his sons were stabbed to death by order of Nebuchadnezzar, and his eyes were gouged out (Jer 39.4-7). Jeremiah's prophecies were fulfilled: Zedekiah became a humiliated, blind captive of Nebuchadnezzar, who was taken in chains to Babylon (Jer 39.7). Nebuzaradan, the chief of Nebuchadnezzar's bodyguard, was ordered not to do “anything bad” to Jeremiah or interfere with his desires; Jeremiah “remained to live among the people,” that is, among those poor inhabitants of Judea who, after the fall of Jerusalem, were not taken into captivity and continued to live in their land (Jeremiah 39:10, 12, 14). At the suggestion of Nebuzaradan, Jeremiah settled in the house of Gedaliah, who had been appointed the new ruler of Judah.

  Gedaliah called on the people to live in peace with the conquerors, which would allow them to exist peacefully on their land. Despite numerous warnings, Gedaliah did not believe in the plot of Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, who wanted to kill him and seize power. Because of Gedaliah's carelessness, Ishmael's plan succeeded: he killed Gedaliah and many of his supporters and for a short time "captured ... the whole remnant of the people" (Jer 41:10). Soon, however, due to the indignation of the people, he was forced to flee “to the sons of Ammon” (Jer 41:15), and the Jews, fearing Nebuchadnezzar’s revenge for the murder of the ruler he had appointed, decided to move as quickly as possible to Egypt (Jer 41:17) and turned to Jeremiah with a request to find out the will of God about them. All the rulers and “all the people, from the least of them to the greatest” (Jer 42:1) promised to unquestioningly do everything that he commanded them (Jer 42:5-6). After 10 days, Jeremiah, having received a revelation from God, called on the “remnant of Judah” to remain in their land and promised safety to those who follow this instruction, and destruction to those who go to Egypt (Jer 42. 7-17). Despite these promises, Johanan, the son of Kareah, and other leaders of the Jews did not listen to Jeremiah, but to the “impudent people” who accused him of wanting to betray the people “into the hands of the Chaldeans”; they took their families, plural. inhabitants of Judah, as well as Jeremiah and Baruch and went to Egypt (Jer 43. 1-7).

  Jeremiah continued to prophesy, predicting Nebuchadnezzar's imminent victory over Egypt and the destruction of Egypt. cults (Jer 43.10-13). All the Jews who violated God’s command and came of their own free will “to the land of Egypt” will be destroyed “from the least of them to the greatest” (Jer 44:12). Jeremiah's words made no impression on the people. On the contrary, people explained their troubles by the fact that for a while they “stopped... burning incense to the goddess of heaven and pouring out libations to her” (Jer 44:18). Having exposed the wrongfulness of the Jews, Jeremiah promised to show them a sign: God will deliver “Pharaoh Bethri, king of Egypt, into the hands of his enemies and into the hands of those who seek his life” (Jer 44:30).

  Prophecies about pagan nations

  (Jer 46-51). The wrath of God is destined not only for the Egyptians, but also for the inhabitants of Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia (Jer 46.9), Ammon (Jer 46.25), Tire and Sidon (Jer 47.4), Moab (Jer 48.1), Edom ( Jer 49.7), the Philistines (Jer 47.1, 4), etc. All these nations will be exterminated for their hostility to Israel and serving false gods, and God will only punish His people “to the extent” (Jer 46.28). Jeremiah gives a vivid picture of the destruction of cities, the flight of their population in fear of the righteous wrath of God, the extermination of the nobility and ordinary inhabitants.

  The culmination of the prophecy about the pagan peoples is the prediction about the fall of the Babylonian kingdom and the destruction of the idols revered in it: “Babylon was taken, Bel was put to shame, Merodach was crushed...” (Jer 50.2). Because the Babylonians “jumped for joy like a heifer on the grass and neighed like war horses” (Jer 50:11) during the sack of Jerusalem, many will rise up against them. nations “from the land of the north” (Jer 50:9), who will destroy their land and make it uninhabitable. Because Babylon “revolted against the Lord,” it will forever become “a terror among the nations” (Jer 50:23-24). Jeremiah wrote the entire text of the prophecy about the disasters of Babylon “in one book” (Jer 51.60) and gave this book to Seraiah, the son of Neriah, who was going to Babylon with King Zedekiah. Seraiah received orders from Jeremiah upon his arrival in Babylon to read the book, then tie a stone to it and throw it “into the middle of the Euphrates.” This action was supposed to symbolize the future. the death of Babylon, which will “sink... and not rise” when its time comes (Jeremiah 51:63-64).

  Historical epilogue

  

  (Jer 52). The last chapter of the book contains the story of the Babylonians' robbery of the Jerusalem Temple; a detailed list is given of the sacred vessels and precious temple utensils taken away by order of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 52.17-23). The deportation and subsequent execution of the high priest and other temple servants is reported (Jer 52:24, 27). The book ends with a story about the rise among other captives of the Jewish king Joachim under the Babylonian king Evilmerodach, who assigned Joachim a permanent salary.

  Main themes

  Yahweh, God of Israel

  One of the main goals of Jeremiah's preaching was to restore faith in the true God and turn away his fellow tribesmen from the pagan cults that had become popular at that time (see, for example: Jer 2. 10-13). The children of Israel for several years. centuries, under the influence of surrounding peoples, they were inclined to worship Baal (Jer 7.9), Astarte (in Jer 7.18 she is called the “goddess of heaven”), Moloch (Jer 32.35) and many others. etc. (Jer 2.28). Pagan consciousness is so deeply rooted in the people that, in the opinion of many. contemporaries of Jeremiah, their well-being directly depended on how regularly they performed pagan worship (Jeremiah 44. 17-18). Jeremiah tells the Israelites about the true God and contrasts Him with false gods. Pagan idols are not gods (Jer 2.11; 5.7), serving them is meaningless (Jer 3.23), they are like “broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jer 2.13) and, being deprived of life, remain only wood or stone (Jer 2:27). Everything that happens in the world happens not thanks to the pagan gods and not on its own, but only by the will of the true God (Jer 14:22).

  It is impossible to do anything contrary to the will of the Lord - even the waves of the sea rushing to the shore cannot cross the boundaries established by Him (Jer 5:22). He created “the earth, man and animals” and He Himself controls the fate of all created things (Jer 27:5). Not only Israel, but everything else. the nations are in the complete power of God, like “clay in the potter’s hand” (Jer 18:6; cf. Jer 10:10). Numerous examples of the omnipotence of God, given in I. p.k., “should have inspired more than just fear” (Mitchell. 1901) - Yahweh reveals Himself not only as a formidable Judge, but also as “a source of living water” (Jer. 2. 13). For everyone who turns to Him and places their trust in Him, He will be “like a mighty warrior” (Jer 20:11), helping in all labors and saving from dangers. The Lord must become the only hope of the chosen people, since only in Him lies the “salvation of Israel” (Jer 3:23), which is sought in vain in political conspiracies and alien religions. cults

  I. p.k. testifies that Yahweh is omniscient and omnipresent: He is not only “God... near,” but “God even afar,” from whom no person can “hide in a secret place” (Jer. 23.23 -24). God's knowledge of people is not limited to the knowledge of all their actions - Jeremiah calls Him “a righteous judge, who searches hearts and bellies” (Jeremiah 11:20). The main goal of human life is the knowledge of the Lord, Who Himself testifies: “I am the Lord, who shows mercy, judgment and righteousness on earth...” (Jer 9.24).

  Relationship between God and His people

  occupy a central place in the theology of IPK. Israel is represented in the image of an unfaithful wife, who, having betrayed Yahweh, her lawful Spouse, “committed fornication with many lovers” (Jer 3.1). Seeing these betrayals, God repeatedly appealed to His people to return (Jer 3:7), but He was not heard. He only requires Israel to “remove the abominations” of idolatry from before Him and to repent of their sins, promising complete forgiveness. The comparison of apostasy with prostitution (Jer 2.20-25; 3.1-13) combines the words of Jeremiah with other prophetic books, in particular the Books of Ezekiel and Hosea. Blenkinsopp points to Jeremiah's adherence to the Ephraimite prophetic tradition (Blenkinsopp 1983, p. 162).

  The wickedness of the people and neglect of the commandments increased so much that it became a test of God's patience. Certain passages of the I. p. Turning to idolatry destroyed the works of many. generations of righteous people in the history of Israel, so that even the intercession of Moses and Samuel could not soften the righteous anger of Yahweh (Jer 15:1), since He “was tired of showing mercy” (Jer 15:6). However, despite these threats, designed to demonstrate to Israel its plight, God, if “the people... turn from their evil deeds” (Jeremiah 18:8), is always ready to cancel His sentence.

  The Giving of the New Covenant

  The covenant with God, concluded after the exodus from Egypt, was broken by “the house of Israel and the house of Judah,” who renounced the fulfillment of the commandments and “went after foreign gods” (Jer 11:10). The abandonment of the covenant is named in the I.P.K. as the main cause of the historical catastrophe of the chosen people - the destruction of statehood, the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and many years of Babylonian captivity. The restoration of the covenant with the Lord is one of the main themes of Jeremiah’s preaching (see, for example: Jer 11:6). Despite the fact that both Jeremiah’s contemporaries (see, for example: Jer 34.18) and previous generations of the people turned out to be unfaithful to God and violators of His covenant, Yahweh “remained in union with them,” did not completely abandon His people and called them to conversion (Jer 31:32).

  According to I. p.k., God's forgiveness awaiting Israel will be accompanied by the renewal of the covenant, which will be concluded according to the model of the previous one. Giving the house of Israel and the house of Judah, mired in sins, hope for salvation, the Lord promises to enter into a new covenant with them, to put His law “inside them” and write it “on their hearts” (Jer 31:33). The giving of the new covenant will be accompanied by the self-revelation of God, and then the people who will belong to His people “will no longer... say: ‘Know the Lord,’” because they will all know Him (Jer 31:34 ).

  A. K. Lyavdansky, E. V. Barsky

  I. p.k. in the intertestamental and early Christian tradition

  Intertestamental literature

  According to a number of researchers, the self-awareness of the members of Qumran. communities as communities of the new covenant (cf.: CD 6. 19; 8. 21; 19. 33-34; 20. 12) can be considered against the background of the prophecy in Jer 31. 31 (Wolff. 1976. S. 124-130) , against this, however, is evidenced by the fact that Qumran. ideas about the covenant are obviously connected with the book. Exodus. The Damascus Document (CD 7.2 and 20.17) emphasizes the responsibility of each member of the community to instruct his brothers and show them the path of righteousness, which contradicts the prophecy of Jeremiah 31.34, according to which no one will have to teach in the people of the new covenant. others to the law, for the knowledge of God will be given to everyone.

  Philo of Alexandria shows noticeably greater interest in I. p.k. than in the writings of other prophets. He admits that he considers himself a disciple of Jeremiah (Philo. De cherub. 49, 51-52; cf. Jer. 3.4 LXX). Referring to Jer 2.13, Philo calls God the source of life (Philo. De fuga et invent. 197-201); words: “Woe to me, my mother, that you gave birth to me as a man who argues and quarrels with the whole earth!” - interprets as the lamentations of a sage seeking to protect the soul from shocks (Idem. De confus. ling. 44; 49-51 (Jer. 15. 10)). The text of the quote at the end does not coincide with either LXX or MT; apparently, it was given from memory. Quite often Philo uses the words of the prophet without mentioning his name (cf.: Philo. De spec. leg. II 79-80, 84 - the demand for the release of Jewish slaves in the 7th year (Jer. 34.14)).

  New Testament

  In the Epistles of St. Paul quite often comes across the words of the prophet about the law, which will be written in the heart of man (Jer 31:33), that a wise man should not boast of wisdom (Jer 9:23), about the calling from the mother’s womb (Jer 1:5 ), and above all the promise of a new covenant (Jer 31:31). What is up. Paul designates the Corinthian community as “a letter of Christ, written through our ministry... on tables of flesh of the heart” (2 Cor 3.3), some interpreters explain the influence of I. p.k. (cf. Jer 31.31, 33) (Luz . 1967. S. 322-323) or Proverbs 3.3 (cf. also: Proverbs 7.3). Since the idea of ​​the law in the heart of the believer, and not in the letters of Scripture, was widespread, the passage Rom 2. 15 (“they show that the work of the law is written in their hearts”) cannot be understood only as a result of the influence of I. p. . To.; the apostle speaks about the law in the heart of man, addressing people listening to his preaching and reading his messages, in the present. time, the prophet predicts that this will come true in Israel only in eschatological time, which, in the opinion of the apostle, has not yet arrived.

  It is controversial whether the words of 1 Cor 1.31 (“so that it may be, as it is written: “He who boasts, boast in the Lord””) can be explained by the influence of Jeremiah’s words about a wise man who should not boast (Jer. 9.23) (Schreiner. 1974 ). Closer to 1 Cor 1.31 than the text of Jeremiah, according to researchers, is the passage 1 Kings 2.10 (LXX) (Dassmann. 1994); The similarity between the words of the apostle and the prophet can also be explained by the influence on the former of the sayings of wisdom that were widespread at that time (Wolff. 1976. S. 139). The apostle's good knowledge of Jeremiah 9.23 is evidenced by the fact that plurals are used in 1 Cor. 1.18 - 2.5. words from this passage I. p. k. (Rusche. 1987. S. 119). The question of the possible influence on the apostle of Jeremiah’s understanding that he was called to ministry from his mother’s womb (Gal. 1.15) also has no final solution; In addition to Jeremiah 1.5, interpreters point to Isaiah 49.1 as a possible source of influence (Holtz. 1966. S. 325-326). The theme of the new covenant, important in the theology of the prophet, is developed in the Epistle to the Hebrews, as evidenced by the large quotation of Jeremiah 31.31-34 in Hebrews 8.8-12 with minimal deviations from the text of LXX.

  Researchers see possible influences of I. p.k. in chapters 17-18 of Revelation, which describes God’s judgment on Babylon (Wolff. 1976. S. 166-169, cf. with the prediction of the fall of Babylon in Jeremiah 50-51; cf. also: Rev 18:22-23 and Jer 25:10). Obvious, according to researchers, allusions to the Books of the prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, who also predicted the judgment of Babylon, Tire and Edom, cities (nations) allegorically understood by the Jews after the catastrophe of 70 as an indication of Rome, force scientists to conclude that , that the seer John may have had in front of him not I. p. k., but a Jewish collection of testimonies (thematic selections of texts from the books of the prophets), containing prophetic words about Babylon and other enemies of Israel, now transferred to Rome (Wolff. 1976 . S. 172).

  I-III centuries

  The apostolic men cite only those places in I. p.k. where Jeremiah prophesies about the upcoming judgment over the house of Judah. His words are found mainly in the so-called. mixed quotes along with the words of other prophets, and this gives researchers grounds to assert that in this case the so-called. testimony. Many examples of such mixed quotations, including verses by I. p.k., are given by the 1st Epistle of St. Clement of Rome to the Corinthians (for example, the quotation in Clem. Rom. Ep. I ad Cor. 13. 1 is compiled from Jer. 9. 23 LXX, 1 Cor. 1. 31 and 1 Sam. 2. 10). In other quotations from the book of the prophet used by Clement, for example. in Ep. I ad Cor. 8.3, researchers see similarities with Jer 3.19, 22 and 24.7, as well as with Ezek 33.11; in Ep. I ad Cor. 60. 3 in addition to pl. other places from the books of the prophets are quoted from Jer 21.10; 24.6; 39. 21. The author of Barnabas the Apostle of the Epistle often resorts to the prophecies of I. p. k. to show the superiority of Christ. understanding of the OT over the Jewish one. Barnaba citation method. Ep. 2. 5-8, according to researchers, also indicates the use of testimonies by the author of the collection. After Isa 1.11-13 there follows a mixed quotation from Jer 7.22-23 and Zech 8.17 and 7.10, then to justify the rejection of the Jewish sacrificial cult, words containing an allusion to Ps 51 (50) are given.19. Only Christians correctly understand Scripture (Barnaba. Ep. 9. 1-3), for this was predicted by the prophets, including Jeremiah (Jer. 4. 4 and 7. 2; 31. 13). Just like the early Christ. apologists (cf.: Iust. Martyr. Dial. 28. 2-3), the author of the Epistle mentions the Jews’ misunderstanding of the meaning of the commandment about circumcision in the transmission of Jeremiah: “Behold, says the Lord: all nations are not circumcised and have foreskin; but this people is not circumcised in heart” (Barnaba. Ep. 9. 5-6; Jer. 9. 25-26).

  Sschmch. Justin the Philosopher in the Apology often uses I. p.k., speaking in I Apol. 47.5 about prophet. Isaiah, who predicted the decree of the emperor. Adrian about the ban on Jews appearing in Jerusalem, he quotes, however, it contains words not only from Isaiah (Isaiah 1.7), but also from Jeremiah (Jer. 2.15; 50.3 or Jer. 52.27). In I Apol. 53. 10, with reference to Isaiah, also quotes words from Jeremiah 9. 26. In creating the Dialogue with Tryphon, Justin apparently used the LXX directly. The quotation from Dial 78.18 shows that the author argues mainly from prophecies that were fulfilled in the NT. For Justin, Jeremiah is, first of all, the prophet of the new covenant (Iust. Martyr. Dial. 12.2; 24.1). He refers to Jeremiah 31.31 when answering the question of how Christians who do not fulfill the Torah can hope for the promises of God (Ibid. 11.3). It cannot be ruled out that, speaking about the new covenant, he, along with the words of Isaiah about the new law, may also have in mind Jeremiah’s prophecy about the new covenant (cf.: Ibid. 34. 1; 43. 1; 67. 9; 118. 3) .

  A number of well-known images and representations of I. p. k. often use schmch. Irenaeus of Lyons (the formation of man in the womb of the mother (Iren. Adv. haer. V 15. 3; cf.: Jer 1. 5); “broken reservoirs” (Iren. Adv. haer. III 24. 1; cf.: Jer 2 13); the parable of the potter (Iren. Dem. 81; cf. Jer. 18. 2-6)). Certain places of I. p.k. before Irenaeus in early Christ. liters were not cited. For example, in one of the Old Testament indications of the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God, he cites the words of Jeremiah 17.9 (LXX): “And He is Man, and who can know Him?” (cf.: Iren. Adv. haer. III 18.3; 19.2; IV 33.1). Dr. passages are given in polemics with the Gnostics, with their ideas about the imaginary suffering of Christ (Ibid. III 21.9). Irenaeus considers references to Jeremiah particularly convincing (“Jeremiah... proves even more clearly” - Ibid. IV 33.12; cf. Jeremiah 15.9). The words of the prophet: “...in the last days you will clearly understand this” - he refers to the understanding of the Old Testament prophecies about Christ (Iren. Adv. haer. IV 26. 1 (Jer 23. 20)), and in criticism of Jewish sacrifices and the Pharisees teachings about righteousness were the first of the early Christians. The authors refer to Jeremiah 7 (Iren. Adv. haer. IV 17. 2-3; 18. 3; 36. 2). The theme of the new testament is of equal great interest to Irenaeus in connection with his idea of ​​the return of the “churches made up of the nations” to Jerusalem in the eschatological time of the “earthly kingdom of the saints” (Ibid. V 34. 3; III 8. 2 (cf.: Jer. 31. 11); Iren. Dem. 90 (cf. Jer. 31. 34); V 34. 1 (cf.: Jer 16. 14-15)).

  Sschmch. Hippolytus of Rome, the first of the early Christians. The authors show interest in the historical circumstances of Jeremiah's sermon, and quite rarely use I. p.k. in their exegetical and theological works. In I. p.k. he sees prophecies about the Antichrist: for example, in the rarely quoted verse: “... to make his land a horror, an everlasting mockery, so that everyone who passes through it will be amazed and shake his head” (cf. .: Hipp. De Christ. et Antichrist. 15 (Jer. 18. 16)); in other places: Hipp. De Christ. et Antichrist. 54, 57 (Jer 4.11); Hipp. In Dan. IV 49. 6. About the Phrygians, Hippolytus says that they attribute the cry of Rachel in Rama (cf. Jer 31.15) to Jerusalem, and not to the city in Phenicia. But only a person reborn by water and the Spirit understands this, as Jeremiah said: “...He is Man, and who can know Him?” (cf.: Hipp. Refut. V 8. 37-38 (Jer 17. 9 LXX)). Hippolyte, like many before him, interpreted this verse Christologically (Hippolite de Rome. Homélies pascales. P., 1950. P. 170, 172. (SC; 27)).

  I. p. k. are often mentioned by zap. authors. Tertullian uses the prophecies of Jeremiah to support his arguments in polemical works (see, for example: Tertull. Adv. Marcion. IV 29. 15). Thus, condemning Israel for being deaf to the word of prophetic preaching, Tertullian quotes Jer 7. 23-25 ​​and Jer 2. 31 (Tertull. Adv. Marcion. IV 31. 4-5). Because of Israel's unbelief, the prophet is forbidden to intercede for his people (Idem. De pudic. 2. 4-6; cf. Ibid. 19. 28; cf. Jer. 14. 12; 11. 14; 7. 16). The verse cited most often is Jer 4.4, which, together with verses from Jer 31, predicts a new covenant through “circumcision of the heart” and therefore plays a large role in the controversy with Marcion (Tertull. Adv. Marcion. I 20. 4; IV 1. 6; 11. 9; V 4. 7; Adv. 3. 7; Jer 11.19 (in LXX or Vulg. version). Tertullian understands it as a prophetic reference to the cross and the Eucharist (Tertull. Adv. Marcion. III 19. 3; IV 40. 3; Adv. Iud. 10. 12). Dr. Jer 17.6 is considered a prophecy about Christ (Tertull. De carn. Christ. 15.1; Adv. Iud. 14.6; Adv. Marcion. III 7.6).

  Sschmch. Cyprian, bishop Carthage, in “Three Books of Evidence against the Jews” often resorts to the authority of the prophet. Jeremiah. In the 1st book under the name of prophet. Ezekiel cites Jer 6. 17-18 and Jer 1. 5 (Cypr. Carth. Test. adv. Jud. 1. 21), verses about circumcision of the heart, about the true shepherds of the people are quoted (Ibid. 1. 8 (Jer 4. 3 -4; 3. 15 and Jer 31. 10-11)). The words of prophecy justify the reproach to the Jews who did not recognize Christ (Cypr. Carth. Test. adv. Jud. 1. 3 (Jer. 2. 13; 6. 10; 8. 7-9)) and did not understand the meaning of Scripture (Cypr. Carth. Test. adv. Jud. 1. 4; compare: Jer. 25. 4-7 and Jer. 23. 20). This is evidenced by the promise of a new covenant and the story of the breaking of the yoke (Cypr. Carth. Test. adv. Jud. 1. 11, 13 (Jer. 31. 31-34; 30. 8-9)). In Book 2, Jeremiah's prophecies provide evidence that Jesus was the true Messiah. Places are cited that are already traditionally understood Christologically: the prophet spoke of two natures in Christ (Cypr. Carth. Test. adv. Jud. 2. 10 (Et homo est, et quis cognoscet eum? - Jer. 17. 9)); in Jer 11. 18-19 - about Christ as the Immaculate Lamb and His crucifixion (Cypr. Carth. Test. adv. Jud. 2. 15, 20). Cyprian wrote for the first time in early Christ. In literature there is a Christological interpretation of Jer 15.9 as a prophecy about the darkness that came at the moment of the crucifixion of Christ (Ibid. 2.23), in Jer 7.34 or Jer 16.9 there are indications of Christ (the groom) and His Church (the bride ). Cyprian often uses the text of Chapter 23. I. p.k. about worthless shepherds and false prophets (Cypr. Carth. De unit. Eccl. 11; 23. 16-17; Ep. 43. 5 (Jer. 23. 21-22, 26-27); Cypr. Carth . De orat. Dom. 4; De lapsis. 27 (Jer. 23. 23-24), quotes the words of the prophet about the appointment of new shepherds (Cypr. Carth. Ep. 4. 1; De habitu virginum. 1 (Jer. 3. 15). )), about “broken reservoirs” and about springs (Cypr. Carth. De unit. Eccl. 11 (Jer 2. 13; 23. 21-22)). Jer 11. 14 is cited twice (the prohibition for the prophet to intercede for the people - Cypr). . Carth. De lapsis. 19). In Ep. 73. 6 the words about “deceptive and faithless water” (aqua mendax et perfida) are understood as a reference to the water of baptism of heretics.

  The words of the prophet in Lactantius illustrate various theological positions. Thus, he calls heretics waterless reservoirs, who do not have living water (Lact. Div. inst. IV 30. 1 (Jer. 2. 13)). I. p.k. is used in anti-Jewish polemics: the new covenant from Jeremiah 31.31-32 is promised only to the Gentiles; the Jews, according to Jeremiah 12.7-8, left their home and renounced their inheritance (Lact. Div. inst. IV 20.5-10; Epitom. 43.4). They killed the prophets sent to them (Idem. Div. inst. IV 11. 3-4 (Jer. 25. 4-7)) and, finally, Jesus Christ. The prophecy about the sun setting during the day refers to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans (Lact. Epitom. 41. 6; Div. inst. IV 19. 4 (Jer. 15. 9)). Mn. the prophecies often quoted in the testimonies are interpreted by Lactantius as indicating the events of the Gospels; for example, the comparison with the spotless lamb prefigures the death of Christ on the cross (Lact. Div. inst. IV 18. 27-28 (Jer 11. 18-19)), Jer 17. 9 (in the tradition of LXX) together with Bar 3. 36- 38 testify to His true humanity (Lact. Epitom. 39. 5-6; Div. inst. IV 13. 8-10).

  In the Alexandrian School of Theology, I. p.c. was used quite widely. Clement of Alexandria most often quotes the comparison of the Jews, who had fallen away from the Lord, with lustful stallions (Clem. Alex. Paed. I 15.1; 77.1; II 89.2; Strom. III 102.3; 105.2; IV 12. 4). He often cites Jeremiah 23.23-24 (“Am I God only near, says the Lord, and not God afar off? Can a man hide in a secret place where I cannot see him? ... Do I not fill heaven and earth ?), to emphasize the omnipresence of God, from whom man cannot hide (Clem. Alex. Protrept. 78. 1; Strom. II 5. 4-5; IV 43. 1; V 119. 3; V 64. 3- 4).

  Origen considered I. p.k. along with the Epistle of Jeremiah and the Lamentations of Jeremiah as a single book belonging to Heb. canon. Like other Jews. prophets (Isaiah, Ezekiel, Moses, Old Testament patriarchs), Jeremiah, according to Origen, prophesied about Christ (Orig. In Ezech. hom. 8. 2; In Ioan. comm. 20. 42; Contr. Cels. 7. 7). More often than others, chapters 1-25 are quoted, as well as Jer 31. Origen’s favorites include Jer 1. 5 (about the calling of the prophet in the womb), which, together with other places, is considered by him as the basis for the doctrine of the pre-existence of souls (Orig. De princip. I 7.4; III 3.5; In Ioan. comm. 13.49). Origen’s attention is also drawn to Jer 2.21 (the prophet’s lament about the destruction of the vine planted by God - Orig. Cant. Cantic. 2; In Ezech. hom. 5. 5; In Ep. ad Rom. 6. 5, etc.) and already has become traditional. the contrast between “broken reservoirs” and “a source of living water” (Idem. In Num. 12.4; 17.4; Exp. in Proverb. 27.40 // PG. 17. Col. 241 and others (Jer. 2.13 )). In plural Jeremiah's words about adultery are quoted in places (Orig. In Gen. hom. 1. 15; 2. 6; In Exod. hom. 8. 5; In Lev. 12. 5; In Ep. ad Rom. 7. 18; In Ioan . comm. 20. 32 (Jer. 3)), from Jer. 4 only vv. 3 with a call to plow “new fields” and not to sow “between thorns” (Orig. In Num. 23. 8; In Judic. hom. 7. 2; In Matth. 294, etc.) and art. 22 about the foolishness of the Jews, who are “clever for evil, but do not know how to do good” (Idem. In Math. 16. 22; In Ep. ad Rom. 10. 36; etc.). Jer 5.8 is quoted in various contexts 10 times (Orig. In Gen. hom. 5.4; In Exod. hom. 6.2; In Ios. 15.3; In Ezech. hom. 3.8; etc. ); in addition, from the 5th chapter. I.p.k. Origen often uses art. 14 about the words of the prophet acting like “fire” (Idem. In Exod. hom. 13.4; In Ioan. comm. 10.18); Jer 9. 23: a call not to boast in wisdom and wealth (Orig. In Matt. 10. 19; In Ep. ad Rom. 4. 9), as well as Art. 25 about the “uncircumcision of heart” of the Jews (Idem. In Gen. hom. 3.4). Images and metaphors from the prophet’s texts sometimes help Origen clearly express the idea of ​​the sermon, for example: “...I am like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter...” (Idem. In Ioan. comm. 1. 22; 6. 51, 53, 55 (Jer 11. 19)), about a partridge that hatched eggs that it did not lay (Orig. In Exod. hom. 1. 5 (Jer 17. 11)), or about hunters and fishermen sent Lord, so that they bring back the Jews from the dispersion (Orig. Cant. Cantic. 3; In Ep. ad Rom. 1. 4 (Jer. 16. 16)). Starting from Chapter 26, the book is used much less frequently. The exception is Chapter 31. I. p.k. with words about Rachel's weeping (Orig. In Matt. 34 (Jer 31. 15-16)) or a parable about fathers who ate sour grapes, and about children having “the teeth set on edge” (Orig. In Exod. hom. 10. 4; In Mat. 17. 24 (Jer. 31. 29-30)). In Ep. ad Rom. 8. 12 (PG. 14. Col. 1196) Origen quotes the word of promise about the forgiveness of the sins of Israel (Jer. 31. 37).

  Knowledge of I. p.c. Origen shows in his homilies on this book. 20 homilies out of no less than 39 have survived. Although Origen could not rely on earlier commentaries, he knew some already existing interpretations (Orig. In Ier. hom. 1. 6; 11. 3; 14. 5; 15. 3; 18 . 4), including Jewish ones (Ibid. 13. 2; 14. 3; 20. 2, 5). But in addition to possible Jewish influences, Origen’s interpretation of I. p.k. relies as its main source on the church tradition of that time. This is evidenced by the following points: understanding the word of Jeremiah as the word of God, and Jeremiah as the “image of Christ” (Ibid. 1. 6; 15. 11; 19. 12); Christological interpretation of the words about the spotless lamb in Jer. 11. 19 (Orig. In Ier. hom. 10. 1) (found already in the martyr Justin); interpretation of the parable of the potter as a prophecy of the resurrection (found already in the 2nd Epistle of Clement of Rome). A partridge hatching eggs that are not its own, according to Origen, is an image of the devil (Orig. In Ier. hom. 17. 2 (Jer. 17. 11; in the martyr Hippolytus this is a prophecy about the Antichrist - Hipp. De Christ. et Antichrist. 54-55 ). Origen also understands the words about true “circumcision of the heart”, about worthy praise, about the source of living water and about broken reservoirs in the traditional sense (Peri. 1974. P. 7-8). 4 main themes of dogmatic interpretations of the prophecies of Jeremiah. 1. Emphasizing the mutual influence of the preacher and the hearers (Orig. In Ier. hom. 14. 3), the importance of preparing for the sermon (Ibid. 5. 13), for the unprepared sows among the thorns (Origenes. 1976). . Vol. 1. P. 152-157 (Jer. 4. 3)); persecution of the Christian preacher is typified in the fate of the prophet (Orig. In Ier. hom. 8. 8; 20. 8). The commentaries are occupied by apologetic themes: criticism of those who reject Divine Providence, Jews and heretics (Origenes. 1976. Vol. 1. P. 157-166 3. Dogmatic themes are presented in great detail in the interpretation of Jeremiah, primarily the doctrine of God and triadology). , as well as issues of eschatology (Ibid. P. 167-179; Orig. In Ier. hom. 20). 4. The images and teachings of the prophet are used in the general call of believers to repentance (Origenes. 1976. Vol. 1. P. 179-181).

  III-IV centuries

  Sschmch. Methodius, bishop Patarsky, sometimes demonstrates a new understanding of a number of places from I. p.k., for example. Christological understanding of the parable of the potter from Jeremiah 18.3-4: just as the potter makes a new vessel instead of the old one that had collapsed, so God put Christ in the place of Adam (Method. Olymp. Conv. decem virg. 3.5). The words of the prophet about the difference between good and bad figs, according to Methodius, emphasize how different the gifts of Christ are from the false gifts of the devil (Ibid. 10. 5 (Jer. 24. 3)). Many images of I. p.k. are understood as allegories of actions or states of mind. The “forehead of the harlot” of Jerusalem becomes a symbol of the soul defiled by the devil and his servants (Method. Olymp. Conv. decem virg. 6. 1 (Jer 3. 3)), and the “decoration” and “outfit” of the girl become images of the mind and love for God , which do not allow the weakening of “the bonds of chastity in the face of temptations and deceptions” (Method. Olymp. Conv. decem virg. 4.6 (Jer. 2.32)). Neighing horses are polygamists who “have relations with various women” (Method. Olymp. Conv. decem virg. 1.3 (Jer. 5.8)).

  

  Eusebius, bishop Caesarea in Palestine (Euseb. Eclog. proph. 33-37 // PG. 22. Col. 1160-1168), refers to Christ and His ministry a number of places from I. p.k. (Jer. 11. 18-19; 12 7-11; 16. 19-21; 23. 5-6; 30. 8-9 and many verses from Jer. 31 and Jer. 33). Mn. passages from I. p.k. are used together with other biblical evidence, primarily with the Book of Prophets. Isaiah and with the Psalter (Euseb. Eclog. proph. 3 // PG. 22. Col. 1031-1032 (Jer. 23. 24); Ibid. 11 // PG. 22. Col. 1079-1080 (Jer. 33. 17- 18)). The same thing happens in the “Gospel Proof,” where the author provides evidence of the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises in Christ. More often than others, the events reported in Jeremiah 52 are mentioned (Idem. Demonstr. VI 18.4; VIII 8.1, 14, 30-31; 2.51, 58-59 and many others), as well as the promise of a new covenant (Ibid. I 4.5, 7-9; 6.57-60; 7.23; II 3.39 (Jer 31.31-34)). In the exegetical works of Eusebius pl. the poems of I. p.k., already used by previous authors, are understood in the tradition of Origen’s allegory; for example, Jer 2. 13 is often associated with Jer 17. 13, where the Lord is spoken of as the source of living water, which is contrasted with water from broken cisterns made by the Jews (cf.: Euseb. In Is. I 81. 84) ; the image of a man is like a lustful stallion (Idem. In Ps. 22. 1-2; 72. 18-20; 75. 5 // PG. 23. Col. 216; 845; 881), the promise of a new covenant (Jer. 31. 31) is given along with the commandment to obey the Lord (Jer 7.23) (Euseb. In Is. II 44; In Ps. 27. 1-2, 9; 77. 1). The most detailed interpretation of a number of passages from I. p.k. is contained in the commentary on the psalms (Idem. In Ps. 74. 7-9 // PG. 23. Col. 872-873).

  In the catenas compiled in the 9th century. Jacobite mon. Sevier of Edessa, large commentaries on I. p. k. st. have been preserved. Ephraim the Syrian. The question of whether these texts belonged to Ephraim has not been finally resolved (Burkitt F. C. S. Ephraim's Quotations from the Gospel. Camb., 1901, 1967r. P. 87; Beck E. Ephraem Syrus // RAC. 1962. Bd. 5. S. 521) The interpretations are based on individual verses from Jer 1-25; 34-35; 45-51 (Kannengiesser. 1974), in some cases a Christological meaning is discerned in the text (Jer 23. 4-5; 31. 2). -6).

  In the commentary on I.p.k.blzh. Theodorit, bishop. Cyrus (the largest in the early Church - Theodoret. In Jerem. // PG. 81. Col. 495-807), the historical approach prevails, which, however, does not prevent the author from interpreting a number of images allegorically. So, according to his thoughts, in Jeremiah 5.6 (“... a lion from the forest will strike them, a wolf of the desert will devastate them, a leopard will lie in wait near their cities: whoever comes out of them will be torn to pieces...”) Jeremiah predicts the conquest and the devastation of Judea by Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzardam and Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and the “shepherds with their flocks” who will come to the devastated land of Judea (Jer 6.3) are the military leaders of Nebuchadnezzar and his warriors (cf.: Ashby G. W. Theodoret of Cyrrhus as Exeget of the OT. Grahamstown, 1972. P. 92). Christological interpretations are quite common: “the good path,” which Jeremiah calls on the Jews to follow (Jer 6.16), is Christ (Theodoret. In Jerem. 2 // PG. 81. Col. 544-545); the epithet “meek lamb” is an epithet of Christ (Ibid. 3. Col. 576 (Jer. 11. 19)). Like Ephraim the Syrian, Theodoret interprets the messianic prediction about the restoration of the Branch of David (Jer 23.5) primarily as a reference to Zerubbabel and, ultimately, to Christ. Theodoret sees in the book many prophecies that found fulfillment during the NT in the life of the Church. The remission of sins predicted in I. p.k. is the forgiveness granted in the sacrament of Baptism (Ashby. 1972. P. 93).

  Diak. Olympiodor of Alexandria (VI century) compiled an extensive commentary covering the I. p. .Alex. Kommentar zu Hiob/Hrsg. und D. Hagedorn. Despite the undoubted Origenian influence, Olympiodorus's commentary is characterized by a desire to take the prophecies literally. So, although in Jer 11.19 the blameless lamb, in accordance with tradition and with reference to the songs of the Servant of the Lord Is 42.2 and Is 53.7, is an image of Christ, the “tree in the bread” in LXX, understood by most authors as a prototype of the crucifixion cross, Olympiodor considers it a poisonous herb that will bring suffering to the prophet. The following is a note about the Christological content of this prophecy: the Bread of Life was nailed to the cross (Olympiod. Alex. In Jerem. 11 // PG. 93. Col. 650-652).

  Blzh. Jerome of Stridon, owns a commentary on 32 chapters of the book. Jerome's exegesis is characterized by: rejection of allegorical interpretation in favor of the historical, criticism of the Origenian and Pelagian understandings of the prophecies of Jeremiah. He gives preference to the Hebrew. text, he considered the text of LXX to be spoiled by copyists (Hieron. In Jerem. Prol. 2). Jerome criticizes a number of traditions. opinions, eg. already known sschmch. Irenaeus of Lyons understands Jer 17.9 as a prophecy about the mystery of two natures in Christ, following from the erroneous, according to Jerome, text LXX (Hieron. In Jerem. III 70. 2). The prophecies are considered by Jerome primarily in their historical context (Ibid. 19. 3 (Jer. 24. 1-10; 18. 18-23; 13. 18)), and only places with an obvious figurative meaning receive a Christological and ecclesiological interpretation . In accordance with church tradition, Jerome understands the words of the prophet about the meek lamb as an indication of the crucifixion of Christ (Hieron. In Jerem. II 110. 2 (Jer 11. 19)); a number of other places - Jer 3. 14, 17; 14.9; 15.17; 16. 16 - are also prophecies about Christ (Grützmacher. 1901-1908). Jerome uses the tradition of Heb. very carefully. the Haggadah (Hayward. 1985. P. 100-112) and, possibly, the Targum on Jeremiah (Ibid. P. 114).

  IV-V centuries

  St. Athanasius I the Great in “The Tale of the Incarnation of God the Word” (c. 318) uses interpretations of a number of verses of I. p.k. already known to pre-Nicene authors: the image of a lamb led to the sacrificial slaughter as a prophecy about the execution of the Messiah (Athanas. Alex. De incarn. Verbi. 35. 3 (Jer. 11. 19)); a source of living water, contrasted with broken reservoirs, as a symbol of God, for God as a Source cannot be without water (this is the “essence of the Source”), therefore the Arian “was when the Son was not” is equal to the statement that God as a Source dried up, did not have life and wisdom (Athanas. Alex. Or. contr. arian. I 19 (Jer 2. 13; 17. 13); cf.: Athanas. Alex. Ep. ad Serap. 1. 19; De decret. Nic. Syn. 12). With the help of I. p.k., Athanasius not only illustrates dogmatic positions, but also formulates arguments that refute the Arian understanding of Scripture. If, according to the Arians, the creatureliness of Christ is indicated by the verb κτίζειν from Proverbs 8.22 (“The Lord made me the beginning of His way, before His creatures...”), then Athanasius the Great, based on Jeremiah 31.22 (in LXX the text is in Jer 38.22), and also based on Ps 101.19; 50.12 and Eph 2.15; 4.24, shows that the verb “to create” does not at all force one to draw a conclusion about the “creation” of the Son, but only indicates the creation of His “humanity, which belongs to being created” (Athanas. Alex. Or. contr. arian. II 44- 46; see: Kannengiesser 1972. P. 321-322). Jeremiah 1.5a (about the election of the prophet while still in the womb) together with other biblical texts is used as proof of the dogmatic position, according to which only through the incarnation of the Logos man is saved from death (Athanas. Alex. Or. contr. arian. III 33; cf. De decret. Syn. Using Jer 1.4, 11, 13 or Jer 38.4 St. Athanasius emphasizes that the incarnation of the Logos cannot be compared with the speaking of the word by God to the prophet (Kannengiesser. 1972. P. 323-324; Idem. 1974. P. 899).

  Didim the Blind cites not only passages often used by other authors (most of all Jeremiah 5.8 (Dassmann. 1994. S. 604)), but also verses from all chapters of I. p.k. A number of places I. p.k. for Didyma is important from a dogmatic point of view. He cites Jeremiah 1.5 as a justification for the idea of ​​the sinfulness of the soul even before the birth of a person (Did. Alex. In Job. 3.3-5). Jer 10. 11-12 serves to prove the doctrine of the divinity of the Son (Idem. De Trinit. I 27 // PG. 39. Col. 397); quoted plural by the authors of the words: “Thus says the Lord: cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes the flesh his support and whose heart departs from the Lord” - Didymus interprets as an indication of those who do not believe in the deity of the Son (Ibid. 34. 8 // PG 39. Col. 435 (Jer. 17. 5)).

  According to St. Cyril of Alexandria, Jeremiah, like other prophets, testifies to Christ: the prophecy about the disappearance of the tabernacle was fulfilled in Christ. Churches (Cyr. Alex. De adorat. 2 (Jer 3.16)); words about the restoration of the Branch of David and the New King - in Christ, who defeated Satan and freed from evil all who believed in Him (Cyr. Alex. Glaph. in Pent. V // PG. 69. Col. 265 (Jer. 23. 5) ). In the dogmatic works of St. Kirill uses quotes from I.p.k. to warn against false teachings. Anyone who does not accept true Christology needs to be reminded of the words: “... whoever gives my head water and my eyes a source of tears!” (Cyr. Alex. Quod unus sit Christus. 734 // Cyrille d'Alexandrie. Deux dialogues christologiques. P., 1964. P. 368. (SC; 97) (Jer 9. 1)); those who reject the unity of natures in Christ distort the content of the Christian faith and “they tell the dreams of their hearts,” and not what is said “from the mouth of the Lord” (Cyr. Alex. Quod unus sit Christus. 762 // Ibid. P. 460 (Jer. 23. 16)).

  Theologians of the Cappadocian school are characterized by similar approaches in the interpretation of I. p. c. St. Basil the Great, in his monastic rules, sermons and interpretations, often quotes the warning of Jeremiah: “Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord carelessly...” (Basil. Magn. Asc. fus. 9. 1; 24; 34. 2; Asc. br. 150, 169; De bapt. II 5. 2; In Isaiam proph. 5. 164). The prophet’s cry about the disobedience of the people and their rejection of the gifts of God is also a favorite (Basil. Magn. Ep. 8. 2; 46. 3; De Spirit. Sanct. 13 // PG. 32. Col. 120-121; Asc. br. 75; Hom. 7. 8; In Isaiam proph. 30. Col. 144, 156, 348, 472, 592. Jeremiah’s words about “fat horses,” which “neigh at another’s wife,” should, according to Basil, remind of the need for abstinence (Basil. Magn. Hom. 1. 9; Hom. in Ps. 44. 1; 48. 8 (Jer 5.8)). For the saint, Jeremiah is primarily a prophet of lamentation (Basil. Magn. Hom. 4. 3). In the words: “...who will give my head water and my eyes a source of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain daughters of my people” - St. Vasily begins a letter to a young woman who has broken her vow of virginity. For if the prophet so mourns bodily wounds, how much more should he mourn the wounded soul (Idem. Ep. 46. 1 (Jer. 9. 1)). The same place is given in a letter to a fallen monk (Basil. Magn. Ep. 44.2). The rejection of the divinity of the Holy Spirit by heretics gives St. Basil has reason to mourn this error with the words of Jer 9.1 (Basil. Magn. Ep. 242.4). In most cases, when choosing places from I. p.k., their moral content is decisive. Thus, the words: “...cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes the flesh his support and whose heart withdraws from the Lord” - warn people who are arrogant (Idem. Asc. fus. 42. 2; Asc. br. 298; Hom. in Ps. 7. 2; 45. 1; In Isaiam proph. 10. 245 (Jer. 17. 5)) or boasting in their own deeds (Basil. Magn. Asc. br. 218; Hom. in Ps. 33. 2; Hom. 20.3 (Jer 9.23)). Jeremiah 23.23-24 is also used for moral edification, when a person needs to be reminded that he must act “as if it were happening before the eyes of the Lord” (Basil. Magn. Asc. fus. 5.3).

  Like Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian often uses I. p.k. as a source from which one can find examples to illustrate the events of one’s own life. In Or. 2. 67-68, where Gregory the Theologian, justifying his flight after ordination, speaks of the great responsibility imposed by the priesthood, events from the life of the prophets, including Jeremiah (Jer. 1. 5; 2. 8; 10. 21; 12. 10; 21. 34). In Or. 1. 1 St. Gregory writes that Jeremiah’s act shows that for some time it is possible to evade the calling of God. About similar parallels between the understanding of Christ. ministry and attitude of Jeremiah to the prophetic calling of St. Gregory speaks quite often (Greg. Nazianz. Or. 18.14; 37.14 (Jer. 1.6)). In plural In cases, there are not quotes from I. p.k., but only well-known words and expressions, which evoke unambiguous associations with the texts of the prophet: about the noble vine (Greg. Nazianz. Or. 35. 3 (Jer. 2. 21)), about sowing among thorns (Greg. Nazianz. Or. 28. 1; 39. 10 (Jer 4. 3)), about lustful stallions (Greg. Nazianz. Or. 45. 18 (Jer 5. 8)), about the meek lamb (Greg. Nazianz. Or. 38. 16 (Jer. 11. 19)).

  For St. Gregory of Nyssa Jeremiah is first of all a prophet, mourning the sins of people. In the funeral eulogy of Bishop. Meletius St. Gregory gives a prophecy about the weeping of Rachel in Rama: she, symbolizing the Church, no longer mourns her children, but her husband and will not be able to quickly be consoled and continues to suffer due to the loss of the bishop (Greg. Nyss. Or. funebr. in Melet. (Jer. 31 . 15)). The image of a lamb being led to the slaughter and the words about a poisonous “tree in food,” together with other Old and New Testament passages, are allegorically interpreted as an indication of the mystery of the Holy Trinity (Greg. Nyss. De spatio. 1 (Jer. 11.19)). Gregory of Nyssus quotes prophecies about the new covenant and spiritual circumcision more often than other Cappadocians (Greg. Nyss. De cognititione Dei // PG. 46. Col. 1121-1126).

  St. Cyril of Jerusalem rarely uses I. p. c. in his works. Only in the “Catechetical Teachings” does Jeremiah 11:19 become the main argument of St. Kirill to approve his ideas (Cyr. Hieros. Catech. 13. 19). For those who doubt that Christ knew in advance about His crucifixion, St. Cyril objects: “Listen to Jeremiah and be convinced”: “But I did not know that, like a meek lamb, I was led to the slaughter.” The saint also sees predictions about Christ in a number of other verses: for example, in Jer 12.7-8 the answer is given to the confusion over the fact that Christ is allowing His condemnation, for “the Lord Himself speaks among the prophets” that the Jews will be left (Ibid. 15); in Jer 38.6, 9, the suffering of the prophet thrown into the ditch is understood as an image of the suffering of Christ (Ibid. 12). Jeremiah 1.5 serves as a substantiation of the statement about the shamelessness of the human body, which Christ did not doubt to accept (Ibid. 12.26).

  One of the many homilies of St. John Chrysostom is dedicated to Jeremiah 10. 23 (Ioan. Chrysost. In Jerem. // PG. 56. Col. 153-162) and reflects his understanding of grace and free will. Chrysostom composed a commentary on I. p.k. that has not reached us (CPG, N 4447; there about a possible Armenian version; see also: Miller D. R. Found: A Folio of the Lost Full Comment. of John Chrysostome on Jeremiah / / HarvSCPh. 1992. Vol. 94. P. 379-385). Dr. Chrysostom's scholia in catenas (CPG, N 65-66; Faulhaber M. Die Propheten-Catenen nach römischen Handschriften. Freiburg i. Br., 1899. S. 2-3), according to a number of researchers, do not belong to him (Dassmann. 1994 . S. 594). Mn. Quotes from I. p.k., illustrating the ideas of the preacher, are found in a number of his authentic works. Some verses of the book are interpreted by Chrysostom in different places in different ways. Thus, in his interpretation of the Evangelist Matthew, the saint cites the words of Jeremiah 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”), so that emphasize that, despite the prayers of unrepentant sinners or someone who “has boldness to God to intercede for them,” they will not receive mercy, for the philanthropic Lord gives through prayer only to those who ask for “profitable things,” do good, and live “an apostolic life.” "(Ioan. Chrysost. In Matt. 60. 2). In the 5th conversation, Chrysostom, based on the same quote (combined with Ezekiel 14. 14-16), insists that a believer can only repent of his own sins: “After the mercy of God, he did not hope for anything else but his own virtue.” (John. Chrysost. In Math. 5. 4). Most of the quotations from Chrysostom's I. p.k. are generally connected mainly with the theme of repentance and forgiveness of sins. Quotes from prophecies about punishments are given to encourage believers to acquire virtue, which will be followed by the mercy of the Lord (Ibid. 64. 1 (Jer. 18. 7-10); cf. also: Ibid. 17. 7 (Jer. 2. 10-11) ; Ibid. 8. 4; 67. 4; Jer. 8. 4; 23)). Dr. The key theme in the reception of I. p.k. by John Chrysostom was the comparison of the OT and NT (Idem. In Matt. 9. 3; 17. 6; 21. 3; 30. 4 (Jer. 2. 17-18; 4. 2; 8. 7; 13. 1-12)).

  Quotations from I. p.k. and interpretation of the text of the book are most often found in St. Epiphany of Cyprus. Several once he refers to Jeremiah 17.9 (LXX) to confirm the doctrine of two natures in Christ (Epiph. Ancor. 30.4; 32.3; Adv. haer. XXX 20.5; XLII 11.17; LIV 4. 13). With the words of Jeremiah, he denounces heretics who reject the deity of the Holy Spirit (Idem. Adv. haer. . LXXVIII 5. 2 (Jer 7. 28)), and the heresy of Arius (Epiph. Adv. haer. LXIX 31. 3 (Jer 3. 23) ; 16. 19)).

  In the 4th century. in the West, he quotes and interprets in detail I. p.k. Hilary, ep. Pictavian (especially in the treatise on the psalms). With the help of references to Bar 3.36-38 and Jer 17.9 (LXX), Hilary substantiates the proof of the deity of Jesus Christ (Hilar. Pict. De Trinit. 4.42). There are especially numerous quotations from I. p. k. in his Treatise on the Psalms, the typological and moral meaning of which these prophecies reveal (Idem. In Ps. 118. 10; 127. 3). Fulfillment of the words of the Lord: “...ask about the ancient ways, where is the good way, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls” (Jer 6.16) - Hilary sees Christ Himself in the testimony: “I am the way and the truth and the life ..." (John 14.6) (Hilar. Pict. In Ps. 137.13). The parable of the potter (Jer 18.2-10, especially Jer 18.4: “And the vessel which the potter made of clay fell apart in his hand; and he made it again into another vessel...”) is a prophecy about the body according to resurrection, as it is spoken of in 1 Cor 15.42 (“So also in the resurrection of the dead: it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption”) (Hilar. Pict. In Ps. 2.39-41). Jer 23.23-24 is understood as an indication of the omnipresence of God (Ibid. 118.8; 129.3).

  More than 300 times I. p.k. quotes St. Ambrose, bishop Mediolansky, justifying his arguments (Ambros. Mediol. Exam. 3. 10 (Jer 5. 22); 6. 19 (Jer 8. 7); 6. 15 (Jer 13. 23); 6. 50 (Jer 16. 16 ); 3. 59 (Jer 24. 5-6)), establishing typological connections between the OT and NT (Ambros. Mediol. In Ps. 37. 10 (Jer 31. 15)): the weeping Rachel - the Church; prophet Jeremiah is compared to Jesus Christ (Ibid. 43. 10 (Jer 1. 9-10)); the dogmatic statement is justified by the words of the prophet (cf.: Ambros. Mediol. In Ps. 36. 51 (Jer. 8. 4-5); In Luc. 2. 95 (Jer. 50. 42); De interpel. Iob. IV 3. 11 (Jer 28.26)). Ambrose has favorite verses from I. p. k., the understanding of which distinguishes him from other Church Fathers (for example, “neighing horses” - Ambros. Mediol. In Ps. . 10. 11; 36. 32; 40 .26; 48.20). Jer 1.5 is interpreted Christologically (Idem. In Luc. 6.96; In Ps. 36.57), but these same words are also understood as an indication of God’s Providence for man (Idem. In Luc. I 33, 44; De interpel . Iob. IV 5. 21). More than once there is an interpretation of the word “the reservoirs are broken” (Jer 2.13), for example, when the saint explains that God can be both a burning fire and a source of salvation (Ambros. Mediol. De offic. 3.105), in order to prove the insignificance of heretical baptism and Jewish washing (Idem. De Myst. 23) or indicate the desire of the Church or soul (ecclesia vel anima) for true divine wisdom (Idem. De Isaac. 1. 2; De Ioseph. 3. 15-17; De Spirit. Sanct. I 16.165). Jer 17.9 (et homo est, et qius cognosceret eum?) is traditionally cited to prove the truth of the doctrine of two natures in Christ. Jer 11.19 (about the spotless lamb) is often used, where it is indicated, according to St. Ambrose, on the tree of the cross (Ambros. Mediol. In Ps. 39. 16; 43. 78; 48. 13; 61. 5; Ep. 11. 8) and Jer. 23. 24 (Ambros. Mediol. De interpel. Iob. IV 4. 17; In Luc. 8. 116; In Ps. 48. 39-41;

  The only place I.p.k., to-Roma blzh. Augustine devoted a detailed interpretation to Jer 31. 31-34 (Aug. De Spirit. ad Marcel. 2. 19-25), he almost does not quote Jer 35-51. Of the most important prophecies of Jeremiah about Christ, Bl. Augustine cites Lamentations 4.20 and Bar 3.36-38, as well as the words of Jer 23.5-6 about Christ as the Branch of David, about His rejection by the Jews (Jer 17.9) and about Christ as the Mediator of the new covenant (Jer. 31. 31). An important point blzh. Augustine considers the calling of the pagans in Jeremiah 16. 19. La Bonardiere identifies 4 main themes in the interpretation of I. p. Augustine. 1/3 of all quotes come from 4 places. The words of Jeremiah 17.5: “...cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes the flesh his support, and whose heart departs from the Lord” (quoted 55 times) - bl. Augustine understands this as a reference to the leaders of the Donatists, Manichaeans and Pelagians and attributes what was said to their false teaching about the sacraments and grace (La Bonnardière. 1972. P. 57, 91-92). Often blzh. Augustine uses Jeremiah 16. 19-21, he sees in these verses a call for pagan peoples to convert, which has already happened (Ibid. P. 53-57, 89-90). Even more often (22 times) he quotes the expression caelum et terram ego implebo, rare among other authors (I will fill heaven and earth), especially in polemics about the spiritual presence of God in the created world (“God Who “created heaven and earth” and “ fills them,” for by filling He created them” - Aug. IV 9. 14; cf.: Ibid. 3 (Jer. 23. 24)). 14 times Augustine cites the hemistich of Jeremiah 1.5, emphasizing the exceptional creative power of God, for it is not parents who can create the soul of a child, but the providence of God. The second hemistich (priusquam exires de vulva, sanctificavi te - “before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you”) is most often found in anti-Pelagian polemics (La Bonnardière. 1972. P. 35-37). Particular attention, in contrast to other Church Fathers, but in agreement with North African. tradition, the blj. Augustine verses Jer 31. 31-34, in which the fulfillment of the promise of the new covenant in the NT is prophetically predicted (Aug. De civ. Dei. 17. 3; 18. 33; Ep. 138. 7).

  In the extensive corpus of letters to St. Gregory I the Great I. p.k. is quoted only twice. In the words of Jer 17. 24 St. Gregory denounces those who prohibit working on the Sabbath, because he sees in this the danger of increasing the influence of Judaism (Greg. Magn. Ep. 13. 1). In a letter to Kyriacou, Bishop. K-polsky, he justifies the words of the prophet for the possibility of temporarily leaving the preaching ministry (Idem. Ep. 7.4 (Jer. 1.6)). This problem often interested him, primarily in the “Pastoral Rule,” where, despite the example of Jeremiah’s refusal, he still calls on preachers to return to ministry after some time (Idem. Reg. pastor. 1. 7). Inexperienced Christians must remember the Lord’s warning: “...the teachers of the law did not know Me” - and refrain from teaching (Ibid. 1. 1 (Jer. 2. 8)). In the 3rd book of “Pastoral Rules,” Gregory the Great draws on I. p.k., primarily to warn insincere Christians who, without fear of punishment, do not abstain from sins of the flesh and continue to commit them consciously (cf.: Greg. Magn. Reg. pastor. 3. 7, 11, 13, 28, 32 (Jer. 3. 3; 9. 5; 51. 9; 3. 1; 4. 4)). Knowing I. p.k. well, Gregory the Great uses, in addition to traditional ones, places that are rarely found in other authors. In his homiletical works, the saint cites the words of the prophet, which he interprets allegorically. Thus, the image of “a boiling cauldron blown by the wind, and its face from the north” is understood as an indication of the disobedience of the Jews (Greg. Magn. In Ezech. I 2.12 (Jer. 1.13)). In the interpretations of I. p. k. St. Gregory does not seek to reveal the literal, historical meaning of the words of the prophet (Greg. Magn. In Ezech. I 6. 13; 8. 19; 10. 14, 16, 27; 11. 1; 12. 18; II 1. 6; 8 .20; 9.16). For Gregory the Great, the Gospel, which, like the sun, eclipses the moon, is more important than the word of the prophet. If the truth itself speaks, the prophet must remain silent, notes Gregory the Great when interpreting Jeremiah 4.19 with reference to John 7.38 (Idem. In Ezech. I 10.6).

  Rabbinic tradition

  As in other targums, in the Targum of Jonathan the text of Hebrews is changed in a number of places. original: anthropomorphisms in the depiction of God, condemnation of Israel and the prophet are softened. Certain actions no longer relate directly to God, but are attributed to His Word (memra), Glory or Presence (Shekinah) (The Targum of Jeremiah. 1987. P. 32). The prophet’s lament that God was “like a stranger in this land” and did not help (Jer 14.8-9) is replaced in the targum by the opposite statement: God is present and can save lost Israel. Otherwise, the harsh condemnations of the people are removed, softened, or applied only to the sinners living there (The Targum of Jeremiah. 1987. P. 23). Thanks to minor changes, additions or removals of particles, the use of a different verb or other forms of question, the Targumist in a number of places significantly alters the statement of the prophet (Klein M. L. Converse Translation: A Targumic Technique // Biblica. 1976. Vol. 57. N 4. P. 515-537).

  Among rabbinic commentaries, researchers are particularly interested in two collections containing exegetical material for preaching during synagogue services (Elbogen I. Der jüdischen Gottesdienst in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicklung. Fr./M., 19313. S. 174-180). The treatise Peshikta de Rab Kahana probably dates back to the 3rd century, but was formed in the 5th century. In it, prophecies about the judgment of God, which Nebuchadnezzar will carry out over Jerusalem, end with the promise of the restoration of the former life in the last days (Stemberger G. Midrasch: Vom Umgang der Rabbinen mit der Bibel: Einf., Texte, Erläuterungen. Münch., 1989. S . 155-165). Dr. a collection of midrish interpretations on I. p. k. is contained in the treatise Peshikta Rabbati (ch. 26; Pisikta Rabbati / Transl. W. G. Brande. New Haven, 1968. Vol. 2. P. 525-538). The fate of Jeremiah prophetically foreshadows the future. the punishments that will befall Jerusalem. To the words of the prophet that he cannot accept the ministry because he is still very young (Jer 1.1), God replies: “It is the one who is young that I love. For it is said: “When Israel was young, I loved him...” (Hos 11.1)” (Peshikta Rabbati. 26.5).

  E.P.S.

  Some trends in modern biblical criticism I.p.k.

  The statement about its genre and semantic diversity has become a common place in the research of historical fiction. During the period of development of the historical-critical method and, in particular, the methods of the theory of sources and the history of redaction (see article Biblical Studies), the book more than once highlighted various layers of text belonging to different eras. One of the main principles uniting these studies was the assumption of the existence in I. p.k. of a layer of the prophet’s own words. Jeremiah, which can be separated from texts of later origin, either those written by the disciples and followers of the prophet, or created by the editors who gave the book its final form. As a rule, the main criterion for a text to belong to Jeremiah was the presence in it of signs of a poetic structure, and vice versa: prose texts in I. p.k. were considered later. German research biblical scholar B. Duhm (Duhm. 1901) largely determined the main ways of analyzing this book for several years. decades. Doom identified 3 main layers or sources in I. p.k.: the poetry of Jeremiah (approx. 280 verses), “The Book of Baruch” (approx. 220 verses), and later additions (approx. 850 verses). Of the prosaic texts of Jeremiah, only a letter is classified as a letter (Jeremiah 29); in addition, the following are classified as texts of the prophet, created during different periods of Jeremiah’s life: Jeremiah 2.2b - 3, 14-37; 3. 1-5, 12b, 13, 19-25; 4. 1, 3-8, 11b, 12a, 13, 15-17, 19-21, 23-26, 29-31; 5. 1-17; 6. 1-14, 16, 17, 20, 22-26a, 27-30; 7. 28-29; 8. 4-7a, 8, 9, 13-23; 9. 1-9, 16-21; 10. 19, 20, 22; 11. 15-16, 18-20; 12. 7-12; 13. 15-21a, 22-25a, 26-27; 14. 2-10, 17-18; 15. 5-12, 15-19a, 20-21; 16.5-7; 17. 1-4, 9-10, 14, 16, 17; 18.13-20; 20. 7-11, 14-18; 22.10, 13-24, 28; 23. 9-15; (30. 12-15?); 31. 2-6, 15-22; 38. 22. The source, which Doom called the “Book of Baruch,” includes narrative and biographical texts: Jer 26. 1-4, 6-24; 27. 2-3; 28.1a, 2-13, 15-17; 29. 1, 3-4a, 5-7, 11-15, 21-29; 32. 6-15; 34. 1-11; 35. 1-11; 36. 1-26, 32; 37. 5, 12-18, 20-21; 38.1, 3-22, 24-28a; 38.28b; 39.3, 14a; 40.6 - 42.9; 42. 13a, 14, 19-21; 43. 1-7; 44. 15a, 16-19, 24-25, 28-29; 45. Later additions include the remaining parts of the I. p.k., including both prose speeches, or sermons, and narratives. The next work, which continued the analysis of I. p. k. in accordance with the principles proposed by Doom, is Z. Mowinckel’s book on the composition of I. p. k. (Mowinckel. 1914). As one of the arguments for the presence of various sources in I. p.k. Mowinkel cites parallel passages: 1. 10 = 18.7, 9; 2.25 = 18.11-12; 7.1-15 = 26.1-6; 7.16 = 14.11-12 = 11.14; 7.17-18 = 44.15-16; 7.21-22 = 6.20-21; 7.25 = 26.5; 7.26 = 16.12; 7.34 = 16.9 = 25.10; 21.9 = 38.2; 27 (partially) = 28; 29.1-23 = 29.28; 34.1-7 = 38.14-23; 44.1-14 = 43.8-13; 44. 15-30 (Mowinckel. 1914. S. 6). Mowinkel identifies 4 sources in I. p.k.: source A (a collection of various poetic prophecies of Jeremiah, chapters 1-23 (25), with few exceptions); source B (narrative biography of Jeremiah, including some of his speeches, chapters 26-44, with a number of exceptions); source C (usually lengthy speeches with headings: 7. 1 - 8. 3; 18. 1-12; 21. 1-10; 25. 1-11a; 32. 1-2, 6-16, 24- 44; 34. 1-7, 8-22; 35. 1-14, as well as excerpts without headings: 27; 3. 6-13; 39. 15-18; 45); source D (prophecies of salvation, chapters 30-31). For Mowinkel, as for Duma, the presence of prose and poetry is fundamental: he calls poetic prophecies “oracles”, and prosaic ones “speeches”; poetry in general, in his opinion, is the original texts of Jeremiah, prose is the imitations of the editors. Mowinckel also emphasizes the stylistic, lexical and thematic similarity of the prose speeches of source C with the Deuteronomic language of the editorial parts of Deuteronomy, Judges and Kings (Mowinckel. 1914. S. 33-34).

  Editors I.p.k.

  Beginning with the commentary of V. Rudolf, the historical-critical problem of historical historical literature began to be solved not through an analysis of its sources, but within the framework of the theory of editions. Rudolph's suggestion that Source C's prose speeches provided the basic structure for the book and that the author of Source C was the author of the book itself (Rudolph. 1968) changed the approach to the book's text. An analysis of the possible Deuteronomistic edition of I. p.k. was carried out in 2 works in German. researcher W. Thiel (Thiel. 1973; 1981), who hypothesized that the author of most of the book, namely chapters 1-45 (i.e., not including the prophecies about the nations), is a Deuteronomistic editor. Thiel attributed significantly more texts to the Deuteronomic layer than Mowinckel and Rudolf did (Albertz 2003, p. 306). Thiel also tried to show that the Deuteronomistic layer of the I. p.k. Ibidem). The study by H. Weippert states the opposite: the originality of the Deuteronomic prose speeches of Jeremiah is explained precisely by the fact that they are the creation of the prophet himself. Jeremiah. Weippert tried to prove that these speeches are linguistically independent and full of specific linguistic “Jeremiahisms” (Weippert. 1973). Many works are devoted to the Deuteronomistic edition of the I. p.k., one of the common points for them is the formulation of the main goal of the authors of the Deuteronomistic layer of the I. p. At the same time, the I. p. leaders.

  Subsequently, several were formulated. other theories and models of the edition of I. p.k., which assumed completely different ideological programs at the basis of these alternative editions in relation to the Deuteronomistic edition: the theory of edition, focused on the special status of the 1st Babylonian exile in the divine plan of salvation (Pohlmann. 1978); editorial of aristocratic circles (Stipp. 1992). In addition, theories were proposed, based on the opinion that the creation of I. p.k. was a more complex process than a one-time edition, as Thiel believed. Works in this direction include comments by W. McCane (McKane. 1986. Vol. 1) and Carroll (Carroll. 1986) and a study by K. Schmid (Schmid. 1996).

  The problem of texts about the enemy from the north

  A number of poetic texts by I. p.k. are united by a common theme - the invasion of Judea by an enemy from the north, which is understood as an instrument of God's punishment. More than once attempts have been made to identify this enemy with one or another people of Dr. East. The most popular assumption has become that these texts speak of the Scythians’ invasion of Judea. It was first expressed publicly. exegete H. Venema (1697-1787), who proposed to identify the heroes of Jeremiah 5. 15-17 with the Scythians. Afterwards many commentators (G. G. Ewald, S. Driver, O. Eisfeldt) accepted this identification, extending it to all passages of the I. p. k. about the arrival of enemies from the north. So, Doom called Jer 4. 5-8, 13-22, 27-31; 5. 15-17; 6. 1-8, 22-26; 8. 14-17; 10.22 (or 10.17-22); 13. 20 “Scythian songs”. One of the main arguments in favor of such an identification was considered to be the message of Herodotus (Herod. Hist. I 105) about the Scythians’ campaign in Egypt and their stay in Syria and Palestine under Pharaoh Psammetichus I (664-610 BC); in addition, some evidence from cuneiform sources confirming the presence of Scythians in northern Mesopotamia was generally considered to confirm this hypothesis. The texts of the Book of Prophets were also associated with the invasion of the Scythian tribes. Zephaniah (Smith R. L. Micah-Malachi. Waco (Tex.), 1984), in particular Zeph 1. 10-11 (cf. Zeph 1. 10, “great destruction” in the corresponding passages of Jer. 4. 6; 6. 1) . Some modern historians dr. The East does not question the message of Herodotus (see, for example: Sulimirski T., Taylor T. The Scythians // The Cambridge Ancient History. Camb., 19912. Vol. 3. Pt. 2. P. 567), while others emphasize , that the features of the unknown enemy in I. p. k. do not correspond to modern ones. ideas about the Scythians (Minns E. H. Scythians and Greeks. Camb., 1913). The first to speak out against the Scythian hypothesis in relation to these texts was German. scientist F. Wilke (Wilke F. Die politische Wirksamkeit der Propheten Israels. Lpz., 1913). As an alternative to the Scythians, the Babylonians were usually offered. So Driver (The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah. 1906) believed that the oracles about the enemy from the north initially spoke about the Scythians, and later. these texts were edited to take into account the more current Babylonian threat.

  Genre Research

  The rather extensive narrative and biographical material in the book was considered by researchers as an example of the genre of biography of a prophet in comparison with the biographies of the prophets Elisha, Elijah and others (see: Baltzer. 1975; Rofe. 1997). However, certain essential features of the biography are absent in I. p.k., for example. the birth and death of the prophet are not reported.

  Narrations about symbolic actions are constructed according to a rather rigid scheme: a directive addressed to the prophet - its implementation - an explanation of the symbolic meaning of the action performed. The genre features of these texts were studied in detail by G. Forer (Fohrer. 1953). It is likely that I. p.k. was the first book in which narratives about symbolic actions appeared. This is indirectly confirmed by the structure of these narratives in I. p.k., in contrast to the same narratives in the Book of Prophets. Ezekiel, which, apparently, are secondary in form in relation to I. p.c.

  A number of texts (Jer 2.9, 29; 11.20; 12.1; 15.10; 20.12; 25.31; 50.34; 51.36) have been studied from the point of view. their belonging to the genre of “prophetic litigation” (rib-pattern, prophetic lawsuit). However, over time, it became clear that apart from keywords (with the root) and general thematic similarity, these texts do not have common formal features.

  Jer 11. 18-12 belongs to the genre of “complaints of the prophet”. 6; 15. 10-21; 17. 12-18; 18. 18-23; 20. 7-18. They share a number of common features: a style and themes close to the style and themes of the psalms. This is manifested in the similarity of characteristic vocabulary and its use in the text (“Let my persecutors be ashamed...” - Jer. 17.18; cf.: “...save me from all my persecutors” - Ps. 7. 2; “why the way prosper the wicked?” - Jer 12.1; cf.: “For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish” - Ps. 1.6); answers from the Lord, who promises to punish his enemies; some general terminology, in particular derivatives from the root (“... I will go to court with You...” - Jeremiah 12.1; “Woe to me, my mother, that you gave birth to me as a man who argues and quarrels with everyone earth!” - Jer 15:10).

  N. Ittman suggests that the texts of Jeremiah's complaints once formed a single text, and when creating I. p.k. they were divided by a Deuteronomic editor. Among these texts, 2 groups stand out, created in 2 periods of Jeremiah’s prophetic activity and, accordingly, in different historical situations: Jeremiah 18, 11 and 12 - in an earlier period, together with chapters 4-6, when it was assumed that there was still some hope for forgiveness from God; Jeremiah 17, 15 and 20, according to Ittmann, are in a later period, when the idea of ​​​​the irreversibility of punishment dominates in the speeches of Jeremiah (chapters 7-20) and when the prophet became hated by most of the inhabitants of Jerusalem (Ittmann. 1981). Several German offers a different history of the creation and editing of the texts of Jeremiah’s complaints. researcher F. Auis (Ahuis. 1982). In his opinion, the original layer of texts of complaints includes Jer 12. 1-3, 4b, 5; 15. 10, 17, 18, 19b, 20ab and 20. 7-9, which accompany the procedure of “sending a messenger” (Botenvorgang), namely God's messenger announcing punishment. This procedure involves 3 main points: order, execution and report on execution. It is within the framework of the “accomplishment report” that the birth of such texts as the complaints of Jeremiah occurs. Thus, Auis believes that complaints constitute an integral part of the activity of the “prophet of punishment” (Gerichtsprophet), which is Jeremiah. The later time layer includes Jer 17. 14-18 and 18. 19-20ab, 22b, 23; they rather reflect a situation specific to Jeremiah, in which the prophet found himself at a certain period when he was imprisoned and awaited the fulfillment of what he had predicted, showing the truth of his proclamation. The researcher also concludes that Jeremiah's complaints were subject to Deuteronomic editing. At the same time, the motives of “blaming God,” which played a key role in the initial layer of complaints, were smoothed out, and the motives of “complaints against enemies” came to the fore; That. Jeremiah's complaints took on a form that brought them closer to the so-called. individual complaints found in the Psalter.

  Count Reventlow questioned the authorship of Jeremiah and suggested that these complaints were the collective voice of the community of Israel and that these texts were put into the mouth of the prophet by editors (Reventlow. 1963). A comparative study of Masoretic and Greek has a certain bearing on this interpretation. texts of Jeremiah's complaints. P. Diamond comes to the conclusion that the collective voice of the community, which finds expression in the speeches and complaints of the prophet, begins to sound in these texts precisely in Greek. versions. The MT version is characterized by a stricter connection between these texts and the facts of the prophet’s biography. Jeremiah (Diamond. 1990).

  Researchers have identified collective laments, hymns, psalms and other texts of a liturgical nature: Jer 8. 14-15; 10. 6-7, 10-16; 14. 1-9, 19-22; 16. 19-20; 17. 5-8, 12-13; appeals, exhortations, etc. appeals to the people: Jer 3.22; 4. 1-4; 10. 2-5; quotes from other prophets, which indirectly point to the text of Jeremiah: Jer 25.5-6; 35.15; narratives structured according to the question-answer pattern (Blenkinsopp emphasizes their Deuteronomic character, cf. Deut. 29. 22-28, 1 Kings 9. 8-9): question in Jer 5. 19a, answer in 5. 19b; question at 9.12, answer at 9.13 or more broadly at 9.13-16; question at 16.10, answer at 16.11-13; question in 22.8, answer in 22.9 (Blenkinsopp. 1983).

  A. K. Lyavdansky

  Lit.: Bazhanov V.V. Speeches of the prophet. Jeremiah: Experience of poetic transcription. St. Petersburg, 1861; Fedor (Bukharev), archimandrite. [Bukharev A. M.] Holy Prophet Jeremiah. M., 1864; Yakimov I. S. Attitude of the Greek. lane LXX interpreters to Hebrews. Masoretic text in the book. prophet Jeremiah. St. Petersburg, 1874; aka. Interpretation on the book. prophet Jeremiah. St. Petersburg, 1879-1880. Vol. 1-2; Afanasyev D.P. Interpretation on the Book. prophet Jeremiah. Stavropol, 1894; Trinity N.I. Holy prophets of the Old Testament. Tula, 1899. T. 2. Book. 1: Book. prophet Jeremiah; Book 2: Lamentations of Jeremiah; Duhm B. Das Buch Jeremia. Tüb., 1901; Gr ü tzmacher G. Hieronymus: Eine biogr. Studio z. alten Kirchengeschichte. Lpz., 1901-1908. 3 Bde; Mitchell H. G. The Theology of Jeremiah // JBL. 1901. Vol. 20. N 1. P. 56-76; Mikhail (Luzin), bishop. Biblical Science. Tula, 1902. Book. 7: Holy Prophet Jeremiah: Book. his prophecies and the Lamentations of Jeremiah; The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah / A Rev. Transl. with Introduction and Short Explanations by S. R. Driver. L., 1906; Rozanov N.P. Book. prophet Jeremiah // Lopukhin. Explanatory Bible. 1909. T. 6. P. 1-152; Yungerov P. A. Book. prophet Jeremiah and Lamentations of Jeremiah. Kaz., 1910; Mowinckel S. Zur Komposition des Buches Jeremia. Kristiania, 1914; Hyatt P. R. The Foe from the North in Jeremiah // JBL. 1940. Vol. 59. P. 499-513; idem. The Deuteronomic Edition of Jeremiah // Vanderbilt Studies in Humanities / Ed. R. C. Beatty et al. Nashville, 1951. Vol. 1. P. 71-95; Fohrer G. Die Symbolischen Handlungen der Propheten. Zurich, 1953; idem. Die Gattung der Berichte über symbolische Handlungen der Propheten // Idem. Studien zur alttestamentlichen Propheten (1949-1965). B., 1967. S. 92-112; Miller J. M. Das Verhältnis Jeremias und Hesekiels sprachlich und theologisch untersucht mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Prosareden Jeremias. Assen, 1955; Rice T. T. The Scythians. L., 1957; Reventlow Graf H. Liturgie und prophetisches Ich bei Jeremia. Gütersloh, 1963; Holtz T. Zum Selbstverständnis des Apostels Paulus // ThLZ. 1966. Bd. 91. S. 321-330; Luz U. Der alte und der neue Bund bei Paulus und im Hebraeerbrief // EvTh. 1967. Bd. 27. S. 322-323; Westermann C. Jeremiah. Stuttg., 1967; Rudolph W. Jeremiah. Tüb., 19683; Kannengiesser Ch. Les citations bibliques du traité athanasien "Sur l"incarnation du Verbe" et les "Testimonia" // La Bible et les Pères: Colloque de Strasbourg, 1969. P., 1971. P. 135-160; idem. Le recours au livre de Jérémie chez Athanase d"Alex. // Epektasis: FS J. Daniélou. P., 1972. P. 317-325; idem. Jérémie: Chez les Pères de l"Église // DSAMDH. 1974. Vol. 8. P. 889-901; La Bonnardière A.-M. Le livre de Jérémie. P., 1972; Thiel W. Die deuteronomistische Redaktion von Jeremia 1-25. Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1973; Die deuteronomistische von Jeremia 26-45. della testimonianza profetica // Aevum. Mil., 1974. Vol. 48. P. 1-57; Schreiner J. Jeremia 9. 22, 23 als Hintergrund des paulinischen “Sich-Rühmens” // NT und Kirche: FS R. Schnackenburg . Freiburg i. Br., 1974. S. 530-542; Die Biographie der Propheten, 1975; P. Nautin. P., 1976-1977. 2 vol. (SC; 232, 238); Tov E. The Septuagint Translation of Jeremiah and Baruch. Missoula, 1976; idem. Exegetical Notes on the Hebrew Vorlage of the LXX of Jeremiah 27 (34) // ZAW. 1979. Bd. 91. N 1. S. 73-93; Wolff Ch. Jeremia im Frühjudentum und Urchristentum. B., 1976; Pohlmann K.-F. Studien zum Jeremiabuch: Ein Beitr. zur Frage nach der Entstehung des Jeremiabuches. Gott., 1978; Bogaert P. M. Le Livre de Jérémie. Leuven, 1981. P. 145-167; Ittmann N. Die Konfessionen Jeremias: Ihre Bedeutung für die Verkündigung des Propheten. Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1981; Ahuis F. Der klagende Gerichtsprophet: Stud. zur Klage in der Überlfg. von den alttestamentlichen Gerichtspropheten. Stuttg., 1982; Blenkinsopp J. A History of Prophecy in Israel. Phil., 1983; Amsler S. Les Actes des Prophètes. Geneva, 1985; Hayward R. Jewish Traditions in Jerome's Commentary on Jeremiah and the Targum of Jeremiah // Proc. of the Irish Bibl. Assoc. Phil., 1985. Vol. 9. P. 100-120; Soderlund S. The Greek Text of Jeremiah: A Revised Hypothesis. Sheffield, 1985; Carroll R. Jeremiah: A Comment. Minneapolis L., 1986; 1986; idem. Jeremiah 2: A Comment on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, Chap. Minneapolis, 1989; ; Rusche H. Zum "jeremianischen" Hintergrund der Korintherbriefe // BiblZschr. 1987. N 1. S. 116-119; Smith M. S. Jeremiah IX 9: A Divine Lament // VT 1987. Vol. 1. P. 97-99; The Laments of Jeremiah and their Contexts. Atlanta, 1990; Transl. R. Hayward, 1987; Confessions in the LXX and MT: A Witness to Developing Canonical Function? // VT. 1990. Vol. 40. N 1. P. 33-50; Craigie P. C., Kelley P. H., Drinkard J. F. Jeremiah 1-25. Dallas (Tex.), 1991; Stipp H.-J. Jeremia im Parteienstreit: Stud. z. Textentwicklung von Jer 26, 36-43 und 45 als Beitr. zur Geschichte Jeremias, seines Buches und judäischer Parteien im 6. Jh. Fr./M., 1992; Vieweger D. Die literarischen Beziehungen zwischen den Büchern Jeremia und Ezechiel. Fr./M., 1993; Dassmann E. Jeremia // RAC. 1994. Bd. 17. S. 543-631; Keown G. L., Scalise P. J., Smothers T. G. Jeremiah 26-52. Waco (Tex.), 1995; Schmid K. Buchgestalten des Jeremiabuches. Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1996; Rofe A. Narratives of the Prophets. M.; Jerusalem, 1997; Friebel K. G. Jeremiah's and Ezekiel's Sign-Acts: Rhetorical and Nonverbal Communication. Sheffield, 1999; Wells R.D., Jr. The Amplification of the Expectations of the Exiles in the MT Revision of Jeremiah // Troubling Jeremiah / Ed. A. R. P. Diamond, K. M. O "Connor. Sheffield, 1999; Parke-Taylor G. H. The Formation of the Book of Jeremiah: Doublets and Recurring Phrases. Atlanta, 2000; Albertz R. Israel in Exile: The History and Literature of the 6th Cent. B.C.E. Atlanta, 2003.

  I.p.k. in worship

  According to the Jerusalem Lectionary of the 5th-8th centuries, I. p.k. was most often used during worship during Lent: the passage Jer 5. 2-29 was read on the 1st Friday (Tarchnischvili. Grand Lectionnaire. T. 1. P. 50), Jer 1. 11-17 - on the 1st Saturday (Ibid. P. 54), Jer 10. 6-10 - on the 2nd Sunday (Ibid. P. 51), Jer 1. 1-10 - on the 2nd Tuesday of Lent (Ibid. P. 53), Jer 1. 18-2. 3 - on the 2nd Thursday (Ibid. P. 55), Jer 4. 36-5. 9 - on Vai Week (Ibid. P. 84), Jer 9. 2-10 - on Holy Monday (Ibid. P. 86), Jer 11. 18-20 - on Good Friday (Ibid. P. 103, 105) , Jer 31.31-34 - on Holy Saturday (Ibid. P. 112); excerpt Jer 23. 2-6 - on the Nativity of Christ (Ibid. P. 10), Jer 30. 23-28 - on the week of the Last Judgment (Ibid. P. 42), Jer 31. 13-20 - in the 3rd Thursday after Easter (Ibid. P. 125), Jeremiah 38. 1-3 - on the day of remembrance of the prophet. Jeremiah (May 1) (Ibid. T. 2. P. 8); The Lectionary also contains a list of readings from I. p.k., which were used in litanies (litanies) (Ibid. P. 76-79).

  In the Typikon of the Great Church. IX-XI centuries Only 2 readings from I. p.k. are indicated: Jer 11. 18-12. 15 - at tritekti on Maundy Thursday (Mateos. Typicon. T. 2. P. 72) and Jer 38. 31-34 - at vespers on Holy Saturday (Ibid. P. 86).

  In the Messinian Typicon of 1131, representing southern Italy. edition of the Studio Charter, on Maundy Thursday and Maundy Saturday the same readings from the I. p. k. are assigned as in the Typikon of the Great Church; Proverbs from I. p.k. are indicated on the day of the holiday of the Position of the Belt of the Holy. Theotokos (Arranz. Typicon. P. 184) and on the day of memory of St. Gregory the Theologian (Jan. 25) (Ibid. P. 113).

  In modern Orthodox Divine service I. p.k. is read during Holy Week: Jer 11. 18-12. 15 - at the 1st hour on Maundy Thursday and at the 9th hour on Good Friday, Jer 38. 31-34 - at vespers on Holy Saturday.