Interpretation of the Prophet Jeremiah - Book I, Prologue and Introduction (Theodoret of Cyrus)

Interpretation of the Prophet Jeremiah

 

 By Theodoret of Cyrus

 

PROLOGUE

For my part, I had supposed that the prophecy of the divine Jeremiah had no need of interpretation. But since many of the earnest urged me also to interpret this book, saying that most people are ignorant of the meaning of the prophecy, having entreated that divine grace might become my helper, I shall attempt to fulfill what has been commanded. And I shall take care, as much as possible, for brevity; and of the clearer passages I shall make a paraphrase in summary form, while those that require fuller treatment I shall endeavor to unfold. But first I shall set forth the subject of the prophecy.

BOOK I

INTRODUCTORY OVERVIEW

Josiah the king, being the son of Amon and descended from Manasseh, having nobly freed himself from the impiety of his father, and having vigorously pursued piety, recognized the error of the madness of idols, being an enemy to his father in that he pursued virtue, yet a zealot for the truth of his forefathers. And while these things were so, God, in the year in which Josiah was reigning, called the prophet and commanded him to summon the nations, both those at the ends and those in the midst. And these things he prophesied not only in the times of Josiah, but also in the time of Jehoahaz, who, being the son of Josiah, succeeded to the kingdom, and in the time of Jehoiakim, who was the son of this one, and in the time of Jeconiah, who was the son of Jehoiakim, and in the time of Zedekiah, who also reigned.

And he had Josiah as father, so that the time of the prophecy was determined also by his zeal; for this man was good and just. And he also foretold the Babylonians who were about to come as enemies, and the capture of Jerusalem, and that the temple would be burned, and that the people would be led away into captivity. And he also prophesied their restoration, and the expulsion of the Babylonians, and their return to the land, and the salvation of the people; and he foretold also the things of the New Covenant, and the cessation of the Old, and the calling of the Gentiles, and the salvation of the whole world.

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Ἑρμηνεία εἰς τὸν Προφήτην Ἱερεμίαν

 
ὑπὸ Θεοδωρήτου Κύρου 

 

ΠΡΟΛΟΓΟΣ

Ἐγὼ μὲν ὤμην τὴν Ἱερεμίου τοῦ θείου προφητείαν ἐρμηνείας μὴ δεῖσθαι. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ πολλοί με τῶν σπουδαίων ἐπήγγειλαν καὶ ταύτην ἑρμηνεῦσαι τὴν βίβλον, φήσαντες ἀγνοεῖν τοὺς πλείστους τὴν τῆς προφητείας διάνοιαν· τὴν θείαν χάριν γενέσθαι συνεργὸν ἱκετεύσας, πειράσομαι πληρῶσαι τὸ κελευσθέν. Συντομίας δὲ ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα φροντιῶ· καὶ τῶν μὲν σαφεστέρων παράφρασιν ἐν κεφαλαίῳ ποιήσομαι· τὰ δέ γε ἐπεξεργασίας δεόμενα ἀναπτύξαι σπουδάσω. Πρῶτον μέντοι τῆς προφητείας τὴν ὑπόθεσιν φράσω.

ΤΟΜΟΣ Αʹ

ΠΡΟΘΕΩΡΙΑ

Ἰωσίας ὁ βασιλεὺς, υἱὸς ὢν Ἀμὼς, καὶ προπάτωρ τῶν Μανασσῆ, τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς δυσσεβείας γενναίως ἀπαλλαγείς, αὐτὰ δὲ τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἐκείνου διώξας, τῆς τῶν εἰδώλων μανίας ἔγνω τὴν πλάνην, τῇ μὲν τοῦ πατρὸς ἐχθρὸς, ὡς διώκων ἀρετήν, τῇ δὲ τῶν προγόνων ἀληθείας ζηλωτής. Ταῦτα δὲ λέγων τοῦτον ὁ Θεὸς, ἐν τῷ προφητεύσαντι ἔτει τῆς Ἰωσίου βασιλείας προσεκλήθη τὸν προφήτην, καὶ προσετάχθη καλεῖν τὰ ἔθνη τὰ ἐσχάτα καὶ τὰ ἐν τῷ μέσῳ. Ταῦτα δὲ προεφήτευσε, οὐ μόνον ἐπὶ Ἰωσίου χρόνων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ Ἰωαχάζ, ὃς υἱὸς τοῦ Ἰωσίου τὴν βασιλείαν διεδέξατο, καὶ ἐπὶ Ἰωακείμ, ὃς τούτου υἱὸς ἦν, καὶ ἐπὶ Ἰεχονίου, ὃς υἱὸς Ἰωακείμ υἱὸς ἦν, καὶ ἐπὶ Σεδεκίου, ὃς καὶ αὐτός.

Ἔσχε δὲ τὸν Ἰωσίαν πατέρα, ὡς εἶναι τῆς προφητείας τὸν χρόνον διὰ καὶ τὴν σπουδὴν αὐτοῦ, οὗτος ἦν ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς καὶ δίκαιος. Προσηγόρευσε δὲ καὶ τοὺς Βαβυλωνίους ἐπερχομένους πολεμίους, καὶ τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἅλωσιν, καὶ τὸν ναὸν ἐμπρησθήσεσθαι, καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους εἰς αἰχμαλωσίαν ἀχθήσεσθαι. Προεφήτευσεν δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐπανόρθωσιν αὐτῶν, καὶ τὸν Βαβυλωνίων ἐκβαλεῖν, καὶ τὴν ἐπιστροφὴν αὐτῶν εἰς τὴν γῆν, καὶ τὴν τοῦ λαοῦ σωτηρίαν· προείρηκε δὲ καὶ τὰ τῆς Καινῆς Διαθήκης, καὶ τῆς Παλαιᾶς τὴν παύλαν, καὶ τῶν ἰδίων τὴν κλήσιν, καὶ τὴν τῆς οἰκουμένης σωτηρίαν.