24:1 Ostendit mihi Dominus : et ecce duo calathi pleni ficis, positi ante templum Domini, postquam transtulit Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis Jechoniam filium Joakim, regem Juda, et principes ejus, et fabrum, et inclusorem, de Jerusalem, et adduxit eos in Babylonem.
*H The Lord shewed me: and behold two baskets full of figs, set before the temple of the Lord: after that Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away Jechonias the son of Joakim the king of Juda, and his chief men, and the craftsmen, and engravers of Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
Ver. 1. Engravers. Heb. "those who enclose." 4 K. xxiv. 14. and 1 K. xiii. 19.
A.M. 3405, A.C. 599.
24:2 Calathus unus ficus bonas habebat nimis, ut solent ficus esse primi temporis : et calathus unus ficus habebat malas nimis, quae comedi non poterant eo quod essent malae.
*H One basket had very good figs, like the figs of the first season: and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, because they were bad.
Ver. 2. Season. Appearing in autumn and ripe in spring. Mic. vii. 1. C.
24:3 Et dixit Dominus ad me : Quid tu vides, Jeremia ? Et dixi : Ficus, ficus bonas, bonas valde : et malas, malas valde, quae comedi non possunt eo quod sint malae.
And the Lord said to me: What seest thou, Jeremias? And I said: Figs, the good figs, very good: and the bad figs, very bad, which cannot be eaten because they are bad.
24:4 Et factum est verbum Domini ad me, dicens :
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
24:5 [Haec dicit Dominus Deus Israel : Sicut ficus hae bonae, sic cognoscam transmigrationem Juda, quam emisi de loco isto in terram Chaldaeorum, in bonum.
*H Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Juda, whom I have sent forth out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for their good.
Ver. 5. Regard. Lit. "know," with love. Ps. i. 6. H. — Jechonias was treated with honour, (4 K. xxv. 27.) as well as Daniel (ii. 48.) and Zorobabel, of the same family. C. xxix. 5. The captives, under Sedecias, (v. 8.) were much more abused. C. xxix. 17. C. — This is the literal sense; the mystical shews that the good shall be rewarded. W.
24:6 Et ponam oculos meos super eos ad placandum, et reducam eos in terram hanc : et aedificabo eos, et non destruam : et plantabo eos, et non evellam.
*H And I will set my eyes upon them to be pacified, and I will bring them again into this land: and I will build them up, and not pull them down: and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
Ver. 6. Up, till the Messias appear, and the true Israel of God, his disciples, to whom the promises chiefly pertain. They will continue for ever. If this answer does not give satisfaction, as it ought, we may say that the Jews did not comply with the condition, and were therefore abandoned to the Romans. C.
24:7 Et dabo eis cor ut sciant me, quia ego sum Dominus : et erunt mihi in populum, et ego ero eis in Deum, quia revertentur ad me in toto corde suo.
And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: because they shall return to me with their whole heart.
24:8 Et sicut ficus pessimae quae comedi non possunt eo quod sint malae, haec dicit Dominus : Sic dabo Sedeciam regem Juda, et principes ejus, et reliquos de Jerusalem, qui remanserunt in urbe hac, et qui habitant in terra Aegypti.
*H And as the very bad figs, that cannot be eaten, because they are bad: thus saith the Lord: So will I give Sedecias the king of Juda, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that have remained in this city, and that dwell in the land of Egypt.
Ver. 8. Egypt, to which they fled contrary to the prophet's advice. 4 K. xxv. 26.
24:9 Et dabo eos in vexationem, afflictionemque omnibus regnis terrae, in opprobrium, et in parabolam, et in proverbium, et in maledictionem in universis locis ad quae ejeci eos.
And I will deliver them up to vexation, and affliction, to all the kingdoms of the earth: to be a reproach, and a byword, and a proverb, and to be a curse in all places, to which I have cast them out.
24:10 Et mittam in eis gladium, et famem, et pestem, donec consumantur de terra quam dedi eis et patribus eorum.]
And I will send among them the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence: till they be consumed out of the land which I gave to them, and their fathers.