“Nevertheless,
Wisdom
Is vindicated
By all her children.”
καὶ ἐδικαιώθη ἡ σοφία ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν τέκνων αὐτῆς.
Luke indicated that Jesus said that wisdom (ἡ σοφία) would be vindicated (καὶ ἐδικαιώθη) by all her children (ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν τέκνων αὐτῆς). This is similar to Matthew, chapter 11:19. This personification of wisdom would have the justified end result that righteousness would show up in its deeds or its children. Do your children show that you are wise?
“So,
They sent for her.
She came
With her parents,
With her children,
With all her relatives.
Now Susanna was
A woman
Of great refinement.
She was beautiful
In appearance.
As she was veiled,
The scoundrels ordered her
To be unveiled.
Thus,
They might feast
Their eyes
On her beauty.
Those who were with her,
All who saw her,
Were weeping.”
Thus, these old judges sent for Susanna to come to the assembly. She came with her parents, her children, and her relatives. There was no mention of her husband. Thus, she was more than a newlywed, since she had children. She was a woman of great refinement and beauty. These scoundrel judges ordered that she be unveiled, so that they could feast on her beauty. However, those who were with her began to weep and cry.
“Your elder sister
Is Samaria.
She lived
With her daughters
To the north of you.
Your younger sister
Is Sodom.
She lived
With her daughters
To the south of you.
You not only
Followed their ways,
But you acted according
To their abominations.
Within a very little time
You were more corrupt
Than they
In all your ways.”
Jerusalem had an elder sister to the north with her children in Samaria. She also had a younger sister to the south with her children in Sodom. Samaria was the ruined people and capital of the old northern kingdom of Israel. Sodom was the place of infamy in Genesis. Not only did Jerusalem follow their terrible ways, she was even worse. She became more corrupt than they were.
“See!
Everyone
Who uses proverbs
Will use this proverb
About you.
‘Like mother,
Like daughter.’
You are the daughter
Of your mother.
She loathed
Her husband.
She loathed
Her children.
You are the sister
Of your sisters.
They loathed
Their husbands,
They loathed
Their children.
Your mother was
A Hittite.
Your father was
An Amorite.”
Everyone who used proverbs would say of Jerusalem that she was ‘like mother, like daughter.’ It was and still is common to say that a daughter was like her mother. Thus Jerusalem was like her mother who disliked her husband and her children. On top of that, she was like her sisters, who also despised their husbands and their children. After all, her mother was a Hittite, while her father was an Amorite, both distinct Canaanites tribes, not Israelites.
“Therefore!
O whore!
Hear the word of Yahweh!
Thus says Yahweh God!
‘Your lust
Was poured out.
Your nakedness
Was uncovered
In your prostitution activities
With your lovers.
All your idols
Were laid bare.
The blood
Of your children
That you gave them
Was poured out.
Therefore,
I will gather
All your lovers,
With whom
You took pleasure.
I will gather
All those you loved.
I will gather
All those you hated.
I will gather them
Against you
From all around.
I will uncover
Your nakedness
To them.
Thus they may see
All your nakedness.’”
Yahweh clearly called Jerusalem a whore who was going to listen to his word. Jerusalem’s lust was apparent in her nakedness. She had revealed herself with her prostitution activities with all her lovers. Her idols were laid bare. The blood of her children was poured out. Yahweh was going to gather all her lovers with whom she had pleasure. He would gather the ones that she loved and as well as those she hated from all over. Then when they were all gathered together, Yahweh was going to embarrass her by uncovering her nakedness. Thus everyone could see the naked Jerusalem.
“Take courage!
My children!
Cry to God!
He will deliver you
From the power
Of the enemy!
He will deliver you
From the hand
Of the enemy!
I have put my hope
In the Everlasting One
To save you!
Joy has come
To me
From the Holy One!
Because mercy
Will soon come
To you
From your everlasting Savior.”
Continuing with the personification of Jerusalem, this city wanted her children to have courage. They should cry to God who would deliver them from the power and hand of their enemy. Jerusalem had put her hope in the Everlasting One, not Yahweh, to save them from their enemy. Joy has come to Jerusalem because the mercy of the Holy One would soon come to them to be their everlasting savior.
“But I!
How can I help you?
He who brought
These calamities
Upon you
Will deliver you
From the hand
Of your enemies.
Go!
My children!
Go!
I have been left desolate.
I have taken off
The robe of peace.
I put on
Sackcloth
For my supplication.
I will cry
To the Everlasting One
All my days.”
The personification of Jerusalem continued with the first person singular, I. Jerusalem wanted to know how she could help. God, who brought their calamities, was also going to deliver them from the hand of their enemies. Jerusalem told her children to go and leave her. She would be left desolate. She was going to take off her robe of peace and prosperity to put on sackcloth for crying to the Everlasting One, not Yahweh, all her remaining days.
“Jerusalem saw
The wrath
That came
Upon you
From God.
She said.
‘Listen!
You neighbors of Zion!
God has brought
Great sorrow
Upon me!
I have seen
The exile
Of my sons.
I have seen
The captivity
Of my daughters,
The Everlasting one
Brought this
Upon them.
With joy,
I nurtured them.
But I sent them away
Weeping
With sorrow.
Let no one rejoice
Over me!
A widow!
I am bereaved of many.
I was left desolate
Because of the sins
Of my children.
Because they turned away
From the law of God.’”
The author of Baruch points out that Jerusalem saw the wrath of God that came upon them first hand. This personified city of Jerusalem said that the neighbors of Zion should listen. God had brought great sorrow on Jerusalem, since her sons and daughters were captured and exiled. The Everlasting One, the name of God used here instead of Yahweh, brought this exile on them. Jerusalem had nurtured them, but she sent them away weeping and in sorrow. No one should rejoice about this situation, since Jerusalem was now a widow, grieving over many people. She had become desolate because of the sins of her children. They had turned away from the law of God.
“Thus says Yahweh.
‘A voice is heard in Ramah.
There is lamentation.
There is bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping
For her children.
She refuses to be comforted
For her children.
Because they are no more.’
Thus says Yahweh.
‘Keep your voice
From weeping!
Keep your eyes
From tears!
There is a reward
For your work.’
Says Yahweh.
‘They shall come back
From the land of the enemy.
There is hope for your future.’
Says Yahweh.
‘Your children shall come back
To their own country.’”
Jeremiah seems to have a dialogue with Rachel, the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, and Yahweh. Rachel has been dead and buried for a long time at Ramah, during the time of Jacob as in Genesis, chapter 35. However, there the resting place was called Bethlehem. Here it is Ramah, someplace in Benjamin that makes more sense. The prophet Samuel may have lived in this place as in 1 Samuel, chapter 25. However, here Rachel is lamenting from her grave. She is weeping bitterly for her lost children. She refuses to be comforted because they too are dead and gone. This passage had an influence on the later Gospel of Matthew, chapter 2, where he used this saying to apply to the innocent children killed by Herod. However, Yahweh tells her to stop weeping and dry her tears, because she was going to be rewarded. The descendants of her children were going to come back to their country from the land of their enemies. Thus the northern tribes would be restored.
“‘If a man divorces his wife,
She goes from him.
If she becomes another man’s wife,
Will he return to her?
Would not such a land
Be greatly polluted?
You have played the whore
With many lovers.
Would you return to me?’
Says Yahweh.”
Jeremiah has Yahweh speak about a divorced wife. If she leaves him and becomes the wife of another, would he return to her? The answer is obviously not, because he has already divorced her. According to Deuteronomy, chapter 24, the first husband cannot remarry anyway. She has become another man’s wife. Also this would pollute the land in trying to figure out who is the father of her children. Yahweh explains that the Israelites have been prostitutes with many lovers. Would they return to him? This presupposes that he has divorced himself from them.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 