He also adds, “Seek the peace of the city or the land,” “for in its peace will be your peace.” This is confirmed by the apostolic exhortation: “I urge, first of all, that intercessions, prayers, requests and thanksgivings be made for all persons, for kings and all who are in high office, that we might live a quiet and tranquil life in all reverence and chastity.” [1Ti 2:1-2.]Furthermore, according to the mystical understanding, after we are expelled on account of our sins from Jerusalem, that is, the church, and delivered to Nebuchadnezzar, about whom the same apostle said “delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord,” [1Co 5:5.] and again, “they are those whom I delivered to Satan, that they would learn not to blaspheme,” [1Ti 1:20.] we must not be careless or idle, so as to despair inwardly of salvation, but first we must build homes—on rock, not on sand [See Mat 7:24-25; Luk 6:48-49.]—the kind of homes that the midwives built in Exodus because they feared the Lord. [See Exo 1:21.] Second, we must plant gardens or orchards, the kind that the Lord also planted in paradise in Eden, placing within it the tree of life, [See Gen 2:8-9.] about which it is written, “The tree of life is for those who will receive it, and blessed is the one who lays hold of it.” [Pro 3:18.] Third, we must take wives, one of whom is wisdom, about whom Solomon wrote, “Love her, and she will keep you. Embrace her, and she will exalt you,” [Pro 4:6, Pro 4:8.]—St Jerome

The Septuagint does not translate “two years,” nor does it call Hananiah a “prophet,” lest it appear to name someone a prophet who was in fact no prophet, as if not many persons in sacred Scripture were named in accordance with the opinion of the time in which they lived or according to the truth of the matter. But Joseph is called the father of the Lord. And Mary, who knew that she had conceived by the Holy Spirit (responding to the angel, “How can this be, since I have never known a man?” [Luk 1:34.]), asked her son, “Son, why have you treated us this way? Your father and I have been looking for you desperately.” [Luk 2:48.] The prudence, humility and patience of Jeremiah must also be considered. When the pseudo-prophet damaged and broke the yoke around Jeremiah’s neck, which he was not able to do with iron, Jeremiah remained silent and concealed his pain. For what he should say was not yet revealed to him by the Lord, so that sacred Scripture would demonstrate tacitly that a prophet never speaks only on his own decision but also by the will of the Lord, most especially regarding future events, which are known to God alone. Jeremiah departed, it says, and went on his way as though he were well, thus fulfilling the prophecy: “I have become like a person who hears nothing and has no rebukes in his mouth.” [Psa 38:14]—St Jerome

It is written that when Jeremiah caused the nations and kingdoms to drink the cup of wrath, he said concerning each one of the cities, that after they shall drink the cup, I will turn back the captivity of Elam, of Tyre, of Sidon, of the children of Ammon, and of Moab and of Edom—Aphrahat

The narrative is clear indeed and requires but little interpretation. Because he displeased God, Nebuchadnezzar was turned into a madman and dwelled for seven years among the brute beasts and fed on the roots of herbs. Afterwards, by the mercy of God, he was restored to his throne and praised and glorified the King of heaven.… But there are some who claim to understand by the figure of Nebuchadnezzar the hostile power that the Lord speaks of in the Gospel, saying, “I behold Satan falling from heaven like lightning.” [Luk 10:18.] … These authorities assert that it was absolutely impossible for a man who was reared in luxury to subsist on hay for seven years and so dwell among wild beasts for seven years without being mangled by them. Also they ask how the imperial authority could have been kept waiting for a mere madman and how so mighty a kingdom could have gone without a king for so long a period.… And so they pose all of these questions and offer as their reply the proposition that since the episode does not stand up as genuine history, the figure of Nebuchadnezzar represents the devil. To this position we make not the slightest concession; otherwise everything we read in Scripture may appear to be imperfect representations and mere fables. For once people have lost their reason, who would not perceive them to lead their existence like brutish animals in the open fields and forest regions … what is so remarkable about the execution of such a divine judgment as this for the manifestation of God’s power and the humbling of the pride of kings?—St Jerome

The impious king beheld a dream concerning things to come, in order that he might give glory to God after the holy man interpreted what he had seen and that great consolation might be afforded the captive [Jews] and those who still served God in their captive state. We read this same thing in the case of Pharaoh, not because Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar deserved to behold visions but in order that Joseph and Daniel might appear as deserving of preference over all other people because of their gift of interpretation—St Jerome

I, the angel of repentance, am telling you: Do not fear the devil. For I have been sent,” he said, “to be on the side of you, who repent with your whole heart, and to steady you in the faith. Put your faith in God, you who despair of your life because of your sins, you who add to your sins and make your life burdensome. Trust that, if you turn to the Lord with your whole heart [Cf. Jol 2:12.] and do righteousness [Act 10:35.] for the rest of your life, serving him uprightly in accordance with his will, he will provide a remedy for your previous failings, and you will obtain the power of mastering the devil’s snares. Do not be in the least afraid of the devil’s threats, for they are as powerless as a dead person’s sinews—Shepherd of Hermas

Sensual persons who dwell in vaulted houses and take delight in coffered silver ceilings do not build a house like this. As they despise plain silver, so do they despise a simple dwelling place. [See Isa 5:8.] They add to the site of their homes. They add more and more. They join one house with another, one estate with another. They dig up the ground so that the earth itself gives way for their dwelling, and, like children of the earth, they are laid up within her womb and hidden within her flesh. Plainly it was of them that Jeremiah said, “Woe to them who build their house by injustice!” [See Jer 22:13 (LXX).] The person who builds with justice builds not on earth but in heaven—St Ambrose of Milan

That people then were sick. There were all kinds of diseases among those who had the name of the people of God. God sent to them the prophets as healers. One of the healers was Jeremiah. He reproved the sinners, since he wanted those who do evil to return. Yet, though needing to hear what was said, they accused the prophet, and they accused before judges similar to themselves. And always the prophet was judged by those who, with respect to his prophecy, had been cured but were not cured because of their own disobedience. It is due to them that he says, “And I said, ‘I will no longer speak nor name the name of the Lord.’ But it happened as a burning fire flaming in my bones, and I am weakened on all sides, and I cannot bear it.” He said, seeing himself as one who always is judged, abused, accused and falsely testified against, “Woe is me, mother. What kind of man did you bear me?” [Jer 15:10.] He was not speaking as a man who judges but as one who is judged, and not as one who disputes but one who is disputed over all of the earth. Since those who are sick do not hear him when he advises for their good and well being, he says, “I have not helped.” [Jer 15:10.]—Origen

The sons of Jonadab, we are told, drank neither wine nor strong drink and dwelled in tents pitched wherever night overtook them. According to the Psalter, they were the first to undergo captivity; for, when the Chaldaeans began to ravage Judah, they were compelled to take refuge in cities.

Others may think what they like and follow each his own bent. But to me a town is a prison and solitude paradise. Why do we long for the bustle of cities, we whose very name speaks of loneliness? To fit him for the leadership of the Jewish people, Moses was trained for forty years in the wilderness. And it was not until after these that the shepherd of sheep became a shepherd of people. The apostles were fishers on Gennesaret before they became “fishers of people.” [Mat 4:19.] But at the Lord’s call they forsook all that they had, father, net and ship, and bore their cross daily without so much as a rod in their hands—St Jerome

You exclaim, “How fitting it was for Jeremiah, with the chorus of the prophets and all the saints, to cry out, ‘Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes,’ that he might bewail the sins of the foolish people, because the church of Christ expelled the teachers of the Pelagian error.” If you wish to weep wholesomely, weep for this, that you are involved in that error, and let your tears wash you clean of the new plague. Are you ignorant, or have you forgotten or do you wish not to know that the holy, the one, the Catholic church was also signified by the word Paradise?—St Augustine