Книга пророка Иеремии, Глава 17, стих 6. Толкования стиха

HOPE IN GOD ALONE. AUGUSTINE: It is said, “It is by his own fault that anyone deserts the faith, when he yields and consents to the temptation that is the cause of his desertion of the faith.” Who denies it? Because of this, perseverance in the faith is to be said to be a gift of God. For a person daily asks for this when he says, “Lead us not into temptation.” If he is heard, it is this that he receives. Thus, as he daily asks for perseverance, he assuredly places the hope of his perseverance not in himself but in God. I, however, am loath to exaggerate the case with my words, but I rather leave it to them to consider and see what it is of which they have persuaded themselves—“that by the preaching of predestination, more despair than exhortation is impressed on the hearers.” For this is to say that a person then despairs of his salvation when he has learned to place his hope not in himself but in God, although the prophet cries, “Cursed is one who has his hope in humankind.” PREDESTINATION OF THE SAINTS 2.46.

LET US NOT TRUST IN OUR OWN WILL. AUGUSTINE: We must find out from what source true perseverance, worthy of the name, is to be had. There are those who attribute it to the powers of human will, not those that people have from divine assistance, but from their own free will. But that is an arrogant error. It is the error of the rich about whom the psalm speaks: “a reproach to the rich, and contempt to the proud.” Glorying in their own false endurance, they wish “to confound the counsel of the poor person, but the Lord is his hope.” Since they are people and attribute so much to themselves, that is, to their human will, they do not tend to apply to themselves the words of Scripture: “Cursed is everyone who trusts in humankind.” ON PATIENCE 15.12.

LET US NOT RELY ON OUR OWN STRENGTH. AUGUSTINE: This is the combat we are challenged to, this the struggle with the flesh, this the struggle with the devil, this the struggle with the world. But let us be wary of confidence, because the one who instituted this contest does not watch his own champions, nor does he encourage us to rely on our own strength. Anyone relying on his own strength, you see, is relying, being clearly human, on the strength of a person; and accursed is everyone who rests his hope in humankind. SERMON 344.1.

TRUST IN THE LORD, NOT IN SELF. AUGUSTINE: We have recognized ourselves, seen ourselves and taken a thorough look at ourselves. Let us groan and sigh in ourselves, pour out prayers, that we enter not into temptations. We must not rely on our own powers to overcome all these things. Blessed, after all, is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob, his hope in the Lord his God, not in himself, because he is a mere mortal. But cursed is everyone who places his hope in humankind. SERMON 335B.5.

TRUST NOT IN SELF OR IN PEOPLE. AUGUSTINE: In order that we fall not away from the virtue of the soul, we ought to watch especially against those snares of the suggestions of the devil that we presume not of our own strength. For “cursed is everyone who places his hope in humankind.” And who is he, but mortal? We cannot therefore truly say that the person who places his hope in humankind places it in himself. For this also is to “live after humankind,” what is it but to “live after the flesh”? Whoever therefore is tempted by such a suggestion, let him hear, and if he has any Christian feeling, let him tremble. Let him hear, I say, “If you live after the flesh, you shall die.” ON CONTINENCE 10.

NOT BEING ASHAMED. AUGUSTINE: “They shall not be ashamed in the evil time.” In the day of trouble, in the day of distress, they shall not be “ashamed,” as one is ashamed whose hope deceives him. Who is the person who is “ashamed”? The one who says, “I have not found that which I was in hope of.” Nor undeservedly either. You hoped for it from yourself or from a person, your friend. But “cursed is one who puts his trust in humankind.” You are ashamed because your hope has deceived you; your hope that was based on a lie. EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 37.8.

LET US AVOID PRODUCING BAD FRUIT. BEDE: But let us see what kind of fruits a bad tree produces, and let us avoid bearing such fruits. The prophet Jeremiah says, “Cursed is the one who puts his trust in human beings and makes his flesh his support, and whose heart turns away from the Lord; such a person will be like a tamarisk in the desert.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 2.25.

THERE IS ONE REFUGE: GOD. BASIL THE GREAT: One thing you must flee, sin. One refuge from evil must be sought, God. Do not trust in princes. Do not be exalted in the uncertainty of wealth. Do not be proud of bodily strength. Do not pursue the splendor of human glory. None of these things save you. All are transient. All are deceptive. There is one refuge: God. “Cursed is the one who trusts in humankind” or in any human thing. HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 18.1 (PS 45).

TRUST IN AND WORSHIP GOD. BASIL THE GREAT: One who puts his trust in humankind or is buoyed up by some other concerns of life, such as power or possessions or any of the things considered by the many to be glorious, is not able to say, “O Lord my God, in you have I put my trust.” In fact, there is a command that we should not put our trust in rulers, and “cursed is the one who trusts in humankind.” As it is proper not to worship anything else besides God, so also is it proper not to trust in any other except God the Lord of all things. “The Lord,” it is said, “is my hope and my praise.” HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 11.2 (PS 7).

Так говорит Господь: проклят че­ловек, который надеется на человека, и полагает плоть мышцею своею, и от Господа отступает сердце его. Ибо он будет, как вереск в пустыне, и не увидит, когда придет доброе; но будет жить в сухих местах, в пустыне, в земле солончаков и необитаемой. Если проклят человек надеющийся на человека, а Павел Самосатский и Фотин, хотя проповедуют о Спасителе, как о святом и выдающемся всеми добродетелями, но признают Его человеком: то значит будут прокляты надеющиеся на человека. Если же нам возразят, что и мы веруем в Того, Который говорит: ныне же ищете мене убити, человека, иже истину вам глаголах, юже слышах от Бога: сего Авраам несть сотворил. Вы творите дела отца вашего (Ин. 8:40-41): то мы ответим оным апостольским: аще и разумехом по плоти Христа, но ныне ктому не разумеем (2 Кор. 5:16) и, далее, тот же апостол пишет в начале своего послания к Галатам: Павел апостол, ни от человек, ни человеком, но Иисус Христом и Богом Отцем, воскресившим Его из мертвых и иже со мною вся братия (Гал. 1:1-2). Ибо, если смерть поглощена победою, то почему уничижение плоти принятое ради человеческого спасения не перешло в величие Бо­жества, чтобы то и другое сделать одним, и мы покланяемся не твари а Творцу, Который благословен во веки? Итак, проклят не только тот, кто надеется на человека, но и тот, кто полагает плоть мышцею своею, то есть силою своею, и все, что ни делает, признает делом не милости Господа, а своей силы. Ибо, кто поступает так, у того сердце отступает от Господа, когда он уверяет, что он может делать то, чего не может. И он будет как вереск, что по-еврейски aroёr, или, как перевел Симмах, дерево неплодное в пустыне. И не увидит, когда придет доброе, что увидит множество из языч­ников; но будет жить в сухом месте в пустыне. Это говорится о народе Иудейском, который живет в пустыне, не творит плодов и находится в земле солончаков, которая не производит никаких плодов, в земле необитаемой, которая не имеет ни Бога обитающего, ни помощи ангелов, ни благодати Духа Святого, ни мудрости учителей.

FAITHLESS BEGETS FRUITLESS. JEROME: It is not only the one who puts his hope in humankind that is accursed, but also the one who uses the flesh of his arm, that is, his strength and all that he does, not for the Lord of mercy but so that power will be thought to have come from him. For whoever does this withdraws his heart from the Lord by claiming himself to be capable when he is not capable. He will also be like the tamarisk in the desert, which, in Hebrew, is called an aroher, or, as translated by Symmacus, a fruitless plant, nor will he see goodness when it arrives and is seen by the multitude of nations, but he will live in a wasteland. All this is said about the Jewish people, who live in a desert and do not bear fruit and are located in an uninhabited salt land that produces no fruit and is a host neither to God, nor to the army of angels, nor to the grace of the Holy Spirit nor to the knowledge of teachers. SIX BOOKS ON JEREMIAH 3.72.4-5.