THEOSISEphraem the Syrian
From the north will arise destruction, bringing suffering to the people and devastation to their homes. This refers to the inhabitants of Judah and the Gentiles, as both groups will face captivity.
Jeremiah 1:14Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers
And the Lord said to me: From the north shall an evil break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר יְהוָ֖ה אֵלָ֑י מִצָּפוֹן֙ תִּפָּתַ֣ח הָרָעָ֔ה עַ֥ל כָּל־יֹשְׁבֵ֖י הָאָֽרֶץ׃
The Church Fathers on this verse
4 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Jerome of Stridon
The suffering experienced by the wicked is meted out gradually, allowing them the opportunity for repentance and salvation. Those who refuse correction through trials are cast into a seething and fiery pit, as elaborated by Ezekiel, ignited from the north, indicating the Babylonian king and Jerusalem. It is aptly stated that calamities shall be set ablaze from the north upon all the inhabitants of the earth—or specifically the land of Judah—as noted in the Book of Revelation: Woe to those dwelling on the earth.
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For the holy ones are not citizens of this world but are pilgrims and sojourners, as exemplified by one who declares: ‘I am a stranger and a foreigner with You, just like all my ancestors’ and another who laments: ‘My days are few and filled with trouble, while I wander in the land.’ Thus, Peter addresses an epistle to the sojourners and pilgrims in Pontus, Galatia, and Cappadocia. Moreover, in a profound manner, Solomon remarks on ‘a fierce north wind,’ and those who are chilled by its coldness refer to it as beneficial, having lost the warmth of faith.
Theodoret of Cyrus
God reveals to the prophet a structure that is ablaze, with its orientation toward the northern direction. He designates this structure as Jerusalem and identifies the king of Babylon as a fiery entity. This designation of Babylon as coming from ‘the north’ is significant, as it is situated north of Jerusalem. The discerning Ezekiel refers to Jerusalem as a structure and its people as ‘meat’ (Ezekiel 41:3).
Roshdestwenski W.G.
The seething pot represented intense conflict between the nations of the East. Jeremiah warned Judah of an impending assault from the Chaldeans, who were located to the east of Judah. However, the Chaldeans invaded from the north, traversing the Arabian desert and circumventing Syria to reach their destination.
Cross references
Passages read together with this verse.
- Isa 41:25I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come from the rising of the sun: he shall call upon my name, and he shall make princes to be as dirt, and as the potter treading clay.
- Jer 4:6Set up the standard in Sion. Strengthen yourselves, stay not: for I bring evil from the north, and great destruction.
- Jer 10:22Behold the sound of a noise cometh, a great commotion out of the land of the north: to make the cities of Juda a desert, and a dwelling for dragons.
- Jer 6:1Strengthen yourselves, ye sons of Benjamin, in the midst of Jerusalem, and sound the trumpet in Thecua, and set up the standard over Bethacarem: for evil is seen out of the north, and a great destruction.
- Ezek 1:4And I saw, and behold a whirlwind came out of the north: and a great cloud, and a fire infolding it, and brightness was about it: and out of the midst thereof, that is, out of the midst of the fire, as it were the resemblance of amber:
- Jer 50:9For behold I raise up, and will bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north: and they shall be prepared against her, and from thence she shall be taken: their arrows, like those of a mighty man, a destroyer, shall not return in vain.
- Jer 31:8Behold I will bring them from the north country, and will gather them from the ends of the earth and among them shall be the blind, and the lame, the woman with child, and she that is bringing forth, together, a great company of them returning hither.
- Jer 46:20Egypt is like a fair and beautiful heifer: there shall come from the north one that shall goad her.