Some refer the words to the Savior; the whole sequence must be kept
We are not unaware that some refer these words, as greater than Jeremiah, to our Savior and Lord. And one must know that much of it agrees with him and can be referred to the Savior — I will set that out. But a few of the things said to Jeremiah press the argument, and cannot, as most people take them, be fitted to the Savior.
What then fits the Savior? 'To all to whom I send you, you shall go, and according to all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their face, because I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.' These would not yet clearly seem to be referred to the Savior. But what follows puts the reading about Jeremiah in a tight place: 'And the Lord stretched out his hand toward me and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, Behold, I have given my words into your mouth. Behold, I have set you today over nations and kingdoms, to uproot and to pull down.' What nations did Jeremiah uproot? What kingdoms did he overthrow? For it is written, 'Behold, I have set you today over nations and kingdoms, to uproot and to pull down.' And what authority did Jeremiah have 'to destroy'? And whom did he build in such numbers that it should be said 'and to build'? Jeremiah says, 'I have not profited, and no one has profited me.' How then is 'to build and to plant' given to him? How will 'to plant' fit Jeremiah?
These things, referred to the Savior, do not press the interpreter, because in them Jeremiah is a symbol of the Savior. But what I am about to set down presses even the most intelligent person who wants to show how these too can fit the Savior: 'And I said, You who are, Master, Lord, behold, I do not know how to speak.' He who is Wisdom, he who is the Power of God, who brought us 'the fullness of the deity, which dwelt in him bodily' — how then can 'I do not know how to speak' fit the Savior? And 'I am younger' is forbidden to the Savior, as if he were saying it wrongly. For if the Lord says to him, Do not say this, it is clear that he forbids what is not well said. So these do not fit the Savior. Those other words do not seem to put the Savior to shame.
To say that these belong to Jeremiah and those to the Savior is not hard. But a fair-minded person will be much pressed here. To cut a connected run of words, and to say, 'These, being lesser, fit Jeremiah and not Christ, and these, being greater than Jeremiah, fit Christ and not Jeremiah' — that is the work of people without judgment. Let the whole, then, be referred to Jeremiah, and let even the things that seem greater than Jeremiah be interpreted.
Greek
Οὐκ ἀγνοοῦμεν ὅτι ταῦτα ἀναφέρουσί τινες ὡς μείζονα Ἱερεμίου ἐπὶ τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ κύριον ἡμῶν· καὶ ἰστέον ὅτι τὰ μὲν πολλὰ αὐτῷ συνᾴδει καὶ δύναται ἀναφέρεσθαι ἐπὶ τὸν σωτῆρα, ἃ παραθήσομαι· ὀλίγα δέ τινα τῶν εἰρημένων πρὸς τὸν Ἱερεμίαν θλίβει τὸν λόγον, οὐ δυνάμενα ὡς πρὸς τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐφαρμόσαι τῷ σωτῆρι. τίνα οὐν ἐστι τὰ ἐφαρμόζοντα τῷ σωτῆρι; «πρὸς πάντας οὓς ἐὰν ἐξαποστείλω σε πορεύσῃ, καὶ κατὰ πάντα ὅσα ἐὰν ἐντείλωμαί οοι λαλήσεις. μὴ φοβηθῇς ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτῶν, ὅτι μετὰ σοῦ εἰμι τοῦ ἐζαιρεῖοθαί σε, λέγει κύριος. οὔπω ταῦτα ἂν πρὸς τὸν σωτῆρα δόξειαν ἀναφέφεσθαι, τά ἑξῆς δὲ «καὶ ἐξέτεινε κύριος τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ πρός με καὶ ἥφατο τοῦ στόματός μου, καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρός με· ἰδοὺ δέδωκα τοὺς λόγους μου εἰς τὸ στόμα σου.
ἰδοὺ καθέστακά σε σήμερον ἐπὶ ἔθνη καὶ βασιλείας, ἐκριζοῦν καὶ κατασκάπτειν« θλίβει τὴν περὶ τοῦ Ἱερεμίου ἑρμηνείαν ποῖα ἔθνη ἐξερρίζωσε, ποίας κατέστρεψε βασιλείας; γέγραπται γάρ’ «ἰδοὺ καθέστακά σε σήμερον έπὶ ἔθνη καὶ βασιλείας, ἐκριζοῦν καὶ κατασκάπτειν. ποίαν δὲ εἶχεν ἐξουσίαν ὁ Ἱερεμίας εἰς τὸ «ἀπολλύειν«, ὅπερ εἴρηται ὡς πρὸς Ἱερεμίαν έν τῷ «καὶ ἀπολλύειν«; τίνας δὲ τοσούτους ᾠκοδόμησεν Ἱερεμίας, ἴνα λέγηται «καὶ οἰκοδομεῖν«; Ἱερεμίας φησίν· «οὐκ ὠφέλησα, οὐδὲ ὠφέλησέ με οὐδείας. πῶς οὐν δέδοται αὐτῷ τὸ «οἰκοδομεῖν καὶ καταφυτεύειν‘; πῶς ἐπὶ τὸν Ἱερεμίαν ἐφαρμόσει τὸ «καταφυτεύειν«; ταῦτα ἐπὶ τὸν σωτῆρα ἀναφερόμενα οὐ θλίβει τὸν ἑρημνεύοντα, ὅτι ὁ Ἱερεμίας ἐν τούτοις σύμβολον τοῦ σωτῆρός ἐστιν. τὰ δὲ παρατεθηοόμενα πάνυ θλίβει καὶ τὸν πάνυ συνετώτατον βουλόμενον δεῖξαι, πῶς καὶ ταῦτα δύναται ἁρμόζειν ἐπὶ τὸν σωτῆρα· «καὶ εἶπα· ὁ ὢν δέσποτα κύριε, ἰδοὺ οὐκ ἐπίσταμαι λαλεῖν.
ὅστις ἐστὶν σοφία, ὅστις ἐστὶ δύναμις ἤνεγκεν ἡμῖν >τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς θεότητος, ὃ κατῴκησεν ἐν σωματικῶς< — πῶς οὖν δύναται ἁρμόζειν τὸ «οὐκ τῷ σωτῆρι; ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ «νεώτερος ἐγώ εἰμι« ἀπαγορεύεται τὸν σωτῆρα, ὡς λέγοντα αὐτὸν οὐ καλῶς. εἰ γὰρ αὐτῷ λέγει ὁ κύριος· μὴ λέγε τόδε, δῆλον ὅτι οὐ καλῶς λεγόμενον ἀπαγορεύει αὐτό. Οὐχ ἁρμόζει οὖν ταῦτα ἐπὶ τὸν σωτῆρα. ἐκεῖνα δ᾿ οὐ δοκεῖ δυσωπεῖν ἐπὶ τὸν σωτῆρα. εἰπεῖν δὲ ὅτι ταῦτα μὲν ἐπὶ τὸν Ἱερεμίαν ἀναφέρεται, ἐκεῖνα δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν σωτῆρα, οὐ χαλεπόν.
ὁ μέντοι εὐγνώμων πάνυ θλιβήσεται ἐν τῷ τόπῳ, ορῶν ὅτι τὸ διακόψαι ἐν εἱρμῶ λόγων λόγους εἰρημένους εἴτε πρὸς τὸν Ἰερεμίαν εἴτε πρὸς τὸν σωτῆρα, καὶ λέγειν ταῦτα, <ἐπεὶ ἐλάττονά ἐστι τῷ Χριστῷ ἀλλὰ τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ ἁρμόζειν, καὶ ταῦτα, ἐπεὶ μείζονά ἐστιν Ἱερεμίου, οὐ τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ ἀλλὰ τῷ Χριστῷ ἁρμόζειν, ἀγνωμόνων ἐστίν. ὅλος οὖν ἐπὶ τὸν Ἱερεμίαν ἀναφερέσθω ; καὶ ταῦτα τὰ δοκοῦντα εἶναι μείζονα Ἱερεμίου ἑρμηνευέσθω.